Bob and Marcia discussed a range of topics, including space travel, literature, animals, and travel trends. Bob shared interesting facts about airplanes, such as the number of parts in a Boeing 747 and the weight of a jet engine. Marcia provided information on the literary legacy of Agatha Christie and the unique characteristics of various animal species. The pair also discussed the origins of personal grooming items, including toothbrushes, lipstick, and jeans pockets. Marcia revealed that the first toothbrushes were developed in China during the Tang Dynasty, while Bob corrected her, stating that the ancient Chinese invented lipstick around 3000 BCE. Bob and Marcia’s conversation was filled with interesting and lesser-known facts.
Outline
Apollo 11 astronauts’ unusual customs experience after moon landing.
- Bob and Marcia Smith discuss the unusual things the Apollo 11 astronauts did after returning to Earth, including going through customs in Hawaii with moon rocks as their duty-free souvenir.
- The US Customs and Border Protection website posted in 2009 that the astronauts declared moon rocks as their duty-free item upon arrival in Hawaii, two days after landing.
Halloween origins and “Quick as a flash” expression.
- Marcia and Bob discuss origins of Halloween, including Irish myths and emigration to the US.
- Bob and Marcia discuss the origin of the expression “Quick as a flash,” learning it originated from early 1900s photography technology.
Voting systems, dental hygiene, and jeans history.
- Marcia and Bob discuss various products that were originally designed for different purposes, including Kleenex tissues (originally designed for gas masks during World War One).
- Marcia and Bob play a game where they try to guess the original purpose of a product, with Bob providing the answer in each case.
- Marcia and Bob discuss dental hygiene, with Marcia revealing that people spend 24 hours per year brushing their teeth.
Toothbrush history, lipstick origins, and plane parts.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the origins of toothbrushes and lipstick, with Marcia providing information on the Chinese invention of toothbrushes during the Tang Dynasty (619-907 AD) and Bob sharing that the Mesopotamians invented lipstick around 3000 BCE by mixing beeswax with ground gemstones.
- Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith questions about airplanes, including the number of parts in a Boeing 747 (6 million) and the weight of a jet engine (9,500 pounds).
- Marcia Smith provides answers and additional information, including that pilots eat different meals to minimize the risk of food poisoning.
North American countries, Agatha Christie’s book sales, and Teddy Roosevelt’s expedition.
- Marcia corrects Bob’s geography knowledge, revealing 23 countries in North America.
- Agatha Christie’s books have sold over 2 billion copies, except for Shakespeare and the Bible.
- Teddy Roosevelt and his son nearly died on a Brazilian exploration mission due to insects, hostile Indians, and a canoe accident.
Air travel, animal facts, and turkey behavior.
- Bob Smith learns that tigers have stripes in their skin, not just their fur.
- Octopuses lay 56,000 eggs at a time, with only a few surviving to adulthood.
- Hippos produce a protective substance to shield their skin from the sun, while turkeys blush when they’re scared or excited.
Bob Smith 0:00
What very unusual thing did the Apollo 11 astronauts do after returning to Earth from the moon?
Marcia Smith 0:07
And why do we carve pumpkins for Halloween? That’s
Bob Smith 0:12
a good question.
Marcia Smith 0:13
Isn’t it though?
Bob Smith 0:14
I think so. answers to those that other good questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith.
Welcome to the off ramp a chance to slow down steer clear of crazy. Take a side road to sanity and have some fun with trivia. Okay, Marsh, when the Apollo astronauts came back from the moon, the first set of astronauts, what was one of the first things they had to do? I’ve never heard this until recently go to the bathroom. No, they had to go through customs. It’s not funny. It’s so stupid. Yeah, when they made it to Hawaii after splashdown, they went through customs. It’s true. There’s a general declaration document on file with the US government dated July 24 1969. It declares the Apollo 11 crew departing from Moon not the moon but moon and arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii. Now. It’s a real document. It’s signed by all of them. And NASA has confirmed it was true. It may have been done as a joke, but it was signed by a customs official. Now, you come in from another country. What did they ask you? What are you bringing home? Right? Yeah. What
Marcia Smith 1:41
do you bring it back? They said moon rocks.
Bob Smith 1:43
That’s exactly right. That’s exactly right. moon rock. Was it duty free moon rocket and moon dust samples, which they picked up at the moon airport? No, I don’t know. Yeah. Duty free air. Yeah. Yeah, it’s true. You can find that on the web. It was posted in 2009 is the first time it actually showed up on the web. And it was to celebrate the missions 40th anniversary, the US Customs and Border Protection website posted it. So that’s what they did. The first astronauts come back from from and it’s funny because it was two days after they landed because they landed 900 miles from Hawaii. So the USS Hornet had to travel two days to get to Hawaii and then they get there and Okay, fellas going through customs. First thing.
Marcia Smith 2:26
That’s funny. Good old jacket lanterns. You see them everywhere right now. But why Bob? Why do we have carved pumpkins for Halloween? Well, isn’t
Bob Smith 2:36
that the old thing of ward away evil spirits? Wasn’t that the idea originally because it was all saints. Hallowed saints Eve is not the very good custom. Yeah, yeah, it’s
Marcia Smith 2:46
it’s so it’s true, but it’s not directly true because it’s all because of an Irish myth about a guy named Stingy Jack stingy che Yeah, he tricked the devil for monetary game. But when Jack died, God didn’t allow him into heaven. And the devil didn’t want him either. So Jack was sentenced to roam the earth for eternity. And his wandering soul frightened the Irish people and they started to carve demented faces out of turnips to frighten his soul away to keep them away from their houses.
Bob Smith 3:19
So it was kind of what I said. Yeah, it can say Bob, you were right. It Yeah, it. You didn’t say that Martius wet. So I know you have a hard time saying that. But
Marcia Smith 3:30
true. So when the Irish emigrated to the US, there were a lots of native pumpkins around and that seemed to be more conducive to funny faces than the little bitty turnips. So they started carving weird faces on them and they became Jack Landers. And the folklore about Stingy Jack was quickly incorporated into Halloween. And the rest is spooky history.
Bob Smith 3:54
I had no idea the IRS started that yeah,
Marcia Smith 3:57
for Jack stingy chest and gee check. That’s
Bob Smith 4:00
funny. I love that. You know, we oftentimes explore expressions like Jaco Leonard is an expression. But here’s an expression. I’m going to ask you where this came from Quick as a flash. Where did that come from? And how quick is a flash? Pretty darn
Marcia Smith 4:15
quick. I’ll say from the sulfur and match being ignited and did happen very fast. So they said it’s Quick as a flash
Bob Smith 4:26
actually, it’s from a technology similar to that.
Marcia Smith 4:29
So you’re saying I’m right. No.
Bob Smith 4:33
No, I’m not. You are so far from right. Quick as a flash. The expression originated in the early 1900s with the photographer’s flashbulb Oh, okay. So the total duration of the light produced by the flash How long do you think that is? The total duration of light produced by a flash.
Marcia Smith 4:52
Ah, you know, a millisecond
Bob Smith 4:56
it’s one for 1000s Now I was right. No, no Again, no one for 1000s of a second. Okay, that’s the total duration. Now the photographically useful portion of light. Only last how long? Less? Yeah, yeah, less. Okay, so that for one thousandths of a second, it’s like an eternity. So what is the portion? The photographically useful portion of light? How long does that last? Less? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 5:27
I know it’s less, I don’t know.
Bob Smith 5:29
1/1000 of a second. So that’s how quick a flash is. Quick as a flash 1/1000 of a second. You have the answer to the question. You were wondering your whole life.
Marcia Smith 5:41
Is that a millisecond? Isn’t it? Yeah, that’s what I said in the beginning.
Bob Smith 5:47
Nevermind, okay. All right.
Marcia Smith 5:49
And speaking of the election, what?
Bob Smith 5:52
No, we’re not talking about the election. Oh, yes.
Marcia Smith 5:55
Okay, not this one. But where in the world? Do you vote by dropping marbles into a metal drum? Where
Bob Smith 6:03
do you vote by dropping marbles? It sounds like like a tribal thing to choose a chieftain or something?
Marcia Smith 6:10
It does, doesn’t it? Is that the answer? Well, in Gambia, you know where Gambia is in Africa, okay. They have literacy issue. So citizens their cast votes by dropping marbles into metal drums adorned with pictures of the candidates. Oh, okay. So they’re actually voting for people they want to represent them. Each drum has a bell inside that rings after a marble is dropped. And if I love this, and that eliminates voter fraud right there if the bell rings more than once someone tried to cast multiple votes. Oh, we need that thing. That drum system is tedious. And starting next year, according to Reader’s Digest. Gambians will vote on paper ballots paper ballot next year, but this year they’re still
Bob Smith 6:59
voting by marbles, marbles and drums. Yeah, and Abell Okay, here’s one. What product do you use today that was originally designed for gas masks. This is a product you have in your home. Most people have it in their home. But it was originally designed for gas masks.
Marcia Smith 7:19
Ah, what product? It doesn’t make any sense to me. You mean you use them with masks?
Bob Smith 7:24
Listen to the question, Marcia. What product that you use today was originally designed for gas masks?
Marcia Smith 7:32
I don’t know was it moisturizer so it didn’t shave your skin when you put it out? That’s a
Bob Smith 7:36
good suggestion, like a SAP or something like that. Very good. Wrong. Wrong Marsh. No. Kleenex tissues? Oh, really? Yeah, there was a cotton shortage during World War One. And the army needed some kind of cotton like material for filters to go into gas masks. So the Kimberly Clark labs began developing this thin flat cotton substitute, but the war ended before the scientists could perfect it. So they redesigned it to be smoother, softer and marketed that cotton substitute as Kleenex facial tissue, I’ll be dying about that. So in some form or another, most houses have some kind of facial tissues. But they were originally designed for gas masks for World War One good
Marcia Smith 8:19
to know put them to better use of thing. And going back to bathroom trivia. How many? How many hours per year? Do you think we spend brushing our teeth?
Bob Smith 8:30
Oh, how many hours do we spend brushing our teeth per year in a single year? Okay, let me think now that usually only takes a few minutes for most people, and they probably do it twice a day at most. Probably should do it three times. So that’s probably 10 minutes. I don’t know per day. I don’t know.
Marcia Smith 8:50
Good math, Bob. Good head math. Okay. According to the American Dental Association, you should spend two minutes brushing your teeth each visit, which is equivalent to 24 hours of brushing every year, about twice a day. Wow.
Bob Smith 9:05
So a whole day you essentially spent one whole day 24 hours brushing
Marcia Smith 9:09
your teeth day and night a whole day and night. So anyway, hard to think that you do it that much.
Bob Smith 9:15
It’s hard to think of the number when you do it in terms of two minute increments. It is okay. Here’s one now men and women wear jeans. But the original jeans had four pockets but only one of them was in the back. Where were the other three in
Marcia Smith 9:30
the front. Okay, well there was unless you have those hammer pockets which are always attractive. No no. You got you got the two front regular pockets the slit and then that little key pocket. What
Bob Smith 9:43
was that little one for?
Marcia Smith 9:45
Well,
Bob Smith 9:46
what was it designed for? It
Marcia Smith 9:47
was designed for was it for your tobacco or your lighter or
Bob Smith 9:52
pocket watches pocket watches it was originally designed for a pocket watch. I used to think it was just for coins. You know that’s what I used as a Kid Oh did you could get your pennies and go get your gum or whatever at this store easily by going in that little pocket but that little pocket and jeans originally was designed for a pocket watch so a different place a different time
Marcia Smith 10:15
Well going back Bob to dental hygiene I chain remember Hi Jane. Hi Jane. Oh you mean hygiene that’s it hygiene remember Jean. Okay, who developed the first toothbrushes and when no
Bob Smith 10:29
I read that was the Chinese that developed and it was like wild boar bristles or something like that.
Marcia Smith 10:34
Wow. Aren’t you mix smarty pants?
Bob Smith 10:37
Is that true?
Marcia Smith 10:38
Maybe Is it true? Yeah. They first emerged during the Tang Dynasty. Wow, that was a breakfast drink. They
Bob Smith 10:45
remember that? Did they invent that? Okay, goes way back. Well, when was the Tang Dynasty?
Marcia Smith 10:51
It lasted from 619 to 907 ad they had bamboo or bone handle sticks that were embedded with pigs bristles like like you said and before that before they invented the pig bristles on a bamboo stick they chewed on various sticks and branches to get I don’t know sushi seaweed out of their teeth
Bob Smith 11:14
well that’s pretty good. The other Chinese invented so many fascinating All right, you’ve heard the expression how deep is the ocean?
Marcia Smith 11:22
Yes How
Bob Smith 11:23
deep is it?
Marcia Smith 11:25
The deepest or the average or both?
Bob Smith 11:29
All right then just do the deepest
Marcia Smith 11:30
I don’t know is the deepest like 15 miles deep
Bob Smith 11:34
No, it’s It’s actually about seven miles deep the Marianas Trench in the western Pacific it’s at 6500 feet
Marcia Smith 11:42
deep so I was twice wrong yes twice about twice now
Bob Smith 11:47
the average is just under two and a half miles the average depth is 12,700 feet but that’s how deep the ocean is
Marcia Smith 11:53
scary Yeah. Okay. As you no doubt No Bob. July 29 is national lipstick day oh
Bob Smith 12:00
yes it’s on my calendar. No no I didn’t know there was a national lipstick
Marcia Smith 12:05
is a national every year is a national everythings who started the lipstick fat and when?
Bob Smith 12:10
Well I’m sure that goes back to ancient times. There’s probably pictures of Egyptians with lipstick and I imagine it’s prior to I’d say it’s around three or 4000 BC but i would give it to the Chinese again. Let’s give it to the Chinese. They invented lipstick Okay, Chinese invented lipstick and 3024 BCE
Marcia Smith 12:33
well, you’re pretty good but the BC e 3000. BCE the Mesopotamian women came up with it and check this out. archaeologists discovered artifacts depicting women applying a painted paste made of beeswax with ground up semi precious gemstones in it and that’s how they got their colors. Oh my goodness. Yeah, they took gemstones and ground them up put them in the beeswax and then applied it to their lips and cheeks.
Bob Smith 13:00
I could see the beeswax but that stuff sounds dangerous doesn’t
Marcia Smith 13:03
I guess they had a lot of gemstones over there. Mesopotamia Wow. So
Bob Smith 13:08
that’s the Fertile Crescent that’s around the rack around that whole area there Mesopotamia Yeah, well, that’s where it came from. Okay, I’ve got questions on something not many of us have been doing lately flying because are My wings are very tired. I don’t know about cheers. But so how many parts are in the largest planes? And by that I mean, Boeing 740 sevens.
Marcia Smith 13:29
3,000,264. Wow, you only
Bob Smith 13:33
have half the amount really it’s 6 million parts go into a Boeing 747 6 million parts. That would be one tough LEGO model if it was done accurately.
Marcia Smith 13:46
What else you got? Okay,
Bob Smith 13:47
I got another one here. Here’s a rule. airline pilots must eat different meals why
Marcia Smith 13:53
than everybody else in case if it’s tainted that? That’s
Bob Smith 13:57
that’s the reason but it’s like if there’s two pilots pilot copilot they each different meal? Yeah, I would think and that’s the reason just in case one of them get sick from the meal. Yeah, that stems back to 1982 incident when passengers and crew aboard a flight from Boston to London became sick after eating the same tapioca put in your favorite? Yeah. And the flight had to turn around. Wow. So today, it’s the rule the pilot and the CO pilots eat different meals just in
Marcia Smith 14:26
case. Absolutely. That makes good sense to me.
Bob Smith 14:28
I thought that was pretty interesting. Yeah. Okay, one more statistic of a plane. Okay. So we told you 6 million parts in a Boeing 747 When you look at your plane and you see that engine hanging from the wing. How much do those jet engines weigh Marsh?
Marcia Smith 14:42
Right? It’s more than me, which makes me happy.
Bob Smith 14:45
Again, I’m talking to 747
Marcia Smith 14:47
Okay, I’ll say God, this is just so random. Bob, I can’t you be? Well,
Bob Smith 14:52
because this is something to think about when you’re there and you’re looking at that wing and you’re going gee, how much does that I
Marcia Smith 14:57
don’t know. 1200 pounds, how much is 1200 pounds?
Bob Smith 14:59
How much is a jet engine? Way? No 9500 pounds, just
Marcia Smith 15:05
one and how many engines they probably
Bob Smith 15:07
have for at least they weigh four tons more than four tons of peace and their precision instruments. If you wanted to buy one, an engine, how much would it cost you?
Marcia Smith 15:18
Well, we could use one for the dehumidifier and
Bob Smith 15:23
I don’t know what what it costs one jet engine costs $8 million. That’s that’s pretty expensive. That’s amazing. Yeah, that’s usually how expensive it is to build a play.
Marcia Smith 15:33
It can be delivered if you do it via Amazon. That’s true. It’ll be here.
Bob Smith 15:37
Hello, I’m from UPS and I’m here. If you’d like to come out, I’ve got your jet engine in the back. All right, you’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith. We’ll be back in just a moment. We’re back with the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. Marcia. I have a question for you on a famous store.
Marcia Smith 15:57
She thought it was my turn. Okay. Fascinating. Three years, Karen playing questions. And now you want to keep stepping on my let’s
Bob Smith 16:04
talk about a convenience store. Okay, I’m sorry. What do you got? All right.
Marcia Smith 16:09
So we live in what continent? Bob North America. Very good. So how many countries are there in North America?
Bob Smith 16:16
Well, there’s always been a little bit of a controversy over that. I’ll say
Marcia Smith 16:20
333 You’re only off by 2023. Bob. We are the third largest continent on the planet. 9 million square miles. And would you like to know what countries are in North America?
Bob Smith 16:35
Well, sure. Pray tell. I thought it was just Canada, the US and Mexico. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 16:40
well, that’s small thinking but small thinking indeed. These are all there are 23 countries and they are Antigua. Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador. Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America.
Bob Smith 17:11
I guess I didn’t think of those as being in North America. We
Marcia Smith 17:13
don’t that’s the interesting part. So that’s unfair. I know. I thought the same thing now there’s the Mexico Canada. Yeah. But what about all those other countries? I last winter? Well, okay. Well, they’re not all islands. Nicaragua, Nicaragua.
Bob Smith 17:28
But see Nicaragua? I never considered that in North America. That’s in the Americas. Yeah. Usually the cut off is at the end of Mexico. But it’s not. But I didn’t think about all the islands. So Score one for you. They’re just one. Okay,
Marcia Smith 17:43
thank you, Bob. What
Bob Smith 17:45
convenience store chain was once called totem stores. But management renamed them when they changed something. First, what do you think is totem stores? You have any ideas what that might
Marcia Smith 17:59
be? I’m thinking I’m thinking, is this a grocery store? Well, it’s
Bob Smith 18:02
a place you can buy some groceries. Yeah. All right. Go ahead. Tell me Okay, management renamed the stores when they changed their hours.
Marcia Smith 18:10
That Oh to 711 711.
Bob Smith 18:14
It began as a chain of ice stores in Texas. And that’s how they sold until one employee began selling food out of one of its locations. And that got so popular food products were added to all the ice stores. And the customers started calling them totem stores. The way they told their purchase is out the door. Yeah, and that name stuck until 1946 When management changed the store hours from 7am to 11pm. And renamed the chain 711.
Marcia Smith 18:42
Oh, that was clever marketing and branding. I think yes, it was okay. Okay. The Bible and Shakespeare are the only books that have outsold the books of this author. Who is it Bob?
Bob Smith 18:57
Shakespeare. Oh, wait a minute Shakespeare and the Bible. Okay, so it’s not Shakespeare number
Marcia Smith 19:02
one. And number two.
Bob Smith 19:03
Is it a contemporary author? Somebody who’s alive now? No. Is it somebody who has been alive in the last two centuries? Yes. Mark Twain.
Marcia Smith 19:12
No. Okay, good. Yes, though. Oh, okay. It’s not humiliating, like the country’s shut.
Bob Smith 19:17
Oh, come on.
Marcia Smith 19:19
It’s Agatha Christie. No kidding. So far and still counting 2 billion books. This woman has sold her top three which were all from the 1930s Our Murder on the Orient Express the ABC murders. And And Then There Were None.
Bob Smith 19:37
So she has sold more books except for Shakespeare and the Bible.
Marcia Smith 19:41
Yeah. Yeah. It
Bob Smith 19:43
is amazing. I had no idea. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 19:45
What an interesting legacy. Agatha Christie. Okay, question history.
Bob Smith 19:48
What ex-U.S. president nearly died from a leg infection while on an exploration mission. And his son nearly died on the trip to was that Teddy Teddy Roosevelt. That’s
Marcia Smith 19:59
right. What kind He was at in what country? Was it in?
Bob Smith 20:03
Brazil? Okay. He and his son went down to Brazil. What was his son’s name? Name of a frog. Have you like Kermit? Kermit? Kermit? Kermit Roosevelt? Can you imagine that? No, I can’t. Yeah. His son went along for the trip. So as the Brazilian Indian Affairs head and naturalist George cherry they, they meant plus a part of the army personnel and natives paddled and mapped 625 miles of the Rio DeVito. In canoes, that river means River of Doubt. There’s a book about that called relief doubt. Yeah. So it was aptly named because during the trip, they were attacked by insects, hostile Indians, hostile Indians killed their dog and nearly killed the men too. So Teddy and his son came in for danger. And Kermit Roosevelt nearly died in a canoe accident that killed one of the natives. Teddy himself almost died because of a leg infection. That was that before he was President. Oh, that was after 1914 he was that
Marcia Smith 20:59
adventurous one. It was totally quite interesting guy. Yeah. Okay, Bob. We just had our third and thankfully our last presidential debate. As amusing and interesting as they were they didn’t. They didn’t compete with the 1980 debate in the House of Commons featuring British Social Security Minister reginal Prentice. What did he do during his debate that sets him apart from everybody else?
Bob Smith 21:27
He set himself on fire. How did you know that? No, no. I don’t know what he did what he did. He really did
Marcia Smith 21:38
actually set himself on fire. Not intentionally, oh my god, I’m making a speech. He was fidgeting with a book of matches in his pocket because he was nervous. And they ignited and while he was debating, the smoke started to pour out of the inside of his jacket. Can you imagine everybody looking at it? And he and some colleagues got this jacket off and extinguish the small fire. He escaped with just a burned finger. But
Bob Smith 22:04
well, I’m sorry. I know. I can’t believe that. Yes. All right. All right. Can I go back to planes I got another couple of planes you got got a Google hole. Flying has become so common. You know, most of us in the US has either flown on a plane or personally know someone who has, but what percentage of people and the tire world what percentage of people have been on an airplane?
Marcia Smith 22:27
I’ll say 18%. Only 5%
Bob Smith 22:31
of the world’s population has ever been on an airplane. As as important as flight has been to modern life. Only 5% Of all people that’s very makes you realize if you’ve been on a plane, you’ve been able to travel somewhere. You’re one of the You’re very lucky. Very lucky. Yeah. Part of
Marcia Smith 22:50
that Five Percenters. Okay. But equally is interesting. If you shave a tiger’s fur off, Bob, Does he still have stripes?
Bob Smith 23:01
I heard about this. There are of course, well, here’s the question I was going to ask you. I read about it. And my question was, what’s the difference between zebras and tigers? Okay, if you shave all the hair off of a tiger, there are still stripes, right? But we think of a zebra with stripes. But it’s only in the hair. It’s not in the skin. But right Tigers actually have stripes on their skin.
Marcia Smith 23:22
I know that zebra when you shave off the fur. His skin is black. All Black? Oh, is that right? Yeah. But with the tiger, the stripes go all the way into the skin. And a shaved Tiger will still show the same pattern as he exhibits on the first I’m sorry, I just
Bob Smith 23:39
I just learned that the other day. That was my question for you. I had was saving it as I have other animal questions too. Here’s one.
Marcia Smith 23:47
I got one. Two.
Bob Smith 23:48
How many eggs does an octopus lay?
Marcia Smith 23:50
Is this in one? One at one time? At one time? I’ll say I hadn’t 50,000
Bob Smith 23:55
under 50,000?
Marcia Smith 23:58
No. Okay. 6262 Yeah. Eggs?
Bob Smith 24:02
Yeah, no, it’s 56,000. So it’s not 150,000 56,000 eggs. That is time. That’s prolific. The mother spends six months protecting the eggs. Well, the eggs she doesn’t eat that.
Marcia Smith 24:18
Oh my god. Well, you get hungry. Okay, now
Bob Smith 24:21
when they’re born Marsh when they are born octopi as we call them, when we talk about more than one. They are huge animals. But when they’re born, how big are octopuses? Telling me Bob through the size of a grain of rice? Yeah, how
Marcia Smith 24:37
can that be? Well,
Bob Smith 24:39
they’re the size of a grain of rice when they’re born,
Marcia Smith 24:41
how many survive?
Bob Smith 24:43
That’s probably why there’s 56,000 eggs at a time. They
Marcia Smith 24:46
probably are eaten by other predators. Right?
Bob Smith 24:49
And I’ve got one more question on animals. What animals have fewer toes on their back paws than their front?
Marcia Smith 24:56
Well, I’d say a cat. That’s it.
Bob Smith 24:59
Did you ever notice that when you had —
Marcia Smith 25:00
No Yeah, no, I didn’t notice that
Bob Smith 25:03
their backpacks only have four toes and scientists think that the four toe back paws helped them run faster flow. Didn’t know that. And you probably have something to wrap us up with.
Marcia Smith 25:13
Okay, what color is hippo sweat?
Bob Smith 25:21
Oh my goodness. We have planes. Today we have animals and what color is hippo sweat? I don’t know why, but I’ll say blue. Wow,
Marcia Smith 25:30
it’s red. Red. Yeah, the hippos also known as the river horse are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. They can run up to 20 miles an hour. Did you know that? When they come ashore to bask in the sun, they appear to be sweating blood, scientists have deduced that the secretions really aren’t sweat, but a protective substance given off by their glands. It starts out clear but quickly turns kind of bloody red protecting their sensitive bodies from the sun sensitive.
Bob Smith 26:02
I never thought of hippopotamus sensitive. It
Marcia Smith 26:06
says self producing sunscreen. Whoa, they spend hardly any time on land, but they got their own sunscreen. Okay,
Bob Smith 26:13
this is a related question. That’s not related at all. Another animal question? Yeah. Final animal question for me. What unusual thing do turkeys do when they’re scared? What unusual thing turkeys do when they’re scared?
Marcia Smith 26:29
They gobble? No.
Bob Smith 26:30
Do they? flap? No. What do they do? They blush. Really? Oh, they blush when they’re scared or when they’re excited when males see a female they’re interested in the pale skin on their head and neck turns bright red, blue or white? No kidding. Yeah. The flap of skin over their beaks. Their snood also reddens,
Marcia Smith 26:52
I’ll be done. Okay, let’s finish up here. I have a quote from the actress Laura Dern. She says some say never meet your heroes. But I say if you were really blessed, you get them as your parents.
Bob Smith 27:05
Oh, that’s a nice inspirational thought that and that’s true, isn’t it? I
Marcia Smith 27:08
think so. Excellent. All right. And Kenny Rogers says you can’t make old friends. You either have them or you don’t.
Bob Smith 27:18
You can’t make them old. That’s for sure. We hope we’ve made you feel younger with our trivia today. I’m Bob Smith.
Marcia Smith 27:26
I’m Marcia Smith. Join us again next
Bob Smith 27:28
time for more trivia on the off ramp. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio and the Cedarbrook Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
