Written by Kirsten Macdonald

Sparking interesting topics for the dinner table conversation isn’t always easy.

Perhaps you want to drop a complete random on someone; always a fun choice. Well, we delivered! Get your think gear around these.

Jupiter Rains Diamonds

The gassy giant some 637.41 million km away from Earth very possibly rains diamonds according to Planetary scientists Mona L. Delitsky of California Specialty Engineering and Kevin H. Baines of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Diamonds require carbon and pressure along with high temperatures to form. Both of which exist in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Atmospheric methane gas coverts directly into diamonds which rain down into their interiors.

Drops of Jupiter has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Yoda’s face was based on Albert Einstein.

Yoda was based on Albert Einstein’s face! Stuart Freeborn, an english makeup artist, based Yoda’s face partly on his own and partly on Einstein’s. Freeborn, had a long and wonderful career in the Star Wars franchise design and fabrication. Highly regarded, he also created the look for Ewoks and Jabba.

A Woodpeckers tongue reaches right around its skull

The tongue of a woodpecker can be extended over its entire head! The crafty forest dweller has this very long tongue in order to access ants and lava from deep crevices. With a lingua to put Gene Simmons to shame for storage, the tongue is curled around the back of the head between the skull and skin.

Elephants are the only land mammals that can’t jump.

When you weigh over 3 tonne, i wouldn’t want to jump either. Can you imagine? Thank goodness elephants don’t have wings.

Smurfs are 3 apples tall

Created by Belgian comic Pierre Culliford in 1958, the beloved Blue Smurf was exactly 3 x apple tall. Which type of apple? Not too sure. But, originally known as Les Schtroumpfs, the tribe of cute has gone the distance. I imagined them smaller did you?

The Hula Hoop was invented in Australia

A wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class was patented by a toy company in the USA and given the name because of its Hawaiin dance motion aka- Hula.

Hatters really were mad!

Mad as a Hatter came from hat makers using mercury to create felt. Mercury vapours were unknowingly very toxic. The toxicity caused Dementia and Erethism, aka Mad Hatter’s Disease common amongst 19th Century hatmakers.

Thus “Mad as a hatter” phrase was born. Extra fact; Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, didn’t use this term; his character was referred to as simply The Hatter. Mad Hatter’s Disease came later. The Cheshire Cat called the March Hare and the Hatter “quite mad.” However, Carroll’s uncle was on the board of an asylum where many hatters and textile makers resided. Here they staged theatre plays along with tea parties. Curioser and Curioser…