# Weird (true!) facts you’ve learned recently **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266 "2018-04-28T15:33:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/81 "2018-05-01T15:00:20Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Those fancy, super-expensive Japanese square watermelons are not edible. Well, I suppose they’re technically edible, but they are produced solely for the shape; they are not allowed to mature and ripen so they don’t taste good. They’re kind of yellow and gross looking when you cut them open. Do you have a factual citation for this? The cubic watermelon I’ve had were fully ripe and completely delicious. In volume terms, the rind was thicker than would be typical for an unshaped watermelon, but the heartmeat was perfect. Especially the yellow watermelons, which are sweeter and less strongly flavored than red. I suspect you’re confusing someone else’s opinions or your own opinions with fact, which happens distressingly often around here. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/82 "2018-05-01T15:06:51Z")
[Fish make noise!](https://owlcation.com/stem/Fish-That-Make-Sounds-Purrs-Grunts-Hums-and-Hoots) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/83 "2018-05-01T15:21:07Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Do you have a factual citation for this? The cubic watermelon I’ve had were fully ripe and completely delicious. In volume terms, the rind was thicker than would be typical for an unshaped watermelon, but the heartmeat was perfect. Especially the yellow watermelons, which are sweeter and less strongly flavored than red. > > I suspect you’re confusing someone else’s opinions or your own opinions with fact, which happens distressingly often around here. > **[No square watermelons for SA](https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-news/no-square-watermelons-for-sa/)** > > In 2014, Japan started exporting rare, cube-shaped watermelons produced in Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture. > [@](#): > > The watermelons, which are grown in square plastic containers that force them into square shapes, are harvested when they are unripe, and are largely inedible. > **[Cube watermelon shipments begin in Kagawa](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/25/national/cube-watermelon-shipments-begin-in-kagawa/)** > > This year's crop of square watermelons is ready. > [@](#): > > The fruits are about 18 centimeters square and are inedible because they are harvested unripe. [https://www.emaxhealth.com/11406/japanese-cube-and-heart-shaped-watermelons-are-they-edible](https://www.emaxhealth.com/11406/japanese-cube-and-heart-shaped-watermelons-are-they-edible) > [@](#): > > the fruit is not actually edible because by the time it is the proper shape, it has not been given the time needed to also mature. From what I can tell, it seems to be that because of the Japanese tradition of giving gifts of fruit, they are harvested when they are most aesthetically pleasing rather then when they will taste the best. I suppose there’s no other real reason they couldn’t wait and be harvested when ripe, except that’s not really the main point of producing them (to the Japanese, at least). ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/84 "2018-05-01T15:29:19Z")
That Humpback Whales change their songs regularly, like hit tunes; and the changes nearly always move from west to east. Once a new song emerges, it goes right to the top of the Whale hit chart, and soon all the males are singing it … until it is replaced by the next “hit”. No-one (other than the whales) really knows why. > **[Humpback whale songs spread eastward like the latest pop tune](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110414131444.htm)** > > Humpback whales have their own version of the hit single, according to a new study. At any given time within a population, male humpbacks all sing the same mating tune. But the pattern of the song changes over time, with the new and apparently catchy... > [@](#): > > Most of the time, songs contain some material from the previous year blended with something new. “It would be like splicing an old Beatles song with U2,” Garland said. “Occasionally they completely throw the current song out the window and start singing a brand new song.” > > Once a new song emerges, all the males seem to rapidly change their tune. Those songs generally rise to the “top of the chart” in the course of one breeding season and typically take over by the end of it. > > Garland said it is not yet known why the humpbacks’ songs spread in this way. In fact, why whales sing in the first place isn’t fully known. Song is likely a mating display, but it is unclear whether the main effect is to attract females or to repel rival males. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/85 "2018-05-01T15:34:07Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > …Mine, which I didn’t learn recently but was reminded about in another thread this morning, is why $10 note is called a “sawbuck.” > > [sawbuck - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=sawbuck&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjshJbBh-DaAhWlzIMKHZXLDugQ_AUIESgB&biw=360&bih=512) > > Such a duuuuh moment when I realized that. What’s the connection??? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/86 "2018-05-01T15:34:50Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > I learned today that, in 1956, the pilot of a F-11 combat airplane managed to shoot his own airplane down by means of his own airplane’s guns: > > [Self-Shootdown](http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Tiger138260.htm) Years ago I remember hearing that an SR-71 was fitted with a cannon as part of testing and it shot itself down because the aircraft flew too fast. Later I heard that the plane didn’t shoot itself but the rounds fired “locked” into the barrel instead. A quick google search doesn’t get me anything about an SR-71 ever shooting itself so I imagine that it’s probably this story about the F-11. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/87 "2018-05-01T16:03:54Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > What’s the connection??? It took me a few moments looking at the pictures. The “sawbucks” in the photos all have an X shape, as in Roman numeral ten. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/88 "2018-05-01T17:11:41Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > It took me a few moments looking at the pictures. The “sawbucks” in the photos all have an X shape, as in Roman numeral ten. And a “double sawbuck” was a twenty dollar bill, so called because it had _two_ sawbucks on it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/89 "2018-05-01T17:15:09Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > [There are no bridges that cross the Amazon River](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/3skzmf/til_there_are_no_bridges_over_the_amazon_river/) Holy crap! I bet a person could win quite a few bar bets with this piece of information. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/90 "2018-05-01T17:17:01Z")
The words “atheist” and “atheism” predate “theist” and “theism” by about 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/91 "2018-05-01T18:10:18Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > The words “atheist” and “atheism” predate “theist” and “theism” by about 100 years. I don’t see how that is possible seeing as inventing the word “atheist” means also inventing the word “theist” ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/92 "2018-05-01T19:10:30Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Completely dependent on where you get your meat. > > Small and local butchers will keep trimmings off the joints as they prepare them and then they mince them up and sell them. There is a lot that gets cut off even a single carcass and the trimmings will be minced fairly regularly. > There isn’t a massive amount of mixing-up done and only two-passes through the plate at most (as you get a paste very quickly by doing it more). So for local butchers it may be single animal or two/three at most in their ground beef. > > Industrial production will of course be very different. Are you saying your local butcher has his own kill-room? Because if he’s buying meat from a slaughterhouse the odds are pretty good it is from several different carcasses. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/93 "2018-05-01T19:25:20Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Are you saying your local butcher has his own kill-room? Because if he’s buying meat from a slaughterhouse the odds are pretty good it is from several different carcasses. the lucky ones do, the others buy whole halfs and quarters (if that makes grammatical sense) and hang and joint them on-site. In other cases they will send their own beasts for slaughter and receive them back for butchering. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/94 "2018-05-01T20:15:47Z")
Simon Whistler has a YouTube channel called [Today I Found Out](https://www.youtube.com/user/TodayIFoundOut). Chock full of interesting little tidbits. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/95 "2018-05-01T20:26:42Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > …and somehow depressing too. There is lot to said for going local and small-scale where your finances allow it. Pretty depressing from end to end for sure. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/96 "2018-05-01T20:32:35Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I don’t see how that is possible seeing as inventing the word “atheist” means also inventing the word “theist” Language doesn’t work like that. The word “liaise” came after “liaison”, “lase” came after “laser”, and “surveil” came after “surveillance.” ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/97 "2018-05-01T20:38:37Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > The words “atheist” and “atheism” predate “theist” and “theism” by about 100 years. I think you’re saying that the English words atheist and atheism predate theist and theism, but the original Greek “atheos” (pretend I put that in proper Greek letters) surely post-dated the Greek “theos”, right? RS ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/98 "2018-05-01T20:39:20Z")
I don’t know how weird it is but I recently found out that Bohemia was located where the Czech Republic is now and also the stereotype of being “bohemian” was around before the opera “La Boheme” ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/99 "2018-05-01T20:59:00Z")
My grandmother on my father’s side was Bohemian. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/100 "2018-05-01T21:21:30Z")
90% of the things you read on the internet are false. – Abraham Lincoln [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266.md?page=6)