# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674 "2020-04-13T03:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 124
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2467 "2021-08-16T16:42:21Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > this city boy didn’t know chickens will roost in trees. Should be obvious to anyone who’s heard [this song.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY1c-EbJlLI) ---
**Author:** ![PozhanPop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pozhanpop/32/8022_2.png) [@PozhanPop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PozhanPop)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2468 "2021-08-16T20:22:42Z")
I remember my Alsatian chasing a hen around the wife’s dad’s property. At one point it flew right across the river that bordered the property. A good 400 ft. For some reason the chicken decided to never come back. Wife’s dad even had a name for it. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2469 "2021-08-16T22:52:41Z")
As God is my witness, I thought chickens couldn’t fly. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2470 "2021-08-17T10:10:41Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Did you notice this [link](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-su-tissue/522257) in that article? @Johnny_L.A was looking for her in 2009. I will guess that @Nametag could be mistaken about Su Tissue at Berklee College of Music. I studied there, and no one studies classical. It’s jazz or comp. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2471 "2021-08-17T12:20:11Z")
The shape of a hammerhead’s head is called a ‘cephalofoil.’ ---
**Author:** ![theben.nguyen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@theben.nguyen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theben.nguyen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2472 "2021-08-17T13:15:29Z")
The circumference of the Large Hadron Collider is approximately 16.6 miles, and it is able to send particles up to 90% of the speed of light. In order to get a particle up to 99% of the speed of light, the circumference of the collider would need to encompass the orbit of Pluto! ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2473 "2021-08-17T14:36:26Z")
> [@theben.nguyen](#): > > The circumference of the Large Hadron Collider is approximately 16.6 miles, and it is able to send particles up to 90% of the speed of light. > > In order to get a particle up to 99% of the speed of light, the circumference of the collider would need to encompass the orbit of Pluto!   Welcome, **theben.nguyen**! I think you’ve gotten some numbers mixed up. It’s actually not that hard to accelerate particles to 99% of the speed of light in vacuum. The LHC easily does so. > **[Large Hadron Collider | Design](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider#Design)** > > The collider is contained in a circular tunnel, with a circumference of 26.7 kilometres (16.6 mi), at a depth ranging from 50 to 175 metres (164 to 574 ft) underground. The variation in depth was deliberate, to reduce the amount of tunnel that lies under the Jura Mountains to avoid having to excavate a vertical access shaft there. A tunnel was chosen to avoid having to purchase expensive land on the surface and to take advantage of the shielding against background radiation that the Earth's crust... > When running at the current energy record of 6.5 TeV per proton,[[36]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider#cite_note-36) once or twice a day, as the protons are accelerated from 450 [GeV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_volt) to 6.5 [TeV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_volt), the field of the superconducting dipole magnets is increased from 0.54 to 7.7 [teslas (T)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_(unit)). The protons each have an [energy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy) of 6.5 TeV, giving a total collision energy of 13 TeV. At this energy, the protons have a [Lorentz factor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_factor) of about 6,930 and move at about 0.999999990 _c_ , or about 3.1 m/s (11 km/h) slower than the [speed of light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_light) ( _c_ ). It takes less than 90 [microseconds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsecond) (μs) for a proton to travel 26.7 km around the main ring. This results in 11,245 revolutions per second for protons whether the particles are at low or high energy in the main ring, since the speed difference between these energies is beyond the fifth decimal.[[37]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider#cite_note-37) I expect the confusion is that your numbers are not for particles in general, but some high-mass particle in particular. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2474 "2021-08-17T16:43:32Z")
She seems to have as many theories about what happened to her as Jimmy Hoffa or Judge Crater. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2475 "2021-08-18T03:19:22Z")
It was long believed that Mercury had a synchronous orbit around the Sun until we found out with radar it was really a 3:2 resonance. OK I’ve known that for 40 years. What I just found out was WHY we thought Mercury had a synchronous orbit. I always thought it was assumed it did. I mean that’s how tidal forces work. Look at small moon next to a large planet. But that’s not the case. This [snippet of video](https://youtu.be/NJAfP9QLkN8?t=84) does a better job explaining it than I can but basically it was really hard to observe Mercury so the best views were at inferior conjunction with the Earth. Through a coincidence of time, the time between these conjunctions is almost exactly 2 Mercurian days so when we could observe Mercury the same side was always facing us. Since it was at inferior conjunction, we saw the face pointed away from the Sun. Therefore (we thought) the same side on Mercury always faces the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2476 "2021-08-18T20:32:57Z")
In 1987, Michael Milken made $550,000,000. That’s $1.3 billion today. What did he do? He sold bonds. This may still stand as the largest annual earnings ever by an _employee_. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2477 "2021-08-18T20:55:59Z")
You forgot to mention; he went to jail because of that, as well! ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2478 "2021-08-18T21:18:25Z")
Nevertheless, securities fraud counts as earnings. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2479 "2021-08-18T21:21:12Z")
How? You might as well say that a drug baron’s yearly profits count as earnings. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2480 "2021-08-18T21:23:46Z")
Mr. Milken also won the first ever Ig Nobel Prize in Economics, for his work in junk bonds. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2481 "2021-08-18T21:28:08Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > You might as well say that a drug baron’s yearly profits count as earnings. And they do. They famously got Capone on tax evasion. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2482 "2021-08-18T21:30:53Z")
The man got pardoned and even with his $600,000,000 fine, was a billionaire throughout his prison stay. As was his brother, Lowell. Milken was fine. And I will say, of all the security fraud cases I read about back in the day, Milken’s was the weakest. And do you know who prosecuted him? Rudy G himself! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2483 "2021-08-18T21:32:21Z")
According to Wikipedia he ended up paying some $1.1bn in fines and restitution, plus 22 months of jail time. > As part of his plea, Milken agreed to pay $200 million in fines. At the same time, he agreed to a settlement with the SEC in which he paid $400 million to investors who had been hurt by his actions. He also accepted a lifetime ban from any involvement in the securities industry. In a related civil lawsuit against Drexel he agreed to pay $500 million to Drexel’s investors. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2484 "2021-08-18T21:34:23Z")
Yeah, I was referencing the SEC settlement he shared with DBL. Forgot about the investor rebate, but he was easily a billionaire in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2485 "2021-08-18T21:36:03Z")
[Quoth _The New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/28/business/a-fortune-remains-for-milken.html), February 28, 1992, > The $500 million in cash and securities that Michael R. Milken recently agreed to pay to settle the civil claims against him represents “about 80 percent of his personal remaining wealth,” lawyers in the case disclosed yesterday on orders from the judge. > > The carefully worded disclosure implied that Mr. Milken, who rose and fell on the junk bond craze he started at Drexel Burnham Lambert, could look forward to a net worth of $125 million upon leaving prison. But the article mentions family trusts and other nonpersonal assets that may not have been included in the $125 million, possibly up to half a billion total. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2486 "2021-08-18T21:50:45Z")
Yeah, I studied Milken quite a bit and that number is the number Mike wanted out there. He and his brother Lowell put much of the family wealth in Lowell’s name, Milken paid his fine, and… despite the article above, his inability to work in the securities industry, his dedication to his non-profit, and another $42 million fine he paid in the mid 1990s, the man is worth $3.8 billion today. He was a financial genius who started sheltering and hiding his wealth in the 1970s. That $125 million figure was about 5x underestimated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=123) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=125)