# 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:** 208
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4149 "2022-04-01T11:04:40Z")
Yesterday I took a tour of the restoration hangars for the National Museum of the USAF. One of the things they’re restoring is an Atlas ICBM. For some reason, the skin of the ICBM will crinkle and slightly buckle just sitting there. To keep this from happening, they keep the inside of the ICBM pressurized with 4 psig of air. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4150 "2022-04-01T11:31:54Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > For some reason, the skin of the ICBM will crinkle and slightly buckle just sitting there. To keep this from happening, they keep the inside of the ICBM pressurized with 4 psig of air. You could make the tanks thicker so that they could bear the weight (and accelerative loads) of the missile without crumpling, or incorporate external structure to bear the missile’s weight - but that would add extra weight to the whole thing, reducing payload capacity. Better to go with thin tanks and pressurize them so they can withstand compressive loads. This is a good strategy any time you want a lightweight vehicle and can find a way to pressurize structural members so they won’t buckle under compressive or bending loads. > **[Inflatable boat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_boat)** > > An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull are often flexible, while for boats longer than 3 metres (9.8 ft), the floor typically consists of three to five rigid plywood or aluminium sheets fixed between the tubes, but not joined rigidly together. Often the transom is rigid, providing a location and structure for mounting an outboard motor. > Some inflatable boats can be disass... ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4151 "2022-04-01T11:35:33Z")
Good info. I think I’ve also read that beer and soda cans are able to use very thin aluminum _because_ they’re pressurized. In other words, pressurization makes the cans stronger, and thus they’re able to use less material during manufacturing. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4152 "2022-04-01T11:39:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Thinking about the brandy, I realized how classist a notion that is. How many poor, working-class, or immigrant households had a bottle of brandy on a convenient shelf to be grabbed in case of emergency? Alcohol of some kind, sure, but brandy? “Brandy” covers a lot more than just fine cognac. Fruit brandies etc. Much less specificity than e.g. whisky. Brandy-and-coke is a standard lower-class drink here in South Africa, but then our _worst_ cheap brandy is as good as cognac. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4153 "2022-04-01T12:23:04Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bWmH5FFgX44/hqdefault.jpg "The Great Race - Pie Fight (English)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWmH5FFgX44) 😃 ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4154 "2022-04-01T13:06:26Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Good info. I think I’ve also read that beer and soda cans are able to use very thin aluminum _because_ they’re pressurized. In other words, pressurization makes the cans stronger, and thus they’re able to use less material during manufacturing. An empty, unpressurized soda can will just barely support the weight of an adult male (~160 pounds), provided they climb aboard very gently. But that’s right at the limit: if you try to jump vertically, even just a little bit, you’ll collapse the can. An unopened can of soda at room temperature is pressurized to about 36 psi by the CO2 within. With a 3-inch diameter, the cross-sectional area of the whole can is about 7 square inches, meaning you could load the can with 252 pounds of weight, supported entirely by the CO2 pressure, before you even begin to apply any vertical compressive load to the aluminum. Per the previous paragraph, the aluminum itself will tolerate ~160 pounds of weight. So an unopened/pressurized can will bear a total weight of 412 pounds before failure, versus only 160 pounds for an opened/unpressurized can. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4155 "2022-04-01T13:31:06Z")
Scientists have finally completely unraveled the human genome. I thought they had done this years ago, but I somehow missed the fact that they had only completed 92% back in 2003. Apparently it’s taken this long to get the remaining 8%. It was announced yesterday > **[Scientists sequence the complete human genome for the first time | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/31/health/first-complete-human-genome-sequence/index.html)** > > In 2003, the Human Genome Project made history when it sequenced 92% of the human genome. But for nearly two decades since, scientists have struggled to decipher the remaining 8%. Now, a team has unveiled the complete human genome. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4156 "2022-04-01T18:34:39Z")
I was doing the crossword puzzle today and there was a clue for a word meaning “rapids”. The answer, as it turns out, is “sault”. This likely explains the name of the Michigan city of Sault Ste. Marie, which sits on the St. Marys River. I’m guessing there must have been (or still are) rapids near there. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4157 "2022-04-01T18:59:53Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Brandy-and-coke is a standard lower-class drink here in South Africa, Never heard of that in old books from America or England, which is where about 100% of my sightings came from. Did it maybe develop post WWII? Is it ever given to people who faint? ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4158 "2022-04-01T19:31:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I was doing the crossword puzzle today and there was a clue for a word meaning “rapids”. The answer, as it turns out, is “sault”. This likely explains the name of the Michigan city of Sault Ste. Marie, which sits on the St. Marys River. I’m guessing there must have been (or still are) rapids near there. Yep. In French (or maybe Quebecois) “sault” means rapids or waterfall. There is a change of elevation between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. And thus rapids and locks. > **[Soo Locks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soo_Locks)** > > The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. They bypass the rapids of the river, where the water falls 21 ft... If you click into the picture to a bigger version, you can see the rapids in the center channel. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4159 "2022-04-01T19:54:25Z")
I have to wonder how anybody got “soo” as the pronunciation, as the French pronunciation would be more like “so”. I once had an American history professor pronounce it “salt”. When I corrected him, he shrugged and said “whatever”. 🙄 ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4160 "2022-04-01T20:09:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I have to wonder how anybody got “soo” as the pronunciation, as the French pronunciation would be more like “so”. I once had an American history professor pronounce it “salt”. When I corrected him he shrugged and said “whatever” 🙄 Hey, is it our fault the French don’t use a single letter of the Latin alphabet the way the Romans intended? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4161 "2022-04-01T21:00:20Z")
Regional manglings abound. My maternal grandmother’s birth name was Beausoleil, but in the Butte/Anaconda area of Montana\* it became “Bushley.” One branch finally gave up and changed the spelling to match. \* She was born in St Gabriel de Brandon, in a Francophone area of Quebec. How and why her extended family ended up in Montana is a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4162 "2022-04-01T21:14:07Z")
Any relation to Bobby? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4163 "2022-04-01T21:23:21Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > In France, they roast the bean until it is almost burnt It is more complicated than that, scroll down to Italian roast for really dark: > **[Coffee roasting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_roasting)** > > Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to change in taste. Unroasted beans contain similar if not higher levels of acids, protein, sugars, and caffeine as those that have been roasted, but lack the taste of roasted coffee beans due to the Maillard and other chemical reactions that occur during roasting. > Coffee ten... And then there is the [torrefacto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrefacto) method. That is black! Or according to Sagi Cohen (see link): “burnt sugar”, "diluted asphalt or “liquefied coal”. > [@Jim\_B](#): > > (they do everything different in France 😉 🙂 ). It says that in a gourmet cookbook I have 🙂 That is slightly exagerated. Take eggs, for instance: they boil them just like you and me in plain water. Omeletts, on the other hand… yes, that they make different. Better. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4164 "2022-04-01T21:32:50Z")
When I was in high school, I went on a school sponsored weekend rock climbing trip. We were operating at a level above our skill set ( except for a few experienced students) and I had an issue mid-descent, my long hair got tangled in the carabiner. They had to send down another climber to help me, it took time so I was stuck on the side of a cliff, unable to put my weight on the rope for way too long, 30-45 minutes, IIRC. But when I finally made it down I was pretty shaken, and pretty much the first thing that happened was one of the teachers handed me a shot of whiskey for “medical reasons”. And back in the late 80’s I remember an accountant got violently mugged while making the daily walk to the bank, and our boss poured him a medicinal shot. It’s an idea I’m used to. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4165 "2022-04-01T23:38:42Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Yep. In French (or maybe Quebecois) “sault” means rapids or waterfall. There is a change of elevation between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. And thus rapids and locks. And the word “Sauk” is a translation of the French name for a Ojibwe Tribe that originated in Wisconsin. There are many place names with Sauk and Sac, that go back to this tribe who, when kicked out of their homeland by settlers (Blackhawk war) wandered a bit before settling in Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4166 "2022-04-02T08:30:05Z")
It’s a pre-war thing, starting in the 20s goldmine social clubs. And there, mainly by British immigrants. I wasn’t saying brandy-and-coke was _the same_ as the storied vivifying shot of brandy, I was just mentioning its ubiquity as a drink here as counter to the notion that brandy was _necessarily_ a middle-upper class thing for British people. Brandy =/= snifter of cognac. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4167 "2022-04-02T09:23:20Z")
In about 1962, when I was 11-12 years old, I was rather weak and debilitated. Our GP prescribed 1/2 pint of stout weekly! To be honest, he didn’t write a script: he told my mother what to give me. So for about a year I had a glass of Mackeson every week. Didn’t seem to do me any harm! ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4168 "2022-04-02T13:29:33Z")
In Ireland, up until about 2009, you were offered a choice of tea, coffee or a bottle of Guinness to go with your cookies/crackers after donating a pint of blood … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=207) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=209)