• Nastybutler@lemmy.world
    2 hours

    There’s no way to make a backdoor for encryption that keeps the encryption secure. Politicians and government flunkies can’t seem to wrap their pea brains around that concept.

  • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
    2 hours

    The longevity of concrete isn’t just tied to the cylinder break strength.

    Also, concrete with certain aggregates end up creating silica gel, which is bad for concrete.

  • gandalf_der_13te@feddit.org
    6 hours

    In german and english, the comma in numbers is swapped. So the number 123.45 in german would be written as 123,45 while ironically, the thing that we used to separate thousands from hundreds is also swapped. So one-thousand-four-hundred would be written as 1,400 in english but as 1.400 in german …

    • gandalf_der_13te@feddit.org
      6 hours

      On top of that, you would pronounce 678 as six-hundred-seven-ty-eight in english … guess what it is in german:

      Sechs-hundert-acht-und-sieb-zig (literally six-hundred-eight-and-seven-ty)

      i’m actually trying to change this point specifically because it irks me … but i am sadly alone with it.

  • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
    10 hours

    The “magical formula” for stairs.

    If this rule isn’t followed when building stairs, then it feels uncomfortable and more accidents will actually happen there.

    In easy terms, it says: 2x riser + tread = average step lenght, usually 63cm.

    • AstralPath@lemmy.ca
      10 hours

      Oh man I hate it when stairs are not built to the proper ratio. It feels so weird.

    • Ech@lemmy.ca
      8 hours

      I’m curious how this compares to eras before this formula was normalized and if this is universal or more so just a matter of keeping things the same so people get used to them.

      • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        3 hours

        I know of a few cases in religious buildings where stairs were designed to have a mystical effect. In Angkor Wat, for example, the stairs have a steep and tall tread pattern. Commoners weren’t used to them so they’d be exhausted, but the local monks were used to them so they could ascend and descend with ease.

      • Corporal_Punishment@feddit.ukEnglish
        5 hours

        Visit any old city in the UK (York and Edinburgh for example) and a lot of passages between streets have steps with uneven heights.

        When you’re expecting it, its fine, you take extra care. But when its a modern building and they’ve fucked it up you really notice

      • Beth@piefed.socialEnglish
        6 hours

        My house is over 100 years old and all the damn stairs are different.

        • Jay@lemmy.caEnglish
          6 hours

          Same here. My stairs seemed to be an afterthought meant to squeeze in where it shouldn’t, built by someone who shouldn’t even been allowed to hold a hammer. I have size 13 feet, they hang several inches over the step when I use them. I’ve went down those stairs faster than intended a few times now. The basement stairs were even worse, but they’ve been replaced now.

          • Beth@piefed.socialEnglish
            2 hours

            This is all so relatable lol… Oh well, have a spooky house with lots of quirks, so can’t really complain.

            • Jay@lemmy.caEnglish
              2 hours

              Ya old houses can be… interesting to say the least lol! The last person that owned this place died on the living room floor about 4 feet where I’m sitting right now. Bonus is I got new flooring out of the deal.

              I’m actually slightly surprised it wasn’t the stairs that finished him off.

      • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
        6 hours

        I guess in China the number is smaller because the average people are smaller. Otherwise it is universal. It has been found out, not made up arbitrarily.

  • kbal@fedia.io
    11 hours

    Hundreds of years of burning coal has spread mercury compounds all over the land, so that quite often when they build a new dam for hydroelectric power it’s dissolved into the water and ends up concentrated in fishes that people eat.

    • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
      1 hour

      having to be careful about how much fish you eat due to mercury is one of the top dystopian things to me. People think about agriculture and grains with civilization but when you look at how important and common fish was to our diet for so long. Its crazy.

  • Iconoclast@feddit.uk
    11 hours

    An example from my field of expertise: Mixing different kinds of metals in wet environments causes the less noble one to corrode.

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
      2 hours

      Yeah. The worst part is that a lot of engineers and technicians don’t fully understand galvanic corrosion when specifying how to attach two different metals together.

      • Jay@lemmy.caEnglish
        10 hours

        That reminds me, I need to get a new one for my hot water tank. I’ve lived here 6 years, you’re supposed to change them around 5.

        • MagicShel@lemmy.zipEnglish
          9 hours

          It can be the difference between a water heater lasting 7 years and lasting 30.