Useless Knowledge

woodsac · Jan 10, 2006

Come on...we all have some

PlasticSpanner's post on 'Flashlights' made me think about this. So what totally useless facts do you have stored in your brain? Most of mine are about insects and animals. But I know so many, that it's hard to remember them all at once :mrgreen:

Over the last couple of years I've compiled a massive list. No...I don't why? I just like useless knowledge. I'll just post a few to start with.

A camel's milk doesn't curdle.

Chewing gum has rubber as an ingredient.

A cockroach can live up to a month, without its head.

Elephants can't jump.

When bats exit a cave they always turn left.

A chameleon's tongue is twice as long as it's body.

Unimaxium · Jan 10, 2006

A duck's quack supposedly doesn't echo, and nobody knows why.

Penguins are the only birds that can swim but not fly.

Analog clocks and watches are most often set to 10:10 when photographed because it looks the best (for studio / marketing shots and similar, that is)

It is impossible to kiss the tip of your elbow, or to stick your elbow in your ear.

I'm sure I know plenty more, I just have to remember them.

PlasticSpanner · Jan 10, 2006

Unimaxium said:
A duck's quack supposedly doesn't echo, and nobody knows why.

It is impossible to kiss the tip of your elbow

Have to disagree with these two! :lol:

Both were done on "Brainiacs" (Oddball science show in UK) although it was supposed to be impossible to lick your own elbow!

Jon Tickle (UK Big Brother fame) actually took a duck into a London underpass to prove you can hear a ducks echo! :lol:

Unimaxium · Jan 10, 2006

ooook then...

I also just found out... the dot over the letter i is called a tittle. I'm so going to have to drop that into a conversation now :lol:

And that one reminded me: the little plastic thingies on the ends of shoelaces are called aglets.

PlasticSpanner · Jan 10, 2006

A human body is supposed to accelerate in free fall at 50 feet/second every second until it reaches it's terminal velocity just under Mach 1.

I haven't tried it though! :lol:

PlasticSpanner · Jan 10, 2006

The moon was created from debris hurled into space after a large meteorite hit the earth.

It also used to be 3 times larger than it is now but some of it's surface has also been lost into space after similar meteorite collisions.

MommyOf4Boys · Jan 10, 2006

More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes.

The oldest person to live was Jeanne Louise Calment, she lived for a whopping 122 years until she died of smoking related complications. Don't Smoke!

Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes on one foot.

You can't fold of piece of paper in half more than 7 times. Don't believe me? Try it.

The names of the continents all end with the same letter with which they start. ... Ok a lot of people have been bustin on me with this one since North America and South America obviously don't start with the same letter as they end with. I duno how to rephrase it but just assume i am referring to "America."

MommyOf4Boys · Jan 10, 2006

Unimaxium said:
I also just found out... the dot over the letter i is called a tittle. I'm so going to have to drop that into a conversation now
And that one reminded me: the little plastic thingies on the ends of shoelaces are called aglets.

The little lump of flesh just forward of your ear canal, right next to your temple, is called a tragus.:lmao:

PlasticSpanner · Jan 10, 2006

There are no deserts in Europe.

surfingfireman · Jan 10, 2006

I am full of uselss knowledge but I wouldn't know where to start in just posting some of it...

Hertz van Rental · Jan 10, 2006

Over 300 people a year are killed by being hit on the head by coconuts.

In the UK more people are injured falling downstairs than die in car accidents.

There is no name, medical or otherwise, for the patch of skin at the back of the knee.

The only difference between a common Shrew and a Pygmy Shrew is the length of the tail.

There are many things that have gone up and not come down, including a hot air balloonist who was knocked into space by a meteor collision.

Earwigs have two penises.

I have many more.

markc · Jan 10, 2006

Heh. Hate to be a party pooper, but a few of those are urban legends.

Ducks, bats, Marilyn...
Donkeys/planes is unlikey. Unjured maybe.

Terminal velocity for a skydiver normally is 50m/s (125mph) and the record is something like 321mph trying in atmosphere. Mach 1 is 761mph.
g, acceleration due to gravity, is just under 10m/s/s instead of 50.

Impact theory is widely accepted now for the moon, but I haven't heard the 1/3 original size thing before. It's all still conjecture.

Everyone hates me now, right?

I can't resist, though. Of course I got my info from sources and not direct measurement, so some element of trust has to be involved.

Useless info?
I still remember my zip code from my childhood home of over 20 years ago (14873).
Phillip Brown and Shelagh Fraser played Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in the original Star Wars. Jeremy Bulloch played Boba Fett.
A Chrysler big block usually takes a Champion RJ12YC spark plug, and a Chevy small block often takes an AC Delco R45TS.
There's no "I" in team, but there is a "me".

Verbal · Jan 10, 2006

markc said:
Phillip Brown and Shelagh Fraser played Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in the original Star Wars. Jeremy Bulloch played Boba Fett.

You are my hero. :hail:

markc · Jan 11, 2006

Verbal said:
You are my hero. :hail:

Oh man, I've forgotten more about Star Wars than I care to remember.
Err...
Oh, just fill in something witty.

Luke was Red Five in the film, but Blue Five in the book and comic, as they were based on an earlier script. I have a bunch of issues from that comic run around here somewhere...

Dan O'Bannon, who wrote Alien, did Dark Star with John Carpenter as a college project. They both decided to try horror after that because they figured it was easier to scare people than make them laugh.
"...and they didn't get it!"