What type of behaviour immediately identifies a non-local where you live?

Sean Kernan, Son of Quora

Updated Sep 16

The Indian crowds will enjoy this one.

Years ago, a bunch of leaders from the Indian Military were in town visiting.

My mom was to host all of the leaders’ wives for an afternoon. She had activities planned.

Typically during visits from foreign dignitaries, Mom will take the wives sight-seeing, to a local restaurant, show them the city. After all, this was the first time in the US for many of them. It was important that they were shown a good time.

So when she met with the 5 women, all dressed in formal sarees, she kindly asked if they had anything in mind that they wanted to do before getting to the schedule. They all said yes.

So what did they want to do?

Not sight seeing.

Not a restaurant.

Not the city.

Walmart.

So instead of the activities, they spent the afternoon at a Walmart Super Center, slowly walking through aisles exploring every inch of the store.

Mom said they were fascinated but most of all happy — the ultimate goal — so the afternoon was viewed as a big success.

Apparently, the low price shopping opportunity was not to be missed out on!

What is the most useless fact you know?

Julian Frank, Film Buff, Stephen King Lover, Amateur Writer, Awkward Teen

Updated Sep 14

1. Rats laugh when you tickle them.
2. Most American car horns honk in the note of F.
3. A whale’s penis is called a dork.
4. Las Vegas gambling casinos contain no clocks, in an effort to try to make gamblers stay longer.
5. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.
6. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
7. The average American will eat 35,000 cookies in their lifetime.
8. Barbie's real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
9. The dot over an “i” or “j” is called a tittle.
10. If you combine a question mark and an exclamation point, you get an interrobang, which indicates a question asked in an exclamatory manner.

143.1k Views · 11,840 Upvotes

What are some interesting facts which are not commonly known?

David Levine

Answered Oct 8

As you stare at this picture of lemons, realize that there is not a single pixel of yellow (570 nm) coming out of your monitor or mobile device right now:

Your computer screen can not produce any yellow light at all; it can only produce red, green, or blue light. If you were to get a magnifying glass and view this image of lemons close up, below is what it would actually look like:

Notice that you see only red and green pixels together, and that the blue pixel is turned off (black). Your brain interprets red and green close together as yellow. The disturbing thing about this is that if you look at a real lemon, you’re actually seeing real (subtractive color) yellow, because lemons absorb all colors except yellow which they reflect into your eye. But you’re seeing no real yellow in this picture as you can see from the closeup.

The reason your brain is fooled into thinking the lemons in the picture are yellow, is that your screen is showing some green and red dots close together, which your brain interprets as yellow. The reason your brain interprets this as yellow is that yellow falls between red and green in the color spectrum. Since our eyes have no direct sensors for yellow, we’ve developed the shortcut of assuming that when the red and green cone cells in our retina get stimulated together we’re probably seeing yellow. Our computer monitors take advantage of this by directly sending red and green into our eyes to stimulate those two colors of cone cells, which fools our eyes into thinking it’s seeing a yellow that isn’t really there.

When were you treated poorly by a car dealership until they found out you were rich?

Jason Catterall, Car nut for over 40 years. Mine of useless car related info.

Updated Sep 11

My answer is a little different from the others…

So, I was never really treated poorly by a car dealership, but I know that I was treated like royalty when I pretended to be rich. Here’s how it went down:

It was the late 1980s. I was just 19 years old, working as a junior car salesman at my local Volkswagen dealership in Oxford in the UK. It was a great job, it paid well, although the working hours were long.

Whilst idly talking rubbish with one of my senior colleagues one quiet summer Saturday morning I half jokingly suggested that we kill some time and go and test drive the M635 at the BMW dealership up the road. There were no customers around and we were both a little bored.

Now, there was no way I could afford this beauty (being a teenager and quite new to the workforce), but I thought to myself… if I take a brand new 16v Golf GTi with me I might be able to convince the BMW salesman that I was serious about trading it in on the M635…

My colleague was unable to join me, but challenged me to see if I could pull it off.

Ok, so this may not look like the most amazing car these days… but in 1989 it was the dogs nuts, and, at £13,129 (funny how I still remember the price) the most expensive hot hatch at the time.

So… I drove up to the BMW dealership in Summertown, parked the brand new Golf on the forecourt and casually sauntered towards the M635 that was sat, all gleaming and menacing in the showroom…

Those of you that know about these things will know that the 1989 M635csi was the last of the model to be made. 286 horsepower of Bavaria’s finest and, in those days, one of the most desirable cars you could buy.

“I’ve just bought this 16v Golf”, I said to the salesman.
“But I think I made a mistake. I’m looking for something a little faster.”

The salesman eyed me for what seemed like an eternity, before saying:

“Sure, are you thinking of the 635? We have a demonstrator if you wanted to take it for a spin?”

I played hard to get for a second or two, saying that I had to take a trip to Swindon, a 30 mile drive, and would come back and take a proper look later in the day.

“Why don’t you leave me your Golf and just take the 635? You can bring it back tonight, or even tomorrow morning if you get back after we close.”

I was stunned. Ok, I was wearing a suit and driving a brand new Golf GTi, but was it this easy??

I hesitated a second, speechless, before mustering as much nonchalance as I could, under the circumstance.

“Sure…. Are you sure it’s ok for me to have it overnight?”

Less than 5 minutes later I was edging this beautiful straight six masterpiece out into Oxfords morning traffic, grinning like an idiot.

I drove straight back to the VW showroom to show my colleague that I had succeeded.

He had a huge toothy smile on his face and was clearly impressed that I had managed to get the car, and even more impressed that I had secured it for the whole day.

“Don’t stop here mate” he laughed.

“Why don’t you take it to the Porsche dealership and see if they’re interested in trading it in for a new 911!”

I was giddy with excitement. Could I really pull this off twice in one day? It was only around 10am, I had the whole day ahead of me.

So…. I bet my colleague £20 that I would be back in less than an hour in a 911 and set off up the road.

About half way between the VW dealership and the BMW dealership was an independent Porsche specialist. Again, I drove straight onto the forecourt like I owned the place, casually walked up to the salesman and, with my confidence growing and a flashy smile, said:

“Morning! Great day to test drive a 911!”

The salesman shook my hand, and looked out onto the yard.

“Ahhh, the BMW M635csi” he said. “It looks pretty new. Are you thinking of upgrading already?”

“No, no… I’ve only had it for a few weeks… but I’m looking for something convertible for the weekends.”

Now, you have to remember, this was the 1980s, the decade of conspicuous consumption, yuppies and newly minted millionaires. Oxford was awash with wealthy young people, so this wasn’t a totally ridiculous scenario.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I was convinced I was about to be discovered.

The salesman didn’t blink. After making me coffee, a little small talk (and taking the BMW keys as security) I was out the door in a bright red six month old 911 Turbo Convertible, scarcely believing what I had gotten away with. He even offered to have the BMW valeted whilst I was gone!

This was a £100,000 car - a huge amount in 1989, equivalent to £250,000 in today’s money.

I still remember clearly bursting into almost hysterical laughter as I drove out of sight of the dealership and floored the flat six, charging back down the road towards my work.

Back on my forecourt, Michael was shaking his head, with a look of slightly bewildered admiration as I arrived.

“TaaDaa!” I shouted, grinning like a schoolkid as I pulled up. I had only been gone about fifteen minutes.

We took the 911 out to a local pub for an early lunch and sat there for an hour before getting serious about the next challenge…

“What do you reckon? Do you think I could go one better again?”

Michael paused.

“There’s a specialist used car dealership in Reading that sells Ferraris and Lamborghinis……” his voice trailed off.

We stared at each other for a few seconds.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I spent the afternoon driving around in a bright yellow Countach:

After we had spent an hour charging around Reading in the Lambo, laughing at how easy it had all been, we started the process of returning all the vehicles one by one. By the next morning all the cars had been returned and no one was any the wiser…

How was I treated at all the different dealers? Like royalty. Everyone fell over themselves to do my bidding. Certainly, way better than one would expect at a normal dealership.

My favourite of the cars? The 911. The Countach? A total dog of a car. It was almost impossible to drive.

EDIT:
Wow, 2500 votes in 24 hours - that’s insane! Thank you to everyone that has liked and commented. I’m lucky enough to have had some amazing motoring experiences in my life. Please follow me if you are interested, I’ll try to share more of them. Thanks again!

What are some interesting facts?

Ever wondered why there are revolving doors at the entrances of big buildings?

Appears to be trouble during excessive movement of people…isn’t it??

Well there is a reason for that bulky thing to get installed at the entrances.

Revolving doors allow better control of the inside temperature compared to the regular sliding or hinged doors.

Opening a hinged or sliding door even for a brief period will result in tremendous amount of heat exchange between the internal and external temperatures, especially in extreme weather conditions.

A revolving door prevents this energy loss as there is never a point where the air can flow freely between in and out of the lobby.

Save energy for better tomorrow :)

Common Misconceptions: What are some things nearly everyone believes that actually aren't true?

https://www.quora.com/What-are-common-misconceptions-people-have-about-outer-space

Al Zagator, Qualified Procrastinator at Procrastination

Updated Oct 14

Some myths about history!

• Myth: Vincent Van Gogh cut off his own ear

Reality: He only cut off the tip of his earlobe

• Myth: Napoleon was very short

Reality: The French Emperor was around 1.7 meters tall

• Myth: Salieri was jealous of Mozart

Reality: Salieri was the conductor at court, and he was more successful than Mozart

• Myth: Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the earth

Reality: He died having travelled only half the distance

• Myth: Cleopatra was from Egypt

Reality: Cleopatra was from Greece

• Myth: Einstein was an underachiever at school

Reality: Einstein excelled in science class

• Myth: Thomas Edison invented the electric lightbulb

Reality: Edison only invented a way to keep bulbs constantly turned on

• Myth: Isaac Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head

Reality: The apple fell on the ground next to him, helping him understand gravity

• Myth: Walt Disney first drew Mickey Mouse

Reality: He was drawn by the company's chief animator, Ub Iwerks

So there you have it folks! Now you know the truth!

Source: Pinterest

PS: Sorry for bad quality of pictures!

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Sayonara amigoz :)

What are the most fascinating science facts?

Mangaljit Singh, PhD researcher in Photonics. Quality answers guaranteed.

Updated Aug 30 · Upvoted by Dimosthenis E. Gkotsis, Ph.D Physics, National Kapodistrian University of Athens (2019)

You can light a candle without touching its head with the flame.

Yes. You read it right. All you need to do is take a lighted candle.

Now simply blow the candle. You will see the smoke coming out of the candle head.

Now take a lighted matchstick and bring it close to the smoke as shown below:

And now you will see the magic.

The candle gets lit. That was quite impressive.

The explanation is pretty simple.

When you blow the candle, the smoke coming out of the candle head contains vaporized wax. And this vaporized wax acts as a fuel to burn the candle.

Now go back and try this out if you were not already aware of this trick.

:)

Lighting a Candle Without Touching it.

What is the dumbest crime you can commit, the one for which you will almost certainly be caught?

Duc Quyen

Updated Oct 20

This crime is so dumb that it borders insanity. I honestly think that it was inspired by a bad, low-budget horror movie (but I haven't figured out which movie exactly!)

Last year, a Vietnamese woman came up with and actually executed the following plan:

1. Bought three insurance policies in quick succession.
2. Hired a thug to hack off her own left leg and arm with a machete.
3. Lay next to a rail road and pretended to have had an accident with an incoming train
4. Made insurance claims worth VND3.5 billion (roughly $170,000)

As soon as she made the claims, the insurance company contacted the police because:

• You don’t need to be a surgeon or a forensic expert to know that an arm hacked off by a sharp machete looks nothing like an arm dismembered by a moving train.
• Aside from her left arm and leg, she suffered no injuries whatsoever.
• No blood could be found on any of the locomotives moving through the area that night.

etc. etc. etc.

There are about 1,500 reasons for the insurance companies and police to get suspicious about this so-called ‘accident’.

The end result is she lost one arm, one leg and received no insurance money. Pitying her for the unparalleled idiocy, nobody bothered pressing charges against her.

Woman 'cuts off limbs for insurance'

What are the craziest Wi-Fi names/passwords you've ever heard?

Surjit Raghunath, Founder at Affomation Inc

Answered Aug 17

This used to be the case in the previous apartment I used to stay in. Sweety was our neighbour’s hot daughter. There was this other neighbour who found a cunning way to communicate. He kept his Wi-Fi name as “In love with next door sweety”. And Sweety's Mom's comeback was epic. Still cracks me up.

What are some interesting facts?

Mangaljit Singh, PhD researcher in Photonics. Quality answers guaranteed.

Answered Aug 3

Do you know why the pipe below the wash basin (sink) is U-shaped?

The U-shaped pipe can be seen in the above picture.

It has a very special purpose. Since there is a little bend in the pipe, some amount of water always stays in the bend (as you can see in the pictures).

This water acts as a barrier between the drain under the house and the sink above.

This will prevent any foul smell (sewer gas) from rising up into your home/office. This special pipe with a little bend is known as a P-trap.

Important: If you smell something gross in your house, a defective P-trap in your kitchen/washroom could be the culprit.

Good Luck.

:)

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Image courtesy:

Orange Water and Sewer Authority

The Answer to All of Your Basic Plumbing Questions

Purposeful Plumbing: What is a P-trap?

What's something that's classy now, but trashy in the past?

Srinath Nalluri, Research Assistant at Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore

Answered Aug 19

Few decades back, Indians used charcoal, neem sticks and salt to clean their teeth.

This is the newspaper advertisement from Colgate made in 1985. It says “Using salt and charcoal can damage the enamel”.

Colgate also launched a commercial in Doordarshan in 1970’s, which goes like this: A bodybuilder in a village asks his sister-in-law to bring him almond-milk and charcoal. The girl says: "A health drink for the body but charcoal for the teeth?".

When I was around seven, I remember the only store in the village displaying Colgate and close-up sachets and educating people that it was the best way to clean teeth. Even during my primary school-days in chennai, when I used to tell that people in my village use neem-sticks, friends use to see it as an outdated and penniless people’s way of brushing their teeth.

At one level, all these made it seem like ancient Indians didn’t know the right way to clean teeth.

Cut to 2016, the same Colgate now launched these - Colgate Active Salt, Colgate Charcoal Deep Clean and Colgate Active Salt with Neem. And people have no qualms using it now.