Do Penguins Have Knees? (2019) | Hacker News Reader

Do Penguins Have Knees? (2019)

penguinsinternational.org

123 pointsnot_a_boat34 comments

I remember a comedian talking about taking his cat to the vet and being told the cat had bad knees. "I didn't even know cats _had_ knees, but what do I know? If the vet told me he needs new batteries, I can't argue with him."

I once had a vet that was so good about addressing this issue and making sure I was equipped to be part of any decisionmaking process. She would be happy to discuss an issue layer by layer until I felt sufficiently informed. It helped that she was a natural science communicator.

Eventually we moved and I lost that vet but gained a family doctor who was very much the same. Unfortunately he “isn’t licensed to treat nonhumans.”

>...remember a comedian talking about taking his cat to the vet...

I've read your reply, is the point you're making that you didn't know cats had knees? I'm not sure, perhaps it's something deeper I'm missing.

The point is "here is a related funny joke"

I know a comedian spoke the words, but what is the actual related joke?

The contrast of batteries "well known for non organic life" being accepted as a matter of fact if a vet says it

Ah! Not entirely sure why I needed that pointing out, but I did. Thank you.

Cats have similar legs to birds so the question if cats have knees makes as much or as little sense as if penguins have knees.

Also the title of an Imponderables book. In the days before search engines got good, you could actually email the author a question and get an answer back.

I assumed that was what this was about, and was baffled at the 2019 date on that. :D

Fun series of books. Will have to get my kids to give them a try.

I really enjoyed these books as a kid - great to help feed a curious mindset.

I fondly remember When Did Wild Poodles Roam The Earth?

I loved that book as a kid!

Years ago, I was a developer on a software project where my friend Svein (of blessed memory) was a tester. I lent him this book and got it back with words taped over on the cover to change the title to:

Do Programmers Have Deadlines?

I still have the book with the words taped over.

I bet it would be fun to have a knee inside your belly. It becomes possible to stir bowels, so digestion would go faster, or you could scratch your liver when it itches.

What do you do when the knees themselves itch?

Scratch them with your liver.

This comment thread is like a Monty Python sketch.

Put those kidney stones to good use

I believe the mistake of thinking bird ankles are knees is the source of the name of the delightful webcomic False Knees.

https://falseknees.com

And I say “believe” because I haven’t found any explanation of the reason for the name, but I don’t know what else it would refer to.

According to comedian Kellen Erskine, no:

"...here's where evolution gets shady, if these poor animals have been walking 80 miles every year for the past 10 million years why don't they have knees yet? The wings haven't worked out for some reason but couldn't they at least get some bendy legs?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1imLp-IUzI

What a lovely question! I enjoyed reading the answer too.

It reminded me of the childrens book "Did Jesus Ever See a Penguin?"

Did he?

If a person doesn't exist, can they see penguins?

Jesus, as a person, most probably existed. That's what historians think at least. You can rightfully doubt he was a god.

I don't think it's related but we have a copy of 'Does Anything Eat Wasps?' (I think there were a couple of obscure things that do eat them but I'll go check.)

From the inside, yes. Turns out it's other wasps. Not necessarily good material for a childrens book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenos_vesparum

Is there an animal with functional, walking legs, but doesn't have knees?

Well, caterpillars probably do have 6 knees, but the things you're probably thinking of aren't legs. In this photo, the only legs are the brown ones holding the leaf; the things the caterpillar is standing on are prolegs, and they don't have joints:

https://www.thoughtco.com/parts-of-a-caterpillar-1968482

Someone is cheating on a LearnedLeague One Day Quiz…

I am more curious about bees' knees.

This article was the bee's knees

The first point I noticed about the article was the writer's name, Autumn Syracuse. It's one of the most outstanding names I've ever come across.

A: Yes - They are hidden under the feathers at the tops of the legs.

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