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【No. 0188】Celebrity

Jun 24, 2015 20:15
In Japan, the word 'celebrity（セレブ） ' is commonly used, but the meaning is slightly different.

We often use the word only in the sense of "rich man."

It is thought that if we say "rich man（金持ち）" directly, it sounds like a sarcasm.

Therefore, 'celebrity（セレブ）' came to be used instead of 'rich man（金持ち）' in some cases.

Japanese TV show sometimes introduce rich people as celebrities, but they often are not well-known.
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【No. 0187】'#' is not 'sharp'

Jun 23, 2015 10:02
Most Japanese people regard '#' as sharp, and call sharp.

However, actual sharp is '♯.'

In Japan, the official name of '#' is "igeta," but this name is not popular.

By the way, '#' is called pound or number key in the US, and called hash key in the UK.

I have never say igeta, but sometimes say 'hash.'
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【No. 0186】Definition of Meter

Jun 22, 2015 20:31
Today, I learned about a length unit 'meter.'

In the past, the meter was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole, and and a prototype meter was created..

However, the prototype meter had some problems like a lack of invariance.

After that, various definitions were proposed, and in 1986, the problem was eventually resolved.

The new definition of the meter is based on light speed, and it defined as the distance that light travels in 1/299792485 seconds In a vacuum.

There is a possibility that the definition is influenced by the general theory of relativity, but CIPM(International Committee for Weights and Measures) decided that the slight error can be ignored.

【No. 0185】JK

Jun 21, 2015 14:46
Today, I learned a slang phrase 'jk (just kidding).'

In Japan, jk is also used as slang, and it has two meanings.

One is "high school girls (joshi kousei)," and the other is "by thinking it in common sense (joushikitekini kangaete)."

Therefore, I think I can say something like "JK! She's JK, JK. "

(Just kidding! She's a high school girl by thinking it in common sense.)

By the way, if we search JK on Google Images of the US, we can see a lot of pictures of J.K. Rowling.

On the other hand, if we search JK on Google Images of Japan, we can see a lot of high school girls.
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【No. 0184】XYZPDQ

Jun 20, 2015 12:12
Today, I learned a slang 'xyzpdq.'

This means "examine your zipper, pretty damn quick."

Xyz can also be paraphrased something like "your fly is open."

I think I must remind myself to examine my zipper frequently.

By the way, when we want to say xyz in Japan, we often say "window of society is open(社会の窓が開いているよ)."

This phrase implies "the important thing is hidden in the window of society."
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【No. 0183】begin to / begin doing

Jun 19, 2015 12:18
Today, I learned the difference between "begin to" and "begin doing."

According to the website, these phrases are almost same, but there are slightly different nuances.

"Begin to" emphasize beginning, while "begin doing" emphasize 'continuation.'

Also, in the following cases, "begin to" is tend to be used.

1. When the subject is inanimate.

2. When the verb after the begin express psychological state, such as see or 'feel.'

3. When the begin is progressive form.

As always, learning a little difference between nuances is difficult.
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【No. 0182】Phantom Vibration Syndrome

Jun 18, 2015 11:18
Have you felt as if your mobile phone was vibrating despite not vibrating?

I often keep my mobile phone in my pants' pocket, and sometimes I feel like that.

Actually, this symptom has a official name, "phantom vibration syndrome."

According to recent research, we often experience phone's vibrating, and learn it.

Therefore, we become highly sensitive for the vibrating, and fall into confusion.
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【No. 0176】Etymology of Wi-Fi

Jun 12, 2015 15:15
Wi-Fi is a technology that connects to wireless networks.

It is sometimes said that this word is derived from wireless fidelity, but this story is wrong.

Actually, Wi-Fi is derived from Hi-Fi (High Fidelity : this means audio devices), and "Wi" didn't have any meaning.

It is just rhymed.

The meaning "wireless fidelity" was given later.
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【No. 0174】The Largest Door

Jun 10, 2015 12:23
Today, I'd like to introduce the largest "sliding door" in the world.

It is located in the Tanegashima Space Center of JAXA in Japan.

The dimensions of the door is 67 m height, 27 m width, and 2.5 m thickness.

This is mainly used for transporting rocket parts.

However, the largest "door" in the world is located in the Kennedy Space Center of NASA in America.

The door has 139 m height.
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【No. 0173】The temperature that water density become maximum.

Jun 9, 2015 12:53
Generally, solid has higher density than liquid, but water is different.

The temperature that water density become maximum is around 3.98 degrees Celsius .

When water freeze and become ice, the volume will increase and the density will decrease, because the crystal structure have a lot of gaps.

However, if the ice is melting a little, the volume will decrease and the density will increase, because the water molecules will get through the gaps of the crystal.

Also, if the temperature exceed 3.98 degrees Celsius, the volume will decrease but the density will also decrease, because the intermolecular distance of the water will increase.

For these reasons, ice float on water.

You might feel that this phenomenon is natural, but it's really special and rare.
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【No. 0172】How to Find Something

Jun 8, 2015 18:55
Today, I learned how to find something effectively.

We often look for missing items from left side to right side.

However, when the searching direction is same as way to read books, we tend to skip various things.

Therefore, it is said that we can be more sensitive when we look for something from right side to left side.
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【No. 0170】Crossing Fingers

Jun 6, 2015 16:19
On my t-shirt, which is a gift from my American friend, crossing fingers illustration are printed.

I like it, so I often wear it.

In Europe and the United States, crossing fingers mean "cross" and "good luck."

However, the sign means something like "barrier from dirty things" in Japan, so actually we shouldn't use it too much.

Furthermore in Vietnam, I heard it means an insult.

Since the meanings of hand signs are different between countries, we have to be careful when we use them.
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【No. 0169】Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla

Jun 5, 2015 09:43
Gorilla is the largest animal in primate, and the scientific name is interesting.

Gorilla is divided into two species; western gorilla and eastern gorilla.

Western gorilla is divided into two subspecies; western lowland gorilla and cross river gorilla.

Eastern gorilla is also divided into two subspecies; mountain gorilla and eastern lowland gorilla.

The science names of these gorillas are shown in the followings;

Western gorilla : Gorilla gorilla

- Western lowland gorilla : Gorilla gorilla gorilla

- Cross river gorilla : gorilla gorilla diehli

Eastern gorilla : Gorilla beringei

- Mountain gorilla : Gorilla beringei beringei

- Eastern lowland gorilla : Gorilla beringei graueri

The most popular species in gorilla is western lowland gorilla, that is gorilla gorilla gorilla.

By the way, the science name of human is homo sapiens sapiens.
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【No. 0168】Manybar Goatfish (Ojisan)

Jun 4, 2015 11:23
Manybar goatfish is called "ojisan (means man in midlife)" in Japan.

The reason why is that the fish have long barbel on their face and look like men in midlife.

However, I think this naming way is too easy.

We can eat this fish, but if we say "I ate ojisan (I ate man in midlif)," it could sound so strange.
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【No. 0165】Working in the Morning

Jun 1, 2015 20:41
I often read books and check emails in the morning.

However, I heard we should avoid such things.

Almost all tasks are divided into two types; brainworks and simple works.

In the morning, sympathetic becomes dominant, that is, our brains are active.

Therefore, we should do brainworks during the morning instead of simple works such as reading books or checking emails.

It is said that these simple works should be done during the evening or night, because parasympathetic becomes dominant in the night.

【No. 0160】Collatz Conjecture

May 27, 2015 22:43
Today, I wrote a program source of Collatz Conjecture.

Although this is one of the unsolved problems in number theory, it's very simple.

For all natural number n, think that you do the following.

・If n is even number, divide n by two.

・If n is odd number, multiply n by three and add one to the result.

It has been expected that n will always reach one in a finite trial.

This problem has not been solved from about 80 years ago.

By using computer, it was confirmed that this conjecture is correct until about 10^18, but it does not much make sense.

I hope it will be solved during my life.
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【No. 0156】Koala

May 23, 2015 16:56
There are a lot of zoos in Japan, but there are few koalas in the zoos.

One of the reason is that the koala's feed costs is very expensive.

Since it is difficult to get eucalypti that is the only food of koala in Japan, it costs about 10 to 20 million yen per head per year.

Also, the eucalyptus contains toxins of potassium cyanide type.

A koala's very long cecum has an enzyme that degrades the toxins, but ethanol emitted by chewing will paralyze koala's nerve and get him to sleep.

In the ranking of long sleep animals, koala that sleeps 22 hours per day is the top, while sloth that sleeps 20 hours per day is the second.
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May 21, 2015 21:10
We blink our eyes about twenty times per minute.

Since one blink block our view about 0.3 seconds, we spend 6 seconds per minute in the dark(that is, 10% of our living hours).

If you watch a two hour movie, you will miss about twelve minutes of the movie.

However, since we naturally blink at breaks between scenes, we don't feel a sense of discomfort.

It is said that the reason why we blink is to moist the surface of our eyes, but the number of blinks we need for the moistening is only three times per minute.

It has not yet been elucidated why we blink so many times.
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【No. 0152】The Number of Neck Bone

May 19, 2015 18:10
Do you know the number of bones of a human neck?

Or, what about giraffe, hippopotamus, elephant, rabbit, dog, cat, or whale?

The answer is all seven.

In fact, almost all mammals have seven neck bones.

However, while there are about 4000 species of mammals, there are a few exceptions.

For example, manati has six neck bones, and three-toed sloth has nine neck bones.

By the way, reptiles (such as snake or crocodile) have eight neck bones with no exceptions.
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【No. 0151】Tiger Shark

May 18, 2015 21:13
Tiger Shark, included in one of the largest shark species, grows up to about 3m length and weigh about 400 kilograms.

The name is derived from the fact that the sharks have stripe patterns like a tiger on their surface.

If we translate "tiger shark" into Japanese literally, it will become "トラ(tiger)ザメ(shark)," but "トラザメ" means "catshark."

If we translate "catshark" into Japanese literally, it will become "ネコ(cat)ザメ(shark)," but "ネコザメ" means "bullhead shark."

Actually, "tiger shark" is translated "イタチ（weasel）ザメ," and "catshark" is translated "ナヌカ（7 days）ザメ."

Like this, there are many confusing names in the field of animals.