Answers to some random questions : do penguins have knees? and more.

Do penguins have knees?
what do you think about wearing odd shoes?
Can you explain the theory behind subwoofer design?
how many pocky can you eat at once?
have you ever built a fire truck?

In response to my own post HERE I have answered some of my own random questions, although I still maintain its more fun writing for other people than for myself.

(Title image from some decaying childrens play equipment laying out in my yard, I don thave any penguins handy to take photos of)

Do penguins have knees?

I first learned about leg bones as a kid in a Donald Duck childrens book and clearly remember the line "the tibia is a very important bone in the body". Penguins, just like anthropomorphised ducks and just like humans do indeed have a tibia, fibula, and perfectly functioning knees. They are just hidden by feathers.

Wearing odd shoes?

I'm a firm believer in artistic expression, and for many years wore odd socks on purpose (I only own one type of sock these days so they all match no matter what) and always had the desire to wear odd shoes(same style different colours) Living on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum, buying 2 pairs of shoes at once has been out of reach, but it is still quite high on my bucket list of things to do. After all The weirder you are, the easier it is for the other weirdos to find you.

The theory behind subwoofer design?

(explained in the simplest way I can think of)
When a speaker vibrates sound is produced by booth the front and back side of the cone. The sound from the rear of the speaker is 180deg out of phase with the sound from the front and will cancel out, resulting in very little bass. A sealed box to mount the subwoofer isolates the front and rear, but by only receiving sound from the front of the speaker, all the energy from the back is effectively wasted. Adding a correctly designed hole, or port (helmholtz resonator) allows some of the sound at a limited frequency range from the rear of the speaker to combine with the front and improve efficiency. Further improvements involve using 'horns' or wave guides, to more effectively couple the motion of the speaker to the surrounding air. These are not often seen is consumer level audio as they need to be very large and thus more expensive than the less efficient ported design. The ultimate design of a subwoofer enclosure is a trade of between Efficiency(how loud it goes),Frequency response( how deep the bass goes) and Size of the enclosure. Unfortunately for the modern music listener small size is often a priority when choosing speakers and overall sound quality suffers as a result.

How many pocky can you eat at once?

I first discovered this tasty Japanese snack many years ago at a shop in Adelaide called shintokyo. They had a running list of who had purchased the most pocky at any one time. I personally have never consumed more than 2 boxes in a single sitting, and unfortunately for me, in my older years I now live my life 100% sugar free so pocky are now just a delicious memory from the past.

Have I ever built a fire truck?

Simply put yes. I was once unemployed and curiously received a phone call asking if I wanted to build firetrucks. The interesting part is that I never applied for a job building them. Of the many many jobs I have had over my lifetime, and things that I am capable of doing, Automotive manufacturing is the only thing I have official certification for. Considering there are now a total of ZERO car makers in Australia its not very useful.

If you enjoy this and want to participate in the game of asking random question, feel free to add to this, or the original post and as always, thanks for reading.