Useless Information Thread

Post by **Hlaoroo** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:43 am

Herbivores will, on the odd occasion, eat meat to supplement their diet, particularly if they're lacking in nutrients due to hardship.

Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:34 am

panda's are aqcually omnivores like every other bear, Bamboo is just plentiful in their natural habitat.
however, their digestive system can't process bamboo efficiently, so they don;t get much energy and that's why they always seem tired.

rollingWolf · Post by **rollingWolf** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:49 am

The Blue Fox wrote:I'm sure we've all had it more than once...that moment where you can't help but say to yourself "Well! I didn't know that! You learn something new every day!"

I'd like all you crazy people to share with each other various moments when you've said that.

I had a pretty good example of one just the other day when I was watching a documentary about the world's fastest train, the french AGV.

They were talking about the train's pantograph and how it collects electricity from overhead lines.
They pointed out that the material they use for the part of the pantograph that actually touches the electrified wire is a tough material called “graphite”.
I’m already well aware of graphite’s toughness, but what surprised me is the revelation that it's actually an efficient conductor of electricity.

Fancy that...I never would have guessed graphite could conduct electricity...I would have thought it was more likely to resist an electrical current like rubber does.

"You learn something new every day" moments...go!

There are graphite speaker cables. Pretty expensive.

Edit:
Werecat? What? Doesn't "were" mean man? I doubt they've managed to breed a man with a cat. And in that case ewww.

Post by **Hlaoroo** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:00 pm

I'm guessing you've been reading the "Inheritance Trilogy"?
"Were" is indeed an Old English word for "man". It's fallen into common usage as a prefix used to imply that the suffix of the word has the ability to transform into a human.

Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:55 pm

I was pretty sure it means it's a man that can turn into the suffix. werewolf= man that can become a wolf. wolfwere= wolf that can become a man. wolf where= a wolf that I can't find

however, this isn't a werecat. it's a werewolf cat, meaning it looks vaguely like a werewolf.

Post by **Hlaoroo** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:19 pm

I think you're right, Brent. I think I had it backwards. I swear I'm dyslexic sometimes. I knew what I meant to write though.

JeffCvt · Post by **JeffCvt** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:24 pm

You're not dyslexic Hlaoroo. I've seen how dyslexic people type.

In fact, I've seen what a drunk dyslexic who doesn't use commas, periods, or the shift key types like. I'm still trying to decipher what the heck they were saying...

Post by **Sleet** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:11 pm

The price of a slice of pizza and a subway ticket have been almost exactly the same for the past 50 years.

hypernovatic · Post by **hypernovatic** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:28 pm

Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

Post by **Hlaoroo** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 4:32 pm

hypernovatic wrote:There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

In American currency or Australian or one of the other currencies that also use the dollar?

hypernovatic wrote: A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

I didn't think any fish could blink...

Underground is the only word in the English language that both starts and finishes with the letters "und"

Kyuunado · Post by **Kyuunado** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 4:40 pm

Frogs have two sets of eye lids, a clear set for underwater and a normal set actually used for blinking.

Post by **Hlaoroo** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 4:44 pm

Most species have a third eyelid, also known as the "nictitating membrane". This membrane slides across from the outer edge of the eye to the inside during blinking. In some species, such as frogs, it is more developed and can be opened and closed independently of the other eyelids. Primates are the only family in which nictitating membranes are not generally present.

Cesco · Post by **Cesco** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 5:57 pm

Speaking of info about languages... The Italian language words "soqquadro" (it stands for "great confusion", but it's almost only used to speak of ransacked houses/rooms) and "beqquadro" (it's a technical word practically unused, but, is there a translation for it?) are the only with a double Q. Try to say them.

Sleet wrote:The price of a slice of pizza and a subway ticket have been almost exactly the same for the past 50 years.

50 years?! This is meant for USA, right? Certainly this didn't happen here...

hypernovatic wrote:Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite.

Now we know the type of explosive energy that our Peanut has.

hypernovatic · Post by **hypernovatic** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:39 pm

Hlaoroo wrote:In American currency or Australian or one of the other currencies that also use the dollar?

I'm pretty sure it's the American dollar.

When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.

The giant red star Betelgeuse has a diameter larger than that of the Earth's orbit around the sun.

Only 1 in 2,000,000,000 will live to be 116 or older.

Hydrogen gas is the least dense substance in the world, at 0.08988g/cc. Hydrogen solid is the most dense substance in the world, at 70.6g/cc.

Spiral staircases in medieval castles are running clockwise. This is because all knights used to be right-handed. When the intruding army would climb the stairs they would not be able to use their right hand which was holding the sword because of the difficulties of climbing the stairs. Left-handed knights would have had no troubles, except left-handed people could never become knights because it was assumed that they were descendants of the devil.

Post by **Sleet** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:17 am

Cesco wrote:Speaking of info about languages... The Italian language words "soqquadro" (it stands for "great confusion", but it's almost only used to speak of ransacked houses/rooms) and "beqquadro" (it's a technical word practically unused, but, is there a translation for it?) are the only with a double Q. Try to say them.

Sleet wrote:The price of a slice of pizza and a subway ticket have been almost exactly the same for the past 50 years.
50 years?! This is meant for USA, right? Certainly this didn't happen here...

hypernovatic wrote:Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite.
Now we know the type of explosive energy that our Peanut has.

It's New York City.

And on the topic of interesting words, bookkeeper is a cool one because it has three consecutive double letters.

The Blue Fox · Post by **The Blue Fox** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:29 am

Kyuubi Kitsune wrote:Frogs have two sets of eye lids, a clear set for underwater and a normal set actually used for blinking.

Frogs aren't the only creatures of nature to have this second set of eyelids...in fact, you'll find just about any reptile has them. Alligators, Crocodiles, Snakes...you name it!
It's not just limited to reptiles either, most birds of prey have it too.
A small number of mammals are also known to have one.
To give it an actual name, it is known as a nictitating membrane

You're welcome.

Kyuunado · Post by **Kyuunado** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 11:02 am

Yeah but my lessons on biology were limited to things that wouldn't kill and/or attack us.

The Blue Fox · Post by **The Blue Fox** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:31 pm

You should try watching some nature documentaries on't telly...you'll be sure to learn some useless information about nature and animals and junk.

For instance, you'll probably learn that a fox's range of calls isn't quite as diverse as Ylvis would lead you to believe.

That song needs to die.

Mickey the Luxray · Post by **Mickey the Luxray** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 7:15 pm

The musical piece As Slow as Possible, written by John Cage in 1987, is the song being played in the longest musical performance of all time, held at the Sankt-Burchardi-Church in Halberstadt, Germany. It started in 2001 and is expected to end some time in 2640, 639 years after the beginning of the performance. So far there have been 12 note changes, while the sheet music is approximately 8 pages long. The last change was on October 5, 2013 and the next one will be on September 5, 2020.

Can you imagine if that song actually finishes? It would be a momentous occasion.

Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:13 pm

that is awesome
and not at all surprising coming from John Cage.

The Blue Fox · Post by **The Blue Fox** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 5:17 am

Yeah I heard something about that as slow as possible song somewhere before. Pity we're not gonna live to hear the end of it.
It'll be one heck of a guiness world record...longest song ever played.

hypernovatic · Post by **hypernovatic** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:45 am

I want to know the tempo of it, because that's definitely slower than 1bpm.

Post by **Sleet** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:34 am

It's hard to know the tempo because the music itself is so weird, even slowness aside. I tried to calculate it but with all the grace notes, etc., it was pretty impossible. It looks like this:

The Blue Fox · Post by **The Blue Fox** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 5:43 am

Holy moley...I've never seen music notes quite like those before. =Owo=

(My 100th non-forum-game post, wooo!)

Kyuunado · Post by **Kyuunado** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 6:24 am

My mind... it has melted... O_o

GameCobra · Post by **GameCobra** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 6:09 pm

The dog played in Anchorman named Baxter? His real name is Peanut.

X3

Post by **Hlaoroo** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:21 pm

Technically, every point is the centre of the universe as the universe appears to be expanding from whatever point you choose to look at it.
Mind boggling stuff.

Post by **Sleet** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:58 pm

Also what you set to be the origin of whatever coordinate system you use is arbitrary, so yeah.

Punchy · Post by **Punchy** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:22 am

Violent Femmes self-titled debut album is the only record in history to be certified Platinum without ever breaking the Billboard Top 200.

Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:01 pm

I was gonna say that was wrong, but then I saw that they broke the top 200 after going platinum. good for them.

Post by **Sleet** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 11:34 pm

Electric Light Orchestra has charted more times without ever getting #1 than any other band.

Mickey the Luxray · Post by **Mickey the Luxray** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 4:00 pm

The Liar Paradox (famously used by GLaDOS to try and cause Wheatley, who was in control of the facility, to experience a logic error and shut down before something went horribly wrong) actually has a "solution," although it has not been accepted by the scientific community yet.
Basically, the solution is based on the idea that when stating something (in absolute terms, of course, such as booleans), that statement is always assumed to be true. This includes stating something is false.
So when you say "this statement is false," the statement that "this statement" is false is true, therefore the answer to "this statement is false" is false.

Cesco · Post by **Cesco** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 5:09 pm

Mivar, the last remained Italian televisor manufacturer, interrupted the production in December 2013. Its TV color devices got a very wide diffusion in Italy in the 1980s. The founder wants to free offer the plant to whoever wants to built televisors in Italy hiring 1200 people.

Post by **Sleet** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 11:16 pm

North Dakota has never had a recorded earthquake.

SuperStar · Post by **SuperStar** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 1:07 am

I'm the youngest person here.

hypernovatic · Post by **hypernovatic** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 1:29 pm

Bryce Papenbrook, the voice of Henry in Fire Emblem: Awakening, is also the voice of Red in Pokemon Origins and Erin Jeager in Attack on Titan.

The Blue Fox · Post by **The Blue Fox** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:36 pm

Fun fact; Did you know Sun Samel, the original voice actor for Lucario is also the voice for Goku?

Yes, I know that from the "things you'll never hear from super smash brothers brawl" series. (also known as Brawl taunts) XD

Post by **Hlaoroo** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 5:06 am

Despite its reputation, Chloroform actually takes at least five minutes to render a person unconscious making it very difficult to use in a crime. When it is/was used, it is/was generally combined with other agents.

tychoaussie · Post by **tychoaussie** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:44 pm

Did you know that it's impossible to let the vacuum out of a vacuum chamber? You can only pull it in.

JeffCvt · Post by **JeffCvt** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:04 am

Food for thought:

The diameter of the space shuttle's rocket engines was determined by the maximum size of the tunnels along the rail route.
The size of the tunnels was determined by the rail gauge.
The rail gauge was determined by the size of a cart back at the railroad's invention.
The average size of a cart was determined by the width of the horse that would originally be pulling these things back in ancient Rome.
Therefore, the size of the engines on the Space Shuttle was determined in ancient Rome by the size of a horse's butt!