Total Trivia

[luv1]

Has carrots always been orange? Nope. The orange carrot is relatively new. The first orange carrot was grown in the 1600's in Holland, partriotcally bred to match the colour of the Dutch Royal House of Orange. Before that it was purple on the outside and yellow in the inside. The earliest evidence of the carrot being used by humans dates from 3,000bc in Afghanistan. Some breeds of carrot contain a protein that stops ice crystals growing. This natual carrot anti freeze can be extracted and used to preserve body tissues for medical use and improve the shelf life of frozen food.

 

[luv1]

On a colour theme. What colour is a panther? Well there is no such thing as "a" panther. The word comes from the greek panthera which means "all beasts" it was used to discribe mythological and real animals. In medieval heraldry, the panther was portrayed as a gentle, multicoloured beast that had a sweet smell. Scientifically speaking, all four of the largest cats are "panthers". Lion is panthera leo, the tiger is panthera tigris, the leopard is panthera pardus and the jaguar is pantera onca. They are the only cats that roar. The animal most people believe to be a "panther" is infact the black leopard (asia and africa) or the black jaguar (south america). But even then they are not complectling black. Close examination shows that their spots are still faintly visible on thier skin. They carry a genetic mutation that means the black pigment is thier fur dominates the orange.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Also most banana plants have not has sex for 10,000 years.Almost every banana we eat are propagated by hand from a sucker of the existing plant, whose genetic material hasn't changed in 100 centuries.

Absolutely true, when mankind dies, the nana dies too

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

The Antikythera Mechanism

Discovered over 100 years ago, a box of tricks consisting of up to 72 gears that depicted the orbit of the moon and at least 3 planets on one of its faces and the calenders of 2 different societies on the other. The representation of the lunar orbit even accounted for its elliptical path.
But this was no latter day creation, it was discovered on a sunken Roman galleon and dated back to Greece to around 100 - 150 BC. !

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

One of the earliest references we have to British 'chips' (French Fries in the U.S.) is in Charles Dicken's 'Tale of Two Cities' (1859): "husky chips of potatoes, fried with some reluctant drops of oil."

Americans eat more than 16 pounds of french fries every year, which comes to over 2 million tons!

 

[CCaprice]

More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week.

Ice cream consumption is highest during July and August. July is National Ice Cream Month.

Children ages two through 12, and adults age 45 plus, eat the most ice cream per person.

The average number of licks to polish off a single scoop ice cream cone is approximately 50.

 

[CCaprice]

More on ice cream:

The favorite topping in the U.S. is chocolate syrup.

The biggest ice cream sundae ever made was 12 feet high and made with 4,667 gallons of ice cream and 7,000 pounds of toppings in Anaheim, California in 1985.

Ice cream is an $11 billion retail industry.

80% of the world's vanilla beans used for ice cream is grown in Madagascar.

Ice cream novelties such as ice cream on sticks and ice cream bars were introduced in the 1920's.

Adults consume nearly one-half of all ice cream novelties.

 

[smotherman]

Dolphins sleep with one eye open!

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

McDonald's uses about 7% of the potatoes grown in the United States for its French fries. They sell more than 1/3 of all the French fries sold in restaurants in the U.S. each year.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

More on ice cream:

80% of the world's vanilla beans used for ice cream is grown in Madagascar.

Madagascar is an island to the east of the southern part of Africa.

It is the world's fourth largest island, with 4,828 km of coastline.

The capital city is Antananarivo.

The island has a narrow coastal plain getting higher as it gets inland, and there are mountains in the centre.

The highest mountain is Maromokotro at 2,876m.

 

[CCaprice]

Vanilla is the only edible fruit of the orchid family, the largest family of flowering plants in the world.

It's a tropical orchid, and there are about 150 varieties of vanilla, though only two types - Bourbon and Tahitian -- are used commercially.

Vanilla is the world's most labor-intensive agricultural crop, which is why it's so expensive. It will take up to three years after the vines are planted before the first flowers appear. The fruits, which resemble big green beans, must remain on the vine for nine months in order to completely develop their signature aroma. However, when the beans are harvested, they have neither flavor nor fragrance. They develop these distinctive properties during the curing process.

When the beans are harvested, they are treated with hot water or heat and are then placed in the sun every day for weeks-to-months until they have shrunk to 20% of their original size. After this process is complete, the beans are sorted for size and quality. Then they will rest for a month or two to finish developing their full flavor and fragrance. By the time they are shipped around the world, their aroma amazing!

Bourbon vanilla is named for the islands now known as Reunion and the Comoros, but in the early 19th century were called the Bourbon Islands. The Bourbon vanilla plant stock originally came from Mexico. Bourbon vanilla and Mexican vanilla are basically the same.

 

[MSH2]

Madagascar is an island to the east of the southern part of Africa.

It is the world's fourth largest island, with 4,828 km of coastline.

The capital city is Antananarivo.

The island has a narrow coastal plain getting higher as it gets inland, and there are mountains in the centre.

The highest mountain is Maromokotro at 2,876m.

Madagascar has more than half of the world's chameleon species, including the largest whos's name escapes me and the smallest, the dwarf pygmy Chameleon with is less than an inch in length from snout to the end of its tail

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Madagascar has more than half of the world's chameleon species, including the largest whos's name escapes me and the smallest, the dwarf pygmy Chameleon with is less than an inch in length from snout to the end of its tail

About 5% of the land is farmed with crops or pasture. The main products are coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), beans, bananas, peanuts, and livestock products. Almost half the island is covered in forests. Much of these forests are being cut down, and as a result soil erosion is becoming a major environmental problem. Too many animals being grazed on limited land is also a problem. Several kinds of the island's plants and animals are endangered.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Crêpes Suzette - (very thin small pancake, often stuffed and rolled up) were created to honor the French actress, Suzanne Reichenberg

 

[smotherman]

Dogs and cats consume over $11 billion worth of pet food a year!

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Dogs and cats consume over $11 billion worth of pet food a year!

Greedy!
Let them go feral. it would cost nothing

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

The amoeba hates light, especially blue light. If the amoeba is exposed to any light, it will find a shadow, and make itself in the shape of that shadow. But, instead of staying in the shadow, it will move around in circles, like a dog chasing its tail. If an amoeba is exposed to light with no shadows, it will stop moving. It will pull in all its false feet and empty out all food and water inside its body, and shape itself into a ball. If nothing else happens for a few minutes, it will move away. Scientist don't know how amoebae can sense light, without a brain or nerves.

 

[fire_breeze]

I'm immortalised!

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

I'm immortalised!

There is no "t" in that word sweetie

 

[smotherman]

The fear of vegetables is called Lachanophobia!..

 

[smotherman]

Greedy!
Let them go feral. it would cost nothing

Very true, would cost nothing. god that's mean lol

 

[desideratum]

Salvador Dali once arrived to an art exhibition in a limousine filled with turnips. I'm guessing he didn't have Lachanophobia

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Very true, would cost nothing. god that's mean lol

In 1947, a team at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization built CSIRAC, the world's fifth computer, and the first to do what?'
'Crash.' ?
'Work.' ?
'Have a baby.' ?

(Answer - play computer music.)

 

[_Misty_]

There is no "t" in that word sweetie

Took me a minute, that one LMAO!

 

[_Misty_]

An ounce of pickled ginger can temporarily raise your IQ by as many as 10 points. A really good thing for us blonds