100 things we didn't know last year...

[cowhead]

Just found this on the BBC, thought it was interesting, and being the kind hearted gent I am thought I'd share it with you. Bless me.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4566526.stm

Snippets...

11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.

73. One in six children think that broccoli is a baby tree.


>> Edited by cowhead on Friday 30th December 13:45

[eharding]

cowhead said:

73. One in six children think that broccoli is a baby tree.

Sadly, I suspect more than one in six children are never
presented with a nice bit of broccoli at meal times. My
three year-old niece loves the stuff...and calls it
"Broccletrees".

[tinman0]

bbc said:

21. One person in four has had their identity stolen or knows someone who has.

isnt this a daft statistic?

lets face it, 1 in 1 people have died or know someone who died. or even better, 1 in 1 people have died or know someone who has completed a crossword.

totally meaningless statistics.

[Raify]

this is a good one:

BBC said:

46. Driving at 159mph - reached by the police driver cleared of speeding - it would take nearly a third of a mile to stop.

BBC said:

49. Tim Henman has a tennis court at his new home in Oxfordshire which he has never used.

And it shows.

BBC said:

51. Parking wardens walk about 15 miles a day.

Hopefully, off a 2 mile pier.

[cowhead]

Raify said:

Hopefully, off a 2 mile pier.

[Wacky Racer]

While it's an offence to drop litter on the pavement, it's not an offence to throw it over someone's garden wall.

[nonegreen]

90. Ordinary - not avian - flu kills about 12,000 people in the UK every winter.

Thats more than 3 times as many as are killed on the roads. Yet the poorly heads who run this country do nothing to stop it, probably because it doesn't involve cars or speed.

[r988]

bbc said:

36. The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor.

Is that all? the PH average is probably much higher...

bbc said:

30. There are an estimated 1,000 people in the UK in a persistent vegetative state.

I reckon there are more than that by the looks of things

bbc said:

39. Australians host barbecues at polling stations on general election days.

We only do it as symbolic of bbq'ing a polictican, which we would prefer to do (you wouldn't want to eat them though as they are full of st)

bbc said:

69. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.

I'm a first born, Mr boring then, oh well I guess it's true...

bbc said:

76. The day when most suicides occurred in the UK between 1993 and 2002 was 1 January, 2000.

Interesting though, wonder if it was due to nutter cults or just mass depression?

bbc said:

81. George Bernard Shaw named his shed after the UK capital so that when visitors called they could be told he was away in London.

[r988]

nonegreen said:

90. Ordinary - not avian - flu kills about 12,000 people in the UK every winter. Thats more than 3 times as many as are killed on the roads. Yet the poorly heads who run this country do nothing to stop it, probably because it doesn't involve cars or speed.

If you told them about all the tax revenue they lost then maybe they would be interested, more likely it's kids, homeless and pensioners who dont contribute much anyway though, which is why they dont care.

[motco]

BBC said:

29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.

How the Hell do they know why it does it? Has anyone asked? Has any got an answer?

[53chevy]

11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.

I guess you do have to test it before you buy it.

[anonymous-user]

139. C2s cleaner was NOT beating off in the bedroom after all.

[vixpy1]

stovey said:

139. C2s cleaner was NOT beating off in the bedroom after all.

[ridds]

motco said:

BBC said: 29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered. How the Hell do they know why it does it? Has anyone asked? Has any got an answer?

Brilliant!

"Right there's that Octopus let's get 'im!"
"Oh, no.... take it back, it's just a fallen coconut..."
"Funny that, I ain't seen one of them down here for ages."

[cowhead]

Since when has an octopus seen a coconut, and what posessed him to think that he looked like that particular fruit?

[ErnestM]

cowhead said:

Since when has an octopus seen a coconut, and what posessed him to think that he looked like that particular fruit?

Surely you mean that particular seed?


ErnestM

[ultimasimon]

Earnest, I have to ask you; are you Ted's secret weapon to reduce bandwidth by killing threads

[cowhead]

I hasten to point you towards this site my good chap...

www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/senior/fruits/coconut1.htm

from which i quote ...

SeniorStudy Fruits and Nuts said:

Coconut fruits are large and nearly round. The husk is hard, medium brown, and has a rough, hairy surface. Three round depressions are found on one end of the fruit.

I believe you owe me a beer!

>> Edited by cowhead on Friday 30th December 20:15

>> Edited by cowhead on Friday 30th December 20:15

[vixpy1]

cowhead said:

Coconut fruits are large and nearly round. The husk is hard, medium brown, and has a rough, hairy surface. Three round depressions are found on one end of the fruit.

Ah, but could a Swallow carry one?

[cowhead]

Well, that depends you see...