h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Re posting 7 (Lesotho is the country with the highest lowest point): not Tibet? Or does Tibet not count as a country of it's own?

posting 15: what is a WD-40, please?

WD-40 is a well known product and is found in countless homes, garages and workshops. It has thousands of uses including lubrication, water proofing, etc, etc. I`ve even used it to rid my sheepdog of ticks.

Red

Wellington's tail was a feeble, very small extended vertebrae-type affair, which is why it's not portrayed on statues.
Regarding how liver moves- NO ONE KNOWS! This is a big scary mystery which I found in the letters page of Fortean Times (known for its scientific approach.) Several other people wrote in having tried it to say it works. The best explanation they could offer was, 'liver likes milk'. I haven't tried it yet, but did do the oscillating Marmite thing (somewhere else on h2g2, or used to be) and it does indeed turn white.

What's the oscillating Marmite thing?

You get some Marmite, and whack it with a spoon repeatedly until it turns white. It's not hugely interesting, and I hate Marmite, but I just had to know.

I like Marmite, but in the interests of science ...

I´ve never heard of the liver thing before. But if it came from Fortean Times then it is probably worth trying out. Did they say if you needed any special kinds of liver? Like cow or human liver. Human would be a bit hard to get.

How much of the marmite goes white? Just the area where you punch on it? A winegum can also go white if you punch on it, but that is just a sort of metal fatigue.

Was that WD-40 useless information? It is always good to know how many thing that stuff can be used for.

Blimey, are winegums are made of metal? If so, you could protect them from corrosion with WD-40. Or perhaps winegums are made of Marmite.

More to the point (there's a point?) do winegums have any wine in them? It's all very confusing.

3 Barbie dolls are sold every second in the world.

20,000 Silly Putty "eggs" are made every day around the world

The U.S. Library of Congress has 327 miles of bookcases.

2 dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic.

There are 294 ways to make change for a dollar bill.

Very useful info, eh?

Yankee Soup is on the menu everyday in the Congressional cafeteria. Apparently there is a law that requires this.

Hey cool are they still making silly putty eggs? They were my favourite toy when I was a kid (I have simple tastes )

Apparently when they (I can't remember who) invented the silly putty material, they then sat down and thought 'um. What shall we do with it now?' and they couldn't think of a single useful application for it. But kids loved playing with it so they marketed it as a toy.

And chewing gum has a similar story... (or it might be the same guy, I don't know)... the inventor was sitting thinking 'what the h**l do I do with this now?' and popped a bit in his mouth to chew to help him think.

what is marmite? and why is the king of hearts, King Charlemagne, depicted with the sword in his head? did the real king commit suicice?

The average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night.

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.

If you keep a Goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white. (or you could just hit it a while )

The average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs in it.

In Minnesota it is illegal to cross state lines with a duck on your head.

In Oklahoma (I think) it's illegal to get a fish drunk.
Marmite is a substance (some say a foodstuff) created from brewer's yeast by the process of autolysis. I'm into home brewing, so I am familiar with all the hideous details of this- it's what occurs when the yeast dies and forms nasty sediment at the bottom of the bottle. If you're brewing, you get rid of it as quickly as possible. I have no idea why it occurred to anyone to eat it, because it's really not pleasant.
In my experiment I got about a teaspoonful on the lid of the jar and pummelled and stirred it for ages, and it gradually turns white.
Reg. liver- I don't remember any specific type being mentioned. I'll get that issue out and check.

Upper and lower case letters were termed because in the time when all type had to be set in individual letters, the capital letters were usually stored in a case on top of the case that stored the smaller letters.

RED

Penguins don't have knees, I feel for them I really do.

Kangaroos cannot climb stairs.

Yankee Soup? How does that taste? Senate Bean Soup is another popular recipe invented in the cafeteria there (involves beans, ham, etc.)

I wonder if kangaroos can move backwards?

That 8 spiders per night is also under dodgy stats. Since it doesn´t seem to be a real fact.