# 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:** 261
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5201 "2026-08-07T14:22:49Z")
Henry Vespucci? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5202 "2026-08-07T14:40:46Z")
More or less. Also “Emmerich.” > **[Henry (given name)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_(given_name))** > > Nicknames Feminine forms Henry is a masculine given name derived from Old French Henri or Henry, which is derived from the Old Frankish name Heimeric, from Common Germanic “Haimarīks” (from \*haima- "home" and \*rīk- "ruler"). In Old High German, the name was conflated with the name Haginrich (from hagin "enclosure" and rich "ruler") to form Heinrich. The Old High German name is recorded from the 8th century, in the variants Haimirich, Haimerich, Heimerich, Hemirih. Harry, its English short form, ... ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5203 "2026-08-07T14:47:43Z")
I can see it, Haimerich → Amerigo ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5204 "2026-08-07T22:22:25Z")
The shortest successfully measured unit of time is the zeptosecond. A zeptosecond is an incredibly tiny unit of time equal to one trillionth of a billionth of a second, written as 0000000000000000000001 seconds or 10-21 seconds. Scientists recorded a duration of 247 zeptoseconds to measure how long a single photon takes to cross a hydrogen molecule. A zeptosecond is to one second what one second is to about 31.7 billion years. That’s tiny. ---
**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 7, 2026, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5205 "2026-08-07T22:46:05Z")
On the other hand the mean lifetime (or alternatively the half-life) of the Top quark is measured in units of 10-25 seconds. AFAIK this is the shortest interval of time associated with any known physical process; beyond that the hypothetical Planck time is to the order of ~ 0.5 x10-43 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5206 "2026-08-07T23:48:53Z")
Storing tofu in a container with sliced onions results in blue tofu. [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1vchx5i/my_girlfriends_tofu_turned_blue) > Tofu turns blue when stored with onion due to a reaction between anthocyanins in the onion and the alkaline nature of the tofu. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5207 "2026-08-07T23:50:17Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > The shortest successfully measured unit of time is the zeptosecond And here I was thinking that the shortest known duration of time was the interval between, “I’m going to need to see some proof of age, son,” and “do you know we have a senior discount?” ---
**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 8, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5208 "2026-08-08T00:41:20Z")
The upper limit on the size of the electron and the amount by which the LIGO mirrors move due to a gravitational wave are both about the same size, of order 10^-19 meters, and both have been measured (note that the electron figure is just an upper bound; theoretically, it’s usually assumed to be a geometric point). One can define a light-crossing time for either (and in fact, for LIGO in particular, you can equally well describe it as a time measurement in the first place), for a time of less than 10^-27 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5209 "2026-08-08T13:31:48Z")
> [@Nyvaak](#): > > And here I was thinking that the shortest known duration of time was the interval between, “I’m going to need to see some proof of age, son,” and “do you know we have a senior discount?” Ha! So true. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5210 "2026-08-08T13:39:45Z")
The joke I heard was that it’s the time between when the traffic light changes and the jerk behind you blows his horn. ---
**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 8, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5211 "2026-08-08T13:41:44Z")
Whereas I just assume that anyone who tells that joke is a really bad driver. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5212 "2026-08-08T13:43:36Z")
I thought that was a New York minute? ---
**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:** [August 8, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5213 "2026-08-08T13:45:22Z")
Hey! I resemble that remark! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5214 "2026-08-08T15:34:51Z")
I’ve seen most of Jerry Lewis’s movies, but one I had never even heard of was [Slapstick of Another Kind (1982).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slapstick_of_Another_Kind). Boy, this one is really Out There. Orson Welles once said something to the effect of he had started his career on top and had gradually worked his way down. In this, one of his last performances, he voices an alien in a Jerry Lewis movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5215 "2026-08-08T16:51:36Z")
I went for the Vonnegut and left for the Jerry. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5216 "2026-08-09T01:44:06Z")
I’ve been binge reading Mary Roach books and the current one “Replaceable you: adventures in human anatomy” says one thing they have trouble replicating is the ass hole. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5217 "2026-08-09T01:49:22Z")
Ah, yes, the riddle of the sphincter! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5218 "2026-08-09T02:13:26Z")
That’s weird; in my experience there is a surplus of assholes in the world. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5219 "2026-08-09T02:29:05Z")
That work properly? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5220 "2026-08-09T13:26:55Z")
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