Groucho's Fact Hunt
- Thread starter Groucho
- Start date
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
https://newrepublic.com/article/47572/how-lichens-won-world-war-ii
How Lichens Won World War Ii.
By THE NEW REPUBLIC
February 8, 2009
Okay, a wee bit of an overstatement, but this is still a diverting anecdote from Tim Flannery's review of Dry Storeroom No. 1, a history of the British Natural History Museum:
Lichens, fungi, and algae are referred to as cryptogams, which literally means "hidden marriage"—a reference to their means of reproduction, which long remained a mystery to botanists. During World War II, a misunderstanding about the meaning of this term led to a breakthrough of the greatest military importance. Geoffrey Tandy was the museum's "seaweed man." He only ever published two scientific papers, a lack of productivity that seems to have been owing to a hidden marriage of his own, for Tandy shouldered the burden of running two families in tandem.
His great moment came when a functionary in the Ministry of War became confused between cryptogamists and cryptographers, and recruited Tandy to the British center for signals intelligence at Bletchley Park, where some of the world's brightest minds were working on cracking the German Enigma Code. During Tandy's stay at Bletchley Park several sodden notebooks holding vital clues to the German code were recovered from sunken U-boats, but they seemed damaged beyond recovery. Tandy, however, knew exactly what to do, for the problem was not so different from preserving marine algae. Obtaining special absorbent papers from the museum, Tandy dried the sodden pages and made them readable, an important contribution to deciphering the Enigma Code.
--Bradford Plumer
How Lichens Won World War Ii.
By THE NEW REPUBLIC
February 8, 2009
Okay, a wee bit of an overstatement, but this is still a diverting anecdote from Tim Flannery's review of Dry Storeroom No. 1, a history of the British Natural History Museum:
Lichens, fungi, and algae are referred to as cryptogams, which literally means "hidden marriage"—a reference to their means of reproduction, which long remained a mystery to botanists. During World War II, a misunderstanding about the meaning of this term led to a breakthrough of the greatest military importance. Geoffrey Tandy was the museum's "seaweed man." He only ever published two scientific papers, a lack of productivity that seems to have been owing to a hidden marriage of his own, for Tandy shouldered the burden of running two families in tandem.
His great moment came when a functionary in the Ministry of War became confused between cryptogamists and cryptographers, and recruited Tandy to the British center for signals intelligence at Bletchley Park, where some of the world's brightest minds were working on cracking the German Enigma Code. During Tandy's stay at Bletchley Park several sodden notebooks holding vital clues to the German code were recovered from sunken U-boats, but they seemed damaged beyond recovery. Tandy, however, knew exactly what to do, for the problem was not so different from preserving marine algae. Obtaining special absorbent papers from the museum, Tandy dried the sodden pages and made them readable, an important contribution to deciphering the Enigma Code.
--Bradford Plumer
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
In 1942 at Townsville QLD Australia, 600 coloured US soldiers mutinied against their treatment by some of their (southern) white officers.
Using .50cal machine guns, they shot up the sleeping officers in their tents.
FDR sent a young LBJ to investigate, nobody was ever charged, the 600 were shipped out of the way to New Guinea
The report was never presented to the US authorities or released and only came to light as historians recently sifted through LBJ's private papers
Using .50cal machine guns, they shot up the sleeping officers in their tents.
FDR sent a young LBJ to investigate, nobody was ever charged, the 600 were shipped out of the way to New Guinea
The report was never presented to the US authorities or released and only came to light as historians recently sifted through LBJ's private papers
You should also never eat one on it's own.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
There have been 2932 posts in this thread.
2933, in fact
Elvis the pelvis
Player Valuation: £750k
2934
Elvis the pelvis
Player Valuation: £750k
Inappropriate Language
And no Groucho is not a fat c$$@
That’s how I first read it anyway
That’s how I first read it anyway
The world's largest freshwater pearl, the so-called Sleeping Lion, has sold at auction for €320,000 ($374,000).
The pearl, which is 7cm (2.75in) long and weighs more than 153g (5.4oz) was once owned by Catherine the Great.
It looks like a bit of a chicken you wouldn't cook.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
Looks like a tired baby elephant.
The world's largest freshwater pearl, the so-called Sleeping Lion, has sold at auction for €320,000 ($374,000).
The pearl, which is 7cm (2.75in) long and weighs more than 153g (5.4oz) was once owned by Catherine the Great.
It looks like a bit of a chicken you wouldn't cook.
sheedy3
Player Valuation: £2.5m
I just backed a horse with this name on Thursday but dont tell horsepunchers fc about the nag theyd have a field day!
deipnosophist
Player Valuation: £80m
The canned meat Spam gets it's name from Shoulder of Pork and Ham.
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