# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/161 "2018-05-03T19:43:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m afraid you’ve been _whooshed_. I dont think so, I think he just made a mistake. ---
**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 4, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/162 "2018-05-04T00:40:18Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There are 264 gallons in a cubic meter, making it rather an unfair comparison. Oh, yeah. The math was correct for m[sup]3[/sup] vs. m[sup]3[/sup], I just typed the wrong word. ---
**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 4, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/163 "2018-05-04T00:42:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I dont think so, I think he just made a mistake. Whoosh, I think. Antipodes are points that are 180 degrees apart. There are no such thing as podes, but a person with a satirical nature would think that if there were it would be the opposite of antipodes, and therefore 360 degrees apart, or at the same point. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/164 "2018-05-04T04:05:39Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Little known fact: One of his writers is Eddie Deezen, AKA Eugene from Grease and tons of cartoon voices. Oh, you mean Mr Potatohead from WarGames? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/165 "2018-05-04T10:53:30Z")
This is a bit of a fact I’ve learned recently and a bit of a “holy crap I’m a moron” moment. Last night I was watching a movie called Sun Dogs when Chips Ahoy! cookies were mentioned, and I noticed that it was a pun on the phrase “Ships Ahoy!”. Those things have been around for all of my life. I used to see them advertised on TV. I still see them in stores. I’ve eaten them before. But as far as I can recall, I never noticed the pun before. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/166 "2018-05-04T11:44:28Z")
If you use google maps to find the Great Pyramid of Giza and place the cursor directly at the top, the Latitude matches the speed of light out to the seventh digit. [Cite](http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/05/the-pyramid-and-the-garden/) ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/167 "2018-05-04T11:46:33Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > > > I learned this a long time ago, but it’s still my favorite: > > > > There’s more hydrogen in a gallon of gasoline than in a gallon of liquid hydrogen. > > Could not confirm this–can you provide a cite? How can a gallon of 100% hydrogen have less hydrogen than a gallon of anything that is not 100% hydrogen? Is the density of liquid hydrogen that low? And you must be including hydrogen bound into compounds or gasoline wouldn’t have any hydrogen at all. I know this was explained in posts 157 and 158, but it reminds me of another “fun fact to know and tell”\*. At 40 F and 15 PSIG, you can put more molecules of CO2 in a tank if is filled with water than one that was completely empty (perfect vacuum). - When my brother and I were kids, we found a book entitled Fun Facts to Know and Tell filled with tidbits such as found in this thread. I don’t remember the fun facts, but we made plenty of fun at the dorkiness of the title. ---
**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 4, 2018, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/168 "2018-05-04T12:12:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I dont think so, I think he just made a mistake. Yes, he made a mistake because he didn’t see that the answer was a joke. Whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/169 "2018-05-04T12:31:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Yes, he made a mistake because he didn’t see that the answer was a joke. > > Whooshed. She. If I am not mistaken, both DrDeth and Nava are ladies. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/170 "2018-05-04T14:12:36Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Oh, yeah. The math was correct for m[sup]3[/sup] vs. m[sup]3[/sup], I just typed the wrong word. That reminds me - recently I bought some 3M sticky tread stuff that you put on stairs, similar to this: > **[3M Safety-Walk Slip Resistant Reflective Tread, 6 in x 2 ft, Anti Slip, Adhere...](https://www.amazon.com/3M-Safety-Walk-Reflective-6-inch-24-Inch/dp/B003D7VMI6)** > > 3M Safety-Walk Slip Resistant Reflective Tread, 6 in x 2 ft, Anti Slip, Adhere Without Wrinkling, Curling, Tearing or Lifting, Self-Adhesive Backing, Quick & Easy Application, 1 Pack (600BY-T6X24) - Antislip Stair Treads - Amazon.com The product is 6 inches by 24 inches. My son pointed out that the one I bought says: 12 FT[sup]2[/sup] (1.1 m[sup]2[/sup]) 6 IN x 24 IN That one in the Amazon link has a changed label but it’s still glaringly wrong. Someone must have pointed out to them that it was wrong and they had the same incompetent person change it. ---
**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 4, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/171 "2018-05-04T14:23:25Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > That one in the Amazon link has a changed label but it’s still glaringly wrong. What’s wrong with the one in the Amazon link? It says 12 FT[sup]2[/sup] (1.1 m[sup]2[/sup]) 6 IN x 24 FT Edit: Oh, I see, the math is good but the measurement is wrong. Product is actually 6 IN x 24 IN. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/172 "2018-05-04T14:51:50Z")
My son’s theory, which I think is likely, is that someone multiplied 6 inches by 24 inches and got 144 square inches, which they then stupidly converted to 12 square feet. Then somehow (probably a converter utility) converted that figure to 1.1 square meters. I’m not above making stupid mistakes like that occasionally, but I’d think that I would do a common sense check at the end, and I would sure catch it before it got printed on the official label. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/173 "2018-05-04T15:08:42Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > My son’s theory, which I think is likely, is that someone multiplied 6 inches by 24 inches and got 144 square inches, which they then stupidly converted to 12 square feet. Then somehow (probably a converter utility) converted that figure to 1.1 square meters. I’m not above making stupid mistakes like that occasionally, but I’d think that I would do a common sense check at the end, and I would sure catch it before it got printed on the official label. A few years ago my gf asked me how many square feet our LR, BRs, DR, and hall encompassed. I took a tape measure and calculated, giving her a number. A bit later she told me I had fucked up. So, I found the blueprints of the house and took the numbers from there, arriving at an answer that was very close to my first calculation. No, she said that was impossible. Turned out she was shopping for carpeting, which is sold by the square _yard_, but she had asked me for square _feet_. She was calculating cost based on my reply and it seemed way too expensive.😃 ---
**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 4, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/174 "2018-05-04T18:52:21Z")
It happens to the best of them. NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a [Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency’s team used the more conventional metric system](http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/). ---
**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:** [May 5, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/175 "2018-05-05T15:19:46Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I think this meaning is a lot more common than the original one. I hope it stays in the language long past the day when most people know what an actual blueprint is. I’m sure it is now but back in the day that was the only way to mass copy original construction documents of scale. When I was right out of high school I worked for architect who made his own blueprints. He rolled his original drawing with the print paper and put them in a tube. He then set this tube vertically over a small container of ammonia. I miss the smell of blueprints. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/176 "2018-05-05T23:27:55Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Oh, you mean Mr Potatohead from WarGames? Yep. I would have mentioned that credit, too, but I have not seen it since I saw that in the cinema. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2018, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/177 "2018-05-14T05:58:04Z")
(Apologies if I’ve already said this on here, but it does seem apropos. ) For a very long time I thought how odd it seemed that “heroine”, a word meaninng female hero, and “heroin” the most feared and reviled bête noir of all narcotics, were pronounced the same. Then I learned that the inventors of heroin thought it would be “heroically” effective in treating pain and that was how they came up with the name. Well, it is that, I suppose, but it’s a lot of other things too, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/178 "2018-05-14T10:00:02Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Ripe dragon fruit does have a taste–very nice. I’ve only ever seen dragon fruits that were ripe and intended to be eaten. In what other context have you seen (non ripe) dragon fruits? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/179 "2018-05-14T10:06:10Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > If you use google maps to find the Great Pyramid of Giza and place the cursor directly at the top, the Latitude matches the speed of light out to the seventh digit. > > [Cite](http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/05/the-pyramid-and-the-garden/) In which unit system? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266/180 "2018-05-14T10:07:41Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I’m sure it is now but back in the day that was the only way to mass copy original construction documents of scale. The only one available to you, maybe. There’s countries where it never got off, they used other systems. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-true-facts-you-ve-learned-recently/813266.md?page=10)