| | | | 
  fortune index  all fortunes 
  
 |  |  | #10220 |  | For large values of one, one equals two, for small values of two. 
 |  |  |  | #10221 |  | Fortunately, the responsibility for providing evidence is on the part of the person making the claim, not the critic.  It is not the responsibility
 of UFO skeptics to prove that a UFO has never existed, nor is it the
 responsibility of paranormal-health-claims skeptics to prove that crystals
 or colored lights never healed anyone.  The skeptic's role is to point out
 claims that are not adequately supported by acceptable evidcence and to
 provide plausible alternative explanations that are more in keeping with
 the accepted body of scientific evidence.
 -- Thomas L. Creed, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII,
 No. 2, pg. 215
 
 |  |  |  | #10222 |  | FORTUNE'S FUN FACTS TO KNOW AND TELL:		#1 A guinea pig is not from Guinea but a rodent from South America.
 A firefly is not a fly, but a beetle.
 A giant panda bear is really a member of the racoon family.
 A black panther is really a leopard that has a solid black coat
 rather then a spotted one.
 Peanuts are not really nuts.  The majority of nuts grow on trees
 while peauts grow underground.  They are classified as a
 legume -- part of the pea family.
 A cucumber is not a vegetable but a fruit.
 
 |  |  |  | #10223 |  | FORTUNE'S FUN FACTS TO KNOW AND TELL:		#44 Zebras are colored with dark stripes on a light background.
 
 |  |  |  | #10224 |  | FORTUNE'S GUIDE TO DEALING WITH REAL-LIFE SCIENCE FICTION: #14 What to do...
 if reality disappears?
 Hope this one doesn't happen to you.  There isn't much that you
 can do about it.  It will probably be quite unpleasant.
 
 if you meet an older version of yourself who has invented a time
 traveling machine, and has come from the future to meet you?
 Play this one by the book.  Ask about the stock market and cash in.
 Don't forget to invent a time traveling machine and visit your
 younger self before you die, or you will create a paradox.  If you
 expect this to be tricky, make sure to ask for the principles
 behind time travel, and possibly schematics.  Never, NEVER, ask
 when you'll die, or if you'll marry your current SO.
 
 |  |  |  | #10225 |  | FORTUNE'S GUIDE TO DEALING WITH REAL-LIFE SCIENCE FICTION: #2 What to do...
 if you get a phone call from Mars:
 Speak slowly and be sure to enunciate your words properly.  Limit
 your vocabulary to simple words.  Try to determine if you are
 speaking to someone in a leadership capacity, or an ordinary citizen.
 
 if he, she or it doesn't speak English?
 Hang up.  There's no sense in trying to learn Martian over the phone.
 If your Martian really had something important to say to you, he, she
 or it would have taken the trouble to learn the language before
 calling.
 
 if you get a phone call from Jupiter?
 Explain to your caller, politely but firmly, that being from Jupiter,
 he, she or it is not "life as we know it".  Try to terminate the
 conversation as soon as possible.  It will not profit you, and the
 charges may have been reversed.
 
 |  |  |  | #10226 |  | FORTUNE'S GUIDE TO DEALING WITH REAL-LIFE SCIENCE FICTION: #6 What to do...
 if a starship, equipped with an FTL hyperdrive lands in your backyard?
 First of all, do not run after your camera.  You will not have any
 film, and, given the state of computer animation, noone will believe
 you anyway.  Be polite.  Remember, if they have an FTL hyperdrive,
 they can probably vaporize you, should they find you to be rude.
 Direct them to the White House lawn, which is where they probably
 wanted to land, anyway.  A good road map should help.
 
 if you wake up in the middle of the night, and discover that your
 closet contains an alternate dimension?
 Don't walk in.  You almost certainly will not be able to get back,
 and alternate dimensions are almost never any fun.  Remain calm
 and go back to bed.  Close the door first, so that the cat does not
 wander off.  Check your closet in the morning.  If it still contains
 an alternate dimension, nail it shut.
 
 |  |  |  | #10227 |  | Friction is a drag. 
 |  |  |  | #10228 |  | Fundamentally, there may be no basis for anything. 
 |  |  |  | #10229 |  | Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should.
 
 |  |  |  |  |  |   ...            ...   | 
 
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