Interesting 'Facts' 2.0

[GoldShadow]

Notice!!!

Hey everybody, well I'm going back to campus tomorrow morning so unfortunately I'm too busy packing right now to check any more myths. Since school's starting on Monday (along with a whole slew of other activities) I'm not going to have as much time to post and research facts. I'll try to do as many as possible but no guarantees. So you guys will have to take over a bunch of the fact duties!

I hope we can keep this thread going, but only if someone's checking the facts as well! Again, I'll do my best to keep up but seeing the recent influx of facts, I'm not sure I'll be able to.

So if I don't post at all here for a few days, that's why.

Also I want to thank everyone for their supporting this thread! I've taken a personal interest in it, if you couldn't tell.

And remember, keep posting so you can try and win some awards in the next Interesting Facts 2.0 Awards Ceremony! If you want to see the first awards, click here.

 

[Eor]

I hope you mean Il-legal.

Nope

 

[Falco&Victory]

Oh, I have an award? Awesome

Lightning detection systems have discovered that lightning can travel a distance of 60 miles or more.

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.

Some large asteroids in outer space even have their own moon.

Leonid Sadnyk is the current tallest man alive in the world, at 8 feet 5.5 inches

World record for most shirts on at once: 155

 

[shadenexus18]

No

Ok non-believer, look at this article. Not the whole thing, just the article on Martial Arts and all will become clear.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi

 

[MysticKenji]

"Mosquitoes prefer children to adults, blondes to brunettes."

"There are approximately 3,500 astronomers in the U.S., but over 15,000 astrologers.

 

[Eor]

Most scientists do, however, dispute the existence of Qi, ascribing the therapeutic effects of acupuncture to physiological changes induced in nerve cells by the act of 'needling', to endorphin-release, relaxation or simple placebo effects.

Read your own articles before you tell others to. I can see now why you told me to ignore everything except for a single part, a part that didn't even prove anything you said.

 

[Falco&Victory]

Riddle me this, how would one's body channel chi? Our muscle's inability to store an electric charge means we're not an electric eel.
Also, boiling an egg would make it explode(unless it's hard boiled).
Finally your sensai's hand would need to be at boiling temp to boil an egg. His hand would blister and burn. You can focus bodily energy, but not to the point of raising temperature by more than a few degrees.

 

[Mr.GAW]

shadenexus, the easy way to do this is to post a vid of your instructor frying an egg on his palm.

We will all then believe you.

 

[Ripple]

the largest organ of the human body is the skin which also weighs between 5-8 lbs.

 

[Zook]

There is no Oni-Link. It's just a fan given name.

By law, every Kentucky citizen is required to bathe once a year.

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.

Pennsylvania was the first colony to legalize witchcraft.

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

I seriously dought that skin is considered an organ.

 

[Falco&Victory]

I seriously dought that skin is considered an organ.

It is considered an organ, because the skin is made into a unique shape and has it's own unique purpose. It's also made up of tissue.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

it is: http://www.bioeng.auckland.ac.nz/physiome/ontologies/skin/organ.php

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

Goldshadow! Interesting Facts is going down!!! Disprove some facts or post the awards, Before its too late!!! A cow has 4 stomachs.

 

[Gringleman]

Here's a very interesting, yet scary one. One out of every three women own a gun.

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

Here's a very interesting, yet scary one. One out of every three women own a gun.

How did they figure that out, did they go around asking women if they own guns?

 

[Handorin]

Goldshadow! Interesting Facts is going down!!! Disprove some facts or post the awards, Before its too late!!! A cow has 4 stomachs.

False. Cows have one stomach with four compartments. Actually, the abomasum is most like the human stomach, (Out of the 4) and is more of a "true stomach." One stomach, four compartments with different purposes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cows#Biology

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

Leap Year occurs every four years, except for years ending in 00, in which case only if the year is divisible by 400.

 

[Handorin]

Leap Year occurs every four years, except for years ending in 00, in which case only if the year is divisible by 400.

True. To be a bit more clear, 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900, and 2100 are not. Reasoning takes a lot of explantion because of the changing equinox, so click the link if you need to know more. >_>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leapyear

P.S. I love wikipedia.

 

[Schweppes]

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

"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.

the largest organ of the human body is the skin which also weighs between 5-8 lbs.

True. I think most people know this.

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!

dought

Lol.

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.

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.

 

[GoldShadow]

First off, thanks for all the recent fact-checking (and of course, fact posting), especially Schweppes for that last post. Here are a few I was able to get around to researching:

A pigeon's feathers weigh more than it's bones

True. Most flying birds have extremely light, hollow birds. In some birds, the feathers can actually weigh more than its bones.
http://www.hsu.edu/content.aspx?id=2252
http://www.fi.edu/wright/again/wing...s.com/Book/Animals/intermediate/birds-01.html

A snail can sleep for 3 years.

False. Snails are known to hibernate during the winter (and sometimes estivate during the summer if conditions are dry). However, I could find nothing saying that they could hibernate for extended periods of time such as 3 years.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r107500111.html
http://www.bury.gov.uk/Environment/PestsAndNuisance/SnailsandSlugs.htm

Shakespeare invented the word "assassination" and "bump."

True. Shakespeare coined a lot of words and phrases we use today.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0419_040419_shakespeare.html
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/history/shakespeare.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/showbiz/shakespeare/newsid_3539000/3539004.stm

Most elephants weigh less than the tongue of the blue whale.

False. A blue whale's tongue usually weighs around a ton, which is certainly lighter than the average Asian elephant which weighs 3-5 tons. African elephants tend to be even heavier. A blue whale's tongue is certainly big enough for an elephant to stand on though.
http://whale.wheelock.edu/archives/ask99/0575.html
http://www.phoenixzoo.org/learn/animals/animal_detail.aspx?FACT_SHEET_ID=100004
http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/336.htm

All polar bears are left handed.

False.
http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=2731021#post2731021

The alphabet song has the same tune as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

True. Just sing it for proof! I know there's also a wikipedia article on it, you can search for that if you want.

One brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 frowns. (It might be 20,000, I forgot)

False. Frowning a lot or frowning a certain number of times won't, in itself, give you permanent brow wrinkles. However, excessive frowning can definitely accentuate them (make them more apparent). Other things that cause brow wrinkles include smoking, aging, genetic factors and too much exposure to sunlight.

The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.

True. Hummingbirds, unlike other birds, can twist and rotate their wings instead of just being able to flap them up and down. As a result, they are able to fly backwards.
http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/index.html?quid=253

One way to tell the age of a fish is by looking at its scales. They have growth rings just like trees. These are called circuli. Clusters of them are called annuli. Each annuli show one year.

True. Of course, this only works for fish that have scales! (Nice one btw F&V, I didn't know this fact before this). There are pictures you can see at the first website I linked to.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/muwo/nature/fauna/salmon/age.htm
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/zoo00/zoo00459.htm
http://www.austmus.gov.au/fishes/what/scales/index.htm

You may have heard someone say, "It’s raining cats and dogs." There have been actual documented cases from all over the world of fish, frogs, dead birds, snakes, snails, beetles, worms and jellyfish raining down from the sky in great numbers, but no reports of showers of cats or dogs.(tornadoes pick them up. Raining frogs ftw)

True. True. Read more about it:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/archives-tornado-history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raining_animals

Elephants purr like cats do, as a means of communication.

Somewhat True. While elephants do sometimes give low-frequency purrs, it's not their most commonly used or frequent form of communication. Cats purr at a frequency of about 20-50 Hz, though they can go up to 200 Hz with some purrs. Elephants use sound at 14 to 35 Hz to communicate at long distance. Additionally, elephants may also stomping and ground vibrations to communicate.
https://www.zoofriends.org.au/zoonooz/zoonooz_sept06_article1.html
http://www.animalvoice.com/catpurr.htm
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/198/4/939.pdf
http://www.physorg.com/news4211.html

 

[Zook]

It's PokeFacts Time!!

The pokemon 'Wobbuffet' is based off of now-dead Japanese comedian Sanpei Hayashiya. Sanpei's trademark saying was "Sō nansu, okusan" ("So it seems, madam), hence the reason in the Japanese anime he says "Soooooonansu!" His Japanese name is Sonan.

In the anime, Team Rocket has used 41 mechs so far.

Pokemon do not say their names. They growl/shreik/howl/blabber/etc. The reason they chose not to do this in the shows and SSB series is, probably, due to the fact of how weird they sound.

Before the 2nd generation of pokemon games, Kanto had no name.

The 'DS' in 'Nintendo DS' doesn't mean anything (Most would say it means 'Dual Screen,' others may say 'Developer's System'). This fact has nothing to do with pokemon.

Sunkern has the lowest base stats of any pokemon, adding up to 180. Arceus has the highest, totaling to an impressive 720.

 

[Armygeddon Bomb]

Not only does Twinkle Twinkle Little Star has the same tune as the Alphabet, but so does Bah Bah Black Sheep.

You spend 1/7 of your life on any chosen day (Monday, Tuesday, ect.), something that people don't think about often, but still interesting.

More people play World of Warcraft than the population of New York City.

 

[Falco&Victory]

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

Super Glue was invented by accident. The researcher was trying to make optical coating materials, and would test their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them. When he tried the cyano-acrylate, he couldn't get the prisms apart.

When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds of up to 3,000 miles per hour.

Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, also set a world water-speed record of over seventy miles an hour at the age of seventy two.

The United States consumes 25% of all the world’s energy.

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

You spend 1/7 of your life on any chosen day (Monday, Tuesday, ect.), something that people don't think about often, but still interesting.

Of course you do. There are 7 different days so you spend a seventh of your life on each one.

Also, peanut butter can be converted to a diamond.

Also, Penguins are the only bird that can swim and not fly. Caterpillars have about 3,200 more muscles than humans.

Also, Goldshadow, I beleive it's about time for the award ceramony, whenever you get around to it.

 

[Falco&Victory]

Of course you do. There are 7 different days so you spend a seventh of your life on each one.

Not if you cross the international date line

Also, peanut butter can be converted to a diamond.

I suppose parts of peanut butter could be, but peanut butter isn't carbon, so there would be a lot left over.

Also, Penguins are the only bird that can swim and not fly. Caterpillars have about 3,200 more muscles than humans.

What about that duck with a broken wing by my house? Anyway, true and true

Also, Goldshadow, I beleive it's about time for the award ceramony, whenever you get around to it.

aaaaaaand true

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

Lol F&V, I like your way of disproving.

Male lions normally spend about 20 hours of the day sleeping.

 

[GregUnit]

You spend 1/7 of your life on any chosen day (Monday, Tuesday, ect.), something that people don't think about often, but still interesting.

Only if you died the same weekday you were born.

 

[notftomearth7]

FACTS THAT ARE TRUE! Or mostly true.
Now I haven't included every true fact here, because that would be too many. But a couple that I felt like finding information on:

That is true... well, they don't really melt, they dissolve. But it's the acidic nature of vinegar (acetic acid) that dissolves pearls. So it would be more correct to say "pearls dissolve in acid", any acid; you could potentially dissolve them in orange juice too.


This is true. The law allowing this was passed in 1935.
True-ish... estimates range between less than 1 to about 5 quadrillion synapses. A newborn infant's brain has about 10 quadrillion.


True-ish.
A gallon of modern gasoline contains about 120,000,000 Joules of energy. A stick of dynamite contains about 2,000,000 Joules (it's actually a tiny bit more, but let's stick with even numbers for simplicity).

One cup (the US measurement) is 1/16 of a gallon, so a measuring cup of gasoline contains about 7,500,000 Joules. So actually, a cup of gasoline is equal to about 3.75 sticks of dynamite, not five.

Spoil sport....


Anyway, the first thing you do when you die is you crap your pants.

Also, if you fart in front of fire, it doesn't cause an explosion, rather the fire travels up the gas stream into the bunghole

 

[Falco&Victory]

Lol F&V, I like your way of disproving.

Male lions normally spend about 20 hours of the day sleeping.

Thank, you I do my best.

Anyway, the average human could survive a 20,000 foot fall, even with sharp rocks at the bottom =p

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

Anyway, the average human could survive a 20,000 foot fall, even with sharp rocks at the bottom =p

Where in the world did you hear that? That is absolute BS. Havent we already discussed this? Honestly, what makes you beleive that? Got any proof?

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

Thank, you I do my best.

Anyway, the average human could survive a 20,000 foot fall, even with sharp rocks at the bottom =p

May I request a citation for that?

(providing that it is just the human body falling with no parachute, gear etc. )

 

[Falco&Victory]

May I request a citation for that?

(providing that it is just the human body falling with no parachute, gear etc. )

Citation? Ha, who needs it? Common sense(or, not so common)

A man could jump out of a plane buck naked and survive the fall, 20,000 feet high, with rocks beneath him, nothing to hinder his speed

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

Are you kidding me? What makes you think that? I really want to know.

 

[Falco&Victory]

How would a 20,000 foot fall down kill you? Tell me know, how could you die from that?

 

[Bailey]

How could it not kill you.

 

[Handorin]

If someone is in a car accident flies out the window at 60mph, and they die, what stops them from dying when they are going much faster from 20000 feet?

 

[MVPaintballer]

wtfff

 

[Mr.Lombardi34]

I think F&V is just trying to annoy us....or get banned again.

It's really not worth my time to argue with him.

If you put all the streets in New York City together in a line, they would reach to japan.

 

[Keku]

wtfff

This thing is seriously weird.