The highest recorded temperature on Mars (35° C) is higher than the highest temperature on record for Scotland (33.2° C).
(Thanks, Jay.)
Trivia
For What It’s Worth
The number of milliseconds in a day is
And there are 10! seconds in six weeks.
Long Distance
Dakar is closer to Toronto than to Mogadishu.
(Thanks, Johnny.)
Misc
- The state sport of Maryland is jousting.
- North and South Dakota were established together, in 1889.
- NEAT TAILOR makes ALTERATION.
- Percentages are reversible: 25% of 16 is 16% of 25.
- “Success in research needs four Gs: Glück, Geduld, Geschick, und Geld [luck, patience, skill, and money].” — Paul Ehrlich
Right at Home
Street names in Dinosaur, Colorado:
- Triceratops Terrace
- Antrodemus Alley
- Plateosaurus Place
- Stegosaurus Freeway
- Brachtosaurus Bypass
- Ceratosaurus Circle
- Camptosaurus Crescent
- Diplodocus Drive
- Tyrannosaurus Street
- Allosaurus Lane
- Brachiosaurus Street
- Brontosaurus Boulevard
Originally named Baxter Springs, it was renamed in 1966 to capitalize on its proximity to Dinosaur National Monument.
That Time Again
King William’s College has released its annual General Knowledge Paper, “The World’s Most Difficult Quiz,” a school tradition since 1904. There are 18 sets of 10 questions, each set treating a particular theme; divining the themes is difficult and useful.
This year’s quiz bears the customary warning at the top: Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est, “The greatest part of knowledge is knowing where to find something.” If past quizzes are any model, then search engines may lead you astray.
The answers will be on the school website at the end of January. Meanwhile MetaFilter is coordinating a spreadsheet of proposed answers (warning: spoilers).
Misc
- The brighter stars of open cluster NGC 2169 form a giant 37.
- Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Unique.
- Noam Chomsky was bar mitzvahed on Pearl Harbor Day.
- 67234 = 6 + 72+3 × 4
- “You never know when you’re making a memory.” — Rickie Lee Jones
(Thanks, Charlie and Sean.)
Backwards and Forwards
The French acronym for NATO is OTAN (Organisation du traité de l’Atlantique nord).
11/08/2019 UPDATES:
Spanish yields the same acronym as French: Organizacion del Tratado Atlantico Norte. (Thanks, Marcial.)
The name of the standards organization ISO is not an acronym: “Because ‘International Organization for Standardization’ would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French), our founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek isos, meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form of our name is always ISO.” (Thanks, John.)
Similarly, UTC doesn’t stand for anything. It was agreed as a common abbreviation by English speakers (who otherwise would use CUT, “coordinated universal time”) and French speakers (in place of TUC, temps universel coordonné). (Thanks, Scott.)
A Surprise First
The residents of Vatican City drink more wine per person than any other country, at least as of 2014 — 74 liters per year, or about 105 bottles, twice the amount drunk by the average person in France and three times that in the U.K.
The state’s tiny size — just 800 people — means that such figures are easily skewed, and Vatican residents tend to be old, male, and highly educated and to eat in large groups, all of which can contribute to higher wine consumption. (So does the use of ceremonial Communion wine.)
An overlooked additional factor: Wine sold in the Vatican supermarket is subject to a lower tax than in Italy — which attracts customers from the broader vicinity and may drive up the numbers.
Distant Neighbors
Newport, Ore., and Boston, Mass., contain signs directing motorists to one another, despite being more than 3,000 miles apart.
They’re at opposite ends of U.S. Route 20.
Likewise Sacramento, Calif., and Ocean City, Md., at either end of Route 50. Wilmington, N.C., used to reciprocate with Barstow, Calif., at the other end of Interstate 40, but gave up because the sign kept getting stolen.