wtf fun fact

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 12400 – Hacker Snack Attack

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On January 26, 2022, North Korea News reported that a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack took down its Internet. It was the second time in a month the country lost access to the internet.

Junade Ali, a cybersecurity researcher, told Reuters: “It’s common for one server to go offline for some periods of time, but these incidents have seen all web properties go offline concurrently. It isn’t common to see their entire internet dropped offline.”

Earlier in the day, North Korea had conducted military tests, and many assumed the cyberattack was perpetrated by another country as a punishment. But the hacker responsible, known only as P4x, came forward to Wired with proof that he did the deed. And he added some crucial details to the story – he conducted the hack from his home in the US while watching Aliens in his pajama pants and eating spicy corn snacks. 

“It felt like the right thing to do here. If they don’t see we have teeth, it’s just going to keep coming. I want them to understand that if you come at us, it means some of your infrastructure is going down for a while,” he told Wired.

P4x has no plans to stop there. He plans to get another hacker involved to try it all again – and this time he wants to steal information.

During the attack, any sites housed on the North Korean internet went dark, as did most email. However, North Korean citizens were still able to access websites hosted in other countries. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: Single Hacker Takes Down North Korean Internet While In Pajama Pants And Eating Corn Snacks — IFL Science

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 12398 – Canadian Humor

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In 1999, Canada’s Northwest Territories was split in two. The eastern region became Nunavut, a territory made up of the Inuit (known to some as Eskimos). However, the other half of the 1.3 million-square-mile territory wanted to come up with its own name.

Politicians turned to residents to come up with new names, which may not have been the best idea in retrospect. Before the Boaty McBoatface debacle, Canadians proved that the people don’t always know best when they rallied behind the name “Bob” for their territory.

According to The Baltimore Sun, other contenders included Restavit, Alluvit, Fullavit, Tundraland, Freedom Territory, Eskimo Pie, and Snobound. So, in some respects, it could have been worse.

While the internet wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is today, an online campaign on behalf of Bob contained a list of reasons why citizens thought it was a good idea, such as: “‘Bob’ sounds the same in each of the official languages of the Northwest Territories” (these include English, French, Cree, Inukitut, and Dene).

“‘A spokesman for Bob said ‘ sounds friendlier in news reports than ‘A spokesman for the Northwest Territories said,'” claimed another fan.

Politicians were not so good-natured about the fun and games:

“The campaign to make the name of the Western Territory into ‘Bob’ is not humorous,” said J. Michael Miltenberger, member of the territorial assembly. “This campaign is hurting the reputation vTC of residents of the Western Arctic across North America and beyond.” – WTF Fun Facts

Source: Northwest Territories looking for new name – ‘Bob’ need not apply — CBC News

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