Curious Mind Blowing Facts - 26

what the heck?

He is among hundreds of men who were suspected of al-Qaeda involvement amid the U.S.'s post-9/11 counterterrorism crackdown. Moath Al-Alwi is one of Gitmo's “forever prisoners” — men who were never charged with a crime and have been indefinitely detained despite being cleared for transfer. Imprisoned without charges for over 20 years, Al-Alwi finds solace and joy in making intricate ship models out of found materials.
He was cleared for release in 2021 but still remains imprisoned at Guantánamo.
(https://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2024/03/06/held-for-800-days-since-being-approved-for-release-from-guantanamo-moath-al-alwi-zakaria-al-baidany-and-mohammed-abdul-malik-bajabu/)

One of Moath al-Alwi’s magnificent sailing ships, made out of recycled materials.

A Ship From Guantánamo | Vimeo | Veena Rao | 6m 16s

Michael Buffer makes between $25,000 and $100,000 every time he says,”let’s get ready to rumble.”

French fries came from Belgium.

There are around 25 blimps in the world, and half of them are used for advertising.

not a blimp

Grizzly Bears in Yellowstone Park can eat 40,000 moths a day. It turns out that moths are both delicious and full of fat and help the bears fatten up for hibernation.

Around 900,000 years ago the ancestors of modern humans were pushed to the brink of extinction, according to new research. Genetic studies suggest that the breeding population of our ancestors in Africa dropped to just 1,280 and didn’t expand again for another 117,000 years. Whew…

Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun and the largest in the solar system; It is 2.5 times more massive than all the other planets combined. 

Hippos can't swim, despite spending a lot of time in rivers and lakes. Hippos cannot breathe underwater or float either - they sink - according to National Geographic. 

Carnian Pluvial Episode: That time when it rained for 1-2 million years. The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was an event on earth that took place at some point around 235 million years ago, when the earth's climate changed radically. 

Fun fact about my Costco -

“Overheard a manager talking to a friend on the floor, the Kelowna BC Costco is one of the highest selling. My receipt checker today told me they were doing 1,000 customers an hour”.

Programming Languages. We have all heard of Java, C++, and Python. Over the years there have been around 9,000 different languages created. Here a few obscure programming languages you’ve probably never heard about:
Seed7, Factor, Frink, Brainf*ck, LOLCode, Whitespace, Chicken, Groovy, Scratch, Chef, IO, Racket, Rockstar, L33t

China is the world’s largest auto market. In the first quarter of this year, almost two-thirds of EVs (electric vehicles) available are already cheaper than their internal combustion engine equivalents. 

If you must break through a locked door, the “Art of Manliness” website tell us how to do it:

1. Don’t use your shoulder

2. Best to give it a well placed kick.

3. Kick to the side of where the lock is mounted (near the keyhole). This is typically the weakest part of the door.

4. Using a front kick, drive the heel of your foot into the door. Give the kick forward momentum and keep your balance by driving the heel of your standing foot into the ground. Don’t kick the lock itself; this could break your foot.

5. Just keep on kicking until the door gives way and you can save the day.

6. Avoid Jump Kicks

Now you know if there’s an emergency.

Is Pablo Escobar’s picture in the GateFold of the Eagles Hotel California album?:

What do you think?

Authorities have discovered a drug-smuggling tunnel in Tijuana, Northern Mexico, that is so long that personnel don't have enough oxygen to reach the other end. They are looking for an exit point in the U.S.

You’re more likely to believe fake news shared by someone you barely know than by your best friend.

Would you spend $100,000 for a 6 hour ride to see the earth 18 miles below you in a balloon like capsule? There is a new industry that thinks people will. It’s called stratospheric balloon tourism. Not for me, but check out France-based “Zephalto”, Florida-based “Space Perspective” and Arizona-based “World View” if you want to get away from it all. For 6 hours anyway.

A fellow Kelownian, Kelly Blair, woke up last month to find that his collection of 10 old weathered garden gnomes had been stolen. Sign of the times? Anyway, on July 3rd, a knock was heard at his back door. Opening it, Blair met a mysterious old woman, standing still holding out an envelope addressed to “The Homeowner.” He opened the envelope to discover a paper silhouette of a gnome with the words “Gnome Restoration Society” written down the middle. She had a delivery for Kelly - in the back of the stranger’s truck were all his gnomes smiling back at him from behind fresh coats of paint. They had all been restored to look new again.

E-commerce Giant’s sales break-down in the U.S. by monthly active users in April:

Amazon: 66 million
Temu: 47 million
Shein: 29 million

Klaviyo (email ad SMS marketing company) did some user research and discovered that:
Average email open rates for each day of the week:

• Monday: 12.42%

• Tuesday: 12.52%

• Wednesday: 12.49%

• Thursday: 12.43%

• Friday: 12.14%

• Saturday: 11.29%

• Sunday: 11.68%

Cloudflare's latest report reveals that nearly 7% of internet traffic is malicious, driven by events like wars and elections, with DDoS attacks being the primary weapon of choice. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its with a flood of Internet traffic. 

There is a new term today called AI Slop. Artificial Intelligence-Generated Shallow, Low-Quality Online Publications. It's a phrase used to describe content that has been created by AI tools or algorithms that lacks depth, coherence, or quality. This AI generated content can sometimes produce text that is superficial, nonsensical, or filled with errors. This kind of content is often used for spamming, SEO manipulation, or filling websites with low-effort material to attract traffic without providing genuine value to readers. And it is flooding the internet. 

Things that you may not know expire: 
Water Disinfectants - Bleach
Medications
Bug Spray
Fire Extinguishers
Smoke Detectors
Child Car Seats
Sunscreen
Helmets
Paint
Toothbrushes
Motor Oil
Hydrogen Peroxide
Mascara
Lotions and Moisturizers

Increase your quality of life. “Living within 1 mile of a friend can increase your happiness by 25%. Within 1/2 mile, this number is over 40%.” If we can choose where to live, then why not live close to our friends? 

Ashley King and Joel Burger got married in 2015 in Illinois. The wedding was sponsored and paid for by Burger King for obvious reasons.

As we learned in CMBF-20 (https://pau1.substack.com/p/curious-mind-blowing-facts-20) crocodiles can gallop. So if you are being chased by one, you should zig and zag, as they can’t turn very quickly.

The oldest coins on the planet are believed to date to approximately the second half of the seventh century BC during the reign of King Alyattes who was in power in Lydia from 619 to 560 BC.

A stunning 10% of Cuba’s population — more than a million people — left the island between 2022 and 2023 resulting in the largest migration wave in Cuban history. Political repression and escalating economic difficulties led to public discontent, culminating in mass protests during the summer of 2021.

“80-90% of misinformation online is consumed by hardcore supporters of one political side or the other … people who have already made up their minds.” ~ Hugo Mercier

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Chuck Norris and Superman fought once - the loser had to wear their underwear on the outside of his pants.

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