Comments on: Mental Floss video: 50 common misconceptions

By: drabkikker

drabkikker — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:13:00 +0000

So… the Eskimo thing turns out to be true after all?

By: millie fink

millie fink — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:53:00 +0000

“Well you see, at some point, someone actually did measure Napoleon’s height.”

By: millie fink

millie fink — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:52:00 +0000

Just in the title of Byron’s poem.

Which, actually, I’ve always heard pronounced “Jew ahn.”

By: Petzl

Petzl — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:27:00 +0000

As for the Napoleon complex, Napo was always around his Imperial Guard who were selected to be above average in strength and height. Thus, there is some historical basis for the eponymous complex– it didn’t just come out of left field.

By: Petzl

Petzl — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:21:00 +0000

In all seriousness, one slim lithium battery will kill the child that consumes it. Of concern, when children 9-15 months old practically eat anything they can touch.

By: alienllama

alienllama — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:40:00 +0000

What you stated above is only true in a very literal reading of “Ich bin ein Berliner”. What he did convey was “I am one you, people of Berlin”. The “ein” really emphasizes that he thought of himself (or others should think of him) as member of the Berlin population.

If, on the other hand, he said, “Ich bin ein Krapfen!”, well then, no ambiguity at all ;)

And yes, I am a native German speaker.

By: Purple-Stater

Purple-Stater — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:01:00 +0000

Drove me nuts, when I was living in Alabama, and the furniture stores all advertised on TV/radio (i.e., verbally) “bedroom suites”, pronounced as suits instead of sweets.

By: bryin abraham

bryin abraham — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:16:00 +0000

To correct one “myth” busted: John Kennedy said “Ich bin ein Berliner”, and not “Ich bin Berliner.” Thus, due to simple German grammar and usage, and despite the fact that everyone knew/knows what he meant (“I am a Berliner”), what he did indeed say is: “I am a jelly-filled doughnut.” (Jelly-filled doughnuts are called Berliner here.) You could argue that by rules of English grammar, he didn’t call himself a doughnut; but he said it in German, which requires German grammar, so he called himself a doughnut. Case closed.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:53:00 +0000

I swear when i was a kid we’d take dead alkaline a put them in the freezer overnight for a few more minutes of power the next day.

By: Model Citizen

Model Citizen — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:34:00 +0000

And foil food wrap is made of aluminum, not tin.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:13:00 +0000

Somewhat problematic in Palm Springs to have battery-based yard equipment unless you want to install an AC system for your garage. Car batteries have a very short life here, too.

By: SamLL

SamLL — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:10:00 +0000

There’s a big long story about this in his autobiography, Harpo Speaks, which is well worth reading. I don’t think it was a regular habit, though.

By: timquinn

timquinn — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:09:00 +0000

. . .
and how do you know that interesting fact?
A guy on the internet told me.
I see, and did he explain, at all, why it is true?
No.
I see.

By: el capullo

el capullo — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:26:00 +0000

“Don Juan” does NOT rhyme with “ruin”

By: SumAnon

SumAnon — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:15:00 +0000

CGP Grey did it first.

By: SamSam

SamSam — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:07:00 +0000

Does anyone actually pronounce Don Juan to rhyme with “ruin?” (Apart from Byron, of course.)

By: Graceless

Graceless — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:55:00 +0000

Seriously. What am I supposed to do with all this battery chunks ice cream now?

By: RadioSilence

RadioSilence — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:43:00 +0000

That’s it. It’s a British comedy/quiz show about interesting stuff. An awful lot of the useless knowledge in my head came from that show. There’s tons of clips, and whole shows, on youtube; an easy way to waste an hour :)

By: phlavor

phlavor — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:17:00 +0000

Depends on the battery. Alkaline batteries see no benefit being stored at anything below room temperature.

NiMH and NiCd batteries self discharge at a MUCH faster rate than alkaline batteries. In fact, at “room temperature” (about 70 degrees F) NiMH and NiCD batteries will self discharge a few percent PER DAY. Storing them at lower temperatures will slow their self discharge rate dramatically. NiMH batteries stored at freezing will retain over 90% of their charge for full month. So it might make sense to store them in a freezer. If you do, it’s best to bring them back to room temperature before using them. Even if you don’t freeze your NiMH batteries after charging them, you should store them in a cool place to minimize their self discharge.

From http://www.greenbatteries.com/batterymyths.html#Freezer

By: annoyingmouse

annoyingmouse — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:41:00 +0000

Is that “chester drawers” one actually common? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it before. Is it a US thing?

By: Snig

Snig — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:35:00 +0000

Harpo Marx smuggled secret messages into the Soviet Union for the US state department in the 1930′s (Also thought to be true).

By: thekinginyellow

thekinginyellow — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:22:00 +0000

cool video…i enjoy the photo of coop and the llama in the background.

By: Benjamin Palmer

Benjamin Palmer — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:22:00 +0000

I’d actually never heard of it until just now. QI.com? This looks … rather… interesting. Thank you!

By: RadioSilence

RadioSilence — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:11:00 +0000

I’m that guy too!
I think it’s a fairly safe bet to say you’re a fan of QI?

By: fnc

fnc — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:09:00 +0000

But, batteries are delicious.

By: theophrastvs

theophrastvs — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:07:00 +0000

of course it might be worse if it were “on” as that would allow it to auto-defrost which would be worse, given your explanation, than just leaving it outside the refrigerator.

By: lava

lava — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:59:00 +0000

Yea! John Green! Caught him on Craig the other night, stayed up late with my daughter.

By: Benjamin Palmer

Benjamin Palmer — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:52:00 +0000

Oh I love things like this!

All my (soon-to-be-former) friends and acquaintanceship thank you for all the future “Actually…” corrections I make.
And yes, I’m totally that guy who posts snopes.com links on all the stupid stuff people post on Facebook.

By: rvernon

rvernon — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:51:00 +0000

I disagree about the battery in the fridge thing. Now, it doesn’t matter if the fridge is ON, but the insulation of the fridge keeps the battery from thermal cycling in areas with extreme temperature variations like the desert. Thermal cycling will kill a battery faster. Simple mechanical failure.

“Temperature cycling between extreme high and low temperatures can cause expansion and contraction of the battery components. Over time, extreme temperature cycling can cause a failure of the battery seal integrity thereby increasing the potential for leakage. ”

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/alkaline_appman.pdf