Facts R Fun

[scifan57]

The Tokyo zoo is closed for two months a year to give the animals a break from the visitors.

 

[J. A.]

There's an annual competition in Cumbria, England, called "World's Biggest Liar". Competitors from around the world have to tell a lie as convincing as possible within five minutes. Everyone is allowed to take part, except for politcians and lawyers, because they are supposed to be too skilled at telling lies.

 

[J. A.]

Concert violinist Roger Frisch of the Minnesota Orchestra experienced small tremors that prevented him from doing his job. So he had a brain surgery, during which he was awake and playing the violin throughout the procedure, while an electrode was inserted in his thalamus.

 

[abababababab]

Birds cock their heads at the ground not to listen for prey (such as insects or worms) but to better see them.

 

[J. A.]

Book scorpions/pseudoscorpions are arachnids. They are found in rooms with dusty books. Their size is 2.5 mm - 4.5 mm, and they eat booklice and house dust mites, thus protecting books.

 

[scifan57]

The glue on postage stamps produced in Israel is certified Kosher.

 

[abababababab]

The Truman Syndrome is a condition in which patients believe they are living in a reality TV show.

 

[J. A.]

Socotra, the largest of four islands of a small archipelago in the Indian Ocean, is very isolated and a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. It has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth".

Wikipedia

 

[abababababab]

Rabbits often sleep with their eyes open.

 

[twerppoet]

Rabbits often sleep with their eyes open.

Only the smart ones.

 

[J. A.]

In May 2010, a programmer, living in Florida, spent 10,000 bitcoins for pizza which a volunteer in the UK ordered him for about 25 USD. In 2013, the same amount of bitcoins would have cost 750,000 USD. Today, it's worth more than 4,000,000.

 

[abababababab]

A "moment" was a medieval unit of time. 1 hour had 40 moments.

 

[J. A.]

A grandmother won 2 million USD on the lottery, using numbers she found inside a fortune cookie.

 

[J. A.]

An official had ordered the wrong colour, so traffic islands now are pink instead of grey in Wijchen, Netherlands. At first, the town intended to correct this. Because of many positive reactions, it was decided that they will remain pink. Additionally, artists will make their contributions.

 

[abababababab]

I was requested to share whether dogs have all canine teeth because they are called canines.

No. Dogs have incisors, canines, molars and premolars like any other mammal. The scientific name for a dog is Canis familiaris. "Canis" means "dog" in latin. The word canine comes from the latin word "caninus", meaning "of the dog". The members of the Canis group (dogs, wolves, coyotes) have prominent canine teeth, that adds to the reason for them being called canines. A misconception we might have been having till today is that only dogs are called canines, but all mammals belonging to the Canis group are canines.