Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 July 31

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July 31

Applying for adminship

Can I be an administrator168.70.81.77 (talk) 01:53, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Unregistered users cannot be administrators. Otherwise, I would recommend you read Wikipedia:Guide to requests for adminship. Admins are expected to have demonstrated considerable experience and tenure with Wikipedia, and it is unlikely for someone without over a year on the site and thousands of edits to become an admin. Someguy1221 (talk) 01:55, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Lewis: OK, but how to register? I had a year on the site. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.70.81.77 (talk) 02:14, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Top right corner, should be a "Create account" button. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:38, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Then he should tell us what his user ID is. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:41, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

I'm reminded of a twist in the old Groucho Marx club joke. Anybody who has to ask how do I become an admin probably isn't ready to be one. Richard Avery (talk) 07:13, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

I see you use the mobile version. The menu icon at the top left has a log in link where you can also create an account. Many interface features are only in the desktop version on "Desktop" at the bottom of mobile pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:31, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Enough with the red tape! We haven't got time to deal with processes and procedures. Give this IP what he wants, and now! Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 13:57, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Poe's law? --Jayron32 14:05, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Put the bunny back in the box... Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 17:00, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

The user needs to find IPdia, where only IP's are allowed to be admins. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:54, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Sure, let's vote for an administrator that can't find the "create account" button :-). That would be a fine addition. --Lgriot (talk) 13:29, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Born first day of the year, died last day of the year

I just looked at the Charles de Lorme article and for some reason found it interesting that he was born on 1 January and died on 31 December, and wondered if anyone else notable has been recorded as doing this? 121.45.122.23 (talk) 15:51, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Shakespeare managed to die on the same day of the year he was born. 86.131.233.223 (talk) 16:19, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

William Shakespeare—"William Shakespeare (/ˈʃeɪkspɪər/ SHAYK-speer; 26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616)[a] was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both the greatest writer in the English language, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist." How is that the same day? Bus stop (talk) 16:25, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

He was baptized on the 26th, not born. Although it's not certain, the 23rd is indeed his generally accepted birthdate - according to the History Channel, because three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn. -Elmer Clark (talk) 08:31, 5 August 2018 (UTC)

Darkie Ellis died on the day before his birthday. 86.131.233.223 (talk) 16:24, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Baptised on the 26th. It's well known that Shakespeare's birthday coincides with St George's Day. 86.131.233.223 (talk) 16:28, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

No, what's well documented is his baptism day, 26 April. Shakespearean lore and legend has him being born 3 days earlier, on 23 April, but there is zero actual evidence of this. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:59, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

From Shakespeare's_life#Early_life: "His exact date of birth is not known—the baptismal record was dated 26 April 1564—but has been traditionally taken to be April 23, 1564, which is also the Feast Day of Saint George, the patron saint of England." Matt Deres (talk) 01:42, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

Gabby Hartnett came close. Born December 20, died December 20. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:40, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

• This question sounds like exactly the sort of thing Wikidata is made for: a query of that database looking for the intersection of specific birthdates and specific death dates sounds trivial, if you know how to work with SPARQL. I don't, but I imagine someone will. --Jayron32 18:24, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

• Hugh Nelson (Australian politician) was born on 31 December and died on 1 January. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:02, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Given the time zone difference, he may have been born January 1 in his deathplace and died December 31 in his birthplace. InedibleHulk (talk) 03:09, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

"During the 16th century, baptisms usually took place within three days of a new arrival and parents were instructed children were baptised no later than the first Sunday after birth. Which means it is unlikely Shakespeare was born any earlier than the previous Sunday, April 23."[1]. Muhammad's grandson Husayn ibn Ali was born on 10 October and died in battle exactly 55 years later. Muhammad himself was born on the twelfth day of the third month of the contemporary calendar and died on that day 62 years later. He therefore lived for 22,652 days (3,236 weeks). 86.131.233.223 (talk) 12:23, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

• Some of the data in the IMDB is still available for free download for non-commercial use. This does not include full dates of birth and death, but until last year it did, and the old data from December is still available on at least one of the sites where they used to publish it; I'm not going to say where that was, in case someone complains. As of the December data, they have birth information (not always the full date) for 459,487 people and 1,702 of these are shown with January 1 birthdays; they have death information for 154,495 people and 426 of these died on December 31. The only one with both characteristics is Dwight Taylor (writer) (here's his IMDB page). --76.69.47.228 (talk) 04:04, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

• Alfonso Gómez-Lobo (January 1, 1940 – December 31, 2011), professor of metaphysics and moral philosophy at Georgetown University known for his critical evaluations of modern-day ethics.
• Maria Leavey (January 1, 1954 – December 31, 2006), American independent political strategist.

-- ToE 12:34, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

Magnetic shield on battle field

Was wondering if any work has been done on using large magnets to deflect shrapnel away from people or vehicles in war/ peace time. Am guessing the magnet would attract/deflect the projectile (all or most are metal). Maybe a layered effect to move anything travelling at speed. Is there any information on tests completed can't seem to find any. Lost login but name is chromagnum 😌 Thinking it may have a use in construction and over head protection from falling objects...— Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.16.75.66 (talk)

The only thing I'm aware of that's in development is electric reactive armor, which is meant to destroy/disperse/deflect a penetrator as it is entering a vehicles armor. When I look for people using more volumentric (electro)magnetic fields to deflect shrapnel or bullets, all I get are discussion forums like this one, and also there's a video supposedly of mythbusters shooting a bullet past a supermagnetic and watching it kinda wobble. Someguy1221 (talk) 20:36, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Thanks; projectiles distance/velocity/shape would all have to taken into consideration. Point blank range maybe no effect but further away mmmm, safety in construction or working at height in magnetic suit may have applications. Well thanks for pointing me in right direction "Chromagnum"

You should really be asking this at the science desk, but offhand, I'd think you'd need really powerful magnets, which would interfere with electronic equipment, require lots of power continuously and only affect certain metals. Also, vehicles would repel or attract each other in embarrassing ways and thus interfere with military maneuvering. (Probably not strong enough to do much to heavy vehicles.) Clarityfiend (talk) 07:14, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

The assumption is that there is enough metal in a bullet to be attracted significantly to a magnet. A lead bullet will have nearly no attraction to a magnet. A full metal jacket round is normally cased in brass or copper (or a similar non-magnetic alloy). So, even with the metal casing, magnetic attraction is negligible. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 12:06, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Mythbusters deflected a bullet slightly with a series of rare earth magnets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2008_season)#Episode_95_%E2%80%93_%22James_Bond,_Part_1%22 This nonsense https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYgMEMdGkF8 (skip to 12:11) says a very large number of magnets can stop a BB gun pellet under special conditions. --TrogWoolley (talk) 12:19, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I saw that episode. The key is "slightly." It took a lot of magnetism over a long distance with a special bullet designed to be attracted to the magnet and travel slowly. In the end, rare earth magnets are very dense. Get enough of it to magnetically deflect a bullet and you can just use the magnet as immensely heavy armor plating. It isn't something you'd want to wear when kevlar is a much lighter option. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 13:11, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Magnets also don't care what they are attracting; if you have a magnet which can significantly deflect a moving bullet, it would have the same effect on any object with that much energy. Bullets have a lot of energy because of their high velocity, but slower velocity, more massive objects would react similarly; your giant magnet is also going to, say, yank the gun out of your soldier's hands and pull the buttons off his coat, etc. etc. Sounds fantastically impractical. --Jayron32 14:31, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I'm picturing peacekeepers setting up batteries of MRI scanners in defensive positions around hospitals and thinking something lower tech might be more practical. Matt Deres (talk) 01:47, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

Equipment that deflects bullets towards itself seems like it'd be of limited use. It's difficult to imagine how you'd deploy them so that they wouldn't be just as likely to re-direct would-have-missed shots into something critical. ApLundell (talk) 17:07, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

Equipment that first detects incoming bullets and then actively deflects them is imaginable. It would employ sensors and control electromagnet(s), forming a higher-power pulsed version of this magnetic levitator device (video). The technical challenges to be overcome are comparable to those of the electromagnetic Railgun. DroneB (talk) 22:06, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

There is little functional difference between that and a system that detects a missile and then deflects or destroys it. To date, the ability to take out a missile has been rather pathetic. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 11:23, 6 August 2018 (UTC)

A key difference is that a bullet or small piece of shrapnel could be steered into a hardened collector. DroneB (talk) 14:23, 6 August 2018 (UTC)