In todays light hearted look at the (non-political) news

[Horse]

FFS. This is light hearted.

Go find somewhere else to argue to the death

What the actual fuck are you on about?

[Felix]

FFS. This is light hearted.

Go find somewhere else to argue to the death

What the actual fuck are you on about?

Sangria

[ZRX61]

X59 flew today...

x59aa.jpg (12.71 KiB) Viewed 1521 times

[Horse]

Today's? Well 500 years or so ...

Article includes several diagrams

https://www.sciencealert.com/hidden-det ... ci-mystery



Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath who painted the Mona Lisa, had a sophisticated geometric understanding far ahead of his time.

To draw the Vitruvian Man in 1490 – an illustration of the 'ideal' human body – the Renaissance artist may have relied on a mathematical ratio not formally established until the 19th century.

It's one of the most iconic images of all time, and yet for more than 500 years, no one could decipher why da Vinci chose such specific proportions for the arms and legs.

As revealed in a paper published this year, a London dentist thinks he's solved the mystery at last.

Rory Mac Sweeney found a crucial hidden detail, tucked in the Vitruvian Man's crotch: an equilateral triangle that he thinks may explain "one of the most analyzed yet cryptic works in art history."

The Vitruvian Man is partly inspired by the writings of Roman architect Vitruvius, who argued that the perfect human body should fit inside a circle and square.

Da Vinci's drawing uses a square to precisely contain a 'cruciform pose', with arms outstretched and legs in. The circle, meanwhile, encompasses a posture where the arms are raised and the legs are spread.

Imagined on the human jaw, the Bonwill triangle dictates the optimal position for its function. Its ratio is also 1.633.

Mac Sweeney doesn't think that's a coincidence.

Bonwill's triangle dictates optimal mechanical function of the human jaw. (Mac Sweeney, J. Math. Arts, 2025)
Similar to minerals, crystals, and other biological packing systems found in nature, Mac Sweeney thinks the human jaw naturally organizes around tetrahedral geometries, which maximize mechanical efficiency.

If the tetrahedral ratio is repeated around our bodies, Mac Sweeney thinks that is because "human anatomy has evolved according to geometric principles that govern optimal spatial organization throughout the universe."

If Mac Sweeney is right, Da Vinci may have stumbled across a universal principle while drawing the Vitruvian Man.

"The same geometric relationships that appear in optimal crystal structures, biological architectures, and Fuller's coordinate systems seem to be encoded in human proportions," writes Mac Sweeney, "suggesting that Leonardo intuited fundamental truths about the mathematical nature of reality itself."

Whether other scientists agree with Mac Sweeney remains to be seen, but the fact that da Vinci mentioned the equilateral triangle in his notes suggests that what lies between the Vitruvian Man's legs is important.

[ZRX61]

Today in “Influencer has a hugely inflated sense of their importance to the world”, an influencer with a hugely inflated sense of their importance to the world....



https://www.standard.co.uk/going-out/fo ... 1762261193

[ZRX61]

It's all kicking off in Telford....

Firefighters were called to an underpass near Bishopdale, in Brookside, Telford yesterday afternoon after reports of a small fire in the open.

One appliance from Telford Central station was mobilised at 16:39 on Thursday, 6 November, 2025, after the Shropshire Fire Control received the alert.

​Crews found a small fire involving paper and quickly brought it under control.

The service confirmed that only a single bucket of water was required to extinguish the blaze.

https://www.telford-live.com/2025/11/fi ... aclIg2rFvA

[gremlin]

Heineken UK cuts Foster's alcohol strength to 3.4%

From the article: The brewer hinted at cheaper pints saying "It would appear that the great British public know not nor care not what they drink, so we're installing a system that mixes our generic McBeer with 50% recycled piss straight from the urinals".*

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzw99w17go

*I may or may not have done some BBC-esque editing on that.

[gremlin]

Meanwhile....

'Why I queued for almost 24 hours for a jacket potato'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gkdejdex1o

Amelia Sorby, 33, stands proudly at the front of the queue after arriving at 18:30 the previous evening, armed only with a camping chair and a thick winter coat.

The hordes of people have braved the weather for the official opening of Spud Bros – a jacket potato business started in Preston which has grown to become a TikTok sensation.

Ms Sorby is one of about 4.8 million social media followers of the company's founders, brothers Jacob and Harley Nelson, but, for her, being part of the queue in rainy Sheffield is less about the spuds and more about the "great vibes".

"I didn't sleep last night. I was so excited, I just walked around," she explains.

I mean, it's a free country and they grown adults, but seriously..?

[Taipan]

Heineken UK cuts Foster's alcohol strength to 3.4%

From the article: The brewer hinted at cheaper pints saying "It would appear that the great British public know not nor care not what they drink, so we're installing a system that mixes our generic McBeer with 50% recycled piss straight from the urinals".*

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzw99w17go

*I may or may not have done some BBC-esque editing on that.

A lot of beers have been dumbed down lately, Fosters is down from 4% to 3.7, Stella from 5.1 to 4.7? Is the sugar tax or summat?

[gremlin]

Heineken UK cuts Foster's alcohol strength to 3.4%

From the article: The brewer hinted at cheaper pints saying "It would appear that the great British public know not nor care not what they drink, so we're installing a system that mixes our generic McBeer with 50% recycled piss straight from the urinals".*

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzw99w17go

*I may or may not have done some BBC-esque editing on that.

A lot of beers have been dumbed down lately, Fosters is down from 4% to 3.7, Stella from 5.1 to 4.7? Is the sugar tax or summat?

Duty levels depending on beer strength: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/alcohol-duty-rates

They've actually rationalised it recently. Previously it had more layers for beer, hence why Kronembourg, Stella, et al went below 5%. Hopefully now we'll see proper beer in pubs, although with most of it brewed under license in big factories to British tastes, I doubt it.

[Dodgy69]

They'll lose sales dropping the % I'm on the ales atm 5 % min, i don't want gallons of the stuff. Shepherd neame and Co have some goodens.

[MrLongbeard]

Surprisingly my winter ale tipple is only 4.3%.

[Buckaroo]

Today's? Well 500 years or so ...

Article includes several diagrams

https://www.sciencealert.com/hidden-det ... ci-mystery



Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath who painted the Mona Lisa, had a sophisticated geometric understanding far ahead of his time.

To draw the Vitruvian Man in 1490 – an illustration of the 'ideal' human body – the Renaissance artist may have relied on a mathematical ratio not formally established until the 19th century.

It's one of the most iconic images of all time, and yet for more than 500 years, no one could decipher why da Vinci chose such specific proportions for the arms and legs.

As revealed in a paper published this year, a London dentist thinks he's solved the mystery at last.

Rory Mac Sweeney found a crucial hidden detail, tucked in the Vitruvian Man's crotch: an equilateral triangle that he thinks may explain "one of the most analyzed yet cryptic works in art history."

The Vitruvian Man is partly inspired by the writings of Roman architect Vitruvius, who argued that the perfect human body should fit inside a circle and square.

Da Vinci's drawing uses a square to precisely contain a 'cruciform pose', with arms outstretched and legs in. The circle, meanwhile, encompasses a posture where the arms are raised and the legs are spread.

Imagined on the human jaw, the Bonwill triangle dictates the optimal position for its function. Its ratio is also 1.633.

Mac Sweeney doesn't think that's a coincidence.

Bonwill's triangle dictates optimal mechanical function of the human jaw. (Mac Sweeney, J. Math. Arts, 2025)
Similar to minerals, crystals, and other biological packing systems found in nature, Mac Sweeney thinks the human jaw naturally organizes around tetrahedral geometries, which maximize mechanical efficiency.

If the tetrahedral ratio is repeated around our bodies, Mac Sweeney thinks that is because "human anatomy has evolved according to geometric principles that govern optimal spatial organization throughout the universe."

If Mac Sweeney is right, Da Vinci may have stumbled across a universal principle while drawing the Vitruvian Man.

"The same geometric relationships that appear in optimal crystal structures, biological architectures, and Fuller's coordinate systems seem to be encoded in human proportions," writes Mac Sweeney, "suggesting that Leonardo intuited fundamental truths about the mathematical nature of reality itself."

Whether other scientists agree with Mac Sweeney remains to be seen, but the fact that da Vinci mentioned the equilateral triangle in his notes suggests that what lies between the Vitruvian Man's legs is important.

Just thinking if a sixteen year old da Vinci drew this, Vitruvian man would have a massive knob and balls.

[Horse]

For all of the statues in museums being carved in hot countries, it must always have been cold in the studios ...

[Saga Lout]

Meanwhile....

'Why I queued for almost 24 hours for a jacket potato'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gkdejdex1o

Amelia Sorby, 33, stands proudly at the front of the queue after arriving at 18:30 the previous evening, armed only with a camping chair and a thick winter coat.

The hordes of people have braved the weather for the official opening of Spud Bros – a jacket potato business started in Preston which has grown to become a TikTok sensation.

Ms Sorby is one of about 4.8 million social media followers of the company's founders, brothers Jacob and Harley Nelson, but, for her, being part of the queue in rainy Sheffield is less about the spuds and more about the "great vibes".

"I didn't sleep last night. I was so excited, I just walked around," she explains.

I mean, it's a free country and they grown adults, but seriously..?

Somebody's reinvented Spudulike.

Spudulike Ltd was a British restaurant chain and franchise specialising in baked potatoes (potatoes being known as "spuds" in colloquial British English) that traded from 1974 to 2024. Spudulike sold baked potatoes with various fillings, other potato-based meals, and side dishes.
...
The 'Spudulike by James Martin' stores were closed in 2024 as the company found they could not make them viable.

[ZRX61]

The Blue Origin crowd sure liked that the Glenn rocket booster came back & landed on the ship on just it's 2nd flight. You'd think they just won the World Cup & Superbowl at the same time.

[gremlin]

Pair admit murdering man over mistaken identity

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cglg74nnx5jo

I've read and reread this story but still have no idea who was chasing who, who was meant to be run over and wasn't, who stabbed who and why and who the other bloke thought he was stabbing.

Mind you, clearly neither did they and by the sound of it, they're no loss to the world, be them either pushing up daisies or getting a stripy suntan.

[Mussels]

Pair admit murdering man over mistaken identity

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cglg74nnx5jo

I've read and reread this story but still have no idea who was chasing who, who was meant to be run over and wasn't, who stabbed who and why and who the other bloke thought he was stabbing.

Mind you, clearly neither did they and by the sound of it, they're no loss to the world, be them either pushing up daisies or getting a stripy suntan.

One of them hit his friend accidentally (might have been with a car, not sure), injuring but not killing him. He went down for murder.
The target iof the attack stabbed and killed one of his assailants, he also went down for murder.

I can't work it out either.

[KungFooBob]

What a clever idea...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rpy7envr5o

[Taipan]

Yes a great idea, but HTF was it costing £375 a month to heat that little bungalow?