Things you've always wondered about but couldn't be bothered to find out

[Ricardo Quaresma]

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Edited November 9, 2014 by Ricardo Quaresma

[Ortarkod]

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They blow the glass around the ship mate.

[Ortarkod]

Is 'he's got it in both hands' an actual footballing rule or a myth?

[Ricardo Quaresma]

They blow the glass around the ship mate.

Ah, but there is another way

[GlasgoJambo]

Do birds ever fly just for pleasure?

[aussieh]

Why an Elephants sex organs are in their feet.

[Tazio]

Do birds ever fly just for pleasure?

 

Read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

[Mac_fae_Gillie]

as washing powders made clothes whiter than white in the 80s how did they manage to make washing powder new and improved over the last 30years.

[GforGallo]

as washing powders made clothes whiter than white in the 80s how did they manage to make washing powder new and improved over the last 30years.

 

how can something be new and improved?

 

Surely if it's new, then nothing came before and if it's improved then it can't be new.

[BoJack Horseman]

as washing powders made clothes whiter than white in the 80s how did they manage to make washing powder new and improved over the last 30years.

 

Who wants whiter than whites in the 21st century? It's all about slightly off white now, so maybe they've regressed their formula to suit?

 

how can something be new and improved?

 

Surely if it's new, then nothing came before and if it's improved then it can't be new.

 

The second iteration of something can clearly be defined as the new version of it, and subsequently an improvement on the last iteration.

[Hearts007]

Why an Elephants sex organs are in their feet.

not sure but most 80-90 year old womens are at their feet Edited November 12, 2014 by hearts007

[iantjambo]

How did the terminator get sent back in time when it was parts from its own body that inspired the research that would eventually lead to Skynet being built in the first place?

[Gambo]

How does an old fashioned compass work. The wee dial that points to the North?

[GlasgoJambo]

 

 

Read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

 

Having looked this up, I think I will. Thanks

[BoJack Horseman]

How does an old fashioned compass work. The wee dial that points to the North?

 

You mean all compasses?

[2NaFish]

You mean all compasses?

 

I have a compass on my phone, it doesnt work the same way.

Edited November 12, 2014 by 2NaFish

[BoJack Horseman]

I have a compass on my phone, it doesnt work the same way.

 

Uses magnets, pretty similar to the "old fashioned" way.

[Ragnar]

 

 

I have a compass on my phone, it doesnt work the same way.

 

[2NaFish]

well smack my ass and call me charlie, so it does.

[BoJack Horseman]

well smack my ass and call me charlie, so it does.

 

Not sure if you're joking. How did you think it worked?

[2NaFish]

Not sure if you're joking. How did you think it worked?

 

I thought magnets would've been a hindrance to the electronics in the phone, so i'd discounted them. I never use the compass on my phone, so hadn't really put together an alternative beyond GPS.

[Gambo]

 

 

Uses magnets, pretty similar to the "old fashioned" way.

 

I know about the 'magnetic pull' but if my wee dial on my old fashioned compass was not held by a pin or enclosed, would it keep inching it's way north until it hit the pole?

 

P's I also thought that a compass on smartphones was by gps.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Gambo

[2NaFish]

I know about the 'magnetic pull' but if my wee dial on my old fashioned compass was not held by a pin or enclosed, would it keep inching it's way north until it hit the pole?

 

It'd need to break its inertia.

[Ortarkod]

When you're drinking and you gulp - is the noise actually that loud or is it just because it's happening in your mouth that you hear it?

[Ortarkod]

Do Australians/South Americans actually automatically think that Dec-Jan-Feb is summer, or are they that anglicised/americanised that they think 'Well, it's technically summer, but it's not really'?

[fila]

Do Australians/South Americans actually automatically think that Dec-Jan-Feb is summer, or are they that anglicised/americanised that they think 'Well, it's technically summer, but it's not really'?

They think it's summer in Oz

[Paolo]

They think it's summer in Oz

It is summer in Oz.

[Paolo]

Who decided on the names of colours?

[Haken]

Who decided on the names of colours?

And on that subject, is the orange fruit called an orange because it's orange, or is the colour orange called orange because it's the colour of an orange fruit?

[Ortarkod]

And on that subject, is the orange fruit called an orange because it's orange, or is the colour orange called orange because it's the colour of an orange fruit?

Funnily enough, both.

[Groot]

Sorry if I'm being a dipshit but I thought the compass on your phone works because of the GPS on your phone not because of 'little magnets' in there!

[FWJ]

And on that subject, is the orange fruit called an orange because it's orange, or is the colour orange called orange because it's the colour of an orange fruit?

The old word for an orange was a norange (the spanish for orange is naranja).  When and why a norange became an orange in english is unknown.

[2NaFish]

The old word for an orange was a norange (the spanish for orange is naranja).  When and why a norange became an orange in english is unknown.

the why is known. its a very common thing for the n to drop off the front of a word - a nickname used to be an ickname for example. the when is probably pretty easy to trace too. it'll have happened in different places at different times but once it became common it'll have spread and will be easily identifiable from written records.

[FWJ]

the why is known. its a very common thing for the n to drop off the front of a word - a nickname used to be an ickname for example. the when is probably pretty easy to trace too. it'll have happened in different places at different times but once it became common it'll have spread and will be easily identifiable from written records.

That's what I get for trusting what I read on the internet....

[2NaFish]

That's what I get for trusting what I read on the internet....

yeah, I got it from stephen fry. in random facts top trumps, fry beats the internet.

[peter_hmfc]

Why did it take an apple falling on Newtons head before he started thinking about gravity? Had he never dropped something in the life before, seen someone else drop something or seen something fall? Was this this the first item he'd ever known to travel in a downwards direction before?

[Guest C00l K1d]

How does glow in the dark work?

[jambo89]

The apple didn't land on newtons head. The fable goes that he saw an apple  fall from a tree and this sparked his idea for the 3 laws.

 

It seems so obvious to us now but back then it wasn't. Imagine in 400 years someone on a galactic footbal message board asking 'how did such and such not realise why time travel was so easy. he must've seen differing speeds of light everyday'. 

[Ron Swanson]

Why do the numbers a calculator and phone keypads go in different directions?

[fila]

It is summer in Oz.

Correct, I was answering his ? , we think it's winter because it is winter. Thanks for clarifying tho

[Ivan Drago]

How do animals know what is good and what isn't food?

 

Why do people who are scared of flying go on holiday?

[Paolo]

Why did it take an apple falling on Newtons head before he started thinking about gravity? Had he never dropped something in the life before, seen someone else drop something or seen something fall? Was this this the first item he'd ever known to travel in a downwards direction before?

Similarly, why did Archimedes not have his eureka moment sooner, or was that his first bath?

[AlphonseCapone]

How do animals know what is good and what isn't food?

 

Why do people who are scared of flying go on holiday?

Because holidays are good and I refuse to let an irrational fear stop me doing something.

[Pennywise]

I've just been told that the numbers on the side of a toaster are minutes, not levels of toastyness.

 

Is this common knowledge? I told my wife. She's still laughing at me.

[BoJack Horseman]

Sorry if I'm being a dipshit but I thought the compass on your phone works because of the GPS on your phone not because of 'little magnets' in there!

 

Nope, it's magnets. Which tell the GPS which way you're facing.

[neave]

I've just been told that the numbers on the side of a toaster are minutes, not levels of toastyness.

 

Is this common knowledge? I told my wife. She's still laughing at me.

I didn't know this either. Doesn't change the fact that most toasters are a heap of shite!

[Bert Le Clos]

If space is expanding, what is it like on the other side of whatever it's expanding into?

 

Thinking about space blows my mind.

[Horatio Caine]

Do birds ever fly just for pleasure?

Do we ever walk for pleasure?

[Sooperstar]

What is PHM?

[Norm]

What is PHM?

Proper Hearts Man.