"I didn't know that" of the day:

Viagra was actually initially developed as a treatment for low blood pressure.

Well if you wanted to kill the patient then maybe. It lowers blood pressure and therefore would be a very bad thing to take should you already have low blood pressure. It was actually developed for angina. We did the launch to the Pfizer UK sales team many years ago in Vilamoura and spent a good few hours stuck at Lisbon airport with the lead researcher on the way back. I recall the lighting tech asking him what effect it had on women’s nipples as they also contained erectile tissue. They hadn’t actually considered it so he was going to go back and find out if any of the women on the original angina trial had reported any side effects.

If PI, was a nice round number, would we still need leap years ?

In 1897 the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill declaring PI to be exactly 3.2. This was rejected by the Senate.

Viagra was originally designed to prevent patients from accidentally rolling out of bed.

Well if you wanted to kill the patient then maybe. It lowers blood pressure and therefore would be a very bad thing to take should you already have low blood pressure.

Fair enough avdave. It was a half remembered fact. I remember it was originally intended as another treatment altogether. I really didn’t want to google Viagra while at work!

I stand corrected

richmtb – Member
Well if you wanted to kill the patient then maybe. It lowers blood pressure and therefore would be a very bad thing to take should you already have low blood pressure.
Fair enough avdave. It was a half remembered fact. I remember it was originally intended as another treatment altogether. I really didn’t want to google Viagra while at work!

I stand corrected proudly, in an upright manner FTFY 😉

I stand errected

When originally surveyed, Everest was calculated to be exactly 29000ft high. However, as this sounded like too much of a rounded approximation, it’s height was reported as 29002ft, which sounded more precise.

It’s also getting taller.

bananas are radioactive 😯

Yeah, it’s now 29029ft, which is also a bit of a coincidental height.

It was a half remembered fact.

Well to be fair they are the best type, alternative facts with integrity if you like.

“bananas are radioactive”

As are Brazil nuts. Apparently if you walked into Sellafield with a pocket full of them they would set the high radiation alarms off.

Another good Brazil nut fact, in Brazil they just call them nuts.

EDIT – ignore me, I’m talking rubbish

Another good Brazil nut fact, in Brazil they just call them nuts.

people living with mental health problems just call them Brazils

I recently discovered that Hugo Boss designed the Nazi uniform

Most Brazil buts actually come from Bolivia

people living with mental health problems just call them Brazils

That makes no sense.

On any level.

I recently discovered that Hugo Boss designed the Nazi uniform

And the man behind L’Oreal was a Nazi collaborator and funded French fascism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Schueller

people living with mental health problems just call them Brazils

That makes no sense.

On any level.

Well you wouldn’t really expect it to would you

Pete Ramished and Hector Bungry played with the Shadows, yet it is still Hank Marvin who gets all the rhyming slang glory.

And the man behind L’Oreal was a Nazi collaborator and funded French fascism.

He probably thought it was worth it.

Apologies if it’s been done but…

Harry Shearer (Ned Flanders etc from The Simpsons) played Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT!

The largest CNC machining company in the World? Apple. There’s a good argument that they’re not an electronics company at all, they’re an engineering company.

http://atomicdelights.com/blog/why-your-next-iphone-wont-be-ceramic

Well, I thought it was interesting 😉

people living with mental health problems just call them Brazils

a bit harsh there, avdave. Jamie, on occasion can be quite perceptive, this is more of an exception.

Bon Scott of AC/DC fame moved to Australia from his native Scotland. Locals there started calling him “Bonnie Scotland” – hence, Bon Scott.

A Piano is a percussion instrument – not as many think, a string instrument.

not according to the widely-used Hornbostel-Sachs classification system where is classed as a chordophone

Stretched string produces the sound. How it is hit is less important than how it makes the sound

You may as well call a guitar a percussion instrument because i hit it with my fingers.

IIRC the orchestra places it in percussion instruments though so it may well be a debatable point.

There are more tigers in captivity in Texas than wild in the rest of the world.

Bon Scott of AC/DC fame moved to Australia from his native Scotland. Locals there started calling him “Bonnie Scotland” – hence, Bon Scott.

I guess you heard that on the radio earlier – not quite correct. He’s originally Ronald Scott and Bon came partly from the Bonnie thing but mainly from just being a shortening of Ronald.

Ronald being the most rock ‘n’ roll name of course:

Bon Scott
Ronnie van Zant
Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie Wood
Ronnie Lane

And so on 😆

Another good Brazil nut fact, in Brazil they just call them nuts.

Brazil nuts are not nuts, they are seeds.

I guess you heard that on the radio earlier

I did. I fully expected a follow-up ‘fact’ on here to be someone knowing what radio station I listen to. (-:

Brazil nuts are not nuts, they are seeds.

Peanuts are not nuts, they are are legumes (as are peas).

During Roman times Cs in latin were pronounced hard, Caesar was pronounced kaisar.

I never knew Chris Ryan (ex SAS bloke) is actually called ***** ********G
& he’s got a brother who’s a Major in the Para’s.

Caesar was pronounced kaisar

Kaiser… German for emperor.

the word “assasin” dereives from the Arabic for “Hash”.

the word “assasin” dereives from the Arabic for “Hash”.

I discovered that fact a few years ago whilst reading the excellent “Hashish by Robert Connell Clarke”

Hassan al-Sabbah was a charismatic leader in the 12th century, a brilliant mathematician, a devoted religious scholar, an awesomely diabolical mastermind, and the founder and first Grand Master of one of history’s deadliest and most lethal mystery cults – the Hashashin, the secret Order of Assassins.

Recruits came to Alamut to study the mysterious ways of the Isma’ili, and Hassan housed them in small, modest, windowless apartments deep beneath the mountain. They stayed there for a while, studying shit and learning, until one day a servant arrived with a magical potion for the initiate to drink which consisted of Hashish and a combination of psychoactive herbs that induced vivid hallucinations.

Brazil nuts are not nuts, they are seeds.
Peanuts are not nuts, they are are legumes (as are peas).

And Bannana’s are not fruit, they are herbs.

No way I’m going through the entire thread to see if it’s been mentioned but on the subject of nuts the use of the humble cashew was quite an education, in particular the stuff between the shell outer and inner and its uses.

I also read somewhere it (the shell) could be used to produce phone cases or something – might be wrong. Google it for your daily fix…

The ink on banknotes doesn’t set. Mind = blown.

Yeah, it’s an anti-forgery technique. Doesn’t work so well with old notes, but with a new one you rub the geometric shape on a piece of paper and it leaves a mark.