WTF Fun Fact 13128 – Panda Diplomacy

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Pandas are native to China. Today, the country owns all living pandas. That’s because they’re extremely hard to breed (they simply won’t do it on their own) and any panda born outside the country becomes immediate property of China. However, the country does lease their pandas to zoos around the world in an act called panda diplomacy.

How did panda diplomacy come to be?

Between 1941 and 1984, China occasionally gifted pandas to other countries. But they stopped doing this and claimed ownership of the animals instead. Now, all pandas outside of China are technically leased (often for a decade) by the country.

Panda diplomacy is the act of gifting or leasing pandas as a gesture of goodwill.

The first panda “diplomat” came about after fashion designer Ruth Harkness took two pandas out of China and sold them to Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo and Baptist minister David Crockett Graham took and sold two to the Bronx Zoo. After that Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of China and a diplomat in her own right, arranged for two more pandas to be sent to the San Diego Zoo.

However, the first act of panda diplomacy ended up buried in the news cycle since it happened during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Continuing diplomacy

Between 1957 and 1983, China gifted 24 pandas to 9 nations as diplomatic gestures of friendship. And when Richard Nixon visited China in 1972, he secured two more pandas from Mao Zedong for The National Zoo in Washington DC. In the first year they were on display over 1 million people came to visit the animals.

Countries around the world clamored for a chance to host the animals. But as they become more endangered, China stopped giving them away and began leasing them. In 1984, China’s leader (Deng Xiaoping) leased the first pandas to Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympics. The cost was $50,000 a month.

In 1991, the country moved to long term leases of a decade and the cost is up to $1 million a year and a promise that any cubs born will be returned to China along with their parents. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Panda diplomacy” – Wikipedia

WTF Fun Fact 13127 – Group of Ferrets

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Have you ever asked yourself “what is a group of ferrets called”? No doubt you’ve asked yourself this deep and probing question multiple times in the past. Or maybe not, since it’s pretty rare to run into a whole group of ferrets?

What is a group of ferrets called?

Well, in case you’re NOW wondering what the name is for a group of these furry little guys, it’s a “business.” Yes, a business of ferrets.

They may also be called a fesnyng, which isn’t nearly as catchy.

For some reason, these creatures have all sorts of names we didn’t know about. According to the website A-Z Animals (cited below), non-neutered males are called hobs, and unspayed females are called jills. For fixed ferrets, males are called gibs, and females are called sprites. Their babies are referred to as kits.

What’s this business about?

Still stuck on the fact that a group of ferrets is called a business? A-Z Animals explains (sort of):

Ferrets are known for their mischief, ability to get into things they shouldn’t, escape tactics, and energetic natures. Would it make more sense if we told you that, in the past, they were referred to as a busyness? People saw ferrets and went, ‘Wow, those are some busy critters!’”

We’ll be honest, we’ve never spent time observing ferrets, so we can’t say how busy they are.

There are some other interesting fun facts about ferrets, however. For example, it’s considered cruel to own just one since they are such social creatures. While you don’t have to get a whole business of ferrets, you should get your cuddly pal a companion. Otherwise, they can get depressed. Even if you give your pet lots of stimulation, you can’t play with them the way they need to be played with (for example, you really shouldn’t bite them, but nipping is something they enjoy doing while play-fighting either each other). They have very thick skin, so the biting doesn’t hurt them – instead, it’s something they do to communicate!— WTF fun facts

Source: “What’s a Group of Ferrets Called?” — A to Z Animals

WTF Fun Fact 13126 – RL Stine and Bazooka Joe

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You have to straddle two older generations to appreciate the fun fact (or be a keen observer of the 1990s) that there’s a connection between RL Stine and Bazooka Joe.

What’s the connection between RL Stine and Bazooka Joe?

For those who don’t know, Robert Lawerence (RL) Stine is often referred to as “the Stephen King of children’s literature.” He wrote the Goosebumps series of children’s scary novels (it seems a little weird to call it children’s horror, doesn’t it?). He also wrote the Fear Street series. In other words, his books have scared the bejeezus out of multiple generations of children. He says he was inspired by his own generation’s love of horror in the form of the Tales from the Crypt series.

Before he became a young adult author for the ages, Stine had many different jobs. He wrote joke books. He even made coloring books!

And he also wrote Bazooka Joe comics. You know the ones – they came inside packs of bubble gum.

Who knew that the guys responsible for so many Gen X and Millennial nightmares also write those silly comics that came inside gum wrappers?

From bubble gum to horror writer

Bazooka Joe was just one of RL Stine’s many odd jobs as a writer. He was quite prolific and worked on television shows as well (seriously, check out his Wikipedia entry!). He even holds the Guinness Book of World Records award for being the best-selling children’s book series author of all time. It turns out kids like to be scared.

According to Mental Floss (cited below), Stephen King once told Stine, “You’ve taken every single amusement park plot and haven’t left any for anyone else.”

Stine himself isn’t really scared by horror. He’s a fan of a few of King’s books (like Misery and Pet Sematary) but often finds himself laughing at horror films. — WTF fun facts

Source: “21 Bone-Chilling Secrets About R.L. Stine” — Mental Floss

WTF Fun Fact 13125 – NFL Referees Get Superbowl Rings

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NFL referees don’t get a lot of love, But the refs chosen to work the Superbowl do get their own Superbowl rings.

Receiving a Superbowl ring

A Superbowl ring is obviously a valuable object. Only the winning team gets them, but so do all the referees. The tradition goes all the way back to the first NFL-AFL Championship Game in 1967, which is retroactively called Superbowl I.

Only referees with the best reputations and records are chosen to officiate the Superbowl. They do receive compensation above and beyond their salaries for the work. But the ring serves as an extra reward and moment.

In fact, the refs are the only people guaranteed to get Superbowl rings regardless of the outcome of the game.

But rest assured, they’re nowhere near as large or as valuable as the massive diamond-encrusted rings the players get.

Who else gets a ring?

According to NBC 6 News (cited below):

“While there isn’t a hard-and-fast number to how much a Super Bowl ring is worth, depending on the circumstances and details of the ring, experts generally appraise them between$30,000 and $50,000based on the jewels and features alone.”

As of 2020, all 53 players on a winning NFL team, as well as coaches, team executives, and the practice squad get Superbowl rings. But they’re not all worth the same amount of money. The bling that goes to non-players is up to the discretion of team owners. And they have so much discretion that they can even choose to bestow some type of ring on cheerleaders and trainers.

While the losing team members do not get Superbowl rings, they do get conference championship rings. But it’s a lot rarer for someone to show one of those off, so we don’t hear much about them.

Who makes and pays for Superbowl rings?

Ever wonder who makes Superbowl rings? It’s typically Jostens – the same company that makes most yearbooks and class rings! However, they have to bid on the job each year. In the past, they’ve been outbid a few times by Balfour and even Tiffany’s & Co.

Wondering who pays for all this bling?

The cost of team rings is split between the NFL (which contributes roughly $5k to $7k per ring for up to 150 rings per team) and team owners. —WTF fun facts

Source: “Here’s How Much a Super Bowl Ring Costs and How It’s Made” — NBC 6

WTF Fun Fact 13124 – Signalman Jack

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Signalmen play integral roles in the rail industry, installing, repairing, and maintaining the signal systems used to direct trains. It’s a hard job, but in the 1880s, a signalman named James Edwin Wide taught a chacma baboon from South Africa to assist him. The baboon became known as Signalman Jack.

Training Signalman Jack

Wide had lost both legs in a work accident and needed an assistant to help him get to his job at the railroad. And apparently, he saw a baboon driving an oxcart one day on a trip to South Africa and decided he’d made a fine sidekick.

Wide named the baboon Jack and first taught him to push a small trolly to get him to his job each day a half-mile from his home. The baboon even helped with chores around the house, including sweeping and taking out the trash.

But it was when Jack followed Wide to work that he seemed to find his calling. The baboon learned to recognize the train whistles used to indicate the vehicle was about to change tracks. After watching Wide operate the signals to indicate which tracks they should take, Signalman Jack was eager to start pulling the levers himself.

Wide had no qualms about letting a baboon do his job.

Kicking back

Wide was eventually able to train Signalman Jack so well that he could sit back and pursue some hobbies while at work.

According to Mental Floss, “As the story goes, one day a posh train passenger staring out the window saw that a baboon, and not a human, was manning the gears and complained to railway authorities. Rather than fire Wide, the railway managers decided to resolve the complaint by testing the baboon’s abilities. They came away astounded.”

Eventually, the railway superintendent decided to formally hire the talented baboon. Signalman Jack was given his own employment number. He even got a salary of 20 cents a day (plus half a bottle of beer per week).

Signalman Jack worked in his job for 9 years without ever making a single error. Sadly, he died of tuberculosis in 1890. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Signalman Jack: The Baboon Who Worked for the Railroad—and Never Made a Mistake” — Mental Floss

WTF Fun Fact 13123 – Aquamation

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Alkaline hydrolysis, also known as aquamation or water cremation may be the next frontier in the death industry. Researchers say it’s one of the most sustainable options for treating human remains.

What is aquamation?

In 2021, aquamation became a subject of interest after the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who requested that his remains be disposed of in this eco-conscious manner. Now, it’s a popular choice in the “green burial” movement.

The goal of aquamation is to avoid the use of non-biodegradable materials and promote the natural decomposition of the body. During the process, the body is liquified under pressure. Then, the bones are dried and turned to ashes in an oven. It reduces the need for ostentatious caskets and the greenhouse gases produced by traditional cremation by fire. It also cuts energy use.

Smithsonian Magazine (cited below) explains in more detail:

“During alkaline hydrolysis, a human body is sealed in a long, stainless-steel chamber, while a heated solution of 95 percent water and 5 percent sodium hydroxide passes over and around it…The process dissolves the bonds in the body’s tissues and eventually yields a sterile, liquid combination of amino acids, peptides, salts, sugars and soaps, which is disposed of down the drain at the alkaline hydrolysis facility. The body’s bones are then ground to a fine powder and returned to the deceased person’s survivors, just as the bones that remain after flame cremation are returned to families as ash.”

Choosing a “green burial”

While you may not have heard of water cremation, there are dozens of American companies that build machines for it. It’s legal in at least 26 states as well as throughout the world.

The process itself has been around for a long time, but it’s still not mainstream. However, it’s likely you’ll hear more about it as nearly every industry strives to become more sustainable.

There are states that still ban the practice because of concerns over the effects of residue in the water supply. It appears not to have any negative effect on water, but regulating it is still a challenge since aquamation’s use is still relatively rare.

According to the Berkeley Planning Journal, the chemicals and materials buried along with bodies in conventional American burials “include approximately 30 million board feet of hardwoods, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, 104,272 tons of steel, and 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete.” Fire cremations in America “release an estimated annual 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as well as toxic materials like mercury.”

Smithsonian notes that “Alkaline hydrolysis consumes approximately 10 percent of the energy required to cremate a body in flame, its equipment runs on electricity rather than fossil fuels, and it emits no greenhouse gases.”

Once people get over the suspicions that come with novel new burial practices, experts believe the industry will grow. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Could Water Cremation Become the New American Way of Death?” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 13122 – The Benefits of Recreational Fear

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It turns out fear isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, recreational fear – the kind of fear you experience on purpose by going to haunted houses or watching horror flicks – can be good for your brain.

Seeking out recreational fear

We know some fear can create a stress response in the body that can be harmful. But our body’s ability to feel fear is, overall, a good thing. It tells us to get away from danger and keeps us alive.

But what about the people who seek out fear?

Even a game of peek-a-boo as a baby starts to prime our bodies for being caught off guard. And it can be exhilarating. When we get a little older, we may tell ghost stories around the campfire. In many ways, we seek out fear. As adults, we may go on roller coasters, see slasher or suspense films, or participate in risky activities like mountain biking or skydiving.

But why do we go after this feeling?

According to Smithsonian Magazine (cited below), “One hypothesis is that recreational fear is a form of play behavior, which is widespread in the animal kingdom and ubiquitous among humans. When an organism plays, it learns important skills and develops strategies for survival.”

The benefits of fear

By seeking out recreational fear, we put ourselves in a situation that has little risk. And perhaps scaring ourselves in a controlled situation can help us cope with real fear later on.

You can learn a lot about yourself by the way you react to fear. It’s just that not many of us like to acknowledge that feeling or explore it.

Researchers at the Recreational Fear Lab, a research center at Aarhus University, Denmark are looking into the science of fear and trying to learn more about our responses to stress. One thing they’re looking at is the relationship between fear and enjoyment. After all, some people really seem to go after scary experiences in order to hit a “sweet spot” between boring and terrifying.

The question of what makes recreational fear appealing to some is still up for debate. But researchers suspect that “even though fear itself may be unpleasant, recreational fear is not only fun—it may be good for us.”

One suggestion is to not be so afraid of fear, especially when you can control the parameters.

“With research findings such as these in mind, we should maybe think twice about shielding kids and young people too zealously from playful forms of fear.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “Can Experiencing Horror Help Your Brain?” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 13121 – Nightmare Disorder

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Chances are you’ve had at least one nightmare before – and perhaps even one bad enough to wake you up from your slumber. While nightmares are common, nightmare disorder is (luckily) not.

What is nightmare disorder?

According to the Mayo Clinic (cited below), “Nightmare disorder is when nightmares happen often, cause distress, disrupt sleep, cause problems with daytime functioning or create fear of going to sleep.”

Sounds stressful!

For those with the disorder, the bad dreams ten to occur in the second half of the sleep cycle. And while they’re brief, they’re bad enough to wake you up and cause enough anxiety to prevent you from getting back to sleep. You may even experience a slowly unfolding nightmare that gets worse as it continues or one that causes you to suffer from palpitations.

This disorder is only diagnosed in people who have frequent enough nightmares that it interferes with their normal days due to distress or lack of sleep. In children, it can lead to a fear of the dark or behavioral problems.

Music for nightmares

According to Smithsonian Magazine, there is new hope for sufferers of nightmare disorder, who may number somewhere between 10 million in the U.S. alone.

A study showed those people might be able to take charge of their dreams and change their tone using music.

“Sounds played during sleep may reduce the frequency of nightmares and promote positive emotions that can help lead to a better slumber. Existing therapies coach sleepers to imagine and rehearse alternate happy endings to their nightmares before bed, a practice known to significantly reduce bad dreams. Now, Swiss scientists aim to supercharge this idea by associating those happy endings with an audio cue that will trigger them during sleep. When nightmare disorder sufferers listened to a piano chord while they practiced imagining a good dream, then heard that same chord while they were in REM sleep, bad dreams were frequently kept at bay.”

This is called imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT), and it’s a cognitive-behavioral technique that only takes about 5 or 10 minutes a day. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Nightmare Disorder” — Mayo Clinic

WTF Fun Fact 13120 – The Rise in Canine Influenza Cases

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You may have heard that the 2022 flu season has been particularly bad for humans. But there has also been a rise in cases of canine influenza. Did you know your dog could get the flu?

What is canine influenza?

Don’t worry – YOU can’t give the flu to your dog. Only zoonotic diseases can be passed between species, and the type of seasonal influenza we get isn’t one of them. (However, there are zoonotic influenzas that animals can give to humans).

While you’re not responsible for infecting your dog, there are a lot of commonalities between humane and canine flu. For example, both cause symptoms like cough, fever, and a runny nose.

Dog flu is also airborne and highly contagious. Dogs get it from other dogs through nasal droplets that are spread when they cough, sneeze, or bark. It’s common in kennels, but it can be spread at the dog park, doggy daycare, or even veterinarian’s office.

Why the rise in dog flu?

Dog flu can spread year-round, but the current strain called H3N2 appears to be a result of people loosening their COVID restrictions and heading out and about with their pups. It’s the same reason we catch the flu.

Dogs with the flu experience lethargy and respiratory symptoms and should be checked by a veterinarian (which you may be able to do through telemedicine if you’re concerned about exposure).

Cases are so plentiful this year that some shelters have stopped adopting out dogs until they’re well again and doggy daycare centers in some cities have had to shut down to avoid spreading it.

Dogs can experience fever and loss of appetite if their case is bad enough, and it can turn fatal if they develop pneumonia, so the symptoms are nothing to ignore! Dogs have had to be hospitalized and given oxygen just to keep them breathing.

If you’re concerned, the best bet is to give your vet a call. They may offer a flu vaccine for your pup. However, just like human flu vaccines, these aren’t 100% effective in preventing the flu. But they can help lessen symptoms if your dog gets sick.

If your dog shows any signs of the flu, you should isolate them immediately to prevent them from spreading it to other people’s pups. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Dogs Are Impacted by an Intense Flu Season, Too” — Smithsonian Magazine