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

I hope some Americans see the last bit!

I saw it Edward, what about it?

No anti-Americanism intended. Just that I'm always amazed by the low cost of gas whenever I'm over your way.

"Did you know 97% of all stats are made up, and 2 of the remaining 3 % , are less than 5 % true "



Isnt this just a statistic or is it factual ? ,Theres a good possibility this is a statistic If so this is to be the case then theres less than 1 % chance this statement is also true

3 out of 2 adults are bad at maths.

111 out of every 1000 people don't understand binary.

JUST WAIT THEIR JUST 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 MINUTE THAT CANT BE A A USELESS FACT

I don't understand maths or binary!

Edward, I should have included a . I didn't think you were being anti-american. I was just bein' difficult.

These facts are verging dangerously on the useful!

RF

The fart, the fart
It cheers the heart
And leaves the balls at ease
On a frosty night it warms the bed
And suffocates the fleas

That would *almost* be useful *if* it was a fact. But farts don't suffocate fleas, and I don't know that it has any effect on a man's balls. So score 50% for being useless, but 0% for factuality.

Molluscs, including snails, slugs and octopuses, have blue blood. Their blood chemistry is based on copper rather than iron.

An older US penny (before they switched to an alloy) is worth more in copper than in coinage.

Octopodes (pedantic but innacurate plural of 'octopus') have sufficient intelligence that they can be taught to unscrew a jar in order to reach food inside it. However, they also have a short memory and have to be re-taught the following day.

I don't believe that fact, Edward. I've heard that octopuses have pretty good long term memories, being able to remember shapes and colours for long periods, which is good considering they only live about a year.

make way the queen of useless facts coming through
now where to start.....?
how about the common limpet is reallly called a patella vulgata and has a different width to height ratio depending on which part of the shore it lives on. you can tell which part of the shore you are on by the seaweed present eg you will be on the upper shore if you are standing on pelicia canaliculata (spelling? dunno something like that!)

<>

!

But according to one episode of Star Trek, Spock's blood was based on copper and Bones McCoy said it was green! So how is it that molluscs have blue coppery blood and Spock had green coppery blood? Was it a different compound in the blood?

An interesting point, Cheerful. I've done some research into this. It turns out that not only most molluscs but also many arthropods, such as crabs, have blue blood. The compound involved is haemocyanin, a porphyrin complex based on copper. It is transparent in the absence of oxygen, but turns bright blue when oxygenated (remember copper sulfate). It is not as efficient as haemoglobin, the chemical we use in our blood to transmit oxygen, but it does the job for molluscs and arthropods.

Bones on several occasions makes references to Spock's green blood. We are left with two possible explanations:

1. Bones is one of those people who can't tell green from blue. Such people are far from rare. For example, Dublin is dotted with many copper domes which are coated with the patina of age: verdigris or copper oxide, which is quite clearly a green colour. Yet James Joyce, a man noted for the accuracy of his observations, in his book Ulysses describes one of these domes (Rathmines Church) as blue. The dome in question is not, nor was it ever blue. If Joyce can mistake a green dome for a blue one, surely Dr McCoy can make the opposite mistake with impunity?

2. Spock's blood is more complex than Bones thought. Laboratory experiments have shown that a porphyrin complex based on cobalt can be used to transport oxygen, although this is not used in life on Earth. Such a compound is transparent in the absence of oxygen. When oxygenated, it adopts a deep yellow or amber colour. If Spock has this compound as well as haemocyanin, his blood will be a mixture of blue and yellow, which any schoolgirl will tell you makes green.