# Random Trivia. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003 "2015-01-27T15:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/1 "2015-01-27T15:00:11Z")
I have this trivia app on my phone. I wanted to share a couple from the latest refresh. It also provides links to the information, although they are always vague. The idea for “Interstellar” came from a physicist and a film producer who knew each other from a blind date set up by Carl Sagan. [www.wikipedia.org](http://www.wikipedia.org) During depression you see less contrast, making the world really appear greyer. [www.discoveryeye.org](http://www.discoveryeye.org) Japanese researchers created a smoke alarm for the hard of hearing that pumps super-spicy wasabi mist into the air. [news.discovery.com](http://news.discovery.com) The United States consumes 99% of the world’s hydrocodone, as it has been banned elsewhere. [www.wikipedia.org](http://www.wikipedia.org) Dust from the Sahara desert has produced a massive carbon sink in the Bahamas. [www.russgeorge.net](http://www.russgeorge.net) Bill Broyles, the writers for the movie “Cast Away”, chose to deliberately strand himself for one week on an isolated beach in the Sea of Cortez. During that time, a volleyball washed up on shore. [www.austinchronicle.com](http://www.austinchronicle.com) President Andrew Jackson was involved in as many as 100 duels. He was shot in the chest in 1806 and took a bullet in the arm in a bar fight with Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton in 1813. Most were to defend his wife’s honor. [www.mashable.com](http://www.mashable.com) ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/2 "2015-01-27T16:37:59Z")
The physicist behind Interstellar is Kip Thorne. His book Black Holes and Time Warps is really good if you’re into that sort of thing. Are those really the links the app gives you? Or are those just the top domains? I find it hard to believe someone cited “[www.wikipedia.org](http://www.wikipedia.org)” as a whole for a specific trivia fact. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/3 "2015-01-27T20:31:45Z")
Moving from Cafe Society to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/4 "2015-01-28T14:35:52Z")
Busta Rhymes, Jay Z, Biggie Smalls, and DMX all went to the same high school at the same time. [www.mic.com](http://www.mic.com) Fly ash emitted by a coal power plant carries 100 times more radiation into the surrounding environment than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy. [www.wikipedia.org](http://www.wikipedia.org) The Soviet Union attempted to domesticate moose for use in a cavalry. [www.slate.com](http://www.slate.com) Some large telescopes use liquid mercury for a reflective mirror instead of glass. The rotating liquid assumes the parabolic shape regardless of the container’s shape. [www.wikipedia.org](http://www.wikipedia.org) In 1994, a disgruntled FedEx employee tried to hijack and crash a cargo flight, using hammers and a spear gun. The pilot and crew were able to land the plane safely, despite being seriously injured, and having to fly the plane upside down at times to attempt to stop the hijacker. [www.wikipedia.org](http://www.wikipedia.org) Myanmar officially bans the colors red and yellow from movies, for no clear reason. [www.mashable.com](http://www.mashable.com) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/5 "2015-01-28T14:48:11Z")
> [@Chicago\_Faucet](#): > > Fly ash emitted by a coal power plant carries 100 times more radiation into the surrounding environment than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy. [www.wikipedia.org](http://www.wikipedia.org) It does not say that on wikipedia. I didn’t look up anything else, but how but some _actual_ cites instead of just a list of crap that might have no basis in reality. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/6 "2015-01-28T16:41:00Z")
You, I think I saw almost all of these on r/todayilearned on Reddit in the past few days. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/7 "2015-01-28T19:01:53Z")
I’ve seen most of those on reddit too. I couldn’t figure out if the people posting to reddit had seen them from the same source as the OP, or if the source for the OP is just picking them off of reddit. ---
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-trivia/711003/8 "2015-01-28T19:27:03Z")
Sorry. This thread wasn’t meant to be very heavy. Just trying to have some light fun, and hoping others would join in. I have heard of Reddit, but never dove into it. The app on my phone is called Trivia Buff. It’s a Windows phone, so it’s probably also on iPhone and Android. That source that it pulls from is also probably that Reddit location.