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NASA asks for donations of... urine [26 Jul 2008|03:28pm] calysto The NASA contractor developing the space capsule which will take astronauts back to the moon is asking workers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas to donate their urine. They say they need 30 liters a day (8 gallons) in order to design and test the new capsule's toilet. [link] 3 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Villagers were shocked after a monkey-like piglet was born in China. [25 Jul 2008|01:52pm] heathyre [ mood | curious ] Curious locals flocked to the home of owner Feng Changlin after news of the piglet spread in Fengzhang village, Xiping township. "It's hideous. No one will be willing to buy it, and it scares the family to even look at it!" Feng told Oriental Today. He says the piglet looks just like a monkey, with two thin lips, a small nose and two big eyes. Its rear legs are also much longer than its forelegs, causing it to jump instead of walk. Source 43 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Wow [24 Jul 2008|10:25pm] scottish_elf Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religion based in San Diego, California and led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. The group's end coincided with the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. Applewhite convinced thirty-eight followers to commit suicide, which he claimed would allow their souls to board a spaceship that they believed was hiding behind the comet. Further, Heaven's Gate believed that the planet Earth was about to be recycled (wiped clean, refurbished and rejuvenated), and that the only chance to survive was to leave it immediately. While the group was formally against suicide, they defined "suicide" in their own context to mean "to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered", and believed that their "human" bodies were only vessels meant to help them on their journey. Source: Wikipedia 10 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

[24 Jul 2008|03:40am] calysto [ music | Aerosmith - Janie's Got a Gun ] Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith) once asked his record company for a cash advance. They refused. He punched a hole in their wall, signed it, and left. ...it's still there. Source: VH1's "Pop-Up Video" for "Janie's Got a Gun" 8 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

[23 Jul 2008|04:51pm] night_owl13 'Shell shock' or combat stress reaction is psychological condition suffered primarily by soldiers who have seen combat. The trauma and stress of such situations causes great mental fatigue that often translates into physical illness. Today known as post-traumatic stress disorder, many soldiers who experienced this disorder after the first World War were left untreated due to general lack of knowledge about mental illnesses. Some, who deserted or committed other wartime crimes in their distress, were executed. Most were accused of cowardice. Symptoms of shell shock vary widely and can include the 'thousand yard gaze',, fatigue, disconnection from one's surroundings, shaking, trembling, skittishness, headaches, palpitations, anxiety, incontinence, insomnia and panic attacks. Among other things. World War I saw possibly the most notable and dramatic cases of shell shock due to the newer, more intense, explosive and chaotic artillery style of warfare which caused unanticipated and extreme psychological stress though such responses to warfare have been documented throughout history. Here is a pretty interesting (and short) video about the subject featuring archival footage of shell shocked soldiers. Kinda creepy. Are videos allowed here, btw? -source, Wikipedia and a few other military history sites 4 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Chicken without sexual life. [23 Jul 2008|02:40am] masanori In preparation for this summer's Olympic Games, the Chinese government has recommended new English translations for more than 2,000 traditional Chinese dishes to appeal to Western tourists. The menu items in question include "bean curd made by a pockmarked woman," "ants climbing a tree," and "chicken without sexual life." Source: http://www.slate.com 14 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

[23 Jul 2008|02:10am] ladyinsatin Google Maps offers walking directions now. Source: A guy on Twitter and then Google Maps. 15 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

political correctness is a modern invention - 3 facts [22 Jul 2008|05:43pm] xprivate_eyex [ mood | bored ] The St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children in Wisconsin, a home and vocational school for mentally diabled individuals, was formerly named St. Coletta's Institute for Backward Youth. St. Coletta's was the home to Rosemary Kennedy, older sister of US President John F. Kennedy, as of 1949 when Rosemary was institutionalized after undergoing a failed lobotomy at age 23. The lobotomy was intended to aleviate her "mood swings", unfortunately it instead left her mentally infantile and incontinent. Rosemary was often visited by her sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who would later co-found the Special Olympics in honor of her sister. 3 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

OH NO I AM SO SAD!!!! [22 Jul 2008|11:19pm] nanci_raygun ESTELLE GETTY FROM THE GOLDEN GIRLS IS DEAD. SHE DIED THIS MORNING! She had been suffering from a form of dementia for a number of years and died in Los Angeles at the age of 84. I'm so sad, The Golden Girls was the best show from the '90s! http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/07/22/estelle-getty-dead-at-84/ 24 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Svalbard! Again! [22 Jul 2008|06:42pm] threeparts [ mood | dorky ] I posted last week with some useless facts on Svalbard. I emailed a couple of officials in the area asking for more information about the BBC quote at the bottom of that post, and I just received a response from the office of the Sysselmann ("the Norwegian term for Governor is "sysselmann", which means the highest ranking civil servant"). ( Cut for your pleasure! ) Three cheers for Synnøve! And just to make this post entirely legal, Synnøve is a female, Norwegian version of the Old English name Sunniva. It means 'sun gift' and was the name of a legendary 9th century Irish saint (possibly a princess) who was killed in Norway after being shipwrecked. In Swedish it is spelled Synnöve. The name was made popular partly because of a short story by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, called Synnøve Solbakken and published in 1859. Sources Sysselmannen på Svalbard Behind the Name Wiktionary 9 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Stunning Fact [21 Jul 2008|01:58pm] calysto The following quote is from an episode of The History Channel's "Modern Marvels" entitled "Doomsday Tech 1." One section of the show focused on the impending end of the global oil supply and the wars which would result. One of the experts said the following: "The United States government now spends more money maintaining a military presence in the Persian Gulf than the net value of the oil it's getting from the Persian Gulf -- and that was before the war. That was 200 billion dollars ago." 4 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Hypothermia and Hyperthermia - Not the same thing! [20 Jul 2008|08:04pm] thesoundofblue Hypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal metabolism and bodily functions. Hyperthermia in its advanced state referred to as heat stroke or sunstroke, is an acute condition which occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate. Sources: Uno, Due. 5 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

[19 Jul 2008|10:44am] dao Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom... The Thuggee... Turns out they are real! (The Thuggee, not the Temple of Doom. That bit was fiction.) The Thuggee were an Indian network of secret fraternities engaged in murdering and robbing travellers, operating from the 17th century (possibly as early as 13th century) to the 19th century. This is the origin of the term "thug", as many Indian words passed into common English during British Imperial rule of India. This was pointed out by a friend at work and later looked up on Wiki b/c I thought I was being BS'd! Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuggee 3 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

[18 Jul 2008|11:52pm] lafinjack Starbucks has announced that it is closing several hundred of its company-owned stores across the United States, with the five biggest states hit being New York, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, and California. Since I obviously have nothing better to do, I ran the following numbers: New York currently has 521 stores, is losing 41, and will end up with 480. Their population per Starbucks location will go from 36,423 to 39,452 New Yorkers per store. Minnesota currently has 144 stores, is losing 54, and will end up with 90. Their population per Starbucks location will go from 34,163 to 54,660 Minnesotans per store. Florida currently has 630 stores, is losing 59, and will end up with 571. Their population per Starbucks location will go from 28,970 to 31,963 Floriduhans per store. Texas currently has 826 stores, is losing 57, and will end up with 769. Their population per Starbucks location will go from 25,244 to 27,115 Texasses per store. California currently has 2447 stores, is losing 91, and will end up with 2356. Their population per Starbucks location will go from 14,937 to 15,514 Californians per store. Sources: The Consumerist, Starbucks, Wikipickles, and an OpenOffice spreadsheet. 38 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

[18 Jul 2008|10:19pm] richard_geefe The USA this month removed Nelson Mandela from a terrorist watchlist. Mandela spent 27 years in prison on charges including sabotage in his fight against South Africa's apartheid regime. Until 1 July 2008 Mandela (who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993) and other members of the African National Congress were not allowed to enter the USA without a special waiver from the Secretary of State. Sauce: CNN 8 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

[18 Jul 2008|02:30pm] keytones Blink-182 is getting back together. Source: http://blink-182.com/news 37 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Summer extra wage's names [18 Jul 2008|11:05am] gorkabear Today it's the anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), although it really started on July 17th. During the dictatorship years which followed the war (until 1975), this day was celebrated as a National Holiday, called Dieciocho de julio or Día del Alzamiento Nacional (Day of the national uprising). But it was also the day spanish workers would get their summer extra wage. Until that time, spanish workers had only extra wages in Christmas. This wage was consequently named Paga del dieciocho de julio.  With the arrival of a normal democratic system, the fact of celebrating the start of a war that divided the country and killed millions was not considered right, but work laws kept the wage. It was subsequently reanamed as Paga extraordinaria de verano (Summer's extra wage). Most salary and pension receivers get their "extra wages" in June 30th to avoid conflict with today's significative date. Source: Discussion with my work colleages. Find information about the Spanish Civil War here, about the dictatorship here. 3 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

What is the nearest star to Earth that can go supernova? [17 Jul 2008|08:06pm] lafinjack Source: Bad Astronomy impressed by this fact?

[17 Jul 2008|01:49pm] richard_geefe Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, New Zealand, is reputedly the steepest street in the world. With a gradient of 35% (1:2.86) at its steepest point, it has to be surfaced in concrete, as tar would melt and run down the street on hot days. The street's steepness was unintentional - the city was laid out in a grid pattern with no consideration for terrain. The streets running in parallel to Baldwin Street are also quite steep. Source: where else? 23 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

Svalbard! [17 Jul 2008|05:36pm] threeparts [ mood | nerdy ]   The northern-most part of Norway is Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. While perhaps best known as the home of the Panserbjørne, a race of armored, sentient polar bears in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, this freezing chain of islands has other notable sides to it.   Apart from having "the world's northernmost school, church, hospital, bank, airport, newspaper and movie theatre", it is also the home of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, an air-locked vault constructed 120 metres inside a sandstone mountain that contains seeds from many of the world's cultivated crop varieties and their related wild variants. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the groups that has provided funds to help gather and store seeds in the highly-secure seed bank. The Seed Bank is located on Spitsbergen, the largest of the three populated islands (there are over a dozen islands altogether). The other two inhabited islands are Bear Island and Hopen.   Also located on Spitsbergen is the administrative centre of Longyearbyen (pronounced 'lungyer-bin' and meaning Longyear City, after the founder, American coal entrepreneur, John Munro Longyear), population 2,075. It is one of the northern-most settlements in the world (the most northern is Alert, Nunavut, Canada. In 2006 it had a population of five), and it is compulsory for visitors leaving the safety of town to carry a firearm, which can be rented in the settlement. The reason for this is the greatly-feared polar bears, which, while a protected species, are a significant danger. Svalbard is one of the few places on earth where there are red-outlined, triangular wildlife hazard signs with the silhouette of a polar bear on them. According to a BBC correspondent, every university student's first day is spent learning how to shoot the bears (aim for the chest, not the head).   The same BBC writer relates an odd piece of information:   It is forbidden to die in the Arctic town of Longyearbyen.   Should you have the misfortune to fall gravely ill, you can expect to be despatched by aeroplane or ship to another part of Norway to end your days.   And if you are terminally unlucky and succumb to misfortune or disease, no-one will bury you here.   The town's small graveyard stopped accepting newcomers 70 years ago, after it was discovered that the bodies were failing to decompose.   I found this curious and have written to the tourism board and the governor asking for more information on this. I suppose I'll update or post again when I find out more.   Sources:   Svalbard on Wikipedia   Longyearbyen on Wikipedia   Longyearbyen on Wikitravel   Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Wikipedia   Svalbard Global Seed Vault   BBC   Svalbard Tourism   Governor of Svalbard   Bonus fact: LJ spell-check does not recognise 'aeroplane', 'despatch', 'theatre', 'centre', or 'metre'. Or 'recognise', for that matter. 14 impressed persons| impressed by this fact?

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