Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2024 July 29

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July 29

Access to reference 9 in Petrichor

Garg, Anu (2007). The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado Or Two: The Hidden Lives and Strange Origins of Words. Penguin. p. 399. ISBN 9780452288614.

Do you have access to the page 399? I would like to find out what it says about the two researchers, Isabel Bear and Dick Thomas. (In ruwiki the same source is cited and it is written that Thomas was from UK, whereas the enwiki says they are both from Australia).

Thank you in advance for your help. Gryllida (talk, e-mail) 00:41, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

The ref says, "In 1964, two Australian researchers, I.J. Bear and R. G. Thomas..." but does not provide any further biographical informaion about either one. Our article links to enwiki articles about each of them: Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Grenfell Thomas. Bear's article makes a strong claim for her being Australian, even though she did work for a few years in the UK. Thoman's article does not have any hint of any national connection other than Australia. DMacks (talk) 01:02, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, Bear's article says "In the 1950s Bear moved to the United Kingdom, where she worked at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. She moved to the University of Birmingham, where she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the department of metallurgy. Whilst working in Birmingham Bear became interested in solid-state chemistry. Bear joined the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIRO) in 1953, [...]" -- does it mean she apparently worked in the UK between 1950 and 1953?

The Nature paper was in 1964. Gryllida (talk, e-mail) 04:05, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

Yes, Reference [3] after the first sentence in your quote says explicitly "

In the UK (1950-53)

During three years in the UK she was employed first as an Experimental Scientist in the Metallurgy Division of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, and later as a Research Assistant in the Metallurgy Department of Birmingham University." AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:45, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

The fastest Internet speed during rain?

So ChatGPT says the fastest Internet speed during rain is fiber topics, then cabled Internet, then mobile wireless Internet. I just want a 2nd opinion if anyone agrees or disagrees? Specifically, ChatGPT said:

• Most Affected: Mobile wireless internet is the most affected by rainy weather due to signal attenuation.
• Moderately Affected: Cabled internet can be affected if the infrastructure is old or damaged, but it is generally more resilient than mobile wireless internet.
• Least Affected: Fiber optic internet is the least affected by rain due to its well-protected, light-based transmission system.

Thanks. 66.99.15.162 (talk) 19:36, 29 July 2024 (UTC).

Fibre optic cable is always the fastest. The bot is right that wireless technology suffers from rain by signal attenuation, which, provided the protocol is designed to make use of good conditions, can slow down internet speed in rain. Some attenuation isn't too bad, as it reduces interference between nearby cellphone towers, without significantly affecting signal strength on short distances. Once the transmitter reaches maximum power, more rain reduces possible speed.

Wired technology is generally unaffected by rain, unless there's so much rain that it enters the cabinets housing routers etc. or causes landslides, ripping the cables apart. Maybe ChatGPT thinks (to the extend that machines can think) that copper cable networks tend to be older than fibre optic networks and therefore more susceptible to such water intrusion.

Copper networks are typically faster than wireless for the same reason as why speaking tubes are better than providing everybody with a megaphone: the more people shout over the same medium, the more confusion. PiusImpavidus (talk) 09:47, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

The speed of mobile wireless Internet access depends more on the generation of broadband cellular network technology deployed locally (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G) than on the weather conditions. If there is no cellular coverage, the only solution is satellite Internet access, which can stream at a high rate but has a high latency. In all cases (wireless, cable, fiber) the bandwidth may depend on the contract with the provider – often one can opt for a subscription with a higher rate at a higher cost. And in all cases the actual latency and streaming rate may be much lower than the promised one.  --Lambiam 09:57, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Historic (pre-1800s) Wildfires in California

I read that historically, about 2-4 million hectares would burn a year in California, https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-megafires-why-wont-anybody-listen and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378112707004379. A claim made in the sources was that smoke was a feature of the landscape, rather than an oddity as it is now. If the "extreme" modern season tends to be around 2 million ha with moderate air quality impact, what would be some rough estimates for the average pm2.5 levels across pre-1800s California in late summertime? Takedalullaby (talk) 21:01, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

Sounds like The Burning City by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. They claim that the Los Angeles valley was originally called Iyáangẚ, "the valley of smoke". by the Tongva. Abductive (reasoning) 20:17, 30 July 2024 (UTC)