# 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:** 423
**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 25, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8451 "2023-12-25T22:32:08Z")
Just to show that I did not make this up I will quote [the article in question](https://elpais.com/ciencia/vacio-cosmico/2023-12-25/que-tiene-de-especial-el-mas-pequeno-de-los-planetas.html): > En la superficie de Mercurio amanece por el este y anochece por el oeste, como en la Tierra. Pero una vez al año, cuando pasa por el perihelio, el movimiento orbital sobrepasa el lento rotar del planeta y ese día el devenir del Sol en su cielo se interrumpe. En ese punto de su órbita es cuando se pueden contemplar tan extraños atardeceres. La estrella se detiene completamente en el cielo mercuriano y se mueve hacia atrás para retornar a su camino normal a medida que desciende la velocidad del planeta al desplazarse en la órbita. This is the translation: > The Sun on Mercury’s surface rises in the east and sets in the west, as on Earth. But once a year, when it passes through perihelion, the orbital motion overtakes the slow rotation of the planet and on that day the Sun’s path across its sky is interrupted. It is at this point in its orbit that such strange sunsets can be seen. The star comes to a complete stop in the Mercurian sky and moves backwards to return to its normal path as the planet’s speed slows as it moves through its orbit. Sorry again! ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8452 "2023-12-25T22:39:42Z")
It’s a good question though: does Mercury’s 3:2 tidal lock to its orbit precess along with the orbital axis or not? > [@digs](#): > > You whippersnappers don’t even remember when the canals of Mars were remnants of glorious cities… Or when Jupiter was thought to be a giant terrestrial planet with a solid surface, albeit under a thousand-mile deep atmosphere. Interesting random fact: in the first book of C.S. Lewis’s space trilogy, the natives of Mars refer to the planets by names ending in -andra; but in the third book the terrestrial planets keep their -andra suffixes but the energy beings/angels refer to Jupiter and Saturn without the -andra. As if they know better that they’re not solid bodies? (Or astronomical thought on the subject changed between the writing of the books). ---
**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 25, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8453 "2023-12-25T22:43:14Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It’s a good question though: does Mercury’s 3:2 tidal lock to its orbit precess along with the orbital axis or not? Mercury’s 3:2 lock is a resonance between its synodic day and its apsodal year. The mechanism behind it wouldn’t have any reason to care about anything sidereal. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8454 "2023-12-26T00:10:19Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Mercury was more interesting when I was a kid, when it was tidally locked and there was a permanent day side and a permanent night side. Lucky Starr lied to me! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2023, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8455 "2023-12-26T03:16:29Z")
Lucky Starr was setting off to visit Pluto… y’know, the _planet…_ when his transmissions stopped. [_(“Lucky Starr and the Snows of Pluto”)_](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Lucky_Starr_series) ---
**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 26, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8456 "2023-12-26T03:19:39Z")
I dunno… A tidally locked planet is kind of interesting, I guess, but I think that a tidal resonance is even more so. And a planet that was on its way to being tidally locked, and almost got there, except that it got caught up on a resonance between its rotation and another planet, is even more interesting. That’s what happened to Venus: Whenever she’s closest to Earth, she always shows the same face to us. (Oh, and to explain the resonances: Both Mercury and Venus are slightly elongated in shape. Whenever Mercury is closest to the Sun, and the tidal forces are therefore strongest, it has its long axis pointed along the line to the Sun, but flipped in the opposite direction each orbit. And whenever Venus is closest to Earth, and therefore the tidal forces from Earth are strongest, its long axis is pointed towards us.) ---
**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:** [December 26, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8457 "2023-12-26T19:31:26Z")
> [@Gary\_Robson](#): > > Cheetahs would probably win my vote for the 2nd best-looking cat, after the clouded leopard. I read somewhere that they are also the most likely big cat to domesticate. They are pack animals, and easily accept familiar humans into their packs. ---
**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 26, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8458 "2023-12-26T21:35:19Z")
Also horribly inbred. People in Africa do have them as housepets. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8459 "2023-12-26T22:40:37Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Also horribly inbred. People in Africa do have them as house pets This would be a good entry in a thread game about taking posts out of context. ---
**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 27, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8460 "2023-12-27T00:25:02Z")
More than inbred; [cheetahs are clones](https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/are-cheetahs-clones-of-each-other.htm). Virtually genetically identical. The thinking is that any significant variation would make them slower, so evolution rewards lack of variation in this case. ---
**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 27, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8461 "2023-12-27T01:25:15Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > More than inbred; [cheetahs are clones](https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/are-cheetahs-clones-of-each-other.htm). Virtually genetically identical. Not exactly clones, just that their population was down to 50-60 individuals at one time IIRC. ---
**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 27, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8462 "2023-12-27T02:39:06Z")
Evolution never rewards that degree of genetic similarity. It always punishes it. It’s just that the punishment is random, and just hasn’t – quite - finished hitting cheetahs, yet. At any given moment, they could potentially be on their last generation before complete extinction, if the wrong disease strikes. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8463 "2023-12-27T04:58:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Lucky Starr was setting off to visit Pluto… y’know, the _planet…_ when his transmissions stopped. > > [_(“Lucky Starr and the Snows of Pluto”)_](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Lucky_Starr_series) OK - now this is getting interesting! Lukcy Starr was the first performer of this classic hit (written in 1959. The last Lucky Starr Space Serial ended in 1959 when approaching _ **The Snows Of Pluto** _. > **[♫ Lucky Starr ♥ I've Been Everywhere ♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpRvAnhHfmc%2F)** > > With Brian Henderson.... Obviously he was trying to tell people of his travels, but they would not believe him. Also, the first american version of the song (which topped the US charts) was performed Hank _ **Snow** _. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8464 "2023-12-27T09:55:19Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > taken from a reddit post, as it really is astonishing … > > You can actually “see through” Chile on a clear day I’m probably being dumb and missing something obvious but… what is astonishing about being able to see one country (especially a mountain) from another country? ---
**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:** [December 27, 2023, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8465 "2023-12-27T10:04:07Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > see one country (especially a mountain) from another country? They are not standing in Chile, they are standing on a boat in the ocean outside of Chile. The view is all the way through the entire country. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8466 "2023-12-27T15:28:31Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Of the 73 Fairchild FH-227 aircraft (44-52 passenger capacity) that were built; 23 have crashed resulting in a total of 393 fatalities. On the average, 95.7% of the people on a commercial flight plane that crashes survive, so about eight times as many people die in crashes of this kind of aircraft as on most commercial flight aircraft. ---
**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 28, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8467 "2023-12-28T12:39:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Evolution never rewards that degree of genetic similarity. It always punishes it. It’s just that the punishment is random, and just hasn’t – quite - finished hitting cheetahs, yet. At any given moment, they could potentially be on their last generation before complete extinction, if the wrong disease strikes. This is a major concern for the Cavendish banana: > **[Cavendish banana | Diseases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavendish_banana#Diseases)** > > Cavendish bananas, accounting for around 99% of banana exports to developed countries, are vulnerable to the fungal disease known as Panama disease. There is a risk of extinction of the variety. Because Cavendish bananas are parthenocarpic (they don't have seeds and reproduce only through cloning), their resistance to disease is often low. Development of disease resistance depends on mutations occurring in the propagation units, and hence evolves more slowly than in seed-propagated crops. > The de... ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8468 "2023-12-29T03:27:53Z")
Today my wife and I flew on the small American discount airline, Avelo, that may be the only alcohol-free carrier based outside an Islamic nation. The airline does not have any drinks service, although they give away bottles of spring water. It was announced at the start of our Sarasota - Wilmington Delaware flight today that the flight was both smoking and alcohol free. AFAIK this is standard for the airline. Many of their flights originate from small airports where there is no opportunity to buy alcohol, or anything else liquid, after passing through the security screening. The difference with the Sarasota flight was that you could buy alcohol after TSA, thus apparently necessitating the announcement. Another unusual feature of this airline is that they do not have a frequent flier program. I’m guessing that one isn’t so unique, but maybe it is. ---
**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 30, 2023, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8469 "2023-12-30T14:06:04Z")
Occasionally you come across an interesting random fact which is (a) astonishing; and (b) makes you wonder, “Why in the hell did I not know that?” The drum machine was invented by: [Léon Theremin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Theremin#Inventions). Yes, that one (!). (And the linked wiki also lists other surprising inventions) j ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8470 "2023-12-30T14:29:20Z")
the Vienna Sausage - is called Frankfurt(er) Sausage in Vienna [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/MEDIAX_792452-T2/images/I/811XD9syOlL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/MEDIAX_792452-T2/images/I/811XD9syOlL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg) [![](https://c-fa.niceshops.com/upload/image/product/large/default/radatz-frankfurters-without-casing-550-g-494287-en.jpg) ](https://c-fa.niceshops.com/upload/image/product/large/default/radatz-frankfurters-without-casing-550-g-494287-en.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=422) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=424)