12 Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Monday, September 23, 2024
NATO Vows to Add Pickleball to American Theaters
Not that NATO. The National Association of Theatre Owners is investing over $2 billion to make going to the movies cool again. What do they think is cool? Pickleball courts, bowling alleys and zip lines.
‘Now You Have Planted Your Last Potato’
“Nu har du satt din sista potatis” is a Swedish idiom that means “You’ve really done it this time!” or “This is the last straw!”
Two Monopolies No One Likes Are Promising Endless Products That Will Suck
Meta is teaming up with EssilorLuxottica, the company that owns not just every brand, but every sector of the glasses industry, and threatening to release more smart glasses until we all just shut up and pretend they’re cool.
Breaking News: A.I. Makes You Dumber
A study of 1,000 high school students found that those who used ChatGPT as a study aid did worse on their tests.
Why Do Gorillas Have Such Small Nards?
The average gorilla peen is about an inch long, and their balls aren’t much to write home about either. Scientists believe it comes down to gorilla monogamy: The biggest, strongest gorilla has a monopoly on access to all females, so his sperm isn’t in competition with anyone else’s. By comparison, chimpanzee females often mate with multiple males, so the dudes have developed big balls that can store more and stronger sperm that can really put up a fight.
Nazi Gold, De-Nazi-Fied
Jewelry that was stolen by Nazi guards at a Polish concentration camps has just been returned to the families of their victims.
50 Is the Loneliest Number
Shohei Ohtani is the first MLB player to put up 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The closest anyone else has gotten is 42-42.
The Game That Got Him There Was One of the Best of All Time
To reach that milestone, he hit three home runs, stole two bases and drove in 10 runs in a single game. The game also clinched a playoff spot for the Dodgers, marking the first time Ohtani will appear in the postseason.
The Highest Indoor Rope Swing Was Achieved by an NFL Mascot
Atlanta’s Freddie Falcon set the Guinness Record for highest indoor rope swing at 143 feet.
Overdose Deaths Are Dropping at an Insane Rate
After rising by double digits year over year, OD deaths have suddenly dropped by anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent. Naloxone and advancements in fentanyl addiction seem to account for the incredible reversal.
We Actually Got Pretty Close to Burning Down the Electoral College
In 1969, we came startlingly close to abolishing the electoral college. Even President Richard Nixon gave it his blessing. But the Southern states it was designed to give outsized power to banded together to reject it.
Elon Musk Is Decimating Black Hole Research
All of Starlink’s space garbage is emitting electromagnetic waves at such an incredible volume, it’s effectively blinding a lot of equipment used to collect data on black holes and other phenomena. That dumb-shit Tesla he sent up there probably isn’t helping things either.