# General > General Chat >  10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week

## Scheherazade

BBC News Magazine has a section called '10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK' which is posted every Saturday. I really enjoy reading that. Here is this week's list:

1. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex. 

2. _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_  has sold one copy every minute since its 1969 publication.

3. Giant mice eating rare chicks on the South Atlantic's Gough Island are descended from the British house mouse, but since arriving on ships in the 19th Century, have doubled in size and become carnivorous.

4. Birmingham was hit by a tornado in 1931, in the same area of the city damaged in the latest twister.

5. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research. 

6. Cats are genetically unable to taste sweet things. While dogs adore chocolate, cats remain indifferent. 

7. Marilyn Manson's gift to his fiancée - a taxidermy fan - is two stuffed swans posed as if about to copulate. 

8. On average you would have to cycle non-stop for 96 years before being killed in a road accident. 

9. By law, rescued grey squirrels cannot be released into the wild.

10. Racial prejudice is learnt; and everyone has an in-built inclination towards learning to fear people who appear different, says US research. 


If you would like to read more about these news items, please click on the link below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...7.stm#10things

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## mono

How interesting! Thanks for sharing the link and information, Scher.  :Wink: 



> 2. _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_  has sold one copy every minute since its 1969 publication.


Ah, one of my favorite children's books of all time!  :Biggrin: 



> 5. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.


I think psychology has known this trend for much longer than the past weeks. Alfred Adler, a neo-Freudian, first did research concerning, what he later called, the birth-order theory. Adler's research has gained both praise and much criticism, but seems to contain more truth than theory, in my opinion. How the research states basis in the U.S., I have no idea, since, I think, Adler came from Austria originally.
Keep in mind, I do not blame you, Scher, for this statement - just improper citing on the website's contribution. Very fascinating, nonetheless.  :Smile:

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## Bongitybongbong

> 5. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.


Ha I guess that makes me the one that would be reburied when found (got that from a science mag that said the American govt. found an Anglo-Saxton that dated before any other human life and that screws over their theory on the original people on the continent).

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## imthefoolonthehill

he dated before any other human life... man, i thought MY dates were ugly...

ahem... well actually i didn't, but the thought was funny.

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## Helga

so that is how they describe me....promiscuous, well at least they say I'm creative  :Smile:

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## papayahed

> On average you would have to cycle non-stop for 96 years before being killed in a road accident.


A guy I know told me the story of his grandfathers death at 80 something: He got hit by a car while riding his bike. Later it was determined that the grandfather was legally drunk when he died.

I think I may have changed my mind on how I would like to go....

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## Molko

Very interesting  :Smile:  you really do learn something new every day  :Tongue:

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## JaynaLove

> 1. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex.



Ok. Thanks a lot you made me spit out my water! *Giggles* You really do learn something new everyday.

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## baddad

....Wow!!!! Sex and eating all at the same time........now if one could only read while all this was going on......

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## Jay

1. Smalls Lighthouse has but a 35-watt bulb powered by solar power - yet its beams can be seen from 21 miles away thanks to powerful lenses.

2. Scientists who cloned an Afghan hound had a 0.09% success rate.

3. The three Space Shuttle Main Engines use a lot of fuel. In approximately 8 minutes, 40 seconds, the three SSMEs burn over 1.6 million pounds of propellant (approximately - 528,000 gallons). 

4. Temperatures inside the main combustion chamber reach 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt steel. Meanwhile, liquid hydrogen circulates through miles of tubing at minus 423F to cool the engines.

5. Reebok, which is being bought by Adidas, can trace its history more than 100 years back, to Bolton.

6. Jimi Hendrix pretended to be gay to be discharged from the US Army.

7. Giant leatherback turtles travel each year from the Caribbean to Cardigan Bay in Wales in order to eat jellyfish found here.

8. Researchers expect smoking to be virtually extinct in Australia by 2030.

9. Among UK cities, Birmingham had the most industrial accidents in the 12 months to April 2005, followed by Leeds and Glasgow.

10. Joss Stone's mother told her off when she addressed President Bush "George". 

source

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## Scheherazade

1. Trigamy is being married to three people. 

2. Alexander the Great was killed by a mosquito, says new research. 

3. A towel doesn't legally reserve a sun lounger - and there is nothing in German or Spanish law to stop other holidaymakers removing those left on vacant seats. 


4. One in six children think that broccoli is a baby tree.

5. Robin Cook grew his beard in tribute to his hero, George Bernard Shaw. 

6. Ann Widdecombe last watched Top of the Pops in 1966. 

7. Vinegar on chips may help burn the fat off the deep-fried spud. 

8. We are more likely to die in our sleep because our brains can forget to tell our bodies to breathe. 

9. Home Office minister Hazel Blears is 4ft 11ins. 

10. Drivers are most likely to be in an accident between 4pm and 7pm on a Friday - and even more so in August.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...8.stm#10things

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## Jay

I like no. 8  :Biggrin:

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## papayahed

> I like no. 8


Oh great something else to worry about...

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## faith

> 8. On average you would have to cycle non-stop for 96 years before being killed in a road accident.


This is good!  :Wink:

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## Taliesin

> 1. Trigamy is being married to three people.


Why do they think that we didn't know it last week? It is only logical (monogamy - 1, bigamy- 2, trigamy- 3, tetragamy- 4 et cetera)




> 5. Robin Cook grew his beard in tribute to his hero, George Bernard Shaw.


We read it as: Robin Hood grew a beard...




> 6. Ann Widdecombe last watched Top of the Pops in 1966.


Who is this Ann Widdecombe and what is Top of the Pops? Is it the electing of the new pope? It is true, we didn't know it the last week, but well, why must one put the religious ideas of some elderly lady in a paper?

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## Scheherazade

> Why do they think that we didn't know it last week? It is only logical (monogamy - 1, bigamy- 2, trigamy- 3, tetragamy- 4 et cetera)


I agree with you, Tal. I was a little surprised too... but then again maybe because all these -gamies sound like a little likeOrigami, which might confuse some! 


> We read it as: Robin Hood grew a beard...


Robin Cook 



> Who is this Ann Widdecombe and what is Top of the Pops? Is it the electing of the new pope? It is true, we didn't know it the last week, but well, why must one put the religious ideas of some elderly lady in a paper?


Ann Widdecombe 

Top of the Pops is the weekly music chart show on BBC.

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## Scheherazade

1. A US Patent has been granted for a "toy gas-fired missile and launcher assembly" (US patent 6,055,910). The gas in question? Colonic gas generated by the user. 

2. The Duchess of Kent teaches children to rap. 

3. The bikini-clad woman in the iPod adverts does not own one - she hasn't the money. 

4. Urine was once made into ammonia to remove stains from laundry.

5. In the 1930s, a German inventor tried to deliver mail by rocket to one of the most remote parts of the UK, the tiny island of Scarp in the Outer Hebrides. Commemorative stamps were issued. But it ended in failure when the rocket exploded.

6. It takes a gallon of oil to make three fake fur coats. 

7. Media studies is more popular than physics among A-level students. 

8. Each successive monarch faces in a different direction on British coins. 

9. White was the colour chosen for the Queen Mother's White Wardrobe - currently on show at Buckingham Palace - because she was in mourning for her mother at the time.

10. There's a sin of simony - to conduct financial transactions involving spiritual goods which Lincoln Cathedral had been accused of over the making of the Da Vinci Code movie.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...8.stm#10things

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## Nightshade

> 6. It takes a gallon of oil to make three fake fur coats.


Ive always said fake fur is worse than real fur!!!

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## Scheherazade

1. The average computer keyboard is reportedly infected with 3,295 germs. 

2. 70% of internet porn traffic occurs during work hours. 

3. Brad Pitt's full name is William Bradley Pitt. 

4. Meanwhile, the biography of William Pitt the younger is the second most popular book for MPs to take on holiday, after the Da Vinci Code. 

5. According to Amnesty International, 1,195 people were killed by police in Rio de Janeiro in 2003. 

6. England batsman Marcus Trescothick ate steak for the first time when he was 27. 

7. The day when most suicides occurred in the UK between 1993 and 2002 was 1 January, 2000. 

8. The only day in that time when no-one killed themselves was 16 March, 2001, the day Comic Relief viewers saw Jack Dee win Celebrity Big Brother. 

9. So-called "Lotto lout" Michael Carroll gets gay fan mail. 

10. One of the eight ravens at the Tower of London, Thor, can say "Good morning". 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4172642.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

2. More than 100 tons of ripe tomatoes are splattered about in Spain's Tomatina Festival. 

3. The crumbed batter around fish fingers is cooked so quickly the fish inside stays frozen. In all, preparation and packaging takes just 35 minutes. 

4. The Spanish smoke more Gauloise cigarettes than the French.

5. Michael Sheard, who played Grange Hill's terrifying deputy head Mr Bronson and who died this week, also appeared in the Empire Strikes Back (he played Admiral Ozzel) and in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (he played Hitler).

6. The section of coast around Cleethorpes has the highest concentration of caravans in Europe.

7. George Clooney's father was a television news anchor. 

8. China makes about 40% of the world's socks. 

9. And it has around 24,000 coal mines - more than 3,000 miners have been killed this year alone, in fires, floods and other work-related accidents. 

10. Road signs in an Austrian village - whose seven-letter name begins with "F" and ends in "ing" - are now encased in theft-proof concrete to stop tourists stealing them. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4189164.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. Fifty-seven Bic Biros are sold every second - amounting to 100 billion since 1950. 

2. Not only do the Spanish smoke more Gauloise cigarettes than the French (see last week's 10 things) they are the biggest cocaine users in the world, according to the UN. 

3. See You Jimmy - Russ Abbot's incomprehensible 80s comedy creation - was inspired by a David Bowie-style wig discarded when Bowie changed his image. 

4. Norway is the world's third largest oil exporter.

5. George Bernard Shaw named his shed after the UK capital so that when visitors called they could be told he was away in London. 

6. Twenty-one stray animals are put down in the UK each day.

7. Turner's The Fighting Temeraire, this week voted the UK's favourite painting, shows the sun setting in the east.

 

8. Paul McCartney's Beatles' classic Blackbird is a homage to the black civil rights movement - "bird", in this case, being a colloquial term for "woman".

9. Saturn's rings are fluffy.

10. Ninety-five percent of today's 500,000 racehorses descend from a single stallion - the Darley Arabian, born in 1700. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...8.stm#10things

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## Nocturnal

> 2. More than 100 tons of ripe tomatoes are splattered about in Spain's Tomatina Festival.


heh, I knew that!  :Banana:  and now I have an excuse for posting the dancing banana

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## brshfr

> 8. We are more likely to die in our sleep because our brains can forget to tell our bodies to breathe. 
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...8.stm#10things


I always wondered how smart we really are if we forget to breathe. Interesting...

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## Scheherazade

1. The herb rocket (aka roquette, arugula and rucola) was widely grown in English kitchen gardens in the 1600s. 

2. Former Labour MP Oona King's aunt is agony aunt Miriam Stoppard. 

3. Britain produces 700 regional cheeses, more even than France. 

4. More slave-labourers died working on the Nazi's V2 rockets than were killed by them in attacks. 

5. Camberwick Green's creator Gordon Murray destroyed the original models in a bonfire after the last transmission. 

6. Dame Helen Mirren loves snorkelling. 

7. Bob Dylan first visited Britain - in 1962 - to take part in a BBC play. 

8. Inmates at the Buchenwald concentration camp staged a version of the Agatha Christie play now known as And Then There Were None. 

9. Since the 1970s, the number of strong hurricanes around the world has doubled. 

10. Sensitive hacking equipment could tell what words are being typed on a keyboard by analysing the unique sounds made by each key. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4236934.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. The Church of Sweden is a major shareholder in H&M. 

2. A hurricane name is retired from the rotating alphabetical list if the storm has been particularly destructive. Hence there will not be another Katrina. 

3. Although the US National Weather Service did not start using names until 1953, for hundreds of years hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the saint's day on which they occurred. 

4. Tim Farron, the new LibDem MP for Cumberland and Westmorland - famed for its sausages - is a strict vegetarian. 

5. America's first regular TV news show was the Camel News Caravan - named for its sponsor, Camel Cigarettes. It was launched by NBC in 1949. 

6. Andrew Motion listens to Bob Dylan every day. 

7. Selina Scott runs her own business making mohair footwear. 

8. Until 15 years ago, Japan had almost no foreign wrestlers. Today, they make up over a quarter of the wrestlers in its higher divisions. 

9. The actor who plays Mike Tucker in BBC Radio 4's The Archers is the father of the actor who plays Will Grundy. 

10. Japanese knotweed can grow from a piece of root the size of pea. And it can flourish anew if disturbed after lying dormant for more than 20 years


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4259624.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. The Road Less Travelled has spent more than eight years on the New York Times best seller list, a record for a non-fiction book. 

2. Some 40,000 UK children are on prescription drugs for depression. 

3. Andrew Marr, former political editor of the BBC, has read Tolstoy's epic War and Peace 15 times. 

4. The name for a gap between the teeth is a diastema. 

5. About 800,000 Brits go to Australia each year, either for holiday, to work, or to emigrate. 

6. Identical twins have never held the two top positions of power in a modern country. But it could happen soon in Poland. 

7. You can be sent to jail for showing someone an inappropriate film on a mobile phone. 

8. At its current rate of shrinkage, the Arctic ice cap might disappear altogether during the summer of 2060. 

9. Hecklers are so-called because of militant textile workers in Dundee. 

10. Pulling your foot out of quicksand takes a force equivalent to that needed to lift a medium-sized car.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4282040.stm

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## yellowfeverlime

Only one....

1) I'm failing world History

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## Nightshade

I have one you can walk on custard!!!!

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## Scheherazade

1. Ruby Wax is studying for a degree in psychology and philosophy. 

2. A single "mother" spud from southern Peru gave rise to all the varieties of potato eaten today, scientists have learned. 

3. Spanish Flu, the epidemic that killed 50 million people in 1918/9, was known as French Flu in Spain 

4. Beryl Bainbridge was expelled from school aged 14 for writing a racy limerick. 

5. Belarus has the highest ratio of police to people, of any country in the world. 

6. Before Ronnie Barker revealed himself to be the Two Ronnies' mystery sketchwriter Gerald Wiley, some people thought the man behind the mask was Tom Stoppard. 

7. It's not impossible to drink 40 shots of vodka and still want more. 

8. The gender of unborn turtles is affected by sea temperature. As seas warm up, there are more female turtles being born. 

9. Britons take home 430,000 gallons (1.95m litres) of shampoo from hotels every year, a survey has found. 

10. Author Andrea Levy, winner of the "Orange of Oranges" book prize for her novel Small Island, says she "didn't actually read a book" until she was 23. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4303994.stm

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## Jay

*blinks at #10*  :Eek:

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## querida

hahahahahahahahahahaha... wow... top of the pops... new pope... oh my.

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## Scheherazade

1. The UK and Spain have the highest number of cocaine users in Europe. 

2. Croydon has more CCTV cameras than New York. 

3. A giveaway DVD in a newspaper costs as little as 16p to produce, including rights, materials and manufacture. 

4. The price of every DVD disc includes a small royalty to Philips, which developed the format. 

5. Wallace and Gromit live in Wigan. Until now, creator Nick Park has been cagey about where 62 West Wallaby Street is, but in their latest film an A-Z of Wigan can be glimpsed on the dashboard of Wallace's car. 

6. Three-quarters of the salt in our diets comes from processed foods. 

7. Noodles have been around for at least 4,000 years, following a find in China. 

8. Smokers spend on average £91,832 on cigarettes during their lifetime. 

9. Madonna doesn't let her children watch television, only movies. 

10. Thirsty whalers in the 19th Century used to kill tortoises for their urine. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4325890.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. Ordinary - not avian - flu kills about 12,000 people in the UK every winter. 

2. You are 176 times more likely to be murdered than to win the National Lottery. 

3. Koalas have fingerprints exactly like humans (although obviously smaller). 

4. And human fingerprints can be worn down, particularly among manual labourers, typists and musicians. 

5. Species of the week: the Osedax mucofloris, or "bone-eating snot-flower", a marine worm so-called because it lives off whale bones, looks like a flower, and is covered in mucus. 

6. Half of all violent crime involves no injury to the victim. 

7. Rats are good swimmers. One this week was caught after it staged an escape across 400m of open ocean. 

8. The government chief vet's family keeps chickens; Dr Debby Reynolds is charged with keeping a check on bird flu. 

9. The hoax Yorkshire Ripper letters sent to police were destroyed more than 20 years ago by chemicals in fingerprint tests. 

10. EBay can become an addiction - the Priory clinic is now admitting people with an online auction habit. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4348766.stm

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## Bongitybongbong

1. ESP is fake.
2. You can make a hover craft. 
3. A water jug can bceome a rocket or miniautomobile.
4. There are many things that should not be put in microwaves.
5. Some safes can only be cracked (outside of the combo) by using a tank.
6. Parcel tape is the stickiest tape among that, clear tape, and masking tape.
7. Milk is the best drink for spicy foods.
8. A stick of tnt can spread mulch quickly.
9. You can she about 2 kg. in four hours.
10. Greed makes you run faster than fear.
11. You can never get enough exploding caravans.

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## Scheherazade

1. In colonial America, servants negotiated agreements that they would not be forced to eat lobster more than twice a week. 

2. The daily cost of water for the average household is 68p - what it would cost to buy a 2-litre bottle of Evian in a supermarket. 

3. Bill Gates does not have an iPod. 

4. The majority of those living alone are aged over 65, particularly widowed women. 

5. There used to be signs on buses in the UK warning against spitting to guard against the spread of TB. 

6. Carousel fraud, a VAT scam in which products are circulated around fake companies, is so widespread that it costs EU countries the equivalent of the VAT take of France. 

7. Des Lynam saw Laurel and Hardy on stage at the Brighton Hippodrome in 1951 aged eight. 

8. Rather than abstaining, an MP can vote both for and against a motion at the same time. 

9. Prince Charles may not live the most carbon-neutral of lifestyles, but he does drive a hybrid car. 

10. And he wrote a fan letter to Jamie Oliver after the TV chef's School Dinners series.

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## rachel

no you can never get enough exploding caravans,sigh.Scher after reading one of your posts i picked out one interesting item from your list and told some people at a dinner party. i thought they would be interested. Instead a number of them fixed their glare upon my surprised face and told me it was a silly lie and to not believe all of what i heard. I quietly with all the dignity i could muster fixed my gaze upon the spinach dip on my plate and said not a word for quite a while.

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## Scheherazade

1. In Guy Fawkes's day, those who persistently refused to attend Protestant services were fined £20 a month - the annual salary of a school teacher. 

2. Margaret Thatcher "stamped her feet" in anger at the prospect of German reunification, according to Helmut Kohl's memoirs. 

3. The first traffic cones were used in building Preston bypass in the late 1950s, replacing red lantern paraffin burners. 

4. Britons buy about one million pumpkins for Halloween, 99% of which are used for lanterns rather than for eating. 

5. Albania is retiring its Soviet MiG aircraft, which have killed 35 Albanians, but not a single enemy. 

6. The French translation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has an extra 120 pages as it is a less concise language than English. 

7. Bailiffs cannot evict on Sundays, bank holidays, Christmas Day or Good Friday. 

8. Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli was once a backing dancer for Bananarama in the band's heyday. 

9. You can dial the emergency services with 112 as well as 999. 

10. Cabinet ministers who have been sacked, resigned or lost their seats collect an £18,000 golden goodbye (and those who leave twice get the payment again).


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4392080.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. During WWI, drinking water was often delivered to the front in old petrol canisters. "If you'd been there long enough you could tell the difference between water that had come in a BP can and one that had come from a Shell can," one veteran recalled in BBC One's The Last Tommy. 

2. The mother of stocky cricketer - and surprise Strictly Come Dancing front-runner - Darren Gough was a ballet dancer. She has been helping him with his pivots. 

3. Nettles growing on land where bodies are buried will reach a foot higher than those growing elsewhere. 

4. Brian Cobby, the voice of the speaking clock, was also the man behind Thunderbirds' "5,4,3,2,1 Thunderbirds are Go". 

5. It was partly thanks to the pioneering use of LPs by the Royal National Institute for the Blind that they were eventually adopted by the music industry. 

6. The late Lord Lichfield used a whistle to keep the Royal Family in order when taking the photographs at Charles and Diana's wedding. 

7. The concept of ransom comes from the medieval code of chivalry, which decreed that defeated knights be unharmed and exchanged for a sum of money. 

8. A 19th Century covenant forbids the building of sports facilities on a plot of land earmarked for the 2012 Olympic development in east London. The government is planning to pass a law overturning the rule. 

9. Armistice Day is one of the four peak times fo the year for the speaking clock, the others being News Year's Eve and when the clocks change. 

10. The French equivalent of the Remembrance Day poppy is the blue cornflower. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...6.stm#10things

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## Scheherazade

1. Wrapping up warm really CAN help stop you catching a cold. 

2. CS Lewis wrote the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in three months. (CS, by the way, stands for Clive Staples.) 

3. London's Waterloo station carries four times as many passengers as Heathrow each day. 

4. Prisoners wear lurid green and yellow jumpsuits when appearing in court so they can be easily spotted if they try to escape. 

5. Every two minutes someone is told they have cancer. 

6. The actress who played Connie, the woman with a smart red bob haircut who advertised AOL for five years in the late 90s/early 00s, now works in an estate agent's in London. 

7. The Japanese word "chokuegambo" describes the wish that there were more designer-brand shops on a given street. 

8. More Coca-Cola products are consumed per person in Mexico than any other country, and the company has 70% of the nation's soft drinks market. 

9. Fountain pens are unsuitable for children under 14, because they don't have holes in the pen caps. 

10. The tartufo bianchi - a fungus which smells of decaying leaves and is better known as a white truffle - is worth more per gram than gold. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...6.stm#10things

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## Scheherazade

1. Tony Blair is a big fan of kung-fu film star Jackie Chan. His favourite movie is Rush Hour. 

2. The Royal Mail uses 342 million rubber bands a year to bundle up letters. It has switched to using red bands so that they can be more easily seen when dropped. 

3. Loo roll is the third biggest selling household commodity, with sales exceeding £11bn a year. 

4. The average price of a Christmas card is 71p. 

5. BBC props managers inject Germolene into Mars Bars in the EastEnders shop to stop them being eaten, says former star Sid Owen. 

6. Guy Ritchie hates his wife's new album and prefers Irish folk music. 

7. Binge drinking dates back at least to the 12th Century. 

8. Actor Brian Forster (who played the second Chris Partridge in The Partridge Family), is the great-great-great grandson of Charles Dickens. He was born on 14 April 1960, 101 years to the day that A Tale of Two Cities was published 

9. Former Nazi scientists helped put the first man on the Moon and their legacy helped the development of the B-2 Stealth bomber and Cruise missiles. 

10. The ability to ignore information makes for a better memory.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4455948.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. The smiley sun anti-nuclear badge was designed by a Danish pupil in a schools competition in the mid-1970s. 

2. David Blunkett co-ordinates his clothes by asking the helper who does his laundry to hang his clothes in blocks of colour. 

3. Road Safety Minister Stephen Ladyman has nine points on his driver's licence, as he told Top Gear. 

4. Quicksand and custard share the same physical properties - both are non-Newtonian fluids that flow when treated gently but thicken when hit hard. 

5. The Queen and Prince Philip send 850 Christmas cards a year. 

6. The longest speech to the House of Commons lasted six hours, a record set in 1828. 

7. The concept of Limbo dates from the 13th Century to explain what happened to children who died before being christened. The Vatican is preparing to abolish it from the church's teachings. 

8. Residents of the remote Nedd Valley in the Brecon Beacons had no mains electricity until this week - the last community in England and Wales without it. 

9. Fourteen percent of seven- and eight-year-olds have mobile phones. 

10. Cicadas spend up to 17 years underground before emerging in their adult form. 



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4477512.stm

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## Scheherazade

1. The UK's mistletoe capital is Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, where nearly all wholesale supplies of the plant are sold. 

2. The familiar London double-decker bus, the Routemaster, might have disappeared from the capital's streets, but it's still used in Guernsey. 

3. It is illegal to buy cigarettes under the age of 20 in Japan. 

4. A knowledge of just 100 words would allow you to understand half of any book, even adult fiction, researchers at Warwick University say. 

5. Sleep deprivation can make you hear police cars. Ben Fogle, currently rowing across the Atlantic with James Cracknell, reports experiencing just such a phenomenon. 

6. You can buy poker chips with verses of scripture on them. 

7. In theory, just 10 human embryos could be enough to stock a viable UK stem cell bank. 

8. A collective noun for a group of jellyfish is a "smack". 

9. You can now be prosecuted for taking part in an unauthorised protest near Parliament. 

10. The word "twerp" has been classed as both parliamentary and unparliamentary language. In 1956, the Speaker ruled it in order because he assumed "it was a sort of technical term of the aviation industry". It was later classed as unacceptable.

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## Virgil

Scher

From your very first post on this thread:

6. Cats are genetically unable to taste sweet things. While dogs adore chocolate, cats remain indifferent. 

Chocolate is poisonous to both cats and dogs. Neither should have any. Enough and it could kill them.

Just wanted to let people know.

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## Mace Sin

> Only one....
> 
> 1) I'm failing world History


I'm making around a 93% there... 

...but making a 78% in Geometry.  :Rage:  




> Fourteen percent of seven- and eight-year-olds have mobile phones.


That doesn't surprise me. 




> Bill Gates does not have an iPod.


No, but he could easily buy me one.  :Goof:

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## Scheherazade

1. Magnetic North is not fixed, but in fact is drifting at such a speed away from northern Canada it could be in Siberia in 50 years. 

2. The Body Shop is banned from China where cosmetics have to be tested on animals, says Dame Anita Roddick. 

3. Paul McCartney's animal rights activism was inspired by his watching Bambi. 

4. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance". 

5. A sound can travel for 200 miles if it is loud enough. 

6. Aslan is the Turkish for lion. (apt, given that the White Witch in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tempts Edmund to dark side with the offer of Turkish delight). 

7. One in 16.66 Britons (6% of the population) is homosexual according to new government figures. 

8. Each tank at the Buncefield oil depot housed 700,000 gallons of fuel, enough to take a bus to the Moon and back 12 times. 

9. People can train their bodies to heat up, helping them survive longer in icy water. 

10. Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia that is compiled and updated by volunteers and has frequently had its accuracy called into question, is about as reliable as the Encyclopedia Britannica, according to a study by Nature.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4520854.stm

----------


## Virgil

> 3. Paul McCartney's animal rights activism was inspired by his watching Bambi.


I love animals, so I'm not really criticizing the activism. But isn't it funny trivial celebrities can be?

----------


## Scheherazade

> I love animals, so I'm not really criticizing the activism. But isn't it funny trivial celebrities can be?


I think he had watched the movie as a child and affected by it deeply. 


> The former Beatle, 63, said the animated Disney film where the young deer's mother is shot by hunters, had an impact on him as a child.


 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4520658.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The UK's first mobile phone call was made 20 years ago this year, when Ernie Wise rang the Vodafone head office, which was then above a curry shop in Newbury. 

2. Mohammed is now one of the 20 most popular names for boys born in England and Wales. 

3. While it's an offence to drop litter on the pavement, it's not an offence to throw it over someone's garden wall. 

4. An average record shop needs to sell at least two copies of a CD per year to make it worth stocking, according to Wired magazine.

5. Nicole Kidman is scared of butterflies. "I jump out of planes, I could be covered in cockroaches, I do all sorts of things, but I just don't like the feel of butterflies' bodies," she says.

6. WD-40 dissolves cocaine - it has been used by a pub landlord to prevent drug-taking in his pub's toilets.

7. Baboons can tell the difference between English and French. Zoo keepers at Port Lympne wild animal park in Kent are having to learn French to communicate with the baboons which had been transferred from Paris zoo. 

8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it's possibly because religious people have less fear of death. 

9. The energy used to build an average Victorian terrace house would be enough to send a car round the Earth five times, says English Heritage.

10. Humans can be born suffering from a rare condition known as "sirenomelia" or "mermaid syndrome", in which the legs are fused together to resemble the tail of a fish. 

11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed. 

12. Until the 1940s rhubarb was considered a vegetable. It became a fruit when US customs officials, baffled by the foreign food, decided it should be classified according to the way it was eaten.

13. Prince Charles broke with an 80-year tradition by giving Camilla Parker Bowles a wedding ring fashioned from Cornish gold, instead of the nugget of Welsh gold that has provided rings for all royal brides and grooms since 1923.

14. It's possible for a human to blow up balloons via the ear. A 55-year-old factory worker from China reportedly discovered 20 years ago that air leaked from his ears, and he can now inflate balloons and blow out candles.

15. Lionesses like their males to be deep brunettes. 

16. The London borough of Westminster has an average of 20 pieces of chewing gum for every square metre of pavement.

17. Bosses at Madame Tussauds spent £10,000 separating the models of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston when they separated. It was the first time the museum had two people's waxworks joined together.

18. If all the Smarties eaten in one year were laid end to end it would equal almost 63,380 miles, more than two-and-a-half times around the Earth's equator. 

19. The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".

20. The Queen has never been on a computer, she told Bill Gates as she awarded him an honorary knighthood. 

21. One person in four has had their identity stolen or knows someone who has. 

22. The length of a man's fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he is, scientists say. 

23. In America it's possible to subpoena a dog. 

24. The 71m packets of biscuits sold annually by United Biscuits, owner of McVitie's, generate 127.8 tonnes of crumbs.

25. Nelson probably had a broad Norfolk accent. 

26. One in four people does not know 192, the old number for directory inquiries in the UK, has been abolished. 

27. Only in France and California are under 18s banned from using sunbeds. 

28. The British buy the most compact discs in the world - an average of 3.2 per year, compared to 2.8 in the US and 2.1 in France.

29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered. 

30. There are an estimated 1,000 people in the UK in a persistent vegetative state.

31. Train passengers in the UK waited a total of 11.5m minutes in 2004 for delayed services. 

32. "Restaurant" is the most mis-spelled word in search engines.

33. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has only been in an English pub once, to buy his wife cigarettes. 

34. The Little Britain wheelchair sketch with Lou and Andy was inspired by Lou Reed and Andy Warhol.

35. The name Lego came from two Danish words "leg godt", meaning "play well". It also means "I put together" in Latin. 

36. The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor.

37. Cyclist Lance Armstrong's heart is almost a third larger than the average man's. 

38. Nasa boss Michael Griffin has seven university degrees: a bachelor's degree, a PhD, and five masters degrees.

39. Australians host barbecues at polling stations on general election days.

40. An average Briton will spend £1,537,380 during his or her lifetime, a survey from insurer Prudential suggests.

41. Tactically, the best Monopoly properties to buy are the orange ones: Vine Street, Marlborough Street and Bow Street.

42. Britain's smallest church, near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, opens just once a year. It measures 4m by 3.6m and has one pew.

43. The spiciness of sauces is measured in Scoville Units.

44. Rubber gloves could save you from lightning.

45. C3PO and R2D2 do not speak to each other off-camera because the actors don't get on.

46. Driving at 159mph - reached by the police driver cleared of speeding - it would take nearly a third of a mile to stop.

47. Liverpool has 42 cranes redeveloping the city centre.

48. A quarter of the world's clematis come from one Guernsey nursery, where production will top 4.5m plants this year alone.

49. Tim Henman has a tennis court at his new home in Oxfordshire which he has never used. 

50. Only 36% of the world's newspapers are tabloid.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4566526.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

51. Parking wardens walk about 15 miles a day.

52. You're 10 times more likely to be bitten by a human than a rat.

53. It takes 75kg of raw materials to make a mobile phone. 

54. Deep Throat is reportedly the most profitable film ever. It was made for $25,000 (£13,700) and has grossed more than $600m. 

55. Antony Worrall-Thompson swam the English Channel in his youth. 

56. The Pyruvate Scale measures pungency in onions and garlic. It's named after the acid in onions which makes cooks cry when cutting them. 

57. The man who was the voice of one of the original Daleks, Roy Skelton, also did the voices for George and Zippy in Rainbow. 

58. The average guest at a Buckingham Palace garden party scoffs 14 cakes, sandwiches, scones and ice-cream, according to royal accounts. 

59. Oliver Twist is very popular in China, where its title is translated as Foggy City Orphan. 

60. Newborn dolphins and killer whales don't sleep for a month, according to research carried out by University of California. 

61. You can bet on your own death.

62. MPs use communal hairbrushes in the washrooms of the Houses of Parliament. 

63. It takes less energy to import a tomato from Spain than to grow them in this country because of the artificial heat needed, according to Defra. 

64. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's home number is listed by directory inquiries. 

65. Actor James Doohan, who played Scotty, had a hand in creating the Klingon language that was used in the movies, and which Shakespeare plays were subsequently translated into. 

66. The hotter it is, the more difficult it is for aeroplanes to take off. Air passengers in Nevada, where temperatures have reached 120F, have been told they can't fly. 

67. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex. 

68. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold one copy every minute since its 1969 publication.

69. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research. 

70. Reebok, which is being bought by Adidas, traces its history back more than 100 years to Bolton. 

71. Jimi Hendrix pretended to be gay to be discharged from the US Army. 

72. A towel doesn't legally reserve a sun lounger - and there is nothing in German or Spanish law to stop other holidaymakers removing those left on vacant seats. 

73. One in six children think that broccoli is a baby tree. 

74. It takes a gallon of oil to make three fake fur coats. 

75. Each successive monarch faces in a different direction on British coins. 

76. The day when most suicides occurred in the UK between 1993 and 2002 was 1 January, 2000. 

77. The only day in that time when no-one killed themselves was 16 March, 2001, the day Comic Relief viewers saw Jack Dee win Celebrity Big Brother. 

78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

79. The section of coast around Cleethorpes has the highest concentration of caravans in Europe.

80. Fifty-seven Bic Biros are sold every second - amounting to 100bn since 1950. 

81. George Bernard Shaw named his shed after the UK capital so that when visitors called they could be told he was away in London. 

82. Former Labour MP Oona King's aunt is agony aunt Miriam Stoppard. 

83. Britain produces 700 regional cheeses, more even than France. 

84. The actor who plays Mike Tucker in BBC Radio 4's The Archers is the father of the actor who plays Will Grundy. 

85. Japanese knotweed can grow from a piece of root the size of pea. And it can flourish anew if disturbed after lying dormant for more than 20 years. 

86. Hecklers are so-called because of militant textile workers in Dundee. 

87. Pulling your foot out of quicksand takes a force equivalent to that needed to lift a medium-sized car. 

88. A single "mother" spud from southern Peru gave rise to all the varieties of potato eaten today, scientists have learned. 

89. Spanish Flu, the epidemic that killed 50 million people in 1918/9, was known as French Flu in Spain. 

90. Ordinary - not avian - flu kills about 12,000 people in the UK every winter. 

91. Croydon has more CCTV cameras than New York. 

92. You are 176 times more likely to be murdered than to win the National Lottery. 

93. Koalas have fingerprints exactly like humans (although obviously smaller). 

94. Bill Gates does not have an iPod. 

95. The first traffic cones were used in building Preston bypass in the late 1950s, replacing red lantern paraffin burners. 

96. Britons buy about one million pumpkins for Halloween, 99% of which are used for lanterns rather than for eating. 

97. The mother of stocky cricketer - and this year's Strictly Come Dancing champion - Darren Gough was a ballet dancer. She helped him with his pivots. 

98. Nettles growing on land where bodies are buried will reach a foot higher than those growing elsewhere. 

99. The Japanese word "chokuegambo" describes the wish that there were more designer-brand shops on a given street. 

100. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance". 



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4566526.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. David Cameron has 10 sugars in his tea before Prime Minister's Questions, on the advice of William Hague. The sugar he says, coats the larynx, stopping his voice from drying up. 

2. Black Gold caviar costs £20,000 per kilo. 

3. The elected president of a Liberal Democrat constituency party can be as young as 12 - watch out Charles Kennedy. 

4. Cattle are capable of producing 500 litres of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, every day mostly through belching. 

5. The number of crimes solved through DNA technology has quadrupled over the past five years. 

6. A third of orchestral musicians suffer noise-induced hearing loss. 

7. Sea lions may be cute but they are also "very smelly". 

8. A laser beam can travel 15 million miles (25 million km). 

9. Pele has always hated his nickname, which he says sounds like "baby-talk in Portuguese". 

10. 4x4s are no safer for transporting children than ordinary cars, because of their greater risk of rolling over, according to a study published in the US journal Paediatrics. 



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4577242.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Alanis Morisette cuts her own hair. "It's easier," she says. 

2. Newsagent John Menzies is more properly pronounced John Ming-iss. 

3. Box-office revenues for Phantom of the Opera worldwide - more than £1.7bn - exceed those of any film or show in history, including Titanic and Star Wars. 

4. Looking away from a human face helps concentration. 

5. Jeffrey Archer and Menzies Campbell were in the same British athletics team. 

6. Jeremy Paxman's surname was made up by a 14th Century Suffolk ancestor who devised it as a pun on "peace man" when he entered politics. 

7. Tony Blair doesn't slap Leo but did used to slap his other children. 

8. Google employs 40 new staff a week. 

9. Less than 10% of the land in the UK is owned by homeowners. 

10. Bono wears sunglasses because he has sensitive eyes. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4594472.stm

----------


## emily655321

> 4. Looking away from a human face helps concentration.


I knew it! That's why I can't look someone in the eye when I'm talking. It's distracting. I've been trying to seem more confident by maintaining eye contact during a conversation, but then I forget what I'm saying, or what they said, and it's a mess. Much easier just to look at their mouth or their ear.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Tony Blair's gran was a graffiti vandal. 

2. Emperor penguins can hold their breath for 20 minutes underwater. 

3. Web users make their judgements about websites within a twentieth of a second of first seeing it. 

4. There are more pupils on the sex offenders' register than teachers. 

5. The northern bottle-nosed whale in the Thames is the first sighting of the species in the river since records began in 1913. 

6. Members of an isolated tribe in the Amazonian rainforest can understand geometry as well as American schoolchildren 

7. Researchers studying shoppers' baskets found people who bought wine also tended to buy poultry, cooking oil and low-fat cheese. Beer buyers, on the other hand, tended to buy chips, pork, butter, margarine, and sausages. 

8. The late former prime minister, Sir Edward Heath, had a personal fortune of £5.4m. He left most of the money to a charity which will conserve his 18th Century home, Arundells, next to Salisbury Cathedral. 

9. There are more than 150,000 computer viruses in the world. 

10. Seventy percent of 11-15-year-olds do not picture scientists as "normal young and attractive men and women", a poll has suggested. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4616316.stm

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## emily655321

> 6. Members of an isolated tribe in the Amazonian rainforest can understand geometry as well as American schoolchildren


Well, to be fair, that isn't a very high standard to meet.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Whale vomit is used by perfumers, to whom it is known as ambergris, and costs £11-a-gram. 

2. Whales don't drink - they get their water intake from their food. 

3. Aged 13, John Prescott travelled to Brighton with his family to compete for a £1,000 prize in the Most Typical Family competition. 

4. Twenty-eight percent of retail sales in Britain, by value, are shops' "own brand" goods. 

5. Stephen Fry drives a black cab while in London. (Simon Hughes, however, drives a yellow one.) 

6. The composer behind the UK Theme, the medley of English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish tunes which is soon to be axed from Radio 4's early morning routine, was Fritz Spiegl, the man who also wrote the tune to Z-Cars. 

7. Chris Martin wanted to hyphenate daughter Apple's surname, but his wife Gwyneth vetoed the name Paltrow-Martin because "Apple Blythe Alison Martin is just so lovely". 

8. Heather Mills McCartney told her husband Paul that she would only marry him if he gave up smoking cannabis. 

9. One percent of heroin addicts in the UK are treated with state-prescribed heroin. 

10. In the 1960s, the CIA used to watch Mission Impossible to get ideas about spying. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4638900.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Shoppers spend £46m a year on "distraction buys" - items bought to mask embarrassing purchases, such as condoms and treatments for piles, in the same shopping basket. 

2. The term "misfeasance" means to carry out a legal act illegally. 

3. Rats smell in "stereo" - the rodents' brain responding differently to smells from the left and right. 

4. The telegram which informed the world that Orville Wright had successfully flown misspelled his name as "Orevelle". 

5. The communications director of the London Planetarium is called Diane Moon. 

6. Louisiana has the highest rate of coastal land loss in North America - an area the size of Wembley stadium is lost to the sea every 20 minutes. 

7. More households have two or more cars than have none. 

8. Half of all cars sold in the United States are four-wheel drives. 

9. Bill Gates is so rich the US tax department has a special computer devoted solely to his finances. 

10. Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair has a glass cabinet in his office containing a Sikh sword, a Jewish prayer book and a book entitled A Portrait of New Zealand.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4661558.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Queen is the only over-75 not legally required to have a driver's licence. But, like others, she does have to fill out a form every three years declaring any medical conditions. 

2. Architect Sir Christopher Wren was keen to test Newton's theory of gravity by "shooting of a bullet upwards at a certaine angle from the perpendicular round every way - thereby to see whether the bullets soe shot would all fall in a perfect circle". 

3. Between 19,500 and 35,100 children are taking heroin, according to a government survey. 

4. The mitten crab, imported in ships' holds from China, is on the verge of taking over some of the UK's major waterways. 

5. Taxpayers have spent £78m on the Northern Ireland assembly since its suspension, according to Secretary of State Peter Hain. 

6. A "lost world" exists in the Indonesian jungle that is home to dozens of hitherto unknown animal and plant species. 

7. James Dean worked as a stunt tester on the game show Beat the Clock, testing the safety of the stunts that studio audience members would later perform. 

8. Ronald Reagan was born the same day that Rolls Royce started using its famous "Spirit of Ecstasy" on car bonnets - 6 February 1911. 

9. Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson hadn't met before posing nude together for the Vanity Fair cover, despite being close in age and in the same profession. 

10. Whale meat caught under Japan's research programme ends up not only in high-end sushi but in dog food, school meals and as fast-food "whale bacon".


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4685028.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. George Formby's When I'm Cleaning Windows was temporarily banned by the BBC for its suggestive lyrics. 

2. The late Dame Barbara Cartland founded a gypsy site called Barbaraville in Herefordshire in 1963, and it still exists. 

3. Tufty the road safety squirrel had a surname. It was Fluffytail. 

4. Children and teenagers' more acute hearing means they can detect some high-pitched sounds inaudible to adults - and these sounds have been used in a device to ward off gangs from trouble-spots. 

5. Someone with a 20-a-day habit will spend £31,025 on cigarettes over the next 20 years, according to the NHS's stop smoking website. 

6. Male robins are the only birds to sing at night. 

7. And the intensity of a bird's song is related to its testosterone levels - it's the fittest birds that sing the loudest. 

8. Barry Cryer's mentor was the magician David Nixon. 

9. New York is to launch what is thought to be the world's first municipally branded condom to encourage its citizens to have safe sex. 

10. David Cameron's supporters are said to play a game in which they imagine themselves in a political version of Middle Earth, with their leader cast as a Tory Frodo. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4708218.stm

----------


## sdr4jc

1. The Pope owned a pair of Prada shoes.

2. If a cat likes milk, it's because of the fat content, not the sugar. Cats lost one of the two genes required to taste sweets more than a thousand years ago.

3. Baker's chocolate will kill a dog.

4. So will Tylenol.

5. The only animal that scientists have found no benefitial purpose for is the common housefly.

6. Elephants are the only mammals that cant jump.

7. The Guinness Book of Records states that the worlds oldest woman lived to be 126.

8. Scientists still don't know exactly where a cat's purr is made...they can't find the organ...

9. However, they do know that a cat has over 100 documented vocal sounds, where a dog only has about 8.

10. Cats can distinguish the difference between blue and green, but cannot see red. Dogs are entirely colorblind.


**Can you guys tell I'm an animal lover??**

----------


## Scheherazade

1. In an effort to weigh as little as possible, ski jumpers are susceptible to anorexia. 

2. Big Brother's Preston is the great-great-great-great grandson of 19th Century prime minister, Earl Grey - he of the fragrant tea. 

3. Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who is portrayed in the Bafta-winning film Capote, lives a reclusive life in Alabama and has written nothing but four articles since the book's release in 1960. 

4. Ian Gardiner, who played Reginald Molehusband in the classic Public Information Film, was paid £10 for the job. 

5. Kenny Everett did the strangulated cat voice in the Charley Says Public Information Films. 

6. John Irving, the brother of Holocaust-denier historian David Irving, is chairman of the Wiltshire Racial Equality Council. 

7. The political cartoonist Gillray's real name was Carlo Khan. 

8. Daniel Craig, the latest incarnation of 007, cannot drive manual cars - meaning Bond's classic Aston Martin DB5 has had to be converted to automatic. 

9. Christopher Lee, a former Bond villain, is a distant cousin of 007 creator Ian Fleming. 

10. Gwyneth Paltrow is a Two Ronnies fan. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4731516.stm

----------


## steve12553

I'm thoroughly suprised. As completely as my experience is limited to the west side of the Atlantic, I understood eight of those references (counting the Two Ronnies and Gwyneth as one reference.)

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Cats can catch bird flu. 

2. There is a road called Psycho Path in Traverse City, Michigan, US. 

3. Elspeth Campbell, wife of new Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies, wrote her thesis on Coronation Street. 

4. And her father (Major General Roy Urquhart) was portrayed by Sean Connery in the film a Bridge Too Far. 

5. Stephen King doesn't own a mobile phone. 

6. US Secret Service sniffer dogs are put up in five-star hotels during overseas presidential visits. 

7. Alexei Sayle won an International Emmy for comedy, but no one told him. The first he knew was when he saw Channel 4 News, which showed Benny Hill collecting Alexei's award on his behalf. 

8. Flushing a toilet costs, on average, 1.5p. 

9. The name Swarfega, the hand-cleaning product, is derived from "swarf" which is the name for greasy grit in a wheel axle and "ega", which suggested it would work quickly. 

10. Anna Nicole Smith's real name is Vickie Lynn Marshall.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4754608.stm

----------


## chmpman

> 2. There is a road called Psycho Path in Traverse City, Michigan, US.


I heard about this, it won a contest for the oddest street name, I think in the US.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. A new product is launched every three-and-a-half minutes. 

2. The Palestinians have a supreme court. 

3. Syriana - the title of George Clooney's latest film - is a term used by Washington think-tanks to describe hypothetical realignment of the Middle East. 

4. Rhubarb, that classic English fruit, was introduced to Britain from Siberia. 

5. The "Rhubarb triangle" is an area of West Yorkshire farms bordered by Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford, where rhubarb is grown. 

6. Pooh Bear illustrator EH Shepard hated Pooh bear. 

7. Chimpanzees ruin their fingers by walking on their knuckles. 

8. It's possible to generate a temperature 133 times greater than the interior of the sun - scientists have produced a gas exceeding 3.6 billion degrees Fahrenheit, although they don't know how they did it.

9. Hummingbirds are the only creatures, apart from humans, known to have an episodic memory - enabling them to remember where and when they last fed.

10. HSBC, which has announced record UK banking profits of £11.9bn, makes a profit of just £1.05 per week from each of its UK personal customers. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...0.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Himalayas cover one-tenth of the Earth's surface. 

2. Pandas are the only bears not to hibernate - their bamboo diet isn't sufficiently fattening. 

3. Lord Levy, recruited by Tony Blair to raise money for the Labour party, made his own fortune managing Alvin Stardust, among others. 

4. In a fight between a polar bear and a lion, the polar bear would win. 

5. Aston Barrett, the bassist in Bob Marley's band, has 52 children. 

6. Tests conducted on a rare Chinese frog with no external eardrums have shown it uses ultrasound to communicate. 

7. The 18th Century horse Eclipse, the ancestor of an estimated 80% of modern thoroughbreds, had only averagely long legs. 

8. Nearly a third of people aged 25 to 34 in the UK have a tattoo, a survey has found. 

9. More of those with tattoos (17%) work in media and marketing than do in the Armed forces (9%). 

10. Shortly after the InterCity 125 was introduced, the UK had the highest proportion of trains running at more than 100mph of any country. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4800864.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Goths, those pasty-faced teenagers who revel in black clothing, are likely to become doctors, lawyers and architects, according to a study by Sussex University. 

2. Nelson Mandela used to steal pigs as a child. 

3. In the UK there are: 275,000km of gas pipes; 353,000km of sewer pipes; 396,000km of water pipes, and 482,000km of electricity cables. 

4. Jacques Chirac spent time in his youth as a forklift driver at a US brewery. 

5. More than 3,000 BT internet customers download up to 200 gigabytes each month. 

6. There are an average of 4.4 sparrows in each British garden, a study has found. In 1979, there were 10 per garden. 

7. No chancellor of the exchequer in more than 150 years has delivered 10 Budgets in a row. Gordon Brown achieved that feat this week. 

8. Electricity for Number 10 Downing Street is supplied by a French company. 

9. Boris Johnson calls Harriet Harman "Hattie". 

10. Under the Estate Agents Act 1979, anyone can set up in business as one unless they have been banned by the Office of Fair Trading or are bankrupt. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4824504.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The average British woman worries about the size and shape of her body every 15 minutes. 

2. This Easter weekend will see 2.3 million people travelling through the UK's airports. 

3. Six seats in the Italian Senate depend on the votes of Italians living abroad. 

4. A flag expert is a vexillologist. 

5. Coins which are called "coppers", such as the penny, have been made from steel since 1992. 

6. Compensation payments to teachers following personal injuries, such as assaults by pupils, amounted to £7.6m last year. 

7. Berlin's tallest building, a television tower, will have a giant 32 metre football placed on top for the World Cup. 

8. Iceland has the highest concentration of broadband users in the world. 

9. The suicide rate in the UK is at its lowest rate since records began in 1910. 

10. Tony Blair is the first prime minister in recent times not to use RAF aircraft for family holidays. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4895278.stm

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The average British woman worries about the size and shape of her body every 15 minutes.


If the average British man is like the average American man, he's probably worriying about the size and shape of *her*  body every 5 minutes.  :Biggrin: 

Nice to see you back, Scher.

----------


## Scheherazade

> Nice to see you back, Scher.


Thank you, Virgil!  :Smile: 

1. Charles Webb, who wrote The Graduate about himself and his female partner Fred, is still with her. The pair live in Hove, East Sussex, but are flat broke and facing eviction from their flat. 

2. A hen can take on the characteristics of a cockerel - comb and wattle, crowing, trying to mate with hens - if the cockerel in their brood is removed. But they do not develop male sex organs. 

3. British diplomats have a call-out rate of £84.50 an hour. 

4. Paint is classed as a "hazardous article" under new health and safety rules governing public transport, and can only be taken on a bus if "carried in two containers". 

5. Vanessa Mae is worth more than Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, which estimates Ms Mae's wealth at £32m compared to Mr Martin's £25m fortune. 

6. Yellow, the Coldplay hit that ranked fifth in a recent roundup of Britain's favourite lyric, was inspired, in part by a copy of the Yellow Pages. 

7. The Queen has visited every country in the Commonwealth except Cameroon. 

8. Homer Simpson's hair is drawn as an "M" and his ear as a "G", representing the initials of Simpson's animator Matt Groening. 

9. Suri - the name of Tom Cruise's new daughter - means "pickpocket" in Japanese. 

10. Camel's milk, which is widely drunk in Arab countries, has 10 times more iron than cow's milk. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...0.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Domestic chores take up an average nine years, two months and 25 days over a lifetime. 

2. The Labour Party spent £299.63 on Star Trek outfits for the last election, while the Tories shelled out £1,269 to import groundhog costumes. 

3. Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown says that when he needs inspiration he hangs upside-down in gravity boots. 

4. John Prescott's middle name is Leslie. 

5. The best-value consumer purchase in terms of the price and usage is an electric kettle. 

6. An artificial insect eye, the size of a pin head and containing over 8,500 hexagonal lenses, is being developed for use as an ultra-thin camera. 

7. Londoners spend four more hours per week using the internet than the national average. 

8. The most popular employment destination for graduates is the media, followed by teaching, investment banking, marketing and accountancy. 

9. Retirement is viewed as a "time of happiness" by 82% of people in Britain - much higher than the global average. 

10. Singer Tony Christie is to release a World Cup version of his song, (Is This the Way to) Amarillo? It is to be called (Is This the Way to) the World Cup? 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...4.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Each year 300 men are diagnosed with breast cancer. 

2. There's a scientific scientific term for holding your breath - it's apnoea. 

3. In Bhutan government policy is based on Gross National Happiness; thus most street advertising is banned, as are tobacco and plastic bags. 

4. Every 10 minutes of commuting cuts your social involvement by a 10th - so 10 percent fewer family dinners, club meetings and other forms of interaction. 

5. In 20 minutes - the time it takes to vote - local councils issue £4,269 worth of speed camera fines. 

6. And collect £38,052 in parking ticket fines. 

7. Metal detector enthusiasts are referred to as "detectorists"; there are about 30,000 hobbyists in the UK. 

8. "Teen chick lit" - a genre which includes the plagiarised novel by the Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan - boosted sales of juvenile fiction books in the United States by 20 percent from 2004 to 2005. 

9. Seven in 10 UK households have digital service to at least one TV set; yet there are still 40m sets still to be converted before the analogue signal is switched off. 

10. Thirty-six percent of builders regard themselves as middle-class and 30 percent of bank managers say they are working-class. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4961874.stm

----------


## AimusSage

Hey, Guess what I'm doing! I'm apnoea-ing. Hey, I have to do something, I commute 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, my social life must be nearly non-existant.

----------


## Virgil

> Hey, Guess what I'm doing! I'm apnoea-ing. Hey, I have to do something, I commute 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, my social life must be nearly non-existant.


Wow. That's horrible. My commute is an hour each way, and I thought that was bad. Commuting stinks.

----------


## AimusSage

I just sleep 3 hours less each day, and catch up in the commute, either that or I study. It's a bus, so I don't have to concentrate on the road. It's the apnoea-ing that's difficult. I can only manage to do that a minute or so.

----------


## Virgil

I car pool. I drive once or twice a week. Otherwise I try to sleep.

----------


## AimusSage

I once tried to Apnoea during the whole commute, but it didn't work, sleeping truly is the best way to deal with it.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Dolphins communicate like humans by calling - more accurately, whistling - each other by "name". 

2. Fidel Castro is worth $900m according to Forbes although he insists his net worth is zero. 

3. The short xylophone ditty that Apple Mac computers play is called Sosumi - a contraction of So Sue Me - Apple's cheeky riposte to the Beatles' Apple Corps. 

4. George Bush's personal highlight of his presidency so far is catching a 7.5lb (3.4kg) perch. 

5. The architect of Centrepoint - London's most obvious modernist landmark - built more buildings in the capital than Sir Christopher Wren. His name was Richard Seifert. 

6. Britain is still paying off debts that predate the Napoleonic wars because it's cheaper to do so than buy back the bonds on which they are based. 

7. In Japan, boys in secondary school wear an outfit modelled on 19th Century Prussian army uniforms. 

8. Despite the abundance of aerial shots of tall gleaming City of London buildings, Sir Alan Sugar's company Amstrad is based in a low-rise block in Brentwood, Essex. 

9. Employees of the British Nuclear Group are entitled to an annual underwear allowance of £70. 

10. Five billion apples eaten a year in the UK. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...2.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. More women read the heavy metal bible Kerrang! than men. 

2. The Japanese get through 25 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks a year. 

3. Sir Paul McCartney is only the second richest music millionaire in the UK - Clive Calder, is top. 

4. Publishers have coined the term "Brownsploitation" for the rash of books that have sprung up in the wake of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code blockbuster. 

5. NBC has acquired the rights to develop and screen a US version of the Eurovision Song Contest in which the 50 US states will compete against each other. 

6. Noel Edmonds dyes his goatee. 

7. Cloud seeding - putting chemicals into clouds - was reportedly used during the 1976 drought in an effort to make it rain. 

8. Modern teenagers are better behaved than their counterparts of 20 years ago, showing "less problematic behaviour" involving sex, drugs and drink. 

9. You can be prosecuted for putting non-recyclable rubbish into your household recycling bin. 

10. Children are smuggling junk food such as crisps and sweets into schools which have banned unhealthy food. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...9.stm#10things

----------


## jackyyyy

> 7. Cloud seeding - putting chemicals into clouds - was reportedly used during the 1976 drought in an effort to make it rain.


Chemicals! Explains why rain dancing made a comeback.



> 8. Modern teenagers are better behaved than their counterparts of 20 years ago, showing "less problematic behaviour" involving sex, drugs and drink.


Sure, I can see how their parents would conclude that.



> 9. You can be prosecuted for putting non-recyclable rubbish into your household recycling bin.


I have no problem putting it on the street.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Rule 2.25 of the Chelsea Flower Show regulations bans entrants from including garden gnomes in their displays. Bunting, balloons and flags are also banned. 

2. Wayne Rooney is able to fill his computer-controlled bath by text message. 

3. A dinosaur is named after Mark Knopfler because the team of palaeontologists that found it were listening to his music at the time. It's the Masiakasaurus knopfleri. 

4. The egg came first. 

5. Erotomania is the name of the condition in which a person holds a delusional belief that someone is in love with them. 

6. Humans were first infected with the HIV virus in the 1930s. 

7. There are 220 million vegetarians in India. 

8. Special branch officers guarding former Prime Minister Lord Callaghan were frustrated at an unreliable security system on his Sussex farm that was confused by cattle, pigs and dung heaps and allowed a Jehovah's Witness to get all the way to the house and speak to Callaghan undetected. 

9. Dry weather makes for less polluted beaches. 

10.There are 64,726 electronically tagged offenders in the UK. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...2.stm#10things

----------


## Weeping Willow

Hmmm..
Ok.. dunno if it's ok but this is my own 10 things.. .. 

1. People at my workplace are totaly Crazy and wierd.. and i love almost each and everyone of the for that!

2. A Digital Camera that with videos can become a really useful and amusing thing..

3. The First person recording The Song "the lion sleeps tonight", "Mbube" or "Wimoweh" was a man.

4. The song was Recorded in 1941 but was Writen in 1939 by the same man.

5. Solomon Linda was his name..

6. Someone created a Flash movie against mass meat factory market named the Meatrix.

7. they even have a sequel and a whole site around the subject..

8. Aimus looks like the actor Roy Dupuis.

9. Smoke when you are sick is very bad for your throat..

10. Translating Hebrew thoughts to English is really not Easy!

----------


## poetru_fanatic

(1) Katie wanted to kiss me
(2) My bf wants to be with me for the rest of my life
(3) My friends are really wiered....
(4) Not all men are annoying.. Some are dead
(5) My dad will randomly show up just because he wants a hug (I feel sorry for him when I do decide to move out of the house)
(6) When I truly am board and have nothing (and I mean nothing) to do, I WILL resort to cleaning
(7) I need to be pushed to a huge extreem in order for me to pass these exams with flying colors.
(8) My whole summer revolves around books and my bf.... *Wow Im actually going to take some reading time out of my summer to see people?* LMFAO
(9) Theres people talking behind me about waxing body parts but Im not too sure I wanna know exactly where anymore.
(10) I have an awkward life, lifestyle, and.... what was I saying???

There we go...
Oh crap I know where their talking about now.... Im too young (15 =p) to be in this conversation with them....

(11) I act so bloody childish sometimes.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. One in four smokers use roll-ups. 

2. About 7% of England's land - equivalent to 1.6 million football pitches - is open for the public. 

3. Files on nuclear waste from the recently-closed Windscale reactor at Sellafield are kept on acid-free paper, stored in copper bags, with no plastic binders or staples to contaminate the pages. 

4. Professional football referees can run 13km in a match. 

5. The croquet set John Prescott so memorably used at Dorneywood was presented to the grace-and-favour house by previous resident Kenneth Clarke. 

6. There are about two million cohabiting couples in the UK . 

7. The writer/director of Withnail and I had his £70,000 pay packet cut to £40,000 to pay for the elaborate scene in which Withnail and his mate drove back to London and were stopped by coppers for drink driving. 

8. It takes 354,000 scrap tyres to make a mile of re-cycled rubber road. 

9. Music can help reduce chronic pain by more than 20% and can alleviate depression by up to 25%. 

10. The vaults beneath the Bank of England, which include three disused wells, have more floorspace than the City of London's tallest building, Tower 42 (formerly the NatWest Tower). 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...2.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Dogs with harelips can end up with two noses. 

2. Gabardine is a rival to modern, synthetic mountaineering clothes - being lighter, hardwearing and water-resistant. 

3. Nearly five times as many people commit suicide in Japan as die in traffic accidents. In the UK, adult deaths by suicide outstrip all road traffic deaths by about 60%. 

4. Children inherit a taste for meat and fish but acquire a liking, or loathing, for vegetables. 

5. Private individuals can buy up parts of the Moon thanks to a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty that simply forbade any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon. 

6. Parents of toddlers spend an average of £406 a year on their child's clothing. 

7. John Cleese flies from his home in Los Angeles to London to visit his dentist. 

8. Clitoris derives its name from the ancient Greek word kleitoris, meaning "little hill". 

9. A domestic cat can frighten a black bear to climb a tree. 

10. Wrinkles can determine whether a smoker is more likely to develop lung disease - those with wrinkles have a five times higher risk of disease than those with smooth skin. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...6.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. So much wine is produced in Europe that hundreds of millions of bottles are distilled into industrial alcohol each year to help drain the "wine lake". 

2. Multiple births increased by about a third in the UK between 1984 and 2004 - thanks to IVF treatment and better diets. 

3. More than 10% of new cars sold in Sweden run on alternative fuel. 

4. Confucius's proper name was Kong Zi, and all the world's three million Kongs are popularly supposed to be his descendants. 

5. The word "time" is the most common noun in the English language, according to the latest Oxford dictionary. 

6. 41% of English women have punched or kicked their partners, according to a study. 

7. Frank Lampard, Jodie Marsh, Jack Straw and Noel Edmonds all went to the same school - posh fee-paying Brentwood School in Essex. 

8. The VC10 plane in the Queen's Flight fleet - used by Cabinet ministers and the Royals - has backward-facing seats, which exacerbate travel sickness. 

9. John Prescott has never sent an e-mail. 

10. Keanu Reeves doesn't own a computer and instead corresponds with friends by hand-written letters. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5094168.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Archaelogists who have found evidence of hunting and butchering of elephants in Kent, 400,000 years ago, believe that the elephant meat was eaten raw. 

2. While 53% of households have access to a garage, only 24% use them for parking cars. 

3. Siestas are not a southern European invention. An afternoon sleep was common in northern Europe before the industrial revolution. 

4. Ants judge distance by counting their steps, suggest researchers from Switzerland and Germany. 

5. The Facebook social networking website is so popular among students that there is now a verb "to facebook" someone. 

6. Alcohol-related mental health cases, among in-patients, increased by 75 per cent in the past decade. 

7. Harry Potter author JK Rowling says that "in something like 1990" she had already decided upon the final chapter of the concluding seventh book in the series. 

8. Givenchy perfume's new model for its Angel or Demon range is Marie de Villepin, the daughter of France's prime minister. 

9. John Vassall, who spied for the Soviet Union, was given an emergency number to contact: Kensington 8955 and he was instructed to ask for "Miss Mary". 

10. Mortgage borrowing now accounts for 42% of take-home salary. The total mortgage debt has passed £1 trillion for the first time. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5116502.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Pirates holding a ship's crew hostage can expect a $200,000 ransom. 

2. Speed-eating contests date from 1916 among US immigrants downing hot-dogs to prove their patriotism. 

3. Mammoths, previously thought to be dark-haired, were also blond and possibly ginger, suggest researchers analysing 43,000-year-old bones. 

4. In the 1970s a typical home would only have had 17 objects requiring power such as electricity. 

5. Poor people are 10 times more likely to die younger than rich people, says the Institute of Fiscal Studies. 

6. Half of lightning deaths occur after the thunderstorm has passed. 

7. A space shuttle suit includes special underwear. 

8. The CND symbol incorporates the semaphore letters for N and D for nuclear and disarmament. 

9. The grunts made by tennis player Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon were louder than a pneumatic drill. 

10. Albino horses have to use sun lotion to prevent their skin blistering in hot weather. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5140306.stm

----------


## thevintagepiper

1. Things are going to be alright 

2. Where my new house will be

3. That when I move I will still have my own room

4. That I'm allowed to see teh new POTC movie

5. That my dad is supportive of me and my feelings even more than I knew

6. This can still be hard

7. Webcams are a pain but a blessing

8. The script for The Princess Bride was written by William Goldman at least 2o years before the movie was made

9. Eisley's "Memories" music video should be out next week 

10. In the Lord of the Rings films they used giant robot people things...

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## Scheherazade

1. People added uranium ore to their water jugs in the 1920s as it was thought to improve health. 

2. And Radium-brand toothpaste, condoms and shoe polish were sold as the word was indicative of quality, much as "platinum" is today. 

3. Forty-eight percent of the population is ex-directory. 

4. Nasa worked on inflatable spacecraft in the 1960s. 

5. An SAS dog made more than 20 parachute drops in World War II. 

6. Red Buttons - real name Aaron Chwatt - took his surname from the nickname for hotel porters, a job he did in his teens. 

7. Nerve cells grow along bundles of a special fibre similar to spider silk. 

8. About 750 copies of Shakespeare's First Folio, which set down 18 plays for the first time, were printed 1623 - some 230 survive. 

9. The Severn Estuary has the second highest tides in the world. 

10. The postcode with the highest income in the country is KT19 7, for West Ewell, near Epsom in Surrey. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5164320.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. British bathrooms usually have two taps instead of one because, historically, British plumbing provides hot and cold water at different pressures, meaning mixer taps are more difficult to fit. 

2. A professional pronouncer is called an "orthoepist" - and it can be pronounced three different ways. 

3. There are 60 Acacia Avenues in the UK. 

4. If left alone, 70% of birthmarks marks gradually fade away. 

5. Kenneth Clarke invented road humps. 

6. We sleep more deeply when we sleep alone - but when sharing, women sleep more soundly than men. 

7. Gritters come out in hot weather too - to spread rock dust, which stops roads melting. 

8. The exploits of the SAS parachuting dog mentioned in last week's 10 things were, in fact, a ruse. Rob the collie did little more than cheer up ground staff, according to one of the last surviving officers from his regiment. 

9. A morris dancing group is called a side. 

10. Jarvis Cocker watches CBeebies and rates Barnaby Bear but not the Fimbles. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5186642.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. It's illegal to fly a national flag without permission from a local council - unless it is flown from a vertical flagpole - meaning thousands of football fans were technically breaking the law during the World Cup by displaying the Cross of St George. 

2. When filming summer scenes in winter, actors suck on ice cubes just before the camera rolls - it cools their mouths so their breath doesn't condense in the cold air. 

3. 99 ice creams have been so-called since the 1930s, when they were more of an ice cream sandwich than a cone. 

4. The Nazis went out of their way to condemn Superman, with Goebbels writing a polemic in April 1940 in Das Schwarze Korps, the SS newspaper. 

5. Boutros Boutros Ghali's mobile phone ringtone is Oh My Darling and When the Saints (as listeners to Radio 4's Today programme unexpectedly heard on Wednesday morning). 

6. Gordon Brown was presented with a Ferrari pedal car by the Italian finance minister, revealed the register of ministerial gifts. He paid £190 to keep it. 

7. Once body temperature reaches 42C, it starts to cook. The heat causes the proteins in each cell to irreversibly change. 

8. The average film running time is now two hours. 

9. DR Congo boasts not only copper and gold and diamonds but also most of the world's deposits of a mineral called coltan, which is used in mobile phones. 

10. Tokyo's subway has women-only carriages to protect female commuters from groping. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5209286.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Thirty percent of people with digital cameras never print their pictures. 

2. Shoe injuries are on the rise - half a dozen women are admitted to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff during weekend evenings suffering from them. 

3. There are only four members of the Shaker religious sect left in the world. 

4. The new chief executive of Ben and Jerry's is called Walt Freese. 

5. California was the 12th largest source of greenhouse gasses last year - 41% of which is down to transport (as opposed to 28% in the UK). 

6. British motorists are the most uptight in Europe, with 87% sometimes very annoyed by other drivers. 

7. Almost all the leatherback turtles found dead in UK waters have died from ingesting discarded plastic bags, which they mistake for jellyfish, one of their main food sources. 

8. Lord Tebbit is a "huge fan" of Deal or No Deal. 

9. It's illegal to make confetti out of euro bank notes. 

10. The oleander (Nerium oleander) plant is perhaps the most lethal plant in the British Isles today - one small portion of leaf could knock you out. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...8.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Only children are the least likely to be able to make other people laugh, say psychologists. Only 11% of children without siblings have this talent. 

2. Newspapers in the UK have given away 54 million DVDs this year, about the same number as have been sold by retailers. 

3. The original film footage of the first Apollo XI moon landing has been lost. 

4. There are 32,000 workers living on-site at the production centre in China where iPods are manufactured. 

5. Televisions with plasma screens can consume four times as much electricity as cathode ray tube televisions. 

6. Involuntary bad language, a symptom affecting about one in 10 people with Tourette's syndrome, is called "coprolalia". 

7. There's an A-level in critical thinking - Theo Walcott's girlfriend, Melanie Slade, passed it. 

8. The town of Barga in Tuscany claims to be "the most Scottish in Italy" - and this week held its annual Scottish festival. 

9. There are two million cars and trucks in Brazil which run on alcohol. 

10. Watching television can act as a natural painkiller for children, say researchers from the University of Siena.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4790045.stm

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Trap-jaw ants have been recorded closing their jaws at 66 mph, the fastest known speed for an animal moving its body parts. 

2. Caprice's surname is Bourret. 

3. There is only one cheddar cheese maker in Cheddar, even though cheddar is the most popular hard cheese in the English-speaking world. 

4. Cartoon cat Tom smoked roll-ups. But a scene showing him rolling his own cigarette, only using one hand, is to be cut from screenings on children's television. 

5. For every 10 successful attempts to climb Mount Everest there is one fatality, says a report from a medical journal. 

6. Cows can have regional accents, says a professor of phonetics, after studying cattle in Somerset 

7. Cups of tea can be healthier than water, according to some nutritionists. 

8. Despite the iPod's success, Apple has had to pay Creative for use of its patented technology. 

9. There are 300,000 people aged 90 or over in the UK. 

10. A million guitars were sold in the UK last year, more than double the number sold five years ago. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5270228.stm

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## Shannanigan

> 1. Thirty percent of people with digital cameras never print their pictures.


Oh I bet it is soooooooooo much more than that with all the people who just keep photos on their computer and send them through the internet!

Honestly, why print when everybody has a computer and instead of lugging albums around you can just have photos on a disk or flash drive?

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Everyday school expenses - such as uniforms - cost families an average &#163;1,300 a year. 

2. Some Royal Mail stamps, which of course carry the Queen's image, are printed in Holland. 

3. 88% of couples in long and happy relationships have lips of similar size, according to research by the University of Leicester. 

4. London has the best public transport system in the world (well, according to readers of TripAdvisor.com). 

5. Helen Mirren was born Ilyena Lydia Moronoff, the daughter of a Russian-born violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

6. The Airfix swastika decals are banned from kits for sale in Germany. 

7. Toytown, the horse which carried Zara Phillips to equestrian gold, cost just &#163;400. 

8. Chinese Girl, a painting by Vladimir Tretchikoff, who died last week, is believed to have sold more in print form than the Mona Lisa or Van Gogh's Sunflowers. 

9. Some sharks can't reproduce until the age of 20 or above. 

10. Dipping seagull eggs in oil, so they do not hatch, is seen as the best way to limit the seagull population. Shooting the birds is too dangerous, while smashing eggs just leads to gulls laying more. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...4.stm#10things

----------


## kathycf

Well, I don't know if anybody posted these before (too lazy to search through the whole thread  :Blush:  ) but here are a few fun facts about my native land.

1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

2. Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while
healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

4. Only in America......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

5. Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

7. Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

8. Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

9. Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

10. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.


Many thanks to my friend Sara who passed this information on to me.  :Biggrin:

----------


## kathycf

> 5. Helen Mirren was born Ilyena Lydia Moronoff, the daughter of a Russian-born violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.


and she shares a birthday with me...July 26th.  :Smile:

----------


## AimusSage

> 3. 88% of couples in long and happy relationships have lips of similar size, according to research by the University of Leicester.


3. Now that is interesting, what with many women nowadays filling up their lips with collagen, could this be why so many divorce?  :Goof: 




> 6. The Airfix swastika decals are banned from kits for sale in Germany.


6. Airfix is out of business anyway, so I don't really so how that is a problem anymore. Airfix crashes and burns It's sad really, I like to build models, if not plastic ones.

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Everyday school expenses - such as uniforms - cost families an average £1,300 a year.


Do kids in England have to wear uniforms to school? I think that's a great idea. They are trying it in the Detroit school system and residents are rebelling. I think it makes the kids better.

----------


## Nightshade

> I think it makes the kids better.


HaHa and sorry HA!

I dont see as it makes a differance myself. The things people do to their uniforms  :Cold:  
Mind you thats high school I think it may work quite well for the primaries except you can see the fashion. that is tyhe uniforms are made buy shops and not buy schools.
Last years bhs Summer dresses were gorgeous but obviously more exspensive.

----------


## Scheherazade

Yes, kids do wear uniforms in the UK (at least till they are 16) and I think they are great. Parents don't worry about children's outfits day in, day out. Also, they provide some kind of equality between children. Even if they come from poorer backgrounds, they don't have to worry about not having designer label clothes or as many different outfits as their friends etc when they are at school at least. 

And truants can be spotted very easily too if they are wearing uniforms!  :Wink:

----------


## Nightshade

ok thats true. I ve seen boys on the train leaving the town in school uniform and gone  :Confused:  oi what are you doing out of school. ( of course I never actually said that as Im not fond of being told to well you can guess.

I may not think it makes the behave but I do think its better than nonuniform itseasier on the kids too You can et up i the morning and you KNOW what you will wear instead of going I know its been cleaned but I wore that on monday.

----------


## Madhuri

1. India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization

2. Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today?

3. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

4. India is the world's largest democracy.

5. India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

6. The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

7. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

8. Sanskrit is also known as "The Mother of all Languages", although it, like Latin, Greek and Persian, actually descends from Proto-Indo-European (PIE).

9. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.

10. Temple of Lord Venketeshwara is the second busiest and richest religious centre in the world after the Vatican. Every year above 12 million people visit this temple from within India and the world but mostly from South India. The current receipts of the shrine are estimated at Rs 10 Billion p.a.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There were seven unsuccessful attempts by early humans to settle in Britain, before the first successful attempt, 12,000 years ago. 

2. Chimpanzees are learning how to cross roads safely, researchers in West Africa have discovered. 

3. Estate agent signs from Northern Ireland are being re-used as roofing tiles in South Africa. 

4. The model railway market in Germany is the biggest in Europe and is estimated to be six times larger than in the UK. 

5. Bob Dylan inspired Pam Ayres to write poetry. 

6. The world's fastest supercomputer will have its speed measured in "petaflops", which represent 1,000 trillion calculations per second. 

7. Migrant workers send back &#163;149bn to their families in developing countries, says the United Nations. 

8. Stingray barbs are up to six inches long and before Steve Irwin's death, they had caused only two other fatalities in Australia. 

9. The term Eastenders was coined by the media in the 1880s, with these Victorian Londoners being associated with crime and ill-health. 

10. The medical name for the part of the brain associated with teenage sulking is "superior temporal sulcus". 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...2.stm#10things

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Half of 15 year olds drink alcohol every week. 

2. George Alagiah's surname is actually pronounced "ullerhiya".

3. The InterCity 125 train was designed by the same man who came up with the angle-poise lamp and Kenwood Chef mixer.

4. Pavements are tested using an 80 square metre artificial pavement at a research centre called Pamela (the Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory). 

5. Acorns are toxic to ponies and cattle (but not to the pigs brought into the New Forest to feast on the fruits).

6. Cyclists in the UK can be prosecuted for "furious cycling".

7. Russian premier Khrushchev's favourite dish was stinging nettle soup. 

8. Areas of ice the size of Turkey have disappeared from the Arctic in a single year. 

9. Overseas student numbers around the world have doubled in a decade to 2.7 million students. 

10. A common American poplar has twice as many genes as a human being. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...w_last_w.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1) Women who attended single-sex schools earn more than those who were taught in mixed schools. 

2) Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. 

3) A Smurf is three apples tall. 

4) Mosquitoes have a sweet tooth, a weakness to be exploited by an anti-malaria project. 

5) Four of the top 10 people on the Forbes rich list derive their wealth from the Wal-Mart chain. 

6) Eating a packet of crisps a day is equivalent to drinking five litres of cooking oil a year.

7) More than one in four pupils have played truant from school in the past year. 

8) Pearl and Dean's a-pa-pa pa-pa theme tune, played in cinemas before the ads, is called Asteroid.

9) Plant seeds that have been stored for more than 200 years can be coaxed into new life.

10) There were no numbers in the very first UK phone directory, only names and addresses. Operators would connect callers. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...this_w_1.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There are more than 600 full-time creative writing degree courses at UK universities. 

2. Lionesses favour balder lions, with less of a hairy mane. (Do not despair if you are losing hair fast, guys!  :Biggrin: )

3. Ubuntu, espoused by Bill Clinton, is the African philosophy which means "I am because you are.

4. Menthol cigarettes are harder to give up than normal cigarettes.

5. The brain is soft and gelatinous - its consistency is something between jelly and cooked pasta.

6. People suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome can be helped by talking about it, say researchers.

7. China executes more prisoners than the rest of the world put together. 

8. One in eight children in primary schools in England have English as a second language.

9. Europe has a Buddhist state - the Russian republic of Kalmykia.

10. The Mona Lisa used to hang on the wall of Napoleons bedroom. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a004979

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Some Amish people have phones in trees near their houses to get round the ban on them at home. 

2. More than 90% of plane crashes have survivors. 

3. Pollen can cause havoc on the railways, by blocking train radiators. 

4. Duck a l'orange is not from France, but Renaissance Italy. 

5. Peter Kay and Ronnie Barker used to write to each other in character - Barker as Fletch from Porridge and Kay as Brian Potter from Phoenix Nights.

6. Dung beetles prefer horse and dog faeces to those of camels and foxes. 

7. Parents spend four times as much time with their children now as in the 1970s.

8. Computer games are a powerful learning tool according to government-funded research.

9. Bullets can’t penetrate more than two metres of water.

10. Tony Blair’s favourite meal to cook is spaghetti bolognaise. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a005231

----------


## Serenata

1. Man Candy, though a good dancer solo, is an awkward couple dancer.

2. Hypoglycemia and a junk fest don't mix well.

3. Six teenage girls can sleep comfortably on a king-size bed.

4. How to curse in other languages.

5. Yell leaders are awesome.

6. Man Candy is a good yell-leader.

7. Parents don't truly appreciate you until the dishes pile up.

8. People I don't like have more talent than they should.

9. School shootings are becoming a popular use of time.

10. English is a crazy language.

----------


## ShoutGrace

> 3. Six teenage girls can sleep comfortably on a king-size bed.


Oh woe! And I try so hard to keep away from lewd content on the Internet.





> 3) A Smurf is three apples tall.


 :Eek:   :Eek:   :Eek:   :Eek:

----------


## Virgil

> 3. Ubuntu, espoused by Bill Clinton, is the African philosophy which means "I am because you are.


I wonder how Monica fits into that.  :Wink:

----------


## Serenata

> Oh woe! And I try so hard to keep away from lewd content on the Internet.


There was nothing lewd about that. I did say sleeping. Ahh. Fun sleepovers at Chrys's.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. In Kingston upon Thames, men on average live to be 78. In Kingston-upon-Hull it is 73.

2. The Queen's got great legs (according to Helen Mirren).

3. Seventy percent of victims of police shootings are shot in the back or the side. 

4. Each person sends an average of 55 greetings cards per year. 

5. Cats and some other mammals are thought to navigate using magnetised cells in their brains.

6. Chris De Burgh has healing hands. 

7. Kim Jong-il is an obsessive James Bond fan.

8. Joggers who run with their backs to the traffic are twice as likely to die as those who face oncoming cars.

9. Just one cow gives off enough harmful methane gas in a single day to fill around 400 litre bottles. 

10. Eighty-five percent of women working in brothels in the UK are from overseas, where 10 years ago 85% were from Britain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a005452

----------


## Nightshade

> 9. Just one cow gives off enough harmful methane gas in a single day to fill around 400 litre bottles.


Is methane natural gas? As in a fuel? cant people bottle it?



> 10. Eighty-five percent of women working in brothels in the UK are from overseas, where 10 years ago 85% were from Britain.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a005452


white slavery???

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Australian investment group which is buying Thames Water also owns the transmitters on which the BBC is broadcast.

2. Twice as many people turn their heads to the right to kiss as to the left, say researchers.

3. Nearly one internet user in 10 has started a blog, according to Harris Research.

4. A dwarf species of hippopotamus once lived on Cyprus. 

5. There are 375 people reported missing each day, on average, according to the National Missing Persons Helpline.

6. More than one in eight people in the United States show signs of addiction to the internet, says a study.

7. The warm autumn has seen North African butterflies appearing in Scotland. 

8. One third of all the cod fished in the world is consumed in the UK. 

9. UK customs officials intercept attempts to smuggle in 150 live birds and animals, and 6,400 animal parts, each week. 

10. Boys GCSE results have improved to the level that girls had reached seven years ago. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Pelicans can swallow pigeons whole. 

2. Pelicans were first introduced into London's St James's Park as a gift from the Russian ambassador.

3. Sex workers in Roman times charged the equivalent price of eight glasses of red wine.

4. Only 12% of the adult male population had more than one sexual partner in the past year, says the Office for National Statistics. 

5. Finland is the only country in the world which broadcasts the news in Latin.

6. The 100-million-year-old bee fossil found in Burma is so well preserved scientists can see individual hairs.

7. English is now the only "traditional" academic subject in the top 10 most popular university courses.

8. The number of people committing suicide in the UK has fallen to its lowest recorded level.

9. A very small front garden can hold up to 700 different species of insect.

10. Kellogg's Special K in the UK has 31% more sugar than Special K in the US. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a005930

----------


## Virgil

> 3. Sex workers in Roman times charged the equivalent price of eight glasses of red wine.


Hey that's about two bottles of wine, or about 30-40 dollars. Which, depending on the quality of the hooker, is about what it costs these days too. Some things never change. :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Hey that's about two bottles of wine, or about 30-40 dollars. Which, depending on the quality of the hooker, is about what it costs these days too. Some things never change.


Thanks for that info, Virgil. Some of us were wondering what the going rate these days were.

 :Biggrin:

----------


## cuppajoe_9

> Oh woe! And I try so hard to keep away from lewd content on the Internet.


Not _that_ comfortably.

----------


## kilted exile

> Is methane natural gas? As in a fuel? cant people bottle it?


Yep, Methane is natural gas (along with Propane). The main problem is how to bottle it, I aint tried but I would imagine the cow would be upset if you tried to shove a collection tube up it  :FRlol:  On a serious note a more viable way to collect methane would be from landfill sites (at the majority it is flared) the problem is you have the issue of seperating out the methane from other gases (such as H2S etc)




> Hey that's about two bottles of wine, or about 30-40 dollars. Which, depending on the quality of the hooker, is about what it costs these days too. Some things never change.


I dont think I wanna know how you know that.

----------


## Scheherazade

> I dont think I wanna know how you know that.


 :Biggrin: 



__________________

----------


## Scheherazade

1. John Prescott's now defunct Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spent £5,095 over the past four years on branded pens, carrier bags and note pads for exhibitions and events. 

2. Spending on Halloween has risen ten-fold - from £12m to £120m in the UK, in five years. 

3. Elephants can recognise their own reflection, something only before seen in humans, great apes and bottlenose dolphins. 

4. Ten-pence is the going rate for clearing up a piece of chewing gum. 

5. Coco Chanel started the trend for sun tans in 1923 when she got accidentally burnt on a cruise. 

6. Twenty percent of the world's CCTV cameras are in the UK. 

7. Up to 25% of hospital keyboards carry the MRSA infection. 

8. Eighty-seven public servants earn more than Tony Blair's £183,932 salary.

9. The UK population grew at a rate of 500 per day last year as immigration out-stripped emigration. 

10. During World War II, MI5 invited Daily Telegraph crossword winners to work as code-breakers at Bletchley Park.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a006089

----------


## Virgil

> I dont think I wanna know how you know that.


  :FRlol:  Not from personal experience.

----------


## Virgil

> 2. Spending on Halloween has risen ten-fold - from £12m to £120m in the UK, in five years.


Probably similar in US too. I find this silly and an event meant for children taken over by adults. Another sign that adults refuse to grow up.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. An infestation of head lice is called pediculosis.

2. The Pope's been known to wear red Prada shoes.

3. Sea urchins see with their feet. 

4. The fastest supercomputer in the UK can make 15.4 trillion calculations per second.

5. Airships use as much fuel in a week as a 767 uses to get from its gate to the runway. But are, obviously, much slower. 

6. Four million people in the UK have phobias about toilets, says the National Phobics Society.

7. Online shoppers will only wait an average of four seconds for an internet page to load before giving up.

8. Salt makes bitter food taste sweeter. 

9. Donald Rumsfeld was both the youngest and the oldest defence secretary in US history.

10. White poppies are also sold to mark Remembrance day - the first produced in 1933 as a symbol for peace.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...last_w_6.shtml

----------


## Nightshade

> 10. White poppies are also sold to mark Remembrance day - the first produced in 1933 as a symbol for peace.


I know that one but can you find one for love or money....NO! :Frown:

----------


## kilted exile

A rant....promise I'll keep it short.

This white poppy nonsense annoys the hell out of me. I wear a red poppy. The poppies growing in Flanders field were red. The money from buying my red poppy goes to the veterans, unlike the money from buying a white poppy.

Wearing a red poppy does not mean I support the reasons for the wars, it means I am deeply grateful to the people who sacrificed their lives.

----------


## Nightshade

hey I buy at least 2 red poppies and I would still buy them if I got a white poppy. I just want to wear a white one too. Im all for the red poppies ( although someone brught somthing up that Ive never thought of before that rather shocked me when I started thinking but I also belive in what the white poppies stand for.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The age of consent in Northern Ireland is 17, as opposed to 16 in the rest of the UK. 

2. A digital radio uses between 12 and 20 times the energy that an analogue radio does. 

3. The phrase "dead reckoning" means navigating traditionally, by charts and compass.

4. George Bush is the first president since Jimmy Carter not to subscribe to the Guardian Weekly.

5. Male African golden web orb spiders have two penises, both of which drop off during sex.

6. There are 6.5m sets of fingerprints on file in the UK. 

7. About 60% of drivers stopped by police do not give their true identity. 

8. Heroin addicts commit on average 432 offences a year, according to Chief Constable Howard Roberts. 

9. Michael Jackson watches I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here. 

10. Iceland's population is about the same as that of Doncaster. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a006854

----------


## Virgil

> 5. Male African golden web orb spiders have two penises, both of which drop off during sex.


At first, before I read the whole sentence, I thought wow, two penises, that sounds great. But then I finished the sentence and said, woe, I think I rather keep my one.  :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The late Alan "Fluff" Freeman, famous as a DJ, had trained as an opera singer. 

2. Jan Leeming married five times but took the surname of a former partner she did not wed. 

3. &#163;6.5bn is spent each year in the UK on shoes. 

4. Baby Spice Emma Bunton has a karate brown belt - that's just one below a black belt.

5. A geiger counter will not pick up traces of Polonium 210 as it emits alpha radiation, not gamma. 

6. A sea creature from 400 million years ago, discovered by archaeologists, had the most powerful bite of any fish in history. 

7. For red wine drinkers, grapes grown in Sardinia and the French Pyrenees are associated with longevity. 

8. The lion costume in the film Wizard of Oz was made from real lions. 

9. Fridge magnets could be fatal for people with heart devices such as pacemakers, say medical researchers. 

10. A healthy eating campaign by Icelandic children's TV star Sportacus - whose TV show lazy Town is broadcast worldwide - was responsible for a 22% increase in the sale of vegetables in his home country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a007134

----------


## Nightshade

Computer viruses attack your anti virus first :Nod:

----------


## certiorari

1. Luddites are people who are oppossed to technology because of the loss of jobs. I don't see how people could oppose technology.
2. The nicest people have the worst tempers.
3. Don't trust your memory. Write down things you have to do. 
4. It is best to apply to college in the summer because then you will get accepted earlier. 
5. I'm very random. I wrote down my thoughts throughout two class periods and nothing I wrote collaborates with anything else.
6. Indiana Jones was Steven Spielburgs first sequel.
7. Waiter/waitresss in Germany say Bitte Schön? a lot, apparently.
8. Johnny Depps denist has a credit at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest.
9. I cant hink of anymore.

----------


## Serenata

1. People can smile at you and secretly be wishing you dead.

2. That Onex is planning to buy Raytheon Aircraft.

3. My music director would rather cancel a concert than give a bad performance.

4. New furniture is expensive.

5. "Zanahoria" is Spanish for carrot.

6. Rabbit hair is really soft.

7. How to properly use the photocopier.

8. Feelings about people you don't like are often temporary.

9. Most people have no clue what I mean when I refer to "Forensics."

10. Accounting is not a fun class to take.

----------


## Nightshade

The uk experiances about 50 tornadoes a year.

----------


## Serenata

That's interesting.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There are 32 billionaires based in the UK who pay no personal tax here. 

2. The space programme in the UK relies upon Indian and Chinese graduates to provide 80% of the scientific staff, MPs were told. 

3. Stripping is, officially, an art form (in Norway at least). 

4. Urban birds have developed a short, fast "rap style" of singing, different from their rural counterparts. 

5. Left-handed people are better at computer games. 

6. Bristol is the least anti-social place in England, says the National Audit Office. 

7. It's only 62 years since the last person was prosecuted for witchcraft in the UK. 

8. Standard-sized condoms are too big for most Indian men. 

9. King Tutankhamun probably died from a broken leg, rather than being murdered with a blow to the head, say scientists.

10. The London tornado was one of 40 to hit the UK this year. More details

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a007376

----------


## SleepyWitch

> 7. It's only 62 years since the last person was prosecuted for witchcraft in the UK. 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a007376


what?  :Eek2:  you mean you haven't had a proper witchcraft trial in 62 years? No wonder English kids have to get drunk and do drugs, seeing as there's no other entertainment.
I'll be in England in January in case you want to arrest me  :Smile:

----------


## Nightshade

no laughing matter really she was found guilty and hung....over witch craft, welll actually it was an excuse because she somehow found out about the D-day bombing plans and they were afraid she'd leak them...according to the article I read anyway.

----------


## SleepyWitch

wow, I didn't know spiritualism was illegal till 1952.
er? how can she be a traitor? I mean she only told her friends about the sunken war ship, right? don't you have to spill secrets to the enemy/someone from another country to be a traitor? weird

----------


## Nightshade

It was the middle of WWII and they actualy had a gvertment department of censorship, they thought she was a spy.

----------


## Virgil

> what?  you mean you haven't had a proper witchcraft trial in 62 years? No wonder English kids have to get drunk and do daisy chains, seeing as there's no other entertainment.
> I'll be in England in January in case you want to arrest me


At the risk of sounding old, what's a daisy chain?

----------


## alhara

daisy chain
The elementary meaning of daisy chain is a garland created from the daisy flower, generally as a children's game

A daisy chain refers to sexual relations between three or more people, with each person both performing and receiving oral sex simultaneously.

This is directly out of wikipedia I had to look it up I didn&#180;t know.

Some interesting trivia, I have never successfuly made a daisy chain accorrding to the first defintion. Daisys are tricky.

"So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, whe
n suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her."

then again she might have been refering to chain smokeing of some kind i don&#180;t know. Maybe it was literally makeing daisy chains it&#180;s terrible time consuming adn with just daisys no wire or any darn near imposible.

----------


## mockingbird

> At the risk of sounding old, what's a daisy chain?


Wow, I didn't know people didn't know that! hehe it's been around in England for hundreds of years. In the summer when little daisies grow all over the grass, kids at school (and others *points at self*) make slits in the daisy stalks with their fingernails and tie daisies together to form bracelets, anklets, and other things  :Biggrin: 

Good eh? Ahaha.

----------


## Nightshade

and its not so obvious as all that it took me years to figger out you had to slit the stalks Id just tie grest knots in them and then wonder why mine always looked wrong. But yeah Daisy chains are cool. My sister makes great daisy chain jewlery, she seems to be constatly covered in flowers in the spring and let me tell you carrying off daisy when your all in gothblack is no mean feat :Nod:   :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> Wow, I didn't know people didn't know that! hehe it's been around in England for hundreds of years. In the summer when little daisies grow all over the grass, kids at school (and others *points at self*) make slits in the daisy stalks with their fingernails and tie daisies together to form bracelets, anklets, and other things 
> 
> Good eh? Ahaha.


Oh, OK. The obvious. I thought it was some crazy drinking/drug/ thing. It was originally mentioned along with getting drunk.

edit: Just saw Alhara's post and it does refer to some kinky behavior.

----------


## Nightshade

ahh nooo but thats not the kind she meant as far as I know the teens go out get smashed/hammered/legless and decide it will be fun to uproot all the daisys( very annoying acctually to everyone else who wants to make daisy chains.

Hummm but yeah they just go sit in the park and do nothing somtimes ( even without alchol) but make daisy chains, then occaionally We can see the park from the library ) Ive seen girls sit on a boy while the rest plat daisy chains into his hair.... :Brow:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Just 20 words make up a third of teenagers' everyday speech.

2. Children whose parents have an OBE can marry at St Paul's cathedral.

3. Murders of prostitutes have the lowest clear-up rates of all killings.

4. The world's tallest man has arms that are 1.06m long. 

5. The top six high street banks in the UK made an estimated &#163;4.5bn from penalty charges in 2005 . 

6. About 40% of the mango trees planted to offset the carbon emissions from Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head album have died - which releases carbon into the atmosphere.

7. About 85% of Sandhurst's cadets are university graduates. 

8. Half a million passengers will pass through Heathrow alone this weekend as the Christmas getaway begins.

9. There are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated, say technology analysts. 

10. Half of prison inmates do not have the reading skills expected of an 11 year old child.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a007616

----------


## papayahed

What's "OBE"?




> 9. There are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated, say technology analysts.


Boy - good thing I didn't start mine!

----------


## Pensive

> 1. Just 20 words make up a third of teenagers' everyday speech.


No! Not with Loquacious Pensive, you bet!  :Tongue:

----------


## Taliesin

> 2. Children whose parents have an OBE can marry at St Paul's cathedral.


OBE?

Ottawa Board of Education?
Overcome By Events? 
Operating Base Earthquake? (Is that one some kind of euphemism for hyperactive children?)

----------


## AimusSage

Order of the British Empire I recon.

----------


## Nightshade

It is  :Nod: . Lots of footballers , cricketrs and other sports people not to meniossin celb types get them  :Nod:

----------


## Virgil

> What's "OBE"?


In the business world, it usually means Overcome By Events. I'm surprised you haven't seen that as an engineer.

Exept it doesn't fit here:



> 2. Children whose parents have an OBE can marry at St Paul's cathedral.


What does it stand for here?


edit: It seems like Aimus might be right.

----------


## Scheherazade

Yes, OBE, on this side of the pond, is:


> The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are
> 
> Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) 
> Knight Commander or Dame Commander (KBE or DBE) 
> Commander (CBE) 
> Officer (OBE) 
> Member (MBE) 
> Only the two highest ranks entail admission into knighthood allowing the receiver to use the title 'Sir' (male) or 'Dame' (female) before one's name.
> 
> ...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_o...British_Empire

Though I personally fancy 'Out-of-Body Experience' explanation!

'Nope, sorry, kids! Unless your parents had out-of-body experience, we shan't let you get married in our Church...'

 :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Komodo dragons can have virgin births with offspring produced without any male contact.

2. The human nose, pressed to the ground like a dog's, is sensitive enough to track a scent laid in an open field. 

3. In Japan the term "Paris syndrome" describes the psychological damage experienced by tourists shocked by the rudeness of Parisians. 

4. A two-headed reptile has been found in fossil form in China. 

5. There will be 18 million vehicles on the UK's roads this weekend. 

6. Comedy duo Laurel and Hardy had to provide their own clothes for their movies.

7. The final Harry Potter book was planned, in part, a dozen years ago, says JK Rowling.

8. The Turkmenistan president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who died this week, had banned beards, ballet, gold teeth, opera and recorded music on television. 

9. The Vauxhall Belmont is the car most likely to have been stolen last year. 

10. The Archbishop of York was once approached as a possible candidate for Celebrity Big Brother.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a007842

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Pele has always hated his nickname, which he says sounds like "baby-talk in Portuguese". 

2. There are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated, say technology analysts.

3. Urban birds have developed a short, fast "rap style" of singing, different from their rural counterparts.

4. Bristol is the least anti-social place in England, says the National Audit Office.

5. Standard-sized condoms are too big for most Indian men.

6. The late Alan "Fluff" Freeman, famous as a DJ, had trained as an opera singer.

7. The lion costume in the film Wizard of Oz was made from real lions.

8. There are 6.5 million sets of fingerprints on file in the UK.

9. Fathers tend to determine the height of their child, mothers their weight.

10. Panspermia is the idea that life on Earth originated on another planet.

11. An infestation of head lice is called pediculosis.

12. The Pope's been known to wear red Prada shoes.

13. The fastest supercomputer in the UK can make 15.4 trillion calculations per second.

14. Online shoppers will only wait an average of four seconds for an internet page to load before giving up.

15. Donald Rumsfeld was both the youngest and the oldest defence secretary in US history.

16. Spending on Halloween has risen 10-fold - from £12m to £120m in the UK, in five years.

17. Coco Chanel started the trend for sun tans in 1923 when she got accidentally burnt on a cruise.

18. Up to 25% of hospital keyboards carry the MRSA infection.

19. The UK population grew at a rate of 500 per day last year as immigration out-stripped emigration.

20. Sex workers in Roman times charged the equivalent price of eight glasses of red wine.

21. English is now the only "traditional" academic subject in the top 10 most popular university courses.

22. The number of people committing suicide in the UK has fallen to its lowest recorded level.

23. More than one in eight people in the United States show signs of addiction to the internet, says a study.

24. One third of all the cod fished in the world is consumed in the UK.

25. In Kingston upon Thames, men on average live to be 78. In Kingston-upon-Hull it is 73.

26. Each person sends an average of 55 greetings cards per year.

27. Just one cow gives off enough harmful methane gas in a single day to fill around 400 litre bottles.

28. More than 90% of plane crashes have survivors.

29. Tony Blairs favourite meal to cook is spaghetti bolognaise.

30. The brain is soft and gelatinous - its consistency is something between jelly and cooked pasta.

31. The Mona Lisa used to hang on the wall of Napoleons bedroom.

32. Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts.

33. Eating a packet of crisps a day is equivalent to drinking five litres of cooking oil a year.

34. Plant seeds that have been stored for more than 200 years can be coaxed into new life.

35. There were no numbers in the very first UK phone directory, only names and addresses. Operators would connect callers.

36. The InterCity 125 train was designed by the same man who came up with the angle-poise lamp and Kenwood Chef mixer.

37. Pavements are tested using an 80 square metre artificial pavement at a research centre called Pamela (the Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory).

38. A common American poplar has twice as many genes as a human being.

39. The world's fastest supercomputer will have its speed measured in "petaflops", which represent 1,000 trillion calculations per second. 

40. The medical name for the part of the brain associated with teenage sulking is "superior temporal sulcus".

41. Some Royal Mail stamps, which of course carry the Queen's image, are printed in Holland.

42. Helen Mirren was born Ilyena Lydia Mironov, the daughter of a Russian-born violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

43. There is only one cheddar cheese maker in Cheddar, even though cheddar is the most popular hard cheese in the English-speaking world.

44. For every 10 successful attempts to climb Mount Everest there is one fatality.

45. Cows can have regional accents, says a professor of phonetics, after studying cattle in Somerset 

46. Involuntary bad language, a symptom affecting about one in 10 people with Tourette's syndrome, is called "coprolalia". 

47. Watching television can act as a natural painkiller for children, say researchers from the University of Siena. 

48. Allotment plots come in the standard measure of 10 poles - a pole is the length of the back of the plough to the nose of the ox. 

49. When filming summer scenes in winter, actors suck on ice cubes just before the camera rolls - it cools their mouths so their breath doesn't condense in the cold air. 

50. There are 60 Acacia Avenues in the UK. 

51. Gritters come out in hot weather too - to spread rock dust, which stops roads melting.

52. Forty-eight percent of the population is ex-directory. 

53. Red Buttons - real name Aaron Chwatt - took his surname from the nickname for hotel porters, a job he did in his teens. 

54. The CND symbol incorporates the semaphore letters for N and D for nuclear and disarmament. 

55. While 53% of households have access to a garage, only 24% use them for parking cars. 

56. Mortgage borrowing now accounts for 42% of take-home salary.

57. The word "time" is the most common noun in the English language, according to the latest Oxford dictionary. 

58. Forty-one percent of English women have punched or kicked their partners, according to a study. 

59. Dogs with harelips can end up with two noses. 

60. The clitoris derives its name from the ancient Greek word kleitoris, meaning "little hill". 

61. A domestic cat can frighten a black bear to climb a tree. 

62. Thirty-four percent of the UK has a surname that is ranked as "posher" than the Royal Family's given name, Windsor. 

63. The Downing St garden is actually a Royal Park. 

64. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobiacs is the term for people who fear the number 666. 

65. The more panels a football has - and therefore the more seams - the easier it is to control in the air. 

66. One in four smokers use roll-ups. 

67. Music can help reduce chronic pain by more than 20% and can alleviate depression by up to 25%. 

68. The egg came first. 

69. Humans were first infected with the HIV virus in the 1930s. 

70. Sir Paul McCartney is only the second richest music millionaire in the UK - Clive Calder, is top. 

71. Publishers have coined the term "Brownsploitation" for the rash of books that have sprung up in the wake of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code blockbuster. 

72. Modern teenagers are better behaved than their counterparts of 20 years ago, showing "less problematic behaviour" involving sex, drugs and drink. 

73. George Bush's personal highlight of his presidency is catching a 7.5lb (3.4kg) perch. 

74. Britain is still paying off debts that predate the Napoleonic wars because it's cheaper to do so than buy back the bonds on which they are based. 

75. Five billion apples are eaten a year in the UK. 

76. In Bhutan government policy is based on Gross National Happiness; thus most street advertising is banned, as are tobacco and plastic bags. 

77. Metal detector enthusiasts are referred to as "detectorists"; there are about 30,000 in the UK. 

78. The Labour Party spent £299.63 on Star Trek outfits for the last election, while the Tories shelled out £1,269 to import groundhog costumes. 

79. The best-value consumer purchase in terms of the price and usage is an electric kettle. 

80. Camel's milk, which is widely drunk in Arab countries, has 10 times more iron than cow's milk. 

81. Iceland has the highest concentration of broadband users in the world. 

82. There are 2.5 million rodent-owning households in Britain, according to the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association. 

83. Rainfall on the roof and gutters of a three-bed detached house can amount to 120,000 litres each year. 

84. Thinking about your muscles can make you stronger. 

85. The age limit for marriage in France was, until recently, 15 for girls, but 18 for boys. The age for girls was raised to 18 in 2006. 

86. Six million people use TV subtitles, despite having no hearing impairment. 

87. Goths, those pasty-faced teenagers who revel in black clothing, are likely to become doctors, lawyers and architects. 

88. Nelson Mandela used to steal pigs as a child. 

89. There are an average of 4.4 sparrows in each British garden. In 1979, there were 10 per garden. 

90. The Himalayas cover one-tenth of the Earth's surface. 

91. Lord Levy, recruited by Tony Blair to raise money for the Labour party, made his own fortune managing Alvin Stardust, among others. 

92. In a fight between a polar bear and a lion, the polar bear would win. 

93. If left alone, 70% of birthmarks gradually fade away. 

94. There are two million cars and trucks in Brazil which run on alcohol. 

95. US Secret Service sniffer dogs are put up in five-star hotels during overseas presidential visits. 

96. Flushing a toilet costs, on average, 1.5p. 

97. Tufty the road safety squirrel had a surname. It was Fluffytail. 

98. A "lost world" exists in the Indonesian jungle that is home to dozens of hitherto unknown animal and plant species. 

99. The term "misfeasance" means to carry out a legal act illegally. 

100. In the 1960s, the CIA used to watch Mission Impossible to get ideas about spying. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a007948

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Scooby-Doo was named after Frank Sinatra's final phrase in "Strangers in the Night".

2. A king's ransom is worth approximately &#163;685m in today's money, loosely based on the sum paid by Eleanor of Aquitaine to secure the release of Richard the Lionheart in 1194.

3. Ancient coroners' rules dictate that if a body is taken to a royal palace, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Queen's Coroner and any inquest jury must be drawn from the royal household. Diana's body lay in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, hence the debate over whether a jury would be made up of ordinary men and women, or not.

4. In the mid-1980s, it was predicted that by 2000 there would be 900,000 mobile phones worldwide. That year came, and 900,000 phones were sold every 19 hours. 

5. Adding milk to tea negates the health-giving effects of a hot brew.

6. Snap decisions are more likely to be correct than those pondered over, a study at University College London found.

7. The government has 951 websites - 551 of which are set to close.

8. The word "jaywalking" came from the US slang "jay", a term popular in the early 20th Century meaning a rustic newcomer unfamiliar with city ways.

9. Sophia Loren's first marriage, aged 22, to the recently deceased film producer Carlo Ponti, was a proxy marriage with lawyers taking their places.

10. The world's tallest flower is the Titan Arum, reaching just under 3m (10ft).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a008461

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Cloudy apple juice is healthier than clear, containing almost double the antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer.

2. Eating tomatoes and broccoli in the same meal is more effective at fighting prostate cancer than separately, according to a study at the University of Illinois. 

3. The infant in iconic 1980s poster Man and Baby was named Stelios.

4. Gordon Brown prefers the X Factor to Big Brother. 

5. Campaigners believe unpaid care of the elderly in the UK saves the British state &#163;57bn a year.

6. China opens a new coal-fired power station every five days.

7. Just 200 people are responsible for most of the large-scale vandalism on the rail network.

8. School starts at age three in France - and many children start at two.

9. Thursday's storm - the most powerful to hit England since Burns Night 1990 - caused even more damage in northern Europe after developing what's known as a "sting jet", caused by cold air high above the clouds rushing down to Earth like an avalanche of high wind.

10. Citrus fruit growers in California use wind machines to protect their crops from frost damage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, was asked to be on Celebrity Big Brother.

2. Rail passenger numbers could increase by 30-40% in the next 10 years. 

3. Dishcloths are purged of 99% of their bacteria during two minutes in a microwave. 

4. But they can pretty easily catch fire while doing so.

5. Only four postcodes in the UK do not have a Tesco. They are the Outer Hebrides, the Shetlands, Orkney and Harrogate.

6. Uninsured vehicles are 10 times more likely to be involved in hit-and-run crashes. 

7. Guinness turns out red, rather than black, if the barley is roasted for less time than normal.

8. Today presenter John Humphrys gets up one minute before 4am and is in the BBC studio at 16 mins past.

9. People who live within 500 metres of a motorway grow up with significantly reduced lung capacity.

10. A haddock's mating call starts as a slow knocking sound, before turning into a quicker hum similar to a small motorcycle revving its engine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a008981

----------


## Virgil

> 3. Dishcloths are purged of 99% of their bacteria during two minutes in a microwave. 
> 
> 4. But they can pretty easily catch fire while doing so.


Wow, I put my scrubbing sponge in the microwave. I wonder if it's safe. But I had read you only needed 45 sec to a minute.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Dutch have overtaken the Americans as the tallest people on Earth. 

2. The candiru, or toothpick fish, can swim into a tiny body orifice such as the penis, erect a spine and feed on blood and tissue. 

3. Seahorses do not mate for life but are promiscuous and bisexual - the most indiscriminate being the Australian bigbellied seahorse. 

4. Newcastle is the noisiest place in England. 

5. In China, James Bond is known as Lingling Qi - 007.

6. There are twice as many privately-owned tigers in the US as there are in the wild in the rest of the world.

7. The people who built Stonehenge lived at an ancient village in Durrington Walls.

8. Lavender and tea tree oil products can cause young boys to develop breasts. 

9. Palm oil is present in one in 10 supermarket products. 

10. Brazil nuts are seeds encased in an outer shell that weighs more than 1kg.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a009276

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Catherine Cookson novels have been borrowed from UK libraries 25 million times in the last 10 years.

2. Ireland has the highest crime rate in the European Union. 

3. A pig's mood is indicated by its tail. It is happy when the tail is tightly coiled and unhappy when it hangs limp. 

4. The National Theatre's electricity bill is &#163;600,000 a year. 

5. There is one practising GP among the MPs in the House of Commons - Labour's Howard Stoate. 

6. Astronauts wear nappies during launch and re-entry because they can't stop what they're doing should they need to urinate. 

7. Vikings may have used a special crystal to navigate when fog obscured the sun. 

8. Frankie Laine set a marathon dance record of 3501 hours in 145 consecutive days in 1932. 

9. Eighty-eight percent of children in Poland aged 12 to 18 use instant messaging, compared to 50&#37; in the UK, says a survey. 

10. The Southern Cross has more stars than the five commonly depicted on the Australian flag, astronomers have discovered.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a009540

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Georgic is a punishment dished out to Eton pupils which involves the copying out of hundreds of lines of Latin. 

2. Only 10&#37; of the three million men in the UK who suffer from impotence are being treated, says Boots.

3. The left ear is more responsive to words of emotion whispered into it than the right.

4. One in three households in the UK is dependent on the state for at least half its income, says thinktank Civitas.

5. A siesta can drastically reduce the risk of death from heart disease.

6. Tony Blair does not keep a personal diary. 

7. Antony and Cleopatra were ugly.

8. Women in the UK travelled on average 6,300 miles in 2005, 1,900 miles less than men.

9. Two-thirds of Frosties are eaten by men aged 18+.

10. 10% of university work from across the UK is plagiarised.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_14.shtml

----------


## Serenata

Where do you find this information?

----------


## Scheherazade

> Where do you find this information?


There is a link at the end of my post to BBC's Magazine page where they come from.


1. Two cups of spearmint tea a day is thought to control excessive hair growth for women.

2. Less than 5% of cohabiting couples stay together for longer than 10 years. 

3. A baby can survive being born after a gestation period of 22 weeks.

4. Dog bites have doubled in 10 years, judging by admissions to hospital.

5. Chimpanzees make their own spears for hunting.

6. Cross-country skiing is a useful skill to have when exploring the moon.

7. Poor maths is costing UK shoppers £800m a year because they dont notice when they are short-changed.

8. Peter Hains house in Neath has a dancefloor.

9. Trabants were made from plasticised cotton waste, called Duroplast.

10. Tony Blair still plays his guitar most days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a010047

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Burglar alarms, traffic wardens and crowded busses are good news for home owners, signalling an area is on the up.

2. "Wet disposal" means a hurried assassination. 

3. Despite what the movies suggest, a lit cigarette won't ignite clothes doused in petrol, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms research laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.

4. The tentacles of the colossal squid caught by New Zealand fisherman would make calamari rings the size of tractor tyres. 

5. Incest is not illegal in France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium or Portugal.

6. But advertising wine on French TV is banned.

7. It's illegal to introduce beavers into the wild.

8. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hosts a daily radio phone-in show.

9. Some modern cars have a "limp home" mode.

10. A rise in crematorium funerals is causing an increase in damaging mercury emissions in the air from melted dental fillings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a010309

----------


## Virgil

> 10. A rise in crematorium funerals is causing an increase in damaging mercury emissions in the air from melted dental fillings.


Oh no.  :Eek:  And I bet it's contributing to global warmng too.  :Tongue:   :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The premium rate phone services market in the UK is the biggest in the world, worth &#163;1.2bn a year - that's &#163;20 each for every man, woman and child.

2. Terry Wogan gets paid for presenting Children in Need - the only presenter to do so.

3. More than half (52&#37 :Wink:  of smokers haven't told their parents about their habit. 

4. Producing palm oil - hailed as a future biofuel – can produce carbon emissions 10 times that of petroleum.

5. Prince Charles is a fan of veteran reggae artist Sugar Minott - requesting one of his songs be played while visiting a record shop in London.

6. Coffee doesn't make you more alert in the morning, according to a study by Bristol University.

7. Superheroes are susceptible to snipers, with Captain America being killed by a bullet.

8. Only about half of China's population can speak the national language, Mandarin.

9. There are 946 billionaires in the world .

10. The moon glows a coppery red when totally eclipsed by the shadow of the earth - itshue determined by how much dust is in the earth's upper atmosphere.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a010595

----------


## Virgil

> 6. Coffee doesn't make you more alert in the morning, according to a study by Bristol University.


Well, that's a crock. Whoever paid for that study got ripped off.

----------


## Shalot

> Well, that's a crock. Whoever paid for that study got ripped off.


I agree. Who could make through the hours between 8 and 12 without a cup of joe (cuppajoe) or other cafeinne supplement....

----------


## kilted exile

> 2. Terry Wogan gets paid for presenting Children in Need - the only presenter to do so.


Just another reason on the already long list why I dont like the smarmy git.


In relation to the caffeine study:

In my final year at school back in Scotland Iremember having to do a final project in Chem. My topic was analysing and comparing caffeine content in various drinks/products (tea, coffee, coke, "pep pills") - I really chose that topic 'cause I got to mess about with chloroform.......

With regards to the effects of caffeine, it is of course a stimulant and increases alertness etc. From what I remember however it also has a psychological addiction property to it, and where people are used to having it the morning and then for some reason do not the effect is greater than someone not drinking coffee and then having a cup one morning. I can only assume the research is somehow based on this, otherwise it would appear to be a huge waste of money.

----------


## Asa Adams

I think the same goes for smokers. They become satisfyed after having one, and therefore they are chemically and psychologically addicted. I guess.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister were written not only to entertain but to promote the idea that working for a unified public interest was a myth - as argued by Margaret Thatcher's favourite theorist, James Buchanan. 

2. Mobile phones in large part have little effect on medical equipment, despite bans on their use in most hospitals.

3. Comic Relief has raised &#163;425m since it started 21 years ago up until Friday's extravaganza.

4. Parting hair on the left is said to emphasise masculine traits as it draws attention to left-brain activities; similarly, parting on the right is said to emphasise feminine traits.

5. About 200 million light bulbs - of the common or garden incandescent tungsten filament variety - are sold each year in the UK; there are plans to phase these out by 2011.

6. The brief flowering of the cherry blossom tree is taken so seriously in Japan that forecasts are used to plan festivals, and travel agents use them to plan tours.

7. The woman who invented the modern incarnation of Mother's Day was so distressed by its commercialisation that she tried to copyright the date to protect her idea. She failed.

8. Four out of every 10 children are born out of wedlock.

9. To be found attractive, women should sway their hips and men their shoulders (although researchers call this a "shoulder swagger").

10. There are 1.3 billion &#163;20 notes in circulation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a010595

----------


## Virgil

> 4. Parting hair on the left is said to emphasise masculine traits as it draws attention to left-brain activities; similarly, parting on the right is said to emphasise feminine traits.


Now this is one of the most rediculous things I've ever heard. This is the ultimate psycho babble.

----------


## *Classic*Charm*

Uh oh. I'm parting on the wrong side. :Biggrin:  


What about people who part down the middle? :Idea:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Now this is one of the most rediculous things I've ever heard. This is the ultimate psycho babble.


U-oh!

*has a feeling that 'somone' is parting his hair on the right!  :Tongue:   :Biggrin: 




> Uh oh. I'm parting on the wrong side.


No worries, me too, it seems like!  :Biggrin:

----------


## Virgil

> U-oh!
> 
> *has a feeling that 'somone' is parting his hair on the right!


No, as a teenager I used to part my hair on the left. As an adult I started parting down the middle. I can't tell you how this psychobabble irks me. It's nonsense, like astrology.




> What about people who part down the middle?


Good question. I could quip and say "bi" but per above I part down the middle and I'm completely and only straight.  :Biggrin:

----------


## autumn rose

> 10. A rise in crematorium funerals is causing an increase in damaging mercury emissions in the air from melted dental fillings.



Eeee! :Eek:  I wonder if I have toxic teeth.Can the mercury seep out of your fillings and kill you? *pulls teeth out*

----------


## Domer121

1.Chiyo(The name of the Geisha in Memoirs of a Geisha)

2.That Squid eat eachother especially during sex( I just read the first page of this thread :Smile: 

3.How much people don't like Wuthering Heights on this forum :Smile: 

4. That Survivor winner Rich Hatch is in prison for 4 1/2 years for tax evasion.

5. That it will rain tomorrow.

6.That I am actually an okay Scrabble player.

7.That I will be going to the Orchestra on Thursday.

8. That Ions are not that interesting.

9. That my memory is not as great as it used to be :Smile: 

10. That I can eat French Silk Pie for breakfast and I don't get sick.(my mother was wrong! :Smile:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There are 30,000 wild parakeets in London.

2. Alan Sugar is a big fan of Masterchef.

3. It's possible to map a 248-dimensional structure.

4. Harvesting rhubarb in candlelight helps preserve its flavour.

5. The Quakers invented the modern protest campaign - in calling for an end to the slave trade – deploying petitions, consumer boycotts, images, a logo and a slogan.

6. The Legal limit for flying a plane is 20mg of alcohol.

7. Martina Navratilova has spent four years secretly working as an artist.

8. NHS hospitals took more than &#163;95m in car parking charges in 2004/2005.

9. Alcohol and tobacco are more "harmful" than cannabis, ecstasy and LSD according to a new ranking drawn up by the Lancet.

10. Tony Blair isn't a bad comedy actor, judging by his performance on Comic Relief.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a011187

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The UK's national time signal is accurate to within 1,000th of a second of Co-ordinated Universal Time.

2. Drinking, drug-taking teenagers are in the decline, according to a survey by the Information Centre.

3. The average water temperature of the UK's rivers and lakes is 5C in winter, 18C in summer.

4. Eight of the 10 most crowded train journeys in the UK are outside London. 

5. The average duvet is home to 20,000 live dust mites.

6. Designer discount retailer TK Maxx is called TJ Maxx in the US.

7. Having a baby can cost you up to two months sleep in the first year.

8. Chimps and bonobos differ from humans by only 1% of DNA and could accept a blood transfusion or a kidney.

9. Britain's peat bogs store carbon that is equivalent to 20 years' worth of national industrial emissions.

10. Dogs can seemingly perform the Heimlich manoeuvre  a technique for helping someone who is choking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a011459

----------


## Scheherazade

1. More servicemen and women in the British armed forces have taken their own lives (697) over the past two decades than have been killed in combat (438) according to the Ministry of Defence. 

2. Serving anything more than tea and biscuits at a political meeting is an offence called "treating" and punishable by a year in prison or an unlimited fine, under the the Representation of the People Act 1893.

3. There are four Knight Rider cars, one of which is in a museum in Cumbria. 

4. The record-breaking TGV train, which reached 584km/h, took 10 miles to stop when the brakes were fully applied in test runs. 

5. Human ashes are called cremains.

6. "Lunatics, idiots, deaf and dumb" people are barred from standing for election under laws dating from 1766 which still apply.

7. Keith Richards has been trepanned.

8. It is cheaper to ship waste from London to Shenzen in China than it is to send it by road from London to Manchester. 

9. There is mobile phone reception from the summit of Mount Everest. 

10. Prisoners of war returning from Vietnam were told by the US government that the word "whatever" had become a common form of slang while they were away, to imply boredom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a011675

----------


## papayahed

I just looked up trepanned and I'm still not sure what it means.  :Confused:  Was a circular protion of his skull removed?

----------


## Nightshade

I just found out only 5 or six people died in the Fire of London in 1666.

----------


## Virgil

> 5. Human ashes are called cremains.
> 
> 7. Keith Richards has been trepanned.


I wonder if it has anything to do with snorting your father's ashes? :FRlol:   :FRlol:  

From M-W:



> Main Entry: 1tre·pan 
> Pronunciation: tri-'pan
> Function: transitive verb
> Inflected Form(s): tre·panned; tre·pan·ning
> Etymology: Middle English, from trepane trephine
> 1 : to use a trephine on (the skull)
> 2 : to remove a disk or cylindrical core (as from metal for testing) 
> - trep·a·na·tion /"tre-p&-'nA-sh&n/ noun


or from dictionary.com:



> Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source 
> tre·pan1 /trɪˈpæn/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[tri-pan] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, -panned, -pan·ning. 
> noun 1. a tool for cutting shallow holes by removing a core. 
> 2. Surgery. an obsolete form of the trephine resembling a carpenter's bit and brace. 
> verb (used with object) 3. Machinery. to cut circular disks from (plate stock) using a rotating cutter. 
> 4. Surgery. to operate upon with a trepan; trephine.

----------


## Niamh

> I just looked up trepanned and I'm still not sure what it means.  Was a circular protion of his skull removed?


Thats what Trepanned is isnt it? Didnt know people still did it today. I know that many ancient Native American tribes used to do it. like being anointed to a tribe. Others believed that it created a closer link with the spirit world.

----------


## Virgil

I just quoted the definition above your post Niamh. You must of been writing as I posted.

----------


## papayahed

> Thats what Trepanned is isnt it? Didnt know people still did it today. I know that many ancient Native American tribes used to do it. like being anointed to a tribe. Others believed that it created a closer link with the spirit world.



That's why it seems so odd.

----------


## Rinas_Jaded

I feel so very informed now. I wish school was like this, it would be much more interesting.

----------


## Layka

Ostriches have eyes bigger than their brains.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Boris Yeltsin lost a thumb and index finger on his left hand while playing with a hand grenade as a child.

2. Runner's World, Wilfred Owen poetry and Uncle Tom's Cabin are restricted in Guantanamo Bay, lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith says.

3. Neighbours is the most watched daytime telly show other than the BBC's One o'clock news. 

4. Scouting for Boys by Lord Baden-Powell is the fourth bestselling book of the 20th Century, after the Bible, the Koran and Mao's Little Red Book. 

5. We each get a completely new skeleton every 10 years, because of cell renewal. 

6. Smoking will be banned in police interview rooms in England when the new law takes effect, although it is not banned in Scotland. More details

7. Kryptonite exists.

8. Nearly half of all cases handled by top divorce lawyers last year involved a private detective to check on alleged infidelity. 

9. &#163;26m of pennies have been lost on UK streets since 1971. 

10. North Korea is the least visited country in the world – only 1,800 Westerners make the trip each year. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a012556

----------


## LoveToFreeRead

Ten Things I didnt know last week...

1 that Albert Einstein actually contemplated how long the human race could exist without bees: 4 years.
2that Stephen Hawking would get to float weightless. Very cool for him!
3Dubya would do a dance for malaria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqy91GnS-Bg
4that the Dow would surpass 13,000!
5 that this photo of Phil Spector existed:  
6that the US has imported the television show,Katie & Peter  as if we dont have enough talentless celebrities already. I thought her name was Jordan, anyway?
7that a chimp could live to be 75. http://www.latimes.com/features/prin...-home-magazine
8that an Italian researcher is working on making a Spider-man suit. http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Real_li..._04262007.html
9that a story like this could make it onto CNNs website, regardless of its categorization as Offbeat : http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/0....ap/index.html
10Keith Richards has been trepanned (learned that right here in this thread).

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Asda's buttock-slap is one of the few gestures to have been trademarked. 

2. The goat who became an internet phenomenon after "marrying" a Sudanese man was named Rose. 

3. New York may be "the city that never sleeps", but its pedestrians only rank eighth in a global study of walking pace. 

4. Pandas in captivity don't need "Viagra, panda porn videos, or other previously tried artificial stimulants" to contemplate a spot of rumpy-pumpy after all. 

5. Mirror tycoon Robert Maxwell ate grapes by lowering a bunch into his mouth, stripping the fruit and taking it out leaving only the stalks. 

6. Apes communicate with gestures that have different meanings depending on the context - a chimpanzee with an extended arm and open hand may be begging for food, asking a female chimp for sex or reconciling with a male after a fight.

7. Men bitten by the Brazilian wandering spider can experience long and painful erections - a condition known as priapism. 

8. Maggots can treat MRSA. 

9. Blushing can be treated by cutting the nerve that creates the red flush in the face, neck or upper chest. 

10. Danny deVito - yes the actor - has created his own brand of Limon cello, the lemony Italian liqueur.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a012953

----------


## Nightshade

> 1. Asda's buttock-slap is one of the few gestures to have been trademarked. 
> 
> 2. The goat who became an internet phenomenon after "marrying" a Sudanese man was named Rose.


Say what?  :Eek:   :Goof:  not sure which suprises me more the goat getting married over the internet, or that Asda has gone and trademarked slapping money in your back pocket...... :FRlol:

----------


## kenikki

> 9. Music can help reduce chronic pain by more than 20% and can alleviate depression by up to 25%. 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...2.stm#10things


That is VERY true, People do not realise the power that music has on you. I listeten to music when I'm physically or mentally ill and I feel instantly better.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The British eat a third of the world’s cod. 

2. Squirrels can peel bananas. 

3. Pre-schoolers will watch a favourite DVD or video for an average of 17 times before getting bored. 

4. Astronauts wear adult nappies on spacewalks and during launch. But Nasa likes to call them "Maximum Absorbency Garments". 

5. Seventy-thousand teenagers failed to turn up to take a GCSE exam last year. 

6. Tony Blair smoked his last cigarette 15 minutes before he got married.
More details

7. Widening the M1 will cost more than the annual economies of a third of the world’s nations. 

8. Fewer than 3&#37; of rewards offered for information about crimes are paid out each year in the UK. 

9. Four ingredients have been added to bread by law since WW2 – niacin, thiamine, iron and calcium. 

10. UK’s oldest working household appliance is a 50-year-old Prestcold Fridge in Norfolk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a013222

----------


## Nightshade

> 3. Pre-schoolers will watch a favourite DVD or video for an average of 17 times before getting bored. 
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a013222


This is in a week isnt it?

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Hair loss in humans might be reversible. 

2. Almost one-third of men are balding by the time they reach 30. 

3. 14&#37; of Rolls-Royce owners also own a private jet 

4. Dirty Harry and The Exorcist III are based on a spate of unsolved murders in San Francisco in the late 1960s. 

5. Jose Mourinho has a Yorkshire terrier called Gullit, named after the Dutch footballer Ruud Gullit. 

6. Nearly half of pregnancies are unplanned. 

7. The UK has the most post offices in Europe. 

8. The insults "moron", "idiot", "imbecile" and "cretin" were once official medical diagnoses.

9. There were no sperm donors in Northern Ireland, until recently, and only 208 in the UK. 

10. Cranes disappeared from the UK 400 years ago because the East Anglian fenland was drained. They recently returned. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...things_7.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Pizza was known as “Italian Welsh rarebit” in 1950s Britain. 

2. Using a gas-fired patio heater for just one hour can waste enough energy to make 400 cups of tea, according to Friends of the Earth. 

3 Laurence Olivier and Tintin's creator Herge were born on the same day. 

4. A swarm of bees can ground a Boeing 737. 

5. On the first day of filming Star Wars in the deserts of Tunisia, the country experienced its first major rainstorm in 50 years and a rest day had to be called. 

6. Sharks have virgin births. 

7. Articles of 50,000 words - parliamentary reports in particular - were common in the Times in the early 1890s, just as the first tabloid newspapers came into being. 

8. Japanese whalers in the 17th Century buried the foetuses of the pregnant whales they caught in a special graveyard facing out to sea.

9. One in four house sales fall through. 

10. Captive elephants often don’t know how to look after their young because they don’t work on instinct – in the wild, calves are looked after by the herd and this is how young females learn mothering skills. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_23.shtml

----------


## Haven

Shark gets pregnant on her own without mating with male shark. Baby female shark did not have a single strand of male genetic material.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1965

Okay realise that is only one thing...anyone else got anything?

----------


## Niamh

god bless friends of the earth! They sent me a copy of An Inconvienient truth to say thank you for being a loyal donator! Now isnt that sweet!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. It's 1999 in Ethiopia.

2. The Spanish national anthem has no words.

3. There are 1,200 exhumations every year in the UK, but not all of those are part of criminal cases.

4. There are 14 different spellings of Mohammed in the top 3,000 baby boy names in the UK, propelling it to number two just behind Jack. 

5. Nearly seven out of 10 (69&#37 :Wink:  of adults are still in touch with at least one childhood friend.

6. Seb Coe is partially colour-blind. 

7. Twenty-three billion jars and bottles have been recycled in the UK since the first bottle bank opened in 1977.

8. Unemployment is back up to 1979 levels. 

9. Footage can be checked to see if it is harmful to people with epilepsy by a gadget called the Harding Flash and Pattern Analyser.

10. Tre Azam, fired this week from The Apprentice, had a near-fatal car crash 10 years ago. He still has steel plates in his back and pins in both legs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...this_t_1.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Lewis Hamilton is named after US sprinter Carl Lewis. 

2. Bolivian President Evo Morales sacrifices llamas for good luck.

3. Drinking aftershave (among other things) has been blamed for half of all deaths of Russian men of working age.

4. Pickpockets watch for those who react to signs warning of their presence, as many people will pat their wallet on reading the notice.

5. Eighteen percent of all new homes are built on residential land, up from 11&#37; a decade ago.

6. As recently as the early 1980s, mortgages were rationed.

7. Only two judges have been fired since 1701's Act of Settlement gave the Lord Chancellor alone that power. The first was in in 1830, for stealing court funds; the second was in 1983, for smuggling whiskey and cigarettes into Britain on a private yacht.

8. Prince Philip came to be venerated as an island god because villagers in Vanuatu have for centuries believed that a pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit had ventured across the seas to look for a powerful woman to marry. The Duke of Edinburgh has been the focus of this legend since the 1960s.

9. Jail and prison are not the same thing in the United States - it depends on the size and governing body of the facility. Paris Hilton, for instance, is in jail, not prison.

10. Blood can turn a dark greenish-black - like a Vulcan's - if taking a certain type of migraine medication.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a014656

----------


## applepie

> 10. Blood can turn a dark greenish-black - like a Vulcan's - if taking a certain type of migraine medication.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a014656


I would almost like to see this just to say I have. That is something strange that I never imagined.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Comedian Mike Reid was Roger Moore's stunt double in The Saint.

2. Office printers could be as harmful as cigarettes, emitting tiny particles of toner that can cause respiratory irritation to more chronic illnesses.

3. One joint of cannabis could be as harmful to the lungs as five cigarettes.

4. Being left-handed could be linked to genes.

5. Coffee could protect your skin.

6. Chris Langham used to write for the Muppet Show – and at one stage was the sole British writer.

7. One-hundred-and-forty-one people died from being struck by lightning in China in July.

8. Bottom-pinching is subject to a fixed-penalty fine. 

9. Amstrad is an acronym of Alan Michael Sugar Trading.

10. Basking sharks have no teeth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_27.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Russian and American pilots exchange smiles when encroaching on each others terrirtories.

2. Mahjong can trigger epileptic seizures.

3. Dr Debby Reynolds, chief vet, is a vegetarian.

4. President George W Bush has fitness levels in the top 3&#37; of the US population.

5. There are dogs with two noses.

6. There have been at least two children given the name "Superman" in the UK since 1984.

7. The world's tallest man is 8ft 5in Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk.

8. The clock faces on Big Ben/the Palace of Westminster clock tower are cleaned every five years by abseilers.

9. Bill Murray's sister Nancy is a nun who acts.

10. When bits of glaciers break off, it is know as "calving".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a016630

----------


## Virgil

Who would name their children superman?  :Sick:  How stupid. I saw that tallest man on TV and wow. He's tall.

----------


## NickAdams

> 2. Mahjong can trigger epileptic seizures.


First Anime now this. Asian entertainment is dangerous!




> 9. Bill Murray's sister Nancy is a nun who acts.


She's a real Sister Act ... I should be hung for such a pun. :FRlol:

----------


## Niamh

> First Anime now this. Asian entertainment is dangerous!
> 
> 
> 
> She's a real Sister Act ... I should be hung for such a pun.


 :FRlol:  I was about to post the exact the same pun.

----------


## NickAdams

> I was about to post the exact the same pun.


Well you know what they say about great minds ... :Wink:

----------


## Niamh

> Well you know what they say about great minds ...


think alike
But fools they seldomn differ. But which are we! :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Uncollected council tax totals &#163;760m.

2. Some otters don't like swimming. 

3. The Rubik’s Cube can be done in 26 moves.

4. Crows can use tools.

5. CDs were nearly called mini-racks.

6. CDs have 74 minutes' audio capacity, originally to accommodate Beethoven's 9th Symphony – before that they were just an hour.

7. Attractive people are, on average, less selfish than moderately attractive people.

8. The name Hells Angels was coined by a squadron of World War I fighter pilots.

9. Seven double espressos can land you in hospital, with caffeine intoxication.

10. Left-handed people are called sinistral.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a016858

----------


## Niamh

> 4. Crows can use tools.


 :Eek:  Really?!




> 9. Seven double espressos can land you in hospital, with caffeine intoxication.


 :FRlol:  Better remember that next time i feel really tired and need a caffeine boost!




> 10. Left-handed people are called sinistral.


Being of the left. (wonder if the word sinister originated fron this. after all lefties were seen as evil beings in the middle ages! :Tongue:  )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a016858[/QUOTE]

----------


## Virgil

> 7. Attractive people are, on average, less selfish than moderately attractive people.


Has anyone noticed how unselfish I am?  :Tongue:   :Wink:

----------


## Granny5

> Has anyone noticed how unselfish I am?


You know, Virgil, I was just going to comment on how unselfish you seem to be!  :FRlol:   :FRlol:   :FRlol:   :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The number of pounds in circulation doubles every 15 years due to economic growth and inflation. 

2. Each slug eats twice its body weight a day.

3. Performers cannot even smoke herbal cigarettes on stage in Scotland, which has no dispensation for "artistic integrity" in its smoking ban, unlike other parts of the UK.

4. Voyagers 1 and 2, launched in 1977 and still beaming back data from billions of miles from the solar system's edge, run on generators that produce 300 watts - which would power several standard light bulbs.

5. Chickens can be diagnosed with depression.

6. There are almost four times more knife-related killings as firearms killings.

7. You can be arrested for using someone's wi-fi network without permission.

8. One in 10 people claim to have had out-of-body experiences.

9. More than half the books on the fiction charts are crime titles - a genre predominately read and written by women.

10. Queen Victoria and Pope Leo XIII were among the celebrities to endorse charities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a017052

----------


## Virgil

> 5. Chickens can be diagnosed with depression.


Well, if you were headed for decapitation and stuffing and roasting, wouldn't you be depressed too.  :Wink:  





> 9. More than half the books on the fiction charts are crime titles - a genre predominately read and written by women.


I wonder why that is. I know my wife loves to read them too but i never get a straight answer as to why.

----------


## Lote-Tree

> Well, if you were headed for decapitation and stuffing and roasting, wouldn't you be depressed too.


Depression is linked to Artistic ability and creativity thus we have underestimated intelligence of chickens  :Biggrin: 




> I wonder why that is. I know my wife loves to read them too but i never get a straight answer as to why.


Same reason why women like "bad" men?  :Biggrin:

----------


## Virgil

> Depression is linked to Artistic ability and creativity thus we have underestimated intelligence of chickens 
> 
> 
> 
> Same reason why women like "bad" men?


 :FRlol:  Well, I am Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Lote-Tree

> Well, I am Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know.


So I guess your wife is always all over you  :Biggrin:

----------


## Niamh

> 3. Performers cannot even smoke herbal cigarettes on stage in Scotland, which has no dispensation for "artistic integrity" in its smoking ban, unlike other parts of the UK.


When the smoking ban came into ireland over three and a half years ago we all debate that the herbel cig shouldnt be included in the tobacco smoking ban list because it isnt tobacco. didnt work.




> 5. Chickens can be diagnosed with depression.


i'm with virgil on this one.





> 8. One in 10 people claim to have had out-of-body experiences.


I had a weird experience once. I was in secondary school and after one of my classes i started to walk to my next lesson with one on the teachers when suddenly i was watching myself walking beside the teacher from behind. Only lasted a few seconds but it was weird. Mabe i have a doppelganger.




> 9. More than half the books on the fiction charts are crime titles - a genre predominately read and written by women.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a017052


 :Thumbs Up:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Rock stars are twice as likely to die prematurely as the wider population.

2. The collective noun for meerkats is a "mob". 

3. In Ethiopia it is almost the start of the year 2000 and the beginning of millennium celebrations.

4. Bees can detect explosives.

5. There are 287 franchised World Trade Centers around the world, including one in Hull.

6. Clarissa Dickson Wright became the country's youngest female barrister at 21, a record she still holds.

7. An RAF Tornado costs &#163;40,000 an hour to fly.

8. Depression is a more disabling condition than angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes. 

9. Sitting straight is bad for backs.

10. A suspect in Portugal is called an arguido and has certain rights.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...hings_14.shtml

----------


## Niamh

Can i just say that this is probably my favourite thread on litnet. The things that gives me lots more useless info to over load the useless info cabinet in my head! Thanks Scher!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Being born without an ear is called microtia.

2. Zsa Zsa Gabor is related to Paris Hilton.

3. In Iceland, 96&#37; of women go to university.

4. Gordon Brown has broken prime ministerial convention by getting a mobile phone, but it does not take incoming calls.

5. It costs 100 euros to hire one of the prostitutes' windows in Amsterdam for part of the day.

6. About 16,000 hyphens have been dropped from the latest edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

7. The Belgian army had to be called in recently to deal with an infestation of moths.

8. Dinosaurs had creches.

9. 'Conservative haircut' is economists' jargon for a form of loan collateral.

10. Meteorites do not let off dangerous fumes - but on landing can expose rotting organic matter, filling the air with methane, hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a018019

----------


## AimusSage

> 5. It costs 100 euros to hire one of the prostitutes' windows in Amsterdam for part of the day.


Are you sure that is the most recent rate? Last week some 20% off all windows were closed down. This might drive the prizes up.

----------


## Scheherazade

> Are you sure that is the most recent rate? Last week some 20&#37; off all windows were closed down. This might drive the prizes up.


Dunno. The compiler of the article may not be as up to date on the prices as you are, of course!  :Tongue:   :Biggrin:

----------


## AimusSage

> Dunno. The compiler of the article may not be as up to date on the prices as you are, of course!


True enough, I follow the news a lot closer than the compiler does.  :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> True enough, I follow the news a lot closer than the compiler does.


Oh tell the truth. You visit those windows every day.  :Tongue:   :Biggrin:

----------


## Niamh

> Are you sure that is the most recent rate? Last week some 20% off all windows were closed down. This might drive the prizes up.





> Dunno. The compiler of the article may not be as up to date on the prices as you are, of course!


 :FRlol:  your secrets out Aimus!



> 8. Dinosaurs had creches.
> 
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a018019


Awwww!!!!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Adults use maths skills 14 times daily on average and literacy skills 23 times a day.

2. The sabretooth tiger might have looked fearsome but had a bite only a third as strong as a modern-day lion.

3. The opening bars to the theme tune of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em spelt the title of the series in Morse code. 

4. The founder of Which? magazine, Michael Young, also founded the Open University.

5. Robbie Williams has 600 pairs of shoes at his Los Angeles home.

6. The children who sang on Pink Floyd's number one hit Another Brick in the Wall (Pt 2) couldn't appear in the video because they didn't hold Equity cards.

7. Jennifer Aniston has the most bankable face for a magazine cover according to research by Forbes magazine in the US. 

8. To skim a stone 51 times it would need to be thrown at a speed of at least 80 kmh.

9. Sputnik is the Russian word for satellite.

10. Fifty-seven per cent of children don't know that haggis comes from Scotland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a018580

----------


## Virgil

> 2. The sabretooth tiger might have looked fearsome but had a bite only a third as strong as a modern-day lion.


I found the article on the sabertooth bite very interesting. We use in engineering such stress analysis (finite element analysis, or FEA) as described for designing many parts for their stress load capability.

----------


## Niamh

> 2. The sabretooth tiger might have looked fearsome but had a bite only a third as strong as a modern-day lion.


My Antie use to get my sister, brother and myself to help her with the gardening in her garden in wexford by telling us that sabretooth Rabbits would eat her garden if it wasnt maintained. We couldnt have that!  :Tongue:  



> 3. The opening bars to the theme tune of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em spelt the title of the series in Morse code.


Really?*Hums it in her head* cool!



> 10. Fifty-seven per cent of children don't know that haggis comes from Scotland.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a018580


Ick! Haggis :Sick:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. A bdelloid rotifer is a pond-dwelling organism that has survived 80 million years without sex.

2. Pregnant moose seek out human company to avoid the threat of bears.

3. Woodwork lessons are known as "resistant materials" in schools. 

4. Housework causes asthma. 

5. There were 61 billion web searches made in August.

6. Hitler received 1,000 letters a month of fan mail. 

7. Bees frighten elephants.

8. Dormouse stew is a delicacy in Italy. 

9. Chancellor Alistair Darling has a mortgage with Northern Rock.

10. Children in Cuba say "I want to be like Che" every day at school.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...hings_16.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 10. Children in Cuba say "I want to be like Che" every day at school.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...hings_16.shtml


Sounds like brainwashing ala _1984_. Ah, those communists never give up.

----------


## Granny5

4. Housework causes asthma. 

Thank you, Scheherazade. I needed a new excuse.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The brain responds to facial expressions at a speed of less than 40 milliseconds. 

2. Having sex daily can improve a man's sperm quality - increasing their partner's chance of getting pregnant.

3. CO2 emissions from shipping are twice the level of aviation.

4. George Clooney and Pierce Brosnan have had Bell's Palsy - a nerve condition that can result in paralysis on one side of the face.

5. Middlesbrough's first professional football club, established in the late Victorian era, was called Middlesbrough Ironopolis.

6. Four people died in France in the Great Storm of 1987.

7. Migrants earned on average &#163;424 per week last year, compared with &#163;395 for UK-born workers.

8. Discrimination against atheists is allowed in employment in Texas, according to the state's constitution. 

9. Leeches are used as treatment for cauliflower ears. 

10. Asterix was so-called so he would appear at the start of an encyclopaedia of comics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a019187

----------


## Scheherazade

1. An ai is a three-toed sloth from South America (and the word that clinched Paul Allan the title of national Scrabble champion).

2. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa originally had eyebrows and eyelashes

3. Dumbledore is gay.

4. A &#163;500,000 note is not technically a counterfeit, because that word refers to legal tender - and the Bank of England has never issued &#163;500,000 notes.

5. But &#163;1,000 notes were in circulation until being withdrawn in 1943.

6. UN population projections go as far as 2300.

7. Forty percent of household packaging can’t be recycled.

8. Sheffield FC is the world’s oldest football club.

9. One percent of organic food on sale in the UK is air-freighted in from abroad.

10. Obesity rates in England were by 2005 the highest of the 15 member states who then formed the European Union.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem.../post_32.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Dogs can have blood of any type if it's just one transfusion, but cats need to be blood type matched.

2. Trick or treating was first noted as arriving in England by the Times in 1986.

3. The sculptor of the giant spider at the Tate is 95 and still working.

4. Sniffer dogs can smell out a termite.

5. Clams can get very, very old.

6. Of the waste in UK landfills, 0.1 is plastic carrier bags.

7. Dogs occasionally shoot their owners in the US.

8. IP addresses will run out in 2010. 

9. People carrying the OR11H7P gene are hypersensitive to the smell of sweat.

10. One fungal disease has made 40 frog species extinct since 1980.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a019659

----------


## Granny5

I really like this thread. Always some interesting information. But are you sure about #2? 1986?
#7 happened recently. The dog stepped on the rifle when the hunter laid it down to climb over a fence. The gun went off and shot the hunter in the leg,
Imagine going hunting with Cheney and his dog!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. King Tut had buck teeth. 

2. Britons send as many text messages in a week now as they did in the whole of 1999.

3. The defining measure for a kilogram is "Le Grand K", a cylinder of platinum and iridium held in Paris.

4. Using camera traps to count tigers - differentiated by their stripe patterns - was pioneered in the 1920s by Englishman FW Champion.

5. There are 29 "Labour and the Co-operative Party" MPs in Parliament, including Ed Balls.

6. The Italian Mafia have commandments.

7. Gun ownership per person in Finland is the third highest in the world.

8. Dinosaurs breathed like penguins.

9. The brain can turn down its ability to see in order to listen to complex sounds like music.

10. For every one millibar decrease in pressure the sea rises 1cm.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a019925

----------


## Niamh

> 1. King Tut had buck teeth.





> 8. Dinosaurs breathed like penguins.


How do they know these things? So random.



> 9. The brain can turn down its ability to see in order to listen to complex sounds like music.


Well that explains alot!

----------


## Scheherazade

> How do they know these things? So random.





> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a019925


Click on the link!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Superstitious people in rural India sometimes organise weddings to animals in the hope of warding off curses. 

2. Janet and John were named Alice and Jerry in the United States.

3. Until the late 1990s, the RAF's nuclear bombs could be activated using a bicycle lock key.

4. Qwerty is a regular on lists of most-popular passwords.

5. Residents of Middlesbrough are 25&#37; more likely to suffer from heart disease than the UK average.

6. There is an average of 90 suicides a day in Japan.

7. Landfill rubbish sites in the UK cover in total an area of 109sq miles.

8. Twelve per cent of people with no religion pray sometimes. 

9. Cats can be police constables.

10. The next generation of chip will pack more than four hundred million transistors into an area the size of a postage stamp. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a020177

----------


## Virgil

> 12. Janet and John were named Alice and Jerry in the United States.


Who's Janet and John and who's Alice and Jerry? I don't recall either set. I remember learning to read with Dick and Jane. I guess they've changed in 40 years.

----------


## Scheherazade

> Who's Janet and John and who's Alice and Jerry? I don't recall either set. I remember learning to read with Dick and Jane. I guess they've changed in 40 years.


Here is the related article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7092601.stm

----------


## Granny5

> Who's Janet and John and who's Alice and Jerry? I don't recall either set. I remember learning to read with Dick and Jane. I guess they've changed in 40 years.


I remember Dick and Jane and their little sister Penny, and I recall Jack and Janet, but no Janet and John or Alice and Jerry either.

----------


## papayahed

> 19. The brain can turn down its ability to see in order to listen to complex sounds like music.


So that's why guys have to turn down the radio when they're lost!!! :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The word Blighty comes from "bilayti", the Urdu for homeland.

2. Spotting a bargain releases "happy chemicals" like serotonin and adrenalin in the brain. 

3. Babies make moral judgements about people.

4. Japan’s population will fall by 30&#37; in 50 years.

5. The Queen took her corgi on honeymoon.

6. The brains of migraine sufferers are thicker in part of the cortex than those free of the severe headaches.

7. Radiohead's Thom Yorke paid nothing to download his latest album (just like the two-thirds of his fans who also got it for free).

8. The presence of kingfishers indicate that a waterway is in a healthy ecological state.

9. Beer has fewer calories than a similar measure of wine, milk or fruit juice.

10. Each economically active person is on 700 databases on average.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Eddie Irvine is Britain's wealthiest sports star – beating the Beckhams into second place by &#163;30m.

2. Sleeping on the job is tolerated in Japanese work culture, as long as you remain upright and obey certain other rules. It's called inemuri.

3. Voltaire did not say "I disapprove of your views, but would fight to the death for your right to express them". It's a paraphrasing from a 1906 biography.

4. William Blake was not a fan of his poem in the preface to Milton, which became the words to the hymn Jerusalem. He removed it from later editions of the work.

5. The number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled over the past 20 years, the aid agency Oxfam says.

6. The first telephone directory, dating from 1880 and reissued this week online, had 248 names and no numbers. Callers were expected to call the operator and say the name of the person they wanted to talk to. 

7. MI6 calls its spies "operational officers".

8. The Romans had roadmaps. 

9. Pigeon racing is not regarded as a sport while baton twirling is, for taxation purposes, by HM Revenue and Customs, on the advice of the UK's Sports Councils and UK Sport.

10. By the time they are four, children from poor families are likely to have heard 13 million words. For children from better off families, a figure of 45 million is typical.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a020713

----------


## Virgil

> 2. Sleeping on the job is tolerated in Japanese work culture, as long as you remain upright and obey certain other rules. It's called inemuri.


 :FRlol:  How can one sleep and reman upright?

----------


## Pensive

> 1. The word Blighty comes from "bilayti", the Urdu for homeland.


In Urdu, it should be 'vilayti' which instead of meaning homeland means 'foreign'.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. To be declared dead there is no time limit - the seven-year rule only applies in the High Court on the settlement of a disputed estate.

2. No Briton has been extradited from Panama since an extradition treaty was signed 100 years ago.

3. JE55USS - and other combinations of letters and numbers with strong religious connotations - cannot be used for personalised number plates. Rude words are also banned.

4. There are fewer than 50 wild animals performing in UK-owned circuses.

5. Two-thirds of Ricky Hatton's calorie intake when training for a big fight - and trying to lose excess weight he piles on between bouts - is from meal replacement supplements.

6. India's "hugging saint" has dispensed 26 million cuddles - her helpers count each off with a clicker.

7. Books used to be bound in human skin.

8. Santa Claus, for Dutch and Belgian children, lives in Spain and travels north by steam ship.

9. One in four children don't count their father as immediate family.

10. Tango routes are longer routes flown by some airlines to by-pass the expense of flying through several air traffic zones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a020997

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Renowned atheist Professor Richard Dawkins likes singing Christmas carols.

2. The White House grounds are a National Park.

3. The Australian town of Eucla has its own time zone. 

4. Pentonville prison, when built in 1842, had toilets in all the cells. They were later taken out.

5. Church of England vicars don't have to wear a collar if there's a "justifiable cause".

6. Ike Turner made what's widely considered to be the first rock 'n' roll record - Rocket 88 - in 1951.

7. Iago in Othello is the third longest part in all of Shakespeare's plays.

8. The strength of wine has increased from 11.5&#37; alcohol by volume (ABV) to 13.5% ABV in recent years.

9. Police were banned from striking in 1919, after walk-outs that year by officers in London and Liverpool.

10. Anyone convicted of a criminal offence is bound to pay a &#163;15 "victims' surcharge".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a021276

----------


## Virgil

> 8. The strength of wine has increased from 11.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) to 13.5% ABV in recent years.


And that is a wonderful thing.  :Thumbs Up:   :Smile:   :Biggrin:  Actually it has improved the taste and quality of wine. Now most wines are at least acceptable, when years ago it was hit and miss.

----------


## browneyedbailey

I have ADD....ooooooooooh....squirel.....

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Humour comes from testosterone.

2. Wii players use only 2&#37; more energy than players of regular computer games.

3. There were 1,580 cosmetic treatments in the UK on average last year. 

4. Blood alcohol concentration does not decrease when you eat as well as drink. 

5. Reading in dim light does not harm your eyesight. 

6. Only 10% of a horse's lifetime winnings can be attributed to its bloodline. 

7. There are 17 surviving versions of the Magna Carta - or 17 Magnae Cartae.

8. The whale is descended from a raccoon-sized land-based mammal called the Indonyus.

9. Only one in a hundred tourists visiting the UK stay for longer than three months. 

10. Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems' new leader, once took a road trip across the US with his friend Louis Theroux.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a021276

----------


## Nightshade

> 1. Humour comes from testosterone.


Oh really? and who decided this a man? 





> 3. There were 1,580 cosmetic treatments in the UK on average last year.


Thats becaus ethey all go and do it abroad.. where its cheaper and you get a holiday thrown in.




> 5. Reading in dim light does not harm your eyesight.


I have been saying this for years!! Its brightlight that hurts.

----------


## crazefest456

> 2. Wii players use only 2% more energy than players of regular computer games.


That is VERY true! I get so worked up when I play first-person shooters on my PS2..It is really intense, but no one understands gamers...

----------


## Pensive

> I have been saying this for years!! Its brightlight that hurts.


Yes. In our area, electricity used to go off a lot. It never cared whether it were my exams the next day or not so sometimes I had to study in candle-light at night (that's what you get by leaving work at the eleventh hour to do  :Tongue:  ). Next day I would wake up worried if it had hurt my eye-sight but to my astonishment, dear eye-sight always seemed to be as fine as it ever was.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Circumcision does not reduce sexual satisfaction. 

2. The UK has only one polar bear, at Edinburgh Zoo. Its name is Mercedes.

3. Window cleaners who work on very tall buildings are trained to lie flat if their platform comes loose - a tactic which appears to have saved the life of Alcides Moreno, who tumbled some 500ft (150m) to the ground in New York.

4. At school, Sir Edmund Hillary was in a gym group for those lacking co-ordination.

5. Siblings who are separated when adopted may be naturally attracted to each other in later life. 

6. Etiquette dictates that at dinner parties, a man should always talk to the woman on his left during the first course, and right during the main course. 

7. One in three British adults is on a permanent diet. 

8. Octopuses need mental stimulation. 

9. Liverpool is not Europe's only capital of culture this year. 

10. Half of men aged 16-24 haven't read a single book in the past 12 months.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a021984

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Scottish crossbill is the only bird unique to the UK.

2. Barack Obama attended a stag party in Wokingham.

3. Nicolas Sarkozy never had dinner at home in eight years, according to his ex-wife Cecilia.

4. Christopher Columbus introduced syphilis to Europe.

5. Carrots used to be purple.

6. Both men and women find long legs in the opposite sex attractive, but not too long.

7. Rodents used to weigh a tonne and have skulls half a metre long.

8. MPs can claim up to &#163;250 a month without producing receipts.

9. There is no such thing as pure black.

10. Brazil has more people of African descent than any country outside of Africa.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...html#Friday018

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Swedes have a word for a man who visits prostitutes - torsk.

2. Using a mobile before bedtime can delay you getting to sleep.

3. A bear helped carry ammunition for Polish troops during World War II.

4. Moleskin clothes used to be made of moles' skins.

5. Wealthy people are more likely to drink than those in low-income homes.

6. Ships emit twice as much CO2 as planes.

7. "Plain vanilla" is a term for basic financial instruments such as shares.

8. Only offal-free versions of haggis are available in the United States. 

9. Super-fast broadband fibres are laid in the sewers.

10. "Fischer chess" is a game in which the pieces are placed on the board in random order.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a022482

----------


## Anza

1. the names of all the sirens
2. my latin teacher doesn't care about rules when we're close to regionals!
3. Cough drops really taste like candy if you're sick enough
4. the names of all the muses
5. the cello can go as high as the violin
6. I can't come up with ten things
7. the battle of Marathon occured in 490 BC
8. my sister is nice enough to make tea for me
9. Chiru would spend the weekend with me
10. I would be sick

----------


## Niamh

> 3. A bear helped carry ammunition for Polish troops during World War II.


Fair enough! Learn something new everyday!




> 4. Moleskin clothes used to be made of moles' skins.
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a022482


I always wondered that....

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Fear of needles is known as belonephobia.

2. Double-income families are not a modern invention - in prehistoric times, they were the norm.

3. Cumbria is the safest county in England and Wales.

4. The D-Day landings were practised on the island of Eigg.

5. Irish singer Joe Dolan sold his hip for charity in an online auction.

6. Some 2.9 million rooms have been lost in British homes over the past five years as owners opt for open-plan designs. 

7. Almost 4&#37; of Scotland's phone boxes didn't host a single call in 2007.

8. The age at which we are most vulnerable to depression is 44, while a 70-year-old who is physically fit is, on average, as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old.

9. Chameleons change colour to stand out and attract mates, rather than hide.

10. Harry S Truman, former US president, has no middle name - his advisers insisted he insert an initial between his first and last names if he was to have any credibility with US voters. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a022800

----------


## Scheherazade

1. A white stag lives in the Highlands.

2. Brain tumours can be diagnosed by a handshake.

3. Ian Fleming's contract with the Sunday Times allowed him to spend winter in Jamaica.

4. Kosovo's dialling code is the same as Monaco's.

5. A fire at a landfill site in Guernsey has been smouldering for three years.


6. Staffordshire bull terriers are one of only two breeds that the Kennel Club recommends as suitable with children, the other being a Chesapeake Bay retriever. 

7. 99% of beekeepers are hobbyists.

8. The Billy Bunter author, Charles Hamilton, is the world's most prolific, according to the Guinness Book of Records. 

9. The UK spends more on cosmetic surgery than Germany, France and Italy put together.

10. Giving birth to a boy may increase the likelihood of severe postnatal depression.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_43.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. A white stag lives in the Highlands.


Yeah, but they also believe in the Loch Ness Monster.  :Alien:  




> 6. Staffordshire bull terriers are one of only two breeds that the Kennel Club recommends as suitable with children, the other being a Chesapeake Bay retriever.


Rubbish. Most dog breeds are good with children. It's the odd breed that's not.




> 9. The UK spends more on cosmetic surgery than Germany, France and Italy put together.


 :FRlol:  Just keep the breast implants coming.  :Tongue:  




> 10. Giving birth to a boy may increase the likelihood of severe postnatal depression.


I wonder if this is why my mother is on anti depressants.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. If housewives got salaries at the going rate for doing household chores, they would on average earn £30,000.

2. Pacifist John Lennon was once an air cadet.

3. Women in Ivory Coast buy “bottom enhancing” injections for $2.
 
4. Whales catnap.

5. Young dinosaurs were prey to a giant frog.

6. John Prescott played in a parliamentary football team in the 1970s with Jonathan Aitken, Robert Kilroy-Silk and Neil Kinnock. 

7. The female G-spot can be located by ultrasound.

8. People can have four kidneys. 

9. A replica Statue of Liberty exists in Kosovo. 

10. The first pop concert Barack Obama attended was as a 10-year-old watching Elton John.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_44.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. If housewives got salaries at the going rate for doing household chores, they would on average earn £30,000.


Is that counting the pay a prostitute makes for bed time sex or is that over time?  :Biggrin:

----------


## Niamh

Virgil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :Eek: 
Shame on you!!!!! :Brow: 
In Ireland they estimated 40,000.

----------


## Virgil

> Virgil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
> Shame on you!!!!!
> In Ireland they estimated 40,000.


Well, apparently whoever did the study didn't account for all the services a wife provides ands were actually under estimating her possible net worth.  :Tongue:   :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

Well, they say certain activities dimish after marriage so it is possible that whatever left of it is not worth taking into account.  :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. 23% of plastic bags used in the UK are from Tesco.

2. Someone is deported every eight minutes, according to the Home Office.

3. In 1752, the day after 2 September was 14 September.

4. Ugandan tribes recognise and deal with depression.

5. 70% of mental health inpatients are smokers. 

6. For the first time in US history, more than one in every 100 American adults is behind bars.

7. There are 200-300 quakes in the UK every year.

8. Teenagers are having fewer babies.

9. Web browser Netscape Navigator once commanded 90% of internet traffic. Now it is 0.6%.

10. It is possible to donate half a liver.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a023923

----------


## Pensive

> 3. In 1752, the day after 2 September was 14 September.


Oh wow. 




> 10. It is possible to donate half a liver.


Another wow!

----------


## Niamh

> Well, they say certain activities dimish after marriage so it is possible that whatever left of it is not worth taking into account.


 :Brow:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Duchess of Cornwall once watched Bob Marley in concert.

2. Archimedes was murdered over pi.

3. Forty years after colour TV was introduced to the UK there are still 34,700 people with black and white television licences.

4. Late running trains cost the country 14 million minutes last year.

5. A 4cm hole in the heart is not necessarily fatal.

6. Short men are more likely to be jealous.

7. Toasters are banned in Cuba.

8. Yasmin Le Bon is an anti-counterfeit campaigner. 

9. Dolphins can communicate with whales.

10. The difference between vines within France's Champagne region and those just outside is 995,000 euros.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a024517

----------


## Virgil

> 2. Archimedes was murdered over pi.


Apple pie or peach?  :Tongue:  




> 3. Forty years after colour TV was introduced to the UK there are still 34,700 people with black and white television licences.


One needs a licence to have a TV in UK? Amazing how innovative governments can be at taking money from people. Amazingly they haven't thought of that here. 




> 5. A 4cm hole in the heart is not necessarily fatal.


Oh my God. I can't believe this woman is alive.




> 7. Toasters are banned in Cuba.


The marvels of communism. You need permission to buy a toaster.

----------


## Remarkable

> 6. Short men are more likely to be jealous.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a024517


This is publicity for women to have relationships with tall men :Biggrin:  .

Actually,this doesn't sound very strange to me.Have you noticed that most of the world's greatest leaders were short?...

----------


## kilted exile

> One needs a licence to have a TV in UK? Amazing how innovative governments can be at taking money from people. Amazingly they haven't thought of that here.


It's all for the BBC, which of course is State Sponsored & not allowed to run commercials (except for BBC materials) over TV or Radio in the UK. Dont know what a licence costs nowadays but it was 125 pounds/year (I think) last time I had one. It gave 2 channels & 6 radio stations then, now it is something like 8 channels & a stackload of radio channels. I would be more than happy to pay that again to avoid constant commercial interruptions.

----------


## Niamh

> One needs a licence to have a TV in UK? Amazing how innovative governments can be at taking money from people. Amazingly they haven't thought of that here.


We have it in Ireland as well. But its to do with RTE here. Pretty much the same reason as Kilted said about the BBC. If you are caught without a licence, you can be brought to court and fined....

----------


## Virgil

> It's all for the BBC, which of course is State Sponsored & not allowed to run commercials (except for BBC materials) over TV or Radio in the UK. Dont know what a licence costs nowadays but it was 125 pounds/year (I think) last time I had one. It gave 2 channels & 6 radio stations then, now it is something like 8 channels & a stackload of radio channels. I would be more than happy to pay that again to avoid constant commercial interruptions.


Hmm. Do you pick those channels out of a bunch? Or is it the same channels for everyone? I guess it's not too bad if you get to choose. Here on cable TV we have th option to go with premium channels which are commercial free for something like $10/month. That's about the same amount as that licence. Well, I realized I haven't been watching these channels for a year, so i decided to end them. What am I paying for if I'm not interrested in their content? Plus I'd rather save the money. It always bugs me when one is forced to pay for something.

----------


## kilted exile

Well, it's all relative. The licence is a must, as Niamh says, fines are handed out for not having one. However, that is the only fee - all other channels are free - unless of course you choose to subscribe to Sky or a similar satellite service. Just now I think without a Sky subscription you can get around 50 channels for a yearly fee of around 125 pounds, not a bad deal altogether.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Up to one quarter of the sand on shorelines can be composed of plastic particles.

2. Snakes can give you salmonella poisoning.

3. Barack Obama was known as "Barry O'Bomber" at school because of his basketball prowess.

4. Lions were kept in the Tower of London in the 14th century.

5. In Brighton and Hove, there are 46 takeaway outlets and sweet shops for every secondary school.

6. Sharks can be used to predict storms.

7. Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella each year.

8. Somalia, ranked the third most unstable country in the world in a recent stability index, has eradicated polio.

9. Hillary Clinton, Madonna, Angelina Jolie and the Duchess of Cornwall are all distantly related.

10. Human beings can detect danger through smell.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_49.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 7. Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella each year.


And I wouldn't mind if it were all sent to my house.  :Biggrin:  Yum, I love fresh mozzarella.

----------


## Scheherazade

I love cheese.

*demands some _now_*

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Ian Fleming never met the woman upon whom he based Miss Moneypenny.

2. Each year 40,000 people pay homage at the California garage where the founders of Hewlett Packard started out.

3. White people make up 90% of the UK's population. 

4. Most popular musical instrument in schools? The violin.

5. Morgan Tsvangirai's surname is pronounced chang-girr-IGH.

6. Much of the time it takes to fully train as an RAF pilot is taken up with solo flights.

7. Fabio Capello rings his mother every day. 

8. Rice was once considered so important in Japan that it was worshipped as a god.

9. 4.4m apples are thrown away daily in the UK. 

10. Belugas are the only white whales.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a025462

----------


## Nightshade

Miss Monneypenny was based on someone?  :Eek2:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. About 86% of fathers attend the birth of their children. 

2. There is more crime in Glasgow than New York.

3. Vitamins can be bad for you.

4. To help break the bubbly when a new ship is launched, P&O sometimes scores the bottle with a glass-cutter.

5. The brain makes some decisions 10 seconds before they become conscious thought.

6. About 42% of hay fever sufferers think they have a cold.

7. Smells can drift across the Channel.

8. Belly fat creates more fat. 

9. Scientists can control the brains of flies.More details

10. Bowleggedness is called genuvarum.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_52.shtml

----------


## Niamh

> 2. There is more crime in Glasgow than New York.


And probably even more than that in Limerick  :Tongue: 



> 3. Vitamins can be bad for you.


yeah thats why i'm cutting my supplements.



> 4. To help break the bubbly when a new ship is launched, P&O sometimes scores the bottle with a glass-cutter.


clever



> 5. The brain makes some decisions 10 seconds before they become conscious thought.


so technically, one doesnt make spur of the moment decisions, because its already been decided before you even think it?



> 6. About 42% of hay fever sufferers think they have a cold.


true



> 7. Smells can drift across the Channel.


thats why we dont like winds from the east here  :Wink: 



> 8. Belly fat creates more fat.


 :Eek:

----------


## Virgil

> 2. There is more crime in Glasgow than New York.


New York has become the safest big city in America. It is incredible the difference between now and 15 years ago. From the article: "It suggests following a zero tolerance policy like the American city." Credit Rudy Guilliani for have the guts to fight the bleeding hearts. Just like in my discussion in my debate on incest, people in society need boundaries of right and wrong, and boundaries permeate to acceptable socialized behavior. Tolerating grafitti or jumping the subway turnstile or smoking marijuana creates an atmosphere that crimes are acceptable and they lead to further crimes.




> 3. Vitamins can be bad for you.


Absolutely. I stopped taking a multi vitamin. I was actually overloading on iron. Apparently my system absorbs iron very well, and given the supplement I was consistently over the range in my blood tests, finally to the point where the doctor had to further evaluate a special blood disease (I forget the name). I would only recommend taking specific vitamins if it was determined you were deficient in it. For instance my mother (and this is not unusual for older people) has trouble absorbing vitamin B12. She has to take supplements; some people actually require monthly shots. A broad based diet usually covers all of one's needs. That's why i don't advocate vegetarianism. Meat has the broadest diversity of nutrition and proteins, and unless a vegetarian carefully assesses meal by meal all their nutritional requirements, they are going to come up short. And who has time for that? And the flexibility to find all your foods? Meat pretty much solves most of your nutritional deficiencies. The problem is in today's world we tend to eat too much of it. One does not need a lot to satisfy your nutritional needs.




> 5. The brain makes some decisions 10 seconds before they become conscious thought.


I don't understand this one, nor do they explain it. I would like to know more about the mechanics of how this is.




> 7. Smells can drift across the Channel.


Hehehe, is this the real reason why the British and the Irish and the French never got along?  :Tongue:   :FRlol:

----------


## Niamh

> Hehehe, is this the real reason why the British and the Irish and the French never got along?


 :FRlol:   :FRlol:

----------


## blp

When I was in Japan I was told to finish all my rice on the grounds that it was a sacred food. Not a God, maybe, but the sacral element persists.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. A mother's diet at conception influences the gender of her baby.

2. Elvis visited Britain. 

3. Gordon Brown did not send a Christmas card to Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel or Russia's outgoing president, Vladimir Putin.

4. Staff at the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop were only offered six-month contracts when it opened 50 years ago, because the corporation feared the work would drive them mad.

5. There are 109 journeys between London's Tube stations that are quicker to walk.

6. Astronauts at the International Space Station must spend two hours a day exercising their legs.

7. The language of space is English.

8. The UK's most valuable tree is the plane. 

9. Children are more likely to injure themselves falling out of bed than out of a tree.

10. A woman's chances of quitting smoking is linked to her hormones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a026447

----------


## Virgil

> 1. A mother's diet at conception influences the gender of her baby.


I wonder what mama was eating 9 months before I was born? Perhaps if she had passed on the desert I might have been Virgil*a*.  :Wink:

----------


## Visionary3

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/224

Microsoft Worldwide Telescope to be working soon. I found this fascinating.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. An LSD trip led to the invention of the vegeburger.

2. "Unlawfully laying hands on a cow with intent" was a crime in 19th Century Britain.

3. Colossal squid have the biggest eyes of any creature on the planet at a whopping 11 inches. 

4. The most popular name for a pub is the Red Lion, with 756 such establishments across the UK. 

5. The most common "combination craving" for a pregnant woman is pickles and peanut butter.

6. Inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos are known as Lesbians.

7. Humans can hold their breath for 17 minutes.

8. A severed finger tip can grow back naturally.

9. Residents of Sheffield have the worst tooth decay of people anywhere in Britain.

10. Children who attend daycare or playgroups are less like to develop the most common type of childhood leukaemia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a026786

----------


## Virgil

> 1. An LSD trip led to the invention of the vegeburger.


See, I always said it was unnatural to go vegetarian.  :Tongue:  (only kidding :Wink:  )




> 2. "Unlawfully laying hands on a cow with intent" was a crime in 19th Century Britain.


Lord knows what those farm boy were doing to the cows to actually create a law.  :Biggrin:  I can only imagine.  :Wink:  




> 4. The most popular name for a pub is the Red Lion, with 756 such establishments across the UK.


Hey I think we have some in the US too. 




> 5. The most common "combination craving" for a pregnant woman is pickles and peanut butter.


 :Sick:  Thank God I'll never be pregnant. Hey wasn't there a guy in the news the other week that was pregnant? I wonder if he had these cravings. 




> 6. Inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos are known as Lesbians.


 :Brow:  




> 8. A severed finger tip can grow back naturally.


Actually someone was telling me at work about this yesterday. I didn't believe it. I still don't. If you look at the article, the guy is sticking his middle finger at me.  :FRlol:  What does it mean to regrow the middle finger?  :Tongue:

----------


## Niamh

> I wonder what mama was eating 9 months before I was born? Perhaps if she had passed on the desert I might have been Virgil*a*.


Never heard of the old nursery rhyme Virg?

----------


## Virgil

> Never heard of the old nursery rhyme Virg?


I'm not sure which one you're referring to.  :Confused:

----------


## Niamh

Slightly irrelivant but it reminded me of this;
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"
What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and all things nice
That's what little girls are made of!"

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Kosher is not the word to describe the method of slaughtering animals which conforms to Jewish law - it's shechita.

2. Britons throw away 1.3 million unopened pots of yoghurt each day.

3. Punch and Judy puppeteers are called professors.

4. The duck-billed platypus's genetic code contains avian, reptilian and mammalian features.

5 No one knows how many adults there are in England with autism. 

6. Foreign workers at British airports don't have to undergo criminal record checks. 

7. Only 3% of London street robberies are solved with the help of CCTV evidence.

8. The song Waltzing Matilda was believed to be a socialist anthem.

9. Catherine Tate won the People's Choice Award at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, not Ant and Dec.

10. Flowers wave at passing insects to get their attention.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a027268

----------


## Virgil

> 13. Punch and Judy puppeteers are called professors.


I knew a few professors that were no better than a Punch and Judy show.  :Biggrin:  




> 4. The duck-billed platypus's genetic code contains avian, reptilian and mammalian features.


Now that is very interesting. Let's give it an aien smilie:  :Alien:  




> 5 No one knows how many adults there are in England with autism.


I think I remember seeing something similar for the US as well. It's something that's hard to diagnose.

----------


## Niamh

> 6. Foreign workers at British airports don't have to undergo criminal record checks.


 :Eek: 
Anyone who wants a job airside in an Irish airport has to undergo a ten year backround check by the airport police, including police records before being issued with a pass!!
So much for hightened security in british airports!

----------


## sprinks

> 10. Flowers wave at passing insects to get their attention.


Aww thats cute  :Smile:  It made me smile when I read it  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Nice, in the economic terms in which Bank of England governor Mervyn King was speaking, stands for "non-inflationary constant expansion".

2. The rubble from the old Wembley Stadium was turned into man-made hills.

3. Gordon Brown is a Bee Gees fan.

4. Neil Diamond has never had a number one album in the United States... until now.

5. Locusts combine into swarms because they are frightened of being eaten by each other.

6. Knitting patterns of trademarked characters can breach copyright.

7. The search for extraterrestrial life does not contradict a belief in God.

8. The Ministry of Defence has amassed 160 files on UFOs, containing details of 8,000 sightings.

9. A child of three is expected to know about 300 words.

10. Sloths aren't lazy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a027268

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Nice, in the economic terms in which Bank of England governor Mervyn King was speaking, stands for "non-inflationary constant expansion".


Ah yes, that is nirvana for economies. 




> 3. Gordon Brown is a Bee Gees fan.


I can't believe he admitted that. Does he actually want to get re-elected?  :Tongue:   :FRlol:  




> 7. The search for extraterrestrial life does not contradict a belief in God.


Actually in my opinion it might even confirm God. I've said a number of times, given the gazillion to one odds of life intiateing and developing on earth that if it actually developed elsewhere then it couldn't possibly be a fluke. Gazillion to one odds do not happen more than once by chance.




> 8. The Ministry of Defence has amassed 160 files on UFOs, containing details of 8,000 sightings.


I bet it's Scher calling in most of these.  :Tongue:   :Biggrin:

----------


## Nightshade

> 7. The search for extraterrestrial life does not contradict a belief in God.


eh I didnt know anythought it did.



> Actually in my opinion it might even confirm God. I've said a number of times, given the gazillion to one odds of life intiateing and developing on earth that if it actually developed elsewhere then it couldn't possibly be a fluke. Gazillion to one odds do not happen more than once by chance.


quite, why if God create humans soley for the purpose of worshipping him would He just want humans when He could have so many more different things. Like with smarties why have one colour when you can have them all? which reminds me although the blue smartie is back they might as well have left it missing as thenew one is NOT the real blue smartie but some horrid imposter.




> 9. A child of three is expected to know about 300 words.


only 300? thats doesnt seem very uch in fact I think thats rather disturbingly low. Thats like barley anything...



> 10. Sloths aren't lazy.


i knew that!

----------


## Scheherazade

> I bet it's Scher calling in most of these.


True... Whenever I get to see your pics in the Photo Album!  :Wink:

----------


## Niamh

> True... Whenever I get to see your pics in the Photo Album!


 :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> True... Whenever I get to see your pics in the Photo Album!





> 


Not I know I'm not pretty, but I'm not exactly an alien.  :Alien:   :Alien:   :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Not I know I'm not pretty, but I'm not exactly an alien.


Aliens are not necessarily "alien" looking, y'know:

  

This week's list:

1. "Nice" originally meant foolish or silly. 

2. More rural homes have broadband than urban dwellings.

3. 27% of people have opened a bottle with their teeth.

4. Britain has the fifth largest Jewish population in the world.

5. Brain chemical oxytocin makes us trust strangers with money.

6. Women drivers are three times more likely than men to suffer whiplash injuries if their car is hit from behind.

7. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is deaf in one ear.

8. Skunks can be de-scented to make better pets.

9. You can lessen jet lag by not eating.

10. The "$100 laptop" now costs $75.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Virgil

> 3. 27% of people have opened a bottle with their teeth.


Yeah, and I've known people who have chipped their teeth doing it.  :FRlol:  




> 4. Britain has the fifth largest Jewish population in the world.


It doesn't give a list of the other countries, but I believe, though not a 100% sure, that the US is number one and has more jewish people than Israel.  :Wink:  




> 5. Brain chemical oxytocin makes us trust strangers with money.


 :FRlol:  Article says it's 'Nicknamed the "cuddle chemical"' Let's not let my wife hear about this because she will want me to take it before going to bed.




> 6. Women drivers are three times more likely than men to suffer whiplash injuries if their car is hit from behind.


Strange. I guess women need to start driving like a cool guy and sit back and drive with one hand on tp of the wheel.  :Tongue:  




> 8. Skunks can be de-scented to make better pets.


Lions can make good pets too if you take out their teeth.  :Crash:  




> 9. You can lessen jet lag by not eating.


You can lessen jet lag with a bullet to the temple too but neither of these are practical. I get hungry on an eight hour flight.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Kingsley Amis wrote a Bond follow-up.

2. One of the earliest Mars Bars was pineapple-flavoured. It flopped.

3. Charles Lindbergh invented the first pump to keep an organ alive outside the body. 

4. San Marino officially has just three British people.

5. Amazonian tribesmen can show aggression by painting themselves red.

6. Within the concept of karma, it's the motive for doing something that is important.

7. Emo, among other things, stands for "emotional hardcore".

8. Women are banned by law from Mount Athos in Greece, home to 20 monasteries.

9. The Stonehenge site was a burial ground for 500 years.

10. The first known science film was a one-minute close-up of cheese mites filmed through a microscope.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Placa George Orwell in Barcelona is covered by CCTV.

2. Television presenter Fern Britton has a gastric band. 

3. Nearly all animals are banned from the grounds of the Houses of Parliament - except dogs and horses.

4. Many businessmen believe biscuits are key to clinching deals.

5. Public drinking is socially acceptable in Denmark.

6. Syria has the world's largest restaurant, seating 6,014 diners.

7. George Lucas's daughter Amanda is a mixed martial arts fighter.

8. London's broadband is the fastest in the UK.

9. T-shirts featuring rude words, bombs or cartoon guns can stop you getting on planes from British airports.

10. Getting caught cheating at a British university does not get you expelled.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a028574

----------


## Virgil

> 4. Many businessmen believe biscuits are key to clinching deals.


Biscuits???? What kind of biscuits? Those with hundred dollar bills in the middle.  :Wink: 




> 5. Public drinking is socially acceptable in Denmark.


Cool. Is public vomiting accepted too? 




> 6. Syria has the world's largest restaurant, seating 6,014 diners.


Well, at least I hope they have more than one waiter.  :FRlol:

----------


## cipherdecoy

> 10. Sloths aren't lazy.


Hahaha, that's a cute one.

----------


## Scheherazade

> Biscuits???? What kind of biscuits? Those with hundred dollar bills in the middle.


Nope, probably spiked ones served by Tyra Banks and so on.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Sir Jonathan Miller's main recreational activity, according to Who's Who, is deep sleep.

2. Not paying attention as a juror is not an offence in Australia.

3. Gordon Brown's favourite song is Keep Right On To The End Of The Road, written in 1919 by fellow Scot Sir Harry Lauder.

4. A petaflop is a measurement of computing speed equivalent to one thousand trillion calculations a second.

5. Rwanda has its own Archers radio soap - an everyday story of cassava-farming folk.

6. Komodo dragons don't kill their prey outright - instead their bacteria-laden salvia causes septicaemia.

7. Dolphin pods have no leader.

8. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt. 

9. One in 10 people have a piercing other than on the earlobe.

10. Egyptian law says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a028915

----------


## sofia82

> 8. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt.


Really?!

----------


## papayahed

> 8. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt.



i saw that news story recently:



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_w...oot_swine.html

----------


## sprinks

> 2. Not paying attention as a juror is not an offence in Australia.


Yeah that would be in reference to what happened recently here in Australia. A massive drugs case was dropped because 4 jurors were playing Sudoku during the trial!!  :FRlol: . 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7447627.stm



> The three-month trial had cost taxpayers more than A$1m (US$945,000) and the two accused men faced possible life sentences.


They got busted when people noticed that the jurors were writing notes vertically as well as horizontally!!  :Tongue: . Oh I laughed so much when I heard about it on the news!!  :FRlol:

----------


## amanda_isabel

hmm..

1. stairs going to the human kinetics program is really terrifying!

2. you have to be in school more than ten minutes before your class, or you'll wind up late

3. activism is not defined the way it used to

4. brainwashers are everywhere

5. eating chips can stain teeth!

6. lots of people are actually a lot more clueless than they think, and they presume they aren't

7. some faculty advisers don't care.. or they don't know anything..

8. I have become so accustomed to a dentist working on my mouth

9. none of my windows are suitable for that experiment in physics

10. a smile is priceless!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The only DVD rejected by the British Board of Film Classification last year was a boxset of Weeds (broadcast in the UK on Sky One), for promoting drug use - despite more than 1,000 pornographic films being passed.

2. A bespoke garment does not necessarily need to be handmade.

3. There are 14 towns called Springfield in the US.

4. The England rugby team always includes a lawyer in the tour party.

5. John Lewis sold a Wii every five minutes in May.

6. Schools influence the smoking habits of young people.

7. Eating a big breakfast helps weight loss.

8. Bill Gates has not one, not two, but three computer screens at his office desk. 

9. The British eat potatoes about 10 billion times a year and pasta 1.4 billion times. 

10. Infants that use dummies are more likely to get ear infections.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a030905

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The only DVD rejected by the British Board of Film Classification last year was a boxset of Weeds (broadcast in the UK on Sky One), for promoting drug use - despite more than 1,000 pornographic films being passed.


Isn't the answer to reject the 1000 porn films as well rather than accept the druggy film?




> 3. There are 14 towns called Springfield in the US.


That's all? Everytime I turn around it seems like I hit a springfield.




> 7. Eating a big breakfast helps weight loss.


Counter intuitive but true. A good breakfest with protein and I don't feel hungry for well beyond lunch time. Of course I stll eat lunch.  :Biggrin:  




> 8. Bill Gates has not one, not two, but three computer screens at his office desk.


A lot of the young guys at work have two computer monitors. I barely know what to do with one.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Royal Family costs the equivalent of 66p per person in the UK.

2. Benito Mussolini was knighted in 1923 but it was withdrawn in 1940.

3. About 35% of the 13.1 billion plastic bottles used by UK households annually are recycled, up from 3% in 2001. 

4. A Volvo can accommodate 13 people.

5. Blue Peter presenters Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves had a fling.

6. Dogs can lawfully mess on roads with a speed limit of 40mph or above.

7. There are 13 podiatrists at the Glastonbury Festival.

8. On average, 1.5m 24-hour ration packs are eaten every year by British forces serving around the globe. 

9. Kanye West ices his knees after every performance.

10. The number of people killed on the roads is at its lowest since records began in 1926.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a031266

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The Royal Family costs the equivalent of 66p per person in the UK.


Well, I guess if you Brits don't mind. Stuff like that would not go off well in the US.




> 4. A Volvo can accommodate 13 people.


Redicuous. That was a trgedy waiting to happen.




> 6. Dogs can lawfully mess on roads with a speed limit of 40mph or above.


You guys don't have pooper scooper laws? In NYC you must clean up after your dog. I remember before the pooper scopper laws (around early 1980's) I used to step in dog crap all the time. 




> 10. The number of people killed on the roads is at its lowest since records began in 1926.


That's great. I believe the same goes for over here. Auto designs have made a difference. Buckling up has made a difference.

----------


## Niamh

> 10. The number of people killed on the roads is at its lowest since records began in 1926.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a031266


Wish i could say the same about here. think we are already closing in on 300 deaths. thats more than one death a day.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. In Zimbabwe, millions of dollars are called mollars. 

2. .The 9/11 conspiracy theorists in the US include the LIHOPs (the government Let It Happen On Purpose) and MIHOPs (the government Made It Happen On Purpose).

3. Sir Clive Sinclair doesn't use the internet.

4. Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham are among the football clubs that were created from Sunday schools.

5. The City of Glasgow Police is the oldest force in the world, 29 years older than the Metropolitan Police formed under Sir Robert Peel.

6. Nelson Mandela was still on the US terror watch list until this week.

7. An income of £13,400 is required to enjoy a minimum standard of living in the UK.

8. Gordon Brown's favourite Beatle song is All My Loving. 

9. Malaria is increasing in the UK.

10. Quarter-finalists at Wimbledon get free tea at the tournament for life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a031612

----------


## Scheherazade

1. A monsoon is a wind, rather than rain.

2. More than 12,000 laptops a week go missing at US airports.

3. Synod is pronounced SIN-uhd, and Sentamu (as in John) is pronounced with a stress on the first syllable - SENT-uh-moo.

4. Women with large breasts pay more for their bras at Marks & Spencer than their smaller chested counterparts.

5. Some slugs are carnivores, and have razor-sharp teeth.

6. The average UK household bins £8-worth of leftovers a week.

7. Pears sink while apples float.

8. One in 20 of Britain's population will attend a summer festival. 

9. One in three tickets sold at London theatres are for musicals.

10. Whipping someone until they bleed - even if they encourage it - is a criminal offence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a031941

----------


## Virgil

> 2. More than 12,000 laptops a week go missing at US airports.


 :Eek:   :Eek:   :Eek2:   :Eek2:  Oh my God. I better be careful with my laptop next time I go to the airport.




> 4. Women with large breasts pay more for their bras at Marks & Spencer than their smaller chested counterparts.


I'll be glad to chip in.  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:

----------


## Jozanny

> I'll be glad to chip in.


Only if I can buy the jockstraps for the most noteworthy. :Wink:   :Wink:   :Wink:

----------


## lugdunum

> 10. Quarter-finalists at Wimbledon get free tea at the tournament for life.


Cool! 
Do you think that Quarter-finalists at the Moscow's tournament get free vodka?  :Idea:

----------


## eyemaker

> 4. Women with large breasts pay more for their bras at Marks & Spencer than their smaller chested counterparts.


LoL..

----------


## Scheherazade

> I'll be glad to chip in.


That's funny. I thought that you would be against such extravagance and encourage them to do without!  :Wink: 



1. Misuse of the Red Cross emblem is a breach of the Geneva Convention. 

2. Boys cost £7,000 more to rear than girls during school years.

3. A baobab fruit has six times as much vitamin C, per gram, as an orange.

4. White Americans are 14% more likely than other ethnic groups to survive cancer.

5. The switch from coal gas to non-toxic North Sea gas has contributed to a fall in the number of suicides.

6. There are estimated to be more than 2,000 Esperanto speakers in the UK.

7. Chocolate poisons dogs.

8. Twelve countries, including the US, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Russia, ban travel and immigration for HIV-positive people. 

9. Young teenagers are drinking less and consuming fewer drugs.

10. House prices are up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a032375

----------


## Virgil

> 2. Boys cost £7,000 more to rear than girls during school years.


Give a girl a doll and she's happy; you got to give a boy a toy that moves or explodes.  :Wink:  Plus, wait until the girl grows up and the father has to pay for the wedding.  :Biggrin:  




> 4. White Americans are 14% more likely than other ethnic groups to survive cancer.


Talk about a slant to this story as if they have to add the racial component. (Unfortunately that's a disparity in educational awareness as well as economic.) But the real story is that the average American did as good or better than anyone else in the world. And for some strange reason there are Americans who want to change our health system to be more like the British. *shakes his head and mumbles something political*




> 7. Chocolate poisons dogs.


Yes, yes, yes!! Be careful to not let dogs get chocolate. 




> 9. Young teenagers are drinking less and consuming fewer drugs.


Fantastic. There is no surer way than to ruin kids lives than to get them involved with drugs.

----------


## lugdunum

> 9. Young teenagers are drinking less and consuming fewer drugs.


Spain was certainly NOT part of this study.  :Frown:  Unfortunately.... (For Spain, not for the study of course! :Wink:  )

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Having fat friends increases your risk of obesity.

2. The temperature of outer space is -270C (-454F).

3. There are about 50 species of ants in the UK.
More details

4. Drumming is as energetic as playing professional football.

5. The average Brit's savings would last 52 days if they found themselves out of work.

6. Scrabble is huge in Senegal.

7. The actress who played Brian's girlfriend in Life of Brian is now the mayor of Aberystwyth (and could end a local ban on showing her own film).

8. Faking one's death is known as pseudocide.

9. Mothers can change the "flavour" of their breast milk by what they eat. 

10. The next named number up from a trillion is a quadrillion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a033279

----------


## sprinks

> 2. The temperature of outer space is -270C (-454F).



And I thought it was cold here during the winter  :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> 8. Faking one's death is known as pseudocide.


I've never heard that before. That is interesting.




> 9. Mothers can change the "flavour" of their breast milk by what they eat.


Can they do chocolate milk?  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Bees act in a similar way to serial killers.

2. Liz Taylor has broken her back five times.

3. Lake Baikal in Russia holds about a fifth of the world's fresh water.

4. The blank stickers for visa stamps are called vignettes .

5. Dyslexics can find it particularly difficult to learn the piano.

6. Van Gogh often reused canvasses to save money.

7. Seals can navigate from the position of stars.

8. Mick Jagger's officially a pensioner. 

9. Being single in middle age can increase your risk of dementia.

10. In a drinking contest between a pen-tailed tree-shrew and a human, the former would win.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a033717

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Bees act in a similar way to serial killers.


I can't believe that anyone actually spent money on this study. What a waste. Here's the first sentence from the article:



> Just as bees forage some distance away from their hives, so murderers avoid killing near their homes, says the University of London team.


The analogy is among the most idiotic I have ever seen.




> 2. Liz Taylor has broken her back five times.


Doesn't she have large breasts? Now we know why.  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:  




> 3. Lake Baikal in Russia holds about a fifth of the world's fresh water.


I had never heard of Lake Baikal. So I looked it up. It's the 8th largest lake in the world. So how can it hold one fifth of the world's fresh water? There are seven other lakes bigger. Unless it's substantially deeper that the others. Strange. Edit: I looked it up and yes it is very deep.




> 8. Mick Jagger's officially a pensioner.


Good old Mick.  :Smile:  Incredible how they keep going.




> 9. Being single in middle age can increase your risk of dementia.


But being married can increase your risk of going insane.  :Biggrin:  




> 10. In a drinking contest between a pen-tailed tree-shrew and a human, the former would win.


Yeah, but does he drink a good scotch?  :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Olympic swimmers can consume more than 12,000 calories a day while training. And not get fat.

2. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson was once ranked seventh in the UK at fencing (men's foil).

3. There were 1,048 babies named Gertrude in 1907 but none in 2005.

4. Octopuses do not have eight legs. They have six arms and two legs.

5. The number of farmland birds in the UK is about half of what it was in the 1970s.

6. Penguins receive knighthoods.

7. Ear infections can affect the risk of being obese because they influence the nerves governing taste.

8. A rooftop luggage carrier increases fuel consumption by 20%.

9. Mills and Boon still publish at least one sheikh romance a month.

10. Buying oil only requires a 10% deposit of the market price.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_63.shtml

----------


## manolia

> 2. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson was once ranked seventh in the UK at fencing (men's foil).


 :FRlol:  :FRlol: 
Yeah that's the spirit.




> 4. Octopuses do not have eight legs. They have six arms and two legs.


Nonsense! Arms, legs..they taste just the same to me  :Biggrin:

----------


## lugdunum

> 6. Penguins receive knighthoods.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_63.shtml


 :FRlol:  :FRlol:

----------


## pussnboots

1 - You can Hypnotize Chickens 

A chicken can be hypnotized, or put into a trance by holding its head down against the ground, and continuously drawing a line along the ground with a stick or a finger, starting at its beak and extending straight outward in front of the chicken. 

If the chicken is hypnotized in this manner, it will remain immobile for somewhere between 15 seconds to 30 minutes, continuing to stare at the line. 



2 - You can have an erection once dead 

A death erection (sometimes referred to as "angel lust") is a post-mortem erection which occurs when a male individual dies vertically or face-down  the cadaver remaining in this position. During life, the pumping of blood by the heart ensures a relatively even distribution around the blood vessels of the human body. Once this mechanism has ended, only the force of gravity acts upon the blood. As with any mass, the blood settles at the lowest point of the body and causes edema or swelling to occur; the discoloration caused by this is called lividity. 


3 - Your hand can have a life of it's own 

Alien hand syndrome (or Dr. Strangelove syndrome) is an unusual neurological disorder in which one of the sufferer's hands seems to take on a life of its own. 

AHS is best documented in cases where a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, a procedure sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of extreme cases of epilepsy. It also occurs in some cases after other brain surgery, strokes, or infections. The HAND is after you! 



4 - Don't laugh too much, it can kill you 

Fatal hilarity is death as a result of laughter. In the third century B.C. the Greek philosopher Chrysippus died of laughter after seeing a donkey eating figs (hey, it wasn't THAT funny). 

On 24 March 1975 Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King's Lynn, England, literally died laughing while watching an episode of The Goodies. According to his wife, who was a witness, Mitchell was unable to stop laughing whilst watching a sketch in the episode "Kung Fu Kapers" in which Tim Brooke-Taylor, dressed as a kilted Scotsman, used a set of bagpipes to defend himself from a psychopathic black pudding in a demonstration of the Scottish martial art of "Hoots-Toot-ochaye". After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant. 



5 - A weapon could make you Gay 

Gay bomb is an informal name for a potential non-lethal chemical weapon, which a U.S. Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing. 

In one sentence of the document it was suggested that a strong aphrodisiac could be dropped on enemy troops, ideally one which would also cause "homosexual behaviour". So that's how they got Saddam! 



6 - It's true, Men can breastfeed 

The phenomenon of male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of medications that stimulate a human male's mammary glands. 

Male lactation is most commonly caused by hormonal treatments given to men suffering from prostate cancer. It is also possible for males (and females) to induce lactation through constant massage and simulated 'sucking' of the nipple over a long period of time (months).


7 -Bart Simpson's Tomacco (half tomato, half tobacco) was possible 

A tomacco is originally a fictional hybrid fruit that is half tomato and half tobacco, from the 1999 episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" of The Simpsons; the method used to create the tomacco in the episode is fictional. 

The tomacco became real when it was allegedly produced in 2003. Inspired by The Simpsons, Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Oregon successfully grafted a tomato plant onto the roots of a tobacco plant, which was possible because both plants come from the same family. 


8 - It's OK to have a third nipple 

A supernumerary nipple (also known as a third nipple) is an additional nipple occurring in mammals including humans. Often mistaken for moles, supernumerary nipples are diagnosed at a rate of 2% in females, less in males. The nipples appear along the two vertical "milk lines" which start in the armpit on each side, run down through the typical nipples and end at the groin. They are classified into eight levels of completeness from a simple patch of hair to a milk-bearing breast in miniature. 


9 - You can die on the Toilet 

There are many toilet-related injuries and some toilet-related deaths throughout history and in urban legends. 

In young boys, one of the most common causes of genital injury is when the toilet seat falls down while using the toilet. 

George II of Great Britain died on the toilet on 25 October 1760 from an aortic dissection. According to Horace Walpole's memoirs, King George "rose as usual at six, and drank his chocolate; for all his actions were invariably methodic. A quarter after seven he went into a little closet. His German valet de chambre in waiting heard a noise, and running in, found the King dead on the floor." 


10 - Picking one's nose and eating it might be healthy 

Mucophagy (literally mucus-eating, also referred as picking one's nose and eating it) is the consumption of the nasal mucus, boogers, and other detritus obtained from nose-picking. 

Some research suggests that mucophagy may be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the immune system.

----------


## Poetess

I`ll make sure I read all, since they seem interesting.

----------


## Virgil

> 2 - You can have an erection once dead


 :FRlol:  Well, what the heck, one last time before you go.  :Biggrin: 




> 6 - It's true, Men can breastfeed


But what baby is going to want to suck on a hairy nipple?  :Tongue: 




> 8 - It's OK to have a third nipple


Now lots of men wouldn't mind women having a third breast.  :Biggrin: 




> 9 - You can die on the Toilet


They didn't mention Elvis. I'm pretty sure Elvis died on the toilet.




> 10 - Picking one's nose and eating it might be healthy


Tastey too.  :Sick:

----------


## Poetess

^^ lol

----------


## wilbur lim

Hilarious chat.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Misheard song lyrics are known as mondegreens.

2. The Banana Splits theme tune is very similar to reggae classic Buffalo Soldier.

3. Clouds can be breast-shaped.

4. And thunderclouds are so menacingly dark because they are four to five miles (6.4 to 8km) thick.

5. A 72oz steak is about the size of a large telephone directory. And since 1960, 8,000 people have managed to eat one - plus all the trimmings - in under an hour.

6. DNA from 3,000-year-old skeletons can be matched to living descendents.

7. Jerry Springer, the American talkshow host, was born in a London Tube station during World War II.

8. Some chemotherapy drugs are made from yew tree clippings.

9. The Queen no longer sends telegrams to those turning 100.

10. The rock hyrax - a modestly proportioned rodent - is the closest living relative to the elephant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a035484

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Misheard song lyrics are known as mondegreens.


Oh that's interesting. It's amazing how wrong one can be with rock lyrics. Until the internet where I can now look up lyrics I had to guess. I defy anyone to try to understand most words when Mick Jagger sings them.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Clouds can be breast-shaped.


Little do people know that this was first observed on horny teenage boys.  :Tongue: 




> 5. A 72oz steak is about the size of a large telephone directory. And since 1960, 8,000 people have managed to eat one - plus all the trimmings - in under an hour.


I don't know how one can eat that much meat. Quick story. When i was a young engineer I went on a buisness trip to Minneapolis with this other more senior fellow and he was a big man. Not fat, but very tall and solid. He insisted we go to dinner at this steak place called T. Wrights. It's no longer there, but their big draw was a huge prime rib. I don't know if it was 72 oz but it hung over the side of the plate. The other fellow asked for the largest cut they had, and I being forewarned asked for a smaller one. Well I couldn't finish mine and he finished his, and when he saw I slowed down he asked if I was going to finish it and when I said no he asked to finish it for me.  :FRlol:  And he did.  :FRlol:  :FRlol:

----------


## Joreads

> 1 - You can Hypnotize Chickens 
> 
> A10 - Picking one's nose and eating it might be healthy 
> 
> Mucophagy (literally mucus-eating, also referred as picking one's nose and eating it) is the consumption of the nasal mucus, boogers, and other detritus obtained from nose-picking. 
> 
> Some research suggests that mucophagy may be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the immune system.


That will teach me to read this forum while eatting my lunch :FRlol:

----------


## cipherdecoy

1. Earth is not round; it is slightly pear-shaped. The North Pole radius is 44mm longer than the South Pole radius.

2. Picasso could draw before he could walk and his first word was the Spanish word for pencil.

3. 2 billion people still cannot read.

4. Eskimos use refrigerators to keep food from freezing.

5. Women make up 49% of the world population.

6. Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 metres.

7. It is not true that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be viewed from space - many man-made objects, including the Dutch polders, can be viewed from space.

8. Half the world's population is under 25 years of age.

9. A house fly lives only 14 days. 
(This is fantastic)

10. A diamond will break if you hit it with a hammer.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Twenty-three wedding cakes were made for the nuptials of Charles and Diana.

2. That third brake light, the one in the rear window, is called a chimsil.

3. Aircraft oxygen systems have just about 12 minutes worth of reserves.

4. And when deployed, the oxygen flow can be so light that passengers can be confused into thinking something is wrong, and pulling oxygen masks from the ceiling.

5. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can be even more painful.

6. Most people have an above average number of feet.

7. Shetland is the fattest part of the UK.

8. There are more than 150 books with the "...before you die" premise in their titles.

9. Life really does imitate art.

10. Almost a third of BT payphones have been removed in the past six years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a035800

----------


## Nightshade

Ok how is number 6 possible ?  :Confused: 
Edit: I see ha ha very funny confuse the maths impared people why dont you !  :Rolleyes:   :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> 16. Most people have an above average





> Ok how is number 6 possible ? 
> Edit: I see ha ha very funny confuse the maths impared people why dont you !


They must be thinking of boys and confusing that little thing they have in between for a foot.  :Tongue:   :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Ok how is number 6 possible ? 
> Edit: I see ha ha very funny confuse the maths impared people why dont you !


Here is how:


> What's the average number of feet? 
> 
> No, not two. The answer is slightly less. Think about it. 
> 
> This is because the average can be pulled to one side by the influence of a tiny minority of people, in this case, the small number who have fewer than two feet. 
> 
> Almost everyone has more than the average number of feet.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7581120.stm


This week's 10:

1. E-mail addresses beginning with with "A", "M" or "S" get more spam than those starting with "Q" or "Z".

2. Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie lived off the proceeds of cocaine while in exile in South America.

3. Ping-pong was originally called ping-pong, not whiff-whaff, as London's mayor, Boris Johnson, publicly claimed at the Beijing Olympics.

4. Urban gulls produce three times as many eggs as their coastal counterparts.

5. One of the scientists involved in developing the £5bn Large Hadron Collider at Cern in Switzerland, was the keyboardist with the chart-topping group D-Ream.

6. Water is naturally present in aviation fuel.

7. Former World's Strongest Man, Geoff Capes, is an avid budgerigar keeper - owning more than 300 of the birds.

8. The man who designed the iconic Rolling Stones lips logo, was paid just £50 for the job... although he received a £200 bonus. 

9. Indie music fans are not, in general, gentle sorts but heavy metal fans are.

10. You can dive from 35ft into 12in of water - and only suffer bruising (with a lot of training).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a035800

----------


## eyemaker

> 10. You can dive from 35ft into 12in of water - and only suffer bruising (with a lot of training).


let me try this.. :Tongue:

----------


## wilbur lim

I solely can list out these following-
1.We don't know if we can be disparaged.
2.We don't know if there is a tragedy which can be imminent.
3.We don't know if we could suddenly faint in light of grief.

----------


## Virgil

> 10. You can dive from 35ft into 12in of water - and only suffer bruising (with a lot of training).


Unfortunately by the time you're trained, you're dead.  :Wink:

----------


## Domer121

1.That Margaret Atwood is a writer from Canada.

2.That Wilhem Wundt is considered the worlds first psychologist.

3.That William James began the study called functionalism.

4.That there is the Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Nervous System
and lots more!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Baseball was played in Surrey in 1755.

2. There are algae that can bend light.

3. Women are more prone to nightmares.

4. The British Antarctic Survey needs a full-time plumber.

5. While everything else is getting more expensive, broccoli is getting cheaper.

6. Radio adverts can be banned for being too quick. 

7. Zoroastrians were the first religious adherents to incorporate the end of the world into their beliefs.

8. Portraits of famous people often look like the painter instead.

9. When the police fire a baton round, they aim for the belt buckle.

10. Goats are a cost effective way of clearing waste ground.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a036653

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Baseball was played in Surrey in 1755.


That does not surprise me. As someone quoted in the article says, the game evolved, and I bet something like baseball went back to ancient times.




> 3. Women are more prone to nightmares.


Well, have you seen some of the husbands they are married too? Of course they have nightmares.  :Tongue: 




> 4. The British Antarctic Survey needs a full-time plumber.


Plumbing in Antartica? Wouldn't the water be frozen?




> 5. While everything else is getting more expensive, broccoli is getting cheaper.


That's because no one is eating it. Supply and demand.  :Wink: 




> 10. Goats are a cost effective way of clearing waste ground.


Goats eat everything. But then you got to clean up all the goat crap.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. JK Rowling makes £5 every second.

2. There are two £1m banknotes still in existence. Nine were made after World War II.

3. Television presenter and artist Tony Hart served in the Gurkhas.

4. Paul Newman was prevented from flying on an ill-fated World War II mission by his pilot's ear infection. Everyone on his detail was killed.

5. Egham receives more spam than any other place in the UK.

6. The chief designer at Waterford Crystal was not Irish, but Czech.

7. Human HIV infections could have started as early as the 19th Century.

8. The 1950s was not a golden age for train travel.

9. Bradford and Bingley has registered the raising of the bowler hat as a trademark.

10. The man who designed the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, Eero Saarinen, also designed the Sixties classic, the Tulip chair.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a038287

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Goats wear condoms. 

2. Big Lebowski fanatics call themselves "achievers".

3. And the f-word is used 281 times in the film.

4. Sarah Palin is 10th cousin to Princess Diana. 

5. The word "unbepissed" means "not being urinated on".

6. Contrary to myth, the suicide rate in New York in the month following the Wall Street Crash in 1929 was lower than normal. 

7. The phrase "dead cat bounce" means a brief rally in the price of falling stock.

8. Scottish poet Robert Burns was Bob Dylan's muse. 

9. The annual cost of forest loss is more than the amount being lost in the banking crisis.

10. Two New Testament books were left out of the modern Bible.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_70.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Goats wear condoms.


 :FRlol:  I wonder what size is a goat condom. And how would like you to be the one to slip it on the goat?  :Biggrin: 




> 2. Big Lebowski fanatics call themselves "achievers".


Oh my brother loves that movie. i wonder if he considers himself an"achiever?"




> 3. And the f-word is used 281 times in the film.


That's all? 




> 4. Sarah Palin is 10th cousin to Princess Diana.


Hmm, they are both attractive, but I don't see the resemblance.




> 5. The word "unbepissed" means "not being urinated on".


 :FRlol:  What is the need to create such a word? It's not exactly commonplace to pee on people. 




> 6. Contrary to myth, the suicide rate in New York in the month following the Wall Street Crash in 1929 was lower than normal.


Isn't amazing how urban legends get created. Yeah this doesn't surprise me.




> 7. The phrase "dead cat bounce" means a brief rally in the price of falling stock.


Yeah and I wonder if today's rally was a dead cat bounce. I suspect it might be. But let's hope not.

----------


## applepie

Odd one given that I watch entirely too much animal related TV. There are seas within the bottoms of our oceans. No kidding, they are huge pools of water on the sea floor that have their own tides and such. The water is laden with salt and other minerals which makes it more dense than the other water around it.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Pets don't like divorces.

2. More than one in four commuters has bacteria from faeces on their hands.

3. The Queen has a gold Blue Peter badge.

4. Val Singleton not only had a fling with Peter Purves, but fancied John Noakes.

5. Prince Charles could have had a cameo in Doctor Who.

6. Men are most romantic aged 53.

7. The world's longest insect is 56cm long.

8. Sugar makes you a nicer person. But artificial sweetener does not have the same effect.

9. A spurtle is a spatula-like tool traditionally used to stir porridge.

10. The brains of obese people find eating less rewarding than brains belonging to other people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a039547

----------


## Virgil

> 2. More than one in four commuters has bacteria from faeces on their hands.


 :Sick:  :Sick:  If there was a vomit smilie to choose from that's what I would have chosen. How disgusting.




> 7. The world's longest insect is 56cm long.


 :FRlol:  I can hear all the women screaming right now at just the thought of this.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. Sugar makes you a nicer person. But artificial sweetener does not have the same effect.





> What are little boys made of? 
> Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails,
> That's whatlittle boys are made of. 
> What are little girls made of? 
> Sugar and spice, and everything nice,
> That's what little girls are made of.


 :Biggrin: 




> 10. The brains of obese people find eating less rewarding than brains belonging to other people.


How do brains eat?  :Wink:  Do they find it defecating any less rewarding?  :FRlol: 




> 6. Men are most romantic aged 53.


I saved this for last on purpose.  :Biggrin:  Hey I'm almost there!!! Wait until I tell my wife. She will be thrilled.  :Banana:

----------


## Granny5

6. Men are most romantic aged 53.

Poppy is past 53. Not much to look forward to now.

----------


## Scheherazade

> How do brains eat?  Do they find it defecating any less rewarding?


Guess this gives the expression "brain fart" a new meaning, eh?

----------


## Equality72521

I know, I know...so much more than 10.... :Tongue:  Couldn't resist.

1. A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

2. Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it 
will digest itself.

3. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down 
continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

5. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate. I know 
some people like that!

6. A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why.

7. A 2 X 4 is really 1-1/2 by 3-1/2.

8. During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur," a small red car can be seen in the 
distance.

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily! That 
explains it!

10. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear 
pants.

11. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were 
made of wood.

12. The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves per side in a 
game of chess is 318,979,564,000.

13. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and 
silver.

14. The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan." There was 
never a recorded Wendy before.

15. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed 
the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

16. If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad 
and sting itself to death.

17. Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film down so you 
could see his moves.

18. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."


19. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.

20. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which 
stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

21. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for 
automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the 
Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

22. Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.

23. By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you cannot sink into 
quicksand.

24. Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of 
celery than the celery has in it to begin with.

25. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike 
contest.

26. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

27. Sherlock Holmes NEVER said "Elementary, my dear Watson."

28. An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take 
more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

29. The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

30. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most 
often stolen from Public Libraries.

31. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space 
because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them. Not to mention the other 
drawback.

32. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave

----------


## Virgil

> 9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily! That 
> explains it!


I knew it. I was probably born to rich millionaires and got screwed.  :Tongue:   :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There's a town in Uruguay called Fray Bentos.

2. The final day - or half-day - of World War I produced about 11,000 casualties.

3. Ian Fleming's wife administered a rap over the knuckles with a spoon to a reviewer who didn't like Dr No.

4. About 90% of pumpkins grown worldwide are not eaten - instead they are carved for Halloween and the innards discarded.

5. Men like women in red. And not just red clothing - even those in photos with a red frame are rated as more attractive than any other colour. 

6. The word "euthanasia means easeful death.

7. George Osborne wore plus fours at university.

8. There are about 200 earthquakes a year in Britain.

9. The United Arab Emirates, along with the US, has the largest ecological footprint per person.

10. "Charlie's dead" means that someone's slip is showing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a040249

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Saddam Hussein's yacht had an escape tunnel leading to a submarine.

2. The Dalai Lama boxes.

3. Women's hands have more bugs.

4. Londoners complained about house prices in the 1600s.

5. Antelopes click their knees to demonstrate sexual prowess.

6. Drum-making can be fatal.

7. Barack Obama supports West Ham.

8. The average person can sing three octaves.

9. Snow ploughs are used to clear dead lemmings on Norway's roads.

10. About 20,000 people die globally every year from snake bites.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a040582

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Saddam Hussein's yacht had an escape tunnel leading to a submarine.


Hey that is really neat.  :Smile:  Sounds like something from a James Bond movie. In fact Saddam could have made a great Bond villian.  :Wink: 




> 2. The Dalai Lama boxes.


Isn't he supposed to be a pacifist?  :FRlol: 




> 3. Women's hands have more bugs.


 :Eek2:  I guess I won't ever hold my wife's hands again.  :Biggrin:  Kind of makes that Beatles song "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" have extra significance.  :Wink: 




> 5. Antelopes click their knees to demonstrate sexual prowess.


I've known a few women that do that too and for the same reason.  :Tongue: 




> 8. The average person can sing three octaves.


Yeah, and every time I try my life gets threatened. I wonder why.  :Wink:

----------


## librarius_qui

> Originally Posted by Scheherazade
> 
> 
> 2. The Dalai Lama boxes.
> 
> 
> Isn't he supposed to be a pacifist?


Well, everyone should have something to punch sometimes! Specially girls! Sometimes I give them my hands, and say "come on, punch!" The one who made it harder was the most honest of them! I'm about to take measure with another one, as soon as I can, only ... She lives in another town! ... Blast! O tempora! O internet!  :Alien: 


a klicky
 :Crash:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The 999 emergency number was chosen over 111 because telegraph wires rubbing together in the wind transmitted the equivalent of a 111 call.

2. In space, an item as small as a toolbag can be seen from Earth.

3. There are only eight mycologists in the UK.

4. US intelligence kept a file on Tony Blair's personal life.

5. Premium chocolate tasters don't swallow the goods.

6. Police use curry to combat alleged drugs possession.

7. A dog's mucus enhances its sense of smell.

8. The speechwriting "tricolon technique" has been used by Julius Caesar and Barack Obama.

9. A French cologne has a scent inspired by the smell of human sperm.

10. Gordon Brown writes to X Factor contestants.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a043411

----------


## byquist

Today's americanthinker.com essay argues that Bill Ayers had a literary hand in President Elect Obama's Dreams From My Father -- assuming you know who, or give a hoot who, Bill Ayers is.

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The 999 emergency number was chosen over 111 because telegraph wires rubbing together in the wind transmitted the equivalent of a 111 call.


Either of those are better than the American. Our emergency number is 911. I wonder why we have two separate digits. Oh wait, pehaps I know. Perhaps if someting accidentaly presses up against a single digit then it may automatically dial. Perhaps then the AMerican makes better sense. Hmm.




> 2. In space, an item as small as a toolbag can be seen from Earth.


Of course. Why do you think the flight paths all go over nudist colonies.  :Biggrin: 




> 5. Premium chocolate tasters don't swallow the goods.


Such a job exists??? And I wasted my time going to college.




> 6. Police use curry to combat alleged drugs possession.


Some of those curries can knock you out with a whiff.  :Wink: 




> 7. A dog's mucus enhances its sense of smell.


I didn't know mucus smelled.  :Biggrin: 




> 9. A French cologne has a scent inspired by the smell of human sperm.


 :Sick:  :Sick:  :Sick:  Why would I want to put on my body someone else's sperm?  :Sick:

----------


## Guinivere

1. New Zealand was the first country that allowed the women's vote.

2. The movie "Fargo" is called "Mysterious murder in snowy cream" in Hong Kong.

3. Every three seconds a shark dies at the hand of a human.

4. The smurfs are called "i puffi" in Italy.

5. Rice has more genes than a human being.

6. Elvis never gave an encore.

7. Gustav Mahler's dying words were "Mozart !"

8. There are pink dolphins in the Amazon river.

9. The books, which are the most read in Guantanamo are J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter novels.

10. George Bush's favourite painting shows a cowboy on horseback.

----------


## TheFifthElement

> Either of those are better than the American. Our emergency number is 911. I wonder why we have two separate digits. Oh wait, pehaps I know. Perhaps if someting accidentaly presses up against a single digit then it may automatically dial. Perhaps then the AMerican makes better sense. Hmm.


In Europe they use 112 (not sure if it's universal) and 112 works in UK too. Don't know how it works with US phones, but in UK the keypad lock on phones doesn't operate for 999 as every parent finds out at some time after their lovely little one has dialled it and had a nice chat with the emergency services. Certainly I have found this out. Twice.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The first trunk call made in the UK was by the Queen.

2. Claims worth £40m are made each year to the Bank of England in relation to damaged banknotes.

3. And two serial numbers must be legible for a damaged note to be exchanged at the bank.

4. A street light costs about 15p a night to keep lit.

5. The world's timekeeping is monitored by one man.

6. And December 2008 will last one second longer than December 2007.

7. Motorways are five times safer than single-lane roads, according to the AA.

8. The Sydney Opera House was inspired by a peeled orange. 

9. Shakespeare probably lost his sight. 

10. Spanish has overtaken German as the second most popular language taught in schools.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_78.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The first trunk call made in the UK was by the Queen.


What exactly is a trunk call? Sounds like something related to prostitution.  :FRlol: 




> 4. A street light costs about 15p a night to keep lit.


Hmm, where are the environmental whackos trying to save every little bit of energy? I bet they want dark city streets. 




> 5. The world's timekeeping is monitored by one man.


 :Eek2:  So if he has a heart attack and dies one night, does that mean time stops?  :Wink: 




> 6. And December 2008 will last one second longer than December 2007.


What a relief. I thought time was moving too fast.  :Tongue: 




> 7. Motorways are five times safer than single-lane roads, according to the AA.


I believe this. I'm always afraid that someone coming the other way on single lane roads is going to drift over into my lane.




> 8. The Sydney Opera House was inspired by a peeled orange.


I guess we should be lucky it wasn't a banana.  :Biggrin: 




> 9. Shakespeare probably lost his sight.


I was curious and went and read about this. What a crock. It's all based on speculation.




> 10. Spanish has overtaken German as the second most popular language taught in schools.


You should come to the US. We have more Spanish speaking people than English.  :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Emily, of Bagpuss fame, was paid with a bag of sweets. 

2. Reindeers are genetically programmed to stop growing in cold weather when food is scare, cutting their calorific needs by 70%. 

3. Kissing can damage hearing.

4. Butch Cassidy was a Geordie.

5. Councils are banning number 13 houses on new developments.

6. Potatoes can weigh 24lbs (11kgs).

7. The more brothers a man has, the more likely he is to have sons himself.

8. Dogs get jealous.

9. Secondary school pupils in England are the best in Europe at science.

10. The Moon's distance from the Earth can vary by about 30,000km.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a048531

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Emily, of Bagpuss fame, was paid with a bag of sweets.


For what?  :Brow: 




> 2. Reindeers are genetically programmed to stop growing in cold weather when food is scare, cutting their calorific needs by 70%.


I think that's called dying.  :Wink: 




> 3. Kissing can damage hearing.


What? What's that you say? So that's why I'm going deaf.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. Dogs get jealous.


Oh absolutely.

----------


## Joreads

5. Councils are banning number 13 houses on new developments.


I can understand that I would not live in a house that was numbered 13 or 666 for that matter, I have enough problems without that :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

*100 things we didn't know this time last year*

----------


## papayahed

> Biscuits 'key' to clinching business deals


This is true, my coworkers love them some biscuits. Bring in biscuits and they are content - for at least 2 minutes. :FRlol:

----------


## djy78usa

> 8. A bear helped carry ammunition for Polish troops during World War II.


The Soviet Union actually used dogs as anti-tank mines. The dogs were trained to look for food under tanks and other armored vehciles. As they crawled under the tank, as small lever would be activated, detonating the 50 lbs. or so of TNT that was strapped on their backs. Once they were trained, the dogs would be let loose upon a field of advancing German tanks. The Soviets overlooked one small detail though; the dogs were trained using Soviet tanks, so they would often do as they were trained and run under the first _Soviet_ tank they spotted.

----------


## Virgil

> The Soviet Union actually used dogs as anti-tank mines. The dogs were trained to look for food under tanks and other armored vehciles. As they crawled under the tank, as small lever would be activated, detonating the 50 lbs. or so of TNT that was strapped on their backs. Once they were trained, the dogs would be let loose upon a field of advancing German tanks. The Soviets overlooked one small detail though; the dogs were trained using Soviet tanks, so they would often do as they were trained and run under the first _Soviet_ tank they spotted.


 :FRlol:  Gives the perfect example of military intelligence.

----------


## djy78usa

> Gives the perfect example of military intelligence.


whoa, whoa, whoa... be careful Virg!  :FRlol:

----------


## BienvenuJDC

> 10. Racial prejudice is learnt; and everyone has an in-built inclination towards learning to fear people who appear different, says US research. 
> 
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...7.stm#10things


I think that the second part of the research is biased to the first statement. Maybe the second part should read, "everyone has an in-built inclination towards fearing people who appear different." It is our responsibility to _learn_ NOT to fear people who are different.

----------


## Scheherazade

. The record score in rugby union is 350-0, made when one team was protesting against suspensions. 

2. Naked rambling is legal in Switzerland.

3. Members of the House of Lords cannot be expelled or suspended.

4. There is an Apostrophe Protection Society. 

5. Cows who are given names produce more milk.

6. Poland pays 94% of the funding for the Auschwitz Museum.

7. Thinking too much makes your golf worse.

8. The brain chemical serotonin causes locusts to swarm.

9. Cricket at altitude is potentially dangerous.

10. Putting nuclear reactors near areas prone to earthquakes was banned in the UK. Now it's not.

----------


## Virgil

Scher, you forgot the link to the details.




> . 2. Naked rambling is legal in Switzerland.


Hmm, I would love to see that.  :Biggrin:  But where are they rambling to? 




> 4. There is an Apostrophe Protection Society.


Wh't th' f' for?  :Wink: 




> 5. Cows who are given names produce more milk.


And so do women.  :FRlol: 




> 7. Thinking too much makes your golf worse.


And your sexual performance as well.  :Smile: 




> 8. The brain chemical serotonin causes locusts to swarm.


Oh is that why I have some have lice in their hair.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. King Henry VIII was a soppy romantic.

2. Toddlers from well-off families use more hand gestures.

3. The Neanderthals had the speech gene, FOXP2. 

4. You can safely eat more than three eggs a week.

5. Nobody really knows when Titian was born.

6. Some of the smells that emanate from chip shops are comparable to butterscotch, onion and ironing boards. 

7. Delhi's sewers are cleaned by workers wearing only shorts and rubber gloves.

8. Vladimir Putin prefers the Beatles to Abba.

9. About 6,000 satellites have been put into orbit so far.

10. Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

----------


## Virgil

> 1. King Henry VIII was a soppy romantic.


 :FRlol:  And then when the romance wore off, it was off with their heads. 




> 2. Toddlers from well-off families use more hand gestures.


Well, the hand gestures we learned in the not so well off neighborhoods can't be shown in decent company.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. You can safely eat more than three eggs a week.


Hmm, I have more than that and my cholesterol is 172 with a 2.9 ratio of total cholesterol to good cholesterol.  :Biggrin:  




> 5. Nobody really knows when Titian was born.


I bet his mother does.  :Wink: 




> 6. Some of the smells that emanate from chip shops are comparable to butterscotch, onion and ironing boards.


But not potatoes. Doesn't that say something?  :Smile: 




> 7. Delhi's sewers are cleaned by workers wearing only shorts and rubber gloves.


I hope at least rubber boots.  :Sick:  :Sick: 




> 8. Vladimir Putin prefers the Beatles to Abba.


Gives a whole new meaning to "Back in the USSR".  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin: 




> 9. About 6,000 satellites have been put into orbit so far.


One of these days one is going to fall down on us.




> 10. Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.


And if the satellite falls down on us it will undougtedly be on Friday the 13th.  :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Elephants kiss. 

2. Members of the public can be New York police officers for one day.

3. The Catholic Church studies confessions.

4. British "superguns" defeated the Spanish Armada.

5. Hitler had bad table manners.

6. Injured turtles can wear artificial flippers.

7. Pills can banish bad memories.

8. Grizzly bears hate getting their ears wet.
More details

9. "Prawo Jadzy" means "driving licence" in Polish and is not a real name.

10. Chimps can log on.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

----------


## papayahed

> 2. Members of the public can be New York police officers for one day.


That explains all those brutality cases!!




> 10. Chimps can log on.


Yeah but can they beat my score on geo challenge??

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Elephants kiss.


French kiss or pecks on the cheek? Try French kissing an elephant and see what that's like.  :FRlol: 




> 2. Members of the public can be New York police officers for one day.


I've never heard of this. How come they haven't asked me to be a policeman for a day?  :Biggrin: 




> 3. The Catholic Church studies confessions.


Boy there are statistics on everything these days. 



> Traditionally, the seven deadly sins were considered: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.


Goodness gracious, I probably committ them all every week. 




> 4. British "superguns" defeated the Spanish Armada.


Technology is what wins wars. Fascinating video and article.




> 5. Hitler had bad table manners.


His social skills realting to different people other than himself weren't too good either.




> 8. Grizzly bears hate getting their ears wet.


Now that was a great video.  :Smile: 




> 10. Chimps can log on.


Well that explains some of our lit net members.  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Nicolas Sarkozy collects stamps.

2. Doodling aids memory. 

3. Peanut allergies have trebled in the past decade.

4. Wendy Richard was in Up Pompeii.

5. The biggest underground machine in the world mines salt in Cheshire.

6. There are two types of intelligence.

7. About 1,000 people in the UK lose their voice box annually.

8. Hitler spared Blackpool because he wanted to use it as his personal playground. 

9. Fleeces were part of the acid-house scene in the 1980s. 

10. Rio has a Sambadrome.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_86.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Sun promised Graham Taylor they would never call him "turnip" again.

2. Barbie dumped Ken.

3. The average number of friends is 150.

4. Former Booker Prize chairman John Sutherland reads airport novels.

5. The key to climbing Kilimanjaro is walking slowly.

6. Marital stress hits women harder.

7. The record amount paid for a domain name is $14m for sex.com, in 2007. 

8. Two people in three have lied about reading a book, to impress someone. 

9. Corpus Christi college, Oxford, broke the rules when they won University Challenge 2009. 

10. ...and so too did Christ Church college, Oxford, allegedly, when they won in 2008.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...x.html#a061560

----------


## Virgil

> 2. Barbie dumped Ken.


 :FRlol:  Well that goes to show that Ken as metro man is not appealing to women.  :Biggrin: 

Get back to being a man Ken.  :Wink:  And for God's sake, get rid of that ear ring.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. The average number of friends is 150.


My lit net profile page lists 142. And I know I have way more than eight in real life. So I got the average beat.  :Smile: 




> 6. Marital stress hits women harder.


Perhaps but it hits men harder in the wallet after the divorce.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. The record amount paid for a domain name is $14m for sex.com, in 2007.


Why does that sound like prostitution?  :FRlol: 




> 8. Two people in three have lied about reading a book, to impress someone.


I wonder about the people on lit net.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Holding your hands up on a rollercoaster stretches the torso, enhancing the physical sensations.

2. We got Vikings wrong - new research at Cambridge University concludes they were more traders than raiders, who worked hard to settle into new societies as good immigrants.

3. Monkeys floss.

4. And ducks can be gay.

5. 'YR' was an abbreviation for "your" in the 17th and 18th Century too.

6. On 11 September 2001, WTC workers took an average of five to eight minutes to leave their desks - finishing e-mails, filing papers, and some went to the toilet.

7. And in 1985's Manchester Airport crash, some passengers stopped to take luggage out of the overhead bins as the plane burned on the runway. 

8. A "sonic brand trigger" is ad-land's term for aural branding - such as BA's opera music or Intel's short string of beeps - used instead of jingles.

9. Electronic cigarettes exist.

10. Biggest first date faux pas? Clicking your fingers at the waiter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Holding your hands up on a rollercoaster stretches the torso, enhancing the physical sensations.


So does the rack, but we don't do that for fun.  :Wink: 




> 2. We got Vikings wrong - new research at Cambridge University concludes they were more traders than raiders, who worked hard to settle into new societies as good immigrants.


Tell that to the French who bore the brunt of their "trading".  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Monkeys floss.


 :FRlol:  What??? With what, each other's tail? I saw the video by the way and that was disgusting.




> 4. And ducks can be gay.


Gives a whole new meaning to "quack."  :Biggrin:  (sorry only kidding.) 




> 5. 'YR' was an abbreviation for "your" in the 17th and 18th Century too.


Oh, and all this time I thought it was short for "you retard."  :Tongue: 




> 9. Electronic cigarettes exist.


Bet that first drag is a real shocker.  :Wink: 




> 10. Biggest first date faux pas? Clicking your fingers at the waiter.


And here I thought it was dropping your pants at dinner.  :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Wuthering Heights is known as Les Hauts de Hurlevents in France.

2. The shoes that take Dorothy back to Kansas were originally silver.

3. Champagne that's 184 years old can still have a few bubbles left in it.

4. Elephants can be pink.

5. False memory is called confabulation.

6. Mining output fell more in the periods before and after Mrs Thatcher, than during her time as prime minister.

7. Kim Jong-il likes pizza. North Korea's first pizzeria has opened.

8. Parts of cremated bodies are recycled. 

9. Monkeys in Thailand use public transport.

10. You should warm up before gardening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

----------


## papayahed

> 19. Monkeys in Thailand use public transport.


Where do they keep their tokens? and how do they know when to ring the bell (to stop)? Are they dressed? I remember the buses required shoes and shirts. This is very confusing? Where are they going, to work? a day out in the city?

----------


## Virgil

> 2. The shoes that take Dorothy back to Kansas were originally silver.


What were they red? They turned red when she stepped into a bucket of paint.  :Wink:  




> 3. Champagne that's 184 years old can still have a few bubbles left in it.


I bet it tastes like it was a 184 years old.  :Sick:  Actually it reminds me of me, an old fart.  :Tongue: 




> 4. Elephants can be pink.


After enough martinis anything can be pink.  :Wink: 




> 5. False memory is called confabulation.


Oh then my wife should call me Confabulate for all the erroneous things I've said.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Kim Jong-il likes pizza. North Korea's first pizzeria has opened.


And if the chef makes it too cheesey, it's fifty years in prison.  :Smile: 




> 8. Parts of cremated bodies are recycled.


Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...let me have a recycled bust.




> 9. Monkeys in Thailand use public transport.





> Where do they keep their tokens? and how do they know when to ring the bell (to stop)? Are they dressed? I remember the buses required shoes and shirts. This is very confusing? Where are they going, to work? a day out in the city?


They are shorter than the 4 foot height requirement and pass as ugly children.  :Biggrin:  Dressed? Have you ever known a monkey to be modest? Their little ding-a-lings flop around.  :FRlol:  Work? Of coure they are off to monkey business.  :FRlol:   :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Tits are also known as bumbarrels.

2. The Daily Sport website is banned in the House of Commons. 

3. Teenagers don't like pink light.

4. Crabs feel pain.

5. Britons spend six months of their lives queueing.

6. A broken heart is known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and it can be cured.

7. Britney Spears's family comes from Tottenham in north London.

8. People like their tea to have a temperature of 56-60C. 

9. Hyenas have the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom.

10. Charles Darwin loved eating vegetables.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Tits are also known as bumbarrels.


 :FRlol:  :FRlol:  I'm not even going to touch that. It's funny enough on its own.




> 3. Teenagers don't like pink light.


And here I thought teens liked everything pink. Guys and gals.  :Wink: 




> 5. Britons spend six months of their lives queueing.


God I hate standing in line. I've no patience for it. 




> 8. People like their tea to have a temperature of 56-60C.


Really? I like mine hotter than that I think, though I've never measured the temperature.




> 9. Hyenas have the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom.


Unless you've been bitten by your wife.  :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The song Agadoo by Black Lace is originally French. 

2. There are 19 countries in the G20.

3. The American signal to stop is a cross of the forearms.

4. It requires 60 tonnes of paint to paint the Eiffel Tower.

5. Eating custard cakes daily does not prevent a very long life.

6. Chicks count.

7. Michelle Obama does high fives.

8. When photographing a group of heads of state, the host should stand in the centre at the front and next to him should be the longest-serving leaders. 

9. Too many grapefruits is bad for you.

10. The police tactic of confining demonstrators in a confined space is called kettling.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Virgil

> 2. There are 19 countries in the G20.


No wonder we're in this economic mess. They can't even count straight.  :Tongue: 




> 3. The American signal to stop is a cross of the forearms.


That must be some formal signal. I don't recall ever seeing it in everyday practice. That video was humorous though. 




> 4. It requires 60 tonnes of paint to paint the Eiffel Tower.


Holy smoke, that's a lot. But yeah I believe it. 




> 5. Eating custard cakes daily does not prevent a very long life.


That was interesting. The best one was the woman who recommended donkey milk for longetivity.  :FRlol:  Now where am I supposed to get donkey milk?




> 6. Chicks count.


Can they count to 20? If so, sign them up to head our world economic team. Our human kind can't seem to count that far.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. When photographing a group of heads of state, the host should stand in the centre at the front and next to him should be the longest-serving leaders.


Sounds like a kindergarten picture. Same thing actually.  :Wink: 




> 9. Too many grapefruits is bad for you.


There are certain medications where people are told to not eat grapefruits at all. 




> 10. The police tactic of confining demonstrators in a confined space is called kettling.


Sounds like a border collie and sheep.  :Smile:

----------


## Scheherazade

Hey Virgil,

Your commentary on these entries has become a regular addition to this thread. I am sure people are looking forward to reading them!  :Tongue:

----------


## Virgil

> Hey Virgil,
> 
> Your commentary on these entries has become a regular addition to this thread. I am sure people are looking forward to reading them!


Thanks. I get a kick out of turning something witty out of a news item.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Breaking wind is a bookable offence in football.

2. Black soldiers fighting for the Free French Forces were removed from the unit which led the liberation of Paris to ensure a "whites only" victory.

3. Many of the mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way.

4. Britain pays an annual sum to Ireland to cover healthcare costs of Irish workers who have returned home.

5. Jellied hoof meat from horses is a delicacy in Siberia.

6. Potholes are aggravated by cold weather.

7. Car ownership in India is about nine per thousand people.

8. Mexico City was once a floating city.

9. Six percent of England's streets are littered with rubber bands.

10. More than 97% of all e-mail traffic is spam.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/10_things/

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Breaking wind is a bookable offence in football.


 :FRlol:  What? I guess they have to make sure they don't eat beans the night before. Now how did that rule get into the books? So I take it that silent but deadly is the best type to let out.  :Tongue: 




> 2. Black soldiers fighting for the Free French Forces were removed from the unit which led the liberation of Paris to ensure a "whites only" victory.


That is disgraceful. Nothing more needs to be said. And though that article refers to European soldiers, Americans were just as disgraceful in their dealing of balck soldiers.




> 5. Jellied hoof meat from horses is a delicacy in Siberia.


It's quite possible that my wife and I will be going to Kazakhstan, which is close to Siberia, in the near future and it seems that they eat horse meat there too. Must be a regional thing. Poor horsies.  :Frown: 




> 6. Potholes are aggravated by cold weather.


Oh God don't I know it. We have potholes all over the place right now. A lot seems to depend on the average winter temperature. If you live in a place that oscillates between above freezing and below freezing (like here in the US northeast) the pot holes are worst. Water gets underneath the surface, freezes, and breaks up the street. 




> 8. Mexico City was once a floating city.


Yeah and now it's sunk. Someone let the air out of the raft.  :Wink: 




> 9. Six percent of England's streets are littered with rubber bands.


Reminds me of my sixth grade class. We (the bad boys like me  :Biggrin: ) use to bring rubber bands to class and when the teacher turned her back we used to fling them. We used to have rubber band fights. Now I bet all those rubber bands in the English streets are due to the sixth grade boys.  :Tongue: 




> 10. More than 97% of all e-mail traffic is spam.


*sigh* I certainly get a lot. But it's not that high.

----------


## kilted exile

> Oh God don't I know it. We have potholes all over the place right now. A lot seems to depend on the average winter temperature. If you live in a place that oscillates between above freezing and below freezing (like here in the US northeast) the pot holes are worst. Water gets underneath the surface, freezes, and breaks up the street.


When I was at college we had part of a course dedicated just to this subject - the problem is they are not properly compacting or not using true Gran A for backfill. The potholes will still occur but the severity can be reduced if you use the correct construction techniques

----------


## Taliesin

> It's quite possible that my wife and I will be going to Kazakhstan, which is close to Siberia, in the near future and it seems that they eat horse meat there too. Must be a regional thing. Poor horsies.


Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but what is the difference between eating the meat of a cow and eating the meat of a horse besides the thing that horses are cuter/more noble/can be given human properties more easily/whatever? I vaguely remember that you were quite anti-vegetarian in some topic so why such a change of statement? I might of course be mistaken, in that case, deep apologies.

----------


## Virgil

> Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but what is the difference between eating the meat of a cow and eating the meat of a horse besides the thing that horses are cuter/more noble/can be given human properties more easily/whatever? I vaguely remember that you were quite anti-vegetarian in some topic so why such a change of statement? I might of course be mistaken, in that case, deep apologies.


 :FRlol:  Horses are cute.  :Biggrin:  I am anti-veg, or to be more accurately I'm carnivorous.  :Wink:  I guess the real answer is custom. I am unaccustomed to eating horse meat. Actually if I had a cow for a pet it would be difficult for me to eat beef. I could never slaughter an anmal if I had to do it myself. It's a good thing we have supermarkets.  :Wink: 




> When I was at college we had part of a course dedicated just to this subject - the problem is they are not properly compacting or not using true Gran A for backfill. The potholes will still occur but the severity can be reduced if you use the correct construction techniques


Thanks.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Squatters take over islands, as well as homes.

2. White wine has more calories than red wine.

3. Some ants reproduce without sex.

4. About 15% of the world's wine bottles have screw caps.

5. If you list your religion as Jedi on the census, the Office of National Statistics will class this as atheist.

6. Pandas prefer artificial sweetener to sugar.

7. Pigs are the fourth most intelligent animals.

8. Being sorry originally meant to be distressed and sad. 

9. About one in 30 people suffers from agoraphobia.

10. A thrown shoe is considered an insult in India, as well as the Middle East, where George Bush famously dodged a lobbed loafer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Squatters take over islands, as well as homes.


ooh, ooh, Can I take over a carribean island by squatting? Please. 




> 2. White wine has more calories than red wine.


That's actually surprising. The common knowledge I was under had it the other way around. Actually this web site has it the other way around: 
http://www.davidstuff.com/wine/calories.htm. Now one can't just say red wine versus white. Each individual vintage can be dry or sweeter than another or even its vintage. A dry white most likely has less sugar than a sweet red and vice versa. I guess they are roughly the same and not worth having calorie count as a deciding factor in selecting one. I prefer red.  :Smile: 




> 3. Some ants reproduce without sex.


 :FRlol: Takes all the fun out of it. 




> 4. About 15% of the world's wine bottles have screw caps.


And they are not usually a bottle you would want.  :Wink:  




> 5. If you list your religion as Jedi on the census, the Office of National Statistics will class this as atheist.


 :FRlol:  Some of those fans really have it as a religion, don't they.




> 6. Pandas prefer artificial sweetener to sugar.


No wonder they can't reproduce.  :Wink:  Maybe they should talk to the ants. 




> 7. Pigs are the fourth most intelligent animals.


Just ahead of man, who is fifth.  :Biggrin:  Seriously, I know, and I really do feel guilt in eating pork. They are intelligent animals, unfortuantely very tastey. The article doesn't say what the other three are. Would have liked to know.




> 8. Being sorry originally meant to be distressed and sad.


Not it's a form of fake apology.  :Tongue: 




> 9. About one in 30 people suffers from agoraphobia.


Acutally this was sad. The human brain is so mysterious and we have just started to touch the surface of how it works.




> 10. A thrown shoe is considered an insult in India, as well as the Middle East, where George Bush famously dodged a lobbed loafer.


I don't know, could be a badge of honor in some quarters.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Five trees make an orchard. 

2. Matthew Parris once ran the London Marathon in 2hrs 32m, the fastest by an MP.

3. Paper can be made from wombat excrement. 

4. Robin Hood had no Maid Marian in the early days.

5. British consumption of poultry increased 25-fold between 1950 and 2000.

6. Video Killed the Radio Star was inspired by a JG Ballard short story.

7. Wine varies in taste from day to day.

8. French women are the lightest in the EU. British women are the heaviest. 

9. The Sun is dimmest it has been for a century .

10. There's a swear word in The Beatles' Hey Jude.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_91.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Five trees make an orchard.


Why not four or six? Who decided this for everyone? 




> 2. Matthew Parris once ran the London Marathon in 2hrs 32m, the fastest by an MP.


If he's anything like our politicians, he was probably running for his life from his constituants.  :Wink: 




> 3. Paper can be made from wombat excrement.


 :FRlol:  I've seen some papers where the writing matches the paper material.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. Robin Hood had no Maid Marian in the early days.


well, he had to steal enough before he could afford a maid. Then later he got a butler.




> 5. British consumption of poultry increased 25-fold between 1950 and 2000.


I wonder if this has anything to do British being the heaviest in the EU. :P (see below) 




> 7. Wine varies in taste from day to day.


What a crock. I thought this was going to talk about howwine might vary in taste after the bottle's been openned. But it says this: "Her theory is that wine is a living organism that responds to the Moon's rhythms in the same way that some people believe humans do."  :Alien:  :Alien:  What new age nonesense.




> 8. French women are the lightest in the EU. British women are the heaviest.


I guess they don't have chickens in France.  :Biggrin:  Wth all the British women on this forum, I better be very very careful with what I say here.  :FRlol: 




> 10. There's a swear word in The Beatles' Hey Jude.


I can't find it. Here are the lyrics:




> Hey jude, dont make it bad.
> Take a sad song and make it better.
> Remember to let her into your heart,
> Then you can start to make it better.
> 
> Hey jude, dont be afraid.
> You were made to go out and get her.
> The minute you let her under your skin,
> Then you begin to make it better.
> ...

----------


## Sapphire

10) It is there Virgil, in the song that is - not in the lyrics  :Tongue:  Find the song and listen to it around 3 minutes in. Right after "remember to let her under your skin". If you want to hear it, you'll hear it. If you don't, it is just a meaningless little noice and totally non-offensive  :Wink:

----------


## Virgil

> 10) It is there Virgil, in the song that is - not in the lyrics  Find the song and listen to it around 3 minutes in. Right after "remember to let her under your skin". If you want to hear it, you'll hear it. If you don't, it is just a meaningless little noice and totally non-offensive


Why thank you Saphire. Yes I played it. It is totally meaningless. So what makes them think it's swear word? I can't make it out. Can you tell me what it is. Here's the you tube video. You can't even read Paul's lips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXG83p2nkHw

----------


## Sapphire

It is supposed to be the f-word...a bit of an inside joke I guess... Just to see whether they could do it (and thus making it so unrecognisable)  :Smile:

----------


## Virgil

> It is supposed to be the f-word...a bit of an inside joke I guess... Just to see whether they could do it (and thus making it so unrecognisable)


Thanks.  :Smile:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Why not four or six? Who decided this for everyone?


I think what they mean is that there should be at least five tree to consider a group of trees "an orchard".

It is similar to definition of a town or city, I guess.


> I can't find it. Here are the lyrics:


I think it is only in the original recording. Here is the original story:


> I have just been enjoying Here, There and Everywhere by Geoff Emerick, the man who was the engineer on Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road, along with many other Beatles tracks. For aficionados it is an unmissable book, a superb account of their work in the studio.
> 
> This morning I read Emerick's account of the recording of Hey Jude.
> 
> Emerick wasn't the engineer on the track - the recording didn't begin at Abbey Road - but he was called in to fix problems caused by technical deficiencies at Trident Studios.
> 
> He notes that when he listened to the mix, in the third verse:
> 
> Right between the lines "The minute you let her under your skin/ Oh, then you begin" you can clearly hear Paul curse off mic saying 'F****** hell!"
> ...


http://timesonline.typepad.com/comme...ong-i-was.html

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Diamonds can be blue.

2. Birds can dance.

3. You can get a driving licence and credit card in the name of Pudsey Bear, but not a passport.

4. The annual salary for the Poet Laureate is £5,750.

5. Many mosques in Mecca point the wrong way for prayers.

6. Flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs.

7. An outbreak of swine flu in 1976 killed one person but a vaccine to combat it killed 25.

8. Adults who are sexually attracted to teenagers are called hebophiles. 

9. David Attenborough doesn't own any pets.

10. Prince was born with epilepsy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_92.shtml

----------


## Stargazer86

I find number 7 to be particularly interesting in light of recent events. I'll have to share that one with the nurses where I work :P

3. What?! seriously? Is that someone's actual name? How on earth did that one even show up on the list O_o

----------


## Scheherazade

Pudsey Bear is the mascot for "Children in Need" in the UK:



At university, I had a Prof whose surname was Bear so it might be possible to get away with it but for passport they want to see the Birth Certificate, of course.

----------


## Stargazer86

> Pudsey Bear is the mascot for "Children in Need" in the UK:
> 
> 
> 
> At university, I had a Prof whose surname was Bear so it might be possible to get away with it but for passport they want to see the Birth Certificate, of course.



Ohhh okay that makes more sense. It seemed so random when I first read it!

These are some pretty interesting lists

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Diamonds can be blue.


And so can old lady's hair coloring, but does that make it natural?  :Wink: 




> 2. Birds can dance.


I claim I can dance too but no one else seems to agree.  :Tongue: 




> 3. You can get a driving licence and credit card in the name of Pudsey Bear, but not a passport.


I would like to see Pudsey driving.  :Biggrin:  No wonder those London drivers were so wild. They'll give anyone a licence.




> 4. The annual salary for the Poet Laureate is £5,750.


That's it? Seems hardly enough to live on.




> 5. Many mosques in Mecca point the wrong way for prayers.


Who says they're really praying?  :Brow: 




> 6. Flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs.


Gives a whole new meaning to mischief night (day before Halloween) where they throw eggs.  :Smile: 




> 7. An outbreak of swine flu in 1976 killed one person but a vaccine to combat it killed 25.


Sounds just like the over reaction we are having now. 




> 8. Adults who are sexually attracted to teenagers are called hebophiles.


If I had my way, I would call them castrati.  :Flare: 




> 9. David Attenborough doesn't own any pets.


The dirty little secret is that the pets own him.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Prince was born with epilepsy.


Prince was born with a lot of problems, the least of which is epilepsy.  :FRlol:

----------


## Stargazer86

:FRlol:  Virgil, you are such a smarta** and I find you quite funny :P

----------


## Scheherazade

> 2. Birds can dance.
> 
> 
> I claim I can dance too but no one else seems to agree.


Which bird would you be? 

 :Wink:

----------


## Virgil

> Virgil, you are such a smarta** and I find you quite funny :P


 :FRlol:  Thank you. 




> Which bird would you be?


The cuckoo bird.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There is a real place called Hicksville.

2. Britain once sent an envoy with a quadruple-barrelled name to Moscow - Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurley Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.

3. Sikhs do not have to wear motorcycle crash helmets.

4. Napoleon wrote chick-lit.

5. John Prescott's toilet seat broke twice.

6. Tom Hanks watches "Loose Women".

7. Youth hostelling was invented in Germany in 1912.

8. The use of the word "rat" as an insult in English goes back at least until the 16th Century.

9. Two main muscles are used for smiling - the zygomatic muscle turns the corner of the lips up and the orbicularis oculi crinkles the corners of the eyes. 

10. Birds are actually really rather clever.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_15.shtml

----------


## PoeticPassions

> 10. Birds are actually really rather clever.
> 
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_15.shtml


All birds? I would beg to differ... Chickens are considered birds, but they are really not clever. Would turkeys be birds as well? Because I hear they're some of the dumbest animals.... 

Crows are really clever though.

----------


## BienvenuJDC

> I claim I can dance too but no one else seems to agree.


That may be directly linked to the intensity of your complexion... :Smile:

----------


## Virgil

> That may be directly linked to the intensity of your complexion...


 :Tongue: 




> 1. There is a real place called Hicksville.


Oooh, I've actually driven by it. But I never ventured to meet the hicks.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. Britain once sent an envoy with a quadruple-barrelled name to Moscow - Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurley Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.


 :FRlol:  His mother called him Ernie.  :Wink: 




> 3. Sikhs do not have to wear motorcycle crash helmets.


That is not wise. You crash on a motorcycle there are some serious ramifications.




> 4. Napoleon wrote chick-lit.


 :Biggrin:  Well, he had to do soimething betweeen the pillaging and warfare. This was his sensitive side.  :Tongue: 




> 5. John Prescott's toilet seat broke twice.


Don't know who Prescott is but I bet he's got a fat a$$.  :Wink: 




> 6. Tom Hanks watches "Loose Women".


Don't all men? Just check out the Bloke thread here on lit net.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Youth hostelling was invented in Germany in 1912.


A precurser to WWI. That's what happens when you get all these youths together in one place.  :Smile: 




> 8. The use of the word "rat" as an insult in English goes back at least until the 16th Century.


And before that they were considered lovable little creatures?  :FRlol: 




> 9. Two main muscles are used for smiling - the zygomatic muscle turns the corner of the lips up and the orbicularis oculi crinkles the corners of the eyes.


 :Blush:  That sounds downright sexy. 




> 10. Birds are actually really rather clever.


Actually very true. They are among the smartest of animals. Yes Poetic, especially crows. Though you're right chickens don't seem too bright.

----------


## Nightshade

Actually there is at least one documented case of crows being able to imitate human speech.  :Nod:  
Birds from the family _Corvis_ I think it is are supposedly the smartest birds of the lot and probably smarter than most apes ( are chimps apes?)  :Confused:  
I can see the page I read this off in my mind word for word I just can't rember where it was I read it, it will come to me though.

----------


## Taliesin

Crows imitating human speech?
Impossible!

----------


## JuniperWoolf

I read about crows imitating human speech in a magazine that I found in a doctor's waiting room when I was like, eleven. It stuck with me because of how cool it is. I think some hikers somewhere discovered them.
I'm pretty sure chimps are classified as apes, and so are their promiscuous cousins the bonobos (which I think are sweet).

----------


## Nightshade

> Crows imitating human speech?
> Impossible!


What do you mean its humans who have been imitating crows all these years?  :Eek2:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Sending nude images via a mobile phone is called "sexting".

2. Miss Universe must remain single for a year. 

3. The Odeon cinema chains are named after their British founder Oscar Deutsch, and the acronym stands for Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation. 

4. Use of the word "carbuncle" to describe a building was first made in the 19th Century to describe Buckingham Palace.

5. We are born violent.

6. And a tribe in Bolivia has a festival of violence to settle disputes.

7. Joanna Lumley was sounded out by Labour to run as London Mayor in 2000.

8. Plants can water themselves. 

9. Emotionally intelligent women orgasm more.

10. Some petals have velcro-like surfaces.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_93.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Sending nude images via a mobile phone is called "sexting".


And posting nude photos of your pets is called pexting.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. Miss Universe must remain single for a year.


But she can get pregnant.  :Wink: 




> 3. The Odeon cinema chains are named after their British founder Oscar Deutsch, and the acronym stands for Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation.


Well I guess no one could bring themselves in naming them the deutsch chains.  :FRlol:  (If you don't get it, look up the slang for deutsche. :Wink: )




> 4. Use of the word "carbuncle" to describe a building was first made in the 19th Century to describe Buckingham Palace.


That sounds like a disease. 




> 5. We are born violent.


Well, if the little angel comes out of the womb wearing a mask, holding a stick up gun, and a note asking for your money, I think you would begin to be suspicious.  :Wink: 




> 6. And a tribe in Bolivia has a festival of violence to settle disputes.


Oh my God, do you realize the ratings that would get on television? It's a gold mine.




> 7. Joanna Lumley was sounded out by Labour to run as London Mayor in 2000.


Sounded out? Wasn't it more like shouted out?  :Tongue:  (I have no idea who she is, so don't think I'm talking serious politics.)




> 8. Plants can water themselves.


In humans we call it urination.  :Biggrin: 




> 9. Emotionally intelligent women orgasm more.


 :FRlol:  Well, what can I possibly say to that? Don't all women consider themselves emotionally intelligent? If you don't get an orgasm then what does that tell you about yourself? You're emotionally stupid?  :FRlol:  And doesn't the quality of the orgasm have something to do with how the man is ********. Sorry that was beeped out.  :Tongue:

----------


## The Walker

haha i love this thread!
and enjoy very much of virgil responses to them. lol

Quote:
2. Miss Universe must remain single for a year. 

"But she can get pregnant. "

that is so true ha

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Franco had one testicle.

2. That condition is called monorchism. 

3. Only 26 people used Yangyang International airport in South Korea last year.

4. Excessive cola-drinking can cause paralysis.

5. 29% of women have never used the internet, but only 20% of men. 

6. Seven Speakers of the House of Commons were beheaded prior to 1560.

7. Britain had animal welfare laws before it had child welfare laws.

8. Child protection used to be enforced by uniformed NSPCC inspectors, known as "cruelty men".

9. Pringles are not potato crisps.

10. The man who was the voice of Mickey Mouse was married to the woman who did Minnie's.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Virgil

> haha i love this thread!
> and enjoy very much of virgil responses to them. lol


Thank you very much Walker. That was kind.  :Smile: 




> 1. Franco had one testicle.


Is that why he was afraid to join Hitler and Mussolini? No balls.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. That condition is called monorchism.


And I hear it's realated to monocularism, the eye malady affecting one eye where one glass is used. Next time you see someone like this with one eye glass, ask him if he has one testicle.  :Tongue: 





> 3. Only 26 people used Yangyang International airport in South Korea last year.


It probably cost a billion dollars to put that airport in, you would think there would be a need. Actually some Congressman in Pensylvania here got an airport put in his district and no one is using it. Ah, politicians.  :Sick: 




> 4. Excessive cola-drinking can cause paralysis.


That must be because all the fat you put around your waist strangles your spine.  :Wink: 




> 5. 29% of women have never used the internet, but only 20% of men.


Hmm, that's because women are doing real work, like making dinner and cleaning the house. We men are a bunch of loafers.




> 6. Seven Speakers of the House of Commons were beheaded prior to 1560.


Boy, lose an election and geez, people don't get over it.  :FRlol: 




> 7. Britain had animal welfare laws before it had child welfare laws.


It doesn't surprise me actually. It always surprises me how we have such compassion for animals (and that's a good thing) but have such a disregard for children. Just look at how the unborn are considered in some circles.




> 8. Child protection used to be enforced by uniformed NSPCC inspectors, known as "cruelty men".


I think they had to change their name during the inquisition.  :Tongue: 




> 9. Pringles are not potato crisps.


The article says it's less than 50% potato and the other half is snot meal. Snot meal?  :Sick:  




> 10. The man who was the voice of Mickey Mouse was married to the woman who did Minnie's.


And when they made love together they squeeked in mousey orgasms.  :FRlol:

----------


## BienvenuJDC

> And when they made love together they squeeked in mousey orgasms.


Virgil...you're just wrong....WRONG, I say!! Now I've got visuals in my head...  :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> Virgil...you're just wrong....WRONG, I say!! Now I've got visuals in my head...


Sorry.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Nightshade

Maybe the snot meal is the addictive substance in pringles? 
 :Idea:

----------


## Virgil

> Maybe the snot meal is the addictive substance in pringles?


Might just be.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

« Previous | Main | Next » 
10 things we didn't know this time last week
15:19 UK time, Friday, 5 June 2009 

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Armstrong DID fluff his lines.

2. The Apprentice losers' café featured in Z-Cars.

3. One in three organ transplant patients believe they have taken on some aspects of the donor's personality.

4. Some apes make noises similar to human laughter when being tickled.

5. Australia is not in recession.

6. In the 1970 US Census, the number of people who said they were aged over 100 was about 22 times the true number.

7. Gay couples in the animal kingdom can rear young.

8. You can see penguins droppings from space.

9. David Attenborough's first pet was a salamander.

10. Urban great tits sing louder than their country cousins.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_16.shtml

----------


## Michael T

> 8. You can see penguins droppings from space.



Wow...I shall be out watchings the sky tonight!!!  :Biggrin:

----------


## Nightshade

> 8. You can see penguins droppings from space.


What have I been saying for the lkast 4 years, like? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil! 
pure freaking evil, that is what penguins are. 
I mean they are birds that cant fly, but worsde they dont even have proper feathers....

----------


## papayahed

> What have I been saying for the lkast 4 years, like? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil! 
> pure freaking evil, that is what penguins are.


And they're crybabies!!! Damn crosby.

----------


## Nightshade

Bing was a penguin?
 :Eek2:  
who knew? *gasps* ...
...Niamh didnt know bing crosby was a penguin either

----------


## papayahed

hockey. Sid Crosby plays for the pittsburgh penguins.

----------


## Niamh

:FRlol:

----------


## Nightshade

wait so Hockey players have radioactive visable from space Sh*t ? 
Coooooooooooooooooool! 
Penguins ( the webbed feet beaked have nothing to do wuith christmas and yet randnbopmly seem to have overtake the holiday penguins) are stiill evil though

----------


## The Walker

> What have I been saying for the lkast 4 years, like? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil! 
> pure freaking evil, that is what penguins are.


haha  :FRlol:  so i guess you dont like penguins  :FRlol:

----------


## Nightshade

> haha  so i guess you dont like penguins


You are still a realitive newbie, so you are forgive for using the words like, me and _those things_ anywhere near each other. 
but yes the answer is very much a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
on that score.
They are trying to brain wash us and take over the galaxy!  :Nod:

----------


## Virgil

[QUOTE=Scheherazade;73282010. Urban great tits sing louder than their country cousins.
[/QUOTE]

Urban great tits? I think I've heard a few of those singing at some strip clubs.  :FRlol:

----------


## JuniperWoolf

> You are still a realitive newbie, so you are forgive for using the words like, me and _those things_ anywhere near each other. 
> but yes the answer is very much a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
> on that score.
> They are trying to brain wash us and take over the galaxy!


lol Then I guess you don't like my avator. But look at his cute little determined eye and his adorable stick! I bet you'd think differently about penguins if you saw one on Sidney Crosby's chest.

----------


## The Walker

> You are still a realitive newbie, so you are forgive for using the words like, me and _those things_ anywhere near each other. 
> but yes the answer is very much a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
> on that score.
> They are trying to brain wash us and take over the galaxy!


 :FRlol: 
I'll remember that...

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Gay people in China used to be prosecuted under "hooliganism" laws.

2. Canada used to border Zimbabwe.

3. Carly Simon had a stutter.

4. Sir Alan Sugar donates his salary from The Apprentice to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

5. Setanta started in an Irish dance hall in west London in 1990.

6. A new word in the English language is created every 98 minutes.

7. You're seven times more likely to be a millionaire if you're called Patel than if you're called Smith.

8. More than half of all Patels in the UK are married to people born Patel. 

9. Only eight Britons who fought in the Spanish Civil War are known to be still alive.

10. Britney's father monitors her mobile phone use.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## The Walker

> 6. A new word in the English language is created every 98 minutes.


that means learning never stops



> 7. You're seven times more likely to be a millionaire if you're called Patel than if you're called Smith.


that is not fear!! 



> 10. Britney's father monitors her mobile phone use.


I bet he does! should I say: poor girl?  :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Gay people in China used to be prosecuted under "hooliganism" laws.


Kind of leads to some strange images in my mind of football hooligans.  :Wink: 




> 2. Canada used to border Zimbabwe.


Oh that explains the Canadian lions.  :Smile: 




> 3. Carly Simon had a stutter.


Yes, and her big song, "You're So Vain" was first was called "You're Fffor Pppain."




> 5. Setanta started in an Irish dance hall in west London in 1990.


Did they forget the Scottish dance hall in east London in 1989? That's when the kilt lifted and people noticed he forgot to wear underwear that day. I bet he's trying to forget that one.  :Biggrin: 




> 6. A new word in the English language is created every 98 minutes.


Lajehfroieh. There I just created one. Does that count? 




> 7. You're seven times more likely to be a millionaire if you're called Patel than if you're called Smith.


I ain't called either. I've got zero chance.  :Wink: 




> 8. More than half of all Patels in the UK are married to people born Patel.


If you were a millionaire, who else would you marry but another miliionaire. Got to keep it in the family. 




> 9. Only eight Britons who fought in the Spanish Civil War are known to be still alive.


Ah, when men were men. God bless those who faught against fascism.  :Thumbs Up:  




> 10. Britney's father monitors her mobile phone use.


And what the father doesn't know is that she contacts all her boy friends using the house land line. He never suspects a thing.  :Biggrin:

----------


## The Walker

> Lajehfroieh. There I just created one. Does that count?


 mmm no really, it has to be used at least 25,oo0 times on the web
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh
Lajehfroieh

there you go...there are the first 10  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There are 2,500 year old bird nests still in continuous use.

2. The Fred Perry sportswear logo was almost a pipe - Perry was a keen smoker - but his business partner thought this would put off women customers. 

3. As a cold-blooded insect, flies are slower in the early morning and evening when the air is cooler, and speed up in the heat of the day.

4. C, the single-letter codename for the head of MI6, dates from when the first boss, Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming, signed himself "C" for Cumming.

5. Streetlights cause problems for bats.

6. The pilot and co-pilot on a passenger plane are not allowed to have the same meal in case they both get food poisoning.

7. The Queen has an allotment.

8. Scotland has the lowest age for criminal responsibility in Europe.

9. Hitachi makes trains.

10. Pak Do-ik, the North Korean footballer, is still known as "the dentist" among Italian football fans for causing them pain by scoring the goal that saw them beaten 1-0 in the 1966 World Cup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_17.shtml

----------


## kilted exile

> 8. Scotland has the lowest age for criminal responsibility in Europe.


This is because we have one of the largest population of useless kids in europe

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Camels travel by train.

2. Buddhist monks sleep upright.

3. Four-legged animals need to avoid doing "wheelies".

4. Seagulls attack whales.

5. If you use a tool for a while, your brain can mentally incorporate it into your body.

6. The UK has the ability to launch "cyber attacks".

7. British-style black cabs are now driven in China.

8. Every film in which actress Dame Judi Dench swears results in complaints to the BBFC.

9. There is a long tradition of "medals of dishonour".

10. Chilli can be used as a weapon in crowd control.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_18.shtml

----------


## The Walker

> 10. Chilli can be used as a weapon in crowd control.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_18.shtml


that made me laugh lol

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Camels travel by train.


I've seen quite a few people on the NYC subway trains that could be classified as camels.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. Buddhist monks sleep upright.


You know, my wife hates the way I shift around in bed. She would love it if I could learn to sleep this way.  :Smile: 




> 3. Four-legged animals need to avoid doing "wheelies".


Not quite sure what that's saying, but I've never seen any four legged animals with wheels on their feet. 




> 4. Seagulls attack whales.


Yeah I've seen a seagull pick up a grey whale, fly it over a hundred feet in the air, drop it on the beach, and then start ravaging it by sinking it's beak into the whale's throat.  :Alien:  :Alien: 




> 5. If you use a tool for a while, your brain can mentally incorporate it into your body.


So if I maodel a saw in my brain does that mean that my hand will develop a cutting edge?  :Idea: 




> 6. The UK has the ability to launch "cyber attacks".


I think every geeky thirteen year old has the ability to launch a cyber attack? Is this really something so special? James Bond where have you gone?  :Wink:  




> 7. British-style black cabs are now driven in China.


Well, with all the Chinese restaurants in London they had to trade something.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. Every film in which actress Dame Judi Dench swears results in complaints to the BBFC.


Judi, Judi, Judi. Shame shame.  :Tongue:  Holy smoke. The rules on this in Britain sound more byzantine that those in the US. 




> 9. There is a long tradition of "medals of dishonour".


Yeah and you ought to see the ones I've gotten here on lit net. Just ask Scher.  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin: 




> 10. Chilli can be used as a weapon in crowd control.


My first thought was how do they get the crowd to eat all those chillis, but then I realized it's the cops that eat the chillis and then let out some flatulance for crowd control. Very inovative.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Fred Perry was also table tennis world champion.

2. Mrs Slocombe's first name was Betty.

3. The UK is developing a quarter of the world's wave technologies.

4. Press-ups come in many guises, such as the "seal", "frog" and "donkey-kick".

5. The keffiyeh, a chequered scarf worn mostly by Arab men, and made famous by Yasser Arafat, is now mostly made in China.

6. Vegetarians are generally less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer.

7. The Duke of Kent requested that players no longer bow to the royal box at Wimbledon, in 2003.

8. Richard and Judy did not pick the books that featured in their book club. 

9. Michael Jackson patented one item - the special shoes he used in the stage version of Smooth Criminal.

10. Saddam Hussein once hired the James Bond director, Terence Young, to make a promotional Iraqi film. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_96.shtml

----------


## Stargazer86

Did Young take Hussein up on his offer?

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Heavy metal in Morocco is regarded as devil-worship.

2. Monkeys notice bad grammar.

3. Trousers used to be called unmentionables.

4. Neil Armstrong took Dvorak's New World Symphony and theremin music to the moon.

5. The best place to put a wind turbine is in Orkney Islands.

6. Dinosaurs were couch potatoes.

7. Ice fallen from the sky is due to leaking plane ventilation systems. 

8. Clothes could take photos.

9. Ringo Starr's mum wanted him to work in a bank.

10. Sir Jimmy Savile once saved the day by directing traffic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_97.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Stoke City were huge in Norway in the 80s. 

2. A third of England's coastline is inaccessible.

3. Police officers are not required to be able to swim. 

4. 10 million people drive to work every day.

5. The dye used in blue M&Ms can help mend spinal injuries. 

6. Poverty, as measured by the government, can decline during a recession.

7. Broadband speed is decided before the signal even leaves the exchange.

8. Poet Robert Browning used the T-word while thinking it was an item of clothing for a nun.

9. Chimpanzees are biologically programmed to appreciate pleasant music.

10. Bees warn other bees about flowers where dangers can be expected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...ast_w_99.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Wild orangutans use leaves to make their voices deeper and to scare predators. 

2. University degrees in comedy exist.

3. European bison live in just one forest, on the Belarus-Poland border.

4. Men At Work's Down Under was inspired by Dame Edna's nephew.

5. Aesop's fable about a crow using stones to drink out of a pitcher is based on fact.

6. 17 million people in Britain aged over 15 do not use the internet.

7. Millions of people in Germany and Scandinavia watch an obscure British comedy sketch every New Year's Eve.

8. Last year Britons sent 80 billion texts. 

9. Bristol is the fourth most visited city in England.

10. Director John Hughes sometimes wrote under a pseudonym taken from an Alexandre Dumas novel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_100.shtml

----------


## The Walker

wow i had forgotten this thread! now i have plenty to read!

----------


## Michael T

> 7. Millions of people in Germany and Scandinavia watch an obscure British comedy sketch every New Year's Eve.


Now we all want to know which comedy sketch they watch Scher!  :Smile:

----------


## Virgil

Oh, I've missed quite a few weeks worth. I'll just pick a few from each to catch up.  :Wink: 




> 1. Heavy metal in Morocco is regarded as devil-worship.


I think heavy metal is regarded as devil worship everywhere. You mean it's not.  :FRlol: 




> 2. Monkeys notice bad grammar.


They would have a ball reading through lit net. Hey I bet some lit netters are actually monkeys.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Trousers used to be called unmentionables.


That's when no one wore underwear. Get a hole in your trouser crotch and people started mentioning it.  :Wink: 




> 5. The best place to put a wind turbine is in Orkney Islands.


Why? Do they pass a lot of wind there?  :Smile: 




> 6. Dinosaurs were couch potatoes.


And that shoould be a lesson for all of us if we don't want to be extinct.  :Wink: 




> 9. Ringo Starr's mum wanted him to work in a bank.


I thought he lived in a yellow submarine.  :Tongue: 





> 2. A third of England's coastline is inaccessible..


Hmm, actually other than the romans in the first century and the Normans conquest in the 11th century, I don't believe anyone has actually invaded England through their coast. Hey that's every thousand years and this century makes a thousand years since the last. Is England due for a successful invasion this century?  :Eek: 




> 3. Police officers are not required to be able to swim.


Looking at their physiques, I don't think many cops can even run, let alone swim.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. 10 million people drive to work every day.


I assume that's not world wide.




> 5. The dye used in blue M&Ms can help mend spinal injuries.


Oh what a wonderful reason to pop some M&Ms. But it will have to be the whole bag. They don't sell only the blue ones.  :Idea: 




> 6. Poverty, as measured by the government, can decline during a recession.


You would think then that the measuring technique would be flawed. But who thinks.




> 8. Poet Robert Browning used the T-word while thinking it was an item of clothing for a nun.


The "T" word?  :Blush:  You'll have to read that one yourself. Modesty prevents me from commenting. But it's pretty funny.  :FRlol: 




> 9. Chimpanzees are biologically programmed to appreciate pleasant music.


Which puts them on a higher level of evolution than most people in Brooklyn.  :FRlol: 




> 1. Wild orangutans use leaves to make their voices deeper and to scare predators.


And here I thought they were looking for toilet paper.  :Tongue: 




> 2. University degrees in comedy exist.


Surprise, when you get your dioploma it trurns out to be a joke.




> 3. European bison live in just one forest, on the Belarus-Poland border.


I didn't know Europe had bison. And they look fairly similar to the American bison. Here's the European:





> 5. Aesop's fable about a crow using stones to drink out of a pitcher is based on fact.


Quote the raven, never more.  :Smile: 




> 7. Millions of people in Germany and Scandinavia watch an obscure British comedy sketch every New Year's Eve.


Here it is: 
http://www.online-literature.com/for...highlight=year

----------


## Scheherazade

1. You're as likely to be hit by lightning as be killed by a mentally ill person.

2. It's illegal for British people to play the UK Lottery while on holiday in Spain and the US.

3. Tom Cruise has got a 14-year-old son.

4. Only about one or two in 200 people with autism have a savant talent, or exceptional ability.

5. There's a 40-year wait for an allotment in one part of London.

6. A freak wave is one that measures roughly three times higher than other swells on the sea at any one time.

7. They tend to occur at an incidence of about three waves in every 10,000.

8. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a water slide in his garden. 

9. Young men in their early 20s are the worst at keeping their NHS appointments.

10. Les Paul, whose name is synonymous with the electric guitar, also invented the eight-track tape recorder.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...eks_news.shtml

----------


## AmericanEagle

> 3. Tom Cruise has got a 14-year-old son.


After Suri was born, people seemed to forget that he already has two children with Nicole Kidman.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. PowerPoint was originally called Presentation.

2. The average length of a PowerPoint presentation is 250 mins.

3. Emoticons in the East are the right way up (^_^).

4. The British Board of Film Classification has denied only three titles seeking an 18 rating during the last four years. 

5. Surnames can have question marks.

6. You can write using squid ink.

7. Cricketer Andrew Flintoff played chess for Lancashire as a schoolboy.

8. The number of people reporting UFO sightings leapt up in the year when Independence Day was released in the UK. 

9. London Ashford Airport and London Southend Airport are not officially recognised as London airports.

10. Four people died after being stung by a wasp, bee or hornet, in England and Wales in 2007.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_101.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. iPhones are not yet sold in China. 

2. Margaret Thatcher suffered one parliamentary defeat as prime minister - on Sunday trading laws.

3. English holidaymakers drink an average of eight alcoholic drinks a day.

4. The UK population grew more in 2008 than at any time since 1962.

5. And Germany's population is shrinking.

6. West Ham's stadium is really called the Boleyn Ground, not Upton Park.

7. The smell of cut grass makes people happy.

8. A pint glass lasts an average of only three months. 

9. An Englishman sailed to the "New World" only two years after the first European is thought to have landed in Newfoundland.

10. Men in China cannot marry until aged 22.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_102.shtml

----------


## Virgil

goodness, I miss three again. Has it been three weeks already since I participated in this? Where does time go? Ok, let's see if I can get my funny bone working this morning. It might be a little early for my wit, but i am currently drinking my second cup of coffee.  :Smile: 





> 1. You're as likely to be hit by lightning as be killed by a mentally ill person.


You mean Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" is an exaggersatin? Whew, now I can relax every time I go into the shower.  :Wink: 




> 2. It's illegal for British people to play the UK Lottery while on holiday in Spain and the US.


But it's legal to play it in France. Amazing. Your laws aree really convoluted.  :Tongue: 




> 3. Tom Cruise has got a 14-year-old son.


With a higher intelligence than his dad I'm sure.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. Only about one or two in 200 people with autism have a savant talent, or exceptional ability.


Of course, and everyone here knows I'm an idiot savant. Or at least an idiot.  :FRlol: 




> 5. There's a 40-year wait for an allotment in one part of London.


Oh Fifth just explained to me the other week what an allotment is. I would imagine it's hard to get in London. Do they even have green spaces in London?




> 6. A freak wave is one that measures roughly three times higher than other swells on the sea at any one time.


And a freak person is one with three time higher quantity of fluid in his head.  :Wink: 




> 7. They tend to occur at an incidence of about three waves in every 10,000.


Unfortunately the same ratio does not apply for a freaky person. Just count the weirdos on lit net and divide by the total number of active members and you'll find it's one out of three. There are way more freaky people than freaky waves.  :Smile:  




> 8. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a water slide in his garden.


Do I need say more about freaky people?  :FRlol:  Some say that he slides down in the nude and when he's through the nurses put diapers on him and give him a baby bottle to suck on.  :Tongue: 




> 9. Young men in their early 20s are the worst at keeping their NHS appointments.


Young men in their 20s are only concerned about keeping the appointments with their female interests. and that's the truth.  :Wink: 





> 1. PowerPoint was originally called Presentation.


As one who makes PowerPoint presentations almost weekly these days, I think Presentation would have been a better name. But what a wonderful product. I don't know how we did without it in the past. 




> 2. The average length of a PowerPoint presentation is 250 mins.


Three hours??? No way. Who can sit through a three hour brief, and that's just the average. I don't believe that. I would guess mine average an hour.




> 3. Emoticons in the East are the right way up (^_^).


Ironic isn't it? We have slanty eyes on the emoticons in the west. -_- -;- -!-




> 5. Surnames can have question marks.


That's because they're not sure what their surname is. John Smith? or is it Jones?  :FRlol: 




> 6. You can write using squid ink.


 :Sick:  Does the page smell of sea food afterwards?




> 8. The number of people reporting UFO sightings leapt up in the year when Independence Day was released in the UK.


Isn't that the same year aliens from space landed on the cliffs of Dover?  :Eek2: 




> 9. London Ashford Airport and London Southend Airport are not officially recognised as London airports.


They are just parking lots that airplanes decided to use as a landing.  :Wink: 





> 1. iPhones are not yet sold in China.


They are probalbly made in China and people pocket them off the assembly line.  :Smile: 




> 2. Margaret Thatcher suffered one parliamentary defeat as prime minister - on Sunday trading laws.


All I can say is that love Margret Thatcher.  :Smile: 




> 3. English holidaymakers drink an average of eight alcoholic drinks a day.


I don't know what a holidaymaker is or does, but what an appropriate name.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. The UK population grew more in 2008 than at any time since 1962.


Have you noticed many Germans entrering. Isn't SleepyWitch immigrating to England?




> 5. And Germany's population is shrinking.


All because of SleepyWitch.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. The smell of cut grass makes people happy.


That's because the work is done. I groan every time I see my grass needing to be cut.




> 8. A pint glass lasts an average of only three months.


Boy, I've heard of nursing a drink but that's ridiculous. The bartender should throw him out at closing time.  :Wink: 




> 9. An Englishman sailed to the "New World" only two years after the first European is thought to have landed in Newfoundland.


Well, to the English Ireland counted as the New World.  :Tongue: 




> 10. Men in China cannot marry until aged 22.


Oooh, and some fail the marriage license test and have to wait until 25.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

Virgil> Please take your time to have your coffee before posting your comments!  :Biggrin: 


1. The village of Cambourne, in Cambridgeshire, has a higher birth rate than India and China. 

2. Block capitals are used to signify formality.

3. Only half of seven-year-olds with an August birthday reach expected educational level.

4. WalMart is the biggest employer in the world.

5. It is not against the law to be naked in public in the UK.

6. Michael Aspel was a wartime evacuee.

7. Each of us has at least 100 new mutations in our DNA.

8. Britain's oldest original computer, the Harwell, first ran in 1951.

9. The crease under your buttocks is called the gluteal fold.

10. Nasa gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries following lunar missions in the 1970s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_103.shtml

----------


## papayahed

> 10. Nasa gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries following lunar missions in the 1970s.


uh, don't you mean fake moon rocks since we all know the moon landing never happened :Alien:

----------


## Scheherazade

Of course! There are three conspiracy theories that are out there to confuse you:

1. Moon landing has never happened.

2. Elvis is still alife.

3. British cuisine is actually tasty and very rich.

 :Biggrin:

----------


## Virgil

> Virgil> Please take your time to have your coffee before posting your comments!


Hopefully that's a compliment.  :Wink: 




> 1. The village of Cambourne, in Cambridgeshire, has a higher birth rate than India and China.


So the reason for the low birth rates in Europe is because they have houses that are not new? New houses spark births, which I assume sparks lots of sex. I think I need a new house.  :Smile: 




> 2. Block capitals are used to signify formality.


BUT ON THE INTERNET THEY IMPLY RAISING YOUR VOICE. CAN YOU HEAR ME.  :Tongue: 




> 3. Only half of seven-year-olds with an August birthday reach expected educational level.


Hah! Both my sistern and brother were born in August. I will have to send them this to explain why their older brother is so much smarter.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. WalMart is the biggest employer in the world.


Wow. Where's Granny? She's our official lit net WalMart employee.




> 5. It is not against the law to be naked in public in the UK.


And thank God they don't because I'm not sure there are many English one would want to see naked. *shudders* (Only kidding.  :Tongue: )




> 7. Each of us has at least 100 new mutations in our DNA.


And if lit ent is a cross section of the population, by the looks of it there are quite a few mutants here.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. Britain's oldest original computer, the Harwell, first ran in 1951.


Oh, just this morning I came across a quote from one of the original inventors of the computer back in 1943 that he estimated that there would only be a maximum need of five computers worldwide. Boy, given that almost all educated people these days have on on their desk at work and at least one at home, was he wrong. You can be a genius in one field, but short sighted in another.




> 9. The crease under your buttocks is called the gluteal fold.


Is that for both men and women? I've got a different name for that fold on women.  :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Married couples used to always sleep apart.

2. Criminal trials in Japan have a 99% conviction rate.

3. The world's oldest circle of church bells is in Ipswich.

4. Both parties file for divorce in only one in 300 cases, on average.

5. Peter Andre's surname is actually Andrea.

6. The subject with the most GCSE passes this year was chemistry.

7. Everyone once used the left-hand side of the road.

8. There are so few redheads in Mexico that they often greet each other in the street.

9. Silvio Berlusconi is the same height as Nicolas Sarkozy. 

10. "Posh" tea company Twinings is owned by Associated British Foods, which also own budget clothes chain Primark.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown's three previous books are the UK's top four bestselling adult paperback novels of all time.

2. If you buy an item worth more than £100 with a credit card and it breaks because of a fault, the credit card provider is liable.

3. In Freemasonry, there is a death ritual in which a mock murder is performed.

4. A typical human has enough body fat to sustain about 40 marathons.

5. Tyrannosaurus Rex developed from a near-identical but much smaller predecessor.

6. Sportswear firms Adidas and Puma have had a 60-year feud.

7. Monkeys suffer colour blindness.

8. Pregnancy may help athletes to be more flexible.

9. All British industrial action ballots must be by post, except for workers at sea.

10. Vera Lynn had three songs in the first ever Top 12 in 1952, when Britain first introduced official sales charts. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_105.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Banana skins can take two years to biodegrade.

2. The longest speech at the United Nations lasted almost eight hours.

3. Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly, according to long-standing protocol, and is followed by the host country.

4. Jay-Z has Barack Obama's mobile phone number.

5. Swine flu gel can get you drunk.

6. British heroin comes from Hampshire.

7. Michael Gambon, star of the Harry Potter films, has never read any of the books.

8. The only woman ever in the French Foreign Legion is British. 

9. Ceefax was created by accident.

10. Fifteen Billy bookcases are made every minute.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_106.shtml

----------


## Virgil

Goodness three weeks have gone by again. Where does the time go? Let me do my best.  :Wink: 




> 1. Married couples used to always sleep apart.


No wonder the population exploded after they invented large beds.  :Biggrin:  Actually divorce also exploded? Coincindence? I leave it up to you good reader.  :FRlol: 




> 2. Criminal trials in Japan have a 99% conviction rate.


Whoa! No bleeding heart liberals there.  :Biggrin:  Brings a smile to a conservative's face.  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin: 




> 4. Both parties file for divorce in only one in 300 cases, on average.


And they are usually signed in blood. The mate's blood.  :Wink: 




> 6. The subject with the most GCSE passes this year was chemistry.


that's because they were teaching how to brew a good beer. That's how you get college students to learn.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Everyone once used the left-hand side of the road.


We still do over here!!!




> 8. There are so few redheads in Mexico that they often greet each other in the street.


That's to compare whose dye job is better.  :Tongue: 




> 9. Silvio Berlusconi is the same height as Nicolas Sarkozy.


I guess when you're a womanizing president you think about these things. Bill Clinton was taller than both of them.  :FRlol:  




> 1. The Da Vinci Code and Dan Brown's three previous books are the UK's top four bestselling adult paperback novels of all time.


Of all the great literature the english have produced, this is what sells? Sad, isn't it.




> 2. If you buy an item worth more than £100 with a credit card and it breaks because of a fault, the credit card provider is liable.


What kind of law is that? So if I buy a bottle of wine with a credit card and it's spoiled, does the credit card drink it for me?  :Wink: 




> 3. In Freemasonry, there is a death ritual in which a mock murder is performed.


I thought that was supposed to be a secret.  :Eek2: 




> 4. A typical human has enough body fat to sustain about 40 marathons.


Yeah, but I've seen a few that can sustain about 140 marathons.  :Wink: 




> 5. Tyrannosaurus Rex developed from a near-identical but much smaller predecessor.


Tyrannosaurus minor?  :Smile: 




> 6. Sportswear firms Adidas and Puma have had a 60-year feud.


A couple of beatrings and murders I bet.  :Tongue: 




> 7. Monkeys suffer colour blindness.


They should have waited to evolve to humans.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. Pregnancy may help athletes to be more flexible.


Oh yeah, that bubble below the chest allows a woman to do all sorts of stretches.  :Smile: 




> 9. All British industrial action ballots must be by post, except for workers at sea.


Workers at sea must put them in a bottle and let them float to shore. No wonder those votes don't amount to much.  :Wink: 




> 1. Banana skins can take two years to biodegrade.


I believe it. My mother gave up trying to compost them.




> 2. The longest speech at the United Nations lasted almost eight hours.


Some blowhards just don't stop.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly, according to long-standing protocol, and is followed by the host country.


That's because they have the coffee and are the most wide awake.  :Wink: 




> 4. Jay-Z has Barack Obama's mobile phone number.


Good Lord. That explains a lot.




> 5. Swine flu gel can get you drunk.


 :FRlol:  Some addicts will do anything for a high.




> 7. Michael Gambon, star of the Harry Potter films, has never read any of the books.


Well, that makes two of us.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. The only woman ever in the French Foreign Legion is British.


Those French men sure do have a sense of humor.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The UK produces 8% of the world's scientific papers, the third most behind the US and China. 

2. Ken Livingstone was twice rejected for a cameo in EastEnders.

3. Colin Powell speaks Yiddish.

4. Tesco sells two sewing machines every minute.

5. Homes are 4C warmer, on average, than they were 50 years ago.

6. Turtles can swim 900km (559 miles) in a month. 

7. Coffins can be made out of banana leaves. Keith Floyd was buried in one.

8. Michael Jackson had tattooed eyebrows and lips. 

9. The most common names for swingers are Paul and Catherine.

10. There are about 100 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_107.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Male life expectancy in the UK goes up by about three months every year.

2. Fidel Castro stopped smoking cigars in 1985. 

3. In the early days of barcodes there was a plan for round ones.

4. In the UK, 26 million addresses get post. 

5. Japan has a theme park where children pretend to be fast food workers.

6. Only two serving US presidents won the Nobel peace prize before Barack Obama - Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

7. The flash on David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover was inspired by the logo from a rice cooker.

8. Wild animals in zoos in Gaza have to be smuggled in tunnels under the border.

9. There was a royal blood disorder.

10. Low-quality females prefer low-quality males. In the world of zebra finches at least. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_108.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 3. Colin Powell speaks Yiddish.


Well, he's from New york and we all know some Yiddish, schmuck and putz  :Biggrin: 




> 5. Homes are 4C warmer, on average, than they were 50 years ago.


I guess we want to be more comfortable. Without even looking at the article, it must be from some environmental whacko. 




> 6. Turtles can swim 900km (559 miles) in a month.


Oh what those sexual urges can do.  :Tongue: 




> 7. Coffins can be made out of banana leaves. Keith Floyd was buried in one.


Just don't let the monkeys think there are bananas in them or you you're going to have quite a mess at the funeral.  :Smile: 




> 8. Michael Jackson had tattooed eyebrows and lips.


One of these days they are going to figure out that Michael Jackson was a manikin and never actually lived.  :Nod: 




> 9. The most common names for swingers are Paul and Catherine.


Hey those are my neighbors. I should knock on their door.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. There are about 100 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne.


And tell me, has anyone actually counted to verify. :Wink: 




> 1. Male life expectancy in the UK goes up by about three months every year.


That's because female life expectancy keeps going down every three months every year.  :FRlol: 




> 2. Fidel Castro stopped smoking cigars in 1985.


Hopefully one day they'll shove them up his butt.




> 3. In the early days of barcodes there was a plan for round ones.


They were persuaded not to do that because they would look like the back end of a zebra. Everyone woould then think they were looking up a zebra's ***.  :FRlol:   :FRlol: 




> 5. Japan has a theme park where children pretend to be fast food workers.


What??? Must be inspired by a bunch of philosophy majors after graduating and getting jobs: "Do you want fries with that?" 




> 6. Only two serving US presidents won the Nobel peace prize before Barack Obama - Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.


At least they actually did something to accomplish it. Apparently they give out these things on affirmative action these days. I heard President Obama will now get a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, and an Olympic gold medal. What the hell, one doesn't have to achieve anything anymore.




> 7. The flash on David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover was inspired by the logo from a rice cooker.


And a lot of scotch!




> 8. Wild animals in zoos in Gaza have to be smuggled in tunnels under the border.


Just like the terrorists.  :Wink: 




> 9. There was a royal blood disorder.


It gave the vampires a stomach ache.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Low-quality females prefer low-quality males. In the world of zebra finches at least.


Looking at all the low class trash couples out there, I would say that's true in the human world as well.  :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Earth's warmest year was 1998.

2. Morecambe and Wise nearly split up, before they had even got on television.

3. Sailors in Tudor times had man bags. 

4. Some spiders are vegetarian.

5. Each person has 1.5kg of probiotic bacteria in their digestive system, on average. 

6. The placebo effect is real.

7. Boyzone sold more singles than Take That in the 1990s.

8. Culled rabbits are used to heat homes in Sweden. 

9. William Pitt's dying words were about House of Commons catering.

10. Jeremy Clarkson's father was friends with the Monty Python team.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## papayahed

> 3. Sailors in Tudor times had man bags.


I've always suspected men secretly long to carry murses.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Humpback whales' mating rituals can be deadly. 

2. Galaxies that are 10.2 billion light-years away can be seen through telescopes.

3. Wine gums have the names of alcoholic drinks on them.

4. People spent £37m on cup cakes in the UK last year.

5. The spread of cupcake shops has been used to map urban gentrification in the US.

6. Bagged salad is photographed 4,000 times a second. 

7. The most available time of week for a meeting is Tuesday at 3pm.

8. GPS locates the Prime Meridian 100m to the east of Greenwich Observatory. 

9. Sales of Asterix books number 325 million. 

10. The first watches appeared shortly after 1500 in Germany.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_110.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The city of Bath, in Somerset, was referred to as "The Bath" until the 19th Century.

2. Bears don't like honey, and aren't even very keen on berries and nuts.

3. Scouts can deliver post.

4. Barbara Windsor was the second actress the play Peggy Mitchell in Eastenders.

5. Tattoos can be done with a person's ashes.

6. The average American spends $66.45 (£40) on Halloween.

7. When a shark pup is born its liver makes up 20% of its body mass

8. The world's oldest dog is 20.

9. The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger.

10. A man has been sent to jail for driving the motorised chair while drunk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_111.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Earth's warmest year was 1998.


And we've continued to dump ever more CO2 into the atmosphere and it has actually cooled down. Is there something wrong with the man made global warming theory? I would say so.




> 2. Morecambe and Wise nearly split up, before they had even got on television.


And would anyone really have cared? :P




> 3. Sailors in Tudor times had man bags.


Oh I bet they looked sexy.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. Some spiders are vegetarian.


Then why do they need to make a web, to catch falling grapes?  :Wink: 




> 5. Each person has 1.5kg of probiotic bacteria in their digestive system, on average.


Isn't that commonly known as sh*t, or crap, or feces?  :FRlol: 




> 6. The placebo effect is real.


Now that you've let the cat out of the bag, it's effect has just been eliminated. Hey if it's real, why don't we all pretend to take medicine?  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Boyzone sold more singles than Take That in the 1990s.


That's because Girlzone was whispering sweet nothings into his ear.  :Wink: 




> 8. Culled rabbits are used to heat homes in Sweden.


Ah how cruel. Can't they use logs or coal like other places? Those poor bunnies.  :Smile: 




> 9. William Pitt's dying words were about House of Commons catering.


Yeah, the chef sucked.  :FRlol: 




> 1. Humpback whales' mating rituals can be deadly.


Isn't that why they are called hump-back?  :FRlol: 




> 2. Galaxies that are 10.2 billion light-years away can be seen through telescopes.


Wow. I can't even imagine how far that is.




> 3. Wine gums have the names of alcoholic drinks on them.


Cool, gum now comes in wine flavors!  :Smile: 




> 4. People spent £37m on cup cakes in the UK last year.


Part of the reason for the weight problem I would guess.  :Wink: 




> 5. The spread of cupcake shops has been used to map urban gentrification in the US.


I've never seen a cupcake shop. I guess I'm just not part of the gentry.  :FRlol:  




> 6. Bagged salad is photographed 4,000 times a second.


Boy some of the things that people find photogenic surprises me.




> 7. The most available time of week for a meeting is Tuesday at 3pm.


Hey I am free at that time. Who wants to meet with me?  :Biggrin: 




> 8. GPS locates the Prime Meridian 100m to the east of Greenwich Observatory.


I thought it was supposed to go right through the Observatory. Did they make a 100m mistake? 




> 9. Sales of Asterix books number 325 million.


What? I've never even heard of Asterix books.




> 10. The first watches appeared shortly after 1500 in Germany.


That is actually interesting. 




> 1. The city of Bath, in Somerset, was referred to as "The Bath" until the 19th Century.


Is that when people started switching over to showers?  :Tongue: 




> 2. Bears don't like honey, and aren't even very keen on berries and nuts.


They like good old human flesh.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Scouts can deliver post.


What and the unions don't complain?




> 5. Tattoos can be done with a person's ashes.


OK. Is that better than snorting someone's ashes?  :Wink: 




> 6. The average American spends $66.45 (£40) on Halloween.


I'm not average. I didn't spend anything.  :FRlol: 




> 7. When a shark pup is born its liver makes up 20% of its body mass


And the other 80% are teeth.




> 8. The world's oldest dog is 20.


That was a great video. he looks pretty darn good for 140 years old. (20 x 7)




> 9. The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger.


Now that's where I screwed up.  :FRlol:   :FRlol:   :FRlol:  (Lord I hope sh doesn't see that.  :Biggrin: )




> 10. A man has been sent to jail for driving the motorised chair while drunk.


I saw that on TV here. What a cool chair!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Gordon Brown gave up a £2m pension on his first day in office 

2. At peak times, 32,000 pedestrians cross Oxford Circus junction in one hour.

3. Lyrics from Jon Bon Jovi's new album are framed and hanging up in the White House.

4. Journalists visiting Sesame Street are banned from asking Bert and Ernie if they are gay.

5. The BBC rejected Sesame Street in 1971 because it was "too authoritarian". 

6. Elmo's favourite food is wasabi .

7. Tall men can have small parents.

8. Part-time veggies are called flexitarians. 

9. A missing child must usually have been missing for at least two years to warrant an age progression image.

10. French babies cry with an accent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_112.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Reading lamps can run off the electricity that comes down a defunct landline socket.

2. Men's urine is less acidic than women's.

3. Coral can eat jellyfish.

4. The first sell-by dates were on milk and cream in the 1950s.

5. Early flights to India stopped to refuel in Basra.

6. Porn for the furry community is known as "yiff".

7. Russia has 11 time zones.

8. Travelling in a "road train" can cut fuel consumption by 20%.

9. Canadian Transport Minister John Baird called his cat Thatcher.

10. Pigtails used to be known as queues.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Gordon Brown gave up a £2m pension on his first day in office


Of course no one knows he made 3m under the table.  :Wink:  [Actually that sounds quite admirable.]




> 2. At peak times, 32,000 pedestrians cross Oxford Circus junction in one hour.


I didn't realize that circus clowns went to Oxford.  :Smile: 




> 3. Lyrics from Jon Bon Jovi's new album are framed and hanging up in the White House.


What? Of all the great quotes from past presidents and world leaders and dignataries, and this administration frames quotes from Bon Jovi? We are in bigger trouble than I thought.




> 4. Journalists visiting Sesame Street are banned from asking Bert and Ernie if they are gay.


 :FRlol:  Now why would puppets be gay? Or perhaps why would puppets not be gay?  :FRlol: 




> 5. The BBC rejected Sesame Street in 1971 because it was "too authoritarian".


Yeah, that big bird really has a lot in common with Adolph Hitler.  :Tongue: 




> 6. Elmo's favourite food is wasabi .


Goes great with chocolate milk.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Tall men can have small parents.


Tall men can have small other things. Size is not linked to height.  :Wink: 




> 8. Part-time veggies are called flexitarians.


Part-time veggies? Couldn't they get a full time paying job?  :Nod: 




> 9. A missing child must usually have been missing for at least two years to warrant an age progression image.


I don't have the heart to make a joke out of this one. God be with those missing children.




> 10. French babies cry with an accent.


Well, they want to be fed and so they are trying to say, "bon appétit."  :Biggrin: 





> 1. Reading lamps can run off the electricity that comes down a defunct landline socket.


Don't stick your finger in there. It will be shocking.  :Wink: 




> 2. Men's urine is less acidic than women's.


Don't I know it. Women's always seems to give me heartburn.  :Tongue: 




> 3. Coral can eat jellyfish.


And Carol put her's on toast.  :Smile: 




> 4. The first sell-by dates were on milk and cream in the 1950s.


And by all accounts, they are still on the supermarket shelf.  :Wink: 




> 5. Early flights to India stopped to refuel in Basra.


So where did late flights stop?  :Eek2: 




> 6. Porn for the furry community is known as "yiff".


Well, there's a lot of furryness on display in porn, isn't there?  :FRlol: 




> 7. Russia has 11 time zones.


Do they even have clocks there?  :Wink: 




> 8. Travelling in a "road train" can cut fuel consumption by 20%.


I went over to read this one. Sounds cool. But yikes if there is an accident. Could be deadly.




> 9. Canadian Transport Minister John Baird called his cat Thatcher.


A conservative I take it.  :Smile:   :Smile: 




> 10. Pigtails used to be known as queues.


And people in queue are regarded as pigs?  :Smile:

----------


## bloomdido

:Eek: I may never sleep again.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Three of the world's supercomputers are in the US.

2. Humans are more likely to be killed by a hippo than a lion.

3. Teeth grinding is known as bruxism.

4. Spin doctors were used in the Iron Age.

5. School phobia is a condition recognised by doctors since the 1960s.

6. Whisky should be stored upright, unlike wine.

7. "Wrap rage" is a term coined to describe the anger felt by people trying to get into bonded plastic "clamshell" packaging.

8. Male and female candidates to be officers in the British Army have to do different amounts of press-ups, but the same number of sit-ups in a physical test. 

9. For three decades, the BBC took a very dim view of Enid Blyton's work.

10. Swindon has the UK's highest broadband use.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_114.shtml

----------


## Virgil

Geez, I need a laugh this evening. This came just in time.  :Wink: 




> 1. Three of the world's supercomputers are in the US.


Doesn't one belong to Admin to run lit net? All my super thoughts require at least one supercomputer to handle them.  :Tongue: 




> 2. Humans are more likely to be killed by a hippo than a lion.


How true. I've know several run over by a hippo but only my ex-best-friend who was killed by a lion. I bet we've all known a few people killed by your next door neighbor's hippo.  :FRlol: 




> 3. Teeth grinding is known as bruxism.


I used to do that. Or maybe I still do. My wife has other noises I make in bed to complain about.  :FRlol: 




> 4. Spin doctors were used in the Iron Age.


Politicians go way back, don't they?  :Wink: 




> 5. School phobia is a condition recognised by doctors since the 1960s.


Are you kidding? School phobia must go back to Plato's Symposium.  :Smile: 




> 6. Whisky should be stored upright, unlike wine.


Hmm, two of my favorite beverages. I guess i do it correctly.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. "Wrap rage" is a term coined to describe the anger felt by people trying to get into bonded plastic "clamshell" packaging.


I know the feeling!! Why do they make those things so hard to open? 




> 8. Male and female candidates to be officers in the British Army have to do different amounts of press-ups, but the same number of sit-ups in a physical test.


I just checked for the US Army and it's the same for them. Interesting. I wonder why women can do the same situp requirements. By the way, I can still meet a 100% score for my age group in both the pushups and situps.  :Biggrin: 




> 9. For three decades, the BBC took a very dim view of Enid Blyton's work.


And if that is the case, why did it take 30 years to fire him.  :Tongue: 




> 10. Swindon has the UK's highest broadband use.


And what a selfish person he is. Didn't his parents teach him to share.  :Wink: 


Out of curiosity, does anyone read my retorts here?

----------


## Scheherazade

> Politicians go way back, don't they?


Maybe *that* is the world's oldest profession...


> And if that is the case, why did it take 30 years to fire him.


You don't know who Enid Blyton is, d'ya?  :Biggrin: 


> Out of curiosity, does anyone read my retorts here?


Oh, I read your every single post, Virgil!  :Wink:

----------


## Virgil

> Maybe *that* is the world's oldest profession


Yeah, actually they do share a lot in common, don't they.




> ...You don't know who Enid Blyton is, d'ya?


No, I never have. Thanks. She seems noteworthy to know.




> Oh, I read your every single post, Virgil!


Ah, yes, I know too well. Big brother, or should I say Big Sister.  :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Michael Jackson's iconic white glove is a modified golf glove.

2. To be a Beefeater you have to have done 22 years military service.

3. Seemingly vegetative patients are asked to think of playing tennis while being scanned for evidence of consciousness.

4. The UK had its first curry restaurant in 1809.

5. The hamlet of Seathwaite in Borrowdale is, on average, the wettest inhabited place in England.

6. All British infrastructure, including bridges, is designed to at least withstand the kind of flooding that would happen on average once every 200 years.

7. Hammerhead sharks can actually see rather well. 

8. And humans use their skin to "hear".

9. Google will only remove images from its image search facility if legally ordered to do so.

10. Christmas trees can be dangerous.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_20.shtml

----------


## Taliesin

> 10. Christmas trees can be dangerous.
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_20.shtml


That's news? I thought that anyone who has hunted, or, at least, been taken as a little child to the forest to hunt a Christmas tree, knows how dangerous those cunning bastards are. I've known plenty of good men who have perished hunting those magnificient beasts. It is not a show for the weak-hearted not for those who cannot stand the sight of blood, since a Christmas tree, when cornered, can be fierce - and deadly.

----------


## Basil

> That's news? I thought that anyone who has hunted, or, at least, been taken as a little child to the forest to hunt a Christmas tree, knows how dangerous those cunning bastards are. I've known plenty of good men who have perished hunting those magnificient beasts. It is not a show for the weak-hearted not for those who cannot stand the sight of blood, since a Christmas tree, when cornered, can be fierce - and deadly.


Christmas trees can be dangerous in other ways, as well. Their shiny ornaments, their shimmery tinsel, their suggestive poses...anyone who has succumbed to the cheap and tawdry allure that Christmas trees possess will tell you: Christmas trees have been the ruin of many a poor boy.


And God, I know I'm one.

----------


## papayahed

> Christmas trees can be dangerous in other ways, as well. Their shiny ornaments, their shimmery tinsel, their suggestive poses...anyone who has succumbed to the cheap and tawdry allure that Christmas trees possess will tell you: Christmas trees have been the ruin of many a poor boy.
> 
> 
> And God, I know I'm one.


Kinda gives new meaning to the term "Trimming the tree", no? :Santasmile:

----------


## Basil

> Kinda gives new meaning to the term "Trimming the tree", no?


Don't taunt me, Papaya.

----------


## Basil

*papayahed :* _O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree..._

*basil :* Shut up! SHUT UP!!

----------


## Basil

*papayahed :*_...Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree
Afforded me the greatest glee
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Much pleasure thou can'st give me..._

*basil :* _*buries his face in his hands*_

----------


## papayahed

Check out the bulbs on that thing:

----------


## Niamh

:FRlol:

----------


## Basil

_O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill my heart with music
Reminding me on Christmas Day
To think of you and then be gay
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill my heart with music_

----------


## Scheherazade

> _O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
> You fill my heart with music
> Reminding me on Christmas Day
> To think of you and then be gay
> O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
> You fill my heart with music_


Oh, don't let all those tinsel and baubles dazzle you; the beauty is only skin deep, after all.

The real question is whether you will _still_ care for the Christmas tree when it it has passed its prime and looks like this:

----------


## Basil

> 


Nah, I'd probably just take it in the backyard and set fire to it. That's actually how most of my relationships end.

----------


## jocky

> Nah, I'd probably just take it in the backyard and set fire to it. That's actually how most of my relationships end.


That is so unfair; ' A thing of beauty is a joy forever ' Remember that tree had leaves at one time, it had D.N.A. it could have been a prince among trees, it could have supported birds, squirrels, insects and sasquatch. What time are you burning it I am freezing?  :Smile:

----------


## Taliesin

In Estonia, men who perform such acts with Christmas trees are traditionally poked to death with Christmas ornaments and no wonder - monstrous creatures who stalk the forests of Estonia even now are known to be born of such unnatural unions of man and tree. These creatures possess both the cunning, strength and allure of a Christmas tree and the intellect of a human - creatures even more dangerous than the ordinary Christmas-trees. 
Fortunately, due to genetics, half-Christmas-trees cannot produce offspirng themselves, although they are unarguably sexy - even I, who I am not a treesexual can see it. 
Basil, I don't know whether the creatures you engage in relationship with are real Christmas-trees or the halfbreeds(they can be uncannily similar to ordinary Christmas trees if they take after their wooden parent) and, being a liberal-minded European man, I do not condemn your lifestyle, but please, and I cannot stress this enough: use protection. For the sake of general and personal good.

----------


## jocky

> In Estonia, men who perform such acts with Christmas trees are traditionally poked to death with Christmas ornaments and no wonder - monstrous creatures who stalk the forests of Estonia even now are known to be born of such unnatural unions of man and tree. These creatures possess both the cunning, strength and allure of a Christmas tree and the intellect of a human - creatures even more dangerous than the ordinary Christmas-trees. 
> Fortunately, due to genetics, half-Christmas-trees cannot produce offspirng themselves, although they are unarguably sexy - even I, who I am not a treesexual can see it. 
> Basil, I don't know whether the creatures you engage in relationship with are real Christmas-trees or the halfbreeds(they can be uncannily similar to ordinary Christmas trees if they take after their wooden parent) and, being a liberal-minded European man, I do not condemn your lifestyle, but please, and I cannot stress this enough: use protection. For the sake of general and personal good.


 :Smile: 
So you are not a treesexual, this is a new phenomenom which may branch out and take root. I believe half of this post, yes and that is the half that is patently untrue. ' God stand up for treesexuals '  :Santasmile:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Mobile numbers 07700 900000 to 900999 are reserved for fictional numbers in TV and films.

2. Smoking first thing in the morning is worse for you than other times of the day regardless of the number of cigarettes smoked, US research shows.

3. There is one CCTV camera for every eight people in London. 

4. The world's oceans are believed to absorb about half of the total carbon emissions from human activities. 

5. Italian police have a Lamborghini patrol car worth 165,000-euro (£150,000). 

6. Pubs in England pull about 10 million extra pints when the national football team plays in the World Cup.

7. Jane Austen probably died of TB - commonly caught from drinking infected milk - when she passed away aged 41.

8. Feet movements reveal who you are sexual attraction to. 

9. The feet of the blue-footed booby, a bird which is native to the Galápagos Islands and Ecuador, get brighter in colour the less sex it has.

10. There are just four minarets on mosques in Switzerland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_115.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Michael Jackson's iconic white glove is a modified golf glove.


He and Tiger Woods must have been on double dates.  :Wink: 




> 2. To be a Beefeater you have to have done 22 years military service.


I was eating beef at a pretty early age.  :Tongue: 




> 3. Seemingly vegetative patients are asked to think of playing tennis while being scanned for evidence of consciousness.


Well, there is a loss of consciousness when one is a vegtetarian too long.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. The UK had its first curry restaurant in 1809.


And its first customer was William Wordsworth who wrote a sonnet on it:



> The curry is too much with us; late and soon,
> Getting and spending, we lay waste our curry;
> Little we see in curry that is ours;
> We have given our curry away, a sordid boon!
> This curry that bares her bosom to the moon,
> The curry that will be howling at all hours...


His editor didn't like it and so had him change it to "The World is too much with us..."  :FRlol: 




> 5. The hamlet of Seathwaite in Borrowdale is, on average, the wettest inhabited place in England.


Isn't that the pissing spot outside the Borrowdale Pub.  :Tongue: 




> 6. All British infrastructure, including bridges, is designed to at least withstand the kind of flooding that would happen on average once every 200 years.


Hmm, of course they were designed in 1809 and so now you have a problem.  :Wink: 




> 7. Hammerhead sharks can actually see rather well.


And what optomitrist is going to tell them otherwise?  :Nod: 




> 8. And humans use their skin to "hear".


And what happens when you get a mole? Does one grow deaf?  :Eek2: 




> 9. Google will only remove images from its image search facility if legally ordered to do so.


Ooh, I bet they have lots of my birthday images searches for lit netters.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Christmas trees can be dangerous.


It's not exactly nutritious.  :Wink: 




> 1. Mobile numbers 07700 900000 to 900999 are reserved for fictional numbers in TV and films.


And if I dial one will I get charged? It was fictional?  :Smile: 




> 2. Smoking first thing in the morning is worse for you than other times of the day regardless of the number of cigarettes smoked, US research shows.


That is very interesting.




> 3. There is one CCTV camera for every eight people in London.


Shh. Don't let all the 1984 people hear that. They already see Big Brother everywhere.




> 4. The world's oceans are believed to absorb about half of the total carbon emissions from human activities.


Now that was very interesting. Here's a quote from the article:



> Professor Watson said that it had been assumed that the amount of CO2 absorbed by the oceans remained constant.


"It had been assumed?" You mean that this has not been modeled correctly in those famous models that are predicting global warming? Does that support that global warming is a crock and flawed science? It does to me.




> 5. Italian police have a Lamborghini patrol car worth 165,000-euro (£150,000).


Oh, it's almost worth getting arrested just for a ride.  :Biggrin: 




> 6. Pubs in England pull about 10 million extra pints when the national football team plays in the World Cup.


I guess they have to drown their sorrows somehow.  :Tongue: 




> 7. Jane Austen probably died of TB - commonly caught from drinking infected milk - when she passed away aged 41.


What a shame. Only 41. She hadn't even hit her peak yet.




> 8. Feet movements reveal who you are sexual attraction to.


Kind of gives a whole new meaning to the phrase my wife is a ball and chain.  :FRlol: 




> 9. The feet of the blue-footed booby, a bird which is native to the Galápagos Islands and Ecuador, get brighter in colour the less sex it has.


Hmm, kind of like my feet. You want to see how bright my feet are? They couldn't get any brighter.  :Tongue:

----------


## skib

Virgil, I absolutely love your retorts! They're fantastic, and I do hope you keep it up!

----------


## Virgil

Thank you Skib. I really appreciate that.  :Smile:   :Smile:

----------


## JuniperWoolf

> Nah, I'd probably just take it in the backyard and set fire to it. That's actually how most of my relationships end.


 :FRlol:  I hope that you just mean your relationships with old christmas trees.

----------


## Basil

> I hope that you just mean your relationships with old christmas trees.


Ummm....yes. That IS what I meant. 

Taliesin, your words of solidarity are very much appreciated.

----------


## Basil

> ...monstrous creatures who stalk the forests of Estonia even now are known to be born of such unnatural unions of man and tree. These creatures possess both the cunning, strength and allure of a Christmas tree and the intellect of a human - creatures even more dangerous than the ordinary Christmas-trees. 
> Fortunately, due to genetics, half-Christmas-trees cannot produce offspirng themselves, *although they are unarguably sexy* - even I, who I am not a treesexual can see it.




Yes, you can't deny they possess a certain slatternly appeal.

----------


## Scheherazade

> Nah, I'd probably just take it in the backyard and set fire to it. That's actually how most of my relationships end.


Interesting. 

I had put you down as a "chop-store-and-consume-as-and-when-needed" kind of a guy, actually.

----------


## stephofthenight

10. Some people eat goat and horse meat  :Frown: 
9. If you fry your mothers microwave she will probably get pissed, especialy if she doesnt like what you are using it for.
8. It is not wise to microwave your lip rings, they are metal and make lovely blue, purple and green sparks before causing the microwave to go boom.
7. The capital of argentina is not San Juan
6. There are only 15 days left until Christmas
5. Not everyone appreciates house goats, even if they are potty trained
4. There are lots of educated Idiots in this world
3. Always back your computer up daily during finals, this way if your wonderful computer decides to crash you do not have to rewrite the paper that has taken you over a month again in 2 days.
2. Ups trucks do not have doors, and it gets VERRRY cold in them, you should so be nicer to the delivery guy/girl next time, its not as easy as it looks!
1. This is my 1,000 post YAY

----------


## Taliesin

> Interesting. 
> 
> I had put you down as a "chop-store-and-consume-as-and-when-needed" kind of a guy, actually.


Personal experience, Scher?

----------


## Scheherazade

> Personal experience, Scher?


Do I sound like I have been chopped, stored and consumed as and when needed?  :Rolleyes: 

1. The Queen travels to Sandringham by scheduled train each Christmas. 

2. The Moon has the coldest place in the Solar System measured by a spacecraft

3. About 3.8 million cheques were written in the UK every day last year. 

4. Australian stingless bees immobilise intruding beetles by mummifying them in resin, wax and mud.

5. The Royal Mail's missed parcel cards are also known as "739" cards.

6. 748 million burgers are sold in the UK annually. 

7. Women's touch is more sensitive than men's.

8. The Na'vi language spoken in James Cameron's new film Avatar took four years to write and develop.

9. Female spiders eat their mates despite them being nutritionally poor.

10. Milton Keynes central railway station appeared as a UN building in Superman IV.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_21.shtml

----------


## 1n50mn14

> 8. The Na'vi language spoken in James Cameron's new film Avatar took four years to write and develop.


I don't know about everybody else, but I have far better things to do with four years of my time.  :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The Queen travels to Sandringham by scheduled train each Christmas.


Coach or first class?  :Biggrin:  I bet she gets an earfull from the fellow passengers.  :Wink: 




> 2. The Moon has the coldest place in the Solar System measured by a spacecraft


And I thought it was Rosie O'Donnell's heart.  :FRlol: 




> 3. About 3.8 million cheques were written in the UK every day last year.


Wow, that's probably about right. It is a lot but then we all have bills to pay.  :Frown: 




> 4. Australian stingless bees immobilise intruding beetles by mummifying them in resin, wax and mud.


Sort of like the American divorced woman immobilising her ex.  :Biggrin: 




> 5. The Royal Mail's missed parcel cards are also known as "739" cards.


I see the mail in Britain is as lousy as ours.  :Sick: 




> 6. 748 million burgers are sold in the UK annually.


And all these vegetarians around here don't know what they're missing.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Women's touch is more sensitive than men's.


It all depends on where you're touching.  :Biggrin:  [Geez I hope they didn't spend millions of dollars on that study.]




> 8. The Na'vi language spoken in James Cameron's new film Avatar took four years to write and develop.


Four years to write a fake language? I could have saved him a lot of time and money. Plus why didn't they just take some remote language from a tribe in the amazon? It would have been a lot easier.




> 9. Female spiders eat their mates despite them being nutritionally poor.


Now here I am in a quandry. Do I quip on the fact that a female spider is sucking the life blood out of a male just like humans or do i quip that a males don't have any nutrition? Choices, choices.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Milton Keynes central railway station appeared as a UN building in Superman IV.


But it doesn't say who Milton Keynes is. Sounds like a merging of Milton Freidman and John Mayard Keynes. Quite an economic center.  :Wink:

----------


## Scheherazade

> And all these vegetarians around here don't know what they're missing.


It doesn't say they are beef/chicken burgers... For all you know, they might be veggie burgers, which I love.

 :Biggrin:

----------


## Virgil

> It doesn't say they are beef/chicken burgers... For all you know, they might be veggie burgers, which I love.


 :Biggrin:  This is true. But I bet the overwheling majority are beef.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The G-spot nearly came to be known as the Whipple Tickle

2. The average British woman's foot is a size five and a man's is a size nine.

3. You have a legal duty to clear snow and ice from your path if you know it would otherwise be a hazard to people legitimately walking up it.

4. Cleopatra's eye make-up may have protected against disease.

5. Breast implants can slow you down.

6. Swiss law allows enormous speeding fines.

7. The legal limit for flying is 9mg alcohol per 100ml of breath.

8. People are still buying audio cassettes - 8,443 were sold in 2009.

9. Mobility scooters are exempt from the Road Traffic Act, leaving police powerless to act against examples of careless driving.

10. You can spot signs of high cholesterol from looking at someone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_117.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Riot shields make good sledges.

2. You can assault someone without touching them.

3. Alligators and birds breathe the same way - in one direction only.

4. Hiccups can be caused by brain tumours.

5. South Korea has the fastest broadband in the world.

6. Snow causes potholes.

7. The same weather system that froze Britain also baked Greece in record temperatures.

8. Michael Winner had part of his leg cut away due to oyster poisoning. 

9. It's OK to own military medals you haven't earned, but it's illegal to wear them.

10. Animal heaven is called Rainbow Bridge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_118.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The G-spot nearly came to be known as the Whipple Tickle


*face palm*  :FRlol:  What can I say to that? Let's just be gratefull it wasn't called the finicky fankle.  :Wink: 




> 2. The average British woman's foot is a size five and a man's is a size nine.


Of course. Men are more evolved!!!  :FRlol:  It's that Y chromosone.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. You have a legal duty to clear snow and ice from your path if you know it would otherwise be a hazard to people legitimately walking up it.


Now what if you're out of town and no one is home? We have the same law and I have wondered about this. 




> 4. Cleopatra's eye make-up may have protected against disease.


But I bet it encouraged STDs.  :Tongue: 




> 5. Breast implants can slow you down.


Yeah, but they are fun to watch as they slow her down.  :Biggrin:  (Hey are these news items turning rated X all of a sudden?)




> 6. Swiss law allows enormous speeding fines.


Was that 14 million euros? Or is the "m" a thousand? And the fine was calculated based on his wealth? You mean there are different catagories of punishment based on a person's wealth? Now that doesn't sound like justice being blind.




> 7. The legal limit for flying is 9mg alcohol per 100ml of breath.


And a few more drinks and you'll really be flying.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. People are still buying audio cassettes - 8,443 were sold in 2009.


I heard some people were still washing their clothes by the river.  :Wink: 




> 9. Mobility scooters are exempt from the Road Traffic Act, leaving police powerless to act against examples of careless driving.


But if you're caught speeding in a car they fine you millions of dollars (see #7). Laws don't make sense do they? It's what ever capricious thought comes into the legislatior's minds.




> 10. You can spot signs of high cholesterol from looking at someone.


Well, if their face is about the size of a basketball, you know they've been over eating.  :Smile: 




> 1. Riot shields make good sledges.


I wonder if Sir Lancelot sledded on his shield?  :Biggrin: 




> 2. You can assault someone without touching them.


Well, smacking them with a hammer across the head isn't exactly touching them. Is it?  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Alligators and birds breathe the same way - in one direction only.


You mean they don't fart?  :Eek: 




> 4. Hiccups can be caused by brain tumours.


And burps can be caused by hemorrhoids.  :FRlol: 




> 5. South Korea has the fastest broadband in the world.


Maybe we should get Admin to situate lit net there.  :Tongue: 




> 6. Snow causes potholes.


And ice. The streets get torn up so around here after every winter.




> 7. The same weather system that froze Britain also baked Greece in record temperatures.


It's global warming!!!  :FRlol: 




> 8. Michael Winner had part of his leg cut away due to oyster poisoning.


He's lucky it wasn't shrimp or they would have gone after his penis.  :Biggrin:  (Now this is getting into the gutter.  :Wink: )




> 9. It's OK to own military medals you haven't earned, but it's illegal to wear them.


Is it also ok to have diplomas one hasn't earned as long as you don't hang them on the wall?  :Wink: 




> 10. Animal heaven is called Rainbow Bridge.


And animal hell is called the Vet's office.  :Smile:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Mo Mowlam lied about her tumour. 

2. The last remaining Royal Mail ship goes to St Helena.

3. Blind people can be taught to take photos.

4. Bolognese should be served with tagliatelle, not spaghetti.

5. Parliamentary candidates can put their own seals on ballot boxes under the Ballot Act of 1872.

6. South Korea's Ministry of Health is nicknamed Ministry of Matchmaking.

7. The first international cricket match was in the US.

8. The two most common pronunciations of Van Gogh are wrong. 

9. Dead bodies do not necessarily pose a health risk to humans.

10. Cells surf. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Basil

> 9. Dead bodies do not necessarily pose a health risk to humans.


Well, provided you cook them long enough.

----------


## Scheherazade

> Well, provided you cook them long enough.


Well, I was thinking, "Tell that to those who have been chased by zombies..."

----------


## Veho

> Well, I was thinking, "Tell that to those who have been chased by zombies..."


 :FRlol:  That made me laugh.




> *8. The Na'vi language spoken in James Cameron's new film Avatar took four years to write and develop.*
> 
> Four years to write a fake language? I could have saved him a lot of time and money. Plus why didn't they just take some remote language from a tribe in the amazon? It would have been a lot easier.


I'm sure he's not worrying about money now, to be honest. He won't be short of a bob or two.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. By 57, men tend to wear their trousers just seven inches below their armpit.

2. Running barefoot may pose less risk for injury than wearing running shoes.

3. Motor home owners in the UK need a professional licence to drive one of the "homes on wheels". Not those in the US.

4. Swans divorce.

5. Texting may help children learn to spell btr.

6. Some dinosaurs were ginger.

7. Haggis has been banned in the US since 1989.

8. Among the first ever vacancies listed at early job centres were piano regulator, picture frame gilder and "girl confectioner's packer".

9. Mackenzie Crook keeps tortoises and three of them star in his latest play.

10. Face blindness - difficulty in remembering faces - is called prosopagnosia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_120.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Mo Mowlam lied about her tumour.


It was only a pimple.  :Wink: 




> 2. The last remaining Royal Mail ship goes to St Helena.


St. Helena? Isn't that where Napoleon was confined to? Boy are they late with the mail.  :Wink: 




> 3. Blind people can be taught to take photos.


Of course the pictures look like Picasso portraits - body parts missing.  :FRlol: 




> 4. Bolognese should be served with tagliatelle, not spaghetti.


Of course, and my mother makes it so good, and she makes the tagliatelle from scratch.  :Wink: 




> 5. Parliamentary candidates can put their own seals on ballot boxes under the Ballot Act of 1872.


I didn't realize they owned seals. Kind of hard to vote if you got these barking creatures swinging their flappers at you.  :Biggrin: 




> 6. South Korea's Ministry of Health is nicknamed Ministry of Matchmaking.


Makes one wonder how they play doctor over there.  :Tongue: 




> 7. The first international cricket match was in the US.


And that was probably the last time.  :Wink:  Now that is amazing. I don't think a single American has ever figured out how the game is played. 




> 8. The two most common pronunciations of Van Gogh are wrong.


I pronounce it Van Goosh. Is that right or wrong?  :Tongue: 




> 9. Dead bodies do not necessarily pose a health risk to humans.


Unless of course you're vitually trapped in the movie Night of the Living Dead!  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Cells surf.


Kind of gives a whole new meaning to the Beach Boy's "Surfer Girl."



> Little surfer little one
> Made my heart come all undone
> Do you love me, do you surfer girl
> Surfer girl my little surfer girl






> 1. By 57, men tend to wear their trousers just seven inches below their armpit.


Hey I'm almost there 57 now and my pants are just three inches from my arm pit.  :Tongue: 




> 2. Running barefoot may pose less risk for injury than wearing running shoes.


I heard this earlier in the week and I really find it hard to believe. Of course all it takes is one thumb tack on the ground.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Motor home owners in the UK need a professional licence to drive one of the "homes on wheels". Not those in the US.


Hmm, that is interesting. It'd be cool to own one, just for the easy access to a toilet while on the road.  :Smile: 




> 4. Swans divorce.


And the alimony is three fish per month.  :FRlol: 




> 5. Texting may help children learn to spell btr.


Yeah right. And typing has mde me suhc a grate speler to.




> 6. Some dinosaurs were ginger.


And some were Maryann.  :Wink:  (Gilligan's Island TV show for those that are too young.)




> 7. Haggis has been banned in the US since 1989.


Stuffed intestines should be banned everywhere.  :Sick: 




> 8. Among the first ever vacancies listed at early job centres were piano regulator, picture frame gilder and "girl confectioner's packer".


Can I put in an order for a pack of girl confectioned? Please? 




> 9. Mackenzie Crook keeps tortoises and three of them star in his latest play.


I hope they learn their lines.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Face blindness - difficulty in remembering faces - is called prosopagnosia.


Hmm, I don't usually forget a face, but I have a heck of tme with names.

----------


## Helga

> 7. Haggis has been banned in the US since 1989.


it's a delicacy in Iceland and my favourite food as a kid, and has nothing to with me being a vegetarian!

----------


## The Walker

Virgil you are so funny. Loved to read this with your personal comments added  :Biggrin:

----------


## Virgil

> Virgil you are so funny. Loved to read this with your personal comments added


Thank you Walker. I'm glad you enjoy it. I have fun coming up with comments.  :Smile:

----------


## Niamh

virg you are a nutter!  :FRlol:

----------


## Virgil

> virg you are a nutter!


 :Biggrin:  Thank you Niamh.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. When the term "nostalgia" was coined in the 17th Century, some thought it was a uniquely Swiss phenomenon.

2. The removal of bales of straw can legally constitute building work for planning law purposes.

3. Half of the world's 7,000 languages are in danger of disappearing.

4. Some bugs do not get tackled for years.

5. Glass attacks in bars and pubs cause 87,000 injuries a year in England and Wales.

6. You can pay for university courses with Tesco Clubcard points.

7. Italy has 180 products with protected origin status, the most in the EU.

8. Racing camels can be worth millions.

9. Lego fanatics use computer modelling to design their creations.

10. "Baby brain" is is just a myth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_121.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. When the term "nostalgia" was coined in the 17th Century, some thought it was a uniquely Swiss phenomenon.


Well, if you make such wonderful chocolates, you would be nostagic for it too.  :Smile: 




> 2. The removal of bales of straw can legally constitute building work for planning law purposes.


Incredible. There must be a union that governs removal of straw.  :Wink: 




> 3. Half of the world's 7,000 languages are in danger of disappearing.


Not that is actually very sad. I love English, but really does it have to absorb all the other languages?




> 4. Some bugs do not get tackled for years.


Then they ought to play in the super bowl. They would make a heck of a running back.  :FRlol: 




> 5. Glass attacks in bars and pubs cause 87,000 injuries a year in England and Wales.


Maybe they ought to switch to plastic bottles and glass.  :Wink: 




> 6. You can pay for university courses with Tesco Clubcard points.


And here I thought monopoly money was valueless. I could have paid for college on game money!  :FRlol:  




> 7. Italy has 180 products with protected origin status, the most in the EU.


 :Banana:  I bet most of it has to do with food. What kind of cuisine would the world have without us Italians.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. Racing camels can be worth millions.


Did you ever see the jockies for those camels? Completely bow legged.  :Wink: 




> 9. Lego fanatics use computer modelling to design their creations.


Are you serious? That is actually really cool. I bet those are good skills for a kid to develop if they want to get into engineering.




> 10. "Baby brain" is is just a myth.


Oh yeah. When you're born you already start with the brain of a ninety year old. How silly.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Frisbee was originally called the Pluto Platter.

2. Fast-moving elephants run with their front legs but walk with their back legs

3. Parents in Japan swear by KitKats when their children are taking exams.

4. High-end cars have radar-based cruise control.

5. At the 1964 Innsbruck Games the Austrian army transported 20,000 blocks of ice for the bobsled and luge.

6. The United Arab Emirates recently held the largest camel beauty contest ever.

7. "Karaoke rage" has claimed more than a dozen lives in the Philippines... usually for Frank Sinatra's My Way.

8. Birds may use their feathers for touch, like cats use their whiskers.

9. Nearly 400,000 people still watch every episode of Friends on Channel 4 and E4.

10. In Japan, a bow's humility is determined by its deepness and duration.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_122.shtml

----------


## The Walker

> 9. Nearly 400,000 people still watch every episode of Friends on Channel 4 and E4.


of course! friends is friends
oh i know so many of them! jeje

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Dalai Lama has met every serving US president since 1991.

2. The Barbie doll has had 125 careers since 1959.

3. There is a Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

4. 10 possible endings were written and rehearsed for the EastEnders live episode.

5. Pregnant women do not need to eat for two.

6. Winning the lottery really does make you happier.

7. Australia has never had a saint. Until now.

8. The Battle of Bosworth actually took place more than a mile from where we thought.

9. Goldie Hawn runs schools.

10. King Tut broke his leg shortly before his death.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_123.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. The Frisbee was originally called the Pluto Platter.


I tell you, Pluto gets no respect. First they downgrade it from a planet and then they scrap it as a toy. What next?  :Cornut: 




> 2. Fast-moving elephants run with their front legs but walk with their back legs


Sounds like Michael Jackson and the moon walk.  :Tongue: 




> 3. Parents in Japan swear by KitKats when their children are taking exams.


Did Scher grow up in Japan? She grew up on kitkats.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. High-end cars have radar-based cruise control.


What the heck is that for, monitoring ICBMs while one is driving?  :Driving:  




> 5. At the 1964 Innsbruck Games the Austrian army transported 20,000 blocks of ice for the bobsled and luge.


Can't the Austrian army come to my house now? We're in our fourth snow storm of the year, and it would be so knid of them to take some of this crap away.




> 6. The United Arab Emirates recently held the largest camel beauty contest ever.


And the camel was cuter than their Miss Universe entry.  :FRlol:  (No, no, I'm kidding. No disrespect intended. Just a joke.)




> 7. "Karaoke rage" has claimed more than a dozen lives in the Philippines... usually for Frank Sinatra's My Way.


 :Confused:  I can't imagine what exeactly happens here to end their lives. Did the singer sing so bad that they decided to pummel him to death?  :Beatdeadhorse5: 




> 8. Birds may use their feathers for touch, like cats use their whiskers.


But you can't use a cat whisker for a quill. Birds are more literary.  :Smile: 




> 9. Nearly 400,000 people still watch every episode of Friends on Channel 4 and E4.


One of these days they will no longer be friends.  :Wink5: 




> 10. In Japan, a bow's humility is determined by its deepness and duration.


Don't get fooled. Most japanese have bad backs and are hunched over.  :Tongue: 




> 1. The Dalai Lama has met every serving US president since 1991.


And the Dalai Lama is still in office while all those presidents are not. I'll take the D-L's job, despite the dresscode.  :Wink: 




> 2. The Barbie doll has had 125 careers since 1959.


Talk about a lack of focus and not having a direction in life.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. There is a Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.


And one wonders why UK have never had a great composer like Mozart.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. 10 possible endings were written and rehearsed for the EastEnders live episode.


Can't they make up their mind? Talk about indecision.  :Smile: 




> 5. Pregnant women do not need to eat for two.


But they so enjoy doing so.  :FRlol:  




> 6. Winning the lottery really does make you happier.


I'm willing to give it a try.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Australia has never had a saint. Until now.


That's because most Aussies are a bunch of devils.  :Devil: 




> 8. The Battle of Bosworth actually took place more than a mile from where we thought.


I guess they liked the alliteration. The Battle of Umphadickering just didn't sound as cool.  :CoolgleamA: 




> 9. Goldie Hawn runs schools.


For blondes. Enough said.  :Tongue: 




> 10. King Tut broke his leg shortly before his death.


His Queen was a karate balckbelt and didn't like him staring at the slave girls.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Did Scher grow up in Japan? She grew up on kitkats.


Guess, this explains why I am super-duper like this, doesn't it?  :Biggrin: 

1. The average life of a web page these days is apparently somewhere between 44 and 77 days.
More details

2. A "beryl" is a type of precious mineral.

3. A dentist in San Francisco is named Les Plack.

4. A piconewton is a millionth of the force that a grain of salt exerts when resting on a tabletop. 

5. There are people in the UK called Justin Case, Barb Dwyer and Stan Still. 

6. Computer game and movie character Lara Croft was created in Derby.

7. Elephants growl.

8. Johnny Cash's Guess Things Happen That Way was the 10 billionth track to be sold on iTunes.

9. The types of lasers that remove tattoos can also be used to clean up works of art.

10. Recent snow has left the UK's roads riddled with 1.6 million new potholes. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_124.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. A parrot can be repossessed.

2. Germans call chickenpox windpox, due to the speed with which it spreads.

3. Chickenpox is not referred to in medical literature before the 17th Century but it is thought to be an ancient condition whose name springs from the fact that the blisters resemble chick peas.

4. Some chickens are half-male and half-female.

5. The largest meat-eating plant in the world likes to eat the droppings of tree shrews and rats, rather than tree shrews and rats themselves.

6. "Hurt locker" is a phrase used by the military since at least 1966. 

7. The Yukon never actually has 24-hour darkness.

8. Fifty percent of a jumbo jet can be recycled. 

9. The world's first sleeping bag was patented in 1876, and called an Euklisia rug.

10. Soldiers in Afghanistan use concrete mixers to wash their clothes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_126.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Plastic surgeons in the US are doing lip grafts using muscle from the neck to make lips fuller.

2. For almost 30 years, the Virgin Mary has been said to appear daily in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje.

3. The mafia use Facebook.

4. The flat-headed cat has webbed feet.

5. Bono, Nick Cave and Jarvis Cocker sing sea shanties.

6. A "labile" vitamin means it is easily destroyed.

7. Straightening irons outsell hairdryers.

8. Dolphins can swim up to 50 miles a day.

9. Fried tarantula tastes like liver.

10. The Achilles tendon usually breaks with a loud snap.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_127.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Eighty-two million people play Farmville.

2. The name "scrumpy" comes from a word meaning small and shrivelled.

3. Rudyard Kipling turned down the Order of Merit - twice.

4. In The Wizard of Oz, Toto was played by a dog called Terry.

5. Pine that is grown in a cold climate has greater durability.

6. The Bill began life as a one-off drama called Woodentop.

7. The world's most complex mathematical problem is called the Poincare Conjecture.

8. There are only about 10 Pagani Zonda S supercars produced each year.

9. Teachers sometimes get lavish gifts from their pupils like a Tiffany bracelet.

10. Over 260 species of marine wildlife become entangled in litter or mistake it for food.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_128.shtml

----------


## jet.thursday

> 7. "Karaoke rage" has claimed more than a dozen lives in the Philippines... usually for Frank Sinatra's My Way.


-oh this so true!  :Iagree:  especially on streets where there are dozen drunk men, i think i also heard, 
that when the drunk man's singing is out of tune, he'll be sorrrrry and dead (>.<)




> 4. Some chickens are half-male and half-female.


quite unusual, and will you tell it is half male/female? cause we've got lots of
chickens back at our yard  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The heat of a chilli pepper is measured on the Scoville Scale.

2. The world's oldest hot cross bun is 189 today.

3. The world record for sitting in a room with snakes without being bitten is 113 days. 

4. Fish, rodents and snakes can predict earthquakes.

5. The classic 45-second shower scene in Psycho took a week to film.

6. Britain's oldest-known new father is 76. 

7. The average person tells four lies a day. 

8. The most visited exhibition in the world last year was a Buddhist exhibition in Japan.

9. Ordained priests can work in supermarkets.

10. Gossip spreads as rapidly as flu.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_129.shtml

----------


## cgrillo

> 2. The world's oldest hot cross bun is 189 today.


Wow - happy birthday to the hot cross bun. 

That'll take a lot of candles...

----------


## Virgil

Wow, am I behind. I'll attempt a retort to a selected few from each week.




> 1. The average life of a web page these days is apparently somewhere between 44 and 77 days.
> More details


Hmm, sounds like the life of a fly. 




> 4. A piconewton is a millionth of the force that a grain of salt exerts when resting on a tabletop.


 :FRlol:  Having bad breath probably has more force that a piconewton.




> 7. Elephants growl.


If you had their sinuses, you would too.  :Wink5: 




> 8. Johnny Cash's Guess Things Happen That Way was the 10 billionth track to be sold on iTunes.


I guess it happened that way.  :Tongue:  




> 9. The types of lasers that remove tattoos can also be used to clean up works of art.


First, you can't be the smartest person in the world to get a tattoo, but burning it off with a laser isn't exactly all that brilliant a thing to do either.  :Sosp: 




> 10. Recent snow has left the UK's roads riddled with 1.6 million new potholes.


Seriously, you should see the pot holes we have. I've never seen it so bad.




> 1. A parrot can be repossessed.


Yeah, but don't take his cracker away or he'll peck your eyes out.  :Reddevil: 




> 2. Germans call chickenpox windpox, due to the speed with which it spreads.


Hmm, we call windpox that breaking of wind from one's behind.  :Smilielol5: 




> 3. Chickenpox is not referred to in medical literature before the 17th Century but it is thought to be an ancient condition whose name springs from the fact that the blisters resemble chick peas.


I thought chickenpox was the original bird flu.  :Tongue: 




> 4. Some chickens are half-male and half-female.


Some humans too.  :Biggrin: 




> 5. The largest meat-eating plant in the world likes to eat the droppings of tree shrews and rats, rather than tree shrews and rats themselves.


Yummy, tastes like spam.  :Spam: 




> 9. The world's first sleeping bag was patented in 1876, and called an Euklisia rug.


Snug as a bug in a rug.  :Wink5: 




> 10. Soldiers in Afghanistan use concrete mixers to wash their clothes.


Talk about body armor. :Tongue: 




> 1. Plastic surgeons in the US are doing lip grafts using muscle from the neck to make lips fuller.


Now, who thought of that? Can you imagine sitting around brain storming, trying to figure out where to take flesh to make the lips fuller? I would have thought the anus.  :Smilielol5: 




> 3. The mafia use Facebook.


No way. Probably more likely to break your face with a book than to use Facebook.  :Boxing Smiley: 




> 6. A "labile" vitamin means it is easily destroyed.


Hmm, sounds like one of those gynecologist words.  :Tongue: 




> 9. Fried tarantula tastes like liver.


Now who was sick enough to taste a fried tarantula?  :Sick: 




> 1. Eighty-two million people play Farmville.


Including my wife. 




> 2. The name "scrumpy" comes from a word meaning small and shrivelled.


Better than being called scummy.  :Tongue: 




> 4. In The Wizard of Oz, Toto was played by a dog called Terry.


And he was smarter than the scarecrow.  :Smile: 




> 5. Pine that is grown in a cold climate has greater durability.


Hmm, that is actually very interesting. 




> 7. The world's most complex mathematical problem is called the Poincare Conjecture.


Sounds like a TV show that was cancelled. 




> 9. Teachers sometimes get lavish gifts from their pupils like a Tiffany bracelet.


That's the price of the local bribe to pass the class.  :Wink5: 




> 1. The heat of a chilli pepper is measured on the Scoville Scale.


That's the scale of the intensity of the burn in the colon as it comes out six hours later.  :FRlol: 




> 2. The world's oldest hot cross bun is 189 today.


And still edible.  :Sick: 




> 3. The world record for sitting in a room with snakes without being bitten is 113 days.


Now there is an interesting stat. Why would anyone sit in a room that long even without snakes? And what were the sankes eating for those 113 days?




> 4. Fish, rodents and snakes can predict earthquakes.


Seems like every creature but man can predict earthquakes. What is it, God didn't want us to survive them?  :Hat: 




> 5. The classic 45-second shower scene in Psycho took a week to film.


They had to sharpen that knife several times during the week.  :Tongue: 




> 6. Britain's oldest-known new father is 76.


Dirty old lech.  :Devil: 




> 7. The average person tells four lies a day.


I never lie, I swear.  :Biggrin: 




> 9. Ordained priests can work in supermarkets.


Talk about a life of poverty.  :FRlol: 




> 10. Gossip spreads as rapidly as flu.


Yeah, I'm still laughing over using the anus for lips by plastic surgeons.  :Smilielol5:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Now, who thought of that? Can you imagine sitting around brain storming, trying to figure out where to take flesh to make the lips fuller? I would have thought the anus.


Depends on out of which part of his anatomy the person tends to speak, I guess.

----------


## Paulclem

> Depends on out of which part of his anatomy the person tends to speak, I guess.


 :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Marriage over the telephone is valid under Islamic law.

2. Salmonella can build up on bird feeders and then spread among birds.

3. Bebo stands for blog early, blog often.

4. Capuchin monkeys were named because of their resemblance to the Catholic friars.

5. MPs' parliamentary gym memberships are cancelled during the election campaign.

6. Wombats produce cube-shaped dung.

7. The home computer was invented by a man called Dr Henry Edward Roberts.

8. Cillit Bang is called Cillit Bam in New Zealand.

9. Bodies repatriated to a home country from the UK must be encased in zinc-lined coffins.

10. Insect museums are called insectariums.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_130.shtml

----------


## Aravona

> 5. MPs' parliamentary gym memberships are cancelled during the election campaign.
> 
> 6. Wombats produce cube-shaped dung.


These two had just made my day.

Firstly, I didnt think most MPs know what a gym is...  :Shocked: 

Secondly... thats gotta be one strange sensation, cubed dung! My day is definately looking better now  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. In America, 30% of teenagers send more than 100 texts a day.

2. Gaza has a surf club.

3. Migalki is a type of siren which allows some Russian officials and business to bypass regulations so they can get through traffic jams.

4.US President Barack Obama has played golf 32 times since taking office, beating George W Bush's record.

5. Male long tailed slugs make "love darts" from calcium minerals and use them to inject hormones into females.

6. Babies born in autumn or winter are more likely to develop a food allergy than those born in spring or summer.

7. In the 13th century, the Chinese used covered sewage tanks to generate power.

8.2 metre-long sea-scorpions used to roam the coast of North East Fife 

9.US President George Washington failed to return a library book. It's now racked up a $300,000 fine.

10. Children who address important issues with their fathers are less likely to smoke.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_132.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. There are vending machines that sell hot chips.

2. Burning oil is one way of controlling a spill.

3. A lot of people are still using floppy disks.

4. Chocolate doesn't always make you happy.

5. In Japan, burahara is the harassment of people because of their blood group.

6. Chimpanzees deal with death in a similar way to humans.

7. Some ready-meal curries are saltier than seawater.

8. There are surgeons who specialise in restoring virginity.

9. Stephen Hawking thinks aliens exist.

10. Storks can go blue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_133.shtml

----------


## Revolte

> 8. There are surgeons who specialise in restoring virginity.


your kidding me..... why would any women want to go through that again? lol.

----------


## Hurricane

> your kidding me..... why would any women want to go through that again? lol.


I've heard of it as a way for women who are members of a religion that forbids sex before marriage to avoid being stigmatized. Kind of messed up stuff, actually.

----------


## cgrillo

> 9. Stephen Hawking thinks aliens exist.


Hm. He always struck me as the sort that wouldn't believe in aliens - but I'm sure he has some really confusing theory that detracts from the whole 'little green men' sort of thing. I've read _A Brief History of Time_, so he's confused me many times before.  :Tongue:

----------


## applepie

> 3. A lot of people are still using floppy disks.


Heavens why???? Do they even make floppy disks or computers with them any more?




> 4. Chocolate doesn't always make you happy.


You're not eating the right chocolate then  :Biggrin:

----------


## Basil

> 6. Chimpanzees deal with death in a similar way to humans.


Chimps drink bourbon?

----------


## Scheherazade

> Chimps drink bourbon?


What a ridiculous idea, Basil!

Where are they supposed to get the ice from in the jungle?

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Marriage over the telephone is valid under Islamic law.


 :Eek2:  What if you got the wrong number? What if she passes the phone over to the ugly sister?  :FRlol: 




> 2. Salmonella can build up on bird feeders and then spread among birds.


Well, birds aren't excluded from vomiting either.  :Wink5: 




> 3. Bebo stands for blog early, blog often.


Sounds like Dark Muse here on Lit Net.  :Tongue: 




> 4. Capuchin monkeys were named because of their resemblance to the Catholic friars.


And here i thought they were praying for evolution to hurry up.  :Tongue: 




> 5. MPs' parliamentary gym memberships are cancelled during the election campaign.


 :FRlol:  Now there's a way to punish politicians, take away their exercise.




> 6. Wombats produce cube-shaped dung.


Sounds like their colon is like a pasta making machine.  :FRlol:   :FRlol: 




> 7. The home computer was invented by a man called Dr Henry Edward Roberts.


So that is the S-0-B responsible for sucking away all my free time.




> 8. Cillit Bang is called Cillit Bam in New Zealand.


Better than being called Clitoris Bang.  :Tongue: 




> 9. Bodies repatriated to a home country from the UK must be encased in zinc-lined coffins.


What's the matter, you Brits don't want to smell the encasings.  :Wink5: 




> 10. Insect museums are called insectariums.


Sort of like masoleums for cockaroaches.




> 1. In America, 30% of teenagers send more than 100 texts a day.


And you would think they are literate. Have you seen some of their messages? "C u wen da clss n's."




> 2. Gaza has a surf club.


That's called their Navy.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Migalki is a type of siren which allows some Russian officials and business to bypass regulations so they can get through traffic jams.


Yeah, I bet it's all part of their corruption.




> 4.US President Barack Obama has played golf 32 times since taking office, beating George W Bush's record.


Actually I don't think Bush had the record. I think that should have said Obama in one year exceeded the number of times Bush had golfed in all of his eight years. I couldn't track down the statistic, but I seem to recall Eisenhower played the most golf while in office.




> 5. Male long tailed slugs make "love darts" from calcium minerals and use them to inject hormones into females.


Sounds rather sexy. Are you sure you can say that on Lit Net.  :Biggrin: 




> 6. Babies born in autumn or winter are more likely to develop a food allergy than those born in spring or summer.


Well, it must depend on which day of the year they were concived.  :Tongue: 




> 7. In the 13th century, the Chinese used covered sewage tanks to generate power.


And what is different in the 21st century?  :Tongue: 




> 8.2 metre-long sea-scorpions used to roam the coast of North East Fife


And that is why the residents of North East Fife now abhor sea food. 




> 9.US President George Washington failed to return a library book. It's now racked up a $300,000 fine.


Yeah, and just try to collect.  :Smile: 




> 10. Children who address important issues with their fathers are less likely to smoke.


I completely believe that. Who says fatherhood is obsolete. Fathers establish right and wrong through their actions and values. Take that feminists.  :Biggrin: 




> 1. There are vending machines that sell hot chips.


Hopefully they are not cow chips.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. Burning oil is one way of controlling a spill.


Yes it is sad but necessary.




> 3. A lot of people are still using floppy disks.


They are called old men and their members are should not be referred to as floppy.  :FRlol: 




> 4. Chocolate doesn't always make you happy.


Oh just test me.  :Biggrin: 




> 5. In Japan, burahara is the harassment of people because of their blood group.


You mean there is prejudice against B+ types? Shame on them. i thought we were over such petty racism.  :Wink5:  




> 6. Chimpanzees deal with death in a similar way to humans.


I've never been to a chimp funeral parlor.  :Smile: 




> 7. Some ready-meal curries are saltier than seawater.


And some are against the fire department codes of flame temperature. 




> 8. There are surgeons who specialise in restoring virginity.


Yes, their method is to have sex with them and wollah, you are magically a virgin.  :Biggrin:  




> 9. Stephen Hawking thinks aliens exist.


I always though Steven Hawking _was_ an alien.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Storks can go blue.


And pink for girls.  :Wink5:

----------


## SilentMute

You know what I know this week that I didn't know last week? I think it is really neat!

Dermoid cysts. They are cysts that can grow on the back of your neck, on the brain, on the ovaries, etc. They contain many different tissue cells, which is why they are called monster cells. They can have hair, sweat glands, teeth, and even eyes!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Britain's oldest unsolved murder dates back to 1866.

2. Discussion about politics is banned inside polling stations.

3. As is the wearing of rosettes by anyone except for election candidates and their polling agents.

4. Dawdling across a pedestrian crossing could land you in court.

5. 1,000,000,000 trillion (that's a billion-trillion) bytes of computer storage is called a zettabyte.

6. The inventor of the Maclaren folding pushchair also designed the Spitfire's undercarriage.

7. The difference between the minimum wage and "living wage" in London is £1.80 per hour.

8. People who regularly have less than six hours sleep increase their chance of dying over a 25-year period by 12%.

9. Despite its scary name, the colossal squid is no fast-paced predator - it prefers to drift about. 

10. Blood pressure rises when checked by a doctor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_134.shtml

----------


## Hurricane

> 10. Blood pressure rises when checked by a doctor.


Funny story about this; one of my good friends gets really nervous when getting his blood pressure and heart rate checked by a doctor to the point where they've had to send him to the hospital to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with him (there isn't).

----------


## RaoulDuke

> Funny story about this; one of my good friends gets really nervous when getting his blood pressure and heart rate checked by a doctor to the point where they've had to send him to the hospital to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with him (there isn't).


A younger brother of a friend of mine once had to wear a monitor which logged his blood pressure for a 48 hour period in which he was instructed to do no exercise, in order to test for a hereditary heart murmur condition. At the time he was a young teenager without a girlfriend (you can probably see where this is going!)

When he took it back the doctor had a look at the data which showed a five minute spell where the blood pressure exploded in a massive peak. The peak was late at night and the doctor thought it was unlikely he would have done any excercise at this time of day and began to get very worried. He was eventually faced with the toss up of either coming clean (no pun intended) or being diagnosed with a heart condition!


_Anyway..._ 10 things I didn't know last week... 

1). Lightning strikes the earth on average 100 times every second.
2). Bolivia has the highest turnover of governments (200 since 1825).
3). 5 billion crayons are produced every year.
4). 92 nuclear bombs are lost at sea
5). Peter the Great taxed people with beards!
6). Sea captains used to keep pigs on board because they believed, should they be shipwrecked, pigs always swam toward the nearest shore.
7). In Denmark there are twice as many pigs as people
8). There exists a critter called the Mongolian Death Worm. 
9). The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a wonderful film.
10). If I spent half the time I spend trawling the internet and watching films doing something constructive then I could probably have made a useful contribution to society last week!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. £1m made up of £20 notes weighs 25 times as much as the equivalent of £1m in 500 euro notes. 

2. Downing Street's famous black front door was once green.

3. And the original door - now in the Churchill Museum - has its own cleaner.

4. Shakespeare's Henry VIII is considered jinxed because during a performance in 1613, the Globe theatre burned down.

5. The prime minister's first task is always to answer the question of whether he would retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.

6. More than half of Spain's cabinet is female.

7. China smokes one third of the world's cigarettes.

8. And there are 4.5 trillion cigarette butts discarded each year.

9. Florence Nightingale used the pseudonym "Miss Smith" to evade the media. 

10. Hair is used to clean up oil spills because it is adsorbent (not absorbent).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_135.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Kiefer Sutherland watches Coronation Street.

2. In Greece, trombonists and hairdressers can retire early because their professions are classed as unhealthy.

3. Sex is not dangerous for heart attack patients.

4. A million people a month are refused a drink in a pub.

5. American and British sign language is different.

6. Twelve is the optimum age for lying.

7. Jigsaw puzzle sales reached a weekly peak of 10 million in 1933.

8. The German army used nettle fabric to make army uniforms during World War I. 

9. There are 450 music festivals in the UK this year alone.

10. Sextuplets are born once in every 4.5 million pregnancies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_136.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. People conduct 22 Google searches each day, on average.

2. Guinness really is good for you.

3. Planets eat stars.

4. Ray Alan's puppet Lord Charles was modelled on Stan Laurel.

5. A pollen expert is called a palynologist.

6. Brushing teeth is good for the heart.

7. Botticelli's Venus and Mars were high on drugs.

8. Andy Murray has a kneecap made of two separate bones rather than one.

9. In winning Eurovision songs, one word in every 50 is "love".

10. The risk of contracting HIV is higher during pregnancy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_137.shtml

----------


## Virgil

Gosh, I'm definitely falling sdown on the job. Let's see how many I can tackle.




> 1. Britain's oldest unsolved murder dates back to 1866.


I guess the neighborhood is still in fear he's at large and ready to strike again.  :Wink5: 




> 2. Discussion about politics is banned inside polling stations.


And Scher and Logos are there to moderate.  :FRlol:  




> 4. Dawdling across a pedestrian crossing could land you in court.


Or in the hospital.  :Smile: 




> 6. The inventor of the Maclaren folding pushchair also designed the Spitfire's undercarriage.


Either a very comfortable car or a very uncomfortable chair.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. People who regularly have less than six hours sleep increase their chance of dying over a 25-year period by 12%.


I really need to get more sleep. 




> 9. Despite its scary name, the colossal squid is no fast-paced predator - it prefers to drift about.


Makes for good fried calamari though.  :Biggrin: 




> 10. Blood pressure rises when checked by a doctor.


I think mine does too actually.




> 1. £1m made up of £20 notes weighs 25 times as much as the equivalent of £1m in 500 euro notes.


I bet they blame it on Greece.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. Downing Street's famous black front door was once green.


I wonder if the Stones's song "Paint It Black" had anything to do with it.  :Wink5: 




> 4. Shakespeare's Henry VIII is considered jinxed because during a performance in 1613, the Globe theatre burned down.


I would think many of Henry VIII's wives thought he was a jinx.  :FRlol: 




> 5. The prime minister's first task is always to answer the question of whether he would retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.


And I would assume the answer would always be yes.




> 6. More than half of Spain's cabinet is female.


No wonder.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. China smokes one third of the world's cigarettes.


So that's the cause of global warming.  :Smile: 




> 8. And there are 4.5 trillion cigarette butts discarded each year.


That's revolting actually. Urrgh. 




> 10. Hair is used to clean up oil spills because it is adsorbent (not absorbent).


Something to talk about next time I go to the barber shop. My didn't realize he was saving the world.  :Biggrin: 




> 1. Kiefer Sutherland watches Coronation Street.


Never heard of him or the show.




> 2. In Greece, trombonists and hairdressers can retire early because their professions are classed as unhealthy.


Sounds like everyone in Greece has a justification to retire early. And what's early, 30?  :Wink5: 




> 3. Sex is not dangerous for heart attack patients.


I guess it depends who you're having sex with, doesn't it?  :FRlol: 




> 4. A million people a month are refused a drink in a pub.


Bad breath is a real turn off.  :Smile: 




> 5. American and British sign language is different.


No different than American and British English.  :Biggrin: 




> 6. Twelve is the optimum age for lying.


If so, how come there are no politicians who are twelve years old?




> 1. People conduct 22 Google searches each day, on average.


Strange, but probably fits my average.




> 2. Guinness really is good for you.


It sure is!!  :Cheers2: 




> 6. Brushing teeth is good for the heart.


Definitely true! 




> 7. Botticelli's Venus and Mars were high on drugs.


But Botticelli was clean sober. Sure.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The number of snakes in the world is falling. 

2. Indigenous Bolivians wear bowler hats because of the English.

3. The top sponsors of the World Cup pay on average £75m.

4. Forty-two people die on South African roads every day, on average.

5. Motor racing is popular in the West Bank.

6. More than one in 10 websites is pornographic.

7. When one police diver is under water, another four remain on dry land.

8. If all the worldwide television coverage of the 2006 World Cup was shown on one channel, it would take more than eight years to watch.

9. Man can beat a horse in a running race, in the right conditions.

10. A seal's whiskers can detect fish movement 100 metres away.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_139.shtml

----------


## dafydd manton

The number of snakes is falling? Hissssssss-terical!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Whale poo helps absorb CO2.

2. The BBC failed to record Charles de Gaulle's famous broadcast to German-occupied France.

3. Vuvuzelas are pitched at the B flat below middle C.

4. Male menopause exists (in 2% of men).

5. Britain's VAT of 17.5% is one of the lowest rates in Europe.

6. That "USA WINS 1-1" headline in the New York Post? They were joking. 

7. Men were taught to change nappies at Fathercraft classes in the 1920s. 

8. The government considered blocking North Korea from the 1966 World Cup.

9. Using the words "Games" and "2012" could land advertisers a £20,000 fine come the next Olympics. 

10. Mathematicians busk. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_140.shtml

----------


## billl

There is a large region of Antarctica called West Antarctica.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. More than 5,000 so-called mosquito alarms, which emit a sound to disperse teenage groups, are in operation in the UK.

2. Human hair is used as a food additive.

3. Italy's footballers were pelted with rotten fruit when they arrived back in the country after an early exit from the 1966 World Cup.

4. Scotland has the highest proportion of cocaine users in the world.

5. Tennis matches can last three days.

6. There are 820 government websites.

7. More than eight million visits were made to news websites every minute, on the night Barack Obama won the US presidential election. On the first day of the World Cup, there were 12m visits per minute.

8. General Stanley McChrystal only eats one square meal a day.

9. Nottingham Forest players got drunk the night before winning the League Cup final in 1979.

10. There are 6,000 islands in Greece, but only 227 are inhabited.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_141.shtml

----------


## prendrelemick

> 4. Capuchin monkeys were named because of their resemblance to the Catholic friars.
> 
> ]


Which also explains why the Friars are often called Monks

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Ancient whales had really big teeth.

2. German fans moo at England football players and fans.

3. The process of encrypting secret data in images or text is called steganography.

4. The name comes from Steganographia, title of a book written in 1499.

5. Some 14 million British homes date from when asbestos was widely used as a building material.

6. The celebrity perfume market is estimated to be worth £255m in the UK alone.

7. Wonder Woman was originally an Amazon. 

8. A Gazan man has more than 430 grandchildren (and 11 wives over his lifetime).

9. BBC Radio 2 was once called the Light Programme, and Radio 3 the Third Programme.

10. Withdrawn banknotes are shredded and sometimes used in compost.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_142.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. You can get inflatable TV screens.

2. Meerkats have family "traditions" that are passed down through generations.

3. Two year olds have woodwork lessons, using hammers and nails.

4. A salary of £14,400 is the minimum a single person needs for an acceptable standard of living.

5. The world's tallest tent is 150m (490ft) high.

6. Lady Gaga has over 10m fans on Facebook.

7. Hamburger-related injuries are on the rise in Taiwan.

8. The common octopus is the most intelligent invertebrate. 

9. Liquid can stop bullets.

10. The male squid's sexual organ is almost as long as its whole body.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_143.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. David Beckham's wife Victoria is named "Posh" in his mobile phone.

2. Plants think. 

3. Having a big head may protect against dementia.

4. Gorillas play tag.

5. Throughout history, most US infants of both genders have worn dresses.

6. Mount Everest is getting less icy.

7. Former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell is a "must-see" landmark on Google Maps.

8. The Vatican says ordaining women is "grave" as is sex abuse.

9. Wearing high heels makes flat shoes more painful.

10. Scientists don't know whether intensive exercise is good for footballers.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_144.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Twenty babies born in the UK since World War II have been named Adolf.

2. Thursday is the grumpiest day, according to research in the US.

3. In Brazil, a social networking site called Orkut has more members than Facebook and Twitter combined.

4. Beer can have an alcohol content of 55%.

5. Jokes can be protected by copyright, in theory.

6. Blood can be mixed with pulp to make a page in a book. 

7. A sum of £650m can buy you about 7% of the world's cocoa.

8. Before 2008, prisoners were allowed to have fancy dress parties and comedy nights.

9. Black parents can have white, blond-haired children.

10. Tour de France etiquette dictates that cyclists should not overtake the leader if he suffers mechanical problems.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_145.shtml

----------


## Virgil

I guess I haven't retorted in a long while. Let's see if my humor button is still working.  :Wink5: 




> 1. You can get inflatable TV screens.


Wow, get yourself a blowup doll and you really can make your own porn movie with no one else.  :Tongue: 




> 2. Meerkats have family "traditions" that are passed down through generations.


I bet they don't celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Two year olds have woodwork lessons, using hammers and nails.


Ok, and the safety expert who came up with this brilliant idea was?




> 4. A salary of £14,400 is the minimum a single person needs for an acceptable standard of living.


That's about $22,000. Yeah that's about minimum. 




> 5. The world's tallest tent is 150m (490ft) high.


Will they fly air planes into them to knock them down? I bet not.




> 6. Lady Gaga has over 10m fans on Facebook.


Not me. I have no idea who she is.




> 7. Hamburger-related injuries are on the rise in Taiwan.


Eating them too fast can be a problem.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. The common octopus is the most intelligent invertebrate.


Of course that doesn't say much for vertebrate. They have the same intelligence of many punks on the streets.  :Tongue: 




> 10. The male squid's sexual organ is almost as long as its whole body.


 :FRlol:  Well, it's not the size that matters, but the motion in the ocean.  :FRlol:   :FRlol:  [Oh I couldn't resist that.  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin: ]




> 1. David Beckham's wife Victoria is named "Posh" in his mobile phone.


Family secrets are just so hard to keep.




> 2. Plants think.


And i bet more profoundly than many of our philosophical threads here. Have you seen some of those threads? My geranium has a higher I.Q.  :Wink5: 




> 3. Having a big head may protect against dementia.


Then i'm more than safe.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. Gorillas play tag.


Unfortunately if they tag you, you are squashed.




> 5. Throughout history, most US infants of both genders have worn dresses.


That's because mothers indulge their whims so. Matthew will not suffer this, I promise you.  :Wink5: 




> 6. Mount Everest is getting less icy.


So?




> 7. Former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell is a "must-see" landmark on Google Maps.


The olympics have ministers? I assume they pray to the Greek gods?




> 8. The Vatican says ordaining women is "grave" as is sex abuse.


If those women groups object, why don't they just leave the Catholic Church? They are "shocked" at the Vatican position? The position has only been around for two thousand plus years. Why should they be shocked? Such phonies.




> 9. Wearing high heels makes flat shoes more painful.


Why do women wear high heels? Other than for that sexy tramp look.  :Smile: 




> 10. Scientists don't know whether intensive exercise is good for footballers.


I guess we should see if your average obese man can keep up with those that intensely train. How silly. Another of your tax dollars going toward an itelligent study.




> 1. Twenty babies born in the UK since World War II have been named Adolf.


I guess Hitler kind of ruined that name forever. Actually Adolf came in second as a name for our son.  :Tongue:   :Tongue: 




> 2. Thursday is the grumpiest day, according to research in the US.


Nothing is grumpier than Monday. I'm sorry, that holds as much water as a thimble. 




> 3. In Brazil, a social networking site called Orkut has more members than Facebook and Twitter combined.


Hmm, that is very interesting and surprising.




> 4. Beer can have an alcohol content of 55%.


Oh I saw that in the news. Leave it to the Scots to make the perfect beer.  :Biggrin: 




> 5. Jokes can be protected by copyright, in theory.


Hey, I should copyright this thread!  :Party: 




> 6. Blood can be mixed with pulp to make a page in a book.


Yes, and that book is called Dracula.  :FRlol: 




> 7. A sum of £650m can buy you about 7% of the world's cocoa.


Is that cocoa for chocolate or cocoa for cocaine?  :Wink5: 




> 8. Before 2008, prisoners were allowed to have fancy dress parties and comedy nights.


Sounds like that's from a play by Jean Genet. Dress parties? What were they dressed as, Zorro with a whip?  :FRlol:  




> 9. Black parents can have white, blond-haired children.


Maybe so but do you believe that the rest of the family will buy that one?  :FRlol:  I doubt it. And frankly I'm kind of skeptical of that story.




> 10. Tour de France etiquette dictates that cyclists should not overtake the leader if he suffers mechanical problems.


But a good knife in the back while his bike is working just fine is perfectly legal.  :Wink5:

----------


## Basil

> 2. Thursday is the grumpiest day


I think this was originally the first line of _The Waste Land_ until Pound made Eliot change it.

----------


## papayahed

> I think this was originally the first line of _The Waste Land_ until Pound made Eliot change it.


I heard that somewhere.. I also heard that Tolstoy wanted to name it War: What's it good for? but his publisher made him change it to War and Peace.

----------


## Basil

Whatever you say, Jerry.  :FRlol:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. One in five UK women will not have children, many by choice.

2. Gooseberries have been in England since at least 1275, when the king shipped over plants from France to grow at the Tower of London.

3. International athletes coming to London for the 1948 Olympics had to bring their own towels.

4. And half the pigeons brought to the stadium to be released for the opening ceremony died in the heat.

5. A man thought to be Tokyo's oldest had, in fact, been dead for 30 years.

6. Dogs mimic their owners.

7. And one in three are obese.

8. Snooker world championships used to last a year.

9. One in 36 pound coins is fake.

10. The world's most ancient living creatures are a breed of shrimp which live in south-west Scotland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_146.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. One in five UK women will not have children, many by choice.


Hopefully those that want children will consider adoption.




> 2. Gooseberries have been in England since at least 1275, when the king shipped over plants from France to grow at the Tower of London.


Little known fact was the King of England stole it from the King of France, and so the long history of English/French warfare has its roots in a pilferred gooseberry plant.  :Tongue: 




> 3. International athletes coming to London for the 1948 Olympics had to bring their own towels.


And if they forgot? Boy I bet there were lots of smelly athletes.  :Wink5: 




> 4. And half the pigeons brought to the stadium to be released for the opening ceremony died in the heat.


Can you imagine the openning ceremony? Dead pidgeons all over the ground. 




> 5. A man thought to be Tokyo's oldest had, in fact, been dead for 30 years.


And if they didn't find him he would have lived forever.




> 6. Dogs mimic their owners.


Is that why she howls at dinner time too?  :Biggrin: 




> 7. And one in three are obese.


The owner or the dog? Well, they mimc.




> 8. Snooker world championships used to last a year.


Maybe if they were better shots the game would only last six months.




> 9. One in 36 pound coins is fake.


Yes, they are only eight onces.  :Wink5: 




> 10. The world's most ancient living creatures are a breed of shrimp which live in south-west Scotland.


And Nelly at Loch Ness has been feeding on those shrimps since the beginning of time.  :Biggrin:  Or is Nelly a very large shrimp?

----------


## Niamh

> 6. Lady Gaga has over 10m fans on Facebook.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_143.shtml


Current figure is 14,556,153. 

Yes i am one of them  :Blush:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Rotterdam is Europe's busiest port.

2. Beach huts in Scarborough cost nearly as much as a one-bedroom flat.

3. Buttocks are hardest to tan.

4. Last year, Iceland became the first country with an openly gay head of state.

5. Middlesex was first documented in the Eighth Century.

6. Winston Churchill concealed a reported UFO sighting while prime minister because he feared it would cause mass panic and make people question religion.

7. One in five drivers killed in road accidents has some kind of drug in his body.

8. Hormones can affect shopping habits.

9. William, Alice and Robert are names the English adopted from the Normans.

10. Fourteen swimmers have been rescued from The Thames in the last six months.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_147.shtml

----------


## DocHeart

1. I didn't know I would break up with her. We had just come back from holiday, everything seemed fine.

2. I didn't know she was planning to move out and had already started looking for a flat.

3. I didn't know I would be sleeping in a dingy hotel to allow her to pack in peace.

4. I didn't know that when I'd come back the house would start to feel like hell.

5. I didn't know that so many of her socks had accidentally ended up in my drawer.

6. I didn't know that her perfume would stay on some parts of the sofa. How long will this last?

7. I had no idea that the fact that she hasn't even called once to say "how are you" would bother me so intensely.

8. I didn't know that a serious relationship can end so swiftly, almost silently, with only very few (and mundane) words uttered.

9. Having broken up with dozens of women, I never thought breaking up with this one would hurt so much.

10. And I didn't know that, contrary to the dictates of the pain, I would be so determined to avoid getting back with her at all costs.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Pea plants can grow inside a human lung.

2. In Switzerland you can be fined $1m for speeding.

3. Seaside towns and the Isle of Man used to have postcard censorship committees.

4. The penguin on Penguin books was named Frostie after one of the editors at the publishing house.

5. Nationwide supermarket bans exist.

6. Naturalist Charles Darwin left the Victorian equivalent of about £13m today, and Charles Dickens £7m when they died.

7. Fishermen in Britain have a one in 20 chance of being killed on the job during the course of their working lives.

8. The Qwerty keyboard layout isn't random - it's to keep commonly used letters apart.

9. Some hardened sauna users can stand temperatures of up to 160C.

10. Honeybees are cleverer at certain times of the day. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_148.shtml

----------


## Virgil

yikes, I'm behind.




> 1. Rotterdam is Europe's busiest port.


That's because there's a damm lot of rot that goes through there.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. Beach huts in Scarborough cost nearly as much as a one-bedroom flat.


That's because Beach huts forgot to have toilets.  :Banghead: 




> 3. Buttocks are hardest to tan.


I guess it depends on whether the buttocks belong to a slim sexy person or a fat person.  :FRlol:  




> 4. Last year, Iceland became the first country with an openly gay head of state.


That's because there's not that much sun in Iceland to tan his buttocks.  :Tongue: 




> 5. Middlesex was first documented in the Eighth Century.


Silly me, and I thought sex existed from the time of creation.  :Wink5: 




> 6. Winston Churchill concealed a reported UFO sighting while prime minister because he feared it would cause mass panic and make people question religion.


And what if the UFO happened to be God!  :Eek: 




> 7. One in five drivers killed in road accidents has some kind of drug in his body.


Does food count as a drug? Or caffeine? 




> 8. Hormones can affect shopping habits.


Anyone who's shopped with a menstruating woman knows how true that is. "Why are you buying that hammer sweetheart?" "To smash your skull darling."  :Biggrin: 




> 9. William, Alice and Robert are names the English adopted from the Normans.


How about Norm?  :Wink5: 




> 10. Fourteen swimmers have been rescued from The Thames in the last six months.


I guess they need to place hand rails along London Bridge.




> 1. Pea plants can grow inside a human lung.


That was one weird story. Talk about chest congestion.




> 2. In Switzerland you can be fined $1m for speeding.


One million dollars? Boy that's some ticket. I wonder how much the insurance goes up after that.  :Auto: 




> 3. Seaside towns and the Isle of Man used to have postcard censorship committees.


I guess they had too many people trying to tan their buttocks.  :Ciappa: 




> 4. The penguin on Penguin books was named Frostie after one of the editors at the publishing house.


Penguins on penguins? Is that the new porn?  :FRlol:  




> 5. Nationwide supermarket bans exist.


Then how do people eat if there are no supermarkets?  :Out: 




> 6. Naturalist Charles Darwin left the Victorian equivalent of about £13m today, and Charles Dickens £7m when they died.


I think I'll be kind to my uncle Charlie. I bet he's got bucks too.  :Biggrin: 




> 7. Fishermen in Britain have a one in 20 chance of being killed on the job during the course of their working lives.


That's incredible. Well, if you go looking for Great Whites, Jaws come looking for you.  :Tongue: 




> 8. The Qwerty keyboard layout isn't random - it's to keep commonly used letters apart.


The Qwerty keyboard is idiotic. Why did they put "A" under a pinky finger and "J" under the right index finger? It would have been more appropriate if it the letters F-U-C-K-Y-O-U went across the top row  :Tongue: 




> 9. Some hardened sauna users can stand temperatures of up to 160C.


And after 20 minutes their buttocks are well done.  :Tongue: 




> 10. Honeybees are cleverer at certain times of the day.


After breakfest and a good cup of coffee.  :Smile:

----------


## Helga

> 4. Last year, Iceland became the first country with an openly gay head of state.
> 
> ]


She was also the first to get married to her partner.

I think we have the strangest mayor too, did you see him in drag?

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Roadside trees slow down cars.

2. School uniforms cost less than £5.

3. Only 10% of words in a text message are not written in full, on average.
More details

4. You can get six A grades at A-level and still not be offered a university place.

5. One in three adults takes a soft toy to bed, according to new research.

6. Dogs can walk upright.

7. Man was not responsible for the extinction of the woolly mammoth.

8. The average person spends around 15 hours 45 minutes every day awake. 

9. Children with squints are less likely to be invited to birthday parties.

10. Urine could be a source of renewable energy.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_149.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Tube carries more passengers than the whole of the national rail network.

2. The optimum time to book a flight is eight weeks before departure.

3. The Stig was originally going to be called The Gimp.

4. Milk used to be watered down, then coloured yellow with toxic lead chromate to make it look creamy.

5. It's possible to watch 28,000 films in a lifetime.

6. Sumo wrestlers can't use iPhones because their fingers are too fat.

7. The socks-with-sandals look came from the Romans.

8. Tornados can burn. 

9. Putting a cat in a bin is not illegal.

10. Traffic jams can last nine days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_150.shtml


1. Apples originated in Kazakhstan.

2. Ray Winstone turned down the part of McNulty in The Wire.

3. It is illegal to dry clothes in various parks in Whitstable, Kent. 

4. The UK's newest submarine will last 25 years without needing to be refuelled.

5. The Queen washes up.

6. Tony Blair was nervous meeting Des O'Connor.

7. Usain Bolt was called VJ as a child, because his mother thought he needed a nickname. It doesn't stand for anything.

8. Guinness can be deep-fried. 

9. The biggest crisp factory in the world is in Leicester.

10. Britons drink less alcohol than the European average.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_151.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The salary with optimum happiness is £50,000.

2. Hull lost 85% of its buildings during the Blitz.

3. Geoff Capes was a champion budgerigar breeder.

4. Spiders eat birds. .

5. A hand dryer can increase germs.

6. Clint Eastwood turned down playing James Bond and Superman.

7. The trapped miners in Chile are recycling.

8. People who rise from their chair quickly are more likely to live longer.

9. Diners pay more for desserts when they on a trolley.

10. Happy people give more to charity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_152.shtml

----------


## Patrick_Bateman

I thought the bird eating spider was just a name indicative of it's size and that it doesn't actually eat birds, but the size of the arachnid itself would suggest the ability to eat something that big.




> I thought the bird eating spider was just a name indicative of it's size and that it doesn't actually eat birds, but the size of the arachnid itself would suggest the ability to eat something that big.


Quick google-age




> Despite its name, the Goliath Birdeater does not normally eat birds. As with other species of spider (specifically tarantula), their diet consists primarily of insects and other invertebrates. However, because of its naturally large size, it is not uncommon for this species to kill and consume a variety of vertebrates. In the wild, larger species of tarantula have been seen feeding on rodents, lizards, bats and even deadly venomous snakes.


*crosses his legs while smoking a cigarette and smiling smugly

----------


## Scheherazade

> I thought the bird eating spider was just a name indicative of it's size and that it doesn't actually eat birds, but the size of the arachnid itself would suggest the ability to eat something that big.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...on-camera.html

----------


## Patrick_Bateman

> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...on-camera.html


Well i can't argue with photographic evidence.

A good demonstration of the strength of spider's web too.

----------


## Scheherazade

> *crosses his legs while smoking a cigarette and smiling smugly


Oh, and would you mind putting out your cigarette? 

This is a "no smoking" area.

----------


## Patrick_Bateman

I don't smoke  :Frown:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Cancer patients typically make 53 visits to hospital during treatment.

2. Bubbles lives in Florida.

3. DJ Paul Oakenfold made about £20,000 a year from the Big Brother theme tune.

4. Tony Blair has not watched The Queen, in which he features.

5. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, invented bifocal glasses.

6. When people fall in love they lose on average two close friends.

7. Subbuteo has a rugby version.

8. The Pope's aircraft is known as "Shepherd One".

9. Humans could not digest milk 10,000 years ago.

10. Oxford University doesn't care whether you can play the flute.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_153.shtml

----------


## Virgil

Yikes am I behind. I'm half asleep but let me give it a whirl.




> 1. Roadside trees slow down cars.


Yeah, from 65 mph to zero in five milleseconds. CRASH!  :Auto: 




> 2. School uniforms cost less than £5.


Of their used and have stains in unsightly places.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Only 10% of words in a text message are not written in full, on average.


Y nt?




> 4. You can get six A grades at A-level and still not be offered a university place.


But get a few F's and you get a scholarship.  :Tongue: 




> 5. One in three adults takes a soft toy to bed, according to new research.


Hey when a man gets old, it's always a soft toy in bed.  :FRlol: 




> 6. Dogs can walk upright.


And with evolution they should be speaking and building houses in a few more million years.  :Wink5: 




> 7. Man was not responsible for the extinction of the woolly mammoth.


The first victum of global warming.  :Tongue: 




> 8. The average person spends around 15 hours 45 minutes every day awake.


Not me. I guess i'm not average.




> 9. Children with squints are less likely to be invited to birthday parties.


That's because they can't see the invitation.  :Smile: 




> 10. Urine could be a source of renewable energy.


Sure, let's all pee on each other now. Isn't global warming fun.  :Tongue: 




> 2. The optimum time to book a flight is eight weeks before departure.


Half the time I don't even know I'm leaving eight weeks before.




> 3. The Stig was originally going to be called The Gimp.


I call it The Wimp.  :Wink5: 




> 4. Milk used to be watered down, then coloured yellow with toxic lead chromate to make it look creamy.


That was urine they added for that creamy texture.  :Biggrin: 




> 5. It's possible to watch 28,000 films in a lifetime.


28,000 films x 3 hrs/film / 24 hrs/day = 3500 days which equals 9.5 years round the clock. What a stupid way to live a life.




> 6. Sumo wrestlers can't use iPhones because their fingers are too fat.


I guess they can't pick their nose either.  :Tongue: 




> 7. The socks-with-sandals look came from the Romans.


Oh sure, that what people were thinking at the beach last year - let's emulate the Romans.  :Rolleyes5: 




> 8. Tornados can burn.


Global warming.  :Tongue: 




> 9. Putting a cat in a bin is not illegal.


But putting one in a bathtub full of water will send you to the hospital.




> 10. Traffic jams can last nine days.


God, it can be like that around here too.  :Wink5:  Seriously, that is insane.




> 1. Apples originated in Kazakhstan.


Hey I was just there and apples are big. I believe that.




> 3. It is illegal to dry clothes in various parks in Whitstable, Kent.


I guess everyone walks around in wet clothes. I guess looking at all the wet tee shirts on sexy girls is what generated the law. Not all politicians are stupid.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. The UK's newest submarine will last 25 years without needing to be refuelled.


If you don't launch it it won't need any fuel. The British Navy isn't what it used to be.  :Tongue: 




> 5. The Queen washes up.


Only when she smells.  :FRlol: 




> 6. Tony Blair was nervous meeting Des O'Connor.


So what? Blair was nervous meeting Simon Cowell. Afraid of the review.  :Smile: 




> 7. Usain Bolt was called VJ as a child, because his mother thought he needed a nickname. It doesn't stand for anything.


And that's why he runs so fast. Stupidity leads to speed.




> 8. Guinness can be deep-fried.


It's better than french fries.  :Drool5: 




> 10. Britons drink less alcohol than the European average.


Then they have a low tolerance for alcohol because there are way more British drunks around.  :Biggrin: 




> 1. The salary with optimum happiness is £50,000.


Not to me. I'll take a couple of million.  :Wink5: 




> 3. Geoff Capes was a champion budgerigar breeder.


What the heck is that? And why would you breed it?




> 4. Spiders eat birds.


And they'll have a cat for desert.  :Smile: 




> 5. A hand dryer can increase germs.


Not unless she's ugly.  :Tongue: 




> 6. Clint Eastwood turned down playing James Bond and Superman.


Oh thank God. That would have been horrible casting.




> 7. The trapped miners in Chile are recycling.


Yeah their urine. See above. Even there environmental whackos are imposing laws.




> 8. People who rise from their chair quickly are more likely to live longer.


I always thought life was a game of musical chairs. This proves it.  :Wink5: 




> 10. Happy people give more to charity.


Sounds true. Santa Claes does go ho ho ho.  :Biggrin: 




> 1. Cancer patients typically make 53 visits to hospital during treatment.


Oh, that's too sad to joke on.




> 2. Bubbles lives in Florida.


The home of strip clubs.  :Biggrin: 




> 4. Tony Blair has not watched The Queen, in which he features.


He didn't exactly serve as Prime minister either, in which he featured.  :FRlol:  




> 5. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, invented bifocal glasses.


So he could sign the Declaration of Indepedence while looking out for the redcoats. A most proactical man.  :Wink5: 




> 6. When people fall in love they lose on average two close friends.


And one of them is the person their in love with.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. The Pope's aircraft is known as "Shepherd One".


 :FRlol:  That's funny and cute.




> 9. Humans could not digest milk 10,000 years ago.


Judging by the gas I get, humans still can't.  :Tongue: 

10. Oxford University doesn't care whether you can play the flute.
But they insist on you playing the bagpipes as a pre-requisite.  :Wink5:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Blowflies can help solve murders.

2. New Zealand's birds suffer from body odour.

3. Would-be hobbits should be no more than 158cm (5ft 2ins) tall if male or 153cm (5ft) if female.

4. Strong winds could have parted the Red Sea.

5. Children's waistlines have expanded by an average of 12.5cm (4.9ins) since the 1970s.

6. Ed Miliband can solve a Rubik's Cube in one minute 20 seconds.

7. Customers using cash machines of the Vatican bank are offered Latin as the preferred language.

8. The Facebook logo is blue because founder Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colour blind.

9. Northern Ireland has the lowest proportion of out gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the UK.

10. Denim jeans come from Italy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

----------


## Hurricane

> 6. Ed Miliband can solve a Rubik's Cube in one minute 20 seconds.


I watched my roommate do a Rubik's Cube in one minute twelve seconds freshman year. One of the more bizarre and strangely impressive things I think I've witnessed personally.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Elgar wrote world's first football chant.

2. The UN has an Office of Outer Space Affairs.

3. There's a market for mammoth ivory and it sells for £330 per kilogram.

4. Neanderthals were tech-savvy.

5. Engineers estimate that 12 to 15 tonnes of rock will need to be cleared by the trapped Chilean miners each day.

6. In French, the words for "inflation" and "fellatio" are very similar.

7. The first travelator in the UK was at Bank Tube station in London.

8. Former PM Edward Heath left his home to the nation as a museum when he died.

9. Intestinal worms can grow to more than 2m long.

10. Penguins have been around for 36m years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_155.shtml

----------


## Virgil

> 1. Blowflies can help solve murders.


If they don't get distracted by the dog sh*t, they can be pretty smart.  :Tongue: 




> 2. New Zealand's birds suffer from body odour.


Have you smelled any New Zealanders recently? They're not exactly perfumy.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. Would-be hobbits should be no more than 158cm (5ft 2ins) tall if male or 153cm (5ft) if female.


Hey my next door neighbor must be a hobbit!  :FRlol:  And his wife too.  :Wink5: 




> 4. Strong winds could have parted the Red Sea.


That has as much credibility as the global warming models.  :Smile: 




> 5. Children's waistlines have expanded by an average of 12.5cm (4.9ins) since the 1970s.


Parent's waistlines haven't exactly gone down either.  :Lurk5: 




> 6. Ed Miliband can solve a Rubik's Cube in one minute 20 seconds.


But it takes him five minutes to tie his show laces.  :Crazy: 




> 7. Customers using cash machines of the Vatican bank are offered Latin as the preferred language.


 :FRlol:  As long as it's Euros that come out and not dinaris.




> 8. The Facebook logo is blue because founder Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colour blind.


Maybve theat's why I refuse to join. If only they had a red and green logo.  :Tongue: 




> 9. Northern Ireland has the lowest proportion of out gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the UK.


Now that is interesting. I wonder why. 




> 10. Denim jeans come from Italy.


And I assume it's not those low rider types that expose your a$$ crack.  :Cool: 





> 1. Elgar wrote world's first football chant.


It wasn't very good though: "Yay, yay, let's all play." It should have been snappier.  :FRlol: 




> 2. The UN has an Office of Outer Space Affairs.


I have to say that was the stupidest thing I ever heard, a person whose job it is to greet aliens. How do I get such a useless job? And how much money goes toward that person's staff and expenses? No wonder people want the UN to disolve.




> 3. There's a market for mammoth ivory and it sells for £330 per kilogram.


I guess there aren't any poachers out there on this one.  :Wink5: 




> 4. Neanderthals were tech-savvy.


Yeah, and a few of them are here on Lit Net.  :Biggrin: 




> 5. Engineers estimate that 12 to 15 tonnes of rock will need to be cleared by the trapped Chilean miners each day.


And do you trust these engineers? Weren't they the ones responsible for getting those miners trapped in the first place.  :Rolleyes: 




> 6. In French, the words for "inflation" and "fellatio" are very similar.


Well, I guess a part of the anatomy does get inflated during the process.  :Tongue: 




> 7. The first travelator in the UK was at Bank Tube station in London.


But it had to be removed. It made bank robbery a little too easy.  :Smilewinkgrin: 




> 8. Former PM Edward Heath left his home to the nation as a museum when he died.


Why? He must owe money on it.  :Smile5: 




> 9. Intestinal worms can grow to more than 2m long.


Wow. At some point the worm becomes the intestine. 




> 10. Penguins have been around for 36m years.


Cute aren't they? They're secret is that male penguins never argue with their wives.  :Smile:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The world's largest circulation newspaper is the Japanese title Yomiuri Shimbun, selling 15 million copies.

2. Squirrels can be black.

3. Chimpanzees can become addicted to smoking.

4. One in 10 babies born in Europe is conceived in an Ikea bed.

5. Tarantulas are edible.

6. People can begin apprenticeships in their 70s.

7. Adolf Hitler promised to give his foreign minister Cornwall.

8. Men sweat more efficiently than women.

9. Sewage can be used to heat homes.

10. Potatoes can be purple - inside and out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_156.shtml

----------


## Wilde woman

> 2. Squirrels can be black.


Yes, I saw many black squirrels when I was in Ontario a few weeks ago. Apparently, they're one of the selling points for visiting there.  :Biggrin:

----------


## Scheherazade

> Apparently, they're one of the selling points for visiting there.


_"101 Things to Do Before I Die:
.
.
.
93. See some black squirrels. ✔
.
.
."_

 :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Chinese apple trees are pollinated by hand.

2. There have been 39 marriages between Riverdance cast members.

3. Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are related.

4. Eighty percent of young women in Finland go to university.

5. Hermaphrodite dogs exist.

6. Noise affects taste.

7. The chairman of Liverpool FC supports Chelsea.

8. Martin Freeman of The Office turned down the part of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.

9. Insects are attracted by the colour of wind turbines.

10. Bilingual children get confused less easily.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_157.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Baseball bats make good violins.

2. Getting drunk quickly is genetic. 

3. King penguins flirt with other penguins of the same gender but tend not to settle down with them.

4. Leopards' spots are camouflage.

5. The Vatican likes The Simpsons.

6. Germans have been blurring their homes on Google Street View.

7. Sparrows eavesdrop on fighting birds.

8. Labradors shake their bodies to dry off at a frequency of 4.3 Hz.

9. Traces of silver can be found on the moon.

10. A third of iPad owners haven't bothered to download any apps.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_158.shtml

----------


## Lulim

> (...) 6. Germans have been blurring their homes on Google Street View. (...)


There was an option to appeal against Street View showing ones house on the internet, 245.000 house owners made use of, for privacy reasons. Only this homes get blurred, permanently and irreversibly.

Is this not general procedure in other countries?

----------


## kasie

> 8. Martin Freeman of The Office turned down the part of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.......


Has he changed his mind? According to the Telegraph on Saturday 21 October, he _is_ going to play Bilbo. There was even an Editorial Comment on the subject - well, it was more about the power of Myth and how he need not change out of the dressing gown he wore in _Hitch-hikers Guide._ They must have been short of news that day.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Crows go to school.

2. Flamingos use make-up.

3. John and Margaret were the most popular baby names for 30 years.

4. Polar bears wave.

5. More than half of all Americans dress up at Halloween.

6. The normal lifespan of an octopus is three years.

7. Liberalism is genetic.

8. A footballer can be allergic to grass.

9. Mount Everest has its own 3G wireless network.

10. Some 7.2 million British people get by without a wristwatch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_159.shtml

----------


## papayahed

> 7. Liberalism is genetic.


I just read an article about that.

----------


## hoope

> 8. A footballer can be allergic to grass.


Really, i never knew that ... 
I guess he will quit playing then !

----------


## Virgil

I'm behind again. *sigh* Let's see...




> 1. Chinese apple trees are pollinated by hand.


What??? Sounds like Communist efficiency.  :Biggrin: 




> 2. There have been 39 marriages between Riverdance cast members.


They must be doing a lot more kicking between the sheets.  :Wink5: 




> 3. Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are related.


Just like I'm related to Queen Elizabeth.




> 4. Eighty percent of young women in Finland go to university.


Smart girls.




> 5. Hermaphrodite dogs exist.


What happens when they go in heat? Chase their tail?  :Tongue: 




> 6. Noise affects taste.


Hmm, I just had a noisy chocolate cake.




> 7. The chairman of Liverpool FC supports Chelsea.


Chelsea, Bill Clinton's daughter? Is she running for MP?




> 8. Martin Freeman of The Office turned down the part of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.


But he accepted the role of Thom Thumb.




> 9. Insects are attracted by the colour of wind turbines.


As opposed to being sucked in by the air stream? How silly.




> 10. Bilingual children get confused less easily.


Or they just confuse the teacher with their multi lingual answers.  :Smile: 





> 1. Baseball bats make good violins.


Well then, you can strike out in music as well as baseball.




> 2. Getting drunk quickly is genetic.


Sure blame your father if you're an alcoholic.  :Tongue: 




> 3. King penguins flirt with other penguins of the same gender but tend not to settle down with them.


How do they know it's flirting? They could be talking sports.



> 4. Leopards' spots are camouflage.


And how much did that study cost? 




> 5. The Vatican likes The Simpsons.


I thought Homer was excommunicated.  :Mad5: 




> 6. Germans have been blurring their homes on Google Street View.


How does one do that? I've seen my house on Google. Good thing I was streaking when they took the picture.  :Tongue: 




> 7. Sparrows eavesdrop on fighting birds.


Well, that's smarter than fighting fighting birds.




> 8. Labradors shake their bodies to dry off at a frequency of 4.3 Hz.


Next time my Brandi shakes, I'll have to measure the frequency.  :Wink5: 




> 9. Traces of silver can be found on the moon.


Gold rush!




> 10. A third of iPad owners haven't bothered to download any apps.


I guess i'm one of that third. What are apps?  :FRlol: 




> 1. Crows go to school.


They aint so smart. I've seen them fail a number of classes.




> 2. Flamingos use make-up.


Let me guess, pink tones.  :Biggrin: 




> 3. John and Margaret were the most popular baby names for 30 years.


I assume that's for UK. I would say that John is probably just as popular here but I haven't come across an extraordinary number of Margarets.




> 4. Polar bears wave.


So you think they're cute, and then they'll rip your head off. Polar bears are vicious.




> 5. More than half of all Americans dress up at Halloween.


Ooh, go to my blog and see Matthew's first Halloween, dressed as a monkey.
http://www.online-literature.com/for...og.php?b=11142




> 6. The normal lifespan of an octopus is three years.


Wow, more arms than years alive.




> 7. Liberalism is genetic.


Like many other genetic birth defects.  :FRlol:   :FRlol:  Oh that one was easy.  :Biggrin: 




> 8. A footballer can be allergic to grass.


I guess he can blame the sneeze when he misses the ball.  :Wink5: 




> 9. Mount Everest has its own 3G wireless network.


Let me see. If I should happen to climb Mt Everest, the first thing I'll do at the peak is log on to Lit Net.  :FRlol: 




> 10. Some 7.2 million British people get by without a wristwatch.


I see that more and more. It's all these young people who think they can show up whenever they want. Oh the young are so stupid.  :Tongue:

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Tea parties were invented in the 1830s.

2. Which means that the 1773 Boston Tea Party wasn't known by that name until more than 60 years after the event. At the time it was referred to as "the destruction of the tea". 

3. Adult kingfishers need to catch about 5,000 fish a year to thrive.

4. Dick Bruna, the man famous for creating children's character Miffy, also created the stick man with a halo in the Saint TV series.

5. Smokers on average, according to one reckoning, spend an hour a day on fag breaks.

6. Chips implanted in the eye can, under certain circumstances, let the blind see.

7. Just thinking you're fit might help you avoid getting colds.

8. Having fewer brothers and sisters can be good for your education.

9. It's not just in comedy films that babies can fall from tall buildings, bounce on awnings and be caught by a passer-by. 

10. And it's not just in sci-fi films that holograms can be sent as messages.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_22.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. You must be 16 to buy Christmas crackers. 

2. George W Bush read about 95 books a year when US president. 

3. Turtles breathe in to float.

4. Nazis coined the verb coventrierung (literally, to coventrate) to describe total annihilation of a city - Coventry - through aerial bombardment. 

5. One in five people only clean their homes at weekends. 

6. A cat's tongue moves at one metre per second when lapping milk.

7. The tomb of the unknown soldier was originally the idea of a padre called David Railton. 

8. Aerial massed acrobatics performed by starlings at this time of year are called "murmurations". 

9. Bush crickets have the biggest testicles of any animal, in relation to body weight. 

10. People daydream for nearly half of their waking hours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_161.shtml

----------


## papayahed

> 2. George W Bush read about 95 books a year when US president.


That Dr Suess was quite prolific.

----------


## Pendragon

> 9. Bush crickets have the biggest testicles of any animal, in relation to body weight. 
> 
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_161.shtml


And they say size isn't everything!  :Smilielol5:

----------


## Pendragon

> I see that more and more. It's all these young people who think they can show up whenever they want. Oh the young are so stupid.


Actually, it's because everyone has cellphones, I know my kids use them instead of a watch...  :Rolleyes:

----------


## Pendragon

> Yes, I saw many black squirrels when I was in Ontario a few weeks ago. Apparently, they're one of the selling points for visiting there.


I actually have one mounted on my home entertainment shelves that I shot several (20?) years ago

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Away football teams usually have a 30% chance of winning.

2. Babies born with no cheekbones have a condition known as Treacher Collins syndrome.

3. David Cameron slept on the Mall the night before Prince Charles married Lady Diana.

4. A solitary church may signal where an entire village once stood.

5. German shoes are wider than Italian.

6. It can take 18 years for the foot's bones, muscles and ligaments to harden into adult form.

7. One in three people aged over 65 will die with dementia.

8. Dartmoor prison rents land from Prince Charles.

9. Badgers still occupy setts known since the Domesday Book.

10. The number of people raising funds for charity has doubled in the last three years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_162.shtml

----------


## kasie

_3. David Cameron slept on the Mall the night before Prince Charles married Lady Diana._
Do you think he'll sleep there the night before William and Kate's wedding?

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Fish shrink in winter.

2. A cracked elephant's tusk requires at least 47 tubes of resin to fill it.

3. North and South Korea have technically been at war for decades, because no peace treaty was signed in 1953.

4. The Shard was first designed on the back of a napkin.

5. The number of schools teaching cheerleading is triple the number that teach judo.

6. A cup of coffee combined with a 20-minute nap will double the caffeine effect.

7. Donald Trump's hair is real.

8. One in four people with HIV in the UK is unaware they have it.

9. The US president has the power to shut down key computer systems in that country.

10. Turkey tycoon Bernard Matthews started his business with 20 eggs and a second-hand incubator.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_163.shtml

----------


## Wilde woman

> 7. Sparrows eavesdrop on fighting birds.


What does that even mean?




> 9. Mount Everest has its own 3G wireless network.


Wow. Just wow.




> 5. One in five people only clean their homes at weekends.


That's me. Guilty as charged.  :Biggrin: 




> 1. Fish shrink in winter.


So now fish and I have something in common. As I try to survive my first winter on the East Coast, I find myself constantly shrinking into a fetal position in bed and crying.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Mercury can cause birds to seek same-sex relationships.

2. Penguin is a Welsh word.

3. Coronation Street was going to be called Florizel Street.

4. Coca has been chewed for 8,000 years.

5. In the Arctic Circle you can take a mortgage out to buy a fur coat.

6. The pavlova was invented in New Zealand.

7. Temperatures in Qatar reach 50C in summer.

8. Italy and Luxembourg are Eurovision Song Contest stayaways.

9. Mick Hucknall had sex with 3,000 women in three years, he says.

10. Driving a car with snow on the roof contravenes the Highway Code.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_164.shtml

----------


## papayahed

> 9. Mick Hucknall had sex with 3,000 women in three years, he says.


That's 2.7 women per day. Unless he's a famous musician I'm not bying it.

----------


## Scheherazade

> That's 2.7 women per day. Unless he's a famous musician I'm not bying it.


Mick Hucknall

----------


## papayahed

haha, I knew that. :Leaving:

----------


## RaoulDuke

> 10. Driving a car with snow on the roof contravenes the Highway Code.


That's not actually true, and I'm very surprised to see it has made the BBC website.

As a teenager I used to frequent a forum called totse.com, which gained some notoriety for this amongst other things. The snow on the car roof myth was created and spread around the internet by some of the forum regulars several years ago, and weirdly it seems to have surfaced again now...

----------


## Scheherazade

> That's not actually true, and I'm very surprised to see it has made the BBC website.
> 
> As a teenager I used to frequent a forum called totse.com, which gained some notoriety for this amongst other things. The snow on the car roof myth was created and spread around the internet by some of the forum regulars several years ago, and weirdly it seems to have surfaced again now...


Actually you are required to remove all the snow from your car:


> remove all snow that might fall off into the path of other road users


http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAn...code/DG_069859 (section 229)

----------


## kasie

There was a nice man from the AA (or maybe RAC) on tv last week showing you how to drive in the snow and he said it was illegal to drive with snow on the roof of your car in case it thawed then slipped down and covered the windscreen, blocking your vision.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Starfish have a Teflon-like non-stick surface.

2. There's a condition that can cause teenagers to sleep for weeks on end.

3. Soap opera can be live.

4. There are currently no machines that can correct flawed banknotes. But there will be soon.

5. Jim Morrison may actually not have exposed himself at a Miami concert in 1969.

6. Taking photos of children at nativity plays is not against the law..

7. There could be planets made of diamond.

8. More than half of all adults in the EU are overweight.

9. Almost one in five off-licences in Britain went under last year.

10. Patients recover quicker from surgery when looking at trees.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_165.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The father of Michael Palin, who brought the stammer to national attention in the film, A Fish Called Wanda, had one himself.

2. Mark Twain opened Kensal Rise library in north London.

3. Birds binge drink.

4. There are 18 super-arbitrators of the English language version of Wikipedia.

5. Aristotle was known as the human Wikipedia.

6. Tinie Tempah's real name is Patrick.

7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi .

8. The fall of the Roman Empire can be detected in tree growth rings.

9. People who are tone deaf can hear music perfectly well.

10. Saint Wilgefortis was a woman who grew a beard to resist offers of marriage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_169.shtml

----------


## Gilliatt Gurgle

> .
> ...
> 
> 3. Birds binge drink.
> 
> 7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi .



_3. Birds binge drink._

I believe it. When the Cedar Waxwings and Robins migrate into our neck of the woods, they ravage the berries from the Cedar / Juniper trees. After some time, one will begin to observe erratic "drunken" behavior among the birds; flying into windows, dropping to the ground, etc.

_7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi ._

That's a bragain, 20 pounds for about 8,000 pounds !

.

----------


## Niamh

> Yes, I saw many black squirrels when I was in Ontario a few weeks ago. Apparently, they're one of the selling points for visiting there.


I was fascinated by the black Squirrels in Ontario! Practically chasing them just to get a photo!

----------


## Wilde woman

^ Me too! I swear I'm going to catch one the next time I go, because my brother doesn't believe they exist.




> 1. Mercury can cause birds to seek same-sex relationships.


Who the hell discovered this? And how? Is some sicko out there deliberately mercury-poisoning birds and then tracking them to find about their love lives?




> 2. Penguin is a Welsh word.


Can a Welsh litnetter confirm this for us?  :Biggrin5: 




> 3. Birds binge drink.
> 
> I believe it. When the Cedar Waxwings and Robins migrate into our neck of the woods, they ravage the berries from the Cedar / Juniper trees. After some time, one will begin to observe erratic "drunken" behavior among the birds; flying into windows, dropping to the ground, etc.


I want to witness this.

----------


## Virgil

> Mick Hucknall


Did you see his picture there? He's only a year older than me and looks horrid and old. I guess that's what that much sex will do to you.  :FRlol:  Either that or God knows what diseases he's picked up.

----------


## Big Dante

> 1. Mercury can cause birds to seek same-sex relationships.


Some people have very interesting jobs....




> 7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi .


And to think I've been paying 25!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Princess Diana had two wedding dresses.

2. President Kennedy's famous line "Do not ask..." was inspired by the headmaster of his prep school.

3. Fourteen-year-olds build successful iTunes apps.

4. Justin Webb's father was a BBC newsreader.

5. "Filthy lucre" and at least 256 other distinct phrases from the King James Bible are in modern English idiom.

6. There have been a number of suggested 13th signs of the Zodiac over the years.

7. Phone books are getting thinner.

8. Birds make "No trespassing" signs.

9. Smoking damages the body in minutes.

10. Chess playing stimulates different brain activity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_170.shtml

----------


## MystyrMystyry

January 
Named after the Roman god of beginnings and endings Janus (the month Januarius). 

February 
The name comes either from the old-Italian god Februus or else from februa, signifying the festivals of purification celebrated in Rome during this month. (februare, Latin: to purify CB) 

March 
This is the first month of the Roman year. It is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. 

April 
Called Aprilis, from aperire, "to open". Possible because it is the month in which the buds begin to open. 

May 
The third month of the Roman calendar. The name probably comes from Maiesta, the Roman goddess of honor and reverence. 

June 
The fourth month was named in honor of Juno. However, the name might also come from iuniores (young men; juniors) as opposed to maiores (grown men; majors) for May, the two months being dedicated to young and old men. 

July 
It was the month in which Julius Caesar was born, and named Julius in his honor in 44 BCE, the year of his assassination. Also called Quintilis (fifth month). 

August 
Originally this month was called Sextilis (from sextus, "six"), but the name was later changed in honor of the first of the Roman emperors, Augustus (because several fortunate events of his life occurred during this month). 

September 
The name comes from septem, "seven". 

October 
The name comes from octo, "eight" 

November 
The name comes from novem, "nine". 

December 
The name comes from decem, "ten". 



Might be one or two you didn't know

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Polar bears can swim for nine days.

2. Tony Blair never had a mobile phone as prime minister.

3. JD Salinger was a big fan of Tim Henman.

4. Prince Philip almost became a coal miner for a month.

5. Social networks may date back as early as the 1970s. 

6. The kilogram doesn't weigh as much as it used to.

7. Huskies can smell thin ice.

8. Kelly Hoppen used to be Sienna Miller's stepmother. 

9. Many Kenyans think twins are cursed.

10. Pigeons can smell their way home hundred of miles.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_171.shtml

----------


## ClaesGefvenberg

> 1. Polar bears can swim for nine days.


They may need life jackets then, judging from the way their ice cap is melting.




> 2. Tony Blair never had a mobile phone as prime minister.


How very sensible of him. I suppose he avoided the odd SMS wakeup that way.




> 3. JD Salinger was a big fan of Tim Henman.


Good for Henman




> 4. Prince Philip almost became a coal miner for a month.


I wonder if he was in a black mood?




> 5. Social networks may date back as early as the 1970s.


Errrr... I am pretty certain that we had social networks before the 70's. It's just that they were not computerized, that's all...




> 6. The kilogram doesn't weigh as much as it used to.


Right. Apparently it has lost fifty-millionths of a gram. Imagine the impact on weight watchers worldwide  :Shocked: 




> 7. Huskies can smell thin ice.


That would seem like a useful ability considering where they perform their daily chores.




> 8. Kelly Hoppen used to be Sienna Miller's stepmother.


Really? Whose stepmother is she now?




> 9. Many Kenyans think twins are cursed.


Small wonder. Judging from myself I think I would be hard pressed to stand myself in duplicate.





> 10. Pigeons can smell their way home hundred of miles.


I always thought their nests packed a bit of a pong. Do they never clean their messes up?

About birds binge drinking: 



> I want to witness this.


Birds... Agile creatures with lightning reflexes, never missing a beat, right? Wrong! They do make the occasional mistake, and sometimes leave very literal evidence of the fact. I can show you a result. This picture was taken in central Eskilstuna a few years back: 



/Claes

----------


## MystyrMystyry

Birds' brains actually shrink in flight to make their heads lighter and therefore aerodynamic and thence also run on the autopilot of instinct, but when big, immovable, and invisible things get in their way, they crash - and whose laughing now you little show-offs?

Thing with flight though - you can understand why they sacrifice their tiny minds in order to do it - you wouldn't want to think about what you were actually doing: have you seen how hight they fly?

Another thing about our birdbrained friends is the drinking I witnessed where I used to live - they pick at the apricots in the morning so they'd ferment throughout the day, and come back for the juice/beverage in the afternoon

Elephants likewise do this with berries which they knock from the bushes in the morning, but in the afternoon they eat the whole fruit and deposit the seeds farther afield than they could travel by simply dropping to the ground - along with monkeys this provides another example of symbiosis

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Mark Zuckerberg has watched The Social Network

2. Chewing gum can be used to make counterfeit keys.

3. Parrots are left and right-handed.

4. The average hug lasts three seconds.

5. Angry tarantulas kick tiny, stinging hairs off their bodies at predators.

6. Good cops are better at getting confessions than bad cops.

7. One in 10 of the world's adults is obese.

8. Chimpanzees grieve.

9. A water flea 2mm long has 50% more genes than a human.

10. Graffiti existed in the 19th Century.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_172.shtml

----------


## MystyrMystyry

1) Mark Zuckerberg Mark Schmuckerberg

2) Pretty soft keys

3) Parrots have teeny little hands but choose to write with the right, right?

4) Three seconds is an aeon if you don't want to be hugged

5) Tarantulas have emotions?

6) Good cops?

7) Fatsos are great!

8) All mammals grieve - it's part of the make-up, you just can't tell that a cow or horse or rat is grieving. [Interesting sidenote - an island in the South Pacific has vegetarian skink lizards that have taken to the trees like monkeys and have curly tails for hanging on and swinging from branch to bough - but what's really cool is they've evolved a social structure similar to a group of monkeys: the only reptiles to get along like this]

9) Fleas with high compression ratios in their genes as well?

10) Graffiti also existed in the 18th, 17th, 16th, you name it th centuries - but not until the late 20th was it perpetrated with spraycan and sharpie

----------


## Scheherazade

1. David Hasselhoff is a friend of Morecambe Tory MP David Morris.

2. Where you look affects how much pain you feel.

3. Elton John has no mobile phone.

4. Feeding garden birds makes them have a lie-in.

5. There is no minimum age at which UK children can be left on their own.

6. Horses can enjoy pints too.

7. Ravens get stressed when they join juvenile gangs.

8. Catholics are banned from confessing via iPhone.

9. Pessimism could be genetic.

10. Cattle once regularly swam between Hebridean islands.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_173.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The paint on an average Easyjet plane weighs 80kg

2. Silvio Berlusconi has appeared in 106 trials, racking up more than 2,500 court appearances, he says.

3. MPs still have to do jury service.

4. There is no central sex offenders register in the UK.

5. Ancient Britons drank out of skulls.

6. You needed a permit to carry a sword or dagger in Italy in the early 1600s.

7. Incan brides had to peel a potato to prove they would be a good wife.

8. The first recorded use of OK was on 23 March 1839 on the second page of the Boston Morning Post.

9. The black bear's heart stops for up to 20 seconds when it exhales breath during hibernation and starts again when it inhales.

10. Wheelchairs can be controlled by thought.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_174.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The Queen has a washer-up.

2. Robots do marathons.

3. Monkeys have self-doubt.

4. Artist LS Lowry was a debt collector.

5. Postal workers get through two million red rubber bands per day.

6. Nudity is banned on Facebook.

7. Blind people can regain sight.

8. Alligators hide behind sofas.

9. Wheelchairs can be controlled by thought.

10. Capuchin monkeys wash using urine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...hings_18.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Kenya's MPs aren't allowed to wear bling.

2. People with full bladders make better decisions.

3. Killer whales have a "stealth mode".

4. Finnish men have have some of the highest sperm counts in the world.

5. The ransom paid to release Richard the Lionheart, captured in 1192 on his way back from fighting the Crusades, was the equivalent of about £2bn in today's money.

6. Parents exaggerate the joy of having children to justify the sky-high cost of bringing them up.

7. The Mr Men and Little Miss series have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

8. There are 16 amateur superheroes patrolling UK streets at night.

9. The average time Britons have their first alcoholic drink in the evening is 7.11pm.

10. Britain's biggest bird of prey is the white-tailed (or sea) eagle, which has a wingspan of eight feet. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_175.shtml

----------


## iamnobody

I'm sorry but number 6 is absurd, and so is stating it as if were "fact"! I don't know where that comes from but they're clearly insane.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Chickens feel empathy.

2. Elephants are good at teamwork.

3. The lifespan of the average British person increases by five hours a day.

4. About 40% of skyscrapers due to be completed in the next six years will be in China.

5. Half of all Pakistani children cannot read a sentence.

6. Tigers kill lions.

7. Leeds has more councillors over the age of 80 than under the age of 35.

8. Car use is falling.

9. When potatoes were first introduced to Britain, they were used to make desserts. 

10. A soldier's starting salary is nearly £8,000 less than a police officer's.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_23.shtml

----------


## papayahed

> I'm sorry but number 6 is absurd, and so is stating it as if were "fact"! I don't know where that comes from but they're clearly insane.


erm, it kinda is a fact:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/83...hide-cost.html

----------


## Helga

> I'm sorry but number 6 is absurd, and so is stating it as if were "fact"! I don't know where that comes from but they're clearly insane.



I think there is a little truth in this fact. My son is the best thing in my life and I would never want to change anything about his part in my life. But he is SOOOOO expensive, I even suggested a new word in the icelandic vocabulary about expensive things, roughly translated child-expensive, but sounds a lot better here on the ice.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Monkeys recognise faces.

2. Hearing aids can work on teeth.

3. St Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Montserrat.

4. The last British tsunami to register a verified height was in 1975, and it reached 6cm (2.3in).

5. Sharks go to the cleaners.

6. Picking daffodils could count as criminal damage.

7. Elephants respect their elders.

8. Birds crash into wind turbines because they aren't looking where they're going.

9. Just 3% of UK cash machines dispense £5 notes.

10. Whales are scared of sonar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_176.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. More than 70% of banknotes initially reach the public via cash machines.

2. Tennis Girl doesn't like tennis. 

3. YouTube's first video was called "Me at the zoo".

4. Booking fees can be as much as £26. 

5. Ian Fleming created Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

6. More than a fifth of the world's population live in the time zone GMT+8.

7. Russell Brand gardens. 

8. The baby son of physicist Brian Cox, George, has the middle name Eagle, named after the first spacecraft to land on the moon.

9. More than 90% of schoolchildren study Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. 

10. The first text message ever sent read: "Merry Christmas".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_177.shtml

----------


## papayahed

> 8. The baby son of physicist Brian Cox, George, has the middle name Eagle, named after the first spacecraft to land on the moon.


Brilliant!!

----------


## Scheherazade

1. When Prince Albert - the future George VI of The King's Speech fame - wanted to marry Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (aka the Queen Mum), she only said yes on his third proposal. 

2. Their wedding breakfast comprised of dishes named in their honour - a royal tradition continued into the 1980s.

3. The average person only uses 20,000 words, with another 40,000 in reserve.

4. One in six people live in India.

5. Dark birds are healthier.

6. Sleep affects weight.

7. The first Eddie Stobart truck was called Twiggy.

8. The T. rex had a cousin. 

9. More than 100,000 Americans lied about their age in the 1970 census.

10. The numbers attending huge street protests are estimated using the size of the streets involved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_178.shtml

----------


## Scheherazade

1. The word "loo" dates from medieval times, derived from the warning shout of "gardez l'eau!" given by those tipping chamber pots out the window.

2. George and Laura Bush are fans of BBC costume drama The House of Eliott (pictured).

3. Actor Tom Wilkinson's real name is Geoffrey.

4. An American aircraft carrier weighs more than 100,000 tonnes.

5. The average UK household spends about 60p a week on stamps.

6. Early cosmonauts were fairly short, as spacecraft were a tight fit for anyone tall.

7. There were gay cavemen.

8. The acronym "lol" is "mdr" in France.

9. Seat belts are banned on some roads.

10. Half of girls aged 15-17 in Liverpool and Sunderland use sunbeds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_179.shtml

----------


## Calidore

> 1. 
> 10. Half of girls aged 15-17 in Liverpool and Sunderland use sunbeds.


Also known as hammocks.

----------


## Scheherazade

1. Ducks' bills reveal whether they have sexually-transmitted diseases.

2. The average British home had 5.34 rooms.

3. Dogs watch how how nice people are to others to work out who to approach to beg for food.

4. Time travel storylines are officially discouraged in China. 

5. The first Dulux dog was called Dash.

6. More girls than boys became scouts in the past year.

7. Some dinosaurs did their hunting at night.

8. The world's smallest ever music instrument is a guitar the size of a single blood cell.

9. There are 8.5 million football-related words in English.

10. Male humpback whales play "Chinese whispers" across 6,000km.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_180.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. Planets may have black plants.

2. Chimps give birth like humans. 

3. Dinosaurs suffered from toothache.

4. Swearing relieves pain.

5. Cuckoos copy hawks.

6. Supermarkets still give away cardboard boxes for nothing. 

7. The world's smallest caravan measures 6ft 7in (2m) by 2ft 6in (75cm) and has a top speed of 5mph. 

8. A rare version of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols is the most valuable record of all time. 

9. Spies used to engrave messages on toe-nails. 

10. Soap and water can be better than hand gels and wipes at tackling germs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_181.shtml

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## Calidore

> 2. Chimps give birth like humans.


Screaming and cursing out their husbands?

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## Scheherazade

1. There is a camel-mounted bagpipe band.

2. Transparent typewriters are manufactured for sale to prisons, to avoid the risk of contraband being hidden. 

3. City dwelling birds have larger brains than those that live in the countryside.

4. CDs were designed to be 12cm (4.8in) in diameter, because it provided sufficient capacity at 75 minutes to store all of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

5. Bonobos share eating-out tips.

6. Litter and graffiti could cause racism.

7. A taxi ride from New York to Los Angeles cots $5,000 (£3,000)

8. Deer win respect by breaking up fights.

9. French police are currently allowed 25cl of wine or a small beer with their lunch while on duty

10. Rabbit jumping is a sport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

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## Gilliatt Gurgle

> 1. There is a camel-mounted bagpipe band.
> 
> 2. Transparent typewriters are manufactured for sale to prisons, to avoid the risk of contraband being hidden. 
> 
> 3. City dwelling birds have larger brains than those that live in the countryside.
> 
> 10. Rabbit jumping is a sport.


1. There is a camel-mounted bagpipe band.
* Do they prefer dromedary or bactrian?*

2. Transparent typewriters are manufactured for sale to prisons, to avoid the risk of contraband being hidden. 
* I assume they require invisible ink*

3. City dwelling birds have larger brains than those that live in the countryside.
* Either from radiation and PCB's or from all the garbage they read strewn about the streets*

10. Rabbit jumping is a sport.
*Jumping over a rabbit doesn't seem like much of a challenge unless it's one of these babies! -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s9nK...eature=related* 

.

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## Bluehound

_8. Deer win respect by breaking up fights.
_

Hehe I love the idea of this.

Now come on lads whats this all about? Seriously Prongs your misses would never go off with him, No offence Pokey, but youre just not as statuesque as Prongs ere. Now lets all go down to the watering hole and get us a drink. They have a lovely new barmaid.
"You are so right Deer, I always respected you."

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## Scheherazade

1. New York taxis used to be red and green, but in 1907 were all repainted yellow to be visible from a distance.

2. Philtrum is the name of the groove on your top lip that lies just beneath your nose.

3. The perfect nap lasts 26 minutes. 

4. Kate Bush writes songs more easily with a bag of bone meal - yes, the garden fertiliser - on her piano.

5. Marlon Brando, Liz Taylor and Michael Jackson shared a hire car on 9/11.

6. A "Spanish plume" is a weather system that sucks warm - and perhaps thundery - air up from Spain and North Africa.

7. European brands that succeed in the US tend to be at the luxury end of the market - as Tesco is finding to its cost. 

8. Delilah became the anthem of Stoke City FC fans after police officers asked them not to sing any songs with swear words. Next up on the pub jukebox was the Tom Jones hit...

9. Left-handed people are more fearful than right-handers.

10. Kate Middleton - the Duchess of Cambridge - has never been to the United States

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_183.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. French time used to be nine minutes ahead of GMT, based on the time in Paris. 

2. Sugar level in strawberries is calculated on the Brix scale.

3. The first known use of the word "slut" in printed English was from 1402.

4. The hemlines of school skirts in South Korea have risen 10-15cm (4-6in) in the last decade.

5. The first British Tupperware was held in Weybridge, Surrey in 1960.

6. A Christian doomsday group in the US is warning that the end of the world - or the Rapture - will occur on Saturday 21 May. 

7. It costs $60,000 to train a Navy Seal dog - like the one that accompanied US special forces on the Bin Laden operation. 

8. Goats are able to recognise the voices of their very young kids, and differentiate them from other animals' offspring 

9. Humans are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and life after death. 

10. The government's wine cellar contains about £2m worth of wine and spirits 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...now_this.shtml

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## Ecurb

> 1. French time used to be nine minutes ahead of GMT, based on the time in Paris. 
> 
> 2. Sugar level in strawberries is calculated on the Brix scale.
> 
> 3. The first known use of the word "slut" in printed English was from 1402.
> 
> 4. The hemlines of school skirts in South Korea have risen 10-15cm (4-6in) in the last decade.
> 
> 5. The first British Tupperware was held in Weybridge, Surrey in 1960.
> ...


Number 4 seems like good news!

I don't buy #9, though. Humans may very well have lived on this earth for 800,000 years without believing in God or life after death (of course we don't know for sure). Surely if anything about humans is "culturally consitituted" rather than "naturally perdisposed", it is their religious beliefs.

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## Scheherazade

1. Watermelons can explode. 

2. The Queen is apparently not a Guinness drinker. Or at least not in the morning.

3. The hardiest animal on Earth is known as a "water bear".

4. Humans stare longer at people with bad reputations.

5. Parrots are good at teamwork.

6. "Highly cheerful" people die younger. 

7. A good sense of smell helps mammals' brains get bigger.

8. The internet craze of planking started in the UK and in Australia.

9. Tarantulas shoot silk from their feet.

10. There are only two beret factories left in France.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...w_this_1.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. Fifa is a charity.

2. Vultures are better than sniffer dogs at searching large, overgrown areas for dead bodies.

3. A Devon cream tea has scones with cream first then jam on top, while a Cornish cream tea has scones with jam first then cream on top.

4. You can see the shockwaves from a trombone. On video.

5. Shale gas drilling can cause earthquakes.

6. Heart disease is less common among religious people. 

7. Among certain early humans, the women left home and the men stayed behind.

8. Penguins do a Mexican wave to stay warm. 

9. An intense fear of dying can make a heart attack worse.

10. It's possible for a horse to paint. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_184.shtml

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## Gilliatt Gurgle

> ...4. You can see the shockwaves from a trombone. On video.


I believe you can, starting at about 4:15:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQq1...eature=related





> ...10. It's possible for a horse to paint.


Theyre just now realizing this? Have they not heard of Edouard Manet, aka Mr. Ed?

 


For the sake of the uneducated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSsuohepbVk


.

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## Scheherazade

1. The Rotary club is an enemy of Palestine, according to Hamas. 

2. Spiders use their webs to breathe underwater. 

3. Michael Caine was nearly sacked from the film Zulu for standing like Prince Philip.

4. The Wombles have had four gold albums.

5. Cow hooves are used to make the foam in fire extinguishers. 

6. Wearing high heels could increase the risk of arthritis.

7. Chimps can outperform eight-year-olds in tasks.

8. The odds of scoring two holes-in-one in the same round of golf are 67 million-to-one .

9. Elephants can flirt. 

10. Zebras can do showjumping.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...w_this_2.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. The yellow brick road leads to a car park. 

2. Iron age man was into home brewing. 

3. Astronauts get travel sick. 

4. Women don't see Porsche drivers as marriage material. 

5. Magpies can scold humans. 

6. Men are the first to say 'I love you' in a new relationship. 

7. There is no music chart in India. 

8. Britain's most stolen vehicle is white-van-man's Ford Transit. 

9. Tinkering with certain proteins could stop hair going grey. 

10. Britain's youngest undertaker is 16 years old.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_185.shtml

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## Calidore

> 1. The yellow brick road leads to a car park.


Makes sense, the Emerald City probably became a big tourist attraction (and expensive--they want all your green) after the movie. What, you didn't know it was a documentary?




> 6. Men are the first to say 'I love you' in a new relationship.


I had two thoughts when I saw this:

* Who's the first to mean it?

* Does that mean gay men say it simultaneously? And gay women never do?

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## Gilliatt Gurgle

> 2. Iron age man was into home brewing.


and they still are in the backwoods of the deep south, only they refer to it as "moonshine" 




> 3. Astronauts get travel sick.


How can that be since, according to at least one Forum member, they never left God's green earth?




> 10. Britain's youngest undertaker is 16 years old.


Let me guess...his name is Oliver.

.

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## Scheherazade

1. Vincent Van Gogh looked a lot like his brother Theo.

2. Urban pigeons remember who will feed them and who will chase them away.

3. Women have gaydar. 

4. There are ants that carry a friend so they can deal with big bits of food.

5. It's very difficult to urinate in a treated water reservoir in the UK.

6. Half of Britons are, in fact, Germans.

7. Sonic the Hedgehog's shoes are based on Michael Jackson's footwear in the Bad video.

8. British taxpayers own 200,000 paintings - including multi-million pound works by the likes of Titan, Monet and Picasso.

9. A female tennis player's grunts can reach 95 decibels.

10. Chocolate milkshake is the ideal post-workout recovery drink.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_186.shtml

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## MystyrMystyry

1. Makes sense

2. Birds have brains

3. But which do they prefer?

4. The more the merrier

5. Huh?

6. This I find interesting - the word Briton comes from some Latin word meaning 'those of the design' referring to their painted faces, while the word Pict comes from the Latin for 'those with painted faces'. The Angles and Saxons didn't just migrate, they were invited by the Brits (who later became the Welsh) and paid in land to help defend against the Norse (or so I've been told)

7. What were Michael Jackson's shoes based on?

8. I wonder how many they own privately - it'd have to be in the billions...

9. Unless you're Maria Sharapova who can reach decibels that interfere with the measuring equipment - I have to turn the sound completely OFF when she's playing

10. Chocolate milkshake is yummy, and also the ideal pre-workout and no-workout recovery elixir - I might have one right now...

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## Scheherazade

1. The ideal slice of toast should be cooked for exactly 216 seconds. 

2. Stick insects can go without sex for one million years.

3. The key to a happy marriage is based on the wife remaining slimmer than the husband.

4. People working out in a gym can cause tremors in buildings. 

5. Lions will most likely attack humans just after a full moon.

6. Tall people are at greater risk of cancer.

7. Jalfrezi is now Britain's favourite curry.

8. Diamonds are not forever, they evaporate under exposure to light.

9. Mount Everest is getting higher.

10. The Speaking Clock still receives 30 million calls each year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_189.shtml

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## faithosaurus

1.Venus apparently is supposed to resemble Hell

2.Jupiter has storms in its atmosphere, and perhaps life on Europa

3.Along with the Great Red Spot, there are also the Great White Spot and the Great Dark Spot

4.It's pretty much a drug once you begin writing angst stories, especially when people are on the edge of their seats wanting more

5.My sister can actually be pleasant when she's not around her friends (even though she's only 8)

6.There are 400 active volcanoes on one of Jupiter's moons, Io

7.Ryan Higa (nighahiga on youtube) is actually becoming so big that he's going on TV shows...I love him

8.Kim Kardashian had psoriasis 

9.That I can actually write comedic pieces, even though I suck at humor

10.Mercury has no atmosphere, just an exosphere 

...I've been having fun and researching the planets.

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## Virgil

> 3. The key to a happy marriage is based on the wife remaining slimmer than the husband.


 :Yikes:  :Yikes:  :Yikes: 

Shush. I didn't say anything.

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## Scheherazade

1. Spider-Man has died. 

2. Margaret Thatcher did not pioneer the Right to Buy scheme for social housing. 

3. Almost as many people get married on a Thursday as on a Sunday. 

4. A web address can cost nearly £1 million. 

5. Suicide bombers are considered a suitable subject for Afghan satire.

6. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cannot bend frying pans with his bare hands. 

7. A hole in the ground can qualify as a private members club. 

8. It was illegal to sign a football player on a Sunday in the 1950s.

9. Local councils in England own 40 hotels and around 20 cinemas.

10. There are poisonous rats. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_191.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. Mr Men author Roger Hargreaves was the third best-selling author of the last decade, topped only by JK Rowling and Dan Brown.

2. The prison system in Brazil holds an annual Miss Penitentiary beauty contest.

3. TV's Mork and Mindy visited a mother and daughter in Dulwich, south London, in 2003.

4. BBC Radio 4 deters foxes from attacking swans. 

5. Sparrows' birdsong has a lot in common with the profanity-strewn bragging of rappers.

6. A shorter than average tongue is not good if you're learning to speak Korean. 

7. The Redneck Olympics contains sports such as armpit serenade, watermelon seed spitting contest and bobbin' for pigs feet. 

8. Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger can sing in Sanskrit.

9. Most of the 3.5m people who visit Liberty Island each year do not climb the Statue of Liberty. 

10. A thin belt of antimatter envelops the Earth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_192.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. Apple founder Steve Jobs patented designs for two glass staircases.

2. Almost a quarter of new words added to the Chambers Dictionary come from internet culture.

3. Female birds like confident males.

4. Col Gaddafi's compound contained a photo album filled with pictures of former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

5. "Astoundingly thick" is an acceptable description of someone who performs badly on Mastermind.

6. Our ancestors began cooking 1.9 million years ago.

7. Stress really does make hair turn grey.

8. A planet 4,000 light years away from earth is made almost entirely of diamonds.

9. Getting married increases the risk of putting on weight.

10. Britons are now twice as likely to be bitten by a mosquito in the UK than in the 10 years to 2006.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_194.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. Harrogate is the only postcode in Britain without a Tesco store.

2. Coral could be the key to stopping sunburn. 

3. We nearly always pick items from the middle shelf in supermarkets.

4. A German city has started taxing prostitutes by installing a ticket machine.

5. An officially hot day in the UK - as classified by the Met Office - is when temperatures reach 30C. 

6. Domino's pizza chain is planning to open a restaurant on the moon.

7. In 1941 the government in the UK wanted to know how many bras women owned.

8. The first fluorescent clothing was made from the inventor's wife's wedding dress.

9. The world's atmosphere is worth £4.3 quadrillion, going by the air we breathe in and the price of CO2 

10. Britain has 800 major self-storage units, the same as the rest of Europe put together.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_195.shtml

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## Calidore

> 9. The world's atmosphere is worth £4.3 quadrillion, going by the air we breathe in and the price of CO2


That's right, give Haliburton more ideas.

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## Scheherazade

1. Female fiddler crabs are attracted to males who can wave well. 

2. The size of the ring finger is linked to the size of your sex drive.

3. The Queen's swans get flu jabs.

4. Lack of sleep leads to sugar cravings.

5. You need apermit to bring more than 2.2Ibs (one kilogram) of meat into Israel.

6. Some people fear spiders, but spiders fear assassin bugs. 

7. Crocodiles go off their food when they're stressed.

8. There is a one in 3,200 chance that a Nasa satellite could hit you this month when it plunges from orbit.

9. Cliff sold more calendars than any other male celebrity last year.

10. Forty percent of of active Twitter users do not tweet at all, they just follow other people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_196.shtml

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## Gilliatt Gurgle

> 1. Female fiddler crabs are attracted to males who can wave well.


 ...and to those with a well endowed Pizzicato.




> 7. Crocodiles go off their food when they're stressed.


and like alligators you need to watch out for that medulla oblongata...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfC4u5GCy3I

.

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## Scheherazade

One should learn how to cause crocodiles stress... In case we meet them.

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## papayahed

I've always like a good waver.

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## papayahed

> One should learn how to cause crocodiles stress... In case we meet them.



That's why all women should have at least one crocodile handbag.

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## Scheherazade

> That's why all women should have at least one crocodile handbag.


I like the way you think! 

 :Tongue:

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## Scheherazade

1. A planet can orbit two suns.

2. Women remember men with a deep voice more than those with a high voice.

3. Britons contact friends and family via Facebook an average of 3.2 times a week.

4. Escaped pet parrots can teach wild birds to say phrases learnt from their owners. 

5. The steel used in the construction of the new Westfield shopping mall in Stratford is equivalent to the weight of 80 million medals.

6. New homes in Denmark are 80% bigger than new homes in the UK.

7. Cavefish can keep time without the sun.

8. Green belts in England cover 13% of total land.

9. Panda poo can reveals a lot about their sex lives.

10. Australians have a third choice when describing their gender on passport applications.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_197.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. MI5 used to have special kettles kept solely for steaming open envelopes.

2. Only one in every 250 million births is a case of conjoined twins.

3. Bill Clinton was invited to appear on Dancing with the Stars, the US version of Strictly Come Dancing.

4. Penguins find their family members by sniffing them out.

5. The world's smallest aquarium contains just two teaspoons of water.

6. Elephants can paint. 

7. Red-haired donors are being turned away by the world's largest sperm bank because there is a lack of demand for their "product".

8. Facebook hosts 4% of all photos ever taken.

9. Yawning cools down the brain. 

10. Crows can find food with the aid of mirrors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_198.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. TV satellite dishes in the UK mainly point southeast - and so can be used to orientate the lost.

2. Hummus comes in pizza, peanut butter and chocolate mousse flavours in the US.

3. A typical restaurant throws away 21 tonnes of food every year - partly because Brits are loath to ask for doggy bags.

4. Preston bus station joins the Nazca Lines in Peru and a Greek cemetery on this year's list of at-risk cultural heritage sites. 

5. Steve Jobs studied calligraphy. 

6. Doritos take their name from the Spanish for "little golden".

7. Cream tea in Devon is scone topped with clotted cream then jam. In Cornwall, the order of jam and cream are reversed.

8. Dancing With The Stars contestants in Argentina can get naked. 

9. The optimum cooking time for a soft boiled egg suitable for dunking toast soldiers is a full six minutes. 

10. The first e-book, back in the 1970s, was the US Declaration of Independence.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_200.shtml

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## Calidore

> 1. TV satellite dishes in the UK mainly point southeast - and so can be used to orientate the lost.


Or, the lost can just knock on the door of the house and ask to use a phone.

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## Scheherazade

1. Piranhas bark.

2. Brunettes make better friends.

3. Self-made millionaires are more likely to have gone to state school.

4. One in six mobile phones in Britain is contaminated with poo.

5. Penguins rescued from oil slicks get knitted jumpers to keep them warm.

6. There will be more people in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday to watch the Wales v France World Cup semi-final on video screens than there will be at the actual match in New Zealand.

7. Meerkats recognise each others' voices.

8. Lady Gaga doesn't like Lady Goo Goo. 

9. Babies know if someone is being unfairly treated at just 15 months.

10. Really good sex can wipe your memory.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_201.shtml

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## Scheherazade

1. Footballs were called "fut ballis" in 1497.

2. Flying racehorses long distances to competitions in other countries can actually make them faster.

3. William and Kate use Boris bikes.

4. There is a decrease in natural births on Halloween and an increase on Valentines Day.

5. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch, Wales's longest
place name, fits onto a single Monopoly square. 

6. The average wait before getting in contact with someone after a first date is now 1.52 days.

7. The most relaxing song ever - called Weightless - is 11% more soporific than any other song. 

8. The world's largest family has 181 members - one husband, 39 wives, 94 children, 14 daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren.

9. Former scouts volunteer more than people who weren't in the scouts.

10. Alice Cooper runs a Bible class. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_202.shtml

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## 86.5parker

Me i did not know that i am going to having a vippi or VIP in some loan in Helsinki Finland this week and it is really a good news.

----------

