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

Another from NdGT.

"Careful observation reveals that players & coaches of 3hr Baseball games spit at least 6-gal (24 liters) of saliva onto field."

That's 6 US Gallons I presume. 6 Imperial gallons would be nearer to 30 litres.

More like 48 pints I would have thought.

PP

If the Gallons are US and the pints are Imperial it would be 38.4 imperial pints. I really hope this stuff doesn't come on draft!

I am not sure if this thread picked up on the fact of a discovery of a new species of marine fungus in 2011 by researchers working from the San Francisco State University. They decided to name the species after the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. Hence for as long as the human species survives this little critter will be for ever be known as:

Spongiforma squarepantsii

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spongiforma_squarepantsii

This week other creatures were named after Prince Charles and Bob Marley. Oddly enough, it's the one named after Marley that's a parasite.

(Hyloscirtus princecharlesi is a rare Ecuadorian stream frog, while Gnathia marleyi is a blood feeding fish parasite recently discovered in the Caribbean.)

I am having a great deal of difficulty accepting
that a single human being could produce 6 gallons
of expectoration in a 3 hour period. Perhaps I missed
something - like that was the total from all members of
both teams, not just what each player or coach produces.

If the count includes all persons in uniform, that could be
more than 80 persons, since each major league team has
a roster of 25 to 40 players and possibly dozens of coaches,
managers, trainers, batboys and other equipment and medical
specialists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_transactions


~jwf~

I'm sure Neil deGrasse Tyson was referring only to the players and coaches on the field.

Glad I asked, because now I know what a NdGT is.
And yes, he doesn't strike me as one to exaggerate
or to be caught peeking into dugouts or bullpens.

TV does peek into dugouts and always captures a few
good spits though, so his overall estimate is likely
quite conservative if it includes only those at play
(even assuming the bases are loaded).


~jwf~

An oldie, but a goodie:

Saturn's rings are thousands of kilometres across, but only a few metres thick

Another oldie... Napoleon wasn't "short". He was slightly taller than average. He was "five foot two inches" by the old French "pied de roi" or Royal Foot measurement. This is the equivalent of 5' 6½". He also preferred to his guard to be very tall men which made him look shorter in comparison.

I just learnt a new one.

The opposite of ambidextrous, being adept with both hands, is ambisinister, being adept with neither.

<< ambisinister >>
Having two left hands!
Just like having two left feet.

~jwf~

This is a bit out of date and was a story from last year - but this model is wearing a yellow cape:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02117/spider-silk-1_2117164b.jpg

Okay the web address gives away that it is made from spider silk - 1.2 million golden orb spiders apparently and all female.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver

As Baron surely knows and has probably posted earlier in this thread, the planet Uranus was first called George.

However this name wasn't popular outside of Great Britain and so the planet was eventually renamed Uranus, to the delight of comedians and school boys throughout the empire and beyond.

I did not...

BTW... I seriously propose we start a movement to get Sedna renamed Rupert.

Did someone walk the Andes backwards before naming that planet?

~*~the planet was eventually renamed Uranus, to the delight of comedians and school boys throughout the empire and beyond.~*~

It's not funny.