# 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:** 133
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2648 "2021-09-05T18:43:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > H375000000, O132000000, N64300000, Ca1500000, P1020000, S206000, Na183000, K177000, Cl127000, Mg40000, Si38600, Fe2680, Zn2110, Cu76, I14, Mn13, F13, Cr7, Se4, Mo3, Co1. No carbon? > > **[What is the cost of a human body, in terms of the different elements that...](https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-cost-of-a-human-body-in-terms-of-the-different-elements-that-make-it)** > > WARNING! Long answer! The elements in the human body are worth about $600 US. \> 99% of the mass of the human body consists of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. They are worth about $576. All the other... If you leave it as “parts” the body is worth much, much more. Creepy but good: > **[Watch Bodysnatchers of New York | Prime Video](https://www.amazon.com/Bodysnatchers-New-York-William-Sherman/dp/B07BHCWVXL)** > > In late 2005, a true crime story broke that spread like wildfire across America, then around the world. Excited news reports on the ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2649 "2021-09-05T18:52:41Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > No carbon? See the correction at #2366. So people can cite it correctly: The chemical formula for the average mammal - not that any of us are merely average - is: H375000000, O132000000, C85700000, N64300000, Ca1500000, P1020000, S206000, Na183000, K177000, Cl127000, Mg40000, Si38600, Fe2680, Zn2110, Cu76, I14, Mn13, F13, Cr7, Se4, Mo3, Co1. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2650 "2021-09-05T18:57:06Z")
I’m by no means a sports history aficionado, but I do live near Pittisburgh and grew up with a Pirates fan. Yet I’d never heard of the '71 Pirates “all-soul” lineup until a few days ago. [The day the Pirates fielded the first all-Black and Latino lineup  | MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/the-day-the-pirates-fielded-the-first-all-black-and-latino-lineup) ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2651 "2021-09-05T19:15:04Z")
Justine Johnstone was a Broadway and silent film actress from 1911 to 1926. When her husband (noted director Walter Wanger) fell ill, his doctor was so impressed with her that he recommended she take some science classes at Columbia University. She impressed her professor there as well, and was asked to join his research team, and was a co-author on the paper that introduced the modern IV drip. She became a pathologist and expert on syphilis, contributing to the discovery of a cure, as well as pioneering the study of endocrinology. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2652 "2021-09-06T09:46:19Z")
Around here, you occasionally see cars with a “GB” sticker in the rear window. A stupid affectation indicating that they’ve visited the UK. Fact I just learned: It’s part of the European number plate system. There is no universal system for issuing number plates: instead, you are required to put the correct national identifier on your car if you aren’t wearing local number plates. For some reason, the “GB” identifier has just changed to “UK”. Result of knowing this fact: it’s not a stupid affectation, it’s an entirely reasonable sticker, it’s just wrong. Cars wearing Australian Number plates in Australia shouldn’t be wearing a “GB” plate indicator. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2653 "2021-09-06T23:03:08Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Result of knowing this fact: it’s not a stupid affectation, it’s an entirely reasonable sticker, it’s just wrong. Cars wearing Australian Number plates in Australia shouldn’t be wearing a “GB” plate indicator. Oftentimes they put them on the car to identify their place of origin. I think that is harmless. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2654 "2021-09-06T23:34:12Z")
Rose Marie (of Dick Van Dyke show fame) was like Shirley Temple years before Shirley ever came on the scene. One of her fans: Al Capone. Said if she ever needed anything etc. to let him know, and got her some gigs. He said to call him “Uncle Al.” Worth a watch on Amazon Prime. > **[Wait for Your Laugh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wait_for_Your_Laugh)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Wait for Your Laugh is a 2017 documentary film on the career of Rose Marie. The film was directed by Jason Wise and featured notable celebrities including Dick Van Dyke, Peter Marshall, and Carl Reiner. > The film premiered at the 2017 Mill Valley Film Festival, and was well received. > Rose Marie's career spanned ninety years, starting at the age of four with a radio show and transitioning through vaudeville, Broadway, Vegas, movies and television.... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2655 "2021-09-07T12:30:58Z")
“You Bloody Fool!” > [@](#): > > # Duck Recorded Saying ‘You Bloody Fool’ > > If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and says what sounds like “you bloody fool,” then it’s probably a male Australian musk duck called Ripper. > > The waterbird is thought to have learned the phrase ― which can also appear to sound like “you bloody food” ― from a caretaker hand-rearing him in captivity at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve near Canberra in the late 1980s, according to new research. > > Ripper also imitated the slamming shut of a door in audio initially recorded by [birder Peter J. Fullagar](https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2021/09/even-a-duck-can-parrot) in July 1987. The sounds were recently resurfaced by fellow scientist [Carel ten Cate](https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/carel-ten-cate#tab-1) from Leiden University in the Netherlands as part of his study into the vocal learnings of birds. > **[‘At First I Thought, "It’s A Hoax"': Duck Recorded Saying ‘You Bloody Fool'](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/australia-musk-duck-audio_n_613737bbe4b0df9fe27aec49)** > > Ripper the Australian musk dusk is thought to have learned the phrase from a caretaker. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2656 "2021-09-08T16:08:32Z")
“The light poles from the Polo Grounds [New York - primarily a baseball stadium - in use in its last incarnation from 1911 to 1963] remain in use at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Arizona State University’s baseball field in Phoenix, Arizona, built in 1964. When the stadium was built, Horace Stoneham, owner of the San Francisco Giants, had the original Polo Grounds light poles shipped there. The Giants held spring training at the stadium’s predecessor since 1947 and played at the new ballpark during spring training in 1964. The poles were installed in the stadium where they currently remain standing.” - Wikipedia ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2657 "2021-09-08T18:09:06Z")
> [@Precambrianmollusc](#): > > If people have been working at height and using a fall arrest harness and are left hanging, you can get suspension trauma > Basically deoxygenated blood pools up in the legs and wont circulate out due to the muscles not pumping the blood and restrictions from the harness. > When you get the person down if they lay down horizontally , which is tempting as the legs feel weak, you can kill them as the deoxygenated blood floods back up to the heart and causes cardiac arrest. Was surprised to read about this, but sure enough: > **[Safety & Health Articles - Latest News, Articles & Insights To...](https://www.grainger.com/know-how/safety-health)** > > Grainger KnowHow is your source for environment, health, and safety (EHS) news, OSHA regulatory changes, tips, resources, and best management practices. But it turns out that the main hazard exists prior to rescue: a worker stuck in an upright position in a harness can eventually suffer fatal cerebral hypoxia if not rescued quickly enough. There seems to be less evidence for the purported post-rescue hazard: > **[Rescue death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_death)** > > Rescue death (or reflow syndrome) is a hypothesized fatal condition that can occur after blood pools in a part of the body for a prolonged period such as during suspension trauma. There are several proposed mechanisms for this phenomenon. One mechanism suggests that toxins build up in the pooled blood, and problems arise when this toxin-rich, oxygen-poor blood returns to the body when the patient is allowed to lie down. Another mechanism suggests that the sudden increase in preload causes acute h... ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2658 "2021-09-09T13:39:40Z")
Your vehicle might ride on tires (run flats, airless) or tracks like a tank or…? How about screws? Tori Belleci and Richard Hammond race their vehicles. Hey, he can go sideways? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jGzwRwW5ylg/maxresdefault.jpg "Richard Hammond and Tori Belleci Go Head-To-Head in a Petrolhead Challenge | Prime Video") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGzwRwW5ylg) What you really want, o’course, is this Soviet amphibious version. > **[This Fully-Restored, Screw-Driven, Amphibious Truck Is Practically Unstoppable](https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/14987/this-fully-restored-screw-driven-amphibious-truck-is-practically-unstoppable)** > > From Russia with love, it's one of the strangest off road beasts you'll ever see. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2659 "2021-09-09T18:35:27Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Pee in the sink (easier if you have a penis). Run the faucet a couple of times for a few seconds and the urine is on its way. Dude! That’s disgusting. Pee in the shower, like a civilized person. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2660 "2021-09-09T18:43:26Z")
If I only peed once a day, that would (and does) work. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2661 "2021-09-09T23:56:56Z")
Australian astronomer and engineer Basil Borun had a stunning, award-winning [**cabin**](https://housesawards.com.au/gallery/2021/new-house-under-200-square-metres/PP1XIN38V9N) built for him at allows him to gaze at the stars from home. And he can do it all from his wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2662 "2021-09-10T02:50:03Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Apparently certain mixtures of sodium and potassium are liquid at room temperature. > > Now I have to come up with a situation where I can use this as an ingenious MacGuyver solution to Defeat the Baddies… 🙂 Dissolve fatbergs? [Fatberg - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg) (Provided the thought of trying to use liquid alkali metals in a damp sewer doesn’t strike you as suicidally hazardous). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2663 "2021-09-10T03:00:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > > Apparently certain mixtures of sodium and potassium are liquid at room temperature. > > Interesting. I’ve worked with all the alkali metals, and was unaware of this. > > Of course, the alkali metals are incredibly reactive with water and even humidity, so there’s not a lot you can do with the eutectic. A long time ago they actually made thermometers with the eutectic mixture. It turned out however that the mixture was reactive enough to soften glass, meaning the thermometers lost accuracy from deformation. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2021, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2664 "2021-09-10T05:38:03Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Australian astronomer and engineer Basil Borun had a stunning, award-winning [**cabin**](https://housesawards.com.au/gallery/2021/new-house-under-200-square-metres/PP1XIN38V9N) built for him at allows him to gaze at the stars from home. And he can do it all from his wheelchair. That is a beautiful house, even if you’re not in a wheelchair or an astronomer. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2665 "2021-09-10T14:30:08Z")
**Always Carry your Rhinoceros upside-down.** They’ll breathe easier. In other news: if you fill an alligator’s mouth with helium and make it speak, it’ll sound funny. > **[Upside-down rhino experiment wins Ig Nobel Prize | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/10/world/rhinos-ig-nobel-scli-intl-scn/index.html)** > > A team of researchers behind an experiment that involved hanging rhinoceroses upside down, suspended in the air by their feet, has been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize. > **[Scientists win award for giving an alligator helium and making it shout | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/us/ig-nobel-awards-alligator-helium-scli-scn-intl/index.html)** > > A team of scientists who put an alligator in a helium-filled box and made it shout have won an Ig Nobel Prize, a prestigious(ish) award that commemorates the science world's more unorthodox experiments. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2666 "2021-09-10T22:14:45Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > That is a beautiful house, even if you’re not in a wheelchair or an astronomer. My thought too, panache. It also is a perfect park shelter room where classes or small parties and weddings could be held. Really, really lovely. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2667 "2021-09-11T04:50:55Z")
Despite the well-known Australian sayings “stone the crows!” and “… as the crow flies” there are no true crows native to Australia. There are crow-like birds such as Australian ravens (all black), currawongs (mostly black with a little white) and magpies (about half black and white) but no crows as such. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=132) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=134)