Random Facts

[LaLaLa Laura]

Share random facts that your fellow members may not know. It could be literary or anything random.

[LaLaLa Laura]

Did you know that a typical office phone has 25,000 germs on it! Lysol Wipes, anyone???!!!

[LaLaLa Laura]

Did you know that we know more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of the ocean?

[Pip]

Movies show death by lava as sinking & melting. In reality you would float on top then burst into flames.
(Thank you @qikipedia!)

[LaLaLa Laura]

Pip wrote: "Movies show death by lava as sinking & melting. In reality you would float on top then burst into flames.
(Thank you @qikipedia!)"

Wow! That's very interesting indeed, Pippa! Thank you for adding that!

[Pip]

LaLaLa Laura wrote: "Pip wrote: "Movies show death by lava as sinking & melting. In reality you would float on top then burst into flames.
(Thank you @qikipedia!)"

Wow! That's very interesting indeed, Pippa! Thank you..."

Thank you LalalaLaura! Funnily enough, I find the lava thing much less disturbing than the office phone thing...

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

LaLaLa Laura wrote: "Did you know that we know more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of the ocean?"

Actually I did know that, I researched this topic in college :)

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Pip wrote: "Movies show death by lava as sinking & melting. In reality you would float on top then burst into flames.
(Thank you @qikipedia!)"

Egads!

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Did you know the 2015 Women's World Cup will be held in Canada?

[Pip]

Is that a World Cup for being a woman? Can anyone apply? ;-)

[Pip]

A bit of etymology:

Did you know that the English word bigot and the Spanish word for moustache (bigote) have the same root? They are both referring to Germans who are well known for their frequent ejaculations of Bei Gott! (By God!)

Possibly.

[LaLaLa Laura]

Pip wrote: "A bit of etymology:

Did you know that the English word bigot and the Spanish word for moustache (bigote) have the same root? They are both referring to Germans who are well known for their freque..."

wow!! i did not know that!!!! LOL


Did you know that we can only dream of faces of real people we have encountered, but we might not remember because people usually see hundreds of faces in a single day.

[Craig]

Human beings have 206 bones.

[Kristi]

Cows have the same gestation timeframe as humans = 9 months. MOO!

[Pip]

MOOOOO indeed!!

Another one from etymology corner:

There is only one word in English that officially comes from the Basque language: silhouette. It is a Frenchified version of the Basque surname Zulueta.

From the all-knowing Wikipedia:

"The word "silhouette" derives from the name of Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who, in 1759, was forced by France's credit crisis during the Seven Years War to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy.[4] Because of de Silhouette's austere economies, his name became synonymous with anything done or made cheaply and so with these outline portraits.[5][6] Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person's appearance.[7][8]".

Austerity measures in Europe? Surely not?!!

[LaLaLa Laura]

Pip wrote: "MOOOOO indeed!!

Another one from etymology corner:

There is only one word in English that officially comes from the Basque language: silhouette. It is a Frenchified version of the Basque surname ..."

Wow, that is a different way to budget!

[LaLaLa Laura]

the first draft of john Steinbeck's "of mice and men" was eaten by his dog.

that wasn't very "mice!" BA dum Tsss....

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Medical terminology is broken down into 3 parts. The suffix is the medical problem/remedy and the root word is the medical part of the body. There can be a prefix that gives location. There can also be a extra vowel for combinations that have a suffix beginning with a consonant.

[Kristi]

Allen Ginsberg wrote this about Walt Whitman. Kinda gives me chills:

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon. In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations! What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes! --and you, García Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?

I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys. I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel? I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans following you, and followed in my imagination by the store detective. We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier.

Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in a hour. Which way does your beard point tonight? (I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the supermarket and feel absurd.) Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses, we'll both be lonely. Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love past blue automo- biles in driveways, home to our silent cottage? Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher, what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat disappear on the black waters of Lethe? -

[Pip]

Jen ƸӜƷ wrote: "Medical terminology is broken down into 3 parts. The suffix is the medical problem/remedy and the root word is the medical part of the body. There can be a prefix that gives location. There can ..."

Can you provide an example, Jen?

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Sure

a surgical repair of a vessel:

root: angi (Latin/Greek base)
combining vowel: o
suffix: -plasty

angioplasty

[Pip]

Jen ƸӜƷ wrote: "Sure

a surgical repair of a vessel:

root: angi (Latin/Greek base)
combining vowel: o
suffix: -plasty

angioplasty"

Ok, ok, ok. Now I get it. Because you mentioned the suffix first, my brain turned it into prefix , leading to self-induced confusion!!
(What's the medical term for that?!)

[Pip]

@qikipedia: If a bookshop smells a bit like chocolate, customers are 22% more likely to buy romance novels than if the shop is scentless.

[Tessa]

This chocolate thing explains alot! I never buy romance novels online, but always in this cute little books store, with this funny sweets on the counter..I don't even enjoy romance novels that much!

Did you know, that the paper, on which the american declaration of independence is written on, is made of hemp?

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Tessa wrote: "This chocolate thing explains alot! I never buy romance novels online, but always in this cute little books store, with this funny sweets on the counter..I don't even enjoy romance novels that much..."

Yes, I did know that about the DOI :)

And, Pip, not sure what that would be called. :)

[Pip]

@Tessa - I didn't know that. Any idea why? Was it the most durable material available, perhaps?

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Yes, very durable indeed.

[Tessa]

Pip wrote: "@Tessa - I didn't know that. Any idea why? Was it the most durable material available, perhaps?"

As far as I know, Hemp-Paper was quit common as a crop at that time and not only used for paper.
Gutenberg printed his very first bible on hemp, and Columbis used canvas made of hemp. Only with the industrialization hemp got replaced by cotton. And wood made paper got more popular. Even though hemp has the better qualities. The paper was more elastic and durable than paper made of wood. But paper made of wood was easier to process and cheaper.

[LaLaLa Laura]

the average computer mouse has 1500 germs!

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

LaLaLa Laura wrote: "the average computer mouse has 1500 germs!"

I wonder how that compares to a purse. ;)

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Did you know that your abdominal area is broken down into 9 sections and 4 quadrants by medical professionals?

[LaLaLa Laura]

didn't know that Jen! that's a lot of bellies!

[LaLaLa Laura]

ru in Med school Jen?

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Laura, I'm currently doing my pre-reqs for physical therapy, so you'll probably see tons of anatomy/physiology facts from me. Best way to learn it, teach it :)

[LaLaLa Laura]

we are your willing students!

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

:)

[LaLaLa Laura]

Hair is the fastest growing tissue in the body, second only to bone marrow.

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Bones produce blood cells. :)

[Pip]

Jen ƸӜƷ wrote: "Bones produce blood cells. :)"

Oh, dem bones!!

Slugs use 40% of their energy producing slime. Don't believe me? More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-env...

Also, if you are a dog owner, you have an extra reason for trying to keep gastropod numbers down in your garden - they spread canine lungworm. Yuk!

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Chinch bugs destroy your yard and gardens if not treated.

[Pip]

What are chinch bugs?

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

"Chinch bugs are a complex of three different species within the Lygaeidae family. They have piercing-sucking mouthparts and they feed on the sap of grass plants. They reside in the thatch area of the turfgrass stand and prefer to feed on the lower leaf sheath and crown area of the plant. The chinch bug can be a major insect pest on home lawns throughout the country."

**Not sure if these bugs are in other countries, this is an excerpt about the US bugs**

[LaLaLa Laura]

I have to Google a picture of the cinch bug now. but I'm a little scared! :/

[Pip]

Just checked - you only get them in North America. Phew! That's one less pest to deal with!

[LaLaLa Laura]

yuckkk... saw a picture. so that's what those things are outside....

[LaLaLa Laura]

did you know First Step 2 Forever by Justin Bieber was a NY Times best seller

[LaLaLa Laura]

..and so was A Shore Thing by Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

[LaLaLa Laura]

....and Fifty Shades of Grey is now the best selling book of all time in Great Britain.

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Well, no accounting for taste... LOL (no offense, I have my own fluff reads but not that)

[LaLaLa Laura]

lol. I feel ya