To ask about wholesome facts/stories you know

[SamusIsAGirl]

In the space race, particularly for the USSR, everyone who went into space described it as such a profound experience to see the world as the only oasis in the Universe for known life, that no borders could be seen from space and that humanity is one tribe - several cosmonauts became dissidents after being in space.

It seems that if you have any level of intelligence such that social aspects are an important part of life then gay genes get selected for. Bet there are gay crows and gay rats and similar as well as the known gay penguins and dolphins.

Anyone who uses Saran wrap and has done so for a few decades might notice that it isn't as good at wrapping and staying put as it was.
This was because chemists in the company notified their higher ups that certain parts of the process made for some highly toxic waste that was harmful to the environment.

Without any external pressure, the company voted to chose a less toxic manufacturing process to make Saran wrap even at the risk of losing market share and profits.

@Rockhopper81

Ants will never die from a fall, no matter how high it is from, as their terminal velocity just isn't fast enough to cause damage upon impact.

The theory that a penny dropped from the Empire State Building onto your head would kill you is rubbish - even in a vacuum (so it would actually hit the person at the bottom - highly unlikely on the actual building due to winds), it would just be a bump. Same as the ant, they're just not heavy enough to cause damage on impact at terminal velocity!

I thought people got in trouble for throwing coins at footballers because it might cause brain damage, not just because it isn't a nice thing to do. Am I deluded?

Not exactly wholesome but coins are extremely dangerous as projectiles. Rio Ferdinand nearly lost an eye after being it by one

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-20658846

@Love51

I think the danger is them as projectiles, rather than the impact force, i.e. if one hits you in the eye, there's a high likelihood of a nasty injury, whereas one bouncing off your skull isn't likely to cause much damage. I suppose if there was an underlying weakness it could, but in general they don't reach fast enough speeds usually to make their terminal velocity overly dangerous.

Of course, if a coin was fired from a gun, it would have other forces acting upon it, so it certainly could go fast enough to do serious damage. I guess a strong throw could also mean the additional force would make it more dangerous. But - in my defence! - it was dropping from a height in my example, so it's gravity v upwards resistance, which is how terminal velocity is calculated, rather than 'protected' with another force.

In a herd of horses, one will always keep watch while the others sleep. They take it in turns.

Tiny Hands Island

Canada and Denmark have "Fought" over tiny Hans Island, between Greenland and the Upper Reaches of what is now the Canadian Territory of Nunavut. It's technically where their out-to-sea borders overlap, and there is no official ruling anymore as to whose it is.

The "Fight" simply involves one side going over, changing the flag, collecting the bottle of alcohol set there by the previous party (Schnapps from the Danes, Whiskey from the Canadians), setting some of their own in its place and leaving.

This has been going on for decades.

Source: www.comicsands.com/most-wholesome-facts-2641674503.html?rebelltitem=6#rebelltitem6

A polar bear's coat is made up of outer guard hairs that are hollow tubes. They are transparent, like long glass pipettes, and it was thought this allowed light to reach the skin, but is now thought to trap air and create insulation.

There are eight species of bear. A pub quiz trap is to ask what is the common name for Ursus Arctos. Most people will assume it is the polar bear, but that is Ursus Maritimus.

@FancyPuffin

I find this story very inspiring

That's amazing!

In 2000, Danny Stewart was on his way to meet his boyfriend in New York when he saw something that looked like a baby doll. Until his legs moved. Afraid to move the baby in case they were injured he tried to get the attention of staff before calling 911 and calling his boyfriend Peter Mercurio that he was going to be late.
THe baby was put into care and unable to trace the baby boy, Danny and Stewart resumed their lives until they were invited to testify at a family court. On finding no suitable next of kin to place the baby, the judge acted on the hunch that the person who found the baby would have the strongest connection to him - so he suggested that Danny and Peter would adopt the baby.

The boy named Kevin was raised by Danny and Peter and the judge officiated over their eventual wedding in 2011.

The coins at football matches thing - sometimes sharpened coins are thrown, which are extremely dangerous. Although, it is actually illegal to throw anything towards the field of play. You can get a £1000 fine and a banning order.

When you are with a friend or another loved one you have known for a long time you actually form a gestalt entity - a superorganism where you share key emotional and body language traits.

Samoa decided to change from being east of the dateline, to west of it (being pretty much situated on it) at the end of 2011, so as to be more inline with Australia and New Zealand. As a result, they went from December 29th to December 31st overnight - December 30th just didn't exist that year.

@FancyPuffin

I find this story very inspiring

Loved this. Thankyou for sharing.

@SamusIsAGirl

In 2000, Danny Stewart was on his way to meet his boyfriend in New York when he saw something that looked like a baby doll. Until his legs moved. Afraid to move the baby in case they were injured he tried to get the attention of staff before calling 911 and calling his boyfriend Peter Mercurio that he was going to be late. THe baby was put into care and unable to trace the baby boy, Danny and Stewart resumed their lives until they were invited to testify at a family court. On finding no suitable next of kin to place the baby, the judge acted on the hunch that the person who found the baby would have the strongest connection to him - so he suggested that Danny and Peter would adopt the baby.

The boy named Kevin was raised by Danny and Peter and the judge officiated over their eventual wedding in 2011.

Seriously? That is so moving!

Correction to the subway baby story - the judge was a she not a he. Kevin is now studying computer science at university.

Near Ilkeston, Derbyshire there is a toad tunnel under a road and a sign warning motorists of toads. The sign says RANA since they had to get one for Portugal.
The reasons for this is to prevent the deaths of toads since they are a protected species.

On average, every square meter of land is home to 130 spiders.

Measurements of trace carbon in detrital zircons from 4.35 billion years ago show ratios of 13C/12C similar to that of life-deposited carbon. This means that life was on this planet not long after it was cool enough for liquid water to be below 50C for long enough.
Also implies that life started/destroyed more than once before staying.

Us gamers, specifically Minecraft - the End poem that plays when you slay the dragon and free the End is rather touching.

SPOILERS:

pastebin.com/z7anmVSu

Truckers Against Trafficking is an organization where truckers are trained to identify and rescue people who are suspected victims of human trafficking. They are more than 1 million people in this organization as of 2021.

Quail only lay eggs when there is around 13 hours of daylight (or daylight simulation) and the pattern on each egg is unique to that quail.

What an interesting thread!

A tree has no brain or way of reasoning. It is staggering to wonder what process led to trees designing seeds that would float and rotate away on a breeze like a helicopter blade. Similarly it is equally wonderous that a chameleon or an octopus can change colour at an instant to blend in immediately with its surroundings and do so while on the move. I am not religious but this is the only proof to me that there may be something at work on a higher level in nature than we can comprehend.

On the contrary, there is compelling evidence that plants are sentient. They are capable of sensing their surroundings and responding to change. they can even warn nearby plants about parasite attacks

e360.yale.edu/features/are_trees_sentient_peter_wohlleben