# I Bet You Didn't Know. (Or: Useless Trivia) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853 "2004-12-14T21:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bob\_loblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@bob\_loblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_loblaw)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/61 "2004-12-16T08:07:25Z")
…that the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow depends on whether it is of the european or african variety. …74.4% of men will admit to masturbating, 24.7% of men refuse to admit to masturbating, and .9% of all men have no arms. …that my white and my blue coloured underpants are 100% cotton, and my black & my grey coloured underpants are 85% cotton / 15 % poly – despite all being the same cut, from the same manufacturer & coming from the same package. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/62 "2004-12-16T08:44:21Z")
> [@bob\_loblaw](#): > > …74.4% of men will admit to masturbating, 24.7% of men refuse to admit to masturbating, and .9% of all men have no arms. There was a kid on Howard Stern awhile back that had no arms and freely admitted to masturbating. I never quite got how exactly he did it, but he did do it. Don’t underestimate the resiliance of the disabled, especially when it comes to getting your rocks off. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/63 "2004-12-16T09:49:49Z")
There is an [Congressional Space Medal of Honor.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Space_Medal_of_Honor) As of this date, it has been awarded to 27 people. (17 posthumously) It’s now possible to run a [GUI and a web browser on a Commodore 64.](http://www.sics.se/~adam/contiki/) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/64 "2004-12-16T12:10:51Z")
In addition to the shake being a unit of time used when describing nuclear reactions. A shake is defined as being ten nanoseconds - 1 x 10[sup]-8[/sup] According to Grace Hopper, to consider just how short a nanosecond is - get a packet of ground pepper. Each individual grain is approximately the distance that a light wave will cover in one picosecond, or one thousandth of a nanosecond. A length of wire 30 cm long is the distance light will travel in one nanosecond. A barn is also a measure used in nuclear reactions. It is used to measure how close to a nucleus a neutron has to pass to be absorbed into the nucleus. It is a measure of area, specifically 1 x 10[sup]-24[/sup] m[sup]2[/sup]. It is so named, because on the scale of nuclear reactions, that’s as big as a barn for aiming purposes. I suspect a lot of phycists are frustrated farmers. 😃 The first neutron star was originally referred to, when the radio signal the star emitted was first detected, as LGM-1. This stood for Little Green Man, since aliens had to be behind such a regular signal. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/65 "2004-12-16T15:17:52Z")
**OtakuLoki** Are you sure about a barn being 1 x 10[sup]-24[/sup] square meters ? My converter at [http://www.1728.com/convert.htm](http://www.1728.com/convert.htm) says that a barn is 1 x 10[sup]-28[/sup] square meters. Also, here’s a site that says a barn is 1 x 10[sup]-28[/sup] square meters. [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictB.html](http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictB.html) And of course let’s not forget the shed which is much smaller. A shed is 1 x 10[sup]-24[/sup] barns or 1 x 10[sup]-52[/sup] square meters. Cite for shed: [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictS.html](http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictS.html) Sincerely, Arthur “2 Sheds” Jackson ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/66 "2004-12-16T15:46:54Z")
**wolf\_meister** , you’re right. :smack: I’d memorized the exponent and forgot that for some reason the people who taught me about barns measured them as 10[sup]-24[/sup] centimeters. Which has got to be the silliest way to look at things… ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/67 "2004-12-16T21:06:01Z")
**OtakuLoki** Thanks. At least you learned about the “shed” (but I have a feeling you may already have known about it). ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/68 "2004-12-16T23:45:24Z")
The name of the system that companies file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is called EDGAR. It can be simple ASCII (EDGAR I) or HTML (EDGAR - II) ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/69 "2004-12-17T04:44:43Z")
The first computer “bug” was an actual bug, a moth, caught in a relay in an early mainframe computer. It was found & fixed by one of the first women to work in the field. A [nibble](http://ecrmguide.webopedia.com/TERM/N/nibble.html) is one half of a byte. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/70 "2004-12-17T04:47:45Z")
> [@wheelie](#): > > The first computer “bug” was an actual bug, a moth, caught in a relay in an early mainframe computer. It was found & fixed by one of the first women to work in the field. Grace Hopper is one of my heros! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/71 "2004-12-17T05:40:59Z")
> [@DWToml815](#): > > A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. > > A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. > > A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. > > A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours. > > A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. > > A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a > second. > > A shark is the only fish that can blink with both > eyes. > > A snail can sleep for three years. Strange, I remember keeping a dragonfly alive for six days before letting it go. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/72 "2004-12-17T05:47:53Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Strange, I remember keeping a dragonfly alive for six days before letting it go. Now I remember some mayflies only live until they mate which is immediately after obtaining their final adult form. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/73 "2004-12-17T05:55:46Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Strange, I remember keeping a dragonfly alive for six days before letting it go. [This site says that drangonflies can live 2 weeks - 2 months](http://www.pnl.gov/pals/resource_cards/Dragonflies.stm) and don’t call me strange. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/74 "2004-12-17T09:48:53Z")
> [@wheelie](#): > > The first computer “bug” was an actual bug, a moth, caught in a relay in an early mainframe computer. It was found & fixed by one of the first women to work in the field. Not quite true, in both cases. The term “bug” was in use before the moth incident (the fact that the log book comments on the irony of an actual bug being found confirms that), and although Grace Hopper was involved with that machine and helped popularize the story, she was not present when it actually happened. [Cite](http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/first_computer_bug.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/75 "2004-12-17T10:10:35Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > That’s [sup]2[/sup]/[sub]5[/sub] of a workweek. That is, 60% are taken on the other three days, or [sup]3[/sup]/[sub]5[/sub] of the week. I’m not seeing the significance here. Weekend-shifters, to arms! The workweek has 5 days where it does. Lots of factories work on weekends, at least Production and Quality. Lots of stores work week-round. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/76 "2004-12-18T00:34:15Z")
Abbie Hoffman’s suicide note read; “It’s too late. We can’t win, they’ve gotten too powerful.” The Soviet Union had actually launched armed (and manned) military spacecraft. [url=http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/Crossword.htmIn a bizarre coincidence, a crossword puzzle in a May 1944 in an issue of the British _Daily Telegraph_ used several codewords—Utah; Omaha; Mulberry; Neptune and Overlord—being used in the Normandy invasion plan. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/77 "2004-12-18T00:37:23Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > The Soviet Union had actually launched armed (and manned) military spacecraft. Interesting. Cite? Link? More tea? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/78 "2004-12-18T04:42:45Z")
[Cite,](http://www.astronautix.com/articles/almpart1.htm) [link](http://www.astronautix.com/articles/almpart2.htm), and [url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/polyus.htmP(olyus). The latter wasn’t manned, but the former (Salyut 3 and 5) _were._ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/79 "2004-12-18T16:42:30Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > In fact, I don’t think it even makes sense the way you posit it. I mean, I can count to 10 million on my fingers if each finger represents a million. Pretty pointless, huh? [pedant mode ON] Not at all. The traditonal naive way to count on fingers gives eleven distinct possibilities, from zero to ten. Yes, you can declare that each possibility is worth one million, but you’re still limited to the eleven distinct values. Using finger and thumb positions as bits (either raised or clenched), you can count 1024 distinct values, zero through 1023. As \*\*Bill H.\*\*suggested, you can also reasonably consider each finger/thumb as a three-valued “trit” (raised, half-raised or clenched), giving rise to 3^10 =59049 distinct values. My dexterity doesn’t reliably extend to a 4-valued “quit” per finger, but maybe someone better than I could do that, enabliing counting 4^10=1048576 distinct values using two hands. What we’re talking about here is exactly the difference between a tally-based notation and a place-based notation. The naive finger-counting method is like writing numbers like this (pretend the slash is across the 4 pipes): ||||/ ||| for eight whereas fingers-as-bits counting is writing them like 10011 01101 for six hundred twenty one. [pedant mode OFF] ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/80 "2004-12-18T16:46:36Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows wh- ow, OW, stop hitting. > Anyway, according to the Tilex bottle, 98% of all households have mold. > > I’m thinking, wow, who owns these 2% of houses that never have mold? 1. Mythbusters echoed a duck quack 2. My mother and my sister. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853.md?page=5)