Game on A page

There is a website that lets you play old computer games directly through the page, it literally boots up an emulator and runs the game ROM on the web page. 

That game site is called  Freebie Games.

The link is https://freebie.games/

They keep the ROM with them so they don't break any copyright laws where they are located. You don't need to install anything to play the games, you just need a working web browser that supports their technology. 

~ image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder)

I found it also generates the controllers needed to run the game. I managed to find my favourite dos game on there and play it on my smartphone using the little controllers that it provided. 

Kirby Origins

According to Nintendo, the video game called Kirby was named after a lawyer that defended them against a lawsuit from universal. 

image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder) 

Universal sued them because they thought Donkey Kong was too much like king Kong and thought they were entitled to royalties from the Japanese Game Company. They eventually lost the case. 

Instant Tuner

If you're worried your guitar strings are not playing the right note or your piano is off a bit, you don't need to buy a tuner, you can summon an instant tuner that doesn't need an app on your smart phone 

~ image generated by artificial intelligence (chatGPT) 

All you need to do is go to Google and type 'tuner google' or click on this link... Google tuner. 

The tuner works with all sounds, you can even sing notes to see if your voice can reach the right notes.

Instant Spirit Level

If you need a spirit level tool but don't have one with you, you can use your phone as an instant Spirit level. 

You don't need to install an app, just click on this link Spirit Level

image generated by artificial intelligence (chatGPT) 

If you don't want to click on the link, you could just type spirit level on the Google search bar.

The instant spirit level will use your phone's gravity sensors to move the virtual bubble.

Super Mario Facts

In the game super mario brothers and the sequels, mario doesn't hit his head on the item blocks, he actually hits it with his hand. If you look closely you'll see he actually puts his hand above his head and that is what is hitt the blocks when he jumps. 

image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder) 

The Name Mario Comes from a man that was renting warehouses to Nintendo, he was called Mario. 

Penny a Minute

If you were given 1 pence (cent) every minute, after one day you would have £14.40 because there is 1440 minutes in a day. 

After a week you would have £100.80, not bad for a gift. 

If you were given 1 pence per minute for a whole year, you would have £5256, enough to buy a low mileage second hand car. It would be enough to buy a decent overseas family holiday and have change left over for a top of the range electric bike or £2,500 spending money on your holiday. 

image generated by artificial intelligence (chatGPT)

If you divide £5,256 by 12, you would have a monthly sum of £438. Not bad if it was a second income. 

If you received 2p per minute, you would get £876 per month. 

If you received 3p per minute, you would get £1314 per month. 

If you received 4p per minute, you would get £1752

That would be enough to live on for most people at the time of writing this. 

Getting 5p per minute would give you a monthly income of £2190. Enough to live of comfortably at the time this post was written. 

Too Fast

One of the reasons why NASA don't send probes to land on the surface of Mercury is because the planet is moving too fast. Mercury is traveling at 48 kilometres per second. It is the fastest moving planet in the solar system. The closer you are to the sun the faster you have to move to stop yourself cascading into the star. It is very hard to get probes to travel at close to 48 kilometres per second

image generated by artificial intelligence (chatGPT) 

Earth is traveling slower than mercury but it is still moving fast, 30 kilometres per second. It is possible to meet the planet in it's path but the sun's gravity would interfere in the rendezvous. Mercury is 3 times closer to the sun than Earth although it has a highly elliptical orbit and can be as far as 70 million kilometres from the sun. 

Sources : 

Book: The Planets by Professor Brian Cox

Website: https://science.nasa.gov/mercury/

Website: Wikipedia

Astronomical Unit

The distance between the Earth and the sun is used as a measurement of large distances of space. The earth is roughly 150 million km from sun on average, that distance  is called an astronomical Unit, AU. They did it this way to reduce the size of the numbers that represent the distances so humans can begin to imagine the scale of the solar system and deep space. 

image created by artificial intelligence (chatGPT) 

Distances from the sun 

Earth is 1 AU astronomical Unit (150 million km) 

Mercury is about ⅓ of an AU. 

Venus is 0.72 AU. 

Mars is 1.5 AU, about 50% further than Earth. 

Jupiter is 5.2 AU, 5.2 times further from the sun than Earth.

Saturn is 9.4 AU, nearly 10 times further from the sun than Earth. 

Uranus is 19.22 AU . 

Neptune is 30.06 AU, nearly twice as far from the sun as Uranus, that is why you need a telescope to see it. 

Pluto is 39.53 AU 

Sources 

Nasa Website: https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/

Book: The Planets By Professor Brian Cox, ISBN 9780007488841

True when you think about it

A street light in a computer game is using electricity because the the pixels that show the lamp require electricity and to keep the memory of the street lamp, a constant flow of current is needed. 

image generated by artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) 

Night time is a shadow ; it is literally  the shadow of the earth. 

If you had offspring with your auntie, you would be your own uncle. 

Source: My own common sense. 

Bloody Mary

You may think the term bloody Mary comes from a cocktail drink made with tomato juice and vodka but it actually comes from the First  English female Queen to have full regency of a male king,  Queen Mary Tudor or Queen Mary I.  

Artificial intelligence image of Queen Mary I(chatGpt) 

The reason she got the nickname bloody Mary was because she had many of her protestant opponents put to death along with her cousin, Lady Jane Grey, the Queen Hand picked  by her brother before he died from tuberculosis and the Father of Jane Grey.  She tried very hard to return England into the Catholic realm until she passed away from suspected stomach cancer. 

possible modern likeness of Queen Mary I rendered by artificial intelligence (chatGPT) 

Source : Elizabeth, the forgotten Years  by John Guy, ISBN 978-0-241-96365 

Source : wikipedia.com 

Source Britanica.com 

Biggest Train Crash

The Biggest Train disaster in the united kingdom wasn't reported because it happened during world war 1 and there was a curfew on news reporting that would expose our weaknesses to the enemy. 

 

image generated by Artificial intelligence (chatGPT)

Four trains were involved, a signalman was leaving his shift and forgot to inform the replacement that there was a train waiting at the junction. Two trains eventually crashed into the train that was waiting and a 4th train that was waiting in a nearby railway layby was also hit by derailed train parts. It's like something out of Thomas the tank engine. 

The incident happened at Quintin'shill near Carlisle in 1915.

Source : Amazing and Extraordinary Railway Facts by Julian Holland, ISBN 978-0-7153-25827-7

Chat GPT Draws

You can now ask the free version of chat GPT ai language system to draw pictures.  https://chatgpt.com/

I asked chatGPT to draw a cat playing a scratch card. 

AI is now very common, my smart speaker can tell the difference between me and my wife wife's voice and identifies us by our name. So far ai is coming across as a friend or friendly person that likes to help you out.

Yorkshire Ripper

There is significant evidence that Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper killed people across the whole of Britain, not just in the Greater Manchester area and northern England. 

Image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder)

It is believed he used his company van to commit deadly assaults while he was delivering goods. 

To this day we still don't know how many people he killed. 

source: Inside the Mind of the Yorkshire Ripper, by Chris Clark and Tim Hicks (book) 

England Gregorian

England didn't embrace the Gregorian Calendar until the 17th century, over 100 years after it was invented by the Catholic church. 

This means throughout the Tudor Dynasty and before, they used the Julian calendar. New year was observed on the 25th of March and the dates were inaccurate by today's standards. 

Image generated by artificial intelligence 

Source , 'Elisabeth The forgotten Years', By John Guy, ISBN 978-0-241- 96365-4

Privatisation of Space

NASA has been privatising space travel, they have been reaching out to private companies to make spaceships for them. 

They have so far given out two contracts, one to SpaceX and one to Boeing. The two companies make space vehicles that bring astronauts to the international space station. 

They believe that private companies would deliver space vehicles more efficiently and with a smaller budget. 

Recently the Boeing Star liner space capsule has had some serious faults and has been forced to return to earth without the astronauts. 

Pink Lady Wine

Pink Lady Wine is actually a cider because it is made from Pink lady apples. 

Alcoholic drinks that are made from apples or pear are considered to be cider drinks. 

Lays and Walkers

The walkers crisps brand outside the UK is called Lays and is own by Pepsi. 

image generated by AI. 

AM And PM

When you're reading the time AM stands for Anti Meridian, this means before Meridian because the sun hasn't reached the meridian line in the sky from your perspective. 

image generated by ai. 

PM stands for post meridian because the sun has apparently gone past the meridian line. 

Gliese 12

According to the NASA blogs, they have recently discovered a planet going around the red dwarf  star Gliese 12.  The planet is believed get more light from it's star than Earth but less than Venus. 

Gliese is bright for a red dwarf, about half the Brightness of our sun and surprisingly stable. The planet called Gliese 12 B is believed to be a rocky planet with a similar mass to Earth, it may also have a thick atmosphere and liquid water on the surface. 

Yellow Phone

When you look at yellow colours on your smart phone display you're probably not actually looking at yellow. Most handsets mix red and green light together to create an imitation of yellow but it's not true yellow like a lemon. The receptors in most people's eyes can't tell the difference. 

image generated by AI (wonder) 

Thin Air

According to astronaut 'Tim Peake', the air quality on the international space station is the same as Earth at sea level. 

Image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder) 

However on commercial airlines the air is usually pressurised to 1,830 - 2,400 meters. The air on a plane is akin to the air on the top of a small mountain, thin and dry.  The air on the international space station is better than the air on an airplane. 

Source : Ask an Astronaut by Tim Peake, ISBN : 978 -1 - 784 - 75948 - 3

Titan The Moon

Titan, Saturn's Largest moon is only 80% bigger than our own moon but it has a thick atmosphere, lakes made of methane, dunes, mountains and even coastlines. 

Image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder) 

Methane, Propane and Butane are usually gassed on earth, but on Titan they exist as a liquid because the moon is very cold. 

Source : Wikipedia

Cashew Apples

Cashew nuts come attached to an accessory fruit known as a Cashew apple. However the fruit doesn't travel very well, it only stays fresh for a short time and bruises very easily. 

Image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder) 

Cashew apple is used to make all sorts of sweets and puddings. It is even used to make alcoholic drinks. 

Source Wikipedia

Berry Good

According to the botanical definition of a berry, Raspberries, Strawberries and Blackberries are not berries because they don't come from the single ovary of a single flower. 

Image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder)

Tomatoes, Cucumbers blue berries and melons are actually berries because they come from single flowers with one ovary. 

Source : Wikipedia

Bamboo

Bamboo can grow bigger than most trees and has a very hard outer layer yet it is in the Poaceae family; it is a type of grass. It is related to the grass that grows on lawns. 

Image generated by AI (wonder) 

Some species of Bamboo have been known to grow over 90cm in one day. They're the fastest growing plant in the world. Bamboo is also one of the most useful plants in the world, it has a wood like stem and the plant fibers can be used to make different papers, toilet paper, packaging and things like that. 

Source : Wikipedia

Sainsbury's Train station

Sainsbury's Supermarket in Uxbridge used to be Uxbridge train station. The Sainsbury's in Uxbridge was originally Uxbridge train station but they later thought the train station should have direct access to the high street so they moved to another position nearby. 

image generated by AI (wonder) 

When the station was moved to the high street, there was a small shop there that remained. Later in 1985, Sainsbury's bought the disused station and shop and rebuilt the place as a supermarket. 

Source My London News

Cows are Lactose Intolerant

Cows are Lactose intolerant. Just like almost all other mammals in the world, cows stop producing the lactase enzyme when they're adults so they get irritated by Lactose. Even though their milk has lactose in it, it would make them sick if they drank it and give them diarrhoea. 

image generated by AI

Space Sickness

Living for long periods of time in space can cause a range of illnesses. One such illness is Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome. The sickness is caused by fluids flowing into the head because the lower portion of your body forces blood upward. 

Image generated by AI. 

NASA was recently experimenting with cuff clothing you wear to help put pressure on your body and decrease the sickness. 

Source NASA.gov

Big Ben

Many people think the giant clock attached to Westminster palace is called Big Ben but that was actually the name they gave to large 13 tonne bell inside the clock tower. The clock tower itself is called the Elizabeth tower. 

Not only does the Elizabeth clock tower have a giant bell but 4 smaller bells that play the 16 notes before the clock chimes. There are actually 5 bells and the big bell is called Big Ben. 

It's ok to call the giant clock Big Ben though. We all know what you mean. 

Source : Parliament Website

European Countries

Ukraine and France are the biggest countries in Europe, most of Russia is in Asia. France is twice the size of the United Kingdom. 

image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder AI) 

1. Russia - 17,098,242 square kilometers

2. Ukraine - 603,550 square kilometers

3. France - 551,695 square kilometers

4. Spain - 505,990 square kilometers

5. Sweden - 450,295 square kilometers

6. Norway - 385,207 square kilometers

7. Germany - 357,022 square kilometers

8. Finland - 338,455 square kilometers

9. Poland - 312,696 square kilometers

10. Italy - 301,340 square kilometers

11. United Kingdom - 242,495 square kilometers

12. Romania - 238,397 square kilometers

13. Belarus - 207,600 square kilometers

14. Greece - 131,957 square kilometers

15. Bulgaria - 110,879 square kilometers

16. Iceland - 103,000 square kilometers

17. Hungary - 93,030 square kilometers

18. Portugal - 92,090 square kilometers

19. Austria - 83,879 square kilometers

20. Czech Republic - 78,865 square kilometers

21. Serbia - 77,474 square kilometers

22. Ireland - 70,273 square kilometers

23. Lithuania - 65,300 square kilometers

24. Latvia - 64,589 square kilometers

25. Croatia - 56,594 square kilometers

26. Bosnia and Herzegovina - 51,209 square kilometers

27. Slovakia - 49,036 square kilometers

28. Estonia - 45,227 square kilometers

29. Denmark - 43,094 square kilometers

30. Switzerland - 41,290 square kilometers

31. Netherlands - 41,543 square kilometers

32. Moldova - 33,846 square kilometers

33. Belgium - 30,528 square kilometers

34. Albania - 28,748 square kilometers

35. North Macedonia - 25,713 square kilometers

36. Slovenia - 20,273 square kilometers

37. Montenegro - 13,812 square kilometers

38. Kosovo - 10,887 square kilometers

39. Cyprus - 9,251 square kilometers

40. Malta - 316 square kilometers

Source : Chat GPT 3.5 

Lottery Face

The Logo for the British National Lottery has a face hidden in plain sight. It looks like a hand with the fingers crossed for good luck, but when you take a closer look you can see it also has a face. 

The two curled up fingers are the eyes and the hand line is a mouth. 

Dizzy Facts

You don't have five senses, you have more than that. You can sense the direction of gravity. The organ that senses the direction of gravity (what way is up or down) is called vestibular system, it can be found deep in your ears.

Image generated by artificial intelligence (wonder AI) 

JellyFish have a similar system, if one is born in a  micro gravity environment, they become dizzy after  they're brought back to earth. The sudden introduction of gravity causes them to get vertigo. 

Source : 'Can You Get Jellyfish in Space' by Dr Sheila Kanani, ISBN 978-0-241-66983-9 

DNA From Your Mum

Most of the DNA in your cells is inherited from your mother. You inherit 23 Chromosomes from your father and 23 from your mother. 

Image generated by AI 

You also inherit Mitochondria DNA from your Mother so overall most of your DNA comes from your mum.  

sources : Freehand knowledge of Alan Booth, the Author of this blog. 

Air Composition

Believe it or not Carbon-Dioxide is not the third most abundant gas in the atmosphere. Argon is the third most Abundant gas at just under 1% of the atmosphere composition. 

Image generated by artificial intelligence 

Most of the atmosphere is made of Nitrogen (78%) Oxygen is 20.9 % of the atmosphere. Carbon-Dioxide comprises less than half of one percent of the Earth's atmosphere. 0.04 % to be exact. 

Sources : Wikipedia CO2 article

The Periodic Table by Tom Jackson (paper back) 

Air Is Magnetic

Oxygen is Paramagnetic, this means it becomes magnetic when it is present in a magnetic field and attracted to it. All the other gases in the air, Nitrogen and Argon are Diamagnetic they become magnetic when they're in a magnetic field but are repelled by it. 

(image generated by AI).

The main component of air, nitrogen is slightly repelled by magnetic fields. But oxygen is attracted by Magnetic fields; all the gases in the air react to magnetic fields.

Source : The Periodic Table by Tom Jackson 

Super Batteries

In recent years, standard cylindrical battery makers have started putting lithium power cells into rechargeable AA and AAA batteries and have managed to increase their storage ability to a staggering 3000 milliamps (3 amp-hours). At the same time they still managed to cap the voltage at 1.2 without causing them to explode or burn, that is astonishing. 

(Cropped screen shot taken from a shopping site.)

These things will literally last all day for normal uses. 

With clever circuitry, a single lithium AA battery can power a 50 inch TV  for long enough to watch a movie. 

Source : Hands on observation of Alan Booth through experience. 

Umbilical Cord

Before you were born you grew a cord out of your belly called an Umbilical cord. It allowed you to live without eating or breathing throughout your time in the womb. 

The Umbilical cord comes from the fetus not the mother. 

Source : Wikipedia