NPR

True stuff that makes you sound like you're cuckoo bananas. Provably true stuff please or you'll find yourself being ridiculed.

Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Sharks existed before trees.

Mercury is the closest planet to earth




On average

Plato’sCave wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:16 pm Mercury is the closest planet to earth




On average

It's also the closest planet to Neptune by the same measure.

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:04 pm True stuff that makes you sound like you're cuckoo bananas. Provably true stuff please or you'll find yourself being ridiculed.

Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Sharks existed before trees.

Explain please?

The colour you see below doesn't exist. It isn't real. You are literally making it up in your head.

Uncle fester wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:33 pm

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:04 pm True stuff that makes you sound like you're cuckoo bananas. Provably true stuff please or you'll find yourself being ridiculed.

Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Sharks existed before trees.

Explain please?

Movement of the galaxy and of earth since then

Ah a trick answer as opposed to a trick question.

Mine is that Ireland is the largest exporter of bananas in the world despite not being able to grow any.

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:45 pm

Uncle fester wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:33 pm

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:04 pm True stuff that makes you sound like you're cuckoo bananas. Provably true stuff please or you'll find yourself being ridiculed.

Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Sharks existed before trees.

Explain please?

Movement of the galaxy and of earth since then

Indeed, the opposite is true, the earth is in about the same place now that it was when the earliest dinosaurs appeared on earth. Milly Way takes about 200 million years to rotate once.

Kawazaki wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:43 pm The colour you see below doesn't exist. It isn't real. You are literally making it up in your head.

Interestingly enough, I was walking along the muddy shores of the River Dee today and it struck that brown isn't in the spectrum. Wtf was Newton thinking of?

A dead jockey once won a horse race.

Kawazaki wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:00 pm

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:45 pm

Uncle fester wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:33 pm

Explain please?

Movement of the galaxy and of earth since then

Indeed, the opposite is true, the earth is in about the same place now that it was when the earliest dinosaurs appeared on earth. Milly Way takes about 200 million years to rotate once.

But there were plenty of them around 100 million years ago, living on the other side of the Galaxy.

The sharks one does my head in more than that tbh.

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:02 pm

Kawazaki wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:00 pm

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:45 pm

Movement of the galaxy and of earth since then

Indeed, the opposite is true, the earth is in about the same place now that it was when the earliest dinosaurs appeared on earth. Milly Way takes about 200 million years to rotate once.

But there were plenty of them around 100 million years ago, living on the other side of the Galaxy.

The sharks one does my head in more than that tbh.

A tangential fact that does my head in is that you and me are nearer to living in the same era as the T-Rex - much much nearer - than the T-Rex is to living in the same era as the Stegosaurus.

Kawazaki wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:14 pm

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:02 pm

Kawazaki wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:00 pm


Indeed, the opposite is true, the earth is in about the same place now that it was when the earliest dinosaurs appeared on earth. Milly Way takes about 200 million years to rotate once.

But there were plenty of them around 100 million years ago, living on the other side of the Galaxy.

The sharks one does my head in more than that tbh.

A tangential fact that does my head in is that you and me are nearer to living in the same era as the T-Rex - much much nearer - than the T-Rex is to living in the same era as the Stegosaurus.

Woolly mammoths were alive at the same time as the Egyptian pharaohs.

There are more atoms in the tip of your index finger than there are stars in the universe.

A T-Rex is closer in time to an iPad than it is to a Stegosaurus.

If you (could) fold a piece of paper 42 times it would be thick enough to reach the moon

Ben Youngs has more than 100 Test caps.

Insane_Homer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:31 pm A T-Rex is closer in time to an iPad than it is to a Stegosaurus.

That’s a yellow card for repeating a fact someone else has already stated.

Consider yourself warned.

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:34 pm

Insane_Homer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:31 pm A T-Rex is closer in time to an iPad than it is to a Stegosaurus.

That’s a yellow card for repeating a fact someone else has already stated.

Consider yourself warned.

Sorry, MY iPad!

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:24 pm
Woolly mammoths were alive at the same time as the Egyptian pharaohs.

and Cleopatra lived closer to the launch of the iPhone than to the building of the Great Pyramids.

It’s likely BS, but I think even Guinness recorded that a Russian woman in the 1700s, Valentina Vassilyev, gave birth to 69 children. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodor_Vassilyev

My great gran was one 18.

With so many of these being before 1900 ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_p ... t_children ... I wonder what else was likely going on?

Maybe two people with the potential for multiple births, the joy of shagging, and the ability to survive that many is possible, mathematically speaking? But, like happened in my gran’s family, wonder if some were taking credit for an older child giving birth out of wedlock or adopting the kids of deceased friends/family.

And Jesus didn't have a biological father. Though would be interesting to see what ancestry.com could uncover...

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:22 am And Jesus didn't have a biological father. Though would be interesting to see what ancestry.com could uncover...

Neither did Darth Vader

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:22 am And Jesus didn't have a biological father. Though would be interesting to see what ancestry.com could uncover...

Facts please. Not mumbo jumbo.

Edinburgh is further west than Bristol

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:04 am Edinburgh is further west than Bristol

That one I found hard to believe, further west than Carlisle as well which took me a while to get my head around as a Northerner.

robmatic wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:09 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:04 am Edinburgh is further west than Bristol

That one I found hard to believe, further west than Carlisle as well which took me a while to get my head around as a Northerner.

Just sounds wrong, doesn't it?

Similarly, London is drier than Rome.

In 1931 the town of Rugby - North Dakota declared itself the geographic center of North America. This was done by balancing a cardboard cutout of the continent on a pencil.

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:04 pm Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Based on what being your reference point to determine "sides" of a galaxy which is
- 3D (in Euclidean space)
- whose constituent components move at different rates anyway

Marylandolorian wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:37 pm

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:24 pm
Woolly mammoths were alive at the same time as the Egyptian pharaohs.

and Cleopatra lived closer to the launch of the iPhone than to the building of the Great Pyramids.

Rule 1

Biffer wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:48 am Facts please. Not mumbo jumbo.

The phrase "mumbo jumbo" is derived from the words "mambo" and "jambo" which are Swahili greetings, from when visitors to East Africa couldn't understand what the locals were saying to them.

assfly wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:03 am

Biffer wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:48 am Facts please. Not mumbo jumbo.

The phrase "mumbo jumbo" is derived from the words "mambo" and "jambo" which are Swahili greetings, from when visitors to East Africa couldn't understand what the locals were saying to them.

Typical Brits abroad scenario

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:49 am

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:04 pm Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Based on what being your reference point to determine "sides" of a galaxy which is
- 3D (in Euclidean space)
- whose constituent components move at different rates anyway

As the Hubble telescope allows us to look back in time... I wonder if we will ever develop a telescope that allows us to see far enough back to see Earth millions or billions of years ago?

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:18 am

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:49 am

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:04 pm Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Based on what being your reference point to determine "sides" of a galaxy which is
- 3D (in Euclidean space)
- whose constituent components move at different rates anyway

As the Hubble telescope allows us to look back in time... I wonder if we will ever develop a telescope that allows us to see far enough back to see Earth millions or billions of years ago?

One of my favourites is that to get from the Pacific to the Atlantic (Carribean) through the Panama Canal, you have to travel West. Yes, the access to the East is further West than the access to the West.

This isn’t that spectacular, but I remember meeting someone (my great grandmother) who remembered meeting Queen Victoria. I like those surprising facts that connect the seemingly distant past with the present.

sturginho wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:59 am

Marylandolorian wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:37 pm

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:24 pm
Woolly mammoths were alive at the same time as the Egyptian pharaohs.

and Cleopatra lived closer to the launch of the iPhone than to the building of the Great Pyramids.

Rule 1

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:49 am

Biffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:04 pm Dinosaurs lived on the other side of the galaxy

Based on what being your reference point to determine "sides" of a galaxy which is
- 3D (in Euclidean space)
- whose constituent components move at different rates anyway

Centre of the local cluster of galaxies and the rotational axis of our galaxy.

FujiKiwi wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:57 am This isn’t that spectacular, but I remember meeting someone (my great grandmother) who remembered meeting Queen Victoria. I like those surprising facts that connect the seemingly distant past with the present.

The last American Civil War widow receiving a Union Army veteran’s pension died in 2020. Why else would a 16 year old marry a 101 year old?

GogLais wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:21 am

FujiKiwi wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:57 am This isn’t that spectacular, but I remember meeting someone (my great grandmother) who remembered meeting Queen Victoria. I like those surprising facts that connect the seemingly distant past with the present.

The last American Civil War widow receiving a Union Army veteran’s pension died in 2020. Why else would a 16 year old marry a 101 year old?

Yes, that’s an astonishing one. There was also a surprising fact about a grandson of one of the very early presidents—was it Van Buren?—still being alive until quite recently. I forget the exact details.

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:47 am

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:18 am

Torquemada 1420 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:49 am

Based on what being your reference point to determine "sides" of a galaxy which is
- 3D (in Euclidean space)
- whose constituent components move at different rates anyway

As the Hubble telescope allows us to look back in time... I wonder if we will ever develop a telescope that allows us to see far enough back to see Earth millions or billions of years ago?

One of my favourites is that to get from the Pacific to the Atlantic (Carribean) through the Panama Canal, you have to travel West. Yes, the access to the East is further West than the access to the West.

I had to look that up... yes.. it is more south to north.. but definitely east to west...