Fascinating Facts!

[smoker]

found out a fascinating fact today.

Istanbul is the only city in the world to belong to two continents, europe and asia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul

well! fascinating to me anyway!

anyone else got a fascinating fact to share, any subject?

:D

[blah blah blah]

2 is prime

[Middle_Man]

Penguins can change salt water into fresh water.

For the thirsty sailor, the cruelest joke is saltwater: Its dissolved minerals require more water from the body to eliminate them than saltwater itself provides. All things being equal, severe dehydration is the end result.

Penguins incidentally ingest plenty of dangerous saltwater, but they have a secret weapon to combat it. A superorbital gland (behind the eye sockets) functions similar to a kidney, filtering out the salt and retaining the water. The by-product can often be seen dripping out the bill like a runny nose.

[smoker]

Penguins can change salt water into fresh water.

knew those penguins were damned clever!:D

[Bachstelze]

Bruce Schneier writes his books by generating random data of the appropriate length and decrypting it.




(not serious, of course, but always makes me laugh)

[%hMa@?b<C]

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War 2

killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
http://encyclopediadramatica.com/images/f/f9/FactCat.png

[Ultra Magnus]

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanconiosis is the longest word to appear in an english dictionary.

acetylseryltyrosylserylisoleucylthreonylserylproly lserylglutaminyl-
phenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylserylvalyl tryptophylalanyl-
aspartylprolylisoleucylglutamylleucylleucylasparag inylvalylcysteinyl-
threonylserylserylleucylglycylasparaginylglutaminy lphenylalanyl-
glutaminylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginy lthreonylthreonyl-
glutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylser ylglutaminylvalyl-
tryptophyllysylprolylphenylalanylprolylglutaminyls erylthreonylvalyl-
arginylphenylalanylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyrosy llysylvalyltyrosyl-
arginyltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylaspartyl prolylleucylisoleucyl-
threonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenylalan ylaspartylthreonyl-
arginylasparaginylarginylisoleucylisoleucylglutamy lvalylglutamyl-
asparaginylglutaminylglutaminylserylprolylthreonyl threonylalanylglutamyl-
threonylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginyl valylaspartylaspartyl-
alanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylserylalan ylasparaginylisoleucyl-
asparaginylleucylvalylasparaginylglutamylleucylval ylarginylglycyl-
threonylglycylleucyltyrosylasparaginylglutaminylas paraginylthreonyl-
phenylalanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleucy lvalyltryptophyl-
threonylserylalanylprolylalanylserine

is the longest word to appear in a serious context

(OK I knew the first one, I googled the second one!)

[starcraft.man]

There are Canadians in Canada. Man, how cool is that? I know, I just rocked your world. You can thank me later... :p.

Oh and if that isn't enough, there are owls that live in the ground (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrowing_Owl) :D.

[Lux Perpetua]

Fun facts:

A hagfish, when threatened, can secrete copious amounts of slime, enough to turn a large bucket of seawater into gel in minutes. Its other trick is tying itself into a knot and working the knot down its body to slip free of whatever is holding it or to shed its own slime.

Hagfish have no jaws, making them among the most primitive fish. They are scavengers and parasites, burrowing into dead or dying fish and eating them from the inside out.

[smoker]

Oh and if that isn't enough, there are owls that live in the ground (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrowing_Owl) :D.

hme, don't those burrowing owls look a bit like penguins in disguise!:o

[starcraft.man]

hme, don't those burrowing owls like a bit like penguins in disguise!:o

LOL! I dunno about penguins but they certainly are small buggers for Owls...

The average adult is slightly larger than an American Robin, at 25 cm (10 inches) length, 53 cm (21 inches) wingspan, and 170g (6 oz) weight (Lewis 2005).

Anyway, new fun fact:


Pythons do not, as popularly believed, crush or squeeze their prey to death, and when constricting normal sized prey, the snake will almost certainly never apply enough pressure to break bones.

I like snakes :D. In actual fact they usually just prevent the prey from breathing (which requires you to expand and contract diaphragm, can't do that if your squeezed) and thus they go quickly.

Not the cutest fact, but its my fact for now :).

[ThinkBuntu]

found out a fascinating fact today.

Istanbul is the only city in the world to belong to two continents, europe and asia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul

well! fascinating to me anyway!

anyone else got a fascinating fact to share, any subject?

:D
Panama city doesn't count?

[smoker]

Panama city doesn't count?

isn't north and south america the one continent?

[Rui Pais]

hme, don't those burrowing owls like a bit like penguins in disguise!:o

i bet that such creature don't exist!

[Engnome]

This is something I bump into sometimes:
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is a is a grammatically correct sentence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Bu ffalo_buffalo

Anyway I'm more into facts like this:

BRIN: Dr. Rich Terrell of JPL came up with an allegory to show how great the
distances beyond Pluto are. He poured the contents of a salt container onto a table,
and said it would take two hundred such containers to make a billion grains of salt.
There are five hundred billion stars in the galaxy. If you then spread the salt out
to scale, as thinly as stars are spread out, here in the periphery of the galaxy,
the nearest salt grain to the one you held in your hand would be seven miles away.
We already have an interstellar space probe, Voyager. It's leaving the solar system
all right, but on this scale, it's departing at the rate that grass grows.

This (http://http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2007/06/the_high_frontier_redux.html) was an interesting read.

Edit: The straight dope (http://http://www.straightdope.com/columns/) is my favourite for fascinating facts, I recently came across this gem:

35 places of pi suffice for computing the circumference of a circle girdling the known universe with an error no greater than the radius of a hydrogen atom.
In the column How do scientists go about calculating pi to umpteen decimal places? (http://http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_357.html)

[Spike-X]

acetylseryltyrosylserylisoleucylthreonylserylproly lserylglutaminyl-
phenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylserylvalyl tryptophylalanyl-
aspartylprolylisoleucylglutamylleucylleucylasparag inylvalylcysteinyl-
threonylserylserylleucylglycylasparaginylglutaminy lphenylalanyl-
glutaminylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginy lthreonylthreonyl-
glutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylser ylglutaminylvalyl-
tryptophyllysylprolylphenylalanylprolylglutaminyls erylthreonylvalyl-
arginylphenylalanylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyrosy llysylvalyltyrosyl-
arginyltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylaspartyl prolylleucylisoleucyl-
threonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenylalan ylaspartylthreonyl-
arginylasparaginylarginylisoleucylisoleucylglutamy lvalylglutamyl-
asparaginylglutaminylglutaminylserylprolylthreonyl threonylalanylglutamyl-
threonylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginyl valylaspartylaspartyl-
alanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylserylalan ylasparaginylisoleucyl-
asparaginylleucylvalylasparaginylglutamylleucylval ylarginylglycyl-
threonylglycylleucyltyrosylasparaginylglutaminylas paraginylthreonyl-
phenylalanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleucy lvalyltryptophyl-
threonylserylalanylprolylalanylserine


Lots of l's and y's there. Is that Welsh?

[blah blah blah]

Panama city doesn't count?

Yes, it doesn't.

[kevinlyfellow]

Fun facts:

A hagfish, when threatened, can secrete copious amounts of slime, enough to turn a large bucket of seawater into gel in minutes. Its other trick is tying itself into a knot and working the knot down its body to slip free of whatever is holding it or to shed its own slime.

Hagfish have no jaws, making them among the most primitive fish. They are scavengers and parasites, burrowing into dead or dying fish and eating them from the inside out.

Speaking of hagfish, most eel skin wallets are actually made of hagfish skin, not eels!

[kevinlyfellow]

isn't north and south america the one continent?

North and South America are two different continents.

[floke]

Peanuts are not a nut, they are a legume (seen on a toilet wall so not sure how true it is)

jupiter is so big it can fit all the other planets in our solar system inside it (told to me by my four year old so I can take it to be true - he's an expert on the solar system!)

[PartisanEntity]

Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft is the longest word in the German language and means Danube Steamship Shipping Association

[yabbadabbadont]

Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft is the longest word in the German language and means Danube Steamship Shipping Association

I thought that there was a longer one that described a certain type of black-lung disease that coal miners from a specific area seem to get? I would swear that is what my German instructor told me. (many, many years ago ;))

[kevinlyfellow]

Peanuts are not a nut, they are a legume (seen on a toilet wall so not sure how true it is)


Great source! :-D I've heard this a number of times, and I think that its true.



jupiter is so big it can fit all the other planets in our solar system inside it (told to me by my four year old so I can take it to be true - he's an expert on the solar system!)


Another great source!

Jupiter is so big (massive) that metallic hydrogen is thought to be at its core.

[floke]

Frank Beard was the only member of ZZTop not to have a beard.

He too, was a legume.

[kevinlyfellow]

Question that was asked on the physics GRE (the easiest one on there)

If the sun were to all of a sudden become a black hole, what would happen to Earth's orbit?

Answer: Nothing

[DoctorMO]

Great source! I've heard this a number of times, and I think that its true

It is, it's also worth noting that people get confused between seeds, beans (legumes) and nuts all the time. Although for some really odd reason no one thinks a coconut is a nut; or at least they never warn you.

Instead of saying 'may contain nuts' on everything, manufacturers should be forced to measure how much H1, peanut oils, none denatured egg protein, wheat gluten are in a median sample and put that on the box; because not all people are allergic to large extents and not all people are allergic to all kinds of nuts. in fact it's reckoned that most people are allergic to peanuts but get a psychosomatic reaction when they know their eating other kinds of nuts; and visa versa for true tree nut sufferers eating peanuts; you can see this in children that are allergic to say eggs and are told that apples contain eggs, they get allergic reactions from eating apples.

[Kimm]

Lots of l's and y's there. Is that Welsh?

Actually... its a chemical formula (more specifically... its a very scientific name for a substance)

[kevinlyfellow]

It is, it's also worth noting that people get confused between seeds, beans (legumes) and nuts all the time. Although for some really odd reason no one thinks a coconut is a nut; or at least they never warn you.

Nut


1. (Bot.) The fruit of certain trees and shrubs (as of the
almond, walnut, hickory, beech, filbert, etc.), consisting
of a hard and indehiscent shell inclosing a kernel.

Seed


1. (Bot.)
(a) A ripened ovule, consisting of an embryo with one or
more integuments, or coverings; as, an apple seed; a
currant seed.

Legume


1. (Bot.) A pod dehiscent into two pieces or valves, and
having the seed attached at one suture, as that of the
pea.

[Engnome]

jupiter is so big it can fit all the other planets in our solar system inside it (told to me by my four year old so I can take it to be true - he's an expert on the solar system!)

Hehe but it's still very small, If I recall correctly about 98% of the solar systems mass is in the sun.

Edit: page showing the solar system to scale: http://www.co-intelligence.org/newsletter/comparisons.html

[smoker]

The largest tapeworms grow up to 59 feet (18 meters)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_worm

Tapeworm Pulling (not for the squeamish!)
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/jESuGD9F/Tapeworm_Pulling

:D

[kevinlyfellow]

The largest tapeworms grow up to 59 feet (18 meters)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_worm

Tapeworm Pulling (not for the squeamish!)
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/jESuGD9F/Tapeworm_Pulling

:D

Ummm... thanks... *barf*

[yabbadabbadont]

Ummm... thanks... *barf*

I guess that puts you into the "squeamish" category. :D

[yabbadabbadont]

The largest tapeworms grow up to 59 feet (18 meters)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_worm

Tapeworm Pulling (not for the squeamish!)
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/jESuGD9F/Tapeworm_Pulling

:D

Did anyone else, besides me, expect there to be a bunch of fake flowers at the end of that? (like when a clown pulls out handkerchiefs) :lol:

[kevinlyfellow]

I guess that puts you into the "squeamish" category. :D

I'm not squeamish :---)

[yabbadabbadont]

I'm not squeamish :---)

:lol:

I once ate a bowl of chili while watching an autopsy on television... Of course, seeing it on a screen and in person are two completely different things. ;) It used to gross out my mother when I would ask my little sister questions about her anatomy class in medical school. :D

Edit: It was a real autopsy on PBS, not one of those CSI shows.

[kevinlyfellow]

Fascinating Fact:
The brownie was invented in Bangor, Maine. Bangor is pronounced with a hard g.

[kevinlyfellow]

:lol:

I once ate a bowl of chili while watching an autopsy on television... Of course, seeing it on a screen and in person are two completely different things. ;) It used to gross out my mother when I would ask my little sister questions about her anatomy class in medical school. :D

Edit: It was a real autopsy on PBS, not one of those CSI shows.

Medical stuff is really what bothers me the most... real or not. I don't mind faked carnage and stuff like that at all.

[linuxgeekery]

More than ten people a year are killed by vending machines.

In India, people are legally allowed to marry a dog!

Native Americans do not have to pay tax on their land.

The best time for a person to buy shoes is in the afternoon. This is because the foot tends to swell a bit around this time.

[bobbybobington]

the strength of Earths gravity varies around the world (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050504191450.htm)

[yabbadabbadont]

You can be as much as an inch taller in the morning than at the end of the day due to compression of the disks in the spine.

[RAV TUX]

A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle - a group of geese in the air is a skein.

http://img456.imageshack.us/img456/3217/thcatfromaliciainwonderrl1.gif

[yabbadabbadont]

A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle
Around here they would be, "Off limits".

a group of geese in the air is a skein.
These would be "Fair game".

:D

[kevinlyfellow]

the strength of Earths gravity varies around the world (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050504191450.htm)

Scientists use pendulums to measure gravity.

[Atomic Dog]

You can't lick your elbow.

[kevinlyfellow]

You can't lick your elbow.

Every time someone says it I try... and fail :-(

[yabbadabbadont]

You can't lick your elbow.

Unless you are Gene Simmons.... ;)

[floke]

Gravity makes waves

http://www.videosift.com/video/Gravity-Wave

[steven8]

Gravity makes waves

http://www.videosift.com/video/Gravity-Wave

Very cool. Undulating would be a good description.

[Rui Pais]

Gravity makes waves

http://www.videosift.com/video/Gravity-Wave

That link is for gavity waves, not gravitational waves (that seems to be implied in your comment)
Gravety waves (waves by gravety) is a term used on fluid dynamics for a wave on a (large) medium where the restore force is the gravity. see here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave) an article about.

Gravitational wave, appears on the context of General relativity theory (a fluctuation of the space-time curvature, not a medium). See an article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_waves) here.

:)

[floke]

G_{\mu \nu} = {8\pi G\over c^4} T_{\mu \nu}\,

I should have realised!

But even so, there's still only one word for Thesaurus.

[Titus A Duxass]

You can't lick your elbow. - why would one want to?

A Tomato is not a vegetable, it's a fruit.

[yabbadabbadont]

But even so, there's still only one word for Thesaurus.

And you can't rhyme with "orange".

[smoker]

More than ten people a year are killed by vending machines.

In India, people are legally allowed to marry a dog!

Hmm, i think most vending machines are deliberately designed to kill and maim!:D

would the dog be entitled to half your worldly goods if you split up?:(

:D

[Golyadkin]

People who drink coffee are less likely to commit suicide than people who don’t.

[steven8]

I was told that in the US there is one lawyer to every seven people. I have not had a chance to confirm this, but it is ludicrous if it is true!!

[steven8]

People who drink coffee are less likely to commit suicide than people who don’t.

I'd kill for a good cup of java right now!! :p

[smoker]

I was told that in the US there is one lawyer to every seven people. I have not had a chance to confirm this, but it is ludicrous if it is true!!


USA Leads the World in Lawyers

"America has 281 lawyers for every 100,000 people, compared to Britain with 94, 33 in France and a mere 7 in Japan.

Americans have a proper contempt for the vast mass of lawyers."
Source - The Economist, page 35, December 16, 2000
from this (old) link: http://mwhodges.home.att.net/trust.htm

[RAV TUX]

Of the 650 types of leeches, only the Hirudo medicinalis is used for medical treatments.

[floke]

would the dog be entitled to half your worldly goods if you split up?:( :D

That would be woof!

(sorry) :D

[RAV TUX]

In Denmark there are twice as many pigs as people.

[floke]

Captain Kirk never said 'beam me up Scotty'
(inspired by Rav Tux avatar)

[Obor]

distance from the elbow to the wrist is equal to the length of the person's foot

[Golyadkin]

There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States. Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or 350 slices per second.

And the next time you stand under the shower, think of this:


Only ten percent of the 100,000,000,000,000 cells inside each one of us are human. The rest are bacteria, fungi, and other microbes. - Discover Magazine, 6/07

[RAV TUX]

Captain Kirk never said 'beam me up Scotty'
(inspired by Rav Tux avatar)

Who said it? I have heard it was never actually said on the original Star Trek?

[stalker145]

It is physically impossible for a child, say 5 years or younger, to raise his hand directly above his head, bend at the elbow, and touch the opposite ear.

See badly drawn attachment for a better explanation.

[xyz]

According to Guinness Book of World Records, the longest symphony, "Victory at Sea" by Richard Rodgers, is 13 hours long!

[Golyadkin]

Who said it? I have heard it was never actually said on the original Star Trek?

Wikipedia says:


Though it has become irrevocably associated with the series, the exact phrase was never actually spoken in any Star Trek television episode or film. Captain Kirk comes closest to saying the phrase in Star Trek IV, saying "Scotty, beam me up"; in Star Trek: Generations, saying "Beam them out of there, Scotty"; and in the animated episode "The Infinite Vulcan", saying "Beam us up, Scotty".

[ThinkBuntu]

I still don't get how Panama City doesn't count. Unless you consider the Darien gap to be the separator between N. and S. America. But I always thought the Panama Canal was the divider.

[mips]

Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with the amalgamation on 17 November 1873 of right-bank (west) Buda (Ofen in German) and Óbuda (Old Buda or Alt-Ofen) together with Pest on the left (east) bank.

[kevinlyfellow]

A quasar can be used to locate clouds of gas in space.

[floke]

According to Guinness Book of World Records, the longest symphony, "Victory at Sea" by Richard Rodgers, is 13 hours long!

The final movement for Beethoven's 9th alone is longer than Beethoven's 5th.

[psyopper]

I once heard that there are more WalMart employees than public school teachers in The United States. The statistic came from Oregon Public Broadcasting / PBS but I'll be darned if I can find it.

[Xzallion]

The largest tapeworms grow up to 59 feet (18 meters)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_worm

Tapeworm Pulling (not for the squeamish!)
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/jESuGD9F/Tapeworm_Pulling

:D

That isn't a tapeworm, thats a form of gauze used for certain wounds.

[floke]

The British National Health Service is the world's third largest employer; behind the Chinese Army and the Indian Railway Service (both of which are probably far more efficient too).

[rkh]

87% of statistics are simply made up on the spot (but only 32% of people are aware of this).

[forrestcupp]

Air Force One can fly indefinitely without refueling

[Motoxrdude]

The largest tapeworms grow up to 59 feet (18 meters)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_worm

Tapeworm Pulling (not for the squeamish!)
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/jESuGD9F/Tapeworm_Pulling

:D

Whatch that video at 2:05. He pushes out the gooo like a zit!
Yum!

Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.

[starcraft.man]

Air Force One can fly indefinitely without refueling

LOL... come on. No plane can store that much fuel, I assume it can get mid air refuelling indefinitely that I believe.

Fun Fact:

Canada has a day devoted to everything Canada, it's called Canada Day, it also happens to be today :p.

[yabbadabbadont]

LOL... come on. No plane can store that much fuel, I assume it can get mid air refuelling indefinitely that I believe.

Well... if they converted it to run on methane, then it could stay in the air for a very long time. After all, we all know that the president, his staff, and the press core are all full of crap (not the word I wanted to use ;))

[forrestcupp]

Happy Canada Day.

Chuck Norris is why the chicken crossed the road.

[WalmartSniperLX]

The largest canine to ever exist was the Epicyon Haydeni. It was also known as a "bone crushing dog" for obvious reasons; they would eat and consume the bones of their prey. Now imagine owning one of these if they still existed. That would be one expensive doggy.

http://www.infohub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3214

Artist's drawings : http://www.kennislink.nl/upload/119267_962_1096534208202-oerhond_klein.jpg

http://www.kennislink.nl/upload/119269_962_1096534618092-vanvalkenburg_klein.jpg

[WalmartSniperLX]

87% of statistics are simply made up on the spot (but only 32% of people are aware of this).

I saw something similar to this on a moist-wipe packet at Hooters.

[saulgoode]

I get 28% of all my fascinating facts from moist-wipe packets at Hooters.

[lisati]

2 is prime

1 isn't - it's a special case.

[ndefontenay]

The longest french word is "anticonstitutionnellement"

--------

Thai people call Bangkok, Krungthep. They write it in short KTM for Krungthep Mahanakorn.

The real name of Bangkok is:

Krungthep Mahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathani Burirom-udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiya Witsanu Kamprasi

it translates into:

The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam

Nowhere in the name Bangkok is mentioned either in English or in Thai.

[smoker]

What‘s so special about this?
http://www.wonderfulinfo.com/amazing/burma.htm

"This is a picture of a rock formation near a lake in Burma. The photo can only be taken on a specific day once a year when the sun rays touch the rocks at a certain angle.
Tilt your head to the left and then look at it again …."

[sw1995]

In certain parts of Appalachia, the Mason-Dixon line is referred to as "The Slaw Line" meaning that north of the "Slaw Line" the tendency is to eat ones hot-dog topped with Sauerkraut, whereas south of the "Slaw Line" it becomes more typical to top your hot-dog with coleslaw.

Yee haw!

[Kimm]

The Eurasian Swift has been known to fly for three years on end. None knows why :P

[rkh]

What‘s so special about this?
http://www.wonderfulinfo.com/amazing/burma.htm

"This is a picture of a rock formation near a lake in Burma. The photo can only be taken on a specific day once a year when the sun rays touch the rocks at a certain angle.
Tilt your head to the left and then look at it again …."

This is an illustration from a children's book.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/awesomerock.asp

[smoker]

This is an illustration from a children's book.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/awesomerock.asp

hey, thanks for that! just goes to show you can't always believe what you read:o