Trivial information not necessarily unimportantbut random

[professor]

alright i used to look up 5 or so random (or so it seemed to most people) facts, or concepts just about daily. many of which involved mathematics or sciences. Now more recently i haven't done so much, and feel i am becoming far less usefull then i had been previously, and besides who doesent want to win jeopardy. Anyway, what I am attempting to ask, if for a very long list of things that anyone ever found interesting, keep in mind this can be as obscure as the anatomy of a chicken, just post something.

 

[Andy]

Its impossible to lick your elbow.

 

[Andy]

90% of people that read that will attempt to lick their elbow.

 

[deckart]

90% of people that read that will attempt to lick their elbow.

I came pretty close, Andy.

 

[honestrosewater]

90% of people that read that will attempt to lick their elbow.

I'm not giving up yet!

 

[professor]

i just though of one to add..my version of indows ME rarely runs for more than a straight hour before crashing (answer=linux) ;and by the way i can lick my elbow thank you very much...

 

[deckart]

i just though of one to add..my version of indows ME rarely runs for more than a straight hour before crashing (answer=linux) ;and by the way i can lick my elbow thank you very much...

answer = XP

 

[honestrosewater]

Of the 50 American States, 8 begin with an M and 8 begin with an N. Eh, I should double-check this. Yep. Maybe you can figure out a way to remember 4311114218831122124. It's the number of states beginning with each letter, in alphabetical order (i.e., 4 states begin with an A, 3 begin with a C, etc. - obviously not counting the letters that no state begins with). I've used the 8 thing before.

 

[BobG]

...and by the way i can lick my elbow thank you very much...

NO WAY!

Hmm, great. Now everyone at work is trying to act like they're not staring at me.

 

[matthyaouw]

90% of people that read that will attempt to lick their elbow.

This statistic is outdated. 90% of people have heard this statistic before (and most of them tried it previously.) 9% of the remaining 10% tried it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=58374
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=5196

 

[Ivan Seeking]

in particular this is a nice one
http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/docs/usgsnps/deva/racetrack.pdf

 

[Moonbear]

Everything you ever wanted to know about snail farming.

 

[mattmns]

I got pretty close to licking my elbow, within about an inch or two of the tip, before my arm started hurting.

 

[honestrosewater]

Everything you ever wanted to know about snail farming.

(Am I the only one who skipped straight to the mating part? Heh.)

Some snails may act as males one season and as females the next. Other snails play both roles at once and fertilize each other simultaneously.

So is this considered cheating?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh heck, I seen people in San Francisco do that.

 

[siddharth]

I actually found this in my C++ compiler's help file! So I'm not sure if this is true or just an interesting hoax.

7 Hz is the resonant frequency of a chicken's skull cavity. This was determined empirically in Australia, where a new factory generating 7-Hz tones was located too
close to a chicken ranch: When the factory started up, all the chickens died.

 

[professor]

huh, tha last one would be quite interesting to know, I am too lazy to go look it up to be sure though

 

[BobG]

Tony Dungy (Steelers - 77) was the last NFL player to both intercept a pass and throw an interception in the same game.

Elvin Bethea, Oilers defensive lineman, also had a notable accomplishment in that same game - he personally folded, spindled, and mutilated first-string quarterback Terry Bradshaw and second-string quarterback Mike Kruczek, forcing them to leave the game with injuries.

Dungy, a defensive back, stepped in as Kruczek's replacement. While he was unable to rally the Steelers (he threw 2 fourth quarter interceptions in the 27-10 loss), he did manage to avoid being injured by Bethea.

Dungy's football career lasted 3 years (77-78 Steelers; 79 49ers). He had 9 career interceptions as a defensive back and his career quarterback rating was 16.1 (3 of 8 for 43 yards, no TDs and 2 interceptions).

 

[pattylou]

The protozoan Giardia lamblia, which causes giardiosis, does not have mitochondria.

 

[pattylou]

Aspens are colonial trees; a clump of them all share the same root system.

 

[matthyaouw]

The protozoan Giardia lamblia, which causes giardiosis, does not have mitochondria.

How does it metabolise? I'm intrigued.

 

[pattylou]

Look at a sunflower that has gone to seed. You'll notice that the seeds line up in spirals, in both directions. If you count the number of seeds in a spiral in one direction, and then count the number of seeds in a spiral in the othre direction, you will end up with two fibonacci numbers.

This image will start to give you the idea:

http://epod.usra.edu/archive/images/golden-mean-sunflower.jpg

 

[pattylou]

How does it metabolise? I'm intrigued.

It is intriguing, isn't it? I don't remember offhand. I *think* it used to have mitochondria and lost them - the functions moved elsewhere perhaps?

Here's a link:

Diplomonads are unicellular eukaryotes having flagella. They are considered one of the most primitive eukaryotes and may be the link between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Most of the characteristics of Diplomonads are like those of other eukaryotes. The main difference in Diplomonads is that they lack mitochondria, the main energy warehouse for other organisms. It is unclear whether they once had mitochondria and lost them or if they never had them at all. One theory is that Diplomonads existed before the endosymbiosis which lead to the development of mitochondria. If this theory is correct then the Diplomonads never possessed any mitochondria. The other idea is that they had mitochondria but lost them. This theory is strengthened by the finding of a protein that is related to mitochondrial hsp60 in the genome of Giardia lamblia (11). As Diplomonads do not possesses mitochondria (8), they cannot perform respiration and instead must obtain their energy by fermentative processes (1,3).

http://www.homepage.montana.edu/~umbls/mb301/euk/diplomonads.htm

 

[matthyaouw]

That's really interesting. Thanks :)

 

[loseyourname]

The protozoan Giardia lamblia, which causes giardiosis, does not have mitochondria.

I had a Giardia infection when I was 12. Nasty stuff.

Oh, Sonoma County (where I live) has the highest pollen count of any county in the US during the summer months.*

*I haven't confirmed this, but it is what the doctor told me.