Totally Useless Information

[oggbashan]

But won't you just smell like eucalyptus then?

No. You will smell like Koala piss or shit. There is an eucalyptus element in both, but the main aromas are piss and shit. The eucalyptus part makes both very sticky and difficult to wash out at low temperatures. Sponging with cold water is useless.

 

[oggbashan]

When the first stuffed Duck-Billed Platypus reached England, eminent scientists thought their Australian correspondent who had sent it was making an elaborate practical joke.

They considered that no such animal could possibly exist.

 

[Queersetti]

No. You will smell like Koala piss or shit. There is an eucalyptus element in both, but the main aromas are piss and shit. The eucalyptus part makes both very sticky and difficult to wash out at low temperatures. Sponging with cold water is useless.

Now see, that is not useless info, it could be very helpful under certain circumstances.

 

[oggbashan]

Big Gun Battleships

In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, Naval ships designers were struggling with conflicting demands from their Navies.

For their big gun ships they had to produce an acceptable balance of firepower, protection and speed. They followed everyone else's innovations with extreme interest but made the basic mistake of assuming that the other country had solved the problems in a new way.

The wider the beam of a given ship, it was a more stable gun platform which meant greater accuracy and more resistance to a rough sea. But wide beam means much more engine power is needed for a reasonable speed.

Several designers got it badly wrong.

The Russians decided that a round ship would give the most stability to as a gun platform. They built the Admiral Popov class. They were a stable gun platform. They just couldn't go anywhere in a straight line, nor at any speed, and if the tide was against them - they drifted backwards with the engines at full power.

The Italians decided that bigger guns would be better. So they built ships with 18 inch guns. That worried other Navy Departments who thought the Italian guns would outrange any other battleship. They might have done - but the recoil and blast from the guns would have shaken the Italian ships into pieces after several rounds. Sinking your own ship with its own guns was not a great idea. But other Navies thought that the Italians had produced the ideal ship - and built copies - which also destroyed themselves when the guns were fired.

The British wanted Monitors in the First World War - limited draught Big Gun ships that could bombard coastal batteries from shallow water. The monitors had to have a wide beam to support the high gun turret yet draw only a few feet of water. But like the Russian Admiral Popov class, the machinery to drive such ships was inadequate. In a calm sea with no tide the monitors might achieve 5 knots. A rough sea? 3 knots. Against the tide? Like the Russians - the monitors went backwards.

 

[phrodeau]

Mother elephants have two breasts with one nipple each, which meet at a cleavage between their forelegs.

 

[oggbashan]

A male Duck-Billed Platypus has poison claws on its back legs.

How do you tell if it is male? Lift it by its back legs. Ouch!

 

[unregistered]

 

[RobDownSouth]

Koalas can be irritable if woken during they day. They can scratch and bite...

But their usual method of expressing their annoyance is to piss and shit on the unfortunate person holding them.

We've seen plenty of that evidence first-hand here.
:nods:

 

[oggbashan]

Most of us will never need to know about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_constant

And if we did know, forgetting it would not be life-changing.

 

[respeito]

U.S. currency is made out of 25% linen and 75% cotton fibers.

 

[oggbashan]

Money is made out of 25% linen and 75% cotton fibers.

Your money might be. Some countries' money is made of plastic.

 

[Mr_Jon_Thon]

Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the deaths of their cats.

 

[unregistered]

 

[oggbashan]

U.S. currency is made out of 25% linen and 75% cotton fibers.

Most countries used large-denomination currency carries detectable traces of drugs.

But that information might be useful...