Daven Hiskey, Author at Today I Found Out

Author Archives: Daven Hiskey

Who Started the Flat Earth Conspiracy Theory, How Many Actually Believe This, and What Do They Believe Exactly?

June 23, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Contrary to popular belief, a decent percentage of the human population has known definitely the Earth was roughly spherical for over two thousand years. Hardly impressive, as noted in our BrainFood Show podcast, bees also use this fact in their own absurdly fascinating navigation and in communicating directions to other bees. As for humans, we took a little longer to […]

Did Blowing Into Nintendo Cartridges or the Game Console Actually Do Anything?

June 19, 2019 Daven Hiskey

zhiyu89 asks: When I was a kid we used to blow on Nintendo games if they didn’t work and I’ve always wondered if this actually did anything? Once upon a time a seemingly universally known trick to get a Nintendo game cartridge to work was to simply pull it out, blow on it, then re-insert. If this didn’t give the […]

How Porcupines Mate, the Bizarre Sex Habits of Giraffes (and Much, Much More)

June 17, 2019 Daven Hiskey

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at whether or not male humans can get pregnant and carry a baby to full term naturally. (Spoiler- yes and yes. And even breastfeed too! It doesn’t even require fancy science or advanced medical techniques.) Moving on to the meat of today’s episode, we jump into a variety […]

Twice Executed

June 6, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Sorry for the long gap between episodes. We’ll be getting a bit more regular going forward. Also apologies for my audio quality in this one. Adobe kept crashing on me, so we had to use the audio Simon was receiving which isn’t ideal. Also a bit under the weather and lost my voice before recording, so maybe for the best […]

That Time the U.S. was Going to Build a Massive, Death Ray Equipped, Military Moon Base

May 30, 2019 Daven Hiskey

During the Cold War, the U.S. government was hell-bent on one upping the commies in any way possible. In the process, they came up with a number of outlandish plans, such as that time they proposed nuking the moon, interestingly enough a project a young Carl Sagan worked on. There were also many more down to Earth projects like the […]

What Happens When Someone DOES Object During a Wedding and Where Did This Practice Come From?

May 14, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Killimimes asks: Why do they have the “speak now or forever hold your peace” part of a wedding and what happens when someone objects? While it may come as a surprise to many, it turns out the whole, “If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever […]

Could You Really Legally Kill Someone with a “Wanted: Dead or Alive” Bounty on Their Head?

May 10, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Labyrinth900 asks: Were “Wanted Dead or Alive” bounties a real thing? In other words, if you found someone that is wanted dead, could you legally shoot and kill them and collect a bounty, and not be charged for murder? A classic Hollywood trope is the idea of a poster with the photo of a given criminal along with very large […]

That Time the U.S. Made a Nuclear Gun

May 5, 2019 Daven Hiskey

In the 1950s U.S. forces were stretched dangerously thin. U.S. President Dwight D Eisenhower stated of this, “My feeling…remains, that it would be impossible for the United States to maintain the military commitments which it now sustains around the world (without turning into a garrison state) did we not possess atomic weapons and the will to use them when necessary.” […]

That Time Five Guys Volunteered to Stand at Ground Zero of a Nuclear Blast Just to See What Would Happen

May 3, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Unless there is a lead-lined refrigerator lying around, we’re guessing none of you reading this would be too keen on standing at ground zero of a nuclear blast. But it turns out this is exactly what six men chose to do with their afternoon in July of 1957- five of them even volunteered, with the sixth not told what he’d […]

Why Doesn’t the United States Use the Metric System?

April 24, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Finkbonner14 asks: Why doesn’t the United States stop using idiot units and go metric? In 1793, noted French scientist Joseph Dombey departed Le Havre, France bound for Philadelphia. His mission was to meet with Thomas Jefferson and give him two of the rarest items on Earth. Unfortunately for Dombey, fate had other intentions and storms pushed the ship he was […]

How Did Extending Your Middle Finger Come to Mean F.U.?

April 20, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Jeremy A. asks: How did flipping the bird come to mean fu? While some common gestures, such as the high five, have pretty well known and surprisingly modern origins, it turns out one of the most popular of all has been around for well over two thousand years, including having various similar connotations as it has today. Unsurprisingly once you […]

Why Didn’t the Apollo 13 Astronauts Just Put On Their Space Suits to Keep Warm?

April 14, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Contrary to popular belief, space isn’t actually “cold” per se, at least not in the way often depicted in movies. Space is just mostly empty and all that nothing doesn’t have a temperature. For example, if you were in space without a space suit, the two ways you’d lose heat are just via evaporation of moisture on your skin, in […]

Taking the Mystery Out of Murder- A Couple of Dumbbells

March 29, 2019 Daven Hiskey

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at how exactly Al Capone got the scars that got him the nickname “Scarface”. Moving on to the meat of today’s episode, we jump into the rather interesting story behind one of the many so called “trial of the century” of the 20th century. In this case involving […]

How Does GPS Actually Work and Why Many GPS Devices are About to Stop Working

March 26, 2019 Daven Hiskey

Developed over the course of decades, GPS has become far more ubiquitous than most people realize. Not just for navigation, its extreme accuracy in time keeping (+/- 10 billionths of a second) has been used by countless businesses the world over for everything from aiding in power grid management to helping manage stock market and other banking transactions. The GPS […]

How Everyone Plays Monopoly Wrong Which Makes It Worse, Where the Game Pieces Came From, Who Really Invented It and Much More

March 7, 2019 Daven Hiskey

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at the interesting story behind where the Monopoly pieces came from. Next we discuss our sponsor, RetailMeNot. Visit http://bit.ly/2BXvyAk to download the free RetailMeNot Genie browser extension today and start saving the easy way. Moving on to the meat of today’s episode, we jump into the truth about […]

Animal Facts Part 3: A Doughnut Brain, Dung and the Milky Way, Ant Overlords and More

February 11, 2019 Daven Hiskey

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at the massive creature that has a doughnut shaped brain with its esophagus running right through the middle. Next we discuss Wix! Go to https://www.wix.com/go/brainfood to get started on your website today! Check out our website at https://brainfood.fm Next up we begin by looking at the fascinating reason […]

Animal Facts Part 2: Melting Caterpillars, Heating Bees, Why Vultures Don’t Get Sick, and More

January 31, 2019 Daven Hiskey

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at the mind blowing things caterpillars get up to while in the chrysalis. Next we discuss Wix! Go to https://www.wix.com/go/brainfood to get started on your website today! Check out our website at https://brainfood.fm Next up we begin by looking at the fascinating way in which honey bees, which […]

Animal Facts Part 1: The Blowhole, Cow Tipping and Much, Much More

January 31, 2019 Daven Hiskey

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at a rather fascinating fact about dogs and cats that you probably didn’t know. Next we discuss Wix! Go to https://www.wix.com/go/brainfood to get started on your website today! Check out our website at https://brainfood.fm Next up we begin by debunking a variety of common whale related myths, most […]

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