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

[tunderball]

Life Clocks are a lie! Carousel is a lie! There is no renewal!
-fun fact nobody will get this reference, props if you do.

Reminds me of a scifi movie from 60's/70's (no idea seriously) where people had this gem on their palm that would change color as they got older. In the gem-hand society everybody over certain age was supposed to take part in the "Carousel" to be renewed. I guess it was really just glorified execution. Those unwilling to participate would get taken there by "sandmen"...
Just tell me if I'm even close

OT: The larger species of manta rays eat the craziest things. Autopsy of one brought forth a medieval suit of armor.

Yeah you nailed it almost exactly well done! The film is called Logans Run

 

[endnuen]

The capacitors inside your TV can kill you.

Apparently you can actually make a crude projectile launcher by taking a huge capacitor (the kind you find in the electric systems of modern cars) and running a current through it the wrong way.

I would love to see where you've seen that?
What I have learned and experienced with connecting a capacitor the wrong way:
No, no you can't.. It will just explode and there will be a foul foul smell and a lot of cleaning to be done..

 

[Darkauthor81]

They once did a world wide poll of the most widely recognized non-religious symbols.

Coming in at number 1. The McDonalds Golden Arches
Much more interestingly coming in at 2. The Ghostbusters symbol

Yes the Ghostbusters are the world's second most widely recognizable non-religious symbol

 

[Mechsoap]

Did you know a pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes?

 

[Ray De Ation]

In circus lore, "the stars and stripes forever" is only played in case of emergency- in case of fire or the death of a performer.

 

[Joepow]

In Uganda, hippos kill more humans every year than any other animal.

 

[DanielDeFig]

More people die every year from eating shark, than being eaten by sharks.

It's from National Geographic Channel. I think it's supposed to prove the point that you are more likely to choke to death on a fish bone, than being attacked by sharks.

 

[maninahat]

The capacitors inside your TV can kill you.

Apparently you can actually make a crude projectile launcher by taking a huge capacitor (the kind you find in the electric systems of modern cars) and running a current through it the wrong way.

I would love to see where you've seen that?
What I have learned and experienced with connecting a capacitor the wrong way:
No, no you can't.. It will just explode and there will be a foul foul smell and a lot of cleaning to be done..

Just hearsay. Youtube provides videos of guys firing washers using overpowered capacitors, though I don't know if that result is from running the current in the wrong way, or simply exaggerating the capacitor's normal functions.

 

[Brian Hendershot]

Subsidizing crops in states in the Global North caused a massive economic downturn for states in the Global South. Ironically, the the low prices of crops have affected the Global North negatively as well because the mass produced crops/animals often cause major health issues.

Not a fun fact but a fact nonetheless.

 

[amazinglettera]

The is a bone in your neck called the hyoid and it assists with the opening and closing of the epiglottis.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Fun fact: Did you know that the reason popcorn is associated with movie theaters is because of World War II?

During the war, sugar was rationed and candy was no longer widely available, so concession stands at theaters had to come up with a substitute item to serve to people going to the movies. Popcorn was cheap and widely available (since popcorn wasn't exactly something you could ship to the troops---they weren't keeping popcorn poppers in foxholes---and it makes lousy ammunition), it's tasty, and it's convenient for people to eat without benefit of a table.

After the war was over, movie theaters decided to keep at it since sales were brisk, and now there's even a colloquialism - "popcorn movie" - for a film that isn't a cinematic masterpiece but may very well just be an excuse to go out for a couple of hours and eat that delicious popped delight.

For Discussion: Got a fun fact to share? Let's all learn something to further clutter the hard drive that is the brain.

I always dread coming into threads like this, but that's a really neat fact!

It looks like most of the rest are the more typical parroted "interesting facts" people have heard and repeated without ever bothering to verify.

Mine:
"an apron" was originally "a napron", "lone" exists as a word due to people taking "al one" (Middle English "all one") as "a lone", "nickname" is from "an eke name" (Middle English "extra name"). If one looks, one can find a remarkable number of words like this that only exist as the result of a hearer rebracketing the word wrong.

 

[Buizel91]

When you yawn... your not actually tired, it's just your body's way of saying your low on oxygen

There's my useless fact!

 

[Darkauthor81]

The hard bit at the end of a shoelace is called an aglet. D'ja know that?

And according to The Question from that Justice League Unlimited show, they have a secret and sinister purpose.

 

[DanielDeFig]

In Uganda, hippos kill more humans every year than any other animal.

Hippos kill more human beings than any other (non-insect. Malaria mosquitoes kill far more ppl) animal in Africa, Period.

 

[Rasputin1]

A fruit fly's sperm is 5 centimeters long. (Courtesy of QI)

 

[endnuen]

The capacitors inside your TV can kill you.

Apparently you can actually make a crude projectile launcher by taking a huge capacitor (the kind you find in the electric systems of modern cars) and running a current through it the wrong way.

I would love to see where you've seen that?
What I have learned and experienced with connecting a capacitor the wrong way:
No, no you can't.. It will just explode and there will be a foul foul smell and a lot of cleaning to be done..

Just hearsay. Youtube provides videos of guys firing washers using overpowered capacitors, though I don't know if that result is from running the current in the wrong way, or simply exaggerating the capacitor's normal functions.

What happens when you mix up the anode at cathode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJOUe5IqCps&feature=related

You are talking about this right?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3rzx6jtnk&feature=related
Basically a capacitor is a form of battery. It has to be charged before letting a current run through it. It appears they have built a rather large "battery", able to store quite an amount of voltage. Then charge the pack up, and releases the energy stores in the capacitors. If one of those bad boys were turned the wrong way they would probably notice ;-)
They are usually used in electronics to make the current more level.

Electronics Engineering, so much fun!

 

[Fetzenfisch]

Hehe i used to sign every post i made with one of those, i collected a LOT.



Butanoic acid is a main part of natural strawberry aroma. By it self it smells extremely like vomit, but if a strawberry is low on the acid, its got almost no taste.

The Mona Lisa does not have eyebrows

The first University of germany was founded in Prague

The headscientist of the Peru Potatoeresearch centre is named Pamela Anderson.

Queen Christine of Sweden was said to own a tiny cannon so she can shoot insects.

Cleopatra was greek

An average cellphone has got way more calculatin power than the equipment they used for the first moonlanding.


When the movies need Bong-water they use this recipe:
1 Teaspoon vinegar, 1 Bag black Tea (2 minutes) und 3 big spoons unfiltered apple juice in 1/2 Liter Water

 

[maninahat]

The capacitors inside your TV can kill you.

Apparently you can actually make a crude projectile launcher by taking a huge capacitor (the kind you find in the electric systems of modern cars) and running a current through it the wrong way.

I would love to see where you've seen that?
What I have learned and experienced with connecting a capacitor the wrong way:
No, no you can't.. It will just explode and there will be a foul foul smell and a lot of cleaning to be done..

Just hearsay. Youtube provides videos of guys firing washers using overpowered capacitors, though I don't know if that result is from running the current in the wrong way, or simply exaggerating the capacitor's normal functions.

What happens when you mix up the anode at cathode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJOUe5IqCps&feature=related

You are talking about this right?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3rzx6jtnk&feature=related
Basically a capacitor is a form of battery. It has to be charged before letting a current run through it. It appears they have built a rather large "battery", able to store quite an amount of voltage. Then charge the pack up, and releases the energy stores in the capacitors. If one of those bad boys were turned the wrong way they would probably notice ;-)

That's the one. Thanks for setting me straight.

There was a time where I was top in my class for electronics.

 

[Darkauthor81]

When you yawn... your not actually tired, it's just your body's way of saying your low on oxygen

There's my useless fact!

I thought yawning was found to be something animals do to express being tired to each other. I was told that's why when one person yawns other people yawn too. It's a non-verbal expression of "Hey I'm sleepy" "Yeah I'm sleepy too."

 

[JacOak]

Optimus Prime, Eeyore, and the Predator are all voiced by the same guy.

There are two comic-book characters called Dennis the Menace, one created in the US and the other in the UK. Even more bizzarely, they were both published for the first time within hours of each other.