Interesting Facts - Page 54

266

China only has one time zone. This means that the sun can rise 3 hours earlier in the eastern part of the country than in the west.

267

For a long time, Frank Beard was the only member of ZZ Top that didn't have a beard. But he finally relented and grew one in 2013.

268

Flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.

269

Peruse means "To read completely". It also means "To look over casually; to skim".

270

Inhaling helium can make your voice sound high. But there is a gas that does the opposite and makes your voice sound lower - sulfur hexafluoride. It is potentially dangerous so don't try it at home.

Page:1...5253545556...196

Also see:

27 Comments

+19

Level 45

Jul 18, 2019

'Inflammable means flammable? What a country'

Level 74

Aug 15, 2019

Thanks Dr. Nick!

Level 59

Sep 23, 2022

hi everybody

+15

Level 67

Nov 17, 2019

In case anybody was wondering, sulfur hexafloride is not poisonous per se, but because it is so dense, it goes down, stays in your lungs, stops oxygen from getting in, so you suffocate, and... yeah. Not good.

Level 78

Feb 27, 2020

So it isn't a poison, but it is a suffocant. (I'm not sure that is a word)

Level 59

Sep 18, 2020

It’s also a greenhouse gas.

+10

Level 89

Oct 14, 2020

That's what most people would be worrying about as they suffocate from an excruciating buildup of heavy gas in their lungs, that they had just contributed 0.000000000000001% to everybody else's global pollution.

Level 63

Nov 15, 2022

Saffroncat!

Level 58

Oct 10, 2020

Simple way to get out of this is is to only breath a little at a time and hang upside down every now and then until you breath and speak normal. Lots of videos on YT about people breathing this stuff in, and other noble gases

Level 71

Nov 30, 2021

'The simple way!'

Level 40

Mar 7, 2020

so if someone says peruse you will have no idea which one they mean

Level 68

May 18, 2020

I guess so. Maybe ask them ;)

Level 59

Jul 21, 2020

The context may help you figure out which one it is.

Level 71

Sep 15, 2021

I'll bet you have never heard anyone say 'peruse' in your lifetime. It is usually in reading material where the meaning is obvious.

Level 73

Feb 13, 2024

My teacher uses it quite often, but she believed it only meant to read thoroughly. I tried to explain that it could mean both, but she ignored what I was trying to say and heard me saying that the skim through definition was wrong.

Level 27

Jun 22, 2020

prefix: am I a joke to you

Level 53

Nov 6, 2020

i don't think that China having one time zone causes the sun to rise 3 hours later. That's just due to the size of the country.

Level 68

Oct 8, 2021

If you use the official time zone, then it's true.

Level 32

Nov 9, 2020

Aight imma head out-

Level 65

Sep 23, 2021

Oof. She really did head out :(

Level 73

Feb 13, 2024

whoa

Level 24

Mar 2, 2022

peruse used to mean read thorougly and now means to skim, nobody uses the former anymore

also people now use inflammable to mean not flammable

Level 30

May 5, 2022

Inflammable used the prefix, "in-"

Normally it means in/out/not.

BUT...

In it, the prefix means, "to cause to"

Flammable means to set fire.

So, inflammable means to cause to set fire to...

...which is basically the same thing.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Level 45

Oct 10, 2023

Good job

Level 55

Aug 7, 2022

If something is flammable it means it can be set fire to, such as a piece of wood. However, inflammable means that a substance is capable of bursting into flames without the need for any ignition.

Level 67

Jan 17, 2024

Fwiw, the sun will rise earlier in the Eastern part of the country regardless of the number of timezones.

Level 52

Feb 7, 2024

Yes, but in the US, the sun theoretically can both rise in California and Florida at 6:00 because of time zones. If we did it like China does it with only one time zone, the sun in Florida would rise at 9:00 instead of 6:00.