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    1. Medieval Myth Busting - Arrows vs Armour, using historically accurate reproductions from time of the Battle of Agincourt (1415)

      MEDIEVAL MYTH BUSTING - Arrows vs Armour from Tod's Workshop YouTube Channel Other extra videos in the series: Find out More - The Battle Find out more - The Armour Find out More - Medieval Arrows...

      MEDIEVAL MYTH BUSTING - Arrows vs Armour from Tod's Workshop YouTube Channel

      Other extra videos in the series:
      Find out More - The Battle
      Find out more - The Armour
      Find out More - Medieval Arrows

      edit: Tod also re-uploaded the previous video with better sound:
      Find out More - Medieval Arrows*

      12 votes
    2. Worst weather experience?

      Since it's the peak of tropical storm season again, this thread is open for all to share stories and thoughts about weather experiences. Not necessarily concerns about climate change, but the...

      Since it's the peak of tropical storm season again, this thread is open for all to share stories and thoughts about weather experiences. Not necessarily concerns about climate change, but the incidents you've had personally, and whatever you've learned about preparation, resilience, and recovery.

      I'm no longer a Florida resident, but my contacts are blowing up with concern over Hurricane Dorian.

      I've been watching the storm on this nifty site, which has great tools and visualisations to satisfy the most avid weather geeks.

      Dorian is likely to be another devastating, small-region, high-intensity buzzsaw, like last year's Hurricane Michael, which practically erased towns in the Florida panhandle, or the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. [I'm not really a good person - I'm having more than a little schadenfreude that Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is near the center of the storm's predicted path. But I'm not the only person who thought of that.]

      According to the Insurance Information Institute, Florida has nearly $600 billion dollars of single family housing at risk from a Category 5 hurricane, leaving aside loss of life and injury.

      My stories, compressed for those who've read this before

      Some of my friends and colleagues have families still recovering from the impacts of 2017's Hurricanes Irma, Harvey, and Maria.

      While I had to deal with these storms' impacts to infrastructure professionally, the hurricanes didn't have enormous personal impact. I was mainly supporting friends or covering for colleagues struggling to help family in Texas, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Islands. Our house was eight miles from the coast, so we only dealt with a downed tree and other cleanup, a few hours without power, and some blocked roads.

      Because I have dumb hobbies, the most extreme weather dangers I ever encountered were while kayaking and canoeing. Five years ago, I was on a guided ocean kayaking trip that ran into an unpredicted storm squall. Perfect blue skies and calm one minute; near darkness, huge waves, practically solid rain, and 40-knot winds the next. The party got scattered all over half a dozen of the 10,000 Islands. I struggled to get off the windward side of a long isle, so the wind banged my kayak into mangroves for an hour, then I was paddling furiously to avoid being swept into the Gulf of Mexico. But we all survived without major harm, the guide managed to reconnect us without calling for rescue, and we arrived at our destination with good stories. I can only imagine what it's like to be exposed to worse conditions in a hurricane.

      Up to that time, the most dangerous weather I'd run into was snow and ice storms. When I was a kid, the Blizzard of 1978 left my family stranded, without phones, power or heat, for five days. We had a fireplace, plenty of hardwood, and an ample store of dried and canned provisions, so it felt more like a rustic adventure than the dire situation it could have been. My brother and I thought 10-foot snowdrifts were the greatest fun ever - we spent more time outside than in, "helping" to dig out by making snow forts and tunnels with the neighbors' kids. Of course, it was followed with a spring of chores like putting up half a kilometer of snow fences, learning to drive a 40-hp farm tractor, and setting up a ham radio antenna and generator, as my city-raised parents had come to grasp what rural life really entailed.

      14 votes
    3. What have you been listening to this week?

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

      Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

      You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

      http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

      Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

      12 votes
    4. What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)

      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...

      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.

      If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!

      9 votes
    5. The Trolley Problem

      An interesting thought experiment that I vividly remember from undergrad philosophy courses is the trolley problem: You see a runaway trolley moving toward five tied-up (or otherwise...

      An interesting thought experiment that I vividly remember from undergrad philosophy courses is the trolley problem:

      You see a runaway trolley moving toward five tied-up (or otherwise incapacitated) people lying on the main track. You are standing next to a lever that controls a switch. If you pull the lever, the trolley will be redirected onto a side track, and the five people on the main track will be saved. However, there is a single person lying on the side track. You have two options:

      1. Do nothing and allow the trolley to kill the five people on the main track.
      2. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.

      A variation of the problem that we were also presented with was:

      You see a runaway trolley moving toward five tied-up (or otherwise incapacitated) people lying on the main track. You are standing on a bridge that runs across the trolley tracks. There is a large man on the bridge next to you, who if pushed over the bridge and onto the track, would safely stop the trolley, saving the five people but killing the large man. Do you:

      1. Push the man over the bridge, saving the five people.
      2. Allow the trolley to kill the five people

      Which is the more ethical options? Or, more simply: What is the right thing to do?

      17 votes
    6. Where did all the nerds go?

      I was a nerd. Back in the 80's, nerds were easily identifiable. If you spent your time playing computer games instead of real games, were pale and lanky, you were a nerd. Bonus points if you...

      I was a nerd.

      Back in the 80's, nerds were easily identifiable.

      If you spent your time playing computer games instead of real games, were pale and lanky, you were a nerd. Bonus points if you played D&D or read books for fun.

      Now everyone seems to qualify.

      Everyone in high school looks pale and lanky. They all have their noses buried in their digital devices.

      Does the concept not even exist anymore?

      Or do I just no longer "get it"?

      19 votes
    7. Australian government releases "exposure draft" of religious discrimination bill

      A news article: New protections for Folau-like cases in draft religious discrimination bill A radio interview with the Attorney-General: Federal Government unveils religious discrimination...

      A news article: New protections for Folau-like cases in draft religious discrimination bill

      A radio interview with the Attorney-General: Federal Government unveils religious discrimination legislation on Radio National

      Some legal analysis: The government has released its draft religious discrimination bill. How will it work?

      A Christian response: Religious discrimination bill draft released

      8 votes