Determinism.
Is a philosophical view according to which evrything has a reason. More precisely, Determinism is commited to two propositions, as phrased by Peter Van Inwagen:
1. For any moment in time, we can write a list of facts that describe precisely that moment and only it.
2. If A is a proposition that describes one moment in time, and L is the propostion that describes the laws of nature, A and L together entail all other descriptions of points in time.
#1 tells us that each moment in time is different and can be described. #2 tells us that if we know everything about one point in time and all the laws of nature, we can deduce what happened before and after that point.
1975
David Lewis.
Was a prominent analytic philosopher. One of his most influential ideas revolved around the concept of possible worlds.
Lewis believed there is an infinite number of possible worlds, each different from our own to different degrees. An important feature of these possible worlds is that we can compare them based on their relative distance from our real world.
This feature was the basis for many of Lewis's theories - for example, Lewis believed that event A is a cause of event B if and only if, in the closest possible world where A didn't occur, B didn't occur either.
1986
Queen Elizabeth can’t sit on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones.
An old tradition prohibits the reigning English monarch from sitting on a foreign throne.
2019
Medical Waste.
Healthcare facilities like hospitals, dental clinics, nursing homes, physician’s offices generate a large amount of medical waste daily
2020
In 1986, the night before the Challenger shuttle exploded, Allan McDonald, the Director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project, Refused to Sign the Launch Recommendation over Safety Concerns..
The resulting improvements led to 110 shuttle missions in which the boosters came back pristine.
Selfies kill more people than sharks.
Between 2011 and 2017, at least 259 people died taking selfies, compared to just 50 people killed by sharks in the same period.
2019
We know more about Mars and our Moon than we do about our oceans.
We have fully mapped 100% of the surface of Mars and Earth’s Moon, whereas we have only been able to map roughly 5% of the ocean floor.
2009
A survey of 500 drivers found that 44 percent couldn't get a passing score on a written driving test.
However, there's no limit to the number of times you can take a driving test
2013
Some people with anxiety may actively resist relaxation.
A study suggesting that it's a way to avoid a large jump in anxiety if something bad really does happen
2019
In the 1995 Halloween episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson finds a portal to the mysterious Third Dimension behind a bookcase, and desperate to escape his in-laws, he plunges through. He finds himself wandering across a dark surface etched with green gridlines and strewn with geometric shapes, above which hover strange equations. One of these is the deceptively simple assertion that P = NP.
The biggest unsolved mystery in Computer Science explained, the question that will earn 1M dollars to the first person to prove the answer. If answered as yes, this question will change the world of Computer Science as we know it today.
2009
Ben, the Elephant that waited for the Doctor.
After being shot by poachers Ben walked to and patiently waited outside a medical lodge for 5 hours.
2016
Popcorn at the movies isn’t universal.
in Colombia, dried ants are popular. in Norway you can find Dried Reindeer Meat at the drive-in theater for snowmobiles
2016
Emanuel Kant proposed an ethical theory dubbed "The Categorical Imperative".
This theory suggests that an action is moral if and only if you would want the personal rule that led you to preform this act to become universal to all humans.
1785
The Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft that visited Mercury.
It was launched at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in 1973, and flew by Venus 3 months later.
2020
HIV's Patient 0.
AIDS ‘patient zero’ is believed by scientists to have lived in Cameroon Africa, and contracted the disease around 1908, after hunting a chimp and being infected with SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus)
2011
The one and only British grown Chocolate.
a factory in York tried growing cacao in the inhospitable British weather, but harvested only enough for one small bar
2020
49% of Americans over 20 eat a sandwich every day.
this type of meal makes up a significant portion of Americans' daily diet. But quantifying exactly how sandwiches contribute to our diet isn't easy
2014
