# Something you learned recently, that you didn't know before **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 9, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199 "2017-08-09T22:05:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/101 "2017-09-11T03:37:30Z")
The main discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming, had a VERY unusual hobby: he would “paint” crude reproductions of classic paintings on petri dishes using bacteria. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/102 "2017-09-11T13:25:56Z")
That while thirst demands immediate attention, hunger can wait. If a person gets really thirsty, they will stop whatever they are doing to take a drink. And will drink any liquid available (water, booze, urine, blood, swamp slime, whatever). But people can ignore hunger and have to be on the verge of total starvation before they’ll eat things like rotted meat, live insects, or (in a nod to Stephen King) themselves. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/103 "2017-09-23T09:51:50Z")
There is a model of car in Britain called the Shooting-Brake. Apparently it’s like a two door station-wagon. Not quite a Hatchback, not quite (what the Brits call) an Estate. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/104 "2017-09-23T14:55:27Z")
The use of ellipses in writing is considered ignorant on SDMB… (Oops)! I am addicted to them! I am gonna taper off as best I can. I can’t go cold turkey, but I do admit I have a problem! ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/105 "2017-09-23T20:35:03Z")
That someone thought a good name for an Apple computer store in the UK was [Stormfront](https://www.stormfront.co.uk/). I just walked past it today and did a full double take. Surely these people have been on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/106 "2017-09-23T22:07:45Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The main discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming, had a VERY unusual hobby: he would “paint” crude reproductions of classic paintings on petri dishes using bacteria. > > :eek: I used to draw smiley faces or my initials. My supervisor was not an art lover. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/107 "2017-09-25T13:25:18Z")
> [@Annoying\_Buzz](#): > > 1. Necrosis in Japanese is “necrosis”, at least for the two doctors I spoke to. Was it nekrosis or nekros? I ask because a lot of Japanese medical words are borrow words from German – they are the ones they got their info about western medicine from during the [Meiji](http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/german.html) period and Babelfish says Nekrose is German for Necrosis. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/108 "2017-09-25T19:54:37Z")
I just found out that if a lobster loses its claw, it will grow a new one. I knew certain species of crabs did this, but I had no ideas about lobsters. I’m 45 years old and grew up in Maritime Canada. My father also did not know. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/109 "2017-09-25T20:28:58Z")
^Cool! So I just leave it on the plate? It’ll be like a lobster buffet! ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/110 "2017-09-25T23:51:48Z")
I learned that there is such a thing as prescription-ground scuba masks! I love to swim but can’t see a damn thing at the beach, thanks to my vision being 20/200 without my glasses. Getting a prescription mask opened a whole new world for me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/111 "2017-09-28T05:15:49Z")
In the late 19th century, stoner was a slang term but it did not have its modern meaning. Back then, a stoner was a married woman who kept her original last name. The term derived from Lucy Stone, a women’s rights leader who kept her last name after marrying Henry Blackwell in 1855. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/112 "2017-09-28T06:54:44Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Listening to music one enjoys releases dopamine into your blood steam. > > It makes sense, but I just hadn’t thought of it in that way before. True but bear in mind a \*vast \*number of activities involve the release of dopamine. It has many functions within the brain and the wider nervous system. Two very common misconceptions are that dopamine is just a pleasure chemical and that if two experiences both involve the release of dopamine then those experiences are “really” the same. > [@](#): > > However, one can “overdose” on a particular song. When Cream put out \*Sunshine of \*_your Love_, it was a huge hit and I really enjoyed listening to it, but I heard it the other day and it didn’t feel like I got even a small drop of dopamine. I’ve noticed something similar; sometimes I will binge on a new song, and just listen to it over and over. I know it’s weird listening to it for the 10th time in a row, but I can’t help myself. However, when I binge in this way, the song has a low lifespan. Once I can tear myself away from it, it’s done, and I may never enjoy hearing it again ☹ > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > That while thirst demands immediate attention, hunger can wait. If a person gets really thirsty, they will stop whatever they are doing to take a drink. And will drink any liquid available (water, booze, urine, blood, swamp slime, whatever). But people can ignore hunger and have to be on the verge of total starvation before they’ll eat things like rotted meat, live insects, or (in a nod to Stephen King) themselves. Sounds suspiciously like a factoid. Any cite for that one? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/113 "2017-09-28T13:42:09Z")
No, I read it in a mystery book. But people will stop an important task to take a drink, but will ignore hunger. I just learned that Hugh Hefner hired Jazz ("colored) bands to play at his clubs long before it was considered “proper.” Much as I wasn’t a fan of the man, that took cajones. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/114 "2017-11-04T23:08:24Z")
Giving this a bump. Today I learned that sea snakes are amphibious. I knew they were air breathers, but they can also crawl on the land. In fact, they have to come onto land to digest their food, otherwise they become sluggish in the water and become prey for other predators. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/115 "2017-11-05T01:08:41Z")
A bit of a niche topic here… I just learned how to make an [amazingly precise and simple drill bit in minutes](http://www.stubmandrel.co.uk/workshop/29-d-bits) out of some bits of drill rod (a.k.a. silver steel). Anyone who works with metal will tell you that traditional twist drills wander. This is definitely the case, and I always thought that the only way to get an accurate hole was to drill it undersized and then ream it out with a reamer. Then I heard about making a “D bit” on a machinist forum and started digging deeper. Apparently everyone knows how to make these, and it only takes a few minutes on a grinder to make one, followed by a few minutes with a torch to harden it. Last week I made a few and drilled the most amazing holes in aluminum, brass, and cast iron for the project I’m working on. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/116 "2017-11-06T01:18:14Z")
I just discovered that when you travel on a UN passport, neither the city nor nation of your birth are indicated. A unique passport in colour and style, plus some very interesting stamps indeed. But no nationality listed whatsoever! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/117 "2017-11-06T10:16:52Z")
> [@MareIt](#): > > I have a unique name for the US because it is not only from a different language, but it is an old fashioned name in that language. I’ve always known the English language translation (think Maria\>Mary) but had no idea that it also can mean pearl. I have no independently verified this, but I like the idea of learning something new about my name! My great grandmother was named Margaret, but hardly even knew that it WAS her name for many years, on account of everybody had been calling her Pearl for as long as she could remember. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/118 "2017-11-06T10:20:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I just learned a few weeks ago that Porsche is a German company. I always thought they were Italian. Because of _The Merchant of Venice_, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/119 "2017-11-06T14:37:06Z")
I have lived in the Bergen County NJ area for over 30 years. I currently work in Teaneck, New Jersey. I just found out that Teaneck, New Jersey was the first town in the entire United States of America to voluntarily integrate their public schools. [Wiki cite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaneck_Public_Schools) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199/120 "2019-01-11T01:35:38Z")
I know this is over a year old now, but hey, we’re all still learning stuff, right? Anyways, Today I learned that IKEA is technically a charity, and it’s all run as a complex tax evasion scheme. They’ve been under investigation by the EU since at least 2017, apparently. Relevant article: [Ikea Is A Nonprofit, And Yes, That’s Every Bit As Fishy As It Sounds](https://www.fastcompany.com/3035734/ikea-is-a-nonprofit-and-yes-thats-every-bit-as-fishy-as-it-sounds) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-learned-recently-that-you-didnt-know-before/793199.md?page=7)