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

I've come across people who can't tell green from blue, in fact my sister and one of my sons have that problem..
But I like your second idea, Gnomon.

If Spock's blood is blue (or green) why is he not also blue or green? He appears pink like us.

Why is it called haemocyanin if it doesn't contain iron? Should it not be cuprocyanin? Or cuproglobin, since 'haemocyanin' appears to be derived from something meaning 'blue haemoglobin'.

F

Spock does appear greenish tinged rather than pinkish. That's one of the things he is noted for.

The haem- in haemoglobin and haemocyanin means blood, so haemocyanin just means "blue blood compound", as far as I can tell.

I would have tought it meant iron, as in haematite which is one form of iron ore.

F

"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."

i heard that octopi ( couldnt resist sorry) were very long lived like 80+ years or something.

>> I would have tought it meant iron, as in haematite which is one form of iron ore. <<

Actually, Fathom, I think that's a back-formation. The ore is called haematite because it looks like blood.

Why don't schoolboys know that mixing blue and yellow makes green?

RF

some will do but the girls sre more likely to know seen as more boys are colour blind than girls.
this is because the gene for colour blindness is carried on the x chromosome of which the male only has one and the woman has 2. as this is a recessive allele the woman would have to carry the allele on both chromosomes in order to express the phenotype of colour blindness, as men only have to carry it on the one x chromosome they have to express the phenotype, hence why more men are colour blind than women and why school girls know blue and yellow make green

The common octopus lives about a year, but some octopuses can live up to five years.

Sex in the octopus is a once-in-a-lifetime event - hormones caused by the sexual union cause the animal to die soon afterwards. In some species, the male's equivalent of a penis, a specially adapted arm, breaks off inside the female. He doesn't need it any more, anyway.

hmmm didnt know that thanks

but of course it was a usefull fact so mua hahahahaha































another useless fact Gnomon said penis

Ok... so the 'cyanin' part of the name is only refering to the colour, right? It's name just makes it sound like there is cyanide (CN) involved somehow.

This has been one of the more interesting useless facts (as long as you're not an arthropod or a biologist).

When the first detailed maps of Wicklow, a mountainous region 30 miles south of Ireland's capital, were being made in the 1980s, it was found that some of the mountains had no names. None of the locals had ever thought it worth giving a name to these lumps. So local mountaineering clubs were asked to make up new names for the mountains.

if u want useless facts go to www.geocities.com/chrill911 i try and update it with a theme each month, but its still a pants website!!!

trhe highest an egg has ever been dropped to earth and not broken is 213 feet!!!!

Do tell us some names. 'Peak O' The Mighty Sean'?

There's a mountain in Scotland whose name translates as 'Hill of the Spaniards'. The Spanish invaded Eilann Donan in 1748 and set up a bridgehead for Bonnie Prince Charlie's campaign of 'The Forty Nine'. When they were routed, their escape route was over the mountain.

Another fact: Any discussions concerning Star Trek are inherently useless

<>

I admit that's often proved to be true, Edward, but is it necessarily so?

Getting back to octopuses....

A friend of mine went to Korea on business. His hosts laid on a fine banquet, one item of which was fresh, raw octopus. So fresh, in fact, that it had been chopped up while still alive and was still twitching. He picked up a tentacle with his chopsticks, and after some manoeuvring (you can imagine!) managed to pop it into his mouth....wherupon its suckers stuck fast to his tongue and cheek, binding the two together.

What you're meant to do, apparently, is to anaesthetise it first by dunking it into rice wine.

I'd heard that story, but didn't know whether it was true or not, so I didn't include it in the Octopus entry. Octopuses have a very distributed nervous system: one third of their nerves are in their brain and the other two thirds are in their legs. This means that the legs can crawl around and change colour without control from the brain, so they do in fact continue to wriggle for a while after they are cut off.

Can't they also re-grow legs?

(Hmm! There's an idea for sustainable food production: Harvesting the legs from octopuses).

The hungary millions of the world can be fed!!!! Hoorrrraaaay!!!!