Actually though We get the picture,I’ve heard it said that in Texas during a"Blue Norther"the only thing between Texas and the North Pole is a barb wire fence.
@insightful: In a word, baloney!
- Most people who desire to observe a “panorama” have brains enough to do so from favorable elevation. 100’ is bupkis; 2,000’ elevation gain (say a mountain ridge) is not unrealistic.
- From personal experience (and in favorable meterological conditions) you can see the US Steel building (downtown Pittsburgh) from the slopes of 7 Springs Resort (around 70mi) straight line; you can also see the slopes of 7 Springs from Allegheny Co Airport tower (again, around 70 mi).
- When you get out west, the clear air ups things considerably, as does the greater elevation change. I know I can pick up the lights and airport beacon of Roswell at least 50 miles away, almost in any weather conditions short of violently stormy.
- FM radio is “line of sight” and generally can be picked up within 60 mi or so.
So, if we assume a person viewing from a 2,000’ (0.65 km) elevation advantage, the natural horizon will be 56 mi (90 km) away. The earth’s radius is 6,371 km, so sin(-1) (90/6371) ~ one degree. As for what lateral distance on the horizon is within one’s field of vision…not entirely sure, but we’re in the neighborhood of a one-degree deviation from a straight line, more or less.
NOW, can a person distinguish a bend of one degree in the horizon? Sure–if the terrain is very, very flat. Which is what I said in the first place!
I don’t necessarily consider the following funny; just different. There’s a road near me that is marked with “Turkey Crossing” signs similar to the ones for deer.
Quite a few wild turkeys wander back and forth over that road which has a fair amount of traffic on it.
I suppose a guy could go cruising right before Thanksgiving and Xmas to see if dinner makes it across the road… 
It’s a very common saying, that’s all. It isn’t a statement of geometry, but a description of the viewer’s impression. It gets the point across.
Many many years ago there was a small restaurant & gas station in Amherst NH that had a large sign painted on the side that said “EAT HERE AND GET GAS”. It was legendary in southern NH.
A local BBQ joint has a sign on the wall that says “our beans speak for themselves”.
Sorry, @meanJoe75fan, you’re just wrong. [Or not, see edit below] Being able to see a building 70 miles away is irrelevant. You are correct in that you’re saying you can see the curvature of an arc of one degree on a 4000 mile radius circle on a horizon 56 miles away, but you’re fooling yourself. Pilots usually put the altitude at about 35,000 feet with a clear horizon:
[Thanks, however, in pointing out a mistake I made in my previous post. I edited it to be consistent with this post.]
Edit: By “see the curvature of Earth” I mean “see the horizon in the obvious shape of a curve.” Another way is to see the top of a tall object that is beyond the horizon. If this is what you meant, I have no argument with that.
Two new silly signs, both parking signs.
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in the middle of the block: No parking here to corner. Which corner?
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Cardboard signs seen frequently in Boston: No parking Sunday. (or Saturday or Monday). The question is, which Sunday? Today, next week, last week? The signs are supposed to be removed after the event, but are they?
missileman How can you run over slow children? Easy! You just don’t lead em so much! Paraphrased from Apocalypse Now.
ok4450 Your turkey crossing reminded me of the woman driver who following her second deer strike on the same stretch of highway, submitted a formal complaint to her state Department of Transportation requesting that the “deer crossing” be relocated to a less dangerous stretch of the highway.
Just ran across this link
Not a street sign but one of the most ironic statements I can recall-
Found in the small print of some federal tax forms:
This form required by the paperwork reduction act of 1986
Similarly, I recall seeing “This page deliberately left blank” on IFR approach plates…thereby immediately making themselves false. (I.E. once you put that there, the page is no longer blank.)
^
That does seem to be counterintuitive, but it is there for their legal protection.
To give you a slightly analogous situation, my brother allegedly failed a college exam in a course which he had been “acing”, prior to the exam.
When he asked the prof about the reason for his failing grade, he was told that he had failed to answer any of the questions from the last page of the question packet. In reality, his question packet had a final page that was blank, but after the fact, there was no way that he could prove it.
He offered to “re-take” the part of the exam that he had failed, but the prof refused that offer, meaning that my brother had to take the course over again.
If everybody knows what is supposed to be blank, and what is not supposed to be blank, there are fewer potential…issues.
Signs 2, 11, 29, and 41 do it for me.
I always wanted to deface one particular sign -
Is now: Beware Fallen Rocks
Should be: Beware Fallen Women
The auto shop’s sign has been updated:
“If you don’t talk to your cats about catnip, who will?”