The "Did you know" thread.....

[rosestone]

Google's famous 'Page Rank' system to glean search results is not so called because it ranks webpages, but is named for Larry Page, the founder of google and inventor of the algorithm.

Also, google has an index of between 500 billion to a trillion webpages. Which is a lot.

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by Numerous One

Personally I prefer dogs as pets. Cats are still wild beasts, and they would eat us if they were big enough. Just trying to overcome my biases.

No offense, but maybe you tell that because you never were enough attentive how incredibly friendly are cats.
I live with cats since I'm 5 years old. I considered them as friendly pets until I was 25 years old.
Then I had a female cat who... loved me. Honestly, it's what I felt. That was the first time I paid attention that a cat could be so social and since her death, I tried to improve my "cat" behaviour (like I try with almost all the animals I meet).
I never bought a cat, they always adopted my family.
And more careful I was with them, more I observed that some of them can be extremely cordial and thankful too.
But it's like all the individuals, there are independant ones, brutal ones, careful ones, sentimental ones, territorial ones, etc...

I got several cats who welcomes me when I go home.
They thank me when I give them some foods.
More you speak with your cat, more he will reply to you.
That's not a usual behaviour for the cats. They usually are silent mammals.
Probably because they are very efficient hunters.

Believe me or not, but I got two cats who called me to help them against cats who invaded their territory. They were old cats who lost fights against younger and stronger cats and they understood that I could help them when I loudly shouted against the intruders.

According what I read in a book written by an American veterinary, genetically cats are nearer from rodents than from dogs.

Finally, treat your cat like he's one of your best friend and normally, you will get a very nice companion... different as a dog, but you will appreciate his company.

Best regards.

[Numerous One]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

No offense, but maybe you tell that because you never were enough attentive how incredibly friendly are cats.
I live with cats since I'm 5 years old. I considered them as friendly pets until I was 25 years old. [...]

Hi, xyzde69,
Whoa! Man, sorry if I've offended you. It wasn't my intention. I said it in a tongue in cheek manner (to some degree). It is true that cats scared the shit out of me in some occasions, but that applies to crazy dogs as well. I didn't mean to step on your toes.
Now, if I wanted to do so, I might've posted something like this:



Now, seriously, you know the sort of rivalry between cat lovers and dog lovers, right? And the psychological studies that show certain relations between generalized (might be rightly said: over-the-top-generalized) characters of dogs and cats that should, in that perspective, have implications to their owners characters. Like: cats are independent, have a strong will, never truly domesticated, in first place ... Dogs: submissive, practically subordinated to their owner (who imposes himself as a dominant pack member) from the beginning (you can't have that with cats, actually)...
So, you get it. Dog owners would be much better soldiers (subordinated), while cat owners don't give a shit about authorities and orders. That kind of generalizations. But when you call your cat and it doesn't give a shit, while dogs run towards you and jump around, wag their tails like they're crazed with happiness and joy just because they see you in the morning, like you haven't been there all night sleeping in your bed right next to them, then you realize why such picture occurred.

Cats are mysterious creatures. No wonder Charles Baudelaire linked them, as the potent symbol significant for the entire literary movement, to both sensual love and knowledge in his poem "The Cats". And then there's Sphynx, again, chthonic mythical guardian of the entrance to the city of Thebes with it's riddles. ...

And how about those anecdotal horror stories of lonely old ladies with 100+ cats in their apartments who after their owner died... well, you get the picture. This actually happened in my city few years ago, with a lady who had 120 (I shit you not!) cats. And then the foul stench started spreading across the building halls... Well, it was in the news, and if they made up a story which was a headliner for few days, then I'm shitting too. But then again, that would as equally apply to dogs deprived of food for several days, I suppose, although I haven't heard about such case in the news. Possibly because dogs are loud animals, opposite to the cats, as you already stated, and their barking and howling would most probably attract attention of the neighbours before the things get nasty.

My final argument:

• Crucial evidence: Garfield and Odie.

I'm just joking. Cats are very amusing and lovely creatures. I laugh my butt off watching youtube videos of cats being cats.

Cheers!

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by Numerous One

Hi, xyzde69,
Whoa! Man, sorry if I've offended you.

Not at all. I only wanted to share what a few observations that I made in my life.

Modern ethology could be one of the most interesting science of the future.

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Did you know that Greenland right whale (Balaena mysticetus) can live more than 200 years?

[rosestone]

There is a type of jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) which is immortal. It can revert back to youth after reaching sexual maturity and thus avoid death, and it can do this indefinitely, making it a biologically immortal creature.

(although obviously this does not save it from predators, disease, and other trauma).

[mixerdlb]

Did you know that all matter is mostly empty space. If you remove the empty space from the atoms that make up the human body, the entire population of earth would fit in a shot glass.

[bloke57]

Originally Posted by rosestone

There is a type of jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) which is immortal. It can revert back to youth after reaching sexual maturity and thus avoid death, and it can do this indefinitely, making it a biologically immortal creature.

(although obviously this does not save it from predators, disease, and other trauma).

I've heard that the axolotl is similar in that it can regenerate bits of itself for a long time.

The ability of cells to divide and repair tails off over time and leads to old age. Eventually they reach the "Hayflick limit" and that's when your time is up.

[Roubignol]

Did you know that one in 10,000 people has all the internal organs on the wrong side of the body?
Situs inversus (also called situs transversus or oppositus) is a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. The normal arrangement of internal organs is known as situs solitus while situs inversus is generally the mirror image of situs solitus.

[rosestone]

Originally Posted by bloke57

I've heard that the axolotl is similar in that it can regenerate bits of itself for a long time.

If we're sticking briefly with biology, there is a type of sea squirt called a Tunicate, which after it is fully developed and finds a place to take root, it eats its own brain.

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by rosestone

it eats its own brain.

With a knife and fork Some chips and a salad on the side