Amazing Facts

12 years ago

Um? Does that mean a woman won't go into labor above 14,000 or that it won't survive if she has it?

I've climbed several of the 14ers in Colorado and it's not really so amazing we can't live up there -- nothing does but small mammals and short plants, lichons and the such. There isn't much air up there. Some of the bigger mammals will go up above timberline to graze now and again but they don't "live" above timberline.

However -- bacteria fossils have been discovered in meteorites recently - so there is SOMETHING out there or at least there definitely was at one time.

My favorite fact is that a planet was found that is a diamond the size of Jupiter. If I could ever see anything off this planet up close in this lifetime it would be a planet size diamond.
Astronomers discover planet made of diamond | Reuters

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Sal
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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Mark Andrews

...to make you sit up and think.

Women cannot give birth to children above 14,000' approximately or so I read somewhere a long time ago. And realistically, we as humans can only cohabit or live together for any length of time up to and including this approximate height band.

14,000' = just over 2 1/2 miles. Walk at a brisk 5 mph for 30 minutes and this is the total height where we can not only survive but live reasonably well as a human species.

In a universe of extraordinary size, with to our knowledge not another living thing for billions of light years in any one direction and the atmosphere within which we can live is but this tiny, tiny sliver of space just above the earths surface.

When you look up at the sky, it seems so vast, endless, and we think the possibilities are endless too but quite literally above our heads is this invisible ceiling above which human existence as we know it here on earth ceases to exist.

Something to think about with all the pollution we constantly throw out into our atmosphere.

Would you care to share an amazing or very simple overlooked fact below, the more intriguing or fascinating the better...

Well, with how they want to limit CO2 and deforest the planet, the 10,000 level may DROP! As I recall, 10,000 is about the standard livable height. Over that, things start to get difficult and need oxygen, etc.... ALSO, you can only go so low below the surface of the water, because of pressure. Obviously, 14'000 feet will have problems due to lack of oxygen and low pressure.

As for the billions of light years, it is obviously IMPOSSIBLE for us to even GUESS at anything at that distance. We don't even know if there is anything out there. By definition, it takes a billion years for light to travel a billion light years. Radio waves, and electricity don't go any faster. If we now see a barren wasteland there, it is possible that nearly a billion years ago it could have become a vast city.

STILL, even if things WERE as we see them, some claim the moon of earth is HOLLOW! Do we know any more about any other planet in that regard? Maybe there are seas of a chemical or element we can't define that creatures live in. Maybe they live underground. Who knows.

Steve

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HeySal

12 years ago

Steve - survivable altitude varies from place to place. Timberline - the point at which trees stop growing, is the altitude at which large mammals cannot really live self-sustainably, and in Colorado that is around 11,000 - 11,500 ft. Above that altitude, you might be able to park a cabin, but the environment is hostile, and you have to come downhill for living supplies. Frankly with modern solar and wind power, you might even be able to build yourself a home/greenhouse to supply oxygen and food and heat and actually live at altitudes. It'd be a kewl experiment.

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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by HeySal

Steve - survivable altitude varies from place to place. Timberline - the point at which trees stop growing, is the altitude at which large mammals cannot really live self-sustainably, and in Colorado that is around 11,000 - 11,500 ft. Above that altitude, you might be able to park a cabin, but the environment is hostile, and you have to come downhill for living supplies. Frankly with modern solar and wind power, you might even be able to build yourself a home/greenhouse to supply oxygen and food and heat and actually live at altitudes. It'd be a kewl experiment.

Well, therer is a difference between surviving and livng, but 11 is closer to 10 than 14. I'd rather err on the safe side anyway.

Steve

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eleven1

Banned 12 years ago

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HeySal

12 years ago

Originally Posted by eleven1

nice facts , is it rude to ask where did you get these facts from ! please post more if you can . thank you

Not rude - but to point to a link for my facts (other than the diamond planet, which link I included) would be hard. I study earth sciences - and lived in Colorado at 8,700 feet surrounded by 13,500 peaks with a lot of 14ers in the area, too. You just get to know these things when you live in the environments themselves.

Did you also know that people that aren't acclimated to altitude are likely to barf their guts up all the way down the mountain if they climb beyond timberline? LOL - we loved tourists out there.

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ThomM 12 years ago

Something everyone takes for granted, I find amazing.
Gravity introduction
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DianaHeuser

12 years ago

Originally Posted by HeySal

Did you also know that people that aren't acclimated to altitude are likely to barf their guts up all the way down the mountain if they climb beyond timberline? LOL - we loved tourists out there.

I climbed Mnt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa a few years back and that was only about 6000 meters (not sure what that is in feet) but a lot of people really battled with that climb.

What amazed me was the guides would instantly pick up if someone was getting altitude sickness. Two of them would grab the person under their arms and they would RUN down the mountain. I have never seen anything like it in my life.

That climb was the worst, and the best experience of my life.

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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by DianaHeuser

I climbed Mnt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa a few years back and that was only about 6000 meters (not sure what that is in feet) but a lot of people really battled with that climb.

What amazed me was the guides would instantly pick up if someone was getting altitude sickness. Two of them would grab the person under their arms and they would RUN down the mountain. I have never seen anything like it in my life.

That climb was the worst, and the best experience of my life.

Yeah, that IS a lot 19685 feet. the guides were obviously very acclimated to it, they may even have tricks to make it a little easier. That too can come with practice. They probably have a lot of practice saving people affected like that, like what heysal described.

Steve

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DianaHeuser

12 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

Yeah, that IS a lot 19685 feet. the guides were obviously very acclimated to it, they may even have tricks to make it a little easier. That too can come with practice. They probably have a lot of practice saving people affected like that, like what heysal described.

Steve

Steve,

They are remarkable. Their eyes are blood red. I asked them why and it's because they live at such altitudes. Something to do with the blood flow at such high altitudes.

They climb that mountain every week, in sandals! One guy even had slip slops on. The rest of us plebs were dressed up in hiking gear to the nth degree.

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HeySal

12 years ago

Originally Posted by DianaHeuser

I climbed Mnt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa a few years back and that was only about 6000 meters (not sure what that is in feet) but a lot of people really battled with that climb.

What amazed me was the guides would instantly pick up if someone was getting altitude sickness. Two of them would grab the person under their arms and they would RUN down the mountain. I have never seen anything like it in my life.

That climb was the worst, and the best experience of my life.

Doesn't surprise me that they can tell. Mountain (altitude) sickness isn't just discomfort - once effects set in if you don't get that person out of altitude or onto an oxygen tank quick enough they can (and often do) suffer brain hemorrhage and die. It's really nothing at all to play with or take lightly. Anyone planning to climb should really get some knowledge about safety first.

The complaints about "losing freedoms" and "my rights to" this or that might be less strident if they learned some of that history.

I would think that would be a reason to be even more aware and cautious about our rights rather than more relaxed. I toured one of those "camps". They might not have had furnaces and mass murders that Hitler's did - but if you think living in one of them was less than horrifying you have no idea what freedom is in the first place. The problem lies in the fact that "losing freedoms" can lead to a lot of people being forced to live like that - and it's a crime that should never ever be repeated. I would think that history should make us much MORE strident to protect what we have (i.e. had - we just lost a lot of it, unless you feel "due process" is a moot freedom), rather than less so.

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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by HeySal

I would think that would be a reason to be even more aware and cautious about our rights rather than more relaxed. I toured one of those "camps". They might not have had furnaces and mass murders that Hitler's did - but if you think living in one of them was less than horrifying you have no idea what freedom is in the first place. The problem lies in the fact that "losing freedoms" can lead to a lot of people being forced to live like that - and it's a crime that should never ever be repeated. I would think that history should make us much MORE strident to protect what we have (i.e. had - we just lost a lot of it, unless you feel "due process" is a moot freedom), rather than less so.

That reminds me of a star trek TNG episode. A couple aliens kidnapped several other aliens, of which picard was one. EVENTUALLY, picard found that one had secret knowledge about him, and acted contrary to the situation a couple times. after he confronted her, they called it off, and he went back to the ship where they already figured that picard wasn't picard.

Picard spoke to them about the imprisonment, and how it was wrong, and they feigned 100% ignorance as to any wrong. NO sympathy AT ALL!

Supposedly, the enterprise had a plan to handle such things, and the real picard triggered their execution of it. And the aliens were trapped, only able to move a few feet. All of the sudden, they started begging for mercy, etc...

If only such things were so easy. As for "due process", it has been twisted and redefined such that it really doesn't mean all that much. We might as well ask for YIJ KAH!

Steve

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lgibbon Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by eleven1

nice facts , is it rude to ask where did you get these facts from ! please post more if you can . thank you

I remember seeing something along the same lines on TV.
But it was regarding European women being unable to give
birth at this height which was discovered, mainly by the Spanish
who were populating South America.
But if I remember correctly, native women were able to give
birth at this height.
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Roaddog

12 years ago

Would you care to share an amazing or very simple overlooked fact below, the more intriguing or fascinating the better...

Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a bellybutton.

A Viking tribe once raided England because they had run out of beer.
(as good a reason as any)

40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.

Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.

Walt Disney was afraid of mice.

Termites eat wood twice as fast when listening to Heavy Metal music

Most humans can guess someone's sex with 95 percent accuracy just by smelling their breath.

40% of women have hurled footwear at a man. (This one I have no problem believing (for some reason)

315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

There are 10 doctors in the U.S. with the last name of 'Nurse'

The Bible is the most shoplifted book in America.

Polar bears are left-handed.

The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.

I will win the lotto on Dec. 20, 2012

If I copy and paste one more fact on here, your head will implode.

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TLTheLiberator

12 years ago

What Is The Most Decorated Military Unit In United States History?

In 1944, the most decorated unit in US military history was fighting fiercely on the European front in World War 2.

You’d be surprised to find out that their families back in the states were in an interment camp - of all places.

Why???

This is because the United States' most decorated military unit was made up of ...

...Americans of Japanese decent.

Remarkable story here...

What Is The Most Decorated Military Unit In US History?

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Roaddog

12 years ago

Originally Posted by TLTheLiberator

What Is The Most Decorated Military Unit In United States History?

In 1944, the most decorated unit in US military history was fighting fiercely on the European front in World War 2.

You’d be surprised to find out that their families back in the states were in an interment camp - of all places.

Why???

This is because the United States' most decorated military unit was made up of ...

...Americans of Japanese decent.

Remarkable story here...

What Is The Most Decorated Military Unit In US History?

Actually that is an incredible story...and anyone that doesn't know about it.... should..

No offense intended there TL...but that needs some Wiki, some further reading if you will..

I am familiar with this story, and it just proves that truth is far stranger than fiction.

442nd

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Kay King 12 years ago

Actually that is an incredible story...and anyone that doesn't know about it.... should..

That is a piece of history that made a big impression on me - as did learning about the McCarthy years.

The complaints about "losing freedoms" and "my rights to" this or that might be less strident if they learned some of that history.

That climb was the worst, and the best experience of my life.

That must have been amazing! I expect the guides were being responsible in rushing people down - that's a very high altitude. I expect altitude sickness symptoms could escalate quickly. Don't know - heights are not my thing:p

I wonder if the level of breathable air has changed over millions of years as we've changed the landscape due to our "progress".

kay
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- seasoned 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Kay King
  
  I wonder if the level of breathable air has changed over millions of years as we've changed the landscape due to our "progress".
  
  kay
  
  I bet it IS lower! That would also explain the few cases where people DO live so high up. Tibet, for example, at 17500 ft.
  
  Steve
  
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benmoore47

Banned 12 years ago

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seasoned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by benmoore47

Oh men it makes me think who will give birth 14.000 times. it is not realistic. haha peace.

A normal woman could only have about 40 kids, assuming that she has only one kid each time, conceives RIGHT after she delivers, and each one is uneventful. Granted, you COULD push single deliveries out to maybe 50. Invitro fertilization could maybe boost that to maybe 150(400 is obviously possible, but I doubt many would last through that let alone try! and could you imagine being practically bedridden your whole life?), and she could start earlier and end earlier, which could maybe double the number, but that is just SO unlikely. I don't know what the record is, but I'm betting it only APPROACHES 30. And that may be with invitro, and includes twins, etc...

But the context, wording, and the little apostrophe after the 14000 indicates it means FEET!

Steve
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seasoned

12 years ago

OK, one person claimed....

THE greatest recorded number of children born to one mother in the world, according to the Guinness 2004 world records is 69. In 27 pregnancies, the first wife of Feodor Vassilyev of Russia gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.

This was in the 17 Century. Only two of her children died at infancy. She also holds the world record for giving birth to the most sets of twins and sets of quadruplets.

Similarly, the highest medically recorded number of children born at a single birth is nine to Geraldine Brodrick of Australia. None of the children (five boys, two stillborn and four girls) lived for more than six days. This was way back in 1971.

But the most children delivered at a single birth to survive are a set of septuplets (four boys and three girls.

Their mother, Bobbie McCaughey gave birth in 1997 at the University hospital, Lowa in United State of America.

The longest interval between the births of two children to the same mother is 41 years. Elizabeth Ann Buttle of the United Kingdom produced her daughter Belinda in 1956 and rested for 41 years before giving birth to Joseph in 1997.

But among men, Guinness recorded Moulay Ismail, the last Sharifian Emperor, as the world record for fathering 525 sons, 342 daughters by 1703.

Still, that is worse than twins, YIKES!

Steve