How about an Interesting as HECK thread???

[FlyingClayDisk]

How about a thread on interesting little factoids you been made aware of in life?  You know, a thread of..."Did you know?"...kind of stuff.

I'll start, and please feel free to add yours in...

Did you know...Heinz Ketchup is a Newtonian fluid?  That the recipe was specifically designed to have properties of a Newtonian fluid, and that this was intentional?

You know how ketchup can be notoriously difficult to get out of a ketchup bottle?  Remember the commercials back in the 70's with the little jingle..."An-Tiss-i-Pay-Shun...it's making me wait!"...Well, Heinz (and probably others) realized this so they re-engineered the recipe to create a solution.  Make ketchup a Newtonian fluid.

So what is a Newtonian fluid and why does this matter?  Well, without getting into a bunch of Physics and Chemistry an easy way to explain a Newtonian fluid is a fluid or substance which changes its properties based on exposure to physical energy (in this case shaking).  If you shake a bottle of Heinz ketchup before you pour or squirt it, the ketchup will come out of the bottle much easier.  Shaking the bottle actually changes the 'viscosity' of the ketchup so it pours easier, even when cold.

How many times have we grabbed the squeeze ketchup bottle only to have none come out at first, followed by a fire hose gusher squirting out all over everything?  Too many times, right?  Now try the same thing, but shake the bottle up first and then squirt it...comes out like water, all nice and even and controlled.

When I learned this, I was like..."DOH!!!  Why didn't I know this sooner???"

So now you know...ketchup is a Newtonian fluid!

Just think about how many beers you can win at the bar with this little trivia factoid!  Ask people to name a "common Newtonian fluid?", "KETCHUP!" and...BOOM!...instant free beer! 
Who'da' thunk it???

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Here's another one...

Did you know...jet fuel is not particularly flammable.  Don't try this at home, but if you throw a lit match into a bucket of jet fuel the match will just go out (in most cases).  The reason is because the match doesn't have enough time just above the surface of the jet fuel (refined kerosene) to ignite the fumes, and it's the fumes which burn.  Now, if you instead held the match just 1/8 of an inch above the surface of the fuel, and held it there for a few seconds, it would ignite big time (NOT recommended!).  And definitely don't try this with boiling hot jet fuel either...just sayin'.

Jet fuel, like its counterpart, diesel fuel, has a much higher flashpoint than gasoline does.  And this is why diesel engines have so much higher compression over gas engines, as well as the fuel needing to be atomized during injection into the cylinder, to get it to ignite.

Useless trivia, to be sure.

[727Sky]

50% of the world’s oxygen is produced by the sea! (Plankton, seaweed and other ocean-based photosynthesis.)

More than half of your body is bacteria. Human cells make up only 43%, the rest are bacteria, viruses, and fungi!

[Karl12]

• The creature with the largest brain in relation to it's body is the ant.

[FlyingClayDisk]

• The creature with the largest brain in relation to it's body is the ant.

I did NOT know this!

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Did you know...some snakes have learned to imitate other snakes for protection?  Yep!  The common Bullsnake will imitate a Rattlesnake by vibrating its tail back and forth very quickly just like how a rattler does to make a threat think it's a rattlesnake, but the Bullsnake doesn't have any rattles.  So, instead it will hiss in a way that sounds exactly like a rattler, and their loud hiss corresponds exactly to their tail vibrations.  And, unless you know the difference between the two snakes by looking at the head, a Bullsnake looks very similar to a Rattlesnake, but is not venomous. 

We have lots of both around our place, so you learn quick.  Fortunately, a lot more bullsnakes than rattlers.  Sometimes a Bullsnake will make you jump 10 feet until you get a good look at 'em.  They're about the same size.

[putnam6]

• The creature with the largest brain in relation to it's body is the ant.

I fricking love that portrait... 


and not gonna lie Im using the AI search engines more and more, it has it positives and negatives. But I would not be surprised if they are here long after humanity. Resilient little bastards here in the south the red "fire"ants will ruin your morning, you will go out to get the paper and step in an ant hill, it just takes a few seconds and they are biting and stinging
 Ants' Existence on EarthAnts have existed on the planet for a significant amount of time. Based on research, modern-day ants are estimated to have originated between 140 to 168 million years ago 
1
. This pushes back the origin of ants at least 40 million years earlier than previously believed based on estimates from the fossil record 
1
. Ants first appeared during the Jurassic period, a time when dinosaurs roamed the land and plant life consisted mostly of cone- and spore-bearing species like pines and ferns 
2
.The diversity of ants is remarkable, with more than 13,800 known species and the potential existence of about 22,000 species 
3
2
. Ants have managed to survive and thrive, colonizing almost every landmass on Earth 
2
. They can be found in various habitats worldwide, except for Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland, and some island nations 
4
.Ants play a crucial role in ecosystems and have adapted to different environments, ranging from deserts to rainforests. They have evolved alongside flowering plants, and their diversification coincided with the emergence of flowering plants around 100 million years ago 
5
.In summary, ants have been present on Earth for approximately 140 to 168 million years, and their remarkable diversity and adaptability have contributed to their success as a dominant insect group
2
.

[FlyingClayDisk]

Did you know....that "antidisestablishmentarianism" is not even close to the longest word in the English language?

The longest word in the English language is 189,819 letters long!!...and FAR too long to print here (let alone type).  It would take (50) pages of a standard Oxford Dictionary to print it all.

Even so, the word, "hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia" trumps 'antidisestablishmentarianism" by (2) letters...and is totally legal in the game of Scrabble!  (I wonder how many points that would be??)

So what does "hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia" even mean anyway?

Well, it is the irrational fear of the number '666'.  Who knew???  LOL!

edit -- Oh, and how could we possibly leave out the word for... "the fear of exceptionally LONG words" ... "Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia"!!

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Did you know (I didn't)...that the spelling of every number below 1,000 does not contain the letter "a"??  I did not know this!

"Five hundred seventy two", "Two hundred sixty nine", "Nine hundred forty three", "One hundred eighty four", "twelve", "eight"...yep, checks out!  Crazy, huh?

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It is against the law to own only one guinea pig is Switzerland.  You can own (53) of them and it's perfectly fine, but if you own only (1) you are a hardened criminal in Switzerland.  Because...guinea pigs have rights too you know!

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In my lifetime, I've eaten "McSushi", and "McPizza", at McDonald's.  I even had "McPoutine" once in Canada and I've heard about "McLobster" rolls (but I've never had one)...BUT I had absolutely NO idea McDonald's once offered Bubble Gum flavored...BROCCOLI!  What would you even call that????  "McBroco-Blammo????  (Why...just why???)

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And finally (for now), in the "WT absolute F?" category......I had absolutely, positively, NO idea that the chainsaw was actually first invented for...CHILDBIRTH!  (????)    Yep!  Long before felling mighty oak trees, the chainsaw was invented to remove pieces of obstructive bone and cartilage from the pubic region of women during childbirth!  (Savages!)  Only decades later did someone think..."Hey, we could use somethin' like this for like cuttin' down trees n' stuff!  Hey, Sven, put down the axe for a second and come check this badboy out!"


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[FlyingClayDisk]

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Back to the subject of McDonald's for a second...when I was living/working over in Malaysia the McDonald's there didn't have Egg McMuffins.  They had Egg Muffins, but no McMuffins.  And, an Egg Muffin was egg, cheese...and ketchup.  So, I guess the Canadian Bacon defines the "Mc" part of a Mc-Muffin.  McDonald's also didn't have "Hamburgers".  How could a burger joint like McDonald's not have hamburgers??????  Well, "ham" is pork, and thus not 'Halal' (i.e. okay for Muslims to eat), so hamburgers at McDonald's in Malaysia were called "Beef Burgers"...which is kind of fitting really, because hamburgers today do not contain "ham" anyway.  The origin of 'hamburgers' was Hamburg, Germany where sausage was used initially.  So, the name "Hamburger" refers to a place, thus 'ham' had nothing do do with it, BUT the original ingredients did originally contain one of the main ingredients for sausage, ground pork.  So Malaysia elected to remove the word "ham" from hamburgers.  So confusing. 

Pass the McPizza please!  (BTW...McPizza was awesome!)

[CCoburn]

Mayo on French Fries?


Contrary to what was said in the movie Pulp Fiction, they do not put mayonnaise on French fries in the Netherlands; they actually put frietsaus on fries which looks like mayonnaise but is a bit sweeter.

[OneStepBack]

Off the top of my head (I am a medically retired intensive care charge nurse).

Carbon monoxide has a greater affinity for haemoglobin than oxygen. This is why it displaces oxygen and causes hypoxia and anoxia in carbon monoxide poisoning. Even so a small amount of oxygen remains dissolved in plasma (partial pressure* approximately 0.3 mmHg). We need an oxygen partial pressure of at least 85 mmHg in arterial blood to prevent brain and heart dysfunction. We measure this from a blood gas sample taken from an artery which is known as PO2. We can achieve this oxygen partial pressure from plasma alone by giving 100% oxygen and placing the victim in a hyperbaric chamber set at 3 atmospheres for approximately one hour. This also helps to displace the carbon monoxide quicker. The problem is not all hospitals have hyperbaric chambers.

*Standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is 760mmHg.  As oxygen is 21% of the atmosphere its partial pressure would be 21% of 760mmHg which is 159.6 mmHg. Water vapour exerts its own pressure so this can reduce the partial pressure of the other gases in the atmosphere.

If you prefer kPa divide mmHg by 7.5

[schuyler]

The way to get ketchup out of a bottle with some finesse is to turn the bottle horizontal and lightly tap on the neck. This will break the seal of ketchup around the top of the bottle allowing air to flow in and the ketchup to easily flow out.