F&V said:
Lightning detection systems have discovered that lightning can travel a distance of 60 miles or more.
True. However, this is mostly just horizontal travel through clouds (or even power lines). Just for fun, we can also note that lightning travels at approximately 14,000 MPH, therefore it's only about a 15 second travel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/lightning_strike.shtml
big URL
As a newborn until about six to eight months old, babies are in a state of being colorblind because their cone cells have not developed yet.
False. While it's true that a newborn's vision is much less clear and requires a sharp contrast in order to differentiate two objects, studies have shown they can at least tell the difference between red and green right from the get-go. By four months, they can distinguish all colors, and around 8 months can see about as well as a full-grown adult.
http://whalonlab.msu.edu/Student_Webpages/Babies/The Sense of Sight.html
Some large asteroids in outer space even have their own moon.
False. Dictionary.com gives this definition for a moon: "4. any planetary satellite." Implying that it must orbit a planet. Dictionary.com claims that a planet must orbit a star/sun in a fashion similar to the nine planets of our solar system...which an asteroid doesn't (if it did, it'd be a planet).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/moon
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/planet
Leonid Sadnyk is the current tallest man alive in the world, at 8 feet 5.5 inches
Probably true. Guinness World Records claims he is, anyway. That doesn't mean we can necessarily assume that they've checked every human on the planet, though.
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/extreme_bodies/tallest_man_-_living.aspx
World record for most shirts on at once: 155
True. Guinness World Records, again. Also, youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VphDKKDneJs
Kenji said:
"Mosquitoes prefer children to adults, blondes to brunettes."
False. It's actually the opposite for the first part. Mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide from quite some distance, and since adults breath larger amounts than children (generally), they would of course attract mosquitoes at least very slightly more. Even if CO2 isn't what attracts mosquitoes the most (scientists don't seem 100% sure), whatever they
are attracted to there's bound to be more of in adults.
I can't imagine hair color has anything to do with it. >_>
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/are-you-mosquito-magnet
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8126478&dopt=AbstractPlus
"There are approximately 3,500 astronomers in the U.S., but over 15,000 astrologers."
Unsure. I suck at navigating the US Census site, and I don't even know if that's even really the right place to look. Those numbers don't seem improbable, though.
Ripple said:
the largest organ of the human body is the skin which also weighs between 5-8 lbs.
True. I think most people know this.
Zook said:
There is no Oni-Link. It's just a fan given name.
True. At least, I think so. I'm fairly certain the original name was "Fierce Deity Link," anyway.
By law, every Kentucky citizen is required to bathe once a year.
Unsure. The fact that I only found this "fact" on various joke sites and blogs just makes me doubt the accuracy. CNN apparently has an article on it though, which may or may not give it some legitimacy.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/11/25/offbeat.bath.law.ap/index.html
Mailing a building by mail has been illegal in the US since 1916 when a man mailed a 40,000-ton brick house across Utah to avoid paying freight costs.
Unsure. Professor Google continues to turn up "fact" sites, blogs, etc. No real reliable sources...
>_>
Pennsylvania was the first colony to legalize witchcraft.
More ****ing fact sites. I probably shouldn't have bothered with these last couple but gosh golly I am THOROUGH!
Mr.Lombardi34 said:
Lol.
Gringle said:
Here's a very interesting, yet scary one. One out of every three women own a gun.
False. Actually, I'm not really sure, but according to a
telephone study done in
1994, only about 9% of females (42% of males) in the
US owned guns. Everything in italics is something that makes the stat less accurate/relevant to your fact. I did as best I could.
SeedOfSorrow said:
Leap Year occurs every four years, except for years ending in 00, in which case only if the year is divisible by 400.
True. There are even more rules (would you really expect the year to be exactly 365.2524?
), if you're interested. In 4,000 or 8,000 years more adjustments to the calendar will have to be made. Of course, in that amount of the time the exact length of the year will change, anyhow.
Wikipedia
Yay, certificates.