Trivia Lovers!

[Patch]

Username:
Patch
What is one of your favorite facts?
Labrador Retrievers, no matter what color coat the parents have, can have any of the three possible colors (black, yellow or chocolate) if the carry the right genes. Certain genes are turned on/off while DNA is being coded, which is mostly random. Basically, two yellow labs can produce yellows, blacks, and chocolates and vice versa for the other two colors.
(( Sorry, that was long. xD ))
Do you like to play trivia games, or merely stash away information for yourself?
I love to play trivia games. The game Trivia Crack kind of enhanced that love. :3
Other?
I don't think so. ^^;
Codeword so I can find them if things get a little busy.

[scmarshtacky]

Speaking of genes, all people have all the same genes, it's just a matter of expression. People have all of the human genes, dogs have all of the dog genes, and so on. Which means, for example, that we all have all of the same genes for something fatal like cancer. It's just a matter of if that particular allele is expressed or not. Kinda sad isn't it? Learned that in Genetics this past week.

[Silverhart]

Speaking of genes, all people have all the same genes, it's just a matter of expression. People have all of the human genes, dogs have all of the dog genes, and so on. Which means, for example, that we all have all of the same genes for something fatal like cancer. It's just a matter of if that particular allele is expressed or not. Kinda sad isn't it? Learned that in Genetics this past week.

Wow! That's fascinating. Wait, does that mean like if I took a Pekingese and messed around with it's genetics, without adding anything I could therorhetically turn it into a Borzoi? That would be so awesome. XD

The Labrador thing is pretty awesome too! I had a black lab so I love labs. ^^ Sweetest dogs ever!

Did you know dogs are the only animals that can interpret human pointing? You can point, and a dog will look at where you're pointing. Even very young puppies are capable of this without any training. Meanwhile, our closet relatives - chimpanzees, completely fail at this task. It's pretty amazing how in tune dogs are with us. ^^ They're also the only animals who will seek out and meet our gaze.

[Patch]

Did you know dogs are the only animals that can interpret human pointing? You can point, and a dog will look at where you're pointing. Even very young puppies are capable of this without any training. Meanwhile, our closet relatives - chimpanzees, completely fail at this task. It's pretty amazing how in tune dogs are with us. ^^ They're also the only animals who will seek out and meet our gaze.

Ooh! I was watching this special where dogs were compared to wolves where many different tests were performed with both.

For one test, they put both a dog and a wolf in a separate crate they could see out of. Someone then put down a piece of meat a few inches away. The dog tried very hard to get out for a little bit then stopped and just looked up at the human, basically waiting to either be let out or given the meat. The wolf, however, practically tore his cage apart.

Another test was they put a treat under a pot next to two other pots. Neither the wolf nor the dog saw where the treat was put. The wolf ignored the man when he pointed towards a pot, even if it didn't have the treat, and used his nose. The dog, however, watched the man and ran to the pot that he was pointing at without a second thought.

The last test I can think of was a plate of food being put in front of the dog. A woman sat in a chair next to the food and told the dog to leave it. Only when the human looked away from the dog or had a blindfold on did the dog snatch up the food.

I thought it was the coolest! ^^

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Ooh! My Snapple cap fact for the day:


Franklin Roosevelt was related to 5 U.S. Presidents by blood and 6 my marriage.

[Silverhart]

So many facts to learn...

Learned this from Dictionary.com today:

As American English grew in the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin campaigned to remove C from the alphabet altogether, though his efforts did not gain much traction.

XD

[Sphye]

So many facts to learn...

Learned this from Dictionary.com today:

As American English grew in the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin campaigned to remove C from the alphabet altogether, though his efforts did not gain much traction.

XD

How funny!
The letter "C" really doesn't have much of an individual purpose, does it? The only thing I can think of that it does that no other letters do is the "CH" sound.

[Ëwyängssıdÿr]

Username: ShadoWolf0913
What is one of your favorite facts? Reading some of the facts already posted about languages reminded me about this one: although they may sound completely different from each other, all human languages contain the same basic elements, such as separating words into nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Do you like to play trivia games, or merely stash away information for yourself? I love trivia games, although I don't play them very often. I'm always interested in learning random, useless tidbits about whatever. ^^
Other? Erm ... hiya! :3
Codeword so I can find them if things get a little busy.

So many facts to learn...

Learned this from Dictionary.com today:

As American English grew in the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin campaigned to remove C from the alphabet altogether, though his efforts did not gain much traction.

XD

How funny!
The letter "C" really doesn't have much of an individual purpose, does it? The only thing I can think of that it does that no other letters do is the "CH" sound.

Hmm, that's interesting. Now that I think about it, it's true that "C" doesn't have a unique sound alone. Most of its uses can be replaced with "S" or "K" and still sound the same. Poor little letter.

To through something else historical out there, Noah Webster didn't "invent" americanized spellings of words like some people think. Rather, the spellings "center," "color," etc. already existed as variations and Webster just favored them over the others for various reasons. He also promoted spelling other words like "feather" as "fether" and "tongue" as "tung," but those obviously didn't catch on.

Aaaand (last one for now, promise,) did you know that "bird" used to mean specifically chickens or young birds, and "fowl" was considered the broad term for all those feathered, winged animals? Over time, the word "bird" ended up taking over as the preferred term in common English, while "fowl" generally has a more restricted usage nowadays. In his 1828 dictionary, Webster (yep, him again) acknowledged the change and called it "remarkable," saying that "[t]he fact is precisely what it would be to make lamb, the generic name of sheep, or colt, that of the equine genus." In other words, he believed that it is improper to use "bird" as the general word, but it would seem we didn't feel like listening to him there.


I do have a fair number of non-language and non-Webster facts as well, but for whatever reason those aren't what's coming to mind right now. xD

[hiraeth.]

Username; falling snow.
What is one of your favorite facts?; Cashews grow on a special kind of apple.
Do you like to play trivia games, or merely stash away information for yourself?; Both! >.<
Other?; Nope
Codeword so I can find them if things get a little busy.

[Silverhart]

Fun fact I just learned: The Eiffel Tower is 6 inches taller in summer. How wonderfully weird! XD

[scmarshtacky]

Fun fact I just learned: The Eiffel Tower is 6 inches taller in summer. How wonderfully weird! XD

That's really cool! Must be due to the expansion of the materials they built it with in the heat. Neat~