# 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:** 415
**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:** [December 6, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8291 "2023-12-06T22:01:03Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > This morning I was told that if a couple has two children of the same gender, it is more likely that their third child will also be of that gender. IOW, if you and your spouse have two girls, your third child will probably also be a girl. > > But I cannot find anything online to prove or disprove this assertion. Has anybody also heard this, or can find research to back it up or shoot it down? Well, it’s reasonable. If there’s any inherent trait that makes a given couple more likely to have one gender or the other, then that trait will naturally be more common among those who have two children of the same gender. On the other hand, I don’t know of any mechanism that would make a third child more likely to “balance” the genders. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8292 "2023-12-06T22:16:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If there’s any inherent trait that makes a given couple more likely to have one gender or the other, then that trait will naturally be more common among those who have two children of the same gender. Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as well. The sperm is what determines the gender of the child; if a man has more of one than the other, then it stands to reason that the odds are good that all the children will be of that gender. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8293 "2023-12-06T22:56:02Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And coming back to the Iberian lynx: when in 2002 there were only 94 left in the world Was that back when they were turning them into deodorant for teenage boys? ---
**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:** [December 6, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8294 "2023-12-06T22:59:24Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as well. The sperm is what determines the gender of the child; if a man has more of one than the other, then it stands to reason that the odds are good that all the children will be of that gender. I think I’ve heard that the pH of the woman’s reproductive tract can also make a difference in which sperm are more likely to reach the egg. And there might also be something that causes early spontaneous abortion (which usually isn’t even noticed) to be more likely for one gender or the other. So any propensity, if it exists, could be due to either or both parents. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8295 "2023-12-06T23:03:58Z")
It would be interesting to see if it applies to births with other parents to see which of the original parents have the propensity or if it is couple linked. So Andy and Ann have two boys. Would either be more likely to have a boy with different partners. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8296 "2023-12-06T23:18:42Z")
Way smaller set to get good statistics on, though. I mean, there are enough people in the world that it’s still a large data set, but it’s still a lot to wade through. ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8297 "2023-12-06T23:24:08Z")
This keeps coming up. This would be an interesting random fact if it **were** actually a fact, but it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8298 "2023-12-06T23:37:02Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > This morning I was told that if a couple has two children of the same gender, it is more likely that their third child will also be of that gender. IOW, if you and your spouse have two girls, your third child will probably also be a girl. > > But I cannot find anything online to prove or disprove this assertion. Has anybody also heard this, or can find research to back it up or shoot it down? I’d heard that the more children of one sex you have, the more likely you are to have the same sex the next time. I haven’t heard of two, but of larger numbers. As an anecdote, two generations back our family has a couple who had eight boys and then two girls. So over the decades circumstances can change. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8299 "2023-12-06T23:42:31Z")
Or they were flipping an unfair coin, but sometimes even a loaded coin gets lucky and goes the “wrong” way. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8300 "2023-12-07T00:19:57Z")
US Census has all they data you’d need. Might make a slightly trick bit of programming, but with a couple of passes the computers could tell you the sex ratio between any desired target sets over a hundred years. They could even adjust and sort by ethnicity, urban/rural, whatever. Just have to find a way to get them to run that for us. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8301 "2023-12-07T00:39:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Just have to find a way to get them to run that for us. Heh, yup. Shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve tried a number of Google searches but can’t quite come up with the right phrasing. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8302 "2023-12-07T01:43:57Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Snow Leopards win. Ohhhh, you’re so close. The correct answer is, of course, the clouded leopard. [![](https://www.thethirdpole.net/content/uploads/2021/12/Clouded-leopard-featured-image-alamy.jpg) ](https://www.thethirdpole.net/content/uploads/2021/12/Clouded-leopard-featured-image-alamy.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8303 "2023-12-07T12:42:02Z")
I’ve learned that entering ‘askew’ into Google summons a page that is itself askew. I’m curious to know whether other similarly themed pages exist. (Blurred, wobbling, and upside down have been tested and found wanting.) ---
**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:** [December 7, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8304 "2023-12-07T12:46:26Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > I’m curious to know whether other similarly themed pages exist. The one that comes to mind is googling “do a barrel roll”. ---
**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 7, 2023, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8305 "2023-12-07T12:54:08Z")
Which brought up this article (updated in 2021). > **[(Do a Barrel Roll) & 13 Fun Google Tricks | Stikky Media](https://www.stikkymedia.com/secret-google-tricks/#:~:text=It's%20a%20popular%20Google%20search,Isn't%20it%3F)** > > From doing a barrel roll to playing pac-man or pulling the gravity off Google's search result page, try these fun (& secret) Google tricks! ---
**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:** [December 7, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8306 "2023-12-07T14:16:54Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > I’ve learned that entering ‘askew’ into Google summons a page that is itself askew. > > I’m curious to know whether other similarly themed pages exist. > > (Blurred, wobbling, and upside down have been tested and found wanting.) Here’s a comprehensive list. Some of these are time sensitive (i.e. they only work on/around certain dates), and some of them are no longer functioning: > **[List of Google Easter eggs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_Easter_eggs)** > > The American technology company Google has added Easter eggs into many of its products and services, such as Google Search, YouTube, and Android since at least 2000. > Easter eggs are hidden features or messages, inside jokes, and cultural references inserted into media. They are often well hidden, so that users find it gratifying when they discover them, helping form bonds between their creators and finders. They are mostly found in video games, yet Google does make their own. Google's employee... “drop bear” (then click the dangling sign) is a pretty good one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8307 "2023-12-07T14:52:37Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > So Andy and Ann have two boys. Would either be more likely to have a boy with different partners. “Oh, come on Ann. Sure, I got your sister pregnant, but it was an experiment!” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8308 "2023-12-07T17:13:11Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > I’ve learned that entering ‘askew’ into Google summons a page that is itself askew. > > I’m curious to know whether other similarly themed pages exist. > > (Blurred, wobbling, and upside down have been tested and found wanting.) I remember reading years ago that if you went to Google Maps and asked for walking directions to Mordor, it would come back with “One does not simply _walk_ into Mordor!” ---
**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 7, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8309 "2023-12-07T17:21:39Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I remember reading years ago that if you went to Google Maps and asked for walking directions to Mordor, it would come back with “One does not simply _walk_ into Mordor!” There also used to be another easter egg: if you asked for a route from somewhere in Europe to the USA, it gave you road directions up to the European Atlantic coast, with the next instruction: “swim 3000 km through the Atlantic Ocean westwards”. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8310 "2023-12-07T17:23:26Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > BTW: Having more species of giraffe makes their conservation status more precarious: more species → less animals and smaller habitat per species. In a way though, this is a good thing. The status of the giraffes has not changed; our view of how crucial protecting individual populations has. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=414) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=416)