Really TRUE odd factoids

[classic33]

Feet are the unsung heroes of the body, carrying us 8,000 to 10,000 steps each day and 100,000 miles over the course of a lifetime (that’s approximately four times around the world!)

During a typical day, your feet bear the collective load of hundreds of thousands of pounds. On average, your feet absorb a total force of 26,000 pounds. That’s two African elephants.

 

[classic33]

Foot Cheese Is an Actual Thing

If anyone’s ever told you that your feet smell like stinky cheese, rattle off this piece of trivia:
It’s totally possible to make actual cheese with bacteria from foot sweat. In fact, Ireland held a Foot Cheese Exhibition in 2013 that featured several varieties of foot cheese, as well as varieties that evolved from belly buttons and armpits. Yum! (Don’t worry, the exhibition didn’t feature a tasting room).

 

[classic33]

Ronald Reagan, inspired by film “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” asked Mikhail Gorbachev to stop the Cold War in the event of an alien invasion, and the Soviet leader agreed.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/02/07/the-day-the-earth-stood-still/?utm_source=penultimate

 

[Ming the Merciless]

When you're flying, have you ever noticed that little hole in the bottom of your window and wondered what it's for?

That’s the breather hole, and besides keeping in warm air so you don’t get too chilly, it regulates pressure -- ensuring that should anything happen to the outer pane of the window, the pressure won’t cause the inner pane to break, at which point you’d suddenly be sucking in oxygen at 35,000 feet.

Consider it Phase 1 before you get to the masks.

The masks only supply a max of 15 mins oxygen. If the plane doesn't descend in those 15 mins then you will rapidly die.

 

[classic33]

Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent. had the dubious honour of being the first person in Great Britain to be successfully charged with speeding on 28 January 1896. Travelling at approximately 8mph/12.87kph, he had exceeded the 2mph/3.22kph speed limit for towns. Fined one shilling and costs, Arnold had been caught by a policeman who had given chase on a bicycle.

 

[classic33]

The entire length of all the eyelashes shed by a human in their life is over 98 feet, with each eyelash having a life span of about 5 months.

Yes, you can sneeze with your eyes open and no, your eyes won’t fall out.

 

[Beebo]

The entire length of all the eyelashes shed by a human in their life is over 98 feet, with each eyelash having a life span of about 5 months.

You may want to check that. It seems far too short. For a life time.

 

[Profpointy]

Ben Elton did a great routine on this using kitchen bins as part of the analogy (not sure if that is the correct word?)

I remember him doing that skit in 1982 or whatever it was. Brilliant and true

 

[Drago]

The initials lb, an abbreviation for pound, come from the Latin word libra, which also means pound.

At current rates, by 2050 the amoumt of plastic in the sea will outweigh the marine life.

 

[Blue Hills]

The entire length of all the eyelashes shed by a human in their life is over 98 feet, with each eyelash having a life span of about 5 months.

Yes, you can sneeze with your eyes open and no, your eyes won’t fall out.

With your fascination with bodily functions and factoids classic you should read bill bryson's "the body". Recommended. I'd quote lots from it on here but it's gone back to the library.

 

[classic33]

In "Apollo 13", a Lockheed-Martin coffee mug is visible in several scenes, on flight director Gene Kranz' desk. Lockheed Martin was not formed until 1995 with the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta.

 

[classic33]

The next time you feel the need to sneeze, make sure you don't hold it back. A peculiar case of a sniffle-gone-wrong has highlighted the dangers of stifling a sneeze. Holding back the urge could just kill you.

This behavior, his doctors warned, could damage your ears or even burst a brain aneurysm. Attempting to be polite—in exceedingly rare cases—could be deadly.

 

[oldwheels]

SPEAK UP - I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I THINK MY EARS ARE BUNGED UP WITH WAX...

(I actually think that they ARE. I'll try the warm olive oil technique to see if that can clear them out a bit.)

Almond oil seems to be mostly recommended. One night will not do anything it would be at least a week.

 

[ColinJ]

Almond oil seems to be mostly recommended. One night will not do anything it would be at least a week.

I reckon the type of oil probably doesn't make a lot of difference but I'm sure that you are right about it taking time. I forgot to do it. I'll try to remember to start tonight.

 

[classic33]

There’s a reason the brain has been called a “random thought generator.”

The average brain is believed to generate up to 50,000 thoughts per day.