What's new

Welcome to Offtopix 👋, Visitor

Off Topix is a well-established general discussion forum that originally opened to the public in 2009! We provide a laid-back atmosphere, and our members are down to earth. We have a ton of content, and fresh stuff is constantly being added. We cover all sorts of topics, so there's bound to be something inside to pique your interest. We welcome anyone and everyone to register and become a member of our awesome community.

Join Our Facebook Page Today!

Join the conversation and help spread the word about offtopix on Facebook! Your voice matters—let’s make an impact together!

Join Our X.com Page Today!

Join the conversation and become a champion for Offtopix on X.com! Your voice is powerful, and together, we can create meaningful change!

Join offtopix Discord Server Today!

Join the conversation and become a champion for Offtopix on Discord! Your voice holds incredible power, and together, we can create impactful change!

Unusual and Random Facts

The strings of a guitar, violin and any other stringed instrument are made from the gut lining of a cat.

I honestly do not believe that, but apparently that's what my mum told me when she knew this from Biology during her school days. DrLeftover, find out if that's really true if you want since you seem to prove to us that some of these things are right and wrong.
 
Nanashi said:
The strings of a guitar, violin and any other stringed instrument are made from the gut lining of a cat.
There is something called catgut, but it's made from cattle, not cats. Modern strings tend to be more synthetic. (After all, vegans wouldn't stand for it.)
 
Sorry I missed that one.

Not only for instruments, but other 'things with strings' as well.

Here's a link to people that know that kind of thing.

Natural gut has been regarded as the premiere tennis string since the early 1800s. It has been, and remains, the most frequently used string on the pro tour. The history of natural gut tennis string dates back almost to the beginning of tennis itself - the first set of natural gut tennis string was manufactured by Pierre Babolat in 1875. Fifty years later, Babolat would launch VS Brand Gut. Seventy-eight years later, VS Brand Gut continues to be one of the most recognized brands of natural gut.

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/lc/naturalgut.html
 
If any of you recall the Popeye cartoons where Popeye himself gained superhuman strength by eating a can of spinach, there is a funny fact behind that. Firstly, it contains iron but not a lot of it. Now this is where the funny fact comes in... the misconception of spinach making you strong is from a fault in a study made in 1870 by Emil von Wolff, where he placed the wrong decimal point of spinach's iron content, leading to its value of iron ten times higher than it should've been. This faulty measurement had gone unnoticed until the 1930s.
 

Create an account or login to post a reply

You must be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Create an account here on Off Topix. It's quick & easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Welcome to Offtopix 👋, Visitor

Off Topix is a well-established general discussion forum that originally opened to the public in 2009! We provide a laid-back atmosphere, and our members are down to earth. We have a ton of content, and fresh stuff is constantly being added. We cover all sorts of topics, so there's bound to be something inside to pique your interest. We welcome anyone and everyone to register and become a member of our awesome community.

Theme customization system

You can customize some areas of the forum theme from this menu.

  • Theme customizations unavailable!

    Theme customization fields are not available to you, please contact the administrator for more information.

  • Choose the color combination that reflects your taste
    Background images
    Color gradient backgrounds
Back