# Unbelievable facts that turn out to be true. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648 "2010-02-27T14:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/161 "2010-03-19T01:48:32Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > The human body contains roughly 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 proteins, almost all of which have to be constructed by the process of protein synthesis every few days. A single protein being synthesized incorrectly could be lethal if it started a tumor or cancer. That’s how tumors/cancer begins? ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/162 "2010-03-19T02:31:56Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > The human body contains roughly 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 proteins, almost all of which have to be constructed by the process of protein synthesis every few days. A single protein being synthesized incorrectly could be lethal if it started a tumor or cancer. No, cancer happens when something screws with the regulation of cell growth–generally, DNA is damaged or cells are getting the wrong hormonal signals. A single malformed protein usually isn’t harmful–it just gets chopped up and recycled, if anything. Incorrectly-synthesized proteins are usually only harmful if they’re synthesized in large numbers by an abnormal version of their gene. Are you thinking of prions, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/163 "2010-03-19T13:49:51Z")
Author Ann Rule got her first contract to write a book about the unsolved murders of several females BEFORE Ted Bundy was even a suspect. She did not get the contract because she knew Bundy. You couldn’t write a believable script where the author actually knew the serial killer she finally had to write about. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/164 "2010-03-20T21:38:01Z")
An average of 1,000,000 lbs of dynamite a month was used building the Panama Canal. _Nature 18-Feb-2010 pg. 892_ ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/165 "2010-03-20T21:46:23Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > An average of 1,000,000 lbs of dynamite a month was used building the Panama Canal. > _Nature 18-Feb-2010 pg. 892_ And that was just to get Congress to free up the money, imagine how much more was used in excavation. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/166 "2010-03-21T19:35:50Z")
Pluto seems to have an orbit which crosses that of Neptune. This impression is given by diagrams which show it from “above” (north relative to the ecliptic). In fact, the points where it “crosses” Neptune’s orbit have it 8 AU\* “above” Neptune. But here is another factor which prevents a collision in the distant future (millions of years) due to orbital perturbations from Neptune. The orbital periods are in a 3:2 [resonance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_resonance). This produces an overall cycle of about 5 centuries. Due to [a number of factors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozai_mechanism), the angular separation is always at least 52 degrees. \*\* Pluto is sometimes closer to Uranus than it ever gets to Neptune.\*\* * * * - AU, astonomical unit = (midpoint) average of the earth’s distance from the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/167 "2010-03-22T01:00:06Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > John Tyler, born in 1790, has two living grandsons. > > He was the twelfth President of the United States. Did Tyler father a son very late in life, who did the same thing late in his own life? My great-grandfather was born in 1842, and at least one of his grandsons (my father) is still alive. I thought that was about as far as this sort of thing could go. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/168 "2010-03-22T01:09:15Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Did Tyler father a son very late in life, who did the same thing late in his own life? [Yep. From this site.](http://www.american-presidents.org/2009/03/john-tyler-has-living-grandson.html) > [@](#): > > It helps if he’s a distinguished horndog who keeps fathering children until he’s 70 years old. Lyon Gardiner Tyler, his 13th child, was born in 1853, when John Tyler was 63. > > Going his father one better, Lyon Tyler lived to be 81 and fathered a son at age 75, in 1928. That son was Harrison Tyler – born 66 years after the death of his grandfather and still living today. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/169 "2010-03-22T01:12:13Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > London, England, is farther north than Amatignak Island, Alaska. My mother ran an American military officers’ club in Japan during the Korean War years, reaching Japan by ship from Seattle. The ship went on a northerly route approximating a great circle, and she mentioned having stopped at one of the Aleutian Islands. To me this seemed unimaginably far north, not to mention remote, like Ultima Thule. But then I myself would one day spend a year in Gottingen, Germany, which is at the same lattitude. Regarding Los Angeles and Casablanca being at the same latitude, I think the real surprise comes from the fact that L.A., while certainly warm and desertlike by the standards of most of the U.S., is still not nearly as warm as Northern Africa. We have a cold ocean current from the north which makes the climate significantly cooler than it would otherwise be. So we imagine that Casablanca must be farther south. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/170 "2010-03-22T01:15:00Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > My two favorite: > > - A gallon of gasoline contains more hydrogen than a gallon of liquid hydrogen. > > - The U.S. state closest to Africa is Maine. Assuming I held the string correctly, if you are in the middle of the country, let’s say Kansas, and you want to fly to Africa, go due East. Maybe even a little bit north of east. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/171 "2010-03-22T04:04:25Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Did Tyler father a son very late in life, who did the same thing late in his own life? > > My great-grandfather was born in 1842, and at least one of his grandsons (my father) is still alive. I thought that was about as far as this sort of thing could go. Heh. I had a grandfather who was born in 1876, about two months before Custer’s Last Stand. He didn’t start having children until late in life, in his 50s (my grandfather, not Custer). His wife, my grandmother, wasn’t even born until he was about 24 or so; I suspect the randy old codger would have enjoyed Thailand, hehehe. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/172 "2010-03-22T07:08:55Z")
The population of Ireland is still [well below](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IrePop1500.PNG) what it was in the 1840s due to the famine and subsequent emigration. This amazed me. I knew that populations rose and fell based on famine, warfare, etc., but I was sure that even the worst such events would be corrected for after a few decades. The fact that something that started _over 160 years ago_ still hasn’t been overcome was a revelation. Anyways, people who enjoy this thread will probably enjoy browsing the searchable [Harper’s Index](http://harpers.org/index/) - great source of interesting and often unbelievable facts. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/173 "2010-03-22T13:50:37Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > To me this seemed unimaginably far north, not to mention remote, like Ultima Thule. But then I myself would one day spend a year in Gottingen, Germany, which is at the same lattitude. For what it’s worth, I live North of Churchill, Manitoba. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/174 "2010-03-22T19:47:12Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > For what it’s worth, I live North of Churchill, Manitoba. Only 25 degrees of latitude between us. I can’t begin to imagine what the winters are like up there. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/175 "2010-03-22T20:11:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Author Ann Rule got her first contract to write a book about the unsolved murders of several females BEFORE Ted Bundy was even a suspect. She did not get the contract because she knew Bundy. > > You couldn’t write a believable script where the author actually knew the serial killer she finally had to write about. Of course, Ann Rule did eventually publish a book about Ted Bundy and her personal knowledge about him, called _The Stranger Beside Me_. An absorbing read, to be sure. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/176 "2010-03-22T21:17:47Z")
Atlanta is closer to Chicago than it is to Miami. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/177 "2010-03-22T21:57:08Z")
I just learned this one today, courtesy of The New York Times: Rome is more north than New York. Also, the shortest flight from New York to Rome would start going northeast, over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, then just south of Ireland, over France and then to Rome. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/178 "2010-03-22T23:43:31Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > My mother ran an American military officers’ club in Japan during the Korean War years, reaching Japan by ship from Seattle. The ship went on a northerly route approximating a great circle, and she mentioned having stopped at one of the Aleutian Islands. To me this seemed unimaginably far north, not to mention remote, like Ultima Thule. But then I myself would one day spend a year in Gottingen, Germany, which is at the same lattitude. Similarly, “the 49th parallel” is often used as an offhanded reference to the Canada-US border, but this is only the case between Lake of the Woods and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The large majority of the Canadian population live below the 49th parallel, and the capitals of all the provinces except Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (the only provinces entirely above the 49th parallel) are south of it. The three Maritime provinces are entirely below the 49th parallel, which runs through or near such northern towns as Cochrane, Ontario or Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec. Canada’s southernmost point, Middle Island in Lake Erie, is below the 42nd parallel, which also forms the northern border of California. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/179 "2010-03-23T01:46:50Z")
I had a relative-in-law living for a while near Houston. He had one brother in Minneapolis and another out in the western tip of Texas. It was about the same distance to both. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/180 "2010-03-23T03:02:04Z")
The Panama canal connects the Carribean Sea to the Gulf of Panama and runs southeast doing so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648.md?page=10)