Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 December 31

= December 31 =

Difference between energy company and power company?
I'm asking because I see these two templates look like a mess Template:Energy companies of China and Template:Power companies of China. Probably both can be merged into a single template Energy and power companies of China. But can anyone provide guidance on what would be the difference between these two types of companies? Muzzleflash (talk) 00:57, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * In industry, "power" generally implies electricity, while "energy" includes electricity but doesn't imply it. It's no coincidence that Power Industry redirects to Electric power industry, while Energy industry is an article starting: "The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution." PrimeHunter (talk) 01:33, 31 December 2015 (UTC)


 * (ec)In the US, at least, a power company generates and transmits electricity, whereas an energy company is a much broader category, including refining and distributing gasoline and propane and natural gas as well as hyrdoelectric generation, wind turbines, etc. μηδείς (talk) 01:35, 31 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Xcel Energy, for example, does both electricity and natural gas, across its subsidiary organizations. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:12, 31 December 2015 (UTC)


 * There is no rule.  The old London Electricity Board became London Electricity plc in the privatisation of all the old area electricity supply boards.   All these electricity distribution companies ("discos") were taken over.   London Electricity eventually fell into the hands of a French company and is now EDF Energy plc, but it has never supplied anything other than electricity.   The system has been opened up - the different companies are not geographically limited and you can buy gas from your electricity company ("dual fuel") (and presumably the other way round).   The electricity supply companies buy electricity from the wholesale market and some own power stations, hydroelectric projects, wind farms etc.   The old Scottish and Southern Electricity, now SSE plc, is an energy company which, in addition to producing and supplying electricity produces gas, supplies telephone and broadband and insures boilers, heating and electrical wiring.   Unless it is an authorised insurer (which is highly unlikely) this last activity will be undertaken as an agent. 80.44.166.220 (talk) 14:02, 2 January 2016 (UTC)

we should forget the past and look forward
"हमैं अतीत को भूल जाना हैं और आगे की ओर देखना चाहिए..."(translated to we should forget the past and look forward) This in topic for my FA in hindi, can some one tell me some points/दोहे/poems on it for a essay-- Aryan  ( है?) 04:42, 31 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Are you looking for poems in Hindi that express this sentiment, or what? —Tamfang (talk) 05:51, 31 December 2015 (UTC)


 * You might want to refer to the famous quote with the exact opposite point: "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it". StuRat (talk) 06:31, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I already know जो बीत गई सो बात गई, other poems and dohas may help, -- Aryan  ( है?) 08:28, 31 December 2015 (UTC)

जीवन नाही अतित मे हे नाही भविष्य मे...जीवन तो केवल इस क्षणका नाम हे...भुतकल कि घटनाओं को स्मरण मे रखकर जीन्दगी जिया नहि जासकता... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bibek sh (talk • contribs) 16:09, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * thanks -- Aryan  ( है?) 03:48, 2 January 2016 (UTC)

Help me identify this plant
Please help. --Kozhikoden (talk) 14:38, 31 December 2015 (UTC)


 * It's not ringing any bells with me - can you give us a clue as to where it's growing please? Alansplodge (talk) 14:44, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * BTW, the leaves would be described as bipinnate compound (or twice pinnate) which might narow down the search a little. Alansplodge (talk) 14:54, 31 December 2015 (UTC)

Here is another pic. It is from Kerala, a tropical state of India. But it is unlikely that it is native to this place. I have seen it grow to about four meters with many branches. --Kozhikoden (talk) 15:11, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * The fruits look like they've been eaten on. Also, the leaves look like some type of fern. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:16, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Reminds me of black locust, so maybe Gliricidia sepium which grows in India. Rmhermen (talk) 19:26, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * No, those species have pinnate, not bipinnate leaves, as Alansplodge mentions above. And ferns do not have fruit, only flowering plants have true fruit. My guess from the leaves is that this is some sort of Mimosoid, although I have never seen such fruit on the ones that grow in the US.  Perhaps thw what looks like fed-upon fruit are actually galls? μηδείς (talk) 23:00, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Quite right, I mistook the twigs for the stems of compound leaves. Pinnate it is. Alansplodge (talk) 16:38, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * looks like an acacia of some sort, but there are many possible species.-- Jayron 32 01:57, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree, but the problem is the fruit is all wrong for an acacia, which is a mimosid, which is a bean--they all have bean pods. This fruit looks like a pome, assuming it is a fruit, and not a gall.  And although the leaf-type is typical of the mimosids, leaves are highly susceptible to divergent and convergent evolution.  It's the flowers and fruit which usually matter. μηδείς (talk) 02:40, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * On second thought, maybe what I am viewing as a chewed-away surface is really just the warping of a very thick bean pod. μηδείς (talk) 02:52, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * It is certainly not Gliricidia, I can assure, as I am very familiar with that plant. I don't know if it is fruit but it certainly is not eaten out pod. Wonder if it is related to tamarind? --Kozhikoden (talk) 15:53, 1 January 2016 (UTC)


 * How about the rather wonderfully named Divi-divi tree or Caesalpinia coriaria, which was introduced to India from the West Indies for tannin production for the leather industry. "Pods thin, oblong or curved, sometimes curled or S-shaped, 2–6 cm long" according to Handbook of LEGUMES of World Economic Importance by James Duke. The same source also states that the pods can be used "for the treatment of bleeding piles". Alansplodge (talk) 16:49, 1 January 2016 (UTC)


 * I have added numbers to the images for ease of reference., are you telling us that the large outwardly spherical-appearing fruit in (1) is not a sphere with the middle eaten out or rotted away, but rather a warped shape (see the s-shaped fruit in picture (2)) that grew that way?  Are the black splotches fungal, or a normal coloration?  Can yo provide a picture of a single fruit, a fruit that has been opened up to show the seeds, a picture of a single twig withits leaves with no fruit or other branches coming out, and can you show a picture of an entire tree?  Also, assuming it is not flowering now, can you at least describe the flower, especially comparing it to the various species and groups that have been mentioned above? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 17:12, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Exactly! I can also see a link to Malayalam Wikipedia article https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%A1%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF_%E0%B4%A1%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF which states that it is a medicinal plant and it is grown for shade in coffee plantations. Thank you.--Kozhikoden (talk) 17:23, 1 January 2016 (UTC)


 * I Googled "India tree curved pods" and divi-divi was the first result. Here is an image of the flowers AND the fruits. Seems to be an exact match to me too. Alansplodge (talk) 10:57, 2 January 2016 (UTC)

frog
why do frog hibernate? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bibek sh (talk • contribs) 15:57, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * To survive the cold winter. Read Frog and Hibernation for further insight. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:08, 31 December 2015 (UTC)
 * To answer very briefly here, frogs are cold blooded, and breathe through their skin. They'd have a very hard time dealing with having their skin frozen, so they go to the bottoms of lakes, where the water does not normally go below 4 degrees. See lake stratification.  I used to catch leopard frogs or raise them (and other frog species) from tadpoles, and found one had frozen solid over night when left in a goldfish bowl.  We brought it inside, and it revived as it thawed. We then put it in a coffee can in the freezer, and succeeded in freezing and reviving it various times. μηδείς (talk) 02:49, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm reporting you to the RSPCA. 82.35.216.24 (talk) 20:03, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * I doubt they have jurisdiction. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:56, 1 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Over frogs that overwinter in goldfish bowls and coffee cans? μηδείς (talk) 02:43, 2 January 2016 (UTC)
 * More to the point, over frogs mostly native to North America, and not found in the United Kingdom. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.123.25.88 (talk) 03:52, 2 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Bingo. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:00, 2 January 2016 (UTC)
 * What? Grey Squirrels have been so successful you'd think the British would be leaping at the opportunity to import the leopard frog and the bullfrog--they overwinter as tadpoles, unique among the family. μηδείς (talk) 05:37, 2 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Are Frogs allowed in England? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:44, 2 January 2016 (UTC)
 * They seem to have a close connection to Ireland. --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  06:49, 3 January 2016 (UTC)
 * I've moved house twice in my life and have found frogs at all three houses. Apparently they seem to like me.  T F  { Contribs } { Edit Quest! } 10:21, 3 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Twice? At last count I've had 25 addresses.  At the other extreme, I recently lost a 93-year-old aunt, whose only experience of moving house came when she was 13.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  21:21, 3 January 2016 (UTC)
 * You better go and find her, Jack. KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( もしもし！ ) 18:11, 5 January 2016 (UTC)