Share Your Interesting But Not Very Useful Facts

[Morningside]

Ayahuasca said:

Old mirrors were manufactured with a silver backing to create the reflection. Silver was considered a purifying metal, which is why vampires see no reflection.

Modern mirrors use an aluminum backing, so cannot be used to identify vampires.

Also, aluminum is the original spelling of the metal.

I thought mirrors were part mercury ?

[Dan Singh]

Morningside said:

Ayahuasca said:

Old mirrors were manufactured with a silver backing to create the reflection. Silver was considered a purifying metal, which is why vampires see no reflection.

Modern mirrors use an aluminum backing, so cannot be used to identify vampires.

Also, aluminum is the original spelling of the metal.

I thought mirrors were part mercury ?

They were in the 15th century, not nowadays.

[loughran]

Use of mercury in the manufacture of mirrors ended around 1900.

[Nimby]

Lost ranger said:

Golfgtimk28v said:

""crab, any short-tailed member of the crustacean order Decapoda (phylum Arthropoda)—especially the brachyurans (infraorder Brachyura), or true crabs, but also other forms such as the anomurans (suborder Anomura), which include the hermit crabs. Decapods occur in all oceans, in fresh water, and on land; about 10,000 species have been described.""

It is a tree, you can't have crabs evolved 5 times, you could have crab like animals, which is different.

The whole point of that quote is that the word 'crab' can refer to 'true' brachyuran crabs, but can also refer to other independently evolved forms such as Hermit crabs.

But some of those species might not be called crabs in some languages, and in other languages they may call things crabs that we don't. So it's a pretty meaningless statement scientifically.
There are some amazing examples of convergent evolution such as moles which look almost identical but are unrelated (well, their common ancestor is very distant and nothing like a mole).

[Dr Jekyll]

Nimby said:

But some of those species might not be called crabs in some languages, and in other languages they may call things crabs that we don't. So it's a pretty meaningless statement scientifically.
There are some amazing examples of convergent evolution such as moles which look almost identical but are unrelated (well, their common ancestor is very distant and nothing like a mole).

+1

See also Thylacines, Hyenas, and Dogs.

[Golfgtimk28v]

The Lambo Countach rear wing was never a OEM option. It was fitted by aftermarket.

[Doofus]

Golfgtimk28v said:

The Lambo Countach rear wing was never a OEM option. It was fitted by aftermarket.

Really? I thought it was supplied, but not fitted, by the factory.

Like the rear wing on 'batmobile' BMW CSLs.

[Golfgtimk28v]

Doofus said:

Really? I thought it was supplied, but not fitted, by the factory.

Like the rear wing on 'batmobile' BMW CSLs.

From the horse's mouth, fitted in the carpark.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYrFVXKf/

[Doofus]

Golfgtimk28v said:

From the horse's mouth, fitted in the carpark.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYrFVXKf/

Is he a horse? I don't know who he is.

[RizzoTheRat]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentino_Balboni

[Raccaccoonie]

In the film the life of Brian, when Palin says Biggus Dickus, the guards laughing was not planned and he went with it, which makes it all more funnier than intended, as genuine laughs.

https://youtu.be/HrcbCW4y9Dw

Bigus Dickus

[eldar]

Raccaccoonie said:

In the film the life of Brian, when Palin says Biggus Dickus, the guards laughing was not planned and he went with it, which makes it all more funnier than intended, as genuine laughs.

https://youtu.be/HrcbCW4y9Dw

Bigus Dickus

Corpsing.

[Doofus]

eldar said:

Raccaccoonie said:

In the film the life of Brian, when Palin says Biggus Dickus, the guards laughing was not planned and he went with it, which makes it all more funnier than intended, as genuine laughs.

https://youtu.be/HrcbCW4y9Dw

Bigus Dickus

Corpsing.

That's The Death Of Brian you're thinking of.

[Raccaccoonie]

eldar said:

Corpsing.

not sure that would be the word here as the filming carried on and was used, no outtakes. Also background actors laughed which is very rare.

[Halmyre]

Raccaccoonie said:

In the film the life of Brian, when Palin says Biggus Dickus, the guards laughing was not planned and he went with it, which makes it all more funnier than intended, as genuine laughs.

https://youtu.be/HrcbCW4y9Dw

Bigus Dickus

IIRC the actors playing the soldiers were ordered not to laugh under pain of monetary fines. Palin then did his damndest to make them laugh...

eldar said:

Corpsing.

...and it's actually Palin who nearly corpses at one point.

[Punctilio]

Raccaccoonie said:

In the film the life of Brian, when Palin says Biggus Dickus, the guards laughing was not planned and he went with it, which makes it all more funnier than intended, as genuine laughs.

https://youtu.be/HrcbCW4y9Dw

Bigus Dickus

That's the weakest/ laziest writing in the film, comedy from a speech impediment
and a cock name, stuttering is also a Palin trait in A Fish Called Wanda.

[austinsmirk]

I believe Palins father suffered from a stammer, hence the link. I also think he’s been involved in various charity work around it too.

Seeing as this is a “ fact thread”: my father in law looks just like him. When we’re abroad in holiday we/ he gets stopped a lot by foreigners who think he is Palin. Tbh, it’s hilarious!!!

[Raccaccoonie]

Punctilio said:

That's the weakest/ laziest writing in the film, comedy from a speech impediment
and a cock name, stuttering is also a Palin trait in A Fish Called Wanda.

I laughed. I like puerile humour, I think it was the time when people took the piss out of each other and didn't ring the police.

[Pit Pony]

Ayahuasca said:

Old mirrors were manufactured with a silver backing to create the reflection. Silver was considered a purifying metal, which is why vampires see no reflection.

Modern mirrors use an aluminum backing, so cannot be used to identify vampires.

Also, aluminum is the original spelling of the metal.

Tastes like fear

[Raccaccoonie]

A strawberry is a nut.