100 things we didn't know last year...

[whiskeytown]

This is pretty cool

from the BBC - stuff we didn't know last year, apparently...some of the top ones have links to other BBC stories where you learn there is a genetic disease that can make a person like a mermaid, for example.

some of this stuff is wild.

7. Baboons can tell the difference between English and French. Zoo keepers at Port Lympne wild animal park in Kent are having to learn French to communicate with the baboons which had been transferred from Paris zoo.

8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it's possibly because religious people have less fear of death.

14. It's possible for a human to blow up balloons via the ear. A 55-year-old factory worker from China reportedly discovered 20 years ago that air leaked from his ears, and he can now inflate balloons and blow out candles.

37. Cyclist Lance Armstrong's heart is almost a third larger than the average man's.

59. Oliver Twist is very popular in China, where its title is translated as Foggy City Orphan.

pretty darned cool...post your fav. here.

My prediction for OOT fav...

54. Deep Throat is reportedly the most profitable film ever. It was made for $25,000 (£13,700) and has grossed more than $600m.

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ALSO -
78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

come on - cough it up - who on OOT has the third party favor....

RB

[Blarg]

One in 18? That can't be right. I've seen hundreds or thousands of guys at the beach without shirts, and everybody in my P.E. classes growing up, and countless strangers, and have never once seen a third nipple.

Very cool topic though.

[rJ_]

Ive seen one, and it was disturbing.

rJ

[Vavavoom]

36. The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor.

There is no way this is true since I found OOT !!

[spamuell]

I was amused by:

100. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance".

[whiskeytown]

totally true...

in my coffeeshop days I encountered a very CHEAP coffeeshop who hadn't pay the performance fee yet

he would ask that performers not perform cover tunes - we did anyways...stupid idiot should paid his fee - why do we ruin our setlist over it....LOL

RB

[NhlNut]

IIRC,
most third nipples don't look like nipples. They look like moles.

[rbdog]

"Nelson probably had a broad Norfolk accent..."

I know of Admiral Nelson, but could some Brit explain the accent?

[MrMon]

[ QUOTE ]
8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it's possibly because religious people have less fear of death.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whoever drew this conclusion doesn't know the Orthodox very well. The Orthodox are very rule-bound, but only THEIR rules. They have NO respect for secular rules of any type. If goyim made the rule, and anyone who isn't their brand of Orthodox is goyim, it doesn't count. That's why.

[ZeeJustin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it's possibly because religious people have less fear of death.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whoever drew this conclusion doesn't know the Orthodox very well. The Orthodox are very rule-bound, but only THEIR rules. They have NO respect for secular rules of any type. If goyim made the rule, and anyone who isn't their brand of Orthodox is goyim, it doesn't count. That's why.

[/ QUOTE ]

Orthodox Jews live in very small communities where cars aren't very necessary. They need to live that way because they can't use cars on the Sabbath, but still need to get to Temple. I assumed this was the reason. Also, they can't press the don't walk button on Sabbath!