Tell me a random fact about the world, I want to learn something new.

69 hexadecimal is 105 decimal.

69 decimal is 105 octal.

69 is fun.

Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.

eddylee wrote:

Humans are more closely related to sea urchins and starfish than we are to insects.

Blows my mind every time.

Which would suggest that it is very believable.

The relatively simple fraction of 1/998001 generates a decimal number that contains, in order, every three-digit sequence from 000 to 999

0.000 001 002 003 004 ... 101 102 103 ... 999

Colcannon wrote:

Scientists have predicted that there is a 19% chance of humanity becoming extinct in thenext 100 years. If this seems unlikelz it is because of a lack of past occasions of humanity becoming extinct, so we have no perception of just how likely it is.

Nevertheless, a 19% chance of extinction in any one century means a roughly 50% chance of exticntion by 2300, which seems unlikely.

Incidentally, large vertebrates tend to go extinct quicker than other species,

lasting approximately 2 million years as opposed to 4 million.

This is not how probability works. Putting aside for the moment whether or not the prediction is sound, a 19% probability of anything happening in a century does not mean a roughly 50% chance of something happening over 3 centuries. (I assume you multiplied 19 x 3, possibly got 57, and incorrectly rounded down.) It means a 19% chance over any 100 year period, at all 100 year starting points, regardless of the date. It would be like flipping a coin, in this example, once a century for the next 3 centuries, and claiming a 3 x 50% = 150% chance of getting either heads or tails as a result.

Actually the cannon guy was right. If the probability of extinction in a given century is 19% then the probability of non-extinction is 81%. The probability of non-extinction for 3 consecutive centuries (assuming independence) would then be .81^3 = .53 .

Thus, the chance of extinction in the next three centuries is 47% (or roughly 50%).

Small banana plants are called pups

N.J. has highest population density in the country

Ideal number of wolves in a wolf pack is 5

Some of the worst desertification in the world is taking place in the Navaho lands of Arizona

The Florida Everglades are actually a Savannah

The first foreign country one hits when traveling directly south from East Detroit is Canada!

The first foreign country one hits by traveling in a straight line departing from San Francisco and heading directly south is Pakistan.

Mohammed wrote:

A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night.

How come the b@stard is still in my garden

And another wrote:

The first foreign country one hits by traveling in a straight line departing from San Francisco and heading directly south is Pakistan.

I've just consulted my globe and can confirm this to be erroneous. The first continental country it hits is Oman, but it passes through the islands of Mauritius and therefore may hit that country.

If you started at San Diego and went due south you would run into Pakistan.

another point of view wrote:

And another wrote:

The first foreign country one hits by traveling in a straight line departing from San Francisco and heading directly south is Pakistan.

I've just consulted my globe and can confirm this to be erroneous. The first continental country it hits is Oman, but it passes through the islands of Mauritius and therefore may hit that country.

If you started at San Diego and went due south you would run into Pakistan.

If you fly due south from Atlanta, you will not fly over any South American countries [not counting islands].

Alaska is both the easternmost and the westernmost of the United States.

There are places in Panama where you have to travel eastward to get to the closest part of the Pacific Ocean, and westward to get to the closest part of the Atlantic.

another point of view wrote:

And another wrote:

The first foreign country one hits by traveling in a straight line departing from San Francisco and heading directly south is Pakistan.

I've just consulted my globe and can confirm this to be erroneous. The first continental country it hits is Oman, but it passes through the islands of Mauritius and therefore may hit that country.

If you started at San Diego and went due south you would run into Pakistan.

Well done. I stand corrected.

Contrary to popular belief, the flush toilet was not invented by Thomas Crapper, though he did much to popularize it. Crapper was also never knighted--he is sometimes referred to, erroneously, as "Sir" Thomas.

The word "crap" appeared in the English language long before Thomas Crapper was born.

Oman's King is gay, but homosexuality is strictly outlawed in the country (as it is in most Muslim countries). Sultan Qaboos is the worlds first gay king in modern times.

When Alexander The Great marched triumphantly into Babylon he was read a passage/prophecy from the Bible about him by Persian holy men.

Now that's cool.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

If you freeze a lobster and then thaw it it will still be alive

"Actually the cannon guy was right. If the probability of extinction in a given century is 19% then the probability of non-extinction is 81%. The probability of non-extinction for 3 consecutive centuries (assuming independence) would then be .81^3 = .53 .

Thus, the chance of extinction in the next three centuries is 47% (or roughly 50%)."

The percentage chance of either extinction or survival do not multiply every 100 years. It is an 81% chance of survival over any 100 year span. That doesn't change based on whether it happened or didn't in the previous 100 years. If you flip a coin and get heads, for example, it is still a 50% chance of getting heads on the next flip, not .5 x .5 = .25, or a 25% chance.