# 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:** 413
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8251 "2023-12-05T09:22:12Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > [Aldwych Station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldwych_tube_station) is a “ghost station” on the London Underground Damn, I’m stupid. I meant to include this handy video in the above post. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wmin5WkOuPw/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-B4AC0AWKAgwIABABGGUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLACR6xWKKZYWs3IEqVRLs957xEN5Q "The Prodigy - Firestarter (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw) Most of that was filmed in parts which are not publicly accessible (an unused lift shaft), or even visible (the tunnels) on the tour, but it’s an interesting companion piece. From the guide’s description, the tunnels are the second emergency exit from the tour - ie, you walk along a disused tunnel to the nearest active station. j ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8252 "2023-12-05T13:00:47Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > you can’t even spell parallax. I didn’t need to, that was an hypothesis [I could do without](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/353590-author-napoleon-210910-when-hearing-about-author-laplace-324846-s-latest-book-said-m-au)! But I am being wooshed, am I not? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8253 "2023-12-05T14:42:01Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > wooshed It was just a silly reference to your username, which I have never been able to figure out. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8254 "2023-12-05T14:48:04Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Given Relativity, I’m not sure the idea of where they are “now” even holds. Einstein was just messing with you. > **[Cosmic time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_time)** > > Cosmic time, or cosmological time, is the time coordinate commonly used in the Big Bang models of physical cosmology. Such time coordinate may be defined for a homogeneous, expanding universe so that the universe has the same density everywhere at each moment in time (the fact that this is possible means that the universe is, by definition, homogeneous). The clocks measuring cosmic time should move along the Hubble flow. > Cosmic time > > > > t > > > {\\displaystyle t} > > ... And the CMB defines a reference frame that’s better than all the other reference frames… ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8255 "2023-12-05T15:20:29Z")
Oh, my username! Makes sense. It is a Pig-Latin variant of Pardelluchs (which is pronounced exactly the same way), which is the German name for the Iberian lynx (_Lynx pardinus_), an animal I like very much. It was on the brink of extinction about 20 years ago, when I took the name and the avatar, thinking I would outlast it. The situation has improved after a massive program to save them, but they are still very much endangered. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_lynx) can tell you more. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8256 "2023-12-05T15:34:46Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > German name for the Iberian lynx (_Lynx pardinus_), an animal I like very much. It was on the brink of extinction about 20 years ago, when I took the name and the avatar, thinking I would outlast it. The situation has improved after a massive program to save them, but they are still very much endangered. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_lynx) can tell you more. That’s an interesting fact. I didn’t know there was an extant European species of Lynx in western Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8257 "2023-12-05T15:35:28Z")
Thanks. It was well chosen for uniqueness - almost all the google hits come back to you, except there’s a Polish photographer with surname Pardel who has a light meter app! ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8258 "2023-12-05T15:40:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I didn’t know there was an extant European species of Lynx in western Europe. As a matter of fact, there are two. Ladies and Gentlemen: the [Eurasian lynx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_lynx) (_Lynx lynx_) for you! It is a bit bigger, and although there are few left in Central Europe, there are still many in Scandinavia and a lot in Asia, mostly in Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8259 "2023-12-05T15:43:09Z")
A bright spot is that (as I’m sure you know) the closely related North American species - Canadian lynx and bobcat - are still very successful. It’s quite common to see bobcats on the outskirts of town where I live in Santa Fe. > **[Bobcat spotted in Santa Fe yard](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDzGtwzk9rE?=list)** > > Read: https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/bobcat-spotted-in-santa-fe-yard/ They are everywhere in the U.S. - they even get down into the Grand Canyon. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8260 "2023-12-05T15:45:06Z")
Yes, that is a bright spot. Aren’t they all just beautiful? ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8261 "2023-12-05T16:02:53Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > It is a Pig-Latin variant of Pardelluchs I think you might mean “Dog Latin”. If it were Pig Latin it would have to end in “-ay” and have its initial letter shifted to the back — _Ardel-Lux-Pay_ ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8262 "2023-12-05T16:04:52Z")
Yay, you’re right. I meant to say it was completely made up. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8263 "2023-12-05T16:11:36Z")
Around 1980 I spotted a bobcat in Westchester county in New York about 4AM off to the side of the Taconic Pkwy. Of course no one believed me, none had been seen in the area for many years but over the next several weeks reporteds showed up in the local papers. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8264 "2023-12-05T16:14:40Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Aren’t they all just beautiful? But this is what I really want to see… > **[Jaguar sighting in southern Arizona reinvigorates conservationists](https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/jaguar-sighting-in-southern-arizona-reinvigorates-conservationists)** > > A wild jaguar was spotted in southern Arizona's Huachuca Mountains and the mysterious feline was photographed by federally run trail cameras. Photographs have yet to be released to the public but have been seen a southwest conservation advocate at... > A wild jaguar has been photographed by federally run trail cameras in southern Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains at least twice this year. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [database](https://jaguardata.info/) that tracks jaguar detections lists two photos in March and May 2023… > > Jaguars continue to move into Arizona from Mexico. Seven jaguars have been confirmed by photographs in the United States in the past 20 years. > > In December 2022 the Center for Biological Diversity [petitioned](https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/petition-seeks-jaguar-reintroduction-habitat-protection-in-new-mexico-arizona-2022-12-12/) the Fish and Wildlife Service to **reintroduce jaguars in New Mexico** and designate much more critical habitat in both New Mexico and Arizona. [Jaguar Caught on Camera in Southern Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains - Center for Biological Diversity](https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/jaguar-caught-on-camera-in-southern-arizonas-huachuca-mountains-2023-09-27/) The great thing about New Mexico is that we have so few people, and not even a lot of livestock. So reintroducing big cats could work, I think jaguars very rarely present any danger to humans. ( The next step is introducing African lions to Texas to solve their feral hog problem. ) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8265 "2023-12-05T16:20:27Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > ( The next step is introducing African lions to Texas to solve their **feral hog** problem. ) [emphasis mine] Is this what we’re calling MAGAts now? ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8266 "2023-12-05T16:24:20Z")
Jaguars are fantastic too, but concerning the danger to humans, I would keep some distance. They are fast, stealthy, clever, and have a very powerful bite, some say the most [powerful of extant land animals](https://www.thoughtco.com/strongest-bites-in-the-animal-kingdom-4099136). They can crush an [adult crocodile’s skull](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US4n-svNpvk)! ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8267 "2023-12-05T16:37:31Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I would keep some distance There is no question that they are physically capable of killing humans. But they are behaviorally unlikely to attack humans. > Jaguars did not evolve eating large primates, and do not normally see humans as food.[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_attacks_in_Latin_America#cite_note-23) Experts have cited them as the least likely of all big cats to kill and eat humans, and the majority of attacks come when it has been cornered or wounded. [Animal attacks in Latin America - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_attacks_in_Latin_America#Mammals) ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8268 "2023-12-05T16:46:35Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Jaguars are fantastic too Jaguars and lynx are probably the most beautiful big cats. Leopards may compete. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8269 "2023-12-05T17:00:06Z")
I also wrote they are clever, let’s hope they don’t learn to see humans as prey, that would greatly reduce their acceptance and therefore their chances of survival in the USA. To continue with the “pardel/pardus/pardinus” theme: that was more or less the ancient Greek name of the [leo_pard_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard), (_Panthera pardus_). As wikipedia explains: > The English name “leopard” comes from Old French _leupart_ or Middle French _liepart_, that derives from Latin _leopardus_ and ancient Greek λέοπάρδος (_leopardos_). _Leopardos_ could be a compound of λέων (_leōn_), meaning ‘lion’, and πάρδος (_pardos_), meaning ‘spotted’. The word λέοπάρδος originally referred to a [cheetah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah) (_Acinonyx jubatus_). > > “Panther” is another common name, derived from Latin _panther_ and ancient Greek πάνθηρ (_pánthēr_); The [generic name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_name_(biology)) _Panthera_ originates in Latin _panthera_, a hunting net for catching wild beasts to be used by the Romans in combats. _Pardus_ is the masculine singular form. For some reason the Greeks thought that giraffes were a compound of camels and leopards, thus the scientific or Latin name of the [giraffe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe) was _Giraffa camelopardis_ when it was believed that there was only one species with several sub-species. Today the nomenclature has become more complicated, as genetics has shown that there are more than one species of giraffe. BTW: Having more species of giraffe makes their conservation status more precarious: more species → less animals and smaller habitat per species. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8270 "2023-12-05T17:05:39Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > For some reason the Greeks thought that giraffes were a compound of camels and leopards, No, in the same way that cheetahs/leopards were “spotted lions”, giraffes were “spotted camels”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=412) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=414)