Nuts, drupes and legumes

Walnut

A walnut is a seed from a tree in the genus Juglans. Technically, a walnut is a drupe, not a nut, since it takes the form of a fruit enclosed by a fleshy outer layer which parts to reveal a thin shell with a seed inside. As walnuts age on the tree, the outer shell dries and pulls away, leaving the shell and seed behind.

From http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-walnut.html

Peanut

After pollination, the fruit develops into a legume 3 to 7 cm (1 to 2 inches) long containing 2 to 3 (rarely 1 or 4) seeds, which forces its way underground to mature. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the peanut is a woody, indehiscent legume or pod and not technically a nut.

From Pocket Wikipedia, http://www.free-soft.ro/pocket-wikipedia/

Choosing a meal at a restaurant

When I sit down in a restaurant I skim over the menu and immediately select two items that look good.

From that point on I only debate the one against the other and usually decide what I want within moments.

I'm almost always the first to be ready to order and I'm never one to say after a meal "I wish I would have ordered..." because I picked from two things I really wanted.

from http://lifehacker.com/5397810/artificially-limit-options-to-make-choosing-pain-free

Erasmus of Rotterdam

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (sometimes known as Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, 1466/1469, Rotterdam – July 12, 1536, Basel) was a Dutch Renaissance humanist and a Catholic Christian theologian.

His scholarly name Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus comprises the following three elements:

• the Latin noun desiderium ("longing" or "desire") the name being a genuine Late Latin name);
• the Greek adjective ἐράσμιος (erásmios) meaning "desired", and, in the form Erasmus, also the name of a saint;
• and the Latinized adjectival form for the city of Rotterdam (Roterodamus = "of Rotterdam").

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus_of_Rotterdam

"I am, therefore I think"

Is this putting Descartes before de horse?

from uk.rec.humour

Sea Level Isn't Level

Altitude on maps is given using sea level as a baseline.

But sea level is not a constant, NASA/JPL oceanographer Josh Willis explains: “Even though it’s sometimes convenient to think of the ocean as a great big bathtub, where turning on the tap at one end raises the water level in the whole tub, real sea level rise doesn’t quite happen that way. To understand why, you first have to realize that ‘sea level’ isn’t really level at all.”

The JPL/Cal Tech Sea Level Viewer gives some examples of things that can affect the local sea level: El Niño, tsunamis, and hurricanes.

In a global warming context, the sea level has risen an average of nearly two inches since 1993, but it’s a lot higher in some spots than others.

Via What on Earth

Hart's Rules

Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers at the University Press, Oxford was an authoritative reference book and style guide published in England by Oxford University Press (OUP). Hart's Rules originated as a compilation of rules and standards by Horace Hart over almost three decades during his employment at other printing establishments, but they were first printed as a single broadsheet page for in-house use by the OUP in 1893 while Hart was Controller of the University Press. They were originally intended as a concise style-guide for the staff of the OUP, but they developed continuously over the years, were published in 1904, and soon gained wider use as a source for authoritative instructions on typesetting style, grammar, punctuation and usage.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart%27s_Rules

Mary Celeste & Maria Celeste

The Mary Celeste was a British-American merchant brigantine famous for having been discovered on 4 December 1872 in the Atlantic Ocean, unmanned and apparently abandoned (one lifeboat was missing, along with its crew of seven), although the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and capable seamen.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste

Sister Maria Celeste (16 August 1600 – 2 April 1634), born Virginia Gamba, was the daughter of famous Italian scientist Galileo Galilei and Marina Gamba
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Celeste

Galileo's Daughter is a book by Dava Sobel. It is based on the surviving letters of Galileo Galilei's daughter, the nun Suor Maria Celeste, and explores the relationship between Galileo and his daughter.
See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo's_Daughter