Wednesday, August 28, 2019

SearchResearch Challenge (8/27/19): What are these three things?


After the immensity of last week's Challenge... 

... let's do something fun (but challenging in a good way).  

During the past week, three questions came up for me, each of which I needed to do a bit of SRS sleuthing to figure them out.  

Can you do these along with me? 


1.  I've got a BIG (4 meters tall!) trellis of green beans growing in my garden.  On Monday, I found this growing on stalks.  Do I need to worry about them?  Will they eat up all my beans?  What should I do?  

So... what IS this creature? 

Here it is on my thumb for scale: 



And a fairly in-focus closeup.  The colors are even more striking in real life! 




2.  This is a diagram of an important part of a 3-hole punch that's currently broken.  It's an aluminum metal pin with a collar-like-thing around the middle.  That's the part that is missing, so the pin keeps slipping out onto the floor when I use it.  I want to buy a new one… but... What do I call this?  How can I find this online?

I tried to get a good picture of this part, but could never get a good enough photo to use.  Here's my sketch.  


 The pin is about 1 inch long (2.5 cm) and the "collar" clearly snaps into a groove around the center.  (It's also a bit more circular than my sketch, but you get the idea.)  

What IS this gizmo?  How do you search for something like this? 




3.  I just got  a new piano.  Hurrah! I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.  But the place where it will sit in the house is fairly sunny.  What should I use to cover it to protect from sun damage? What material should it be made of?  (Keep in mind that this instrument has a new finish.) 





As always, be sure to tell us HOW you found your answer. We want to learn your SearchResearch methods as well! 

Search on! 

22 comments:

  1. 1. Leaf Beetle (I used image search and the URL of the image). Using the first image returned a bumble bee (which wasn't at all right) but the second image was Leaf Beetle. It's not a perfect match but in reading Wikipedia, it does seem like there are a few different styles

    2. There's a spring missing and it's sold as a whole unit (punch head). Here I searched for three hold puncher parts and read some articles.

    3. From what I'm seeing a cover isn't a full solution and it's better to have curtains for the room or put up a sun screen that surpasses the height of the piano to block UV rays from hitting it. I found this by searching for "Grand Piano Sun Protection" and then reading some of the articles (largely discussion forums). I don't think I actually have the correct answer on this one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. For q1: [green bean bug black with bright green or yellow spots]. Then I browsed image results. Modified search [black and lime green beetle]. More image browsing. Got a match for 'southern green stink bug' and confirmed on U. of FL Entomology and Nematology Department page (https://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/bean/southern_green_stink_bug.htm).
    For q2: I tried searching a replacement part list, but no luck without the brand or model.
    For q3: while I felt this lacked some scientific authority, it was very practical. Sun + piano = no. I searched [sun protection piano cover] and selected a forum topic to target more practical information. I am interested to see if anyone got into more varied sources for this topic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The bug: [abdomen black ladybugs] finds that your critter is the fourth or fifth instar of Nezara viridula. A good description is from New Zealand https://nzacfactsheets.landcareresearch.co.nz/factsheet/InterestingInsects/Green-vegetable-bug---Nezara-viridula.html
    Phylum:
    Arthropoda
    Class:
    Insecta
    Order:
    Hemiptera
    Family:
    Pentatomidae
    Scientific Name:
    Nezara viridula (Johann Sebastian Linnaeus, 1758)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your artwork: [ shaft circlip] I have wrestled with those many a time. Finds https://trfastenings.com/products/Catalogue/Washers-Circlips-Seals-Rings/Circlips/External-Circlips/TR00020033-000
    Not sure, despite your creative talents, what your particular unit is for.
    With the right pliers made specially for circlips its easy to install and remove. But why would anyone buy pliers when you only need it once in a decade. Its a great manly challenge with screwdrivers etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you just know it off the top of your head?

      Delete
  5. Your beautiful piano: I would not cover such a gorgeous instrument, its too pretty. I would make sure that no direct sunlight hits it. No doubt it has a special finish to block UV but why take a chance? The baby grand I grew up with lived in a darkish corner on the north side of the living room and was never covered. Mahogany does fade with sunlight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not to worry - the cover is only for times when we're away, and the sun would be beating down on it. (Unfortunately... or fortunately... our house doesn't have a darkish corner.

      Delete
  6. Your drawing is of a clevis pin. This popped into my brain cell during my walk this morning. Left over from my teens when we messed about with old machinery and cars. So a quick image search found I am correct. [Itw Bee Leitzke Stainless Steel Clevis Pin] shows your item. The circlip is the fastener.

    Yes I know of both of these although I had forgotten that I knew the clevis name.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Replies
    1. LOVE the underwater piano playing! Next on my bucket list...

      Delete
  8. In case anyone is wondering what job a clevis pin and circlip do for a living: Today I noticed that the handle of my lawn mower is fastened on each side to the machine with--are you ready?--clevis and circlip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jon and everyone. Reading your post and the ones from everyone else, noticed the clevis and circlip are also (I guess, maybe they are called in different way) on automatic doors. I thought they were simple bolts. Clevis and circlip, new for me.

      Also congratulations, Dr. Russell for your piano and for your book. A few days left to be officially for sale:

      All ready on Pre-Order. 24 september: The Joy of Search: A Google Insider's Guide to Going Beyond the Basics Already #1 on New Release in Online Internet Searching.

      In other topics:

      Really beautiful, interesting and important:

      Scientific history is being made at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa as endangered Atlantic pillar coral have spawned for the first time ever, in a lab setting.

      Also watched Gordon Ramsay:Uncharted on NatGeo, episode Hawai'i
      Here is a small sample. Hanna Coast, huli huli chicken, pu hala and other topics in the episode
      Dr. Russell, I am sure you and many others have tried these dishes, how they taste?

      Delete
    2. I don't know if someone already posted this video (haven't click on all yet) and YouTube just suggested this: Can you hear difference between a 500 usd piano and one with cost of 2500000? For me, yes although is very complicated and video shows when changing piano. However, they all sound amazing https://youtu.be/xd2TL88T9_s

      Delete
  9. it always distresses me when my rostrum is bent… 'Third instar nymph of Green vegetable bug'
    'exposed stylets & rostrum is bent'

    ReplyDelete
  10. It wasn't clear to me whether you were looking for the retaining ring or the whole punch part. It took me a few searches for punches to realize that the technical term to look for is "punch head". Office supply stored have them, but you probably need to match the brand, and probably the model, of your punch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good point. I was looking for the name of the pin AND the ring. (Hint: neither are involved in the punching activity. This pin is on the hinge point of the 3-hole punch device.)

      Delete
    2. That hint made me do another search on parts with the word hinge added. I found a self-centering screw that maybe fits the bill, but I don't think that's quite right either.

      Delete