Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2018 May 11

= May 11 =

Extreme points
Where is the point farthest from all mainland on Earth (continents including eg. Australia but not eg. Borneo)?

2) If this point is in the ocean, what's the most remote island using this measure? Is it one of the Pitcairns?

Thanks 93.136.26.146 (talk) 07:17, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * See Extreme points of Earth.--Shantavira|feed me 07:31, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Been there already, it doesn't answer my question. I specifically said mainland, whereas it includes other islands. 93.136.26.146 (talk) 08:14, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * After about 30 minutes experimenting with the Google Maps "measure distance" function, I think the answer is somewhere close to 19.5805°S, 146.112°W, which is between 6,136 and 6,140 km from each of North America (near Cabo San Lucas), Antarctica (near 135.53°W longitude), and Australia (near Cape Byron). The nearest land to this position is the western tip of Hereheretue Atoll, which I make to be respectively 6,085, 6,100, and 6,231 km from the three continents. --76.69.47.55 (talk) 11:06, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks. 93.136.56.19 (talk) 14:29, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Of course lots of places that seem pretty mainland are on the islands: Tokyo, London, Central Hong Kong, New York City (except the 14% Yankee Stadium is on), Bombay (do artificial landbridges to continents count?)


 * And maybe even the Kremlin, Montreal and Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame (on river islands). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:34, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * The most remote inhabited islands are the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha see:. The most remote place in the ocean or "oceanic pole of inaccessibility" is known as Point Nemo see:.  Richerman  (talk) 17:58, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * The OP is allowing islands like Borneo and Pitcairns to not disqualify a place. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:00, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * The remoteness section the article has several candidates for remote islands. LongHairedFop (talk) 11:41, 12 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Also see Pole of inaccessibility.  → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 02:23, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

canned corned beef
What type of beef is used to make canned "corned beef"? I mean, what part of the cow is used? Someone told me it is all made of beef hearts. Is that true? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.87.136.244 (talk) 08:07, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Personal research, TIOLI. I ate corned beef very often as a child in the 50s. The texture of the beef within the tin was not that of beef heart. I have eaten beef hearts on a number of occasions and the meat is very fine grained (and tough) quite unlike the softer longer-fibred body meat. I see no reason why the manufacturers would not use all the usual joints of beef cut down to can size. Richard Avery (talk) 08:56, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You'd have to look at the label to tell, but most nations require offal (organ meat, including heart) to be labeled explicitly as such on labels, see here for U.S. requirements that notes that, depending on the amount used, products containing heart are generally labeled either "beef by-product" or "beef heart" directly. If those phrases are not on the ingredients label, the product mustn't contain any heart.  -- Jayron 32 12:25, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia has an article called Corned beef which says "In North America, corned beef is typically sold in two forms, a cut of beef (usually brisket, but sometimes round or silverside) cured or pickled in a seasoned brine, cooked, and canned, or tinned." Edison (talk) 17:03, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I think that's an article that needs to be two separate ones, as the two products bear no relation to each other besides originating from a cow. In the UK, non-tinned "corned beef" is called "salt beef". Alansplodge (talk) 20:15, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * That's not true, you can buy sliced corned beef in most supermarkets in the UK. Here's an example from Tesco prepackaged, but you can also buy it at the deli counter. SpinningSpark 11:33, 13 May 2018 (UTC)
 * But that stuff is taken out of a big tin before slicing. The corned beef you get in a New York deli looks like this - completely different. Alansplodge (talk) 12:43, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Indeed, there are two products that get called "corned beef": there's the tinned stuff which is basically spam but made of cow instead of pig, and there's fresh brisket which has been soaked in a brine, cooked, and sliced thin. In the US, we generally mean the latter when we say "corned beef".  You can perhaps find the canned stuff, but it isn't nearly as common.  I'm pretty sure the canned stuff is usually what is meant in the UK, I'm pretty sure the article Bully beef describes the canned stuff in more detail. -- Jayron 32 13:15, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, the brine-soaked brisket is called salt beef in the UK. Americans are under the delusion that it comes from Ireland, but it's actually Jewish. Alansplodge (talk) 11:05, 16 May 2018 (UTC)

Why doesn't a monopropeller cause an airplane to roll?
A helicopter rotor causes it to spin in the opposite direction due to torque, so why doesn't a monopropeller cause an airplane to roll for the same principle? ScienceApe (talk) 17:20, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Actually, they do. --OuroborosCobra (talk) 17:40, 11 May 2018 (UTC)


 * There is also p-factor, which has a distinct physical cause; and there is also gyroscopic precession, which has yet a different distinct physical cause; and there is slipstream effect, which has yet another distinct physical cause. There is a reason why so many people say that aerodynamics is neither easy nor intuitive!  The result is that in certain circumstances, especially with high-performance single-engine aircrafts, the aircraft may have complicated tendencies to yaw, pitch, or roll, and therefore require delicate and well-studied control input.  (If I may opine: these factors, especially the ones that are exacerbated by high angles of attack, are the reason why pilots who fly conventional landing gear aircrafts must seek extra flight-training and endorsement; and for this reason, pilots who can apply these skills during flight are well-respected by other pilots who fly nose-wheel-airplanes).
 * For more on this topic, consider reading the Airplane Flying Handbook, particularly Chapter 4, Maintaining Aircraft Control.
 * Nimur (talk) 18:09, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

Ice age temperature
Much of the world is lot colder during the last ice age as it is now. I know ice sheets extended down as far south as central Illinois and I imagine Chicago near where I live had an average high of 35°F during the summer time, 50° colder than the average summer temp at present times. What was the average high summertime temperature during the last ice age in Chicago and other places around the world? Planet Star  22:53, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I recall hearing that the temperature difference between then and now was minor, perhaps 4° C. Abductive  (reasoning) 13:13, 12 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Check out Geologic temperature record for some pretty detailed info about average temperatures. Understand, however, that the earth's temperature then was no more uniform than it is now; while some areas were obviously quite a bit colder than they are today, there were still warm areas. Matt Deres (talk) 22:36, 12 May 2018 (UTC)


 * During the last ice age, not all places in the world are this cold. Some of Europe, North America and Russia have temps at least 10°F colder than it is now, while the rest of the world like Africa and Australia have lot smaller deviations from where it is now. Planet  Star  07:16, 13 May 2018 (UTC)


 * In a few thousand years Antarctica will melt due to global warming with the global average temperature being a few degrees higher than what it is now. But that means that in some places in Antarctica the winter temperature of -75 C will rise to perhaps -20 C and the summertime temperature of -30 C may become 10 C. Count Iblis (talk) 00:05, 14 May 2018 (UTC)
 * In short, just like it was many millions of years ago. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:07, 14 May 2018 (UTC)