Single Random Facts

Don’t you start.

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Well, SMEG to you too! :joy:

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63% of U.S. true-crime podcasts listeners are women.

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The current oldest human ancestor species, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, dates to ~7 million years ago. It may be the common ancestor shared between humans and chimps.

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And hasn’t had a date since.

Meme Reaction GIF by Travis

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I like this post, as it’s the “No Such Thing As a Fish” thread for us here in MSTie land.

My favorite fact: The last time France used the guillotine to execute someone, “Star Wars” was in its original run in theaters.

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Here’s what they’ve found of Sahelanthropus tchadensis:

image

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If there was a bathtub large enough, Saturn would float in water because its density is only .7 g/cm3 which is less than that of water.

Also, the Earth has the highest density in the solar system with 5.44 g/cm3. We think that the reason for that is because of the collision with the large planetesimal named Theia that led to the formation of the Moon.

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That is the most complete of the skulls, yes. I’ve handled a casted replica of the ‘Toumai’ skull and it’s amazing how small it is! (and it was an adult)

The French expedition that discovered the site in 2002 found several skulls along with teeth and at least one mandible. No post-cranial bone has been found yet (and the political situation in Chad since 2002 is a big reason why). the tantalising thing is it appears as though the species may have been upright walkers at 7 million years ago.

(I teach human evolution at the science museum here in Denver, I can talk about this stuff all day. :smiley: )

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I’m not an expert, but I have taught a class that addresses human evolution a number of times. At my university (a religious one), part of my job is teaching my students that learning about science doesn’t necessitate rejecting religion and there’s no reason to be afraid of learning about evolution. So while astronomy is my favorite science by far, I’ve learned enough about evolution to be fascinated by it as well. :slight_smile:

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Is it factual if it isn’t sure?

That’s also the fuel the whirlybirds in Robotech used.

If you squint hard enough, Christmas movies are sandwiches.

According to @TraV333-IGD, if you plant metal, you’re gonna harvest Tom Servo.

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There is greater PSI inside your average Champagne bottle than there is in your average car tire.

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I’m spying on youuuuuuu…

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Vitamin D is one of those things that we don’t get easily from natural sources, but one source you can get it from? Mushrooms… as long as they’re grown in UV light. That made me think of the short Young Man’s Fancy where they talk about growing mushrooms in their basement. :slight_smile:

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It is likely that toads can anticipate seismic activity. A study was being conducted on toad populations in mating season in Italy. One day the researchers came to the breeding grounds they’d been studying to find that all the frogs had vanished. Five days later a massive earthquake occurred, and then five days after seismic activity ceased, the toads returned to their habitat. This behavior also correlated with detections of electromagnetic disturbances in the upper atmosphere, as well as an increased amount of radon gas present in local groundwater (released from the planet’s crust because of the pressure building underground.) It’s almost impossible to say what the amphibians were responding to that alerted them to the quake, but it is one of the rare instances of being able to collect hard scientific data supporting the theory that animals are sensitive to earthquakes before they occur.

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In 1847, our solar system was considered to have 15 planets. In 1867, seven were recognized as being large and/or bright members of a large class of bodies we now refer to as ‘asteroids’ and demoted from planethood. En route to the modern definition of a planet adopted by the IAU, proposals were floated that would have raised the number of planets to 12, 24, or even 53 or more before settling on the current definition.

I don’t relish the idea of creating a sentence to remember 53 planets in order…

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British school kids are having a hearty guffaw right now. What with that list of monarchs they have to memorize.

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I know there’s a poem for it, but I don’t recall how it goes.

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It goes like:

Hi, everyone.
Let’s pitch in ‘n’ get cracking
here in Lousiana
doing right, eh?
Now then.
Hateful, rich, overbearing, ugly guys
hurt royally, everytime someone eats
a radish, carrot, hors d’oeuvre
and never does dishes.
Eventually, Victor eats lunch over Peoria
Mit ein neuesberger tod.

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