What interesting things have you only recently learned about?
To be clear, this is about things which have been true for some time and you only recently learned about, not things that only happened recently. In particular, recent deaths of celebrities and other high-profile individuals should go in the General RIP Thread
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So, what interesting things have you guys...and gals...only recently learned about?
Edited by Twiddler on Apr 8th 2023 at 1:07:55 AM
Actually, no. Reindeer and caribou are a distinct subspecies and a trained observer can tell the difference. Reindeer are smaller and grow differently shaped antlers. It may have to do with selective breeding, since reindeer have been domesticated (and it stands to reason that wild and tame stock have interbred at times), while caribou have not.
They are cross-fertile, but people who study one or the other consider them different.
edited 16th Jul '09 10:08:42 AM by ccoa
Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.According to Wikipedia, it's even more complex than that: there are/were nine subspecies, split into tundra and forest varieties (six of the former, three of the latter).
Yes, the European subspecies are different ones than the North American. Two tundra and one forest subspecies are European. Two are extinct, and the rest are North American. Greenland is part of North America as far as this goes.
I'm suspecting it's simply down to the fact that the populations have been completely isolated from each other for so long.
A brighter future for a darker age.Michelangelo was a bit crazy.
People also kept offering him jobs (as an architect, or a painter) that he wasn't really qualified for (he was a sculptor damnit!) and said so, but managed to pull off anyway.
He also worked for several years on the St. Peter's basilica without getting paid.
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy EntI started a Just Bugs Me thread about this one a while back, because some pretty good names have been rendered incorrect due to this little rule.
Though I do find it somewhat disappointing that Scrotum humanum isn't recognized as the official name for Megalosaurus bucklandii, despite the fact that it came first. (Just imagine Earl Sinclair calling himself "the mighty Scrotum!")
There's some pretty funny ones here
, though most of them aren't offensive.
edited 16th Jul '09 8:47:01 PM by trouserwearingbarbarian
Thanks for that link, TWB. Now that I know of the existence of a "Vampire-Squid from HELL" (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) I begin to wonder if there is some sort of "[Whatever]teuthis Cuthulhui" or something like that. My latin wordformation skills are more than poor.
Also, that website increased the amount of completely useless trivia stuff already in my head. Which is a good thing, for some reason...
Sheila is selling her shop at the seashore for shops at the seashore are so sure to lose. Now she's not so sure of what she should be selling, should Sheila sell seashells or should she sell shoes?Linux works on Macs. I didn't know that and, I'm afraid, I don't care.
Oh, and Raiden is a guy, but given that I only know of him from a VG-Cats strip that suddenly makes more sense, I guess that's...um...yeah.
On a faaaaar more interesting note, there is a species of jumping spider in South America that is largely herbivorous.
edited 19th Jul '09 3:15:09 AM by Inverurie Jones
'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'Something new for all of you to know: the Short (8oz.) version of any Starbucks espresso drink tends to have an espresso-to-milk ratio in the zone of optimal deliciousness. The effect can be replicated by ordering a Grande (16oz.) drink and asking for two extra shots, thereby effectively getting two Short drinks in one cup.
GI Joeeeeee!
the dice are loaded, the deck is stacked, the game itself will hold you backHe also liked to wear his clothes to bed and hated eating.
What's the frequency Kenneth?|In case of war.I just noticed five Minutes ago that there are edit/page history/etc. buttons on the bottom of the page.
Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF DebrisI'm apparently the Devil's Black Best Friend.
I just recently learned that my 11-year-old sister is a bit of a Lucky Star nut. I first found out when I walked into the bedroom to play a little Secret Of Mana and she was watching a LS AMV set to Ieva's Polka (which she quickly closed out of, for some reason). She used two separate online picture editors to edit two separate pictures of Konata during my play session.
Of course, she's a big anime fan in general, but it's kind of heartwarming to know that she knows what Lucky Star is.
pearlina brainrot affects millions of people worldwide. if you or a loved one are suffering from pearlina brainrot, call 1-800-GAY-NERDS

Contemplating it further, I now think that it's kinda cool that for some reason, you cannot change scientific names of critters. If I should ever come across a heretofore unknown species of bug I could give it a really offensive name and there is nothing anybody could do against it. What ever will happen in the world, scientific faux-latin names will remain the same. The one thing you can always rely on...
Sheila is selling her shop at the seashore for shops at the seashore are so sure to lose. Now she's not so sure of what she should be selling, should Sheila sell seashells or should she sell shoes?