Quirky Science Facts!

[Galapagos]

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born in the same year and on the same day.

How Darwin and Lincoln Shaped Us | Newsweek Politics | Newsweek.com

Good read, and indeed, a quirky fact.

Just yesterday my mind was wandering and I wondered whether or not Lincoln had ever encountered evolution/natural selection and if so what he thought about it. There is no mention in the article, but I'm guessing word traveled slow back then so he probably didn't hear about it much if at all..

[Jet2]

This thread remind me of the book

Quirkology
Quirkology

.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born in the same year and on the same day.

How Darwin and Lincoln Shaped Us | Newsweek Politics | Newsweek.com

That's interesting
So what happens for the 200 Year Celebrations in USA next year?

Here is some planning happening for Darwin now
Darwin Day Celebration - englishL

[Michaelangelica]

This may be an information overload
But 50% of female polar bears have a penis??????
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Average
1
- When Titanic sank it had 3000 tonnes of ham onboard.
4.63
2
- John Wilkes Booth’s brother once saved the life of Abraham Lincoln’s son.
4.47
3
- There is enough fat in the average adult human body to make seven bars of soap.
4.33
4
- 315 entries in Webster’s 1996 dictionary were misspelled.
4.17
5
- 50% of female polar bears also have a penis.
4.15
6
- Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.
4.11
7
- An adult giraffe's kick is so powerful that it can decapitate a lion.
4.04
8
- The word “lethologica” describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.
4.01
9
- It’s estimated that at any one time around 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk.
4
10
- Contrary to what Hollywood suggests, it is not advisable to take a pulse with your thumb, as it is possible to detect your own pulse using this method.
4
11
- The most overdue book in the world was borrowed from Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, England and was returned 288 years later.
4
12
- Every year approximately 2,500 left-handed people are killed by using object or machinery designed for right-handed people.
3.98
13
- In ancient Rome, when a man testified in court he would swear on his testicles.
3.98
14
- The brain continues sending electrical wave signals for 37 hours after death
3.95
15
- Between 1902 and 1907, the same tiger killed 434 people in India.
3.93
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Unnecessary Knowledge

[DougF]

The term LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Laser - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Jay-qu]

In ancient Rome, when a man testified in court he would swear on his testicles.

No way, is this the actual origin of the word testify

[DougF]

Well I wouldn't swear to it.

[Overdog]

[Latin, witness, testis; see testify.]
Word History: The resemblance between testimony, testify, testis, and testicle shows an etymological relationship, but linguists are not agreed on precisely how English testis came to have its current meaning. The Latin testis originally meant "witness," and etymologically means "third (person) standing by": the te- part comes from an older tri-, a combining form of the word for "three," and -stis is a noun derived from the Indo-European root st- meaning "stand." How this also came to refer to the body part(s) is disputed. An old theory has it that the Romans placed their right hands on their testicles and swore by them before giving testimony in court. Another theory says that the sense of testicle in Latin testis is due to a calque, or loan translation, from Greek. The Greek noun parastats means "defender (in law), supporter" (para- "by, alongside," as in paramilitary and -stats from histanai, "to stand"). In the dual number, used in many languages for naturally occurring, contrasting, or complementary pairs such as hands, eyes, and ears, parastats had the technical medical sense "testicles," that is "two glands side by side." The Romans simply took this sense of parastats and added it to testis, the Latin word for legal supporter, witness.

testis - definition of testis by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Overdog

[Latin, witness, testis; see testify.]
Word History: The resemblance between testimony, testify, testis, and testicle shows an etymological relationship, but linguists are not agreed on precisely how English testis came to have its current meaning. The Latin testis originally meant "witness," and etymologically means "third (person) standing by": the te- part comes from an older tri-, a combining form of the word for "three," and -stis is a noun derived from the Indo-European root st- meaning "stand." How this also came to refer to the body part(s) is disputed. An old theory has it that the Romans placed their right hands on their testicles and swore by them before giving testimony in court. Another theory says that the sense of testicle in Latin testis is due to a calque, or loan translation, from Greek. The Greek noun parastats means "defender (in law), supporter" (para- "by, alongside," as in paramilitary and -stats from histanai, "to stand"). In the dual number, used in many languages for naturally occurring, contrasting, or complementary pairs such as hands, eyes, and ears, parastats had the technical medical sense "testicles," that is "two glands side by side." The Romans simply took this sense of parastats and added it to testis, the Latin word for legal supporter, witness.

testis - definition of testis by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

Hmmmm I wonder just how different our court rooms would be if indeed we stood to loose more than our freedom if we lied? Kinda puts a whole new spin on things! "Put your right hand on your privates" "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, or loose your testicles" I'm betting there would be fewer lies from men at least!

[Overdog]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Hmmmm I wonder just how different our court rooms would be if indeed we stood to loose more than our freedom if we lied? ...

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Makes me wonder now what the connotations of the latin word for perjury were in ancient Rome.

Always wondered why the Romans had so many Eunuchs around...