As Syndromes Go, I Have A Good One Today. Enjoy The Facts.

July 7, 2015June 26, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual 16 Psyche, Andes Mountains, around the world, asteroid belt, awakened, banned, Brannock Device, bullet made of ice, buying spare parts, CIA, circumnavigate the globe, Connecticut Board of Education, country, dipped in shellfish toxin, disclosures, discovered, dry your car, ebay, education, Entertainment, Erden Eruc, estimate, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, falling asleep in class, first solo person, Greek mythological figure Psyche, headaches, hearing loss, heart attack gun, heart attack guns, human power, identified, illegal, Incan citadel, induces a heart attack, information, intellectual, iron-nickel composition, Japanese, Japanese embassy in France, Jupiter, largest metal asteroids, Machu Picchu, marine species, Mars, McDonald's, measure your foot, metal asteroids, mountains, nasa, nausea, Nicolae Ceausescu, oceans, outdated, Paris, Paris Syndrome, Peru, Psyche, psychological syndrome, Random, Romanian President, rowed, San Francisco, scientists, Scrabble, shoe store, Space Shuttle electronics, special hotline, subversive evil, sue, Symptoms, syndromes, teacher, tourists, Turkey, underwater marine species, used underwear, walked, water, websites

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

There seems to be syndromes for just about anything these days/

Maybe that would make a good post on its own.

For today however you will have to be content with just one, mixed in with a lot of other facts too.

Apparently in San Francisco

it is illegal to dry your car

with used underwear.

Since the Space Shuttle electronics were

so outdated and nobody made them anymore,

NASA actually resorted to buying spare parts

on websites like eBay

Only about 226,000 underwater marine species

have been identified and scientists estimate that

there could be up to 25 million marine species

living in the oceans.

This means less than 1% of all underwater

marine life has been discovered.

Machu Picchu, the Incan citadel set high

in the Andes Mountains in Peru,

was so high in the mountains that it

wasn’t discovered until 1911.

If it were a country,

McDonald’s would be the 90th richest

country on Earth.

In the 80’s Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu

had the game of scrabble banned and described it

as “overly intellectual” and a “subversive evil”.

Discovered in 1852 and named after

the Greek mythological figure Psyche,

16 Psyche is a one of the largest metal asteroids

in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Unlike most of other metal asteroids,

Psyche shows no sign of the presence of water

and is believed to have a purely iron-nickel composition.

After falling asleep in class and being awakened

by a teacher smacking her palm down on his desk,

a 16 year old’s parents decided to sue the

Connecticut Board of Education

for the hearing loss he suffered.

The thing that is always used

to measure your foot at the shoe store

is called a Brannock Device.

Heart attack guns exist.

According to disclosures by the CIA in 1975,

there is such a thing as a ‘heart attack gun’.

It fires a bullet made of ice, dipped in shellfish toxin

that immediately induces a heart attack.

The first solo person to circumnavigate the globe

using only human power

was Erden Eruc of Turkey who

walked and rowed right around the world!

Paris Syndrome is a real psychological syndrome

that affects mostly Japanese people when they realize

that Paris isn’t as great a place as they thought it would be.

The Japanese embassy in France even has a

special hotline that tourists can call.

Symptoms include nausea and headaches.

====================================

The ‘F’ Word And More – It’s Fasab Fact Day!

June 30, 2015June 24, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual 44 Presidents of the United States, 64Kbyte of memory, American toilets, answering the call of nature, Army Reserve, astronauts, Australia, ‘F’ word, beer brewed from bananas, bronze, CIA, coded contents, computer, Continental Army, created, Croatian, defected to the US, divorce filings in the US, education, Entertainment, Europeans, facebook, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, fast fact, FBI, first webcam, foreigners, hollow coins, HOT fact, huge bottom and side gaps, information, invented the speedometer, Josip Belušic, kitchen, monitor a coffee pot, Moon, movie, nasa, Naval Aviators, Naval Reserve, Navy, Never Never River, paperboy, pass messages to each other, river, Russian spies, Russian spy, served in the Army, served in the military. Presidents, silver medal in the Olympics, state militias, surface of the Sun, temperature of the Earth's core, toaster, Top Gun, trivia, University of Cambridge, US, US Navy, utmost privacy, Weird, welcome message from Moscow

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Don’t be offended by the title.

An ‘F’ word here or there never hurt anyone.

So get stuck into the facts (that’s an ‘F’ word too!)

Enjoy.

In 2011 approximately one third

of divorce filings in the US

contained the ‘F’ word,

yes, that’s the one

“facebook”.

(See, it wasn’t nearly

as bad as you thought.)

HOT fact:

The temperature of the Earth’s core is

5500 degrees celsius (9900 degrees fahrenheit).

That is the same temperature as the surface of the sun.

Getting a silver medal in the Olympics

will make you feel worse than getting a bronze

(because you just missed the gold)

There is actually a beer brewed

from bananas in some countries

Out of 44 Presidents of the United States,

32 have served in the military.

15 Presidents served in the Army/Army Reserve,

9 served in state militias,

6 served in the Navy/Naval Reserve

and 2 served in the Continental Army.

Croatian Josip Belušic invented the speedometer.

(How about that for a fast fact?)

Answering the call of nature is something

Europeans usually associate with the utmost privacy,

which is why American toilets,

with huge bottom and side gaps,

seem so weird to some foreigners.

The first webcam was actually created

to monitor a coffee pot at

the University of Cambridge.

Russian spies used to use hollow coins

to pass messages to each other in the US

and one of these coins made it into circulation.

One day a paperboy dropped the coin

and it split open revealing its coded contents.

The code baffled the FBI and CIA

until a Russian spy defected to the US

and interpreted the note.

It was a welcome message from Moscow

…and it was intended for him.

In Australia there is a river

called the ‘Never Never River’.

The toaster in your kitchen

contains a more powerful computer

than the one used by NASA

to send astronauts to the moon.

It only had 64Kbyte of memory

and operated at 0.043MHz.

After the release of the Top Gun movie in 1986,

the US Navy stated that the number of

young men who wanted to become Naval Aviators

went up by 500 percent.

==============================

Need To Spend A Penny? Find Out Where You Can’t In Today’s Fact File.

June 23, 2015June 21, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual .yu, 20th century, Abraham Lincoln, Al Gore, appeared in a dream, assassinated, Australia, black man, British ship, China, colonists, constructed buildings without mortar, cosmetics industry, cosmetics products, cost effective, currency, dilate, domain names, education, Entertainment, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, falling-out hair, first female American self-made millionaire, first submarine attack in history, fitting together perfectly, fortune, good indication, grow back, gunpowder, HMS Eagle, huge stones, hull, illegal, Incas, Independence, information, International Space Station, internet, invented wi-fi, involuntary behavior, jinx, lying, Madame C J Walker, me, mixture, Montenegro, nasa, National Science Agency, New York Harbor in 1776, Pan-American exposition in New York, pennies, permission from the government, person's pupils, President James Garfield, President McKinley, President William McKinley, registered, reincarnation, Robert Todd Lincoln, stores, submersible, sued, text message, The Turtle, told her, too heavy, top level internet domain, US military bases, websites, witness the assassination, world, Yugoslavia

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Spending a penny is becoming more and more difficult these days, especially if you are in the US military as you will see. But then they are trained to take the pressure.

More fabulous facts below.

Enjoy.

Stores on US military bases around the world

don’t accept pennies as currency because they are

“too heavy and are not cost-effective to ship”.

A person’s pupils will dilate if they are lying.

In fact, because this is an involuntary behavior

it is usually a good indication.

The world’s first female American self-made millionaire,

Madame C.J. Walker, made her fortune

in the early 20th century cosmetics industry.

A black man appeared to her in a dream

and told her the mixture which would help

her falling-out hair grow back in.

It worked, and she enjoyed a lengthy career

selling her cosmetics products.

Australia’s National Science Agency

claims to have basically invented wi-fi

and has even sued over it.

But sure we all know it was Al Gore,

or was that the internet he didn’t invent?

Still on the subject of the internet,

when Montenegro gained its independence

from Yugoslavia its top level internet

domain went from .yu to .me

And yet more Internet goodies,

in 1993 there were only 623 websites.

Today, more than 100,000 domain names

are registered every single day

The Incas constructed buildings without mortar,

the huge stones they used fitting together

so perfectly and tightly that

nothing could get between them.

In China reincarnation is illegal.

Unless you have permission from the government.

(But how would they know if you came back

as an American or maybe a dog?)

The first submarine attack in history

took place in New York Harbor in 1776.

The colonists attempted to attach gunpowder

to the hull of the British ship HMS Eagle

using a submersible they called ‘The Turtle’.

NASA will send you a text message

whenever the International Space Station

passes over your location.

Is there such a thing as a jinx?

Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln

was by his father’s side as he passed away.

He then went on to witness the assassination

of President James Garfield.

Twenty years later, in 1901, President William McKinley

invited him to the Pan-American exposition in New York

and on that day President McKinley was also assassinated.

Robert decided to decline any presidential invitations

from that day forth.

=============================

Handcuffs Explains A Lot – More Fasab Facts!

June 16, 2015June 10, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual 1435 meters per second, acoustic riffs, americans, ancestors, assassin, Australia, caviar flavors, collection of facts, congress, crop, died serving the United States, discovered, disgruntled painter, dream, earth, education, Entertainment, esposas, Europe, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, falling back to sleep, faster, gun wouldn’t fire, handcuffs, high speed internet access all the way up Mount Everest, I Can’t Get No, ice cream, Incas, information, inherited the planet, interstellar planets, Keith Richards, light years, lobster, memorial day, misfired, nasa, National Moment of Remembrance Act, nomad planets, orbits, orphan planets, pilots, planetary-mass objects, popular song, potatoes, President, recorded, remember and honor, Richard Lawrence, rogue planets, Satisfaction, scientists, shoot Andrew Jackson, snoring, spanish, Spanish conquistadors, species, speed of sound, speed of sound in water, squid Ink, sued, the rolling stones, travel aimlessly through space, trespassing on Mars, unemployed painter, US Air Force, USAF, wives, word, World War I, would-be assassin, Yemen

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

You’ll understand the title of this post better in a moment when you read the latest collection of facts from the fasab archives.

A little bit of something for everyone I hope.

Enjoy.

In Spanish the word

“esposas”

means both

“wives” and “handcuffs”.

That explains a lot.

NASA was sued by three men from Yemen

for trespassing on Mars.

They claimed that they had inherited

the planet from their ancestors

thousands of years ago.

The Incas introduced the world to potatoes

via the Spanish conquistadors and

nearly a quarter of Europe’s growth

between the 1700s and the 1900s has been

attributed to the introduction of this crop.

According to scientists, about three quarters

of the species that make Australia home

have yet to be discovered.

When an unemployed painter named

Richard Lawrence tried to shoot Andrew Jackson,

his gun wouldn’t fire.

The 67 year old president began to

beat his would-be assassin with a cane

during which the assassin pulled out another gun.

This gun also misfired and the

disgruntled painter was dragged away.

There is actually high speed internet access

all the way up Mount Everest.

In 2000, Congress passed the

National Moment of Remembrance Act

which requires all Americans to stop

what they are doing at 3pm on Memorial Day

to remember and honor those who have died

serving the United States.

At the start of World War I

the US Air Force only had 18 pilots.

Rogue planets, also known as interstellar planets,

nomad planets or orphan planets, are

planetary-mass objects that have

broken from their orbits and

travel aimlessly through space.

The closest rogue planet to Earth yet discovered

is around 7 light years away.

You can get ice cream in lobster,

squid Ink, and caviar flavors.

At 1,435 meters per second

the speed of sound in water is almost

five times faster than it is in air.

Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones

attributed his popular song

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

to a dream.

He’s said to have recorded the acoustic riffs

just before falling back to sleep.

(The riffs were followed by 40 minutes of him snoring.)

================================

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire – Some Hot Facts!

June 9, 2015June 7, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual 3rd-century, Abraham Lincoln, astronaut, atmosphere, Australia, Bill Clinton, Bill Nye, Byzantine Empire, Charlie Chaplin, cloud, contractions, delivered, Dr Otto Loewi, dream, Eastern Empire, eats at McDonalds, education, elected to congress, electrically, emails, Entertainment, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, false facts, fell, giant gas cloud, heat, Himiko, I did not do it, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, I didn't do it, Inca mail, information, interesting, Japanese scientist, Japanese shaman queen, John F Kennedy, Justinian, Kennedy, lake, Lake Hillier, last emperor to use the title Caesar, liar, light years, Lincoln, look-alike contest, messengers, nasa, nerves, network of roads, Nobel Prize, oceans, pink, President, relay system, Science Guy, scientists, shot in the head, space, statistically, Suns, survived, transmitted chemically, transmitted information, true, truthful statement, Western Roman Empire, world’s population

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

We’ll get to one of the biggest liars America has produced later.

But ahead of that have a look at another selection of fasab facts.

And…

Enjoy.

There is a lake in Australia called Lake Hillier

that is a bright shade of pink.

Unlike with other similar lakes,

scientists are still not completely sure why.

Bill Nye the Science Guy

originally wanted to be an astronaut,

but NASA kept rejecting him.

In 476 AD the Western Roman Empire fell

and the Eastern Empire survived

as what we know today as the Byzantine Empire.

Charlie Chaplin once lost a

Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest

Although there have been emails floating about

for years containing many false facts about

Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy,

there were a few that are true and interesting.

Lincoln was elected to congress in 1846,

Kennedy in 1946.

Lincoln became president in 1860,

Kennedy in 1960 (though sworn in 1961).

And both were eventually shot in the head on a Friday.

Inca mail was delivered along their network of roads

by way of messengers who would hand mail off

to each other using a sort of relay system.

A bit like the Pony Express without the ponies!

1% of the world’s population

eats at McDonalds every day.

Named by a Japanese scientist after

a 3rd-century Japanese shaman queen, Himiko,

is a giant gas cloud and one of the largest

objects ever found in space.

With a length of about 55,000 light years,

the cloud is roughly the equivalent

mass of 40 billion Suns.

The top ten feet of the oceans

holds the same amount of heat

as the entire atmosphere

In the early 20th century, scientists thought

our nerves transmitted information electrically.

After a dream, Dr. Otto Loewi awoke during the night

and scribbled some thoughts on a paper.

Upon waking in the morning,

he realized he had written about information

being transmitted chemically,

later proven to be true and

winning him the Nobel Prize in 1936.

Justinian was the last emperor

to use the title ‘Caesar’.

A liar tends not to use contractions.

For example, “I didn’t do it”

statistically tends to be a more truthful

statement that “I did not do it”.

Remember Bill Clinton,

he didn’t say, “I didn’t do it”,

he said,

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

He lied.

============================

America, Asia and Australia – It’s A Global Quiz.

June 8, 2015June 7, 2015 fasab Questions, Tests above the surface of the Earth, acronym, America, An Lushan rebellion, art, Asia, astronaut, Australia, backgammon, band, Beaufort Scale, body, books, boxing, Brighton Rock, Cassius Clay, castle, city, commemoration day, court, Decoration Day, defeat, earth, education, ELO, enemy fleet, English naval commander, Entertainment, first Space Shuttle launched, functions, general knowledge, Geography, Heavyweight Championship of the World, history, honor, jfk, kangaroos, King Arthur, last Space Shuttle launch, literature, math, mathematics, maths, measured, most translated book in the world, music, nasa, novelist, Our Man In Havana, Pacific Ocean, Pearl of the Danube, People, Pietà sculpture, Presidency, questions, quiz, quizzes, Rasceta, science, sport, stop a game of bowls, test, tests, The Quiet American, triangles, trigonometry, Union and Confederate soldiers fallen in the American Civil War, word, young rabbit

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Questions relating to most continents today so truly a global quiz.

Twenty more questions to test your general knowledge.

As always if you get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating.

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1. In Australia are there are more people than kangaroos or more kangaroos than people?

Q. 2. In America what commemoration day was in honor of the Union and Confederate soldiers fallen in the American Civil War, and known as the Decoration Day?

Q. 3. To be officially considered an astronaut by NASA you must travel how many miles above the surface of the Earth?

a) 50 miles b) 100 miles c) 150 miles d) 200 miles

Q. 4. In 755 AD the An Lushan rebellion in which over 30 million people died (almost a sixth of the world population) occurred in what country?

Q. 5. On what part of your body would you find Rasceta?

Q. 6. What is a young rabbit called?

Q. 7. What is the most translated book in the world, available in 2454 languages?

Q. 8. Approximately what proportion of the Earth is covered by the Pacific Ocean?

a) one eighth b) one fifth c) one quarter d) one third

Q. 9. In what year (excluding test flights) was the first Space Shuttle launched?

Q. 10. In what year (excluding test flights) was the last Space Shuttle launched?

Q. 11. What city is known as the ‘Pearl of the Danube’ ?

Q. 12. What is measured on the Beaufort scale?

Q. 13. What English naval commander reputedly refused to stop a game of bowls when an enemy fleet was sighted?

Q. 14. What famous novelists works include ‘Brighton Rock’, ‘The Quiet American’, and ‘Our Man In Havana’ ?

Q. 15. Which two figures are normally found in a Pietà sculpture?

Q. 16. What are the three main functions in trigonometry?

Q. 17. What word links a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur and the presidency of JFK?

Q. 18. Who did Cassius Clay first defeat to win the boxing Heavyweight Championship of the World?

Q. 19. What are the 12 long triangles on a backgammon board called?

Q. 20. In music what band is known by the acronym ELO?

ANSWERS

Q. 1. In Australia are there are more people than kangaroos or more kangaroos than people?

A. 1. In Australia there are approximately 23.87 million people, but current Federal Government estimates puts the number of kangaroos at 50 – 60 million.

Q. 2. In America what commemoration day was in honor of the Union and Confederate soldiers fallen in the American Civil War, and known as the Decoration Day?

A. 2. Memorial Day.

Q. 3. To be officially considered an astronaut by NASA you must travel how many miles above the surface of the Earth?

a) 50 miles b) 100 miles c) 150 miles d) 200 miles

A. 3. The correct answer is a) 50 miles.

Q. 4. In 755 AD the An Lushan rebellion in which over 30 million people died (almost a sixth of the world population) occurred in what country?

A. 4. In China.

Q. 5. On what part of your body would you find Rasceta?

A. 5. The lines on the back of your wrist are called Rasceta.

Q. 6. What is a young rabbit called?

A. 6. A young rabbit is called a ‘kitten’ or a ‘kit’, not a bunny.

Q. 7. What is the most translated book in the world, available in 2454 languages?

A. 7. The Bible.

Q. 8. Approximately what proportion of the Earth is covered by the Pacific Ocean?

a) one eighth b) one fifth c) one quarter d) one third

A. 8. The correct answer is d) one third.

Q. 9. In what year (excluding test flights) was the first Space Shuttle launched?

A. 9. It was launched in 1981, on April 12th.

Q. 10. In what year (excluding test flights) was the last Space Shuttle launched?

A. 10. It was launched in 2011, on July 8th.

Q. 11. What city is known as the ‘Pearl of the Danube’ ?

A. 11. Budapest.

Q. 12. What is measured on the Beaufort scale?

A. 12. Wind speed. It’s full name is the Beaufort wind force scale, although it is a measure of wind speed and not of force in the scientific sense.

Q. 13. What English naval commander reputedly refused to stop a game of bowls when an enemy fleet was sighted?

A. 13. Sir Francis Drake.

Q. 14. What famous novelists works include ‘Brighton Rock’, ‘The Quiet American’, and ‘Our Man In Havana’ ?

A. 14. Graham Greene.

Q. 15. Which two figures are normally found in a Pietà sculpture?

A. 15. The Pietà sculpture depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion.

Q. 16. What are the three main functions in trigonometry?

A. 16. They are ‘Sine’, ‘Cosine’ and ‘Tangent’, often shortened to ‘sin’, ‘cos’ and ‘tan’.

Q. 17. What word links a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur and the presidency of JFK?

A. 17. Camelot.

Q. 18. Who did Cassius Clay first defeat to win the boxing Heavyweight Championship of the World?

A. 18. Sonny Liston.

Q. 19. What are the 12 long triangles on a backgammon board called?

A. 19. They are known as ‘Points’.

Q. 20. In music what band is known by the acronym ELO?

A. 20. The Electric Light Orchestra.

=======================================

There Is Only One Batman In The World – Yes, It’s Fact Day.

June 2, 2015May 31, 2015 fasab Factoids, Unusual Abraham Lincoln, art, art pieces, artist, assassination, band, Batman, Batman city, bureaucrat, cardboard, census records, city’s name, claymation video, coffee cup, committed suicide, continental US, corpse, correspondent, desert, diesel engine, dreamt, Earth´s oceans, education, English Summer Rain, Entertainment, fact, factoid, factoids, facts, first official fan-made music video, gas, Germany, Grégoire Pinard, highway, imaginary house, imaginary wall, imagination, Impressed, Inca population, Incas, information, invention, Karl Marx, largest pre-Colombian American empire, Life, light years, mass of water, mayor, McDonald's, McDonald's restaurants, moron, mourners, Musem of Non-Visible Art, nasa, New York Daily Tribune, non-visible, northwest Nevada, Office of Planetary Protection, official, Placebo, planet, Random, Rudolf Diesel, sad wailing, song, southeastern Turkey, space, successful, sued, thingy, US, Warner Bros, water vapor cloud, White House, without permission, woman, written language, zarf< inventor

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Yes, today is fact day on the fasab blog.

And apparently there is only one batman in the world.

That and other unusual offerings below.

Enjoy.

In Germany you are not allowed

to run out of gas on the highway

Although there are McDonald’s restaurants

in 119 countries,

40% of the total number are found in the US.

The only place in the continental US

that is more than 100 miles from a McDonald’s

is a desert in northwest Nevada.

The mayor of Batman city in southeastern Turkey

sued Warner Bros for using his city’s name

without permission.

“There is only one batman in the world”

he was quoted as saying.

The Museum of Non-Visible Art

sells art that only exists

in the imagination of the artist.

In 2011 a moron

– sorry, a woman –

bought one of their “non-visible”

art pieces for $10,000.

I wonder if she hung it on her imaginary wall

in her imaginary house???

In space,

about 10 billion light years distant,

there is an enormous water vapor cloud

that is estimated to hold up to 140 trillion times

the mass of water found in all Earth´s oceans.

And still with space,

in typical bureaucrat fashion,

just in case life is found on some other planet,

NASA has an Office of Planetary Protection

already prepared.

The cardboard thingy that goes around

your coffee cup is called a ‘zarf’.

The inventor of the diesel engine,

Rudolf Diesel,

committed suicide because he thought

his invention wouldn’t be successful.

Despite being the largest pre-Colombian American empire,

the Incas never developed a written language.

Thus there are no census records available

and estimates of the size of the Inca population has

varied widely from 4 million people to nearly 40 million.

Karl Marx was once a correspondent

for the New York Daily Tribune.

Abraham Lincoln dreamt of his own assassination

just a few days before it happened.

He dreamt he could hear sad wailing in the White House

and, in getting up and trying to find it,

finally came upon a room with

mourners and his own corpse…

The first official fan-made music video

was Grégoire Pinard’s claymation video

of Placebo’s song “English Summer Rain”.

The band were so impressed that

they decided to make it official.

============================

Boffin Bollocks!

May 13, 2015April 25, 2015 fasab Current Events, Humour, Rants across the border, aircraft, amusing, Apollo missions, Australia, ball lightning, benign, big fan, boffin bollocks, break through, captivated, carefully studying, Chief Scientist, clever, colleague, conquering all in its path, continually wage war, culinary delicacy, Current Events, dedicated, deep space, direction, E.T., Ellen Stofan, entertained, Fast Radio Bursts, first contact with alien life, fools, FRBs, funny, galaxy, H G, headline, headline grabbers, hell bent, Humor, Humour, idiots, independence day, intelligent life, intense bursts, John M Grunsfeld, life out there, make a name for themselves, Mars, Martians, Mexicans, microwave oven, morons, movies, Ms Stofan, nasa, non-scientific guess, Orson, Parkes Observatory, pass us by, peryton-a, perytons, planet, planet full of people, pronouncements, puzzled, radio signals, radio waves, real, real Martians, rogue signals, scientist, scientists, Shock Warning Aliens Are Coming, shoes, signals, solar system, somewhere else in the galaxy, sound bite, space boots, Space Exploration, star trek, Stargate, supernova, tangible results, telescope, telescopes, television coverage, the icy crusts of Jupiter's moons Ganymede and Europa, the internal water within Saturn's moon Enceladus, theories, Thoughts, TV sci-fi series, War Of The Worlds, warp speed, We know how to look, We know where to look, Wells, wormhole

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

I would love to have been a scientist.

Not a real one, I’m not clever enough or dedicated enough for that. Rather, I would have loved to have been one of those idiots who try to make a name for themselves off pronouncements on things about which they know absolutely nothing.

I saw another one of their headline grabbers (that I like to call “boffin bollocks”) recently. The headline went something like “Shock Warning Aliens Are Coming.” And it wasn’t about more Mexicans making their way north across the US border.

It was from NASA’s Chief Scientist, Ellen Stofan, and claimed that first contact with alien life will happen “very soon” – very soon being not tomorrow, but within the next decade or two.

“We know where to look,” she confirmed.

Yes, “UP” would be my non-scientific guess at the best direction.

“We know how to look,” she added.

Again I am forced to agree. Personally I’d use a telescope, and a great big one, but that’s only me!

Ms Stofan was ably backed up by a colleague, John M. Grunsfeld, who came out with good sound bite words and phrases like “solar system”, “galaxy”, “the icy crusts of Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Europa” (my favorite I think) and “the internal water within Saturn’s moon Enceladus”.

Mars and the Martians also got mentioned, but only with suggestions that life may have at one time been present on the planet. H. G. and Orson Wells had beaten them to visits by the ‘real’ Martians many, many years ago.

More scientists, this time at the Parkes Observatory in Australia, have been carefully studying peryton-a type of radio signals similar to Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) which are known to come from somewhere else in the galaxy.

For years, they had been puzzled by these brief but intense bursts of radio waves that in some ways appeared to be coming from deep space. There have been dozens of reported perytons, some dating back to the 1990s, and theories about the signals’ origin included ball lightning, aircraft, and components of the telescopes themselves.

Then this year they made a break through. They discovered the source of the rogue signals. They were coming from – no, not somewhere deep in the galaxy – but instead from the microwave oven in the next room.

In what has to be the understatement of the year, Emily Petroff of Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology admitted, “It was quite surprising that it ended up being microwaves.” I bet it was!

I must add that I’m a big fan of space exploration, always have been, since I was a kid and was captivated by the television coverage of the Apollo missions. My only regret is that it all takes so very long that I will have gone ‘supernova’ before we see any tangible results of that exploration. There’s never a handy wormhole around when you need one, is there!

I am also a big fan of TV sci-fi series like the Star Treks, the Stargates and so forth, and of movies from ‘War of the Worlds’, thru ‘E.T.’ to ‘Independence Day’ and beyond. But I also have the wit to realize I’m being entertained and these things are not real.

So is there life out there?

I wouldn’t rule the idea out for a second. But what I would rule out is that intelligent life is ever going to be found within our Solar System, maybe not even within our Galaxy. But it could be out there somewhere.

The question we should be asking is, assuming it is benign and not hell bent on conquering all in its path, or maybe viewing us as a culinary delicacy, would that intelligent life really want anything to do with a planet full of people who, for almost their entire existence, seem to want nothing better than to continually wage war on each other?

I think having observed us for a while they would probably pass us by without calling in to say hello.

If I were in their shoes – or space boots – that’s what I would do – and at warp speed too!

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This Quiz Is A Gas – Well The First Question Is.

December 15, 2014December 13, 2014 fasab Questions, Tests a bat out of hell, air, annual tradition, Antelope, Australia, barium, breathe, Calcium, Capitals, chemical symbol, chemistry, city, country, creature, deer, dendrologist, designed a famous lamp, discovered, education, element, English scientist, Entertainment, ESA, females, first American President of the United States, float on water, Friday, Frying Pan Park, gadwall, gas, Geography, hair, hamster, Herndon, history, Iceland, ISBN number, largest planet in the solar system, leap year, link, Macy's Thanksgiving parade, magnesium, math, mathematics, maths, messenger of the Gods, mouse, mythology, nasa, nature, needle, pardons a turkey, phonetic alphabet, physical property, physics, plants, potassium, President, President of the US, public farm, questions, quiz, Quiz Day, quizzes, Roman Mythology, sacked, science, Shakespearean characters, Sn, sodium, space, squirrel, study, syria, teeth, test, tests, three Capital cities, trees, Uruguay, VA, vandals, Vietnam, Visigoths, year

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Hi it’s quiz day again.

The usual mixture of subjects including geography, history, science and nature, so something for everyone perhaps.

And remember, as always, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?

Q. 2: What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?

Q. 3: Every year around this time the President of the US pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA., to live out its days, but which President is believed to have been the first to start this annual tradition?

Q. 4: What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)

Q. 5: What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?

Q. 6: Who was the first American President of the United States?

Q. 7: Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?

Q. 8: Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)

a) Australia b) Iceland c) Syria d) Uruguay e) Vietnam

Q. 9: And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)

Q. 10: In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?

a) 1924 b) 1927 c) 1931 d) 1935

Q. 11: What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?

Q. 12: In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?

Q. 13: When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?

Q. 14: What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?

a) Hair b) Trees c) Teeth d) Plants

Q. 15: What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)

Q. 16: Which is the largest planet in the solar system?

Q. 17: Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?

Q. 18: Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?

Q. 19: Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?

Q. 20: Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?

ANSWERS

Q. 1: Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?

A. 1: Nitrogen. (By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.)

Q. 2: What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?

A. 2: They are all called ‘Doe’.

A. 3: President Harry Truman in 1947.

Q. 4: What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 4: NASA is the North American Space Agency and ESA is the European Space Agency.

Q. 5: What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?

A. 5: A duck.

Q. 6: Who was the first American President of the United States?

A. 6: The first President of the United States, born in the United States after July 4th, 1776, and therefore American, was Martin Van Buren (born in 1782).

Q. 7: Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?

A. 7: Surface tension.

Q. 8: Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)

a) Australia b) Iceland c) Syria d) Uruguay e) Vietnam

A. 8: The correct answers are

a) Canberra b) Reykjavík c) Damascus d) Montevideo e) Hanoi

Q. 9: And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)

A. 9: South Africa – Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative).

Q. 10: In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?

a) 1924 b) 1927 c) 1931 d) 1935

A. 10: The correct answer is a) 1924.

Q. 11: What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?

A. 11: ‘Sn’ is the chemical symbol for Tin.

Q. 12: In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?

A. 12: Mercury.

Q. 13: When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?

A. 13: 2016. (It’s easier than you think, any leap year starting on Friday, January 1, should be divisible by 28, such as 1932, 1960, 1988, or 2044.

Q. 14: What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?

a) Hair b) Trees c) Teeth d) Plants

A. 14: The correct answer is b) trees.

Q. 15: What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)

A. 15: Romeo and Juliet.

Q. 16: Which is the largest planet in the solar system?

A. 16: Jupiter.

Q. 17: Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?

A. 17: Sir Humphrey Davy.

Q. 18: Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?

A. 18: On a book.

Q. 19: Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?

A. 19: Rome.

Q. 20: Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?

A. 20: Meat Loaf.

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Chain Stores, Axes And Earthquakes Are Just Some Of Today’s Facts.

November 11, 2014November 10, 2014 fasab Factoids, Unusual 22nd and 24th president, 43 presidents, 44th President, A&P, alcohol, alcoholic beverages, ants, Barack Obama, Barbary Coast, bean, Bee’s Knees, Bento de Gois, Berry, bodyweight, books, Brazilian woman, British-owned, canada, chain stores, cocktails, customers, direct, Disaster Café, disastrous dinners, earthquake, eat your dinner, education, elected, Entertainment, entertainment products, Estonia, European, fact, facts, first probe to study Pluto, first recorded chain store, forest industry, French 75, get a fish drunk, Great Wall of China, Grover Cleveland, Henry Walton Smith, Herne, horror films, horror movie, illegal, importation, information, James Wan, Kartuli, last Brazilian slave, launched, lift and carry, live during three different centuries, Lloret de Mar, Loganair, London, magazines, Maria do Carmo Jeronimo, Marja, Mary Pickford, mask the flavor, meal, melon, Meloni, Nackawic, nasa, nationwide Constitutional ban, New Brunswick, New Horizons mission, newspapers, nicknamed, non-consecutive terms, Oa, Ohio, Ohio State University, oldest living person on earth, Orkney Islands, own bodyweight, Papa Westray, Pea, percentage of the movie’s box office earnings, Pluto, Portuguese explorer, Potato, production, Prohibition, sale, Saw, scientific research study, Scotland, Sidecar, small town, Soup Town, Souptown, spain, stationery, streets, Superior, Tartu, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, time capsule, transportation, trivia, United Cigar Stores, Unites States, up front salary, USA, vegetables, W H Smith, Westray, Wisconsin, Woodstock, Woolworth's, world's largest Axe, world's oldest woman, world’s shortest commercial flight, youngest and highest-earning directors in film history

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Yes, chain stores, axes and earthquakes are just some of today’s random selection of fabulous facts here at the fasab blog.

Hope find a few things new and interesting.

Enjoy.

NASA’s New Horizons mission will

be the first probe to study Pluto.

It was launched on January 2006,

and will be near Pluto on July 2015.

The world’s largest Axe is located

in Nackawic, New Brunswick, Canada.

It stands 15 metres (49 ft) tall,

weighs over 55 tons and the

axe-head is 7 metres (23 ft) wide and

has a time capsule embedded within it.

It sits on a concrete stump 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter.

The axe was commissioned, designed and

built in 1991 by a company in Woodstock and it

symbolizes the importance of the forest industry in the region.

There is a small town in Estonia (actual name ‘Tartu’)

that has been nicknamed of ‘Souptown’ because most

of its streets are named after various vegetables,

such as Kartuli (Potato), Herne (Pea), Oa (Bean),

Marja (Berry) and Meloni (Melon).

The town of ‘Superior’ in Wisconsin in the USA

is also known as ‘Soup Town’

but this is simply because the name was shortened

to ‘Soup’ and then ‘Town’ added later.

The first recorded chain store was British-owned W H Smith,

founded in London in 1792 by Henry Walton Smith and his wife.

The store sells books, stationery, magazines, newspapers,

and entertainment products.

In the U.S., chain stores began with the founding of

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in 1859.

By the early 1920s, the U.S. boasted three national chains:

A&P, Woolworth’s, and United Cigar Stores.

Ants are known to be able to lift and carry

about 50 times their own bodyweight,

but a recent scientific research study by

Ohio State University suggests it can be up

to an incredible 5000 times their bodyweight.

It was during the stupid ‘Prohibition’ period

in the Unites States (1920-1933),

when there was a nationwide Constitutional ban

on the sale, production, importation, and

transportation of alcoholic beverages,

that ‘cocktails’ gained popularity.

They were offered to mask the flavor of poorly made

alcohol and popular versions included

‘Mary Pickford’, ‘French 75’, ‘Barbary Coast’,

‘Bee’s Knees’, and the ‘Sidecar’.

And, by the way,

it is still illegal in Ohio to get a fish drunk.

Barack Obama is the USA’s 44th President,

but there actually have only been 43 presidents:

Grover Cleveland was elected for two non-consecutive terms

and is counted twice, as the 22nd and 24th President.

Although the Great Wall of China has

existed for more than two thousand years,

most of the rest of the world didn’t know

about it until after the first European,

a Portuguese explorer named Bento de Gois,

discovered it in 1605.

Not quite as old as the Great Wall of China,

but nonetheless impressive, was Brazilian woman

Maria do Carmo Jeronimo who for a while

was the oldest living person on earth.

She was the last Brazilian slave,

and one of very few people in history who

managed to live during three different centuries;

she was born in Brazil in 1871 and

she died on June 14, 2000,

at the incredible age of 129 years and 102 days.

Unfortunately lack of a birth certificate,

which were not often issued in those days especially for slaves,

prevented her official recognition as the world’s oldest woman.

If you ever wondered what it would be like

trying to eat your dinner during an earthquake

then you should book a table at

Disaster Café, in Lloret de Mar, Spain.

At the “disastrous” dinners customers experience

an artificial 7.8 magnitude earthquake

so don’t wear your best gear as there are likely

to be spilled food and drinks during the meal.

When James Wan agreed to direct the horror movie ‘Saw’

he also agreed not to receive an “up front” salary

but instead opted for a generous percentage

of the movie’s box office earnings.

‘Saw’ made over $100 million globally and it is

considered one of the most profitable horror movies of all time.

Wan’s risk also enabled him to become one of the youngest

and highest-earning directors in movie history.

The world’s shortest commercial flight takes place

between the two Orkney Islands, Westray and

Papa Westray, north of Scotland.

Operated by Loganair,

the flight covers a distance of only 1.7 miles (2.7 km)

and if the weather conditions are favorable,

it can be completed in just 47 seconds.

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