Official Random Fact/Random Thought Thread!

[Knotorious]

Welcome to the official Random Fact/Random Thought thread!

As one might expect, here I encourage anyone and everyone to share a random fact and/or random thought that they’ve had which is worth sharing! You may share one or the other, or one of both per day everyday for as long as this forum exists! In order to keep the facts shared on this thread somewhat scholarly, I would strongly suggest that everyone cite at least one source (a website or a book with an ISBN number) to back up their claim. I’ll start…

Random Thought: Can you imagine doing tree work without Bluetooth communication in your helmets?

***Knotorious Imagines such a situation***

Climber: *screaming at significant height* I’m going to send this top!

Groundsman: *looking up, screaming* What?!

Climber: *screaming even louder* I said I’m going to send this top so get ready!!!! *gives the international arborist chainsaw revving signal*

Groundsman: WAIT!!! *gives the international signal for pause with an extended palm* Lemme just check on the Port-a-Wrap first!

Climber: What?!

Groundsman: Gives the international “one moment” signal with his index finger and proceeds to check to ensure the rigging line is installed properly.

Groundsman: Gives the international symbol for “okay/go for it” with a raised thumb atop his fist.

Climber: *Makes appropriate cuts and sends the top*

Random Fact: A bite from the Banana spider (AKA Brazilian Wandering spider, AKA Armed spider) can cause extended (no pun intended) and extremely painful erections in males, followed by death, within a matter of hours A potent neurotoxin in the venom can also cause abdominal cramps, hypothermia, blurred vision and convulsions. While the poisonous arachnids are found throughout South America, particularly in Brazil, they have also been known to hitch a ride to North America and Europe among bunches of bananas. Talk about die hard!

Fact source: Die hard: Banana spiders can cause four-hour erection followed by death - https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/die-hard-banana-spiders-cause-8494586

I hope I've started something fun and exciting! In order to preserve the longevity of this thread, I as kindly ask that no one post more than one random fact and/or random thought per day, but you may post one of both or just one fact or thought per day! Thanks in advance to anyone who perpetuates this thread! It should be a lot of fun!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

It would seem that an M1 can be safely operated in a school zone....
Who Knew

 

[Knotorious]

Chart of Tallest Peaks in the World




Chart of Tallest Panamerican Peaks




I broke my own rule. Don't be like this guy.

 

[Knotorious]

Random Fact: The most widely printed book in the world is the catalogue for IKEA. IKEA has over 200 million copies of its catalogue circulated annually. This surpasses the amount of printing for the Christian bible.

Random Thought: I hope more people participate in my new thread! Any random thought or fact qualifies! Share yours now!

 

[Mick!]

lose should be spelt loose
loose should be spelt lose.

 

[Mick!]

When Sweden plays Denmark at sports the Scores are displayed Swe : Den.
Whats left of the words make Den : Mark

 

[vharrison]

Random: Manasota Key, Florida has more shark teeth than you can shake a stick at. You can be sitting in your beach chair, look down and find one! I have not researched why but right in that area along that coast, for miles, you can find them. Even prehistoric ones, like that HUGE shark that lived a long long time ago, the Megalodon.

 

[cory]

Wow! My friend lives in Boca and he scours the beach for teeth, finds one maybe every 2 months. Repeated dredging hasn't helped!

 

[FireFighterZero]

The Western Toad only seeks out water during mating time.

Found that out last night after wondering wtf all these toads were doing in that pond.

 

[Knotorious]

Random Fact: A French pig was once incarcerated and executed. This pig was from the middle ages and it was tied to a crime involving a murder and charged with blasphemy. The pig was said to have come in contact with a child’s face which caused complications due to the injuries. Ultimately, this led to the death of the 3-month old child. The pig was sent to prison and eventually publicly executed.

Source: Pigs Might Try | History Today - https://www.historytoday.com/archive/natural-histories/pigs-might-try

EDIT: The reason I have asked that everyone do their best to provide sources which support their random facts is so that anyone curious about it, or anyone who wishes to gain further education about the matter, can easily click a link or order a book which discusses it more in depth. I am a huge proponent of education and, by creating this thread, I hope that everyone will learn about an eclectic variety of new information. Even if you share a random thought, you are still teaching us all about yourself and the way that your mind operates.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Random thought.....

Do you sometimes wonder if fentanyl laced "everything" is the new "catching an STD from a toilet seat"?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

You forgot about first responders.

 

[Tree09]

Fentanyl is used for ir surgeries, like all opioids they have their place and when you need them you need them.

 

[Knotorious]

I didn't mean to say that it can be used for legitimate applications, so long as it is produced by US pharmaceutical companies and only available by prescription. It's a lot like cocaine which is still used by pharmaceutical companies, but they have banned us citizens from possessing and manufacturing it. @Tree09

 

[CurSedVoyce]

The only way anyone could be dosed with fentanyl unsuspectingly is if they attempted to buy either hard drugs or pharmaceuticals off of the street. For example, they may be looking to purchase heroin or oxycodone and end up with a bag or imitation pressed tablet looking exactly like the real drug, which is actually just fentanyl, or its potent analogue, carfentanil and, in some rare instances, the ultra potent analogue sufentanil. Potentially, someone might become the victim of a poisoning and they might be dosed with fentanyl or analogue, but this basically almost never happens to anyone anywhere. So if you fail a drug test for fentanyl, there is a 99% chance that you either sought out the drug and used it or that you sought out other drugs and received counterfeit drugs instead.

So no, it's not the only way.....

 

[SeanKroll]

lose should be spelt loose
loose should be spelt lose.

What does a grain have to do with anything?

 

[Mick!]

What does a grain have to do with anything?

It’s a perfectly acceptable past participle of the verb To Spell. As you well know, ungrateful colonial!

 

[FireFighterZero]

Yeah...the cop thing was mostly overhyped.

I think loads of people are abusing fentanyl and blaming it on the "legal" weed they smoked earlier.

 

[Knotorious]

I'm eliminating my rule that everyone can only post one fact and/or one random thought per day. In retrospect, that restriction was silly and poorly thought out. There are more than enough facts and random thoughts in this world to sustain us for all of eternity. Therefore, feel free to bombard this thread with random facts and/or random thoughts. As cheesy as this saying is, knowledge is indeed power.

Random Fact #1: In college my nickname was "Google" because I frequently shared a variety of facts with my peers which were relevant to whatever discussion was being had at that moment.

Random Fact #2: There is a term for the "?!" punctuation combination at the end of a sentence. It is called an interrobang and was invented during the 1960s. This combination of punctuation made it easy for advertisements to express emotional questions. The interrobang originally looked like both marks were overlapped (‽). Look closely at the symbol proceeding my last sentence. I wish this were a standard keyboard symbol.

 

[lxskllr]

I can make that using my compose key. That's a standard feature of gnu/linux, but I think packages are available for windows to provide that functionality.

 

[cory]

The extent of my keyboard prowess: œ ø o

 

[Knotorious]

Random Fact: "OMG" was first used in 1917 in a letter to Winston Churchill. A retired British admiral of the Royal Navy one day became excited due to headlines regarding the mobilizing forces of Britain. Eager to share this news with a college, the admiral quickly wrote a small acronym for ‘Oh My God!’ in his letter. Little did he know that he had just invented one of the most popular acronyms of today’s society.

Source: The First Use of OMG Was in a 1917 Letter to Winston Churchill - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-first-use-of-omg-was-in-a-1917-letter-to-winston-churchill-145636383/

Random Fact: The world's most successful pirate was a woman. She was a 19th-century Chinese pirate known as Ching Shih. She was the widow of Cheng I and took over command of her husband’s crew of over 1,800 ships and 80,000 men and outlaws of the Qinq Dynasty.

Source: The Chinese Female Pirate Who Commanded 80,000 Outlaws - https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ching-shih-chinese-female-pirate#:~:text=Ching%20Shih%2C%20who%20lived%20and,most%20successful%20pirate%20in%20history.&text=At%20the%20dawn%20of%20the,Sea%20in%20the%20Qing%20dynasty.

 

[cory]

Pirate thing sounds far fetched to me

 

[Nutball]

The extent of my keyboard prowess: œ ø o

I thought I knew how to trigger some symbols, but I made the screen go black... crap.

Then when it turned back on everything was upside down.

I'll quit while I'm even (I got it back upright.)

 

[cory]

õoooo, how do you get it all to go upside down?