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Thread: Mildly interesting facts

  1. #1
    Grand Master AlphaOmega's Avatar
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    Mildly interesting facts

    Took the children to the science museum the other day.

    I found it stimulating as well. I'm trying to keep them questioning the world around them.

    Thought it would be handy to have a thread where we can post interesting or unusual facts.

    First up. The air lock scene in 2001. I always thought that a human would explode if exposed to space without a suit. But apparently, Kubrick consulted the experts and there is about 12 seconds during which Dave would have time to fire himself through. Presumably quite an interesting 12 seconds.

    Link with details

    Scene

  2. #2
    Master mindforge's Avatar
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    That was mildly interesting, thank you! The range of effects Hollywood generally depicts is quite wide.

  3. #3
    Everyone on the planet would easily fit in loch Ness (if drained).

  4. #4
    Humans share 55% of their DNA with bananas.

    Explains a lot of my daily encounters...

  5. #5
    Your head is older than your feet

  6. #6
    A Labrador's sense of smell is so acute, it could smell a kipper placed on the moon......(not really, I don't think )

  7. #7
    Dogs can't look up

  8. #8
    Whooper Swans when migrating fly at nearly 27000 ft

    Mount Everest is 29000 ft

  9. #9
    There are more atoms in a teaspoon of water than there are teaspoons of water in the Atlantic Ocean

  10. #10
    Master mondie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brighty View Post
    Dogs can't look up
    and are colourblind.

  11. #11
    Grand Master Velorum's Avatar
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    Hiccups in humans serve no useful purpose and are directly linked to our evolution from fish and amphibians who use this mechanism to push water across their gills.

  12. #12
    Master Jardine32's Avatar
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    Before the term "bloopers" was coined, outtakes were called "boners"
    J

    Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

  13. #13
    If you spread the surface area of your lungs over a tennis court, you’d be dead.

  14. #14
    Master steptoe's Avatar
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    "little" Napoleon was actually taller than the Duke of Wellington and Admiral Nelson.

  15. #15
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brighty View Post
    Dogs can't look up
    I'm confused. Dogs can't look up what?

  16. #16
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vanguard View Post
    Whooper Swans when migrating fly at nearly 27000 ft

    Mount Everest is 29000 ft
    ....and why isn't there an impenetratable ring of dead Whooper Swans 2000ft from the top of Everest?

  17. #17
    Grand Master Velorum's Avatar
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    Sid James trained as a hairdresser in South Africa

  18. #18
    Craftsman
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    32.67% of mildly interesting facts are made up.

  19. #19
    Grand Master hogthrob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brighty View Post
    Dogs can't look up
    They might have restricted movement of their eyes, but they compensate by moving their heads

  20. #20
    Grand Master hogthrob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mikee View Post
    Everyone on the planet would easily fit in loch Ness (if drained).
    How much less space do humans take up when they're drained?

  21. #21
    Grand Master hogthrob's Avatar
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    I have a larger than average number of arms.

  22. #22
    95% of men have one testicle that hangs lower than the other two.

  23. #23
    50% of the humans that have ever lived were killed by mosquitoes

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by E_2_Right-Force View Post
    95% of men have one testicle that hangs lower than the other two.

    95% of men have 3 testies?!

  25. #25
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by alexaff View Post
    95% of men have 3 testies?!
    At least; some may have all three hanging at the same level.

  26. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by E_2_Right-Force View Post
    95% of men have one testicle that hangs lower than the other two.
    That's B****ks 😂

  27. #27
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brighty View Post
    Dogs can't look up
    Mine can!


  28. #28
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    At least; some may have all three hanging at the same level.
    A photo would be permissible; it would not be classed as pawn.

  29. #29
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    If you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they still wouldn’t reach a conclusion.

  30. #30
    The observable universe is spherical and you are slap bang at the centre of it.

    As the universe expands, there will become a point in time where all the galaxies and stars we can see now will be so far away from us and red-shifted so much that they will all become completely unobservable and the universe will appear to be completely empty.

  31. #31
    Grand Master Velorum's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    A photo would be permissible; it would not be classed as pawn.
    Very good!

  32. #32
    Master Lampoc's Avatar
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    You can tell the sex of an ant by dropping it in water. If it sinks, girl ant. If it floats, boy ant.

  33. #33
    Grand Master oldoakknives's Avatar
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    You can distinguish an Alligator from a Crocodile, by paying attention to whether the animal sees you later or in a while.



    ook

  34. #34
    Master Papa Hotel's Avatar
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    The population of Ireland is 4.7m.

    The number of Americans who claim to be Irish is 33m.

  35. #35
    Grand Master PickleB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldoakknives View Post
    You can distinguish an Alligator from a Crocodile, by paying attention to whether the animal sees you later or in a while.

    ook
    And there was I looking at their dentition.

  36. #36
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    Kishi Station in Kinokawa has a cat as stationmaster.

  37. #37
    Master Jon Kenney's Avatar
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    Like most people my age, I'm 48

  38. #38
    Grand Master VDG's Avatar
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    Al Capone business card said that he is used furniture salesman
    Fas est ab hoste doceri

  39. #39
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Groundrush View Post
    The observable universe is spherical and you are slap bang at the centre of it.

    As the universe expands, there will become a point in time where all the galaxies and stars we can see now will be so far away from us and red-shifted so much that they will all become completely unobservable and the universe will appear to be completely empty.
    Now that is quite interesting!

    As we know that we’re not the centre of the universe (well most of us anyway), one can only conclude that there are already parts of the universe that have become unobservable to us.

    You also appear to be saying that the galaxies are not just moving away from us, they’re also expanding too?

  40. #40
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    For those that like the facts in this thread I can highly recommend "No Such Thing as a Fish" podcast. It's the researchers behind QI who do their own podcast, funny and full of facts like the above.

    https://twitter.com/nosuchthing
    Last edited by ViperStripes; 15th June 2018 at 09:42.

  41. #41
    Master DMC102's Avatar
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    Peanuts are not nuts.

  42. #42
    Master mondie's Avatar
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    All the soil removed in the building of the Manchester Ship Canal could build a 3 x 6ft wall around the entire equator.

  43. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    As we know that we’re not the centre of the universe (well most of us anyway), one can only conclude that there are already parts of the universe that have become unobservable to us.
    The universe is roughly 13.8 billion years old and light can only go so fast, so you might think that a distance of 13.8 billion light years from the observer is as far as anyone can ever hope to see. In fact, because the universe is expanding we can actually see about 45.7 billion light-years. The difference being made up by red-shift (relativity is weird man) and the fact that the rate of expansion is increasing. Interestingly, because every point in space has it's own observable universe, what is inside for one may well be outside for another. How big the total "outside" universe is, is any ones guess.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    You also appear to be saying that the galaxies are not just moving away from us, they’re also expanding too?
    Affirmative.
    Last edited by Groundrush; 15th June 2018 at 12:59.

  44. #44
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by mondie View Post
    All the soil removed in the building of the Manchester Ship Canal could build a 3 x 6ft wall around the entire equator.
    Don’t keep us guessing! What did they do with it?! 😳

  45. #45
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by David_D View Post
    Don’t keep us guessing! What did they do with it?! 
    Made Manchester?
    Cheers..
    Jase

  46. #46
    Master mondie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by David_D View Post
    Don’t keep us guessing! What did they do with it?! 
    Dunno as I wasn't around then but staggering to think it was all done by hand.

  47. #47
    Grand Master jwg663's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mondie View Post
    All the soil removed in the building of the Manchester Ship Canal could build a 3 x 6ft wall around the entire equator.
    Quote Originally Posted by David_D View Post
    Don’t keep us guessing! What did they do with it?! 


    The navvies dropped all the soil out of their trouser-legs (it's where 'The Great Escape' writers got the idea from) & created the land where Wythenshawe now stands.
    ______

    ​Jim.

  48. #48
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    The peacock mantis shrimp uses club-like appendages called dactyls to 'punch' its crab or clam prey with the same velocity as a .22-caliber bullet being fired from a gun.

    The force created by these clubs is so great that the water surrounding them briefly reaches the same temperature as the surface of the sun.

    Ouch!

  49. #49
    There is only one 7-letter anagram of sobbing
    Last edited by Tokyo Tokei; 15th June 2018 at 16:30. Reason: mystery

  50. #50
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Groundrush View Post
    The universe is roughly 13.8 billion years old and light can only go so fast, so you might think that a distance of 13.8 billion light years from the observer is as far as anyone can ever hope to see. In fact, because the universe is expanding we can actually see about 45.7 billion light-years. The difference being made up by red-shift (relativity is weird man) and the fact that the rate of expansion is increasing. Interestingly, because every point in space has it's own observable universe, what is inside for one may well be outside for another. How big the total "outside" universe is, is any ones guess.



    Affirmative.
    Cheers!

    My daughter is studying Astro physics and the little that I pick up (and sometimes understand) is quite mind blowing.

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