Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 July 14

= July 14 =

What fruit is this?
I'm from India and I've never seen this fruit before. I found this in my office in Poland and picked it up thinking it's an apple. But it had fuzzy skin and a hard stone inside (you can see it in the bottom corner of the photo here https://s31.postimg.org/hjlqnfjd7/20160714_073058_1.jpg). It was kept in a basket along with bananas in the kitchen. Can anybody identify the fruit? It got soft and mushy when I started cutting into it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.254.226.113 (talk) 05:42, 14 July 2016 (UTC)


 * A peach. ---Sluzzelin talk  05:55, 14 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Just looking at the picture, I would have said a nectarine (on the basis of the dark skin colour) - though fuzzy skin would suggest a peach. Wymspen (talk) 08:23, 14 July 2016 (UTC)


 * It is definitely something from the peach/nectarine family (fuzzy are usually peaches and smooth usually nectarines). It also looks unripe.  Peaches especially have a very short window when they are perfect to eat; you usually buy them unripe and let them finish ripening at home.  A ripe peach sold ripe enough to eat is often past ripe by the time you get it home from the market.  Peaches should be soft and very juicy when perfect (like bite into it and juice runs down your chin).  A peach wouldn't hold it's shape when cut with a knife.  If you buy them again, keep them in a brown paper bag for a day or two on your counter (never refrigerate) and check them once in a while.  If it feels hard like an apple they aren't ready yet.  As soon as the skin yields to pressure from your thumb, they are usually ready, and then you've only got a day or two of good eating. http://www.wikihow.com/Ripen-Peaches  Incidentally, a perfectly ripe peach is a life-changingly delicious thing.  They have a fragrance and taste which is unimaginably wonderful.  -- Jayron 32 13:40, 15 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Slightly more specifically, it's a clingstone peach (as described in the cultivar section of our article). Matt Deres (talk) 15:18, 15 July 2016 (UTC)


 * BTW, I wouldn't slice such a soft fruit, as a ripe peach, since all the tasty juices leak out. Instead I use the "vampire method".  That is, I bite in, suck the juices out, then bite off a chunk.  Repeat this process with each bite, until done. StuRat (talk) 21:50, 15 July 2016 (UTC)


 * As the poet says: "Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach." (T. S. Elliott, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock). Alansplodge (talk) 22:34, 15 July 2016 (UTC)


 * "Parting your hair behind" is less disturbing than parting your behind hair, but then again, you do have a natural starting point. :-) StuRat (talk) 17:29, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

A little bit of pedantry; peaches, and other stone fruits cannot ripen off of the tree. They can only soften and become a little more concentrated in flavor from moisture loss but will not technically increase in sugar. Ripening implies that the starches in the fruit are converted into sugar, which cannot happen with peaches once they're picked. Valeince (talk) 17:33, 19 July 2016 (UTC)

Quality of life
Where can I find evidence that the quality of life of an average person in soviet russia was worse the US, at its peak. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.207.186.185 (talk) 18:29, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm reminded of something Will Rogers said: "In Russia, they ain't got no income tax. But they ain't got no income!" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:32, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm reminded of something German comedian (yes, that's a thing) Volker Pispers said – roughly translated: "We all remember those terrible images of homeless people with no teeth. Oh, I'm sorry, that was the US. In the GDR, people had no bananas." Rgds  ✦  hugarheimur 19:11, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * So, has BB ever lived in, or even visited, Russia?--86.187.174.181 (talk) 23:28, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Soviet Union and some subarticles has some information. It was a violent authoritarian spartan country where most would be better off American but there must be a minority of Americans who would've been better off there. Might be better to be born in Moscow than Compton. Maybe. In Soviet Russia, life qualities YOU! Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:32, 15 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I gather that life in Russia is not so bad as it was in the USSR. For example, people can actually leave voluntarily. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 07:44, 15 July 2016 (UTC)


 * You're going to need to decide how to measure quality of life. A very crude method is to take GDP per capita; this places the USA way ahead of the Soviet Union throughout its history.  The Human Development Index is popular, but unfortunately didn't cover the Soviet Union.  This paper attempts to do so; you can judge how reliable you think it is; they place the Soviet Union fairly high in 1950, but the USA right near the top.  It's also worth noting that the USA was similarly ahead of Russia, before the Soviet Union emerged.  But there are lots of criticisms of the HDI; the things which you consider contribute to your quality of life may not be easily measured, and might even depend on where you grow up. Warofdreams talk 02:07, 15 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Due to the completely different economical and political systems between the nations, it will be hard to directly compare, with any statistic. Also, your question is not stated correctly, you are seeking evidence to support your position, rather than asking for the facts. I would say you are on the whole probably right, but it's still the wrong way to ask the question if you are trying to approach this in a scientific and objective manner. Fgf10 (talk) 07:35, 15 July 2016 (UTC)


 * We have an article on Happiness economics, in which you can find links to some indices used to measure quality of life. Sjö (talk) 08:55, 15 July 2016 (UTC)