Well I never knew that

[Awwlookatmybabyspider]

Sharks are independent from birth. I always thought their mums took care of them but apparently not.
Anyone else got anything they were surprised to discover.

[highheeledhattie]

Oops, so did I till reading this.

[highheeledhattie]

I didn't know that. Shan't feel so snotty next time I get emotional (happens a lot more often this year).

[Juliancantcope]

Fascinating! Thanks for owl facts Gerund!

[Judashascomeintosomemoney]

@WokesFromHome

That University Challenge is not set up like a bunk bed.
Honestly, I really thought they were on top of each other and the top layer had to ask up some steps. I was both disappointed and surprised when I found out, which was quite recently!

Haha me too! I totally blame The Young Ones and Scumbag College for believing this falsehood!

[GerundTheBehemoth]

@Gingaaarghpussy

I knew about tawny owls calls, simply because every year, in the early hours of the morning im woken by a very loud 'kerwick', that is shrieked several times. I wait for the too woo, but it doesn't always happen. The first is the female. What amazes me is that I live in a town centre opposite a churchyard, which is more like a park. So having tawny owls every year is awesome.

Males will also 'kerwick', and females will 'towhoo' sometimes. Females have higher-pitched and more raspy 'towhoo' hoots than males. There are some fab recordings of these and lots of other vocalisations here: soundapproach.co.uk/species/tawny-owl/

[Gingaaarghpussy]

I knew about tawny owls calls, simply because every year, in the early hours of the morning im woken by a very loud 'kerwick', that is shrieked several times. I wait for the too woo, but it doesn't always happen. The first is the female. What amazes me is that I live in a town centre opposite a churchyard, which is more like a park. So having tawny owls every year is awesome.

[Soubriquet]

Cookie monsters cookie isn’t a real cookie!!

It’s a painted rice cake because cookies would leave grease on the puppets

[GerundTheBehemoth]

@Juliancantcope

Not sure if this is a spoof or not but apparently some owls have long legs? Can anyone confirm or deny! Whatever the truth the picture made me cry laughing!

It's true - their normal perching position plus the thickness of their feathers disguises it. In fact the whole of the leg above the ankle bend (which looks like a back-to-front 'knee' on very long-legged birds like flamingos) is usually hidden under the feathers in most birds.

Owls look like they have flat faces but that's not the case - it's the thick feathers again. Here's a pic of an owl skull (same species as in the legs photos).

[sueelleker]

@amatsip

You can only breathe in/out of one nostril at a time, they switch around every 20 minutes s or so.

Seriously? I'm sure I can feel air going into both nostrils. (And how many other people have just checked?)

[sueelleker]

@DryIce

Panthers aren't actually a discrete creature, but a black jaguar or leopard or tiger. Like an anti-albino

"Melanistic" (From melanin, the substance that causes freckles.)

[duvetstealer]

@PersicariaBistortaSuperba

A friend's ex apparently thought that emperor penguins were human sized, possibly due to watching nature documentaries in which there are no people around to provide scale.

Emperor penguins can be up to 4ft high and weigh 100lb. So not far off human size

[PersicariaBistortaSuperba]

A friend's ex apparently thought that emperor penguins were human sized, possibly due to watching nature documentaries in which there are no people around to provide scale.

[PersicariaBistortaSuperba]

@winewolfhowls Well you do now!

[WokesFromHome]

That University Challenge is not set up like a bunk bed.
Honestly, I really thought they were on top of each other and the top layer had to ask up some steps. I was both disappointed and surprised when I found out, which was quite recently!

[Juliancantcope]

Not sure if this is a spoof or not but apparently some owls have long legs? Can anyone confirm or deny! Whatever the truth the picture made me cry laughing!

[Mishmased]

@AnneLovesGilbert

Cashew nuts are the external seeds of these ugly yellow plants. One per plant. Right bugger to get out. No wonder they’re so expensive.

They're delicious. Funny as a child I used to eat cashew but never thought of the nut although it was still eaten. I do miss the taste 😁

[amatsip]

You can only breathe in/out of one nostril at a time, they switch around every 20 minutes s or so.

[sashh]

If you mouth "elephant juice" into a mirror it looks as if you are saying I love you

Try this with 'Van Gough'

Re the black panther thing, black cats are also tabbies, you can see the markings on very sunny days.

I fostered two kittens that were black but you could see their tabby markings quite easily, we nicknamed them 'the black tigers'

[Caeruleanblue]

Hope this hasn't been mentioned. Iclouds were mentioned on pay one.

Do you know that the 'cloud' where you store your data is not in the sky but under the sea! Large containers full of servers are connected by cable to the shore. It's cooler and possibly more secure.

thehackernews.com/2016/02/microsoft-underwater-datacenter.html

[ThatsMeChickenArm]

@DryIce

Panthers aren't actually a discrete creature, but a black jaguar or leopard or tiger. Like an anti-albino

Anti albino is melanism or melanistic.

[ExitChasedByAnImposter]

The two tiny holes in every BIC pen is to ensure that the air pressure is the same both inside and outside the pen, which helps the ink flow to the tip.

[MerchantOfVenom]

I’m going to be frank with you people.

That Holland is a province, and the ‘e’ in Jeremy Vine is (arguably) pronounced three different ways, are not even remotely interesting enough to qualify for a thread like this!

[Andylion]

@Hassled

I'm sort of scared to admit this but - I never realised that Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the ABCDEFG song are the same tune. I've sung both of them many hundreds of times.

Try singing Baa Baa Black Sheep. 😁

[LadyJaye]

Your taste preferences - most people prefer either salty OR sweet flavours - are determined while you're still in the womb. In addition, you lose taste receptors for sweetness as you age, which is why bitter tastes tend to be something you 'grow into'.

cracks open a jar of olives, necks a Campari and soda and turns nose up at chocolate

[TurquoiseDragon]

@Cherrysoup

Surely the fingerprints one cant be real. You would end up with them all over the place otherwise.

But don’t identical twins have the same fingerprint or has CSI Miami lied to me? 😱

The mechanism behind the creation of fingerprints isn't fully known, but they begin under the top layer of skin. Apparently some environmental factors can affect them, as well as genetics.

Identical twins do not have identical fingerprints, though their genetics mean the fingerprints will be similar.