Useless Facts

[tent163phantoka]

In Minnesota,mosquitoes are considered a public nuisance.In Minnesota,it's illegal to sleep naked.In Minneapolis, red cars may not drive down Lake Street.In Cottage Grove, Minnesota, people with even numbered adresses aren't allowed to water their plants on odd-numbered days, except the 31st day where it applies.

[Ballom Nom Nom]

In Minnesota,mosquitoes are considered a public nuisance.

I don't believe this is unique to Minnesota.~B~

[teslakana]

ALABAMAIncestuous marriages are legal.Dominoes may not be played on Sunday.It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.ALASKAMoose may not be viewed from an airplane.While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.No one may tie their pet dog to the roof of a car.It is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.ARKANSASDogs may not bark after 6 PM.CALIFORNIANo vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour.Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool.COLORADOThrowing missles at cars is illegal.IOWAHorses are forbidden to eat fire hydrants.MASSACHUSETTSIt is illegal to give beer to hospital patients.All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday.No gorilla is allowed in the back seat of any car.Bullets may not be used as currency.that's all i have (for now)

Edited July 6, 2012 by teslakana

[Alex Humva]

No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour.

While it sounds absurd, it does have its foundations in reality; unmanned vehicles are a real hazard on major highways. Actually, they're a hazard on regular roads too because the AI in them still can't cope with unpredictable human behavior.

[Ballom Nom Nom]

Incestuous marriages are legal.No one may tie their pet dog to the roof of a car.Throwing missles at cars is illegal.Bullets may not be used as currency.

The first item makes sense, because even if most people find it unsavory, it would probably be hard to outlaw it without infringing upon rights. The next three are probably based on a history of abuse that necessitated them. In particular, the second and third seem like logical things to do to prevent animal cruelty and property damage.~B~ Edited July 6, 2012 by Ballom

[teslakana]

leeches have 22 brainsthe "save" icon in microsoft word is a plobby disk with the shutter on backwardsmonday is the most likely day for some to commit suicideright handed people live( on average) arond 9 years longer than left handed peopleall the chemicals in the human body combined are worth 6.25 euro's (£4.96) if sold seperately315 entries in the webster's 1996 dictionary were misspelledthere are 318,979,564,00 possible combinations to the first 4 moves of chessthe word "lethologica" describes the state of not rembering the word you wantthe guiness book of records itself holds the rocord for most frequent book stolen from public librariesthat's all for now

Edited July 7, 2012 by teslakana

[Transcendence]

I just got my very first apartment. CONGRATULATE ME BZ-PEOPLE

[teslakana]

^ pointles for this topic much??|

[Queen of Liars]

all the chemicals in the human body combined are worth 6.25 euro's (£4.96) if sold seperately

However, if you were to sell the components of the body in the most profitable way, you would end up with between £400,000 and £500,000, most of it coming from organs like the heart and lungs.

[Transcendence]

^ pointles for this topic much??|

And it's pointless to be so serious. Let's celebrate

[Protodite Karzahni]

Dominoes may not be played on Sunday.It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.Moose may not be viewed from an airplane.No one may tie their pet dog to the roof of a car.Dogs may not bark after 6 PM.Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool.Horses are forbidden to eat fire hydrants.All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday.Bullets may not be used as currency.

Okay, I swear some of these just seem too daft to be true. Who's gonna be enforcing this wacky nonsens?

^ pointles for this topic much??

Well, it's information you're unlikely to use in real life. So I guess it counts as a useless fact.

[BioGio]

Okay, I swear some of these just seem too daft to be true. Who's gonna be enforcing this wacky nonsens?

Nobody. But do you remember when Occupy Wallstreet protesters got arrested for wearing masks? Who even knew that was against the law? The New York police don't arrest anyone on Halloween, but silly laws are allowed to keep on existing, partially because no one enforces them. France has a national dress code, but it's easier just not to actually enforce it.~ BioGio

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

-Erwin Rommel's armies were never charged with war crime charges.-At the battle of Dunkirk, the Germans could have defeated the British early on, but didn't because of Hitler's lack of strategic skill, and his desire for a German-British Alliance.-The MP-43 assault rifle was the first assault rifle ever made and had to be made under Hitler's nose initially.-Some people have made cars powered by WW2 engines.-On the Pacific war front, a single unescorted B-17 bomber (named Ol' 666 due to it's unlucky reputation and it's designation of 12666) managed to escape from a swarm of 17 Japanese Zero fighters (destroyed 4, the rest were running low on gas and had to leave).-Dr, Seuss was a captain in WW2, but he never saw any action or killed anyone, he also joked about his horrible aim (claiming that he would do more damage throwing his gun at his enemies rather then using it as a proper firearm).-Japanese Americans were allowed to fight on the European front only.

Edited July 7, 2012 by Proud Stigma

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

-Erwin Rommel's armies were never charged with war crime charges.

This is largely because Rommel tended to avoid committing any.

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

-Erwin Rommel's armies were never charged with war crime charges.

This is largely because Rommel tended to avoid committing any.

Of course, I was not trying to imply that he was granted some sort of impunity from any, sorry if it was taken that way.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Of course. I was just making the circumstances absolutely clear to readers. Some time on BZP and the internet in general has taught me the virtues of taking care to explain things that really should not need to be explained, as even the simplest of statements can, by accident or design, be grossly misunderstood.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

The ancient Babylonians knew the Earth was spherical because they studied its shadow on the moon. The mathematical approach to the stars which gave them this used a base 60 system, which is why we have 60 seconds in a minute/60 minutes in an hour and 360 degrees in a full circle

[BioGio]

I thought the Babylonians used base twelve. (60 in base 10 is just 50 in base 12.)~ BioGio

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

If base twelve makes 60 turn into 50 then it couldn't be that because then we'd have 50 seconds in a minute

[Athmos]

I just love the Political Laws here. "Horses can't eat fire hydrants." LOL.

[BioGio]

If base twelve makes 60 turn into 50 then it couldn't be that because then we'd have 50 seconds in a minute

The way of expressing the number "sixty" in base-12 would be the digits "50," because 60=5x12. Just like four in base-4 is "10." We use base-10 (decimal), though, which means that we express that value--sixty--as 60 (60=6x10). You've claimed that the Babylonians used a base-60 system, but I though that they used a base-12 system (hence their use of 12 zodiac signs and 12 hours in a day).50, therefore, does not mean the value fifty in base-12; it's the value sixty, even though it's written with the digits 50. Similarly, base-60 makes sixty "turn into" (i.e., be written as) 1. But we don't have one second in a minute, nor fifty, as the value remains sixty no matter how it's written. God this is difficult to express.~ BioGioEDIT: I did a bit more research and it seems that the Babylonians did use base-60, although they had something of a love affair with the number twelve. And their method of writing numbers was pretty convoluted, making it look like they actually used base-10 or base-3 at first glance. Edited July 8, 2012 by BioGio

[~Shockwave~]

the average speed of an unlaiden European swallow is 10 meters per secondAfrican is 11 meters per second.totally useless.

[Catra]

Just like four in base-4 is "10."

thank you for explaining this because now i understand what glados means when she says "two plus two is ten in base four" in portal.did you know that prometheus was punished by the gods for giving the gift of knowledge to man? he was cast into the bowels of the earth and pecked by birds.also; nicolas cage, jim carrey, and john malkovich were all considered for the role of norman osborn in the 2002 spider-man film.

[tent163phantoka]

In North Dakota, It's illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on.In Massachusetts,candy may not contain more than 1% alcohol.In Boston, it's illegal to play the fiddle.Fig newtons are named after the city of Newton, Massachusetts, not Sir Isaac Newton.

[~Shockwave~]

Just like four in base-4 is "10."

thank you for explaining this because now i understand what glados means when she says "two plus two is ten in base four" in portal.did you know that prometheus was punished by the gods for giving the gift of knowledge to man? he was cast into the bowels of the earth and pecked by birds.also; nicolas cage, jim carrey, and john malkovich were all considered for the role of norman osborn in the 2002 spider-man film.

the thing about Prometheus is a bit more complex than that. he gave man the gift of knowledge, yes, but he was punished because he tricked Zeus by making him choose bones over the beef, therefore saying that future sacrifices would be held to that standard rather than the gods getting the good stuff.and his liver was forcefully taken out by those "birds" every time the clock he sat on reached a certain time.but it escapes me.

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

I also heard that Zues was ready to destroy humanity because of the actions of Prometheus, yet when he saw humanity with fire he laughed because he didn't need to destroy them, for they would destroy each other. Or so I heard.

[Burnmad]

I'm pretty sure Aho was quoting the defective turret from Portal 2.

-

[Alex Humva]

Here's a good but generally useless fact; Greek mythology varies wildly depending on what source its from and what time period it came from. The ancient Greek belief system wasn't a centralized thing, each city-state/collation of city-states had their own myths, based on their own ideals. For instance, you could go to a city where Hera was their patron, and hear tales casting Hera in a good light, while most other city-states generally agreed she was rather derpy. For any one Greek myth you'll get a dozen different versions from a dozen different city-states.

[Catra]

I'm pretty sure Aho was quoting the defective turret from Portal 2.

-

heres a useless fact: i was indeed quoting a defective turret from portal 2.heres an interesting and actually not useless fact: if you put two pieces of metal together in space, they weld together. its called cold welding and it doesnt usually (except for certain circumstances) happen on earth because our atmosphere puts a layer of oxidation on the metals or something like that. Edited July 12, 2012 by Aho-Chan

[Mr. Fluffy]

If you were to put all your blood vessels in a single line, the line would wrap around Earth twice.

[~Shockwave~]

I'm pretty sure Aho was quoting the defective turret from Portal 2.

-

oh.... whoops... never played it, wouldn't know.sorry, it looked like a fact... Edited July 12, 2012 by Wheeljack

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

Here's a good but generally useless fact; Greek mythology varies wildly depending on what source its from and what time period it came from. The ancient Greek belief system wasn't a centralized thing, each city-state/collation of city-states had their own myths, based on their own ideals. For instance, you could go to a city where Hera was their patron, and hear tales casting Hera in a good light, while most other city-states generally agreed she was rather derpy. For any one Greek myth you'll get a dozen different versions from a dozen different city-states.

This is also the reason Zeus had many wives. You got one city saying "Leto was Zeus' wife, because she's where we get Apollo, our patron deity!" and then another saying "What? No, Metis was Zeus' wife, thats who we get Athena, our patron deity from!" and so rather than fight they just thought "Well then, surely Zeus just had many wives. He is a king after all." "Wait, I'm a king as well, so can I have many wives too?" "Huh, I guess you can." "Yay religion!"

[~Shockwave~]

Here's a good but generally useless fact; Greek mythology varies wildly depending on what source its from and what time period it came from. The ancient Greek belief system wasn't a centralized thing, each city-state/collation of city-states had their own myths, based on their own ideals. For instance, you could go to a city where Hera was their patron, and hear tales casting Hera in a good light, while most other city-states generally agreed she was rather derpy. For any one Greek myth you'll get a dozen different versions from a dozen different city-states.

This is also the reason Zeus had many wives. You got one city saying "Leto was Zeus' wife, because she's where we get Apollo, our patron deity!" and then another saying "What? No, Metis was Zeus' wife, thats who we get Athena, our patron deity from!" and so rather than fight they just thought "Well then, surely Zeus just had many wives. He is a king after all." "Wait, I'm a king as well, so can I have many wives too?" "Huh, I guess you can." "Yay religion!"

and according to every greek king, they where zeus's son.plus he gave birth (essentially) to one of his daughters out of his skull. make of that what you will.and if you think greek myths are bad about that try Egyptian.Random fact:water doesn't exist in liquid form on mars. it boils instantly due to the low pressure. same idea as the cold welding thing mentioned a bit higher up. if i'm not mistaken. . Edited July 12, 2012 by Wheeljack

[Ballom Nom Nom]

Random fact:water doesn't exist in liquid form on mars. it boils instantly due to the low pressure. same idea as the cold welding thing mentioned a bit higher up. if i'm not mistaken. .

Doesn't Mars have ice caps? In that case, not all of the water must boil and some of it must have frozen. Also, after looking up cold welding, they aren't the same at all. Cold welding takes place due to lack of melting/heating in vacuum, while water boiling is, as you said, due to low pressure. Not really comparable at all.~B~

[~Shockwave~]

Random fact:water doesn't exist in liquid form on mars. it boils instantly due to the low pressure. same idea as the cold welding thing mentioned a bit higher up. if i'm not mistaken. .

Doesn't Mars have ice caps? In that case, not all of the water must boil and some of it must have frozen. Also, after looking up cold welding, they aren't the same at all. Cold welding takes place due to lack of melting/heating in vacuum, while water boiling is, as you said, due to low pressure. Not really comparable at all.~B~

oh, how i love chemistry! sorry let me clarify:so anyway, pressure is directly linked to the freezing, melting and evaporating temperatures of every element and molecule.every chart is unique and below a certain pressure, temperature change causes it to faze right through the liquid state, called sublimation.you can see this with dry ice.and if you want to see something really cool google triple point.there are also charts for this. and i believe cold welding also deals with the same theory, but i'll google it and see what i find, i could be wrong.hm, i guess your right. my mistake. Edited July 12, 2012 by Wheeljack

[Ballom Nom Nom]

Random fact:water doesn't exist in liquid form on mars. it boils instantly due to the low pressure. same idea as the cold welding thing mentioned a bit higher up. if i'm not mistaken. .

Doesn't Mars have ice caps? In that case, not all of the water must boil and some of it must have frozen. Also, after looking up cold welding, they aren't the same at all. Cold welding takes place due to lack of melting/heating in vacuum, while water boiling is, as you said, due to low pressure. Not really comparable at all.~B~

oh, how i love chemistry! sorry let me clarify:so anyway, pressure is directly linked to the freezing, melting and evaporating temperatures of every element and molecule.every chart is unique and below a certain pressure, temperature change causes it to faze right through the liquid state, called sublimation.you can see this with dry ice.and if you want to see something really cool google triple point.there are also charts for this. and i believe cold welding also deals with the same theory, but i'll google it and see what i find, i could be wrong.

Well yes, having taken some chemistry I'm aware of all this. However, it seems cold welding is possible by the lack of atmosphere around the objects, while the boiling of water on Mars is due to the pressure. The causes seem very dissimilar, as far as I can tell.~B~

[~Shockwave~]

Random fact:water doesn't exist in liquid form on mars. it boils instantly due to the low pressure. same idea as the cold welding thing mentioned a bit higher up. if i'm not mistaken. .

Doesn't Mars have ice caps? In that case, not all of the water must boil and some of it must have frozen. Also, after looking up cold welding, they aren't the same at all. Cold welding takes place due to lack of melting/heating in vacuum, while water boiling is, as you said, due to low pressure. Not really comparable at all.~B~

oh, how i love chemistry! sorry let me clarify:so anyway, pressure is directly linked to the freezing, melting and evaporating temperatures of every element and molecule.every chart is unique and below a certain pressure, temperature change causes it to faze right through the liquid state, called sublimation.you can see this with dry ice.and if you want to see something really cool google triple point.there are also charts for this. and i believe cold welding also deals with the same theory, but i'll google it and see what i find, i could be wrong.

Well yes, having taken some chemistry I'm aware of all this. However, it seems cold welding is possible by the lack of atmosphere around the objects, while the boiling of water on Mars is due to the pressure. The causes seem very dissimilar, as far as I can tell.~B~

i assumed it was the low pressure. i guess they are... i believi i edited that post to say i was wrongand you asked how that worked so i clarified... Edited July 12, 2012 by Wheeljack

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Here's a fun fact.If you stacked 1,000 elephants on top of each other, they would die.

[teslakana]

Here's a fun fact.If you stacked 1,000 elephants on top of each other, they would die.

that's probably gravity1st elephant is in between 999 others and the earth2nd elephent is stuck beteww 1 elephant and the earth below adn 998 above and so onthe ones at the top would most likely die do to the air being to thinBACK ON TOPIC in utah it is illegal not to drink milk Edited July 17, 2012 by teslakana

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

I'm pretty sure Aho was quoting the defective turret from Portal 2.

-

oh.... whoops... never played it, wouldn't know.sorry, it looked like a fact...

Well the legend of Prometheus was an actual legend none the less and it did play something like that.