Please, if you have a random fact, no matter how dumb, post it. I dont care if it's really obvious, i'll take it. For example, did you know that you can tell if aquatic beings are fish or mammals b/c a mammal's tail moves up and down, but a fish's moves side to side.
Thanks!
WANTED: Random Facts :-D?
Paul Revere was nervous before his famous ride. He forgot two things on his way to the boat that took him across Boston Harbor, his spurs and the cloth to wrap around the oars to prevent splashing. He borrowed spurs for his ride from one of the men rowing the boat, but for the cloth, it took a little bit more work. One of the men that was going to row the boat took them a couple of blocks to his sweetheart's place. After telling her what they needed, she took off her peticoat and through it down to them from the upstairs window. The man who caught it wrote in his journal that it was still warm when it fell into his hands.
History is just full of fun little side stories.
Paul Revere later went on to create the first coins of the United States. (He was a silversmith by trade, afterall.) The raw materials he used ... Martha Washington's silver tea set.
Reply:Squirrels are guaging your speed when you are driving toward them, if you don't change speed you won't hit them, if you do change speed it messes them up and you will hit them. (they aren't smart enough to let you pass by).
Reply:Babies' eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately six to eight weeks old.
In 1983, a Japanese artist, Tadahiko Ogawa, made a copy of the Mona Lisa completely out of ordinary toast.
A Canadian Tour company offers a two-day course in igloo building.
A language becomes extinct in this world every two weeks.
American novelist Mark Twain was the first known author to submit a typed manuscript.
Australia's national anthem is called "Advance Australia Fair."
An artist from Chicago named Dwight Kalb created a statue of Madonna made out of 180 pounds of ham.
etc.
Reply:mesquitoes have 47 teeth.
also i will leave many more misc facts but i am busy right now i will edit my answer when i have more time give me a day or 2 to get back here.
Reply:Sumo wrestlers can tuck their nuts in before fights.
There's black squirrels in russia.
Men shiver after peeing.
Male calico cats are 1/10000
How are you is the most common question on yahoo answers
Reply:Koala bears are not, in fact, bears.
The only English word to use all the vowels in order is 'facetious', or 'facetiously' if you count 'y'.
The most earthquake-free zone in the world is the British Isles.
One of Peter Jackson's early films, "Bad Taste", took seven years to complete and release, because he ran out of money and also one of the lead actors (Craig Smith) had gotten married, had a nervous breakdown and become a born again Christian and declared he could no longer appear in such a violent and sleazy movie. This and much more at:
http://tbhl.theonering.net/films/bad_tas...
Keanu Reeves was not the original choice for the part of Neo in 'The Matrix', Ewan McGregor, Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith were considered ahead of him.
The gravitational attraction between protons is approximately a factor of 10^36 weaker than the electromagnetic repulsion. This factor is independent of distance, because both interactions are inversely proportional to the square of the distance.
Paradoxically this means that gravity dominates the universe rather than electromagnetic force even though it is the much weaker force, since if there were even a minor charge imbalance, there would be a very strong electromagnetic force which would restore neutrality. This is why bodies will tend to be electrically neutral.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark": The scene in Cairo in which Indy just shoots a sword-wielding man was intended to be a long, choreographed fight scene featuring Indy's whip versus the Arab man's saber. Harrison Ford, suffering from dysentery after three months of filming in Tunisia, couldn't face the three additional days of filming and suggested that this much shorter version should be tried instead. Some sources attribute the idea to Steven Spielberg rather than to Ford. In the American Film Institute's tribute to Spielberg, Ford stated that, on the day of shooting, he begged Spielberg to find a way to get the scene done in less than two hours so he could get back to the hotel before a dysentery attack hit him. Spielberg said the only way they could complete the scene so quickly would be for Ford to "pull out your gun and shoot him." Crew members standing nearby began to laugh uncontrollably at the idea.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark": The opening scene in the lost South American temple is partly based on a classic Disney Ducks adventure helmed by the legendary artist Carl Barks, many of whose comic books have inspired George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Exploring a lost temple, Donald Duck, his nephews, and Scrooge McDuck must evade a succession of booby traps, like flying darts, a decapitating blade, a huge boulder, a tunnel flooded with a torrent of gushing water, etc., in the story "The Prize of Pizarro" ("Uncle $crooge" no. 26, June-August 1959), which hit the newsstands when Lucas and Spielberg were respectively 15 and 12 years old. Both men are avowed fans of the Barks comic books.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark": The hieroglyphics in the Well of Souls include engravings of R2-D2 and C-3PO (from Star Wars (1977), etc). They can be seen on a post to the right of Indy and Sallah as they remove the Ark.
Reply:Cubic zirconia
A round brilliant-cut cubic zirconiaCubic zirconia (or CZ) is zirconium oxide (ZrO2), a mineral that is extremely rare in nature but is widely synthesized for use as a diamond simulant. The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4).
Because of its low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamond, synthetic cubic zirconia has remained the most gemologically and economically important diamond simulant since 1976. Its main competition as a synthetic gemstone is the more recently cultivated material moissanite.
Technical aspects
Cubic zirconia is, as its name would imply, crystallographically isometric, and as diamond is also isometric, this is an important attribute of a would-be diamond simulant. Synthesized material contains a certain mole percentage (10-15%) of metal oxide stabilizer. During synthesis zirconium oxide would otherwise form monoclinic crystals, as that is its stable form under normal atmospheric conditions. The stabilizer is required for cubic crystal formation; it may be typically either yttrium or calcium oxide, the amount and stabilizer used depending on the many recipes of individual manufacturers. Therefore the physical and optical properties of synthesized CZ vary, all values being ranges.
It is a dense substance, with a specific gravity between 5.6 - 6.0. Cubic zirconia is relatively hard, at about 8.5 on the Mohs scale - nowhere near diamond, but much harder than most natural gems. Its refractive index is high at 2.15 - 2.18 (B-G interval) and its luster is subadamantine. Its dispersion is very high at 0.058 - 0.066, exceeding that of diamond (0.044). Cubic zirconia has no cleavage and exhibits a conchoidal fracture. It is considered brittle.
Under shortwave UV cubic zirconia typically luminesces a yellow, greenish yellow or "beige." Under longwave UV the effect is greatly diminished, with sometimes a whitish glow being seen. Colored stones may show a strong, complex rare earth absorption spectrum.
History
Since 1892 the yellowish, monoclinic mineral baddeleyite had been the only natural form of zirconium oxide known. Being of rare occurrence it had little economic importance.
The extremely high melting point of zirconia (2750°C) posed a hurdle to controlled single-crystal growth, as no existing crucible could hold it in its molten state. However, stabilization of zirconium oxide had been realized early on, with the synthetic product stabilized zirconia introduced in 1930. Although cubic, it was in the form of a polycrystalline ceramic: it was made use of as a refractory material, highly resistant to chemical and thermal (up to 2540°C) attack.
Seven years later, German mineralogists M. V. Stackelberg and K. Chudoba discovered naturally occurring cubic zirconia in the form of microscopic grains included in metamict zircon. Thought to be a byproduct of the metamictization process, the two scientists did not think the mineral important enough to formally name. The discovery was confirmed through x-ray diffraction, proving a natural counterpart to the synthetic product exists.
As with the majority of diamond imitations, the conceptual birth of single-crystal cubic zirconia began in the minds of scientists seeking a new and versatile material for use in lasers and other optical applications. Its evolution would eclipse earlier synthetics, such as synthetic strontium titanate, synthetic rutile, YAG (Yttrium Aluminium Garnet) and GGG (Gadolinium Gallium Garnet).
Some of the earliest research into controlled single-crystal growth of cubic zirconia occurred in 1960s France, much work being done by Y. Roulin and R. Collongues. The technique developed saw molten zirconia contained within itself with crystal growth from the melt: The process was named cold crucible, an allusion to the system of water cooling used. Though promising, these pursuits yielded only small crystals.
Later, Soviet scientists under V. V. Osiko at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow perfected the technique, which was then named skull crucible (an allusion either to the shape of the water-cooled container or to the occasional form of crystals grown). They named the jewel Fianit, but the name was not used outside of the USSR. Their breakthrough was published in 1973, and commercial production began in 1976. By 1980 annual global production had reached 50 million carats (10,000 kg).
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Synthesis
Melting zirconium oxide in a furnace to create cubic zirconia.The Soviet-perfected skull crucible is still used today, with little variation. Water-filled copper pipes provide a cup-shaped scaffold in which the zirconia feed powder is packed, the whole contraption being wrapped with radio frequency induction coils running perpendicular to the copper pipes. A stabilizer is mixed with the feed powder, being typically either yttria or calcium oxide.
The RF induction coils function in a manner similar to the primary winding in a transformer. The heated zirconia acts as the "secondary winding" of a transformer which in effect is "shorted" out and thus gets incredibily hot. This heating method requires the introduction of small pieces of zirconium metal. The metal is placed near the outside of the charge and is melted by the RF coils and heats the surrounding zirconia powder from the outside inwards. The cooling water-filled pipes embracing the outer surface maintain a thin "skin" (1-2 mm) of unmelted feed, creating a self-contained apparatus. After several hours the heat is reduced in a controlled and gradual manner, resulting in the formation of flawless columnar crystals. Prolonged annealing at c. 1400°C is then carried out to remove any strain. The annealed crystals, which are typically 5 cm long by 2.5 cm wide (although they may be grown much larger), are then cut into gemstones.
The addition of certain metal oxide dopants into the feed powder results in a variety of vibrant colors. For example:
Cerium: yellow, orange, red
Chromium: green
Neodymium: purple
Erbium: pink
Titanium: golden brown
[edit]
Innovations
In recent years manufacturers have sought ways of distinguishing their product by supposedly "improving" cubic zirconia. Coating finished CZs in a film of diamond-like carbon (DLC) or Amorphous Diamond is one such innovation, a process using chemical vapor deposition. This technique was developed by BetterThanDiamond.com and brought to market under the "Asha" brand name. The resulting material is purportedly harder, more lustrous and more like diamond overall: The coating is thought to quench the excess fire of CZ, while improving its refractive index, thus bringing it more in line with diamond. Additionally, because of the high percentage of diamond bonds in the amorphous diamond coating, the finished simulant will show a positive diamond signature under Raman spectroscopy.
Another technique first applied to quartz and topaz has also been adapted to cubic zirconia: Vacuum-sputtering an extremely thin layer of metal oxide (typically gold) onto the finished stones creates an iridescent effect. This material is marketed as "mystic" by many dealers. Unlike DLC, the surreal effect is not permanent, as abrasion easily removes the oxide layer.
[edit]
CZ versus diamond
Cubic zirconia is so optically close to diamond that only a trained eye can easily differentiate the two. There are a few key features of CZ which clearly distinguish it from diamond, some observable only under the microscope or loupe. For example:
Dispersion. With a dispersive power greater than diamond (0.060 vs. 0.044) the more prismatic fire of CZ can be considered excessive and is a relatively obvious give away to even an untrained eye.
Hardness. The inferior hardness of CZ (8.5 vs. 10 of diamond) manifests itself in the gem's lower luster, rounded facet edges and surface scratches.
Specific gravity. CZs are heavyweights in comparison to diamonds; a CZ will weigh about 1.7 times more than a diamond of equivalent size. Obviously, this difference is only useful when examining loose stones.
Flaws. Contemporary production of cubic zirconia is virtually flawless. Whereas most diamonds have some sort of defect, be it a feather, included crystal, or perhaps a remnant of an original crystal face (e.g. trigons).
Refractive index. CZ has a lower refractive index than diamond.
This allows more light to leak out of a CZ, especially when greasy or wet.
CZ's lower refractive index causes it to have less luster than diamond.
Cut. Under close inspection with a loupe, the facet shapes of some CZs appear different from diamonds.
In theory, many gems (such as CZs and diamonds) look best when the star facet, crown main facets, and upper girdle facets do not quite meet. (Per Step 11 of editor's note 36 to Marcel Tolkowsky's Diamond Design.) Diamond has such a high refractive index that having these facets meet at a single point does not cause much loss of fire or reflection. Diamonds normally have these facets meet at a point, because that is more symmetrical and reflects well on the cutter's precision. On the other hand, CZ has a considerably lower refractive index than diamond. CZs are often cut with 6-sided crown main facets, so that the star facets do not touch the upper girdle facets. This optimizes the brilliance and fire of the CZs.
The optimum angle of the main crown facets is steeper for diamond than for CZ. (According to Tolkowsky's model of the crown, for a given pavilion angle and girdle thickness). CZs are often cut so that the crown main facets do not touch the girdle. This allows the CZs to have a shallower crown angle, while still having the same crown height as the diamonds being simulated.
Color. More precisely, the lack of color: Only the rarest of diamonds are truly colorless, most having a tinge of yellow or brown to some extent. By comparison, CZ can be made entirely colorless: equivalent to a perfect "D" on diamond's color grading scale. Furthermore, the fancy colors of CZ in no way approximate the shades of fancy diamonds.
Thermal conductivity. This is probably the most important property of diamond from a jeweller's perspective: all they need do is apply the tip of a thermal probe to a suspect diamond. CZs are thermal insulators whilst diamonds are among the most efficient thermal conductors, exceeding copper.
Reply:S: SHIP
H: HIGH
I: IN
T: TRANSIT
on bails for manure shipments
Reply:In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the character of Scout is supposed to be Lee herself, and the character of Dill is based on Truman Capote - who was a childhood friend of Lee.
Reply:Whales [among inhabitants of the seas] and Bats [among flying creatures] are both Mammals - that suckle [give milk] to their young !
Reply:my brother´s birthday is in August...
i´m currently wearing a red pullover...
my favorite teacher has blue eyes...
yahsi is a township at the bodrum peninsula...
and my turtle has a large light-green point on his back...
my cat is called "dino"...
i´ve never been to russia yet...
it never rains in southern california...
Reply:ground squirells only have one pup per litter.
Reply:Funny Laws:
Nebraska
# It is illegal for a mother to give her daughter a perm without a state license.
# It is illegal for bar owners to sell beer unless they are simultaneously brewing a kettle of soup.
Looking for more dumb laws?
# It is Illegal to go whale fishing.
# If a child burps during church, his parent may be arrested.
Lehigh
# Doughnut holes may not be sold
Omaha
# A man is not allowed to run around with a shaved chest.
# Sneezing or burping is illegal during a church service.
Waterloo
# Barbers are forbidden from eating onions between 7 A.M. and 7 P.M.
Reply:The speed of light is 11.7 inches per nanosecond.
The first place gold was discovered in the U.S. was in Dahlonega, GA not Sacramento, CA.
Bill Gates got the idea for Windows after taking a tour of Xerox SPARC in Palo Alto, CA.
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