The "I never knew that" thread

[English assassin]

Does what it says on the tin. A thread for sharing random bits of (hopefully interesting) information.

For instance, everyone knows there are no snakes in Ireland, but did you know there are no ants in Iceland? There IS, though, a penis museum in Reykjavik.

[Fragony]

edit: GAH you guys are no fun at all.

[Geoffrey S]

Um, "presbyterians" is an anagram of "Britney Spears"?

[Louis VI the Fat]

To my astonishment, I recently found out that plants are descended from animals, and not the other way round.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

You could fit the world's entire population in Texas, and it would still have a population density lower than that of New York City.

[Beirut]

Dogs walk around in circles before they lie down in order to pat the grass flat and make a bed.

It's an instinctual leftover from their African roots in the grasslands.

[Fragony]

The Turkey is a decendant of the T-rex.

[Prodigal]

chewing the bark of a willow tree soothes toothache...Same properties as asprin...

[Ianofsmeg16]

Did you know that cows can walk upstairs but not downstairs?

I'ts becasue of the arrangement of their kneebones, the joint will flex when walking upstairs, but not down again..

I have a ton of these, ask me a question an I'll answer it!

[Axeknight]

Radishes are a type of meat.

[Craterus]

Did you know that cows can walk upstairs but not downstairs?

I'ts becasue of the arrangement of their kneebones, the joint will flex when walking upstairs, but not down again..

I have a ton of these, ask me a question an I'll answer it!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Can you please explain the theory of relativity to me?
What does death feel like?
Where did Lord Lucan go?
Stonehenge?
What really happened to Flight 19?

Answers please.

[Ianofsmeg16]

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Loosely translated from a book i got for Xmas, but not much

If you're Expecting me to say there's no answer to that question, you are wrong. The Egg came first.
Most sicentists think that life on earth evolved, as do most people. Evolution is Basically the gradual development of life to suit it's surroundings. For example, a worm lives underground so it doesn't need very good eyes because there isn't much to see. So, any eyes worms once had have been lost from generation to generation. You can't change while you're alive, but your offspring can. As things gradually evolve they can change quite a bit. Have you ever seen pictures of what Anthropologists think our ancestors looked like? Big foreheads, lots of hair, long arms, slouched backs etc. We weren't really human then; we've gradually evolved to be as we are now.
The same has happened with the chicken,. If you go back in history, what we today call a chicken would have looked different. For example, it might have had webbed feet which made it hard to walk. Then, one day, one of the chickens laid an egg and from that egg came a bird that didn't have webbed feet - it was just like our present-day chickens. It had evolved.
But it all had to start with the egg, so the egg came first.

good enough?

[Craterus]

Yeah, that's my theory on the subject. Dinosaurs laid eggs too, so eggs came first.

And the rest of the questions please.

[Duke Malcolm]

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Can you please explain the theory of relativity to me?
What does death feel like?
Where did Lord Lucan go?
Stonehenge?
What really happened to Flight 19?

Answers please.

I have an urge to help the man...

Special or General Relativity?

[Ianofsmeg16]

Can you please explain the theory of relativity to me?

I'll have a go at this one next ok...
Loosely based on a paper i read a couple of months ago
In 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper which revolutionized our thinking about space and time and which he (and others) subsequently developed into the Special Theory of Relativity. This theory describes how physical properties with which we are familiar (mass, length, period of oscillation of a physical system, etc) would appear if viewed by an observer who is in uniform motion (constant velocity) relative to the observed object.

Einstein later introduced his General Theory, which allows for nonuniform motion (presence of an acceleration) and gives an explanation of the force of gravity. Combined with ideas of quantum physics, this theory led to the prediction that certain properties of light would be affected by gravitational fields, and to prediction of black holes for example.

Special Relativity
Central to the discussion of special relativity is the idea of an inertial frame (or reference). This is basically a coordinate system, which might be attached to an observed object or to the observer, which undergoes no acceleration. Consequently, the relative velocity between two inertial frames is necessarily constant, providing what we refer to as uniform motion.



Einstein based his 1905 theory on two postulates:

1. No physical measurement can distinguish one inertial frame from another.

2. The speed of light (in vacuum) is the same in all inertial frames, regardless of any motion of the source.

General Relativity
In the General Theory, Einstein concerned himself non-inertial frames, in other words motion which involves acceleration. One example is uniform circular motion, where the tangential speed v of an object (in a circle of radius R) is constant but its direction of this velocity is continually changing. According to Newtonian mechanics, this change in velocity is equivalent to a centripetal acceleration v^2/R towards the centre of the circle, and requires an inward centipetal force F = mv^2/R , otherwise the object flies off at a tangent (reverts to uniform linear motion).



However, the situation can also be analysed from the point of view of an observer in the non-inertial reference frame which rotates with the object. To such an observer, there appears to be a centrifugal force causing objects to move outward, away from the centre of rotation. In addition, an object which is projected at a uniform speed and which moves in a straight line, according to non-rotating observers, moves in a curved path in the non-inertial frame - evidence of a Coriolis force in the rotating coordinate system. The Coriolis and centrifugal forces are referred to a fictitious forces; they appear as two extra terms if Newton's laws of motion are written in terms of coordinates measured with respect to a rotating set of axes.



Strictly speaking, the earth is a non-inertial platform: it rotates about the sun, as well about its own polar axis. Direct evidence of this rotation comes from the behaviour of a simple pendulum with a large mass, such that its motion continues for many hours (called a Foucault pendulum). The direction of swing appears to rotate (precess) through 360 degrees every 24 hours, for a pendulum is located at the north or south pole. This can be understood as the earth rotating "beneath" the pendulum, or as the effect of a sideways Coriolis force acting perpendicular to the direction of the swing. The rate of precession is less at lower latitudes and becomes zero at the equator.



The existence of these fictitious forces apparently provides a means of detecting a non-inertial frame. In other words, accelerated motion appears have an absolute existence, whereas linear motion is always relative (to another object). Another example is provided by Newton's water bucket experiment. If the bucket and its contents are rotating at the end of a long rope, the water surface will become curved, due to the centifugal force (according to ab observer rotating with the bucket). Observation of this curvature provides direct evidence that the system is rotating, without reference to any external object. However, Newton's explanation was rejected on philosophical grounds by the German philosopher Ernst Mach (1838-1916), who maintained that motion of any kind (linear or rotational) can have no real existence unless specified with respect to other objects. So what other objects define the rotation of a water bucket and cause the water surface to become curved ? According to Mach, the rotation must be defined relative to the rest of the universe, including stars and galaxies at immense distances which together exert a force on the water. Satellite experiments designed to detect such a force, arising from the acceleration of one object relative to another, have been partially successful.

For a more detailed explanation, go just type in google, explanation to the theory of relativity, all this info is open to the public.

any more apart from Craterus?

[The Stranger]

WAS THE MOONLANDING OF APPOLLO II FAKED

i think it was, take a closer look at the pic. the flag armstrong holds is up like a normal flag on earth would do with strong wind...but that cant in space. then why is the flag up. and there was sumthing weird bout their shadows too...though i cant really explain what

[Ianofsmeg16]

WAS THE MOONLANDING OF APPOLLO II FAKED

i think it was, take a closer look at the pic. the flag armstrong holds is up like a normal flag on earth would do with strong wind...but that cant in space. then why is the flag up. and there was sumthing weird bout their shadows too...though i cant really explain what

maybe its that shadows wouldnt exist on the moon, and i believe that we have landed on the moon, maybe or maybe not with humans, but it's really none of my buisness as space travel is out of my world (no pun intended)

[English assassin]

OI, it's the I never knew that thread not the offbeat conspiracy theory thread.

The planet Saturn is less dense than water. If you put it in a (very large) bowl of water it would float.

[Fragony]

It is nearly impossible to break an egg when you press exactly on the top and the bottom.

[Ianofsmeg16]

OI, it's the I never knew that thread not the offbeat conspiracy theory thread.

The planet Saturn is less dense than water. If you put it in a (very large) bowl of water it would float.

Nice, i never knew that

As this is the thread for it...I'd like to put forth an answer to the age old question put forth by Jurassic Park.

Can You really make a new Dinosaur from old DNA?

This theory was put forth, as i said earlier, by the book Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and the later film directed by Speilberg. In the real world no dinosaur DNA has ever been extracted. there was some suggestion that some had been found in the past (providing the basis for Crichton's book) but later studies showed it to be contamination on the bones.
After 66 million years, which is how long the dinosaurs have been extinct, any DNA that might be found would probably be extremely degreaded, and to be able to produce a healthy organism you have to have all the genes in its genome. Genomes fro advanced creatures tend to be in the order of billions of base-pairs, and the chanc of extracting more than a few tens or hundreds of bases from any very old DNA that remains is just about zero. Even if we manage to find lots of DNA there is a large chance that most of it will be junk (in higher animals, such as elephants, about 90% plus of the geneome is non-coding DNA). So there isn't really any chance of being able to bring dinosaurs back to life.
I the book and film Jurassic Park, the DNA was transmitted via a blood-sucking insect which had become trapped in amber. It was a clever bit of story-telling by Michael Crichton, but the molecules which carry the blueprint of all life forms are immensely long and complicated. The Chances of being able to find even a few broken fragments of DNA of animals that died and became fossilized more than 66 million years ago is very remote.


That was also for people who read the "Mammoth DNA" thread in the backroom ages ago

[InsaneApache]

Elephants can't jump because they have no knees.

[Craterus]

I still want the cocky one to answer my questions, after all, he's so clever he can answer any question...

Wayne's World was filmed in two weeks.
Alexander the Great was epileptic. So was Ceasar?
There are 450 hairs on the average human eyebrow.

[Duke Malcolm]

Duck's quacks don't echo...

[Craterus]

Dr. Frankenstein's first name was Victor.
Oology is the studying or collecting of birds' eggs.
"Gambrinous" is a word meaning full of beer.
Ethiopia means "the land of the sunburned faces" in Greek.
An average person drinks between 10,000 12,000 gallons (45,460-54,552 litres) of water during their life time.

[lars573]

Elephants can't jump because they have no knees.

BS they have knees.


There is a drink sold here in NS that is essentially the water used to rinse out the barrels used to hold booze while it ages. It's called swish.

Also when they dug up the Romanov's from their mine shaft grave and rebuired them they found the bodies of 5 people. 2 adults 1 man and 1 woman, and 3 teenage girls, but no 10 or under boy.

[Ianofsmeg16]

Stonehenge?

Ok mister "I'm going to insult Ian until i get my way" I'll try my best to answer the mystery of this puzzling, but spectacular, piece of Architecture from 2000b.c.e.

Stonehenge

For this one I'm going to call upon that god of Historical Fiction writing, Bernard Cornwell.
In his book, conveniently titled Stonehenge he tells the story of the pre-druidic british tribe that he suggested built stonehenge, but in true Cornwell style he has a 'Historical Note' at the back of the book. It says his about the origins of Stonehenge, which I agree with personally though you may not;
"What is Stonehenge? It is the question that occurs to most visitors and little at the site provides any answer other than the one proposed by R.J.C Atkinson in his impressive book Stonehenge "There is one short, simple and perfectly correct answer: We don't know, and we shall probably never know." Which is rather dispiriting, for without some idea of their use and purpose, the stones are diminished"

There you Have it, from Cornwell himself, "We don't know" and if you're trusting a 16 year old to find out from what he knows himself and his small library of historical books, then you are heading for dissapointment. But as I am an exceptionally nice guy, I'll try and figure out as much as I can. Over the weekend I will do some research for you Craterus, and I'll post what I find here.

Sorry to dissapoint you

[Craterus]

A whale's penis is called a dork.
"Dibble" means to drink like a duck.

And, one of my new favourites:

In Australia, the male antechinus mouse has up to sixteen partners a time, in sex sessions lasting up to twelve hours. Often they become so weak they fall out of the trees and are killed.

[The Stranger]

maybe its that shadows wouldnt exist on the moon, and i believe that we have landed on the moon, maybe or maybe not with humans, but it's really none of my buisness as space travel is out of my world (no pun intended)

that was it...and yes i too believe we landed on the moon but just not at that point...the whole world prolly was fooled then

[Copperhaired Berserker!]

Did you know that in the 50 years between 235 AD and 285 AD there were about 20 Roman emperors? Most only held the throne for a short time before being murdered and being replaced by the murderer then the murderer got murdered and so on. So, each emperor only had 2-3 years to rule!

But, most amazing of all is that in 1553 Lady Jane Grey sat on the throne before she was overthrown. So? Well, she only stayed on for 9 days!


-Copperhaired Berserker!

[Viking]

WAS THE MOONLANDING OF APPOLLO II FAKED

i think it was, take a closer look at the pic. the flag armstrong holds is up like a normal flag on earth would do with strong wind...but that cant in space. then why is the flag up. and there was sumthing weird bout their shadows too...though i cant really explain what

Well, I can sort of explain that. The way the flag was set up:



caused the flag behave like it does under windy conditions here on Earth. However, there is no atmosphere on the Moon to break the flag`s movements, so it continued to wave for long after it was set up:



There`s no problems with the shadows either.