Believe it or not, you actually CAN'T see the Great Wall of China from Space!
You've probably seen this "fact" a bunch of times
"The Great Wall of China is the only human-made object that can be seen from outer-space."
Turns out it's not even true. The first known publishing of this "fact" was back in 1938, long before anyone was traveling in space. Since then lots of people have gone into outer space and looked at the Earth and haven't found the Great Wall.
The Great Wall is huge (5500 miles long) but in order to be visible from far away it would also have to be very wide and distinct looking from the ground. The Great Wall is very thin. If it were visible from space, every interstate highway would be too!
On the other hand, you can see the Pyramids of Giza from space. You can also see Minutemaid Park, the Toyota Center, and the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX
As a punishment for misbehavior, Thai cops have to wear pink Hello Kitty armbands.
A police chief in Bangkok, Thailand instituted a new policy for Bangkok cops in 2007. They have to wear pink Hello Kitty armbands with hearts on them as punishment for misbehaving. This punishment could be for just about anything: breaking the law, littering, showing up late to work, parking in the wrong place.
"This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor. Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps.
In early experiments, the unconventional punishment hasn't worked. Instead of feeling shame, the officers just took them home as souvenirs.
There is an ATM in Antarctica.
Actually, there are two machines, operated by Wells Fargo & Company. They are located in McMurdo Station, an American research center and Antarctica's largest community, capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents!
Since maintanence is performed only once every two years, one machine serves mainly as a backup. These were also the first ATM machines to become Y2K compliant (requiring a century indicator in the program and accounting for leap years). Technically, one could say that Wells Fargo manages the ATM banking for a whole continent!
In Singapore, you can't walk in YOUR OWN HOUSE naked.
Well, you could, but you'd be facing a possible $1,136 fine. If that sounds bad, wait until you see the cost of selling chewing gum. If you're caught either selling or manufacturing gum in Singapore you're looking at a fine of $5,600 and one year in jail. It's also a $284 fine if you use a public toilet and forget to flush. So on the plus side, even though you can't chew gum, at least the public bathrooms in Singapore probably smell pretty good.
Of course, Singapore isn't the only country where you can get busted for being naked in YOUR OWN HOUSE!
In Japan they have square watermelons.
They get square watermelons by growing them inside of square glass cases. That way they can fit easily into a refrigerator, and you can stack things on them. Square watermelons are expensive though (10,000 yen or about $82). Compare that to regular round watermelons which cost about $15-20 in Japan
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