Stuff you didn't know and probably don't care about

[Charmonium]

I like that they give you both Celsius and Fahrenheit scales since 1 decillion degrees Celsius just doesn't make any sense to me but I get 1.8 decillion Fahrenheit.

 

[John Connor]

Jimmy Hoffa's middle name is Riddle.

The voice of Tommy Vercetti in the game Grand Theft Auto Vice City is played by Ray Liotta who portrayed Henry Hill in the movie Goodfellas.

 

[KMFJD]

 

[shortylickens]

In 30 Rock, Liz Lemon said her white guilt should only be used for good, like supporting Barack Obama. But that episode aired in Nov of 2006 and Obama didnt even announce he was running for president until May of 2007. I think they just searched for a black senator that wasnt very well known and tried to make him a little more famous.

Maybe.


Also, there was another show called 30 Rock:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1860375/reference

 

[lxskllr]

I looked up "jock" on wiktionary hoping to find the etymology for its application for "penis". It said the origin was unknown. It did give other meanings of the word, and in some other languages. The Danish word for a sports enthusiast is "sportsidiot". Not much translation help required :^D I love the way Germanic languages attach words together.

 

[shortylickens]

I was watching the Teresa Russell movie "Whore" and learned something interesting. Saw the girl with her pimp, getting tattooed. Looked it up on the internet and apparently thats a thing pimps used to do frequently. Tattooing a girl was like branding, but more painful. And it looked nicer afterward.

 

[Charmonium]

Now they just get piercings

 

[Charmonium]

About 2% of people don't need to use a deodorant.

In a 2013 study, British researchers found that roughly 2% of the study participants had a rare version of the gene ABCC11, which is linked to both earwax production and underarm odor. People with this rare gene variant are more likely to have dry earwax, as well as having odor-free armpits. These individuals don't really need to bother using deodorant-- although most still do. Researchers believe that the connection between earwax and armpits has to do with the body’s amino acid production. Fast-growing bacteria give sweat its offensive smell, and people with the gene variant produce less of a particular amino acid that fosters bacteria growth.

Bad news for the deodorant market?

• The researchers estimated that although only 2 percent of Europeans have the gene variant, it is much more common among people of East Asian descent.
  
• The study found that those people who are immune to smelly armpits still tend to use deodorant regularly, in keeping with sociocultural norms.
  
• The research, led by a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Bristol, was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology in 2013.

http://www.wisegeek.com/do-all-adults-have-to-wear-deodorant.htm

 

[Charmonium]

The natural predator of the skunk is the car, but next is the great horned owl.

Most predators don’t bother hunting skunks, unless they’re really desperate. Ground predators with a sense of smell, such as foxes, bobcats, and coyotes, will sometimes take on a skunk, but most have learned that an attack on the black-and-white striped critter comes at a heavy price -- being doused with the skunk’s noxious spray, its well-known self-defense measure. However, one predator patrolling the sky, the great horned owl, has a poor sense of smell and is unfazed by the skunk’s odious counterattack. This owl, with an average wingspan of 48 inches (122 cm) is typically a skunk’s worst nightmare.

Owls and Oldsmobiles have it in for skunks:

• Skunks are active at night and are prime targets for the night-stalking great horned owl, even though a skunk can weigh up to three times as much as this formidable bird of prey.
  
• Owls use powerful talons -- with a crushing power of 300 pounds per square inch (2,068 kilopascals) -- to kill and carry animals away. They prey on a variety of creatures, including raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, mice, domestic birds, falcons, and even other owls.
  
• Automobiles and disease kill more skunks than all of their predators put together. Skunks have poor eyesight and are often unable to avoid vehicles on busy roads.

http://www.wisegeek.com/do-skunks-have-any-regular-predators.htm

 

[highland145]

The natural predator of the skunk is the car, but next is the great horned owl.


http://www.wisegeek.com/do-skunks-have-any-regular-predators.htm

The important question...besides autos, what is the predator of armadillos?

 

[lxskllr]

Ravens ignore a treat in favor of a useful tool for the future

First, the ravens had to be given an experience they could plan for. They learned how to operate a puzzle box that opened to yield a reward, but the box could only be opened with a specific tool. The next day, they were shown the puzzle, loaded with food, but no tool. Only an hour later they were shown a tray of objects, including the tool, and given the opportunity to choose just one thing. Fifteen minutes later, the puzzle came back, and if the raven had chosen the right tool, they could open it.

Repeatedly, through 14 trials, the birds chose and used the correct tool 79 percent of the time—much higher than chance. The average would have been higher if one of the ravens hadn’t thwarted the researchers by figuring out a way to open the puzzle without using a tool—she didn’t pick the tool, because she didn’t need to. Without her, the average was 86 percent.

The ravens could also solve a similar future-planning problem that involved bartering. They learned that a researcher would give food treats in exchange for a particular token. Then, the researchers would start asking the raven for the token, even when it was nowhere to be found. Once the ravens were shown a tray of objects, including the token, they chose and used the correct token at a rate higher than chance—78 percent of the time.

CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27302

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...eat-in-favor-of-a-useful-tool-for-the-future/

 

[highland145]

The average would have been higher if one of the ravens hadn’t thwarted the researchers by figuring out a way to open the puzzle without using a tool—she didn’t pick the tool, because she didn’t need to.


lol

 

[Charmonium]

"quoth the raven" have I got a deal for you.

 

[highland145]

"quoth the raven" have I got a deal for you.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

 

[Red Squirrel]

The Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario conducted a study on crow death rate on highways. They found that vehicle deaths involved motorcycles and not cars. They found out that when there is something on the road such as road kill, a crow will go to eat it, while another one is high in a tree and takes watch for traffic. They sometimes exchange roles to take turns at the loot they found. Problem is, crows can yell CAR CAR CAR but can't say motorcycle.

 

[lxskllr]

The Komodo dragon is the most popular reptile on Wikipedia. That's all. I was reading an article on the chilling effects of government surveillance on Wikipedia research, and that was in the sidebar. He is a handsome fellow...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2017-07-15/Recent_research

 

[shortylickens]

I think Komodo dragons are poisonous AND venomous.

Or at least, they carry a switchblade.

 

[PJFrylar]

The Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario conducted a study on crow death rate on highways. They found that vehicle deaths involved motorcycles and not cars. They found out that when there is something on the road such as road kill, a crow will go to eat it, while another one is high in a tree and takes watch for traffic. They sometimes exchange roles to take turns at the loot they found. Problem is, crows can yell CAR CAR CAR but can't say motorcycle.

Interestingly enough, crows can actually learn to talk. One of my friends had a talking crow as a family pet growing up. From what I understand it didn't say all that many things though, mostly just names and a few phrases.

 

[shortylickens]

Interestingly enough, crows can actually learn to talk. One of my friends had a talking crow as a family pet growing up. From what I understand it didn't say all that many things though, mostly just names and a few phrases.

You do realize that was a joke, right?

Probably not. Cuz it was supposed to be Boston and not fucking Ontario.

 

[PJFrylar]

You do realize that was a joke, right?

Probably not. Cuz it was supposed to be Boston and not fucking Ontario.

Yes, I realized it was a joke. I just thought it was keeping with the theme of the thread to point out crows can learn to talk. I had no idea that they could when he told me about it, figured other people may not know.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Crows actually are really smart, they have been observed to understand traffic patterns at stop light intersections, so they drop nuts on the road so cars run it over to crack it open then go pick it up when light changes. Stuff like that.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Interestingly enough, crows can actually learn to talk. One of my friends had a talking crow as a family pet growing up. From what I understand it didn't say all that many things though, mostly just names and a few phrases.

Maybe it said a lot and your friend just wasn't paying attention.

 

[sdifox]

Interestingly enough, crows can actually learn to talk. One of my friends had a talking crow as a family pet growing up. From what I understand it didn't say all that many things though, mostly just names and a few phrases.

Edgar Allen Poe allegedly stole "The Raven" from a crow.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Fun Fact: It's a well known trivia question that prior to becoming a TV shrink Dr. Joyce Brothers appeared on the game show The $64,000 Question and won the grand prize by answering questions about boxing. What's a lot less well known is that Joyce was not the only winner who would later go on to television fame.

In 1956, long before turning to modeling and acting, recent college graduate as a drama major Barbara Feldon appeared on the show and won as an expert on William Shakespeare. Feldon of course went on to play Agent 99 in Get Smart nearly a decade later.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

In 1995 Robert Lucas won a Nobel Prize in economic sciences and only received half the prize money. When he and his wife divorced in 1988 she got a clause into the settlement stating she would receive half the prize money if he won a Nobel Prize in the following 7 years. And 7 years later, he did. In fact, it was close to 7 years to the day. If he won just 22 days later the clause would have expired, he would have gotten the entire amount and his ex-wife would have gotten nothing.