Fact O' The Day

[Krandall]

'The first known man-made depiction of the nighttime sky was discovered in Europe in 2001.'


The discovery of the so-called Nebra disc in Germany in 2001 defied all expectation because it had long been believed that such esoteric artistic undertakings were rather beyond the intellectual capability of the inhabitants of Europe at that time (the disc dates to 1600 B.C.). The bronze disc, which features representations of the universe in the form of the sun, the moon, and a cluster of stars, pre-dates any other depiction known in archeology, including anything done by the Egyptians.

[Krandall]

'Modern toilet paper didn't come along until 1857.'


Although the Chinese had been using a kind of toilet paper made from rice straw since around 600 or 700 A.D., it wasn't until 1857 that American inventor Joseph Gayetty introduced his so-called "therapeutic tissue" to the U.S. public, which was the forerunner to modern toilet paper. Prior to then, it wasn't uncommon for people to use pages from The Old Farmer's Almanac.

[Gunz]

The first "successful" head transplant was carried out in 1963 by Robert J. White of Cleveland, Ohio, who attached the head of one monkey to the body of another. The monkey survived for several days, during which it tried to bite the experimenters.

[Krandall]

'The word "plagiarism" comes from the Latin word for kidnapping.'


The Latin word "plagiarius" translates into English as "kidnapper" or "plunderer," while "plagium" translates as "kidnapping." Meanwhile, the word "kidnapper" was first recorded in the British colonies of North America in the 17th century and defined people who would "nap" (a likely form of "nab" or "steal") people from other areas and bring them to work as laborers on plantations.

[Krandall]

'In 2002, researchers bought DNA through the mail and "built" a deadly polio virus.'


The researchers were from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. They bought DNA through the mail and, using a laptop and taking advantage of their access to the school's biology lab, they built a real polio virus (most viruses are extremely simple organisms, little more than a trace of genetic material wrapped in a sheath) and injected it into a mouse, which became paralyzed and died. Their point was to show how easy it was to create a dangerous yet effective virus.

[Spider/Paleface513]

'In 2002, researchers bought DNA through the mail and "built" a deadly polio virus.'


The researchers were from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. They bought DNA through the mail and, using a laptop and taking advantage of their access to the school's biology lab, they built a real polio virus (most viruses are extremely simple organisms, little more than a trace of genetic material wrapped in a sheath) and injected it into a mouse, which became paralyzed and died. Their point was to show how easy it was to create a dangerous yet effective virus.

Wow that fuckin nuts

[funyun]

2 + 2 = 4

[Krandall]

1+1 = 10  using significant figures.

[Peelz]

meh. I inject people and they die all the time. No laptop necessary

[funyun]

meth. I inject people and they die all the time. No laptop necessary

fixed

[Krandall]

'One of the biggest and most-visited websites in the world has just three dozen employees. '
+
While it takes some 900 employees to keep Facebook running, over 13,000 to support Yahoo!, and more than 20,000 to run Google, the user-edited and monitored online encyclopedia Wikipedia requires just 35 employees, and unlike all the other sites in the top sites worldwide (as ranked by Alexa.com), Wikipedia is nonprofit and runs almost entirely on user donations.

[Peelz]

'One of the biggest and most-visited websites in the world has just three dozen employees. '
+
While it takes some 900 employees to keep Facebook running, over 13,000 to support Yahoo!, and more than 20,000 to run Google, the user-edited and monitored online encyclopedia Wikipedia requires just 35 employees, and unlike all the other sites in the top sites worldwide (as ranked by Alexa.com), Wikipedia is nonprofit and runs almost entirely on user donations.

nifty, wasn't aware of that.

[Krandall]

'O.J. Simpson was nearly cast as the cyborg in the original Terminator.'


When James Cameron began casting for his brilliant 1984 sci-fi thriller, Arnold Schwarzenegger -- who had recently starred as Conan the Barbarian -- was being considered for the role of Kyle Reese, the man sent from the future to protect Sarah Conner, while O.J. Simpson, who was a few years into his own acting career, was up for the role of the cyborg. Actor Michael Biehn was eventually cast as Reese, and Cameron convinced Schwarzenegger to play the cyborg, despite some initial reluctance.

[Peelz]

'O.J. Simpson was nearly cast as the cyborg in the original Terminator.'


When James Cameron began casting for his brilliant 1984 sci-fi thriller, Arnold Schwarzenegger -- who had recently starred as Conan the Barbarian -- was being considered for the role of Kyle Reese, the man sent from the future to protect Sarah Conner, while O.J. Simpson, who was a few years into his own acting career, was up for the role of the cyborg. Actor Michael Biehn was eventually cast as Reese, and Cameron convinced Schwarzenegger to play the cyborg, despite some initial reluctance.

can you imagine the punchlines if this would have happened?

"I'll be back" would be even more hilarious.

[Krandall]

'The Siberian mining city of Norilsk is considered to be the most polluted on earth. '

Norilsk was created in 1921 after Joseph Stalin learned of huge nickel deposits in the region. Over 350,000 slave laborers were sent to newly established Gulags that eventually became part of the city itself. Just 1,500 miles from the Arctic Circle, the city spends several weeks out of the year without seeing the sun. Nickel is smelted on-site, leading to acid rain and pollution so awful that in 2007, Time magazine claimed that there wasn't a single living tree within a 30-mile radius of the smelter.