An interesting facts thread.

[charge52]

In 1938, Time Magazine chose Adolf Hitler for man of the year.
The person reading this is intelligent, interesting and unique. Unless he is Daystar.
"Thread" is spelled with an H.

 

[Melon Hunter]

Mantis shrimps have three optical hemispheres per eye, and ten unique types of colour receptor. In comparison, humans have one hemisphere per eye and three types of colour receptors. This means mantis shrimp can see colours we cannot even comprehend, and have better depth perception with one eye than humans (and most other creatures) do with two.

There is more than one infinity.

It is mathematically possible to break a sphere into pieces in such a way that the pieces can be re-assembled into two spheres identical to the first. This isn't physically possible (as the 'pieces' are infinite scatterings of points), but it can be mathematically proven.

It is also possible to construct a three-dimensional shape with finite volume but infinite surface area.

 

[axlryder]

A lightning bolt is hotter than the surface of the sun

Tigers have stripped skin

You were born with more bones than you have now

The universe has no center and no edge.

The chonmage hairstyle was status symbol of the samurai in Edo Japan. Today the only people who are still permitted to wear it are sumo wrestlers.

I'm way more proud than I should be that I already knew all of those things.

OP: the Turritopsis nutricula, or "immortal Jellyfish", is a jellyfish that can live indefinitely by reverting back to its polyp stage after sexual maturity.

 

[bojackx]

- The world's most venomous spider (Brazilian Wandering Spider) causes long-lasting and painful erections when it bites you. There's some research going on with the venom to help with erectile dysfunction.

- Eels have two mouths.

- The King Cobra isn't a cobra and the electric eel is not an eel.

- Modern Warfare 3 was the biggest media launch in history (not just video games).

 

[shogunblade]

Toy Story had original Music written and performed for the movie by Randy Newman. In a shocker, Randy has a cousin, David Newman. David Newman, also a composer, wrote original music for another movie about inanimate objects coming to life: The Brave Little Toaster.

The Brave Little Toaster condenses all three Toy Story movies into 90 minutes. everything, even some wholesale sequences, are in this one movie.

The line, "Oh Boy", uttered by Dr. Sam Beckett at the end of every episode of Quantum Leap, was actually not written into the pilot episode. Scott Bakula adlibbed it, and it became a staple of the show.

 

[Surpheal]

All of this is off memory:

- There is an island off of the coast of Brazil that is home to the Golden Lancehead viper. The Brazilian coast guard will not go near the island, and will not come to rescue you (I believe). This is due to the very, what is a good word for it, nasty effects of the Lancehead's venom.

- The Corona of the sun is hotter than the surface beneath it.

- There are three known animals that use electricity to either hunt or in self-defense. They are the electric ray, the electric catfish, and the electric eel -which is actually a variety of knife fish -.

- Many people mistake the North star, Polaris, with the brightest star, Sirius.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

this my 500th post. yeah that is a fact but it is not very interesting.

ok i got one interesting fact
sir christopher lee is a badass.

he has acted in over 200 movies
he killed nazis in WW2
he is a expert fencer
he was knighted
he can fluently speak in English, Italian, French, Spanish and German
he can sing and he sang this song in 4 different languages.

Spoiler

 

[Lt._nefarious]

I'm a massive Milla Jovovich fan.
I'm madly attracted to Milla Jovovich.
I have over 200 Milla Jovovich fakes on my computer.
I have all Milla Jovovich's music on my phone.
My Desktop wallpaper is Milla Jovovich.
My phone wallpaper is 3 Milla Jovovich's.
I kiss a picture of Milla Jovovich good night every night.
Talking about Milla Jovovich gives me a raging stiffy.
Milla Jovovich is 5' 8''.
Milla Jovovich's "bust" is 34-24-34 inches.
Milla Jovovich's waist is 86-61-86 cm.
Milla Jovovich is a Sagittarius.
Milla Jovovich was born the year of the Rabbit.
Milla is short for Militza.
Milla Jovovich has blue eyes.
Milla Jovovich is left handed but shoots and plays guitar with her right hand.
Milla Jovovich's dress size is 6.
Milla Jovovich's shoe size is 9 and a half.
Milla Jovovich is Russian Orthodox Christian.

And there you have it.

Captcha: Puppy love. It's more than that captcha, much more.

 

[xplosive59]

If you hold your breath for a week, you die.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

A Jelly Fish does not die of old age - it just gets reborn over and over again.

Sharks have two penises.

I think I'm too much into this thread but I do love science and I think our trivia should be a proper one. Also, you have the bad luck that I'm a student of biology who just today listened to a lecture about sharks AND jellyfish. So have my apologies.

Jellyfish are not "immortal" as a species, their usual life-cycle only spans between days and a few months, in captive cases and with proper human treatment they might reach a year or so but it won't go much farther generally. In the wild if it doesn't get eaten by predators it at least dies after reproduction.
What you're referring to is the specific <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula>T. nutricula, which has been shown under lab conditions to be able to revert back to polyp stage thus avoiding the inevitable post-reproductive death.

As for the two-penis sharks I'm not gonna correct you there, just adding that they are actually pelvic fins that got modified into what is called claspers so it is logical they'd have two penis-analogues. I might also say that in two documented cases (one Hammerhead, one Atlantic Blacktip) sharks have been shown to perform "virgin births" or parthenogenesis.

You have destroyed my party pieces.
Now I have no fish facts to impress people Darn you students of Aquatic Biology or whatnot.

@Lt._nefarious who on earth is Milla Jovovich?

 

[Quaxar]

A Jelly Fish does not die of old age - it just gets reborn over and over again.

Sharks have two penises.

I think I'm too much into this thread but I do love science and I think our trivia should be a proper one. Also, you have the bad luck that I'm a student of biology who just today listened to a lecture about sharks AND jellyfish. So have my apologies.

Jellyfish are not "immortal" as a species, their usual life-cycle only spans between days and a few months, in captive cases and with proper human treatment they might reach a year or so but it won't go much farther generally. In the wild if it doesn't get eaten by predators it at least dies after reproduction.
What you're referring to is the specific <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula>T. nutricula, which has been shown under lab conditions to be able to revert back to polyp stage thus avoiding the inevitable post-reproductive death.

As for the two-penis sharks I'm not gonna correct you there, just adding that they are actually pelvic fins that got modified into what is called claspers so it is logical they'd have two penis-analogues. I might also say that in two documented cases (one Hammerhead, one Atlantic Blacktip) sharks have been shown to perform "virgin births" or parthenogenesis.

You have destroyed my party pieces.
Now I have no fish facts to impress people Darn you students of Aquatic Biology or whatnot

It's still good trivia, I just made it more accurate!

Let me give you my favourite piece of QI trivia to make up for it.
There is a fantastic connection between Ben Hur and Billy the Kid.The person who in 1880 wrote the original book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, <url=Lew Wallace>Lew Wallace, a Union General and Governor of the New Mexico Territory, was actually the person who also signed Billy the Kid's death warrant.

 

[chiggerwood]

Uh ... Your ears are in line with your nipples.
That's all I got.

Everybody who reads this will almost immediately draw a line from their ear to their nipple with there finger.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

A Jelly Fish does not die of old age - it just gets reborn over and over again.

Sharks have two penises.

I think I'm too much into this thread but I do love science and I think our trivia should be a proper one. Also, you have the bad luck that I'm a student of biology who just today listened to a lecture about sharks AND jellyfish. So have my apologies.

Jellyfish are not "immortal" as a species, their usual life-cycle only spans between days and a few months, in captive cases and with proper human treatment they might reach a year or so but it won't go much farther generally. In the wild if it doesn't get eaten by predators it at least dies after reproduction.
What you're referring to is the specific <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula>T. nutricula, which has been shown under lab conditions to be able to revert back to polyp stage thus avoiding the inevitable post-reproductive death.

As for the two-penis sharks I'm not gonna correct you there, just adding that they are actually pelvic fins that got modified into what is called claspers so it is logical they'd have two penis-analogues. I might also say that in two documented cases (one Hammerhead, one Atlantic Blacktip) sharks have been shown to perform "virgin births" or parthenogenesis.

You have destroyed my party pieces.
Now I have no fish facts to impress people Darn you students of Aquatic Biology or whatnot

It's still good trivia, I just made it more accurate!

Let me give you my favourite piece of QI trivia to make up for it.
There is a fantastic connection between Ben Hur and Billy the Kid.The person who in 1880 wrote the original book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, <url=Lew Wallace>Lew Wallace, a Union General and Governor of the New Mexico Territory, was actually the person who also signed Billy the Kid's death warrant.

You've made it more accurate but it quite hasn't got the "HOLY SHIT 2 PENISES?" vibe going lol.

I didn't know about the Ben Hur & Billy the Kid reference though... I will have to make a note of it.
Oh here's quick trivia -

Michael Nesmith's mother (he was in the Monkees) created liquid paper.

 

[Quaxar]

You've made it more accurate but it quite hasn't got the "HOLY SHIT 2 PENISES?" vibe going lol.

Well, you can still claim that I just provided you with an explanation so you can actually defend what you said.
In fact, now you can not only back the two-penis trivia up with evolutionary reasoning, you can also make jokes about a shark messiah! I actually improved your party trivia, stop making me sound so mean!

On an unrelated note: Female astronauts on a space walk generally don't wear bras. Try getting that out of your head the next time you see a video of someone in a space suit.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

You've made it more accurate but it quite hasn't got the "HOLY SHIT 2 PENISES?" vibe going lol.

Well, you can still claim that I just provided you with an explanation so you can actually defend what you said.
In fact, now you can not only back the two-penis trivia up with evolutionary reasoning, you can also make jokes about a shark messiah! I actually improved your party trivia, stop making me sound so mean!

On an unrelated note: Female astronauts on a space walk generally don't wear bras. Try getting that out of your head the next time you see a video of someone in a space suit.

You are forgiven for all sins because you've now made me want to be an astronaut.
Not wearing a bra to work... Sounds comfortable!

 

[Quaxar]

Let's try to get this thread back to life with something from genetics.

All of your cells contain symbiotic organisms called mitochondria, which are basically your cell's power supply (apart from other functions). These mitochondria have their own DNA and as such do not partake directly in mitosis (cell division) but do their own reproduction and the cell's supply of mitochondria gets shared between the two new cells.
Even more interesting, all the mitochondria you have in your body are direct genetically pure descendands from your mother's. Because a sperm is pretty much fully loaded with its half of DNA the mitochondria are only transferred via the ovum.
This fact is most relevant for <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylogeography>phylogeography to find such things as the "<url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve>mitochondrial Eve", a female from whom all modern humanity is descendand, analogous to the <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Adam>Y-chromosomal Adam. Nothing religious, just interesting genetics.

 

[DigitalSushi]

I'm not wearing a shirt as I'm posting this!

That's all I got.

wanna skype?
A/S/L?

Luke Skywalker was originally supposed to be a midget.

Also his original name was to be "Starkiller". But it didn't sound heroic enough.

I was going to quote radoh but you beat me to it, I will add that "the apprentice" in "The Force Unleashed" is actually called Starkiller.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Interesting facts? I'm surprised by the fact that the Fact Core hasn't appeared here to tell us about hot dog poisoning.

Anyway, I have a few:

The iconic bounty hunter Boba Fett, introduced in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, actually has a daughter. She attempted patricide multiple times, and was ironically killed by the child of her father's most prominent rival, Han Solo. She had a daughter who had a much more familial relationship with Fett than she herself did.

Rareware has participated in the development of over 130 games since its inception in 1985.

Leninade is an actual drink. It is a Soviet-themed soft drink which is of the pink lemonade flavor, but it is dyed darker to keep with the Red Nation theme.

 

[hazabaza1]

I'm not wearing a shirt as I'm posting this!

That's all I got.

wanna skype?
A/S/L?

Missed your chance, mate. I'm now wearing a long sleeved shirt.
Sorry.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I've found this from memecentre today which has alot of interesting fact on the film Shawshank Redemption.

Spoiler