# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/221 "2024-08-18T12:13:59Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > > [@fachverwirrt](#): > > > > My wife had a gynecologist named Dr. Hyman. > > I have a friend who claimed when he was in the militia (sort of like a Canadian National Guard), there was a Private Partz in his platoon. I knew a podiatrist named Dr. Toesy and an anesthesiologist/pain specialist named Dr. Payne. ---
**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 18, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/222 "2024-08-18T12:55:32Z")
_Untold Stories of the ER_ features a Dr. Bob Slay. He goes by Dr. Bob. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/223 "2024-08-18T13:27:21Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@Lumpy](#): > > > > For those who haven’t heard that meme: helmets seemed to cause an increased number of head injuries; but this was because helmets were moving people from “killed” to “wounded”. > > Apparently something similar happened when we first put seat belts in cars (and people started actually using them). Emergency rooms actually started seeing _more_ car accident victims, but that was because seat belts were moving people from “killed at the scene” to “injured”. Another example of this occurred with airplanes in WWII. Engineers studied the planes that had been in combat to see where additional armor should be added. They found that there were certain areas of the plane which seemed to have more bullet holes than other areas. So they added armor to those areas. Then somebody realized they were only studying the planes that made it back to the airfields. There were other planes which got shot down. And the engineers realized those areas on the plane which they had been ignoring were not immune to enemy gunfire; they were instead the areas which were most likely to result in the plane’s loss if they were hit by gunfire. So armor was added to those areas and more planes began returning to the airfields. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/224 "2024-08-18T13:32:11Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > In other words, we have half the “AI” formula down, the ability to learn stuff and to use the stuff that has been learned. It is the creativity, the ability to extrapolate, adapt and deal with input that cannot be pulled from the existing models that is missing. > So, in the end, what is being called “AI” is just some fancy-ass fuzzy-logic that works really well until it does not. If anyone tells you we are on the cusp, you can throw this back at them. You see this in AI-generated art where the program will add things that no artist would (unless they were going for a surrealist effect). I saw an AI-generated photo-realistic image of a campsite - in which the campfire was located inside the tent. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/225 "2024-08-18T14:13:53Z")
Dalhart, Texas, is located in the extreme northwestern area of the Panhandle. It is closer to six other state capitals than it is to its own state capital of Austin. It is 562 miles from Austin to Dalhart. 263 miles from Santa Fe, NM, to Dalhart. 313 miles from Oklahoma City, OK, to Dalhart. 349 miles from Denver, CO, to Dalhart. 448 miles from Cheyenne, WY, to Dalhart. 461 miles from Topeka, KS, to Dalhart. 543 miles from Lincoln, NE, to Dalhart. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/226 "2024-08-18T18:19:48Z")
I know a podiatrist called Dr. Achille ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/227 "2024-08-18T18:23:08Z")
I heard he’s a real heel. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/228 "2024-08-18T18:34:52Z")
When I was in college, I took a course from Professor Bland, his boss was Dean Dull, ---
**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 18, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/229 "2024-08-18T20:53:00Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Today I learned about a singer who recorded five _one_-hit wonders… > > …1970: “United We Stand” by Brotherhood of Man OK, I’ll grant you that Brotherhood of Man featuring Tony Burrows (wiki spelling) had just the one hit, but the (manufactured) band are still around to this day (no original members, obviously) and, over the years, have had [a depressingly large number of hits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Man_discography#Singles) - fifteen if you’re generous about territories. They even represented Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest, with the remarkably awful **Save Your Kisses For Me** (number one in five countries, god help us). j ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/230 "2024-08-18T21:42:12Z")
Not engineers. Mathematician [Abraham Wald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Wald). > The problem of armoring planes is assigned to Wald. Along with the assignment, he is given a fair amount of statistical data regarding aircraft damage, for example the location of damage from hits by enemy aircraft. It happens that most of the damage is located on the fuselage and very little in the area around motors, and the military is expecting to add armor to the fuselage, where the density of hits is highest. “Not so fast,” said Wald. “What you should really do is add armor around the motors! What you are forgetting is that the aircraft that are most damaged don’t return. _You don’t see them._ Hits by German shells are presumably distributed somewhat randomly. The number of damaged motors you are seeing is far less than randomness would produce, and that indicates that it is the motors that are the weak point.” The advice is taken, and in fact Wald’s techniques for interpreting aircraft damage statistics continue through two later conflicts. But since we’re on the Dope, I’m afraid that the story of how Wald did it has been somewhat fictionalized. The [American Mathematical Society](https://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/feature-column/fc-2016-06) has the story (and that quote) and some cold water to throw on it and tons on math for thems as like math. It still gives Wald lots of credit for the technical papers he wrote, but not a cute story like the one above that I’ve read many times and always believed. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/231 "2024-08-18T23:39:54Z")
Another learning moment from YouTube. This time from [Anton Petrov](https://youtu.be/UMJYVYX1VPg?t=208) who normally does Astronomy stuff but sometimes branches out. A recent video talks about some molecular chirality stuff (left-right orientation). Along the way he mentions the [two types](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide#Chirality_and_biological_activity) of Thalidomide. One is the Bad One for pregnant women and the other isn’t. Standard production of the drug produces both. There’s no point in making just the one since a. the body can switch the chirality either way and b. the harmless one doesn’t do anything good. (“Is it just me” or is his signoff kinda creepy?) ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/232 "2024-08-19T00:39:51Z")
I saw a demonstration of that in a video from the Great Courses on biochemistry for dummies, or some such. There’s a pinch-point in the molecule where this happens. Most curious. ---
**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 20, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/233 "2024-08-20T01:32:01Z")
IIRC, chirality of organic molecules was first studied in connection with an acid found in wines: One chirality tastes good, and the other tastes bad, and over time, wines tend towards a 50-50 mix of the two. Can’t remember what the compound is called, though. ---
**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, 2024, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/234 "2024-08-20T02:21:53Z")
Perhaps what you’re thinking of was Louis Pasteur’s work with tartaric acid and racemic acid. Tartaric acid solutions will rotate polarized light, while the otherwise chemically identical racemic acid doesn’t. Pasteur demonstrated that racemic acid was actually a mixture of tartaric acid and its _l-_ counterpart. Isaac Asimov wrote an essay about this, “The 3-D Molecule”, collected in _The Left Hand of the Electron_. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/235 "2024-08-20T05:29:17Z")
While reading about historical antecedents to certain current events which will remain undiscussed out of respect for the forum, I learned yesterday that the American government ran a massive project to deport Mexicans back in the 1950s which had a _truly_ unfortunate official name. Here is a relevant article, where that name appears neither in the headline nor the preview paragraph. Click through for more information. Warning for offensive language. > **[The Largest Mass Deportation in American History | HISTORY](https://www.history.com/news/operation-wetback-eisenhower-1954-deportation)** > > As many as 1.3 million people may have been swept up in the Eisenhower‑era campaign. Troubling and disturbing … and nevertheless interesting. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/236 "2024-08-20T12:42:05Z")
When looking up something else, I learned that Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the engine that bears his name, disappeared while on a ship crossing the English Channel in 1913. He was 55 years old. Also, the fuel which powered the first Diesel engine was peanut oil. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/237 "2024-08-20T17:59:14Z")
My dad like cars. However, he doesn’t really know much about them. To be more precise, he thinks he knows more than he does – a common affliction among American men. When I was growing up, he would make the occasional comment about high-octane fuel being “jet fuel.” Example: when he bought a Lexus that required premium fuel he lamented that he’d have to buy “jet fuel” for it. Recently I stumbled upon the random (well, random to me, not random to people who actually need to know this) fact that jet fuel, diesel, and kerosene are basically the same fuel – at least, they have similar octane ratings (or would, if an octane rating for these fuels were a thing). There _are_ differences: jet fuel has additives that help it lubricate better and not gel in sub-zero temps, kerosine also does not gel as easily in the cold, and diesel has some lubricants that kerosene doesn’t have but different than the ones found in jet fuel and etc. But my dad was certainly wrong about the perceived octane rating of jet fuel, which makes sense considering that jet engines use compression of the fuel vapor mix for ignition, as do diesel engines. ---
**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, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/238 "2024-08-20T18:36:15Z")
Aviation gasoline, the stuff that WW2 fighters and bombers ran on, _is_ ultra-high octane because those are piston engines. Jets and turboprops use the modern jet/diesel/kero. In fact aviation gas is among the last holdouts of leaded fuel because it’s genuinely needed in that application, in far fewer vehicles than automobiles and the exhaust is more dispersed. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/239 "2024-08-20T20:54:58Z")
isn’t it a fact that the higher octane rating of fuel, the higher its resistence to ignite? … sounds counterintuitive, but is relevant in the context of “knocking”, i.e. uncontrolled self ignition in an engine. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/240 "2024-08-20T21:02:58Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > isn’t it a fact that the higher octane rating of fuel, the higher its resistence to ignite Sorta… a gasoline with a higher octane rating means said fuel has a higher resistance to _self_-ignition under pressure. Since diesel and jet engines both use compression to ignite the fuel mixture rather than a spark plug, as a gasoline engine uses they both, by design, ignite well under pressure – the opposite of what gasoline is supposed to do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=13)