The fun facts thread---share your useless trivia!

[FamoFunk]

Female Hyena's have a penis, have sex with it and give birth.


Hyena females are considerably larger than the males. The females are masculinized due to the excess testosterone in their bodies; they have more testosterone in their bodies than most male hyenas. As a result of this masculinization, females are a third larger than the males, have more muscle mass, are more aggressive, and have masculinized genetalia. Their vulva is fused to look like a scrotum and testes, and their clitoris is large and looks like a phallus, and can be erected just like a penis. The vagina runs through the pseudo penis. This makes it hard for them to mate and give birth, since they do so through this pseudo penis. It was once thought that hyenas were hermaphroditic animals because the females sported genitalia similar to the males. In fact, the only sure way to determine the sex of a hyena is that after giving birth the female's two black nipples become enlarged.

The erect 'penis' of both sexes plays a prominent role in ritualized greeting

 

[Ren3004]

Contrary to popular disease, being exposed to massive amounts of radiation results in superpowers less often than it results in horrible, painful death.

I had another one, but I forgot it.

 

[Knusper]

It is impossible to stretch a piece of rope or chain without it sagging due to its own weight.

 

[adderseal]

Highways were invented by Nazi Germany during WWII.

 

[adderseal]

A group of ravens is called a murder.

You sure that it's not a group of crows?

 

[SimuLord]

Dolphins have sex up to 5 times a day.....dont ask me why I know this

They are also the only animal, apart from humans, that have sex for pleasure. I might be mistaken on that though.

That and along with ducks are the only animals that rape.

And fruit can make your semen taste sweeter...The more you know

I have witnessed a duck rape. Was out on a nice walk in the park with a girl and we happened upon that. It was...interesting.

And bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees) also have sex for pleasure. In addition, the females engage in mutual masturbation. In the words of Colin Mochrie, "We're watching animal porn!"

 

[niege]

"During Iron Maidens tour "World Slavery Tour" they used 50 000 cans of beer, 30 000 softdrinks, 3000 liters of milk, 1250 liter orangejuice, 6392 guitarstrings, 3670 drumsticks and 3008 picks bass and guitar."
"The skin of a polar bear is black"
"The only book that has been printed more times than the Bible is the "ikea" catalog"
"Polar bears are left-handed"
"The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo."
"Everytime a fly lands it poops and sometimes eat it again".
that is everything i can remember.......for now

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Metal and anime threads are the two most common threads here besides

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Highways were invented by Nazi Germany during WWII.

More specifically the Autobahnen!

 

[Baldry]

Dolphins have sex up to 5 times a day.....dont ask me why I know this

They are also the only animal, apart from humans, that have sex for pleasure. I might be mistaken on that though.

That and along with ducks are the only animals that rape.

And fruit can make your semen taste sweeter...The more you know

I have witnessed a duck rape. Was out on a nice walk in the park with a girl and we happened upon that. It was...interesting.

Closest I've come to animal sex was walking past some horses and they just started going at it...That too was interesting...

 

[NDstephan]

The tallest man-made structure in America isn't a building. It's a radio tower in North Dakota.

Three miles west of Blanchard, North Dakota, stands North America's tallest manmade structure, the KVLY TV mast at 2,063 feet. Interestingly, the FAA has since imposed a 2,063-foot limit on structures, so no new mast will ever be higher than this one, at least in the U.S.

Suck on THAT Sears freakin Tower! 1450 feet?
Pansy!

 

[Eumersian]

Here's one of my favorites.

What we commonly know as "solid" glass is actually just an extremely viscous liquid. If you go to colonial villages where they have preserved hundreds of years old buildings, you may notice that the glass windows on those buildings are thinner at the top and significantly thicker on the bottom. This is because the glass is slowly flowing towards the ground, much like a regular liquid, only very, very slowly.

Don't argue. I learned it from my chemistry professor, who is both a chemist and chemical engineer. It's fuckin' science.

 

[Unusually_Witty_Name]

Fact: It is illegal, (at least, it is here anyway) to drive without any shoes on.

It is also technically " racist" to call a white person Caucasian. I am not sure why.

If anyone has already posted these facts, I am sorry, I didn't read the entire topic. D:

 

[thenoblitt]

Quantum entanglement is the unexplained phenomenon in the universe where two particles are inextricably linked together and any action on one particle causes the other particle to react instantly (faster than light speed) no matter what distance the particles are separated.
Also, for those too young to remember there was originally 150 pokemon ^.^

151 actually you forgot mewtwo

 

[Eumersian]

Ooh! Another one!

In Maine, it is unlawful to not bring a shotgun to church, in case of an Indian attack.

 

[thenoblitt]

Sea cucumbers excrete their internal organs to entangle their foes, and escape because they can re-grow them

Swans are the only bird with a penis

There's a kind of spider that breaks it's penis off inside the female spider after intercourse

Gandhi was an Anti-Semite (This is not my opinion but I've heard it from a few places/people)

Hitler was a vegetarian

Some people believe Nazis had help from aliens

A member (or former member) of the Nazi part was one of the most important people who worked on NASA's project to get a human on the moon

Samurai swords can cut a speeding bullet in half

(might have more later)

ducks also have penises and they are a bird

 

[Mrrrgggrlllrrrg]

Thorium has a greater efficiency rate than the standard uranium 235 in a nuclear breeder reactor and is substantially more abundant. As well Thorium is actually considered a waste metal from extracting rare earths.

and that a MSR or LFTR nuclear reactor is much safer than traditional light water and heavy water reactors.

And Dmitry Belyaev deserves 5 Nobel Prizes for awesomeness

 

[Joepow]

Here's one of my favorites.

What we commonly know as "solid" glass is actually just an extremely viscous liquid. If you go to colonial villages where they have preserved hundreds of years old buildings, you may notice that the glass windows on those buildings are thinner at the top and significantly thicker on the bottom. This is because the glass is slowly flowing towards the ground, much like a regular liquid, only very, very slowly.

Don't argue. I learned it from my chemistry professor, who is both a chemist and chemical engineer. It's fuckin' science.

Wiki seems to disagree with you
<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass#Glass_versus_supercooled_liquid>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass#Glass_versus_supercooled_liquid

 

[darkless]

Here's one of my favorites.

What we commonly know as "solid" glass is actually just an extremely viscous liquid. If you go to colonial villages where they have preserved hundreds of years old buildings, you may notice that the glass windows on those buildings are thinner at the top and significantly thicker on the bottom. This is because the glass is slowly flowing towards the ground, much like a regular liquid, only very, very slowly.

Don't argue. I learned it from my chemistry professor, who is both a chemist and chemical engineer. It's fuckin' science.

I'm going to argue anyway because he's wrong, glass is solid old windows where made thicker at the bottom it had nothing to do with glass "Flowing" if it did, there would be very coticable gaps in the top of the window because nothing flows evenly.

 

[BGH122]

The principle problem with the expression 'cogito ergo sum' is that only one claim can be undeniable, that of the cognitive-activity of he/she that says so. Even Descartes conceded that an extra premise was required to justify the assumption that cognition denotes existence.

The point of CES is to show that if thought occurs, there must exist something to be the receptacle of that thought. It doesn't claim to show anything other than the fact that if there is thought, there must be a container for thought. People usually claim it proves that 'I' exist, with 'I' being a human brain or some variation thereof. It doesn't. It claims to prove that some form of receptacle exists, as an object contained by a vase ipso facto proves the existence of the vase itself. It's really best summed up as, "There is a thing, a thing presumes existence". It isn't]/i] an argument in favour of the view of reality we currently hold, that comes later in the meditations. Sorry to go off on one, I'm not even entirely sure that all of this was relevant to your claim!

Trivia: Some organisms can change their phenotype (active genes) in response to environmental pressures (phenotypic plasticity [http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=&q=phenotypic+plasticity&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGLL_en-GBGB400GB404&ie=UTF-8&aq=0&oq=phenotypic+])!