# 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:** 364
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7271 "2023-08-18T17:34:19Z")
A quick search shows one post that mentions “zombie-ant fungus” (the link in my post) and one in 2015 that refers to Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. ---
**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 19, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7272 "2023-08-19T12:46:18Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > And I’m sure the last of us will discuss it. Cue the “I saw what you did there” response… ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7273 "2023-08-19T20:48:15Z")
TIL that foxes will gorge on blackberries. This arose from an allotment animal shit ID question - _hmm, looks like carnivore but full of seeds_ - and our resident wildlife expert wised us up on this. As this isn’t much of a cite, I went a-googling - here you go: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/16OYdH83Icw/hqdefault.jpg "Wild fox eating blackberries") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16OYdH83Icw) j ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7274 "2023-08-19T21:20:17Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Even the crappiest tank is a decent mobile pillbox. Which is why the ZiS-30 not really a tank at all. It’s usually referred to as a mobile anti-tank gun. The driver has some light armor around him, but the gunners are barely shielded from the front, and unshielded on five sides. (Even the platform they are standing on is wooden.) [ZIS-30 video](https://youtu.be/sEiAPXMwIOk?t=23) (Yes, it’s a game, but it’s accurate.) ---
**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:** [August 20, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7275 "2023-08-20T02:01:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Tbh, that looks like his head was pasted on a model’s body. Robert Mitchum often had that forward head thrust that makes it look like a mockup. It was just part of his posture. I think it was even more obvious as he aged. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7276 "2023-08-20T03:32:34Z")
And like many of Hollywood’s biggest stars he had a big head. I mean proportionally his head was on the large side, oft said to be an asset for an actor. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7277 "2023-08-20T08:37:24Z")
Merv Griffin once said that the reason why Vanna White became a star was that her head was large for her body. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7278 "2023-08-20T09:55:27Z")
There’s a kind of roomba made just for dairy farmers. It rolls up and down the aisles of a cow barn, scraping up poop and dumping it off. Or if the barn floor is slatted, it just scrapes the poop along and it falls through the slats. [The cows are bemused but unconcerned.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCJxN_3nnEc) ---
**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:** [August 20, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7279 "2023-08-20T23:18:43Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > TIL that foxes will gorge on blackberries. Hence the old Aesop fable about the fox and the “sour grapes”. In fact the carnivore/herbivore divide is not as sharp as might be supposed, with lots of opportunistic feeding. Anything calorie or nutrient dense enough will attract feeders of every sort. Lots of herbivores have been seen scavenging carcasses, and deer are known to actively hunt fish. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7280 "2023-08-20T23:24:15Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > TIL that foxes will gorge on blackberries. Our dog certainly has no problems eating serviceberries straight off the tree. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7281 "2023-08-20T23:26:13Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Our dog certainly has no problems eating serviceberries straight off the tree. We had two of them that would pick blackberries off the vine from the back fence. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7282 "2023-08-20T23:27:25Z")
Photographic proof: [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/06LLp0L.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/dGkD3eR) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7283 "2023-08-21T00:43:52Z")
Train rails are paintd/ coated white in Italy. Not the tops, the sides. This was on all the “through” rails, not everything in the yard. Saw this throughout my recent trip from Rome to Vicenza and Venice. I suspect it’s to reduce temperature, warping or springing a rail due to solar heating. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7284 "2023-08-21T01:36:20Z")
My mom’s dog mostly settles for the mulberries that have fallen off of the tree. And then gets the runs when he eats too many of them (because the only quantity of eating a dog knows is “too much”). @hogarth , not many people I’ve met are familiar with serviceberries. I’ve no idea why they’re not more popular: They grow very easily in a variety of North American climates (in fact, there are a lot of them planted as ornamentals), they’re at least as easy to harvest as any other berry, and they’re delicious. And of course it would be impossible to paint the tops of rails, because the paint would be worn off by the first train to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7285 "2023-08-21T06:17:01Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In fact the carnivore/herbivore divide is not as sharp as might be supposed, with lots of opportunistic feeding. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/75/80/ea/7580ea650cbb2fb3e250c861cb60492d.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/75/80/ea/7580ea650cbb2fb3e250c861cb60492d.jpg) ---
**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:** [August 21, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7286 "2023-08-21T15:40:22Z")
Black walnut trees [don’t play nice with other plants](https://www.almanac.com/black-walnut-trees#:~:text=Tomatoes%2C%20potatoes%2C%20apples%2C%20pears,%2C%20under%20the%20tree's%20canopy). I learned this after my 60 year old asparagus patch started withering away and my peonies never came up this year. A Master Gardener from Penn State told me that blueberry bushes have to be kept 50 yards from black walnut trees. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2023, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7287 "2023-08-22T02:41:08Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Black walnut trees [don’t play nice with other plants](https://www.almanac.com/black-walnut-trees#:~:text=Tomatoes%2C%20potatoes%2C%20apples%2C%20pears,%2C%20under%20the%20tree's%20canopy) I thought that was common knowledge. It is around here. If your vegetable garden isn’t thriving, look around for a black walnut tree nearby. They are death on tomato plants, too. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7288 "2023-08-22T03:10:33Z")
I didn’t grow up with black walnuts nearby so I had no idea what was wrong with my garden. Now I know. Looks like I’ll have to move my flowers around now. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2023, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7289 "2023-08-22T03:18:26Z")
Yah, all knowledge is local (but I can’t remember who said that). Didn’t mean it as a diss. I was just surprised because I forget we aren’t all from where I am from. Yes, you’ll have to rearrange your gardens because even if you cut the tree down, the roots will take a while to stop affecting the soil. I’m not suggesting you cut the tree down. Good luck figuring it all out. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7290 "2023-08-22T13:20:12Z")
Today I learned about the first ever quadraphonic radio broadcast. In October, 1970, a live Grateful Dead show at the Winterland Arena was broadcast on two FM stations, KQED and KSAN, both broadcasting different simultaneous stereo mixes that you could listen to together with two stereo radios placed at a distance from each other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=363) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=365)