Interesting Facts

Well... I did thins kinda thing last year, and I enjoyed it a lot... obviously I can't be bothered to look for the old one, so I might as well start a new one.
I'm on summer break, and until I go to Florida to have my mind turn to mush completely for 3 weeks, I'd love to learn a few interesting things. I tried clicking "Random article" on wikipedia, but for some reason most articles are pretty boring (although I did find a cool new music band that way).
So, if you have any interesting facts, post them here. But please try to keep it short, the vast majority of people doesn't want to read a huge essay about one fact.
-Angie 😉

http://www.davesweboflies.com/random.cgi

Here, I thought this one was interesting: (from wikipedia)

The oscillatory universe is the hypothesis, attributable to Richard Tolman from 1934, that the universe undergoes an infinite series of oscillations, each beginning with a big bang and ending with a big crunch. After the big bang, the universe expands for a while before the gravitational attraction of matter causes it to collapse back in and undergo a bounce.

It was once popular amongst cosmologists who thought some force would prevent the formation of a gravitational singularity and connect the big bang to an earlier big crunch: the mathematical singularities seen in calculations were the result of mathematical over-idealizations and would be resolved by a more careful treatment. However, in the 1960s Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose and George Ellis showed that singularities were a universal feature of cosmologies with a big bang and that no feature of general relativity could prevent them. Theoretically, the oscillating universe could not be reconciled with the second law of thermodynamics: entropy would build up from oscillation to oscillation and cause heat death. Other measurements suggested the universe is not closed. These arguments caused cosmologists to abandon the oscillating universe model.

Interesting fact: most nuns' habits that look like penguin suits were originally the widow's garb of the era in which that community was founded. Nuns didn't originally stand out. It's just that everyone else's clothes changed and theirs didn't. Now in some communities new members are forbidden to wear *habits* per se, but they older members can keep them if they insist.

Hi Angie,where have you been?

Originally posted by aspviper666
Hi Angie,where have you been?

Bamboo is actually a grass.

Banana plants are the largest plants on earth without a woody stem. They are actually giant herbs of the same family as lilies, orchids and palms.

Multebeeren are called cloudberries in English. They are red when unripe, yellow when ripe.

Salvia divinorum is obtainable only on prescription in Norway.

The Great Blue Whale is the largest of all mammals, although it has no hair.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

It is perfectly legal to carry a gun in Idaho, as long as it is not concealed.
If it is concealed, you need to have a permit.

In the U.S. there are 18 doctors called Dr. Doctor, and one called Dr. Surgeon. There is also a dermatologist named Dr. Rash, a psychiatrist called Dr. Couch and an anesthesiologist named Dr. Gass.

There is only word in the English language with a triple letter.
What is it?

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
In the U.S. there are 18 doctors called Dr. Doctor, and one called Dr. Surgeon. There is also a dermatologist named Dr. Rash, a psychiatrist called Dr. Couch and an anesthesiologist named Dr. Gass.

There is only word in the English language with a triple letter.
What is it?

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
In the U.S. there are 18 doctors called Dr. Doctor, and one called Dr. Surgeon. There is also a dermatologist named Dr. Rash, a psychiatrist called Dr. Couch and an anesthesiologist named Dr. Gass.

There is only word in the English language with a triple letter.
What is it?