Viewfromtheside offered fascinating as the weekend theme. I thought you might like some fascinating facts. Can you guess which, if any, are true?
- You can’t fold paper more than seven times. You can, actually, if you are young and determined and rope in your family and a shopping mall. From Wikipedia:
In January 2002, while a junior in high school, [Britney] Gallivan demonstrated that a single piece of toilet paper, 4000 ft (1200 m) in length, can be folded in half twelve times…Gallivan succeeded in folding a very long sheet of toilet paper in half 12 times. She calculated that instead of folding in half every other direction, the least volume of paper to get 12 folds would be to fold in the same direction, using a very long sheet of paper. A special kind of $85-per-roll toilet paper met her length requirement. Not only did she provide the empirical proof, but she also derived an equation that yielded the width of paper or length of paper necessary to fold a piece of paper of thickness t any n number of times.
- So, proof, if it were needed, that you have to be rich to debunk myths – $85 for a roll of toilet paper! I know where I wouldn’t be using it.
- Brad Pitt once had a summer job posting warning signs at coal mine entrances
- Milk causes mucus. But you should still drink it, especially if you’re old and female: lack of calcium causes osteoporosis.
- Elephants are the only mammals who can’t jump. Not true: rhinos and hippos can’t jump either. Also sloths, but that’s more a case of disinclination than inability, I’m guessing.
- Anyone convicted of animal cruelty in Sedalia, Missouri, is sentenced to a month’s confinement in the county animal shelter.
- Haggis was invented in Scotland. No it wasn’t: we can blame the Scandinavians for that one.
- Which puts paid to the myth that Vikings were mean – you can’t be mean on disgusting slop.
- No doubt now I’ll get a testy comment from Viv, putting me right on haggis. You might as well save your fingers, Viv, because I’ll never be convinced.
- Penguins can smell toothpaste from several miles away.
- With the exception of a small 200-square-mile section of Antarctica, every single square kilometer of dry land on the planet has been walked on by at least one human being. Probably looking for an open public toilet.
- This one is for that notorious plant killer, Sarsm: if you place a fresh Viagra tablet in a houseplant’s soil every six months, the plant will not wilt.
- If a cricket were the size of Mount Rushmore, it could jump to the moon. But it won’t have to bother: if crickets ever get that big, I suspect we’ll all be living on the moon.
- Frank Sinatra didn’t want to record the song “My Way” but was forced to by his record label. Don’t you just love the irony?
So tell me: which initial statement is false, and which true?
Very interesting facts and myths. Thanks for sharing.
http://timkeen40.wordpress.com
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they are all totally true. my buddy tilly would never lie to me!
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I’m making a doctors appointment for hubby tomorrow!!
I’m guessing the penguin one’s not true, ’cause how (and why) would they test that?
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I’m going to do a wild guess and say all the initial statements are not true. And if that’s right, I’ll say the milk/mucus one is false. I think I heard that somewhere before.
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Ooer. I’m too tired for sarky comments.
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Not sarcastic: teasing. You must be tired 🙂
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Viagra helps plant stick it up??? I would never have guessed but it sure makes sense! Why am I bothering with Miracle Grow???
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Milk does cause increased mucus production.
The false part of the statement: But you should still drink it, especially if you’re old and female: lack of calcium causes osteoporosis.
Cow’s Milk has enzymes in it that PREVENT the absorption of calcium. The more milk you drink . . . the more brittle your bones become.
Switch to Soy Milk.
Moo!
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Semi-skimmed milk contains a higher proportion of calcium than full cream. We wrinklies (and that includes men) should supplement with cod liver oil for the vitamin D which fixes the calcium. As a long-term osteoporosis sufferer, I do know about this.
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Not sure about the penguins …
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I love haggis 🙂
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so do I.
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