this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1

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Hippos can run and swim around 20-30 miles an hour. If you wanted to beat one in a triathlon, you'd need to be really prepared for the biking portion. (lemmy.fmhy.ml)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/showerthoughts
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[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

While hippos are known for their speed both on land and in water, they would face insurmountable difficulties during a the biking portion.

Hippos have short, stout legs relative to their bulky body size. Even if we entertain the hypothetical scenario of a hippo magically being able to ride a bike, these short legs would severely restrict their pedaling efficiency.

Their weight, coupled with the slow biking speed resulting from their short legs, would most likely cause any lead from the swimming and running stages to dissipate rapidly.

Additionally, despite their intimidating size and strong jaws, hippos are not carnivorous by nature, but rather herbivores with a diet primarily composed of grasses. While they can be aggressive if they perceive a threat, they don't typically target humans as food. Therefore, the scenario of a hippo eating a competitor during a the other stages is extremely improbable.

All things considered, a relatively fit human athlete would still have a considerable edge in a triathlon competition against a hippo.

[–] Luovahulluus 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

While hippoes are surprisingly agile in water and surprisingly fast runners, they are not known for their endurance.

Hippoes would probably have an advantage while swimming due to a body adapted to water.

Hippoes don't sweat and have a very thick skin, so they would overheat quickly when running. The same thing applies to cycling, but with a bike designed for their body, I'd think they'll do better cycling than running. Their hind legs are about 70cm long (according to ChatGPT), so not that short. Shorter crank arms are required. The hind legs are super strong, so that would be a significant advantage, especially when the bike is holding their body weight.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Maybe the bicycle could be a treadmill bike, with some form of water tank adapted, to keep them cool.

[–] Aggravationstation 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Is that AI generated or do you have a hippo and a hippo's bike rig

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Let’s leave it to the imagination haha

[–] Aggravationstation 2 points 2 years ago

I'm imagining that you are that hippo and are browsing Lemmy on your phone (phablet, obvs) whilst using your exercise bike

[–] 4am 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I’m guessing that’s a real link. But maybe a typo?

Also Lemmy.ml seems to be overloaded right now, won’t even let me go to their home page to search it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Maybe replace the /c/ with an !

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Nah. Should be able to just propagate the whole url. Pretty sure it should be they* not the.

Regardless, sh.itjust.works was having issues this morning. I saw a number of people post about it.

[–] i_had_name 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What if the bike was designed for the hippo though?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Like one of those treadmill bikes?

Let's incorporate some numbers into this scenario for a clearer perspective.

Assume a standard Olympic triathlon, which includes a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride, and a 10-kilometer run. Hippos can swim at speeds around 5 mph (8 kph) and run at up to 20 mph (32 kph) but these speeds are only in short bursts, not sustained over long distances.

For the 1.5-kilometer swim, at an average speed of 8 kph, a hippo could theoretically complete this segment in roughly 11 minutes. A well-trained human could complete the same distance in around 20 minutes.

However, the biking and running segments are where the hippo would struggle due to its short legs and lack of endurance. Even with a specially designed bike, let's assume a hippo could bike at a generous speed of 5 kph due to their physical limitations. Therefore, it would take them around 8 hours to complete the 40-kilometer bike segment. In contrast, a well-trained human could complete this in around 1 hour.

For the 10-kilometer run, even if the hippo could sustain their top speed of 32 kph (which is unlikely), they could theoretically finish in under 20 minutes. However, due to their poor endurance, a more realistic time might be around 1-2 hours. A well-trained human could complete this segment in under 40 minutes.

In summary, even if a hippo performed at its absolute best and a human performed at average speeds, the human would finish the triathlon in roughly 2 hours, while the hippo would take around 9-10 hours. The limitations of the hippo in biking and sustained running, even with hypothetical specialized equipment, make it highly unlikely they could compete effectively in a triathlon.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago

Luckily hippos aren't known to be good at biking.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

You could just take your time. The bike portion will stop them completely.

[–] stevehobbes 8 points 2 years ago

Hippos don’t actually swim. They run along the bottom.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

Her: I bet he's thinking about other girls.

Him:

[–] son_named_bort 7 points 2 years ago

I would rather challenge them in another Olympic sport. I can't imagine they'd be good at table tennis.

[–] chaos 5 points 2 years ago

I read hippos as hippies and was thoroughly confused by the time I read the whole thing

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Thought I still had to head back to reddit for the Triathlon threads, but here we are.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Damn, turns out we really are as boring as we think we are. There truly is nothing original in the world 😂

[–] momentonaut 2 points 2 years ago

This is bad for me, because someone stole my bike.

[–] trouser_mouse 2 points 2 years ago

This reminds me of a time I was beaten by a hippo in a triathlon, bad memories all around

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