Post an Interesting Fact

AndrewFlannigan said:
...and often as not, wrong.

It's possible that the first jet aircraft was the 1910 Coanda: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coandă-1910.

Slippery things these "facts". :thinking: :naughty:
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Interesting - he appears to have been the first person to not manage sustained flight in a jet aircraft. Looks like the HE178 was the first jet aircraft to manage sustained flight as described then. :)
 
Talking of Octopuses
Octopuses are semelparous animals, which means they reproduce once and then they die. After a female octopus lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away; by the time the eggs hatch, she dies. ... Females often kill and eat their mates; if not, they die a few months later, too

It seems that they are prone to cannibalism, so the female dies to stop her eating her young.
 
There are about 6,400 species on mammal on Earth and about 20% of those species are bats.

Dave
 
We all like a cup of tea or coffee don't we?

Well, believe it or not we're drinking a natural pesticide - caffeine. It overloads the nervous system of insects, often paralysing and even killing those that try to eat the plants that contain it.

It affects humans' central nervous system too, but for us it just acts as a stimulant.
 
It takes a giraffe 3 hours to have sex . 2 hours of it is necking on!!
 
Cobra said:
The Platypus is one of the few animals that lays eggs and produces milk. ( true)
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And therefore one of a select few that can make its own custard ( I'm not sure many do though)
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True, the duck billed Platypus and Echidna (spiny anteater) are classified as Monotremes, a sort of missing link in that they lay eggs, are warm blooded (like birds) and produce milk - like mammals.
When the first specimens of the Platypus arrived in Europe/USA, people refused to believe it was real and was the work of a demented taxidermist. The bill is packed with nerve endings to seek their food.
The echidna, when the female is in season, attracts a train of males, the biggest in pole position, the smallest bringing up the rear, all hoping to father the puggle as the infant echidna is known. Initially, the female carries the egg, then the puggle, until the developing spines are too much.
Many Australian animals end up as roadkill, but most avoid the echidna as the spines can puncture a tyre
 
There's only one letter that doesn't appear in any US state name.

Can you guess?
 
Dale. said:
Nailed. (y)
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Although it surprises me - not like our American cousins to not make use of of every resource at their disposal. As soon as they realise we should be on the lookout for Tequas or Qualifornia :D
 
kennethwfd said:
a sort of missing link in that they lay eggs, are warm blooded (like birds) and produce milk - like mammals.
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Mammals are warm blooded too ;)
 
There was a 22 year period where an actual Samurai could have sent a fax to Abe Lincoln (note there's no evidence to suggest a fax machine was used by either).
 
monotremes are mammals
 
Tori_T said:
Time to set up a trailer and gatepost repair business then. ;)
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Good idea. Maybe the firms who provided trailer training and who have now been put out of business could diversify . . .
 
Cobra said:
The Platypus is one of the few animals that lays eggs and produces milk. ( true)
.
.
.
.


And therefore one of a select few that can make its own custard ( I'm not sure many do though)
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The Echidna is the other. Im not sure it likes custard either. If it did though its front and back feet face in opposite directions, meaning its the only animal that can dig straight down to get at it's custard
 
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Another batty one.

In general smaller animals do not live as long as larger ones. However, bats, most of which are small, have a much longer life span than other mammals of a similar mass.

When adjusted for body size, out of the approximatly 6,400 species of mammal, only 19 species live longer than humans. 18 of 19 are bats.


Dave


BTW the one other mammal of the 19 is the naked mole rat.
 
Marmite is banned in 19 aboriginal communities in Queensland because it can be used to make alcohol
 
The last person to be executed by guillotine in France died after the film Jaws was released
 
boyfalldown said:
Marmite is banned in 19 aboriginal communities in Queensland because it can be used to make alcohol
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We like to think of Australia as a nice, laid back country, but the reality is very far from that the way they treat aborigines. The country is steeped in racism, the same applies to France on your other thread. Is is any coincidence that the last person in the Western World, to be executed by beheading, was of African origin?
 
andya700 said:
We like to think of Australia as a nice, laid back country, but the reality is very far from that the way they treat aborigines. The country is steeped in racism, the same applies to France on your other thread. Is is any coincidence that the last person in the Western World, to be executed by beheading, was of African origin?
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when I lived in Australia I was very surprised by just how bureaucratic, rule driven and unfriendly it actually was. The racism & sexism I already knew about
 
There are 10 kinds of people who understand binary, those who do and those who don't.
 
boyfalldown said:
when I lived in Australia I was very surprised by just how bureaucratic, rule driven and unfriendly it actually was. The racism & sexism I already knew about
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My nephew, a professional photographer and his wife (an Ozzie but brought up from two years of age in NZ) live in New Zealand on the coast . It strikes me as a more pleasant country to live in. The scenery is wonderful and they live on the coast and see Orcas swimming by from their lounge. Here's a comparison which you may find interesting. https://www.visafirst.com/blog/is-it-better-to-live-in-australia-or-new-zealand/

My wife trained with a nurse who eventually married an Australian. They visited us when they were over here visiting her family. I found him to be rather brash. I also had another negative experience with one. Not right to generalise, though.
 
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Autoglass was founded in South Africa. I read up on them, after they replaced my glass yesterday. :)
 
One of the greatest ecolgical disasters occurred in Australia when Thomas Austin had 13 rabbits imported and released on his land for hunting. 50 years later the entire continent was overrun by them. Despite attempts to control the bunnies, it is estimated that the current rabbit population is around 200M and poses a major threat

If that was not enough, now there are also an estimated 1M feral camels as well
 
Just think what damage a boat load of humans could do there...
 
Time flies like an arrow.

Fruit flies like bananas...
 
Galápagos giant tortoises are the biggest tortoises in the world!
Starting life the size and weight of a hamster, they grow a whooping 3,000 times in weight throughout their lives
- and never stop growing completely.
 
Cobra said:
Galápagos giant tortoises are the biggest tortoises in the world!
Starting life the size and weight of a hamster, they grow a whooping 3,000 times in weight throughout their lives
- and never stop growing completely.
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Sounds like my sister in law ;)
 
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