facts

WTF Fun Fact 12405 – Creature Kindness

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Scott Thompson has a seal to thank for saving his life. In early 2022, the urchin diver slipped overboard and ended up in the Santa Barbara Channel wearing only shorts and a t-shirt while his boat drifted away.

“I was taught by the best urchin divers in the business about safety, but for whatever reason, I was careless,” he wrote in a blog post forSour Milk.

Thompson is a strong swimmer but became overwhelmed in the choppy, cold water and began to panic.

“It really didn’t take too long to realize like, ‘It’s getting farther, I’m not getting closer,'” he toldKABC-TV.“I thought to myself, ‘Great, this is how I’m going to die.'”

That’s when he met a friendly harbor seal just in time. The little creature gave him the encouragement he needed to keep swimming.

“The seal would go underwater, and he came up and nudged me. Like a dog comes up and nudges your leg,” Thompson told KABC. “Did it know, like, ‘Hey, this human is in trouble, hey, keep going, dude’?”

After five hours, Thompson finally made it to an oil platform and pulled himself up onto it.

“The crew took it from there and got Scott the medical attention he desperately needed,” his family friend wrote on a GoFundMe page.

Thompson is going to be okay. –WTF Fun Facts

Source: Boater Stranded at Sea Was Convinced ‘​​I’m Going to Die’ — Then a Sweet Seal Helped Save His Life — People

WTF Fun Fact 12404 – Finding Family

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On April 30, 1942, an 11-year-old boy named Philip Lazowski stepped outside his family’s hiding place in the Jewish ghetto of Zhetel, Poland. When the Nazis spotted him, they took him to the town square, where they sorted people into groups of those who would live and those who would die.

Among those chosen to live were doctors, tailors, nurses, etc. He saw all of the young and elderly people being shuttled into the group that would be shot. 1000 Jews were slaughtered that day.

Lazowski spotted a woman named Miriam Rabinowitz, who has a nursing certificate and two little girls by her side.

“I went over to her, and I asked her, ‘Would you be kind enough to take me as your son?’ ” he recalled, according to WBUR. “She said, ‘If they let me live with two children, maybe they’ll let me live with three. Hold on to my dress.”

All four survived that day, having no idea they would meet again in the U.S.

While attending a wedding, Lazowski struck up a conversation with someone who knew Ruth and her daughters and the story of them saving a young boy in 1942.

“Sitting at the table, I said, ‘I come from the town of Bielica,'” Lazowski said. “She says, ‘You know, a girlfriend told me a story, they saved a boy from Bielica. And we don’t know if he’s alive.'”

Realizing he was that boy, he tracked down the nurse, Mirian Rabinowitz. It was then that he formally met her daughter Ruth, who he later married in 1955.

Rabbi Philip and Mrs. Ruth Lazowski now have three children and seven grandchildren.

– WTF Fun Facts

Source: A family helped a Holocaust survivor escape death. Then they became his real family — WBUR

WTF Fun Fact 12403 – Your Brain on Math

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Mathematics is a strange beast. It uses our language, but it isn’t quite the same – our brains hear it entirely differently from everyday speech. For example: when we hear a sentence like “cats like warm milk,” our brains process that information mainly in the left hemisphere. Something like “eight plus one is nine,” though, will fire neurons in both.

A study published in the journal Current Biology took a closer look at how our brains process mathematics (as opposed to regular speech). While our brains process ordinary language in the left hemisphere, math triggers neurons in both hemispheres.

The neuroscientists from the Universities of Tübingen and Bonn said in an interview: “We found that different neurons fired during additions than during subtractions.”

Esther Kutter, a doctoral candidate involved with the research group, confirmed: “Even when we replaced the mathematical symbols with words, the effect remained the same. For example, when subjects were asked to calculate ‘5 and 3’, their addition neurons sprang back into action; whereas for ‘7 less 4,’ their subtraction neurons did.”

The lead author of the study Prof. Dr. Dr. Florian Mormann of the Department of Epileptology at University Hospital Bonn, remarked on the study’s significance: “This study marks an important step towards a better understanding of one of our most important symbolic abilities, namely calculating with numbers.” – WTF Fun Facts

Source: Math Neurons” Fire Differently Depending On Whether You Add Or Subtract — IFL Science

WTF Fun Fact 12402 – Self-Cleaning Fish

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An experiment published in the journalPLOS Biology showed for the second time that fish could recognize themselves in the mirror. Scientists injected the cleaner fish (Labroides dimidiatus) with a substance that “tattooed” them with brown marks on their scales. When they spotted their reflections, they were triggered to try and scrape off the marks.

This goes far beyond simple mirror recognition. Fish mirror self-recognition (MSR) would give the creatures a characteristic only shared by two other creatures – humans and chimpanzees.

Previous research drew the same conclusions but was not conclusive since the sample size was small and not all of the fish exhibited the behavior. But the recent replication study remedied those inadequacies and added more evidence to the theory that fish are self-aware.

Not everyone is convinced, though. Some researchers are still skeptical that the behavior was not the result of self-awareness but rather a physical reaction to being tattooed by the scientists.

When interviewed by IFL Science, the lead researcher, Professor Masanori Kohda of Osaka City University, said, “During the long 50-year history of mirror tests of animals, this study is the first test that uses the mark to which the subject animals pay attention. Hence, this fish shows the highest passing rate for mark-test, exceeding that of chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants.” –WTF Fun Facts

Source: Fish Cleaning Themselves In A Mirror May Have Just Demonstrated Self-Awareness — IFL Science

WTF Fun Fact 12401 – World’s Tallest Fork

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In what we hope is a mere formality, Fireview, Oregon is trying to confirm that the 37-foot-tall fork they’ve erected on the site of their new food truck plaza is the world’s largest. Their goal is to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records with the decidedly non-utilitarian utensil.

The Fairview government’s official website reads:

“Tuesday, February 15, the World’s Tallest Fork, to be determined by Guinness Book of Work Record, will be arriving in Fairview to be erected in its new home between 9 AM and 11 AM. This 37-foot tall stainless steel “Fork” will be the art piece placed in the public plaza at the entrance to the new Fairview Food Plaza at the corner of Halsey Street and NE 223rd Ave. The “Fork” will be traveling from McMinnville, where it was created.

The Fairview Food Plaza is a public-private partnership between the Fairview Urban Renewal Agency, property owner Denise Arndt and Plaza operator Justin Hwang.  The Plaza is planning to open in April 2022 with 16 food carts featuring a vast variety of foods.  The dining hall courtyard and public plaza will be a destination for the community and cultural events for years to come. The development will include a farmers market anticipated to start at the end of June 2022.”

By way of explanation, Mayor Brian Cooper told KATU-TV: “So, the fork came about because we wanted something on the corner, whether it was a water tower or a windmill or some sort of piece that’s going to be on the corner, and then one of the design teams said, let’s just put a fork here and we’ll come back to it. And over the course of a couple months, it just kind of stuck in the brain…And you can come up with an entire marketing scheme of ‘Take a left at the fork,’ ‘The Fork in Fairview.”

The current record holder for the world’s tallest fork is Missouri, with a utensil that stands 35 feet tall. So, fingers crossed that no one has secretly erected a larger fork in the meantime! – WTF Fun Facts

Source: The Fork is Coming! — Fairview Oregon government homepage

WTF Fun Fact 12399 – The Conviction of Susan B. Anthony

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In 1872, voting rights activist Susan B. Anthony demanded that the staff of a voter registration office in Rochester, New York add her to their list of eligible voters.

“I made the remark that I didn’t think we could register her name,” recalled Beverly W. Jones, one of the election officials. “She asked me upon what grounds. I told her that the constitution of the State of New York only gave the right of franchise to male citizens. She asked me if I was acquainted with the 14th [A]mendment to the Constitution of the U.S. I told her I was.”

The three election officials present at the time eventually accepted her registration and she and 14 other women went to the polls on November 5, 1872, to vote in the presidential race between Ulysses S. Grant and Horace Greeley. Of course, at the time, her actions were still technically illegal. Anthony was the only one arrested and she was found guilty in a trial that took place the following June.

After her two-day trial, Anthony was given a $100 fine (equivalent to over$2ktoday). Instead of paying, she told the judge, “I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.” And she never did.

Anthony died at age 86, 14 years before the 19th amendment was ratified, giving some U.S. women the right to vote.

Despite what some may think, Anthony wore her arrest and refusal to pay the fine as a badge of honor. Yet, on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, then-President Donald Trump posthumously pardoned her.

–WTF Fun Facts

Source:In 1872, Susan B. Anthony Was Arrested for Voting ‘Unlawfully’ — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12397 – Beer Mustache

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Men with mustaches and beards are losing an estimated 162,719 pints of beer in their facial hair every year, according to Guinness.

The brewery commissioned a scientific study and researchers found that quite a bit of beer was being wasted each year in the UK (and presumably around the world) – about £4.58 a year, they estimate. It has been humorously titled the “mustache tax.”

There are an estimated 92,370 drinkers with facial hair in the UK. Those men drink an average of 180 pints each a year. That makes the total cost of wasted suds around £423,070, or around $572K in US dollars.

According to The Guardian, “As the data was based on the average mustache surface area. Scientists were able to work out the amount of wastage depending on size, shape, and density.” – WTF Fun Facts

Source: Hairy topers ‘wasting Guinness’? — The Guardian

WTF Fun Fact 12396 – Writer’s Block

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In 1974, a legitimate, peer-reviewed academic journal titled Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis” published a zero-word article titled “The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block'” as a joke. It was “authored” by Dennis Upper, a clinical psychologist at Harvard who was, at the time, suffering from writer’s block.

A joke review was published directly underneath his 1974 article, reading:

“I have studied this manuscript very carefully with lemon juice and X-rays and have not detected a single flaw in either design or writing style. I suggest it be published without revision. Clearly, it is the most concise manuscript I have ever seen-yet it contains sufficient detail to allow other investigators to replicate Dr. Upper’s failure. In comparison with the other manuscripts I get from you containing all that complicated detail, this one was a pleasure to examine. Surely we can find a place for this paper in the Journal-perhaps on the edge of a blank page.”

It also spawned the following copycat articles:

Artino, Anthony R. (2016).“The unsuccessful treatment of a case of ‘Writer’s Block’: A replication in medical education.”Medical Education.50(12): 1262–1263.

Ampatzidis, Georgios (November 24, 2021).“The Unsuccessful Self-treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block’: A Replication in Science Education.”Journal of Trial and Error.

Didden, Robert; Sigafoos, Jeff; O’Reilly, Mark F; Lancioni, Giulio E; Sturmey, Peter; LeBlanc, Linda (2007). “A Multisite Cross-Cultural Replication of Upper’s (1974) Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of Writer’s Block.” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 40 (4): 773.

Hermann, Bruce P. (2016). “Unsuccessful Self-treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block’: a Partial Failure to Replicate”. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 58 (2): 350.

Mclean, Derrick C.; Thomas, Benjamin R. (2014). “Unsuccessful Treatments of “writer’s Block”: A Meta-analysis.” Psychological Reports. 115 (1): 276–278.

Molloy, Geoffery N. (1983). “The Unsuccessful Self-treatment of a Case of “Writer’s Block”: a Replication” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 57 (2): 566.

Olsen, Kenneth R. (2016). “Unsuccessful Self-treatment of ‘Writer’s Block’: A Review of the Literature.” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 59 (1): 158.

Skinner, Nicholas F.; Perline, Arthur H. (2016). “The Unsuccessful Group Treatment of ‘Writer’s Block’: A Ten-year Follow-up.” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 82 (1): 138.

Skinner, Nicholas F.; Perlini, Arthur H.; Fric, Lawrence; Werstine, E. Paul; Calla, James (2016). “The Unsuccessful Group-treatment of “Writer’s Block.”” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 61 (1): 298. 

Upper passed away in 2018 after an accidental fall down the stairs. According to his obituary: In addition to being a professor and clinician, “Upper was an equally brilliant writer and poet. He edited twelve professional books, wrote more than thirty professional articles, and had his poems and short stories published in more than fifty literary journals. His 2007 memoir Long Story Short — a collection of one hundred vivid, thoughtful, funny, sad, and profound stories from his life — continues to captivate readers.”

Source: The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of “writer’s block”– Journal of Applied Behavioral Research

WTF Fun Fact 12395 – Cat Allergies

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Three main types of allergies plague our feline friends – food allergies, skin allergies (from flea bites, for example), and environmental allergies.

Environmental allergies can refer to anything in a cat’s environment, such as dust, pollen, or humans. Dogs can be allergic to humans as well.

According to Raelynn Farnsworth of Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, “It’s rare, but dogs can be allergic to cat dander and people dander and vice versa. For everything.”

In cats, the allergy shows up as miliary dermatitis, which results in tiny scabs, usually around their head and neck. It can also result in missing spots of hair.

Cats can also develop asthma if exposed to allergens for too long. So if your cat is sneezing or coughing, it’s essential to see a vet. And you probably shouldn’t worry too much since they’re likely allergic to something else in their environment besides you.

People don’t have as much dander as animals since we frequently bathe. Our pets are more likely to be allergic to something like perfume or beauty/skincare products we use, especially if they contain preservatives (as most do).

–WTF Fun Facts

Source:Can Your Pet Be Allergic to Humans? — Understanding Animal Research