# 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:** 59
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1163 "2020-12-30T23:57:59Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > 115F. Scroll down. [You Might Be Surprised When You Take Your Temperature : Goats and Soda : NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/11/14/364060441/you-might-be-surprised-when-you-take-your-temperature) I was guessing it was a baby/infant who survived as, in addition to being bouncy, babies are less intolerant of high temperatures. Surprised it was a grown man. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1164 "2020-12-31T07:09:25Z")
Is that so? I thought a high fever in a baby is considered more of a medical emergency than in a typical adult, which if true would suggest the opposite. But I have no actual medical knowledge - do you have a cite? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2021, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1165 "2021-01-01T03:42:39Z")
Febrile convulsions in babies did not used to be considered a medical emergency. Either babies are tougher than adults, or they get febrile convulsions more easily, because if you’re hot enough to have convulsions as an adult, you’re at risk of organ failure. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1166 "2021-01-02T11:21:15Z")
Lisa Sparxxx holds the record for most men slept with in a 24 hour period, with 919 ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1167 "2021-01-02T11:50:06Z")
… an average of 1.56 minutes per. Either those were very short naps or we need more information! ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1168 "2021-01-02T12:05:47Z")
After getting swallowed by a frog, the beetle Regimbartia attenuata can scuttle down the amphibian’s gut and force it to poop, emerging soiled but alive. That one is #51 in [this](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/insider/74-of-our-favorite-facts-for-2020.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Reader%20Center) list of 74 facts that NYT collected in 2020, although I’d question many of them as being actual facts. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1169 "2021-01-02T13:01:15Z")
> [@cytop](#): > > … an average of 1.56 minutes per. > > Either those were very short naps or we need more information! Given that there was probably a smidgen of actual sleeping somewhere in there, it sounds like maybe she encountered a lot of Minutemen. 😉 Or as Ron White used to quip: > We had a big timer on the bedroom wall so my wife could be sure I stayed on for the **full** 8 seconds! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1170 "2021-01-02T21:07:46Z")
In an old _Playboy_ joke, a man asks a woman in bed, “Am I the first man who has slept with you?” She smiles and says, “If you doze off, you will be.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1171 "2021-01-02T21:37:52Z")
The shortest scheduled commercial passenger airline flight is about 53 seconds long, from wheels off the ground to back down, covering less than 1.5 miles. It goes from Papa Westray island to Westray Island in the Orkneys. The whole flight is a shorter distance than many major commercial runways. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6IZ6yDoNZU0/maxresdefault.jpg "The 53 Second, 22 Dollar Shortest Flight in the World") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IZ6yDoNZU0) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1172 "2021-01-02T23:32:26Z")
I could see planning a trip just to take that flight! ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1173 "2021-01-02T23:35:10Z")
If we limit flights to major cities, I mentioned one a few months ago - Kinshasa (capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo) to Brazzaville (capital of Congo). It’s a 10-minute flight, but only runs three times a week. Otherwise - it’s a lengthy detour via Kenya or Ethiopia. Flight video: [Ethiopian Boeing 787 Kinshasa to Brazzaville - Full Flight - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUMGsbqz4z0) ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1174 "2021-01-03T01:41:18Z")
I’m surprised it takes so long. The two cities are literally right next to each other. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1175 "2021-01-03T04:41:10Z")
In the USSR, bootleg records of western music recording were made by scavenging X Ray films from the trash of hospitals for the medium, using standard record cutters to make the grooves. They were known as “bone” or “rib” music. Source: Start around 18:30. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OYEsPM3lMhc/maxresdefault.jpg "Leonid & Friends: Behind The Music") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYEsPM3lMhc) ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1176 "2021-01-03T05:42:13Z")
There is approximately one American Robin per person in the USA. I looked up the population of most common North American birds on this site and I think robins come closest to 1:1. Source: > **[Online bird guide, bird ID help, life history, bird sounds from Cornell](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/#/_ga=2.191506730.1605190858.1609652361-924082150.1609652361)** > > Featured > > > > > > > > > Browse All Articles > > > > > > Sign Up for Our eNews > > > > Get helpful advice, inspiring stories, and beautiful images and sounds > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Bird ID Skills > > > > > > > More Bird ID Articles > > > > > > > Feeding Birds > > > > > > > More Feeding Birds... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1177 "2021-01-04T15:50:22Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > If we limit flights to major cities, I mentioned one a few months ago - Kinshasa (capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo) to Brazzaville (capital of Congo). It’s a 10-minute flight, but only runs three times a week. Otherwise - it’s a lengthy detour via Kenya or Ethiopia. > [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I’m surprised it takes so long. The two cities are literally right next to each other. I looked at it on Google maps. The two airports are about 10 miles apart. They have parallel runway alignments, generally NE/SW. Compared to the runway orientation, the two airports are more or less directly side by side. So assuming the wind is from the SW, you’d take off going SW, after a couple miles to gain altitude you’d turn towards the other airport, then fly downwind back to abeam both airports, then continue another 5 or 7 miles past the other airport, then turn around aligned with the other airport and finally drive upwind that last 5 or 6 miles to the runway and land. So about 28 miles in the air. The same large S-shaped maneuver would be needed if the wind was blowing the other way. It’s also likely the authorities don’t really want airliners buzzing over both cities all the time. So they might make the flights turn away from the other airport and make their run in the opposite direction to set up for landing out over the countryside rather than between the two airports. Which would add another 4-6 miles to the flight distance. This is one of those cases where the extra speed of a jet (~150-200 mph) in a traffic pattern just forces a larger pattern that takes longer to accomplish the same task. The same thing flown in a light twin at 100-120 mph would be a shorter distance and could be quicker. The light planes would also be much likelier to be able to fly over the city, further shortening their route. The same thing flown in a helicopter at 75-90 mph that could ignore the runways and traffic patterns and just go straight-line from parking spot to parking spot would be an even shorter distance and could be even quicker. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2021, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1178 "2021-01-06T03:18:46Z")
I just learned that Preston Sturges’s _The Great Mcginty_ was the first movie to have “Written and Directed by” as a credit. Sturges sold the script to Paramount for $10 in exchange for being allowed to direct it. He won an Oscar for it, making it the least anyone has paid for an Oscar-winning script. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1179 "2021-01-06T12:51:48Z")
Ships travelling from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama canal are going East, and not West. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1180 "2021-01-06T22:51:08Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Is that so? I thought a high fever in a baby is considered more of a medical emergency than in a typical adult, which if true would suggest the opposite. But I have no actual medical knowledge - do you have a cite? Newborns naturally have a higher average temperature (99.5F). 105F would be considered a very high fever for an adult but a fairly average fever for a newborn. However, all fevers are considered dangerous for newborns so they should always receive medical attention when their temperature is elevated. > **[Baby fever: Causes, treatments, and when to speak with a doctor](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324660#is-it-dangerous)** > > Fever in a baby is a sign that their body is fighting off infection. In this article, we look at how to identify fever in a baby, common causes, and how to care for a baby with a fever. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1181 "2021-01-07T01:43:26Z")
You’re more likely to get computer viruses from visiting religious websites than porn websites. And In Sweden when someone receives the blood you donated, you get a text message. Source (more good ones here): > **[65 Facts So Weird You Won't Believe They're True](https://bestlifeonline.com/weird-amazing-facts/)** > > Think you're too jaded and you know it all? Prepare to be astounded by these 65 weird facts that will shock and maybe even inspire you. ---
**Author:** ![mundylion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundylion/32/3604_2.png) [@mundylion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mundylion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1182 "2021-01-07T22:36:40Z")
Same in Illinois. I had assumed that it was standard throughout the country. Part of the right on red law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=60)