You learn something new every day

[simont]

It occurred to me yesterday that the lembas eaten by Tolkien's Elves must have an extremely high energy density and thus I'd expect it to be explosive, or at the very least dangerously flammable to be hurling around near your campfire.

So it just occurred to me to try to actually estimate the energy density of such a fictitious food and compare it with that of some known explosives – and I discovered after some googling that in fact TNT has an energy density about one quarter that of normal carbohydrate-rich food. Fascinating. So high energy density is not merely insufficient to make something explosive, but in fact it isn't even necessary. I'm surprised; my intuition said otherwise.

In other news, lots of people have commentated on the recent papal election and have said many insightful, witty and/or heartfelt things about it; but I'm faintly disappointed that I've seen not one person entitle their post ‘Episode IV: A New Pope’. There. I have nothing else particularly intelligent to say on the subject, but I didn't want that one to slip by completely unsaid.

Comments

[fluffymormegil.livejournal.com]

Let's not be assembling any more puns.

[lasher.livejournal.com]

we need a.....
Pope Linus
for...
Open Source Catholicism

[pne.livejournal.com]

So you prefer the Cathedral method to the Bazaar?

[lasher.livejournal.com]

I apologize... but I don't understand the anaology. :( After reading more of this journal... and the reading some of your journal... although both are very interesting... I think that maybe I have stepped into a world of journals owned by people that have a wee bit more brain power than I. *wink*

Cathedral and the Bazaar

[pne.livejournal.com]

The Cathedral and the Bazaar is a document (http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/) (now also a book (http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/cathbazpaper/)) by Eric S. Raymond (http://www.catb.org/~esr/) (aka ESR) that basically compares two models of Getting Stuff Done.

The title is, I venture to say, moderately well-known in geekdom, even amongst those who haven't read the document, and was one of the first things I could come up with when associating "programming" and "church vocabulary".

I think that maybe I have stepped into a world of journals owned by people that have a wee bit more brain power than I.

Hmm... not so much brain power but having been exposed to certain things that could be considered in-jokes. I think it's mostly what you've been around than how intelligent you are.