All posts by Justin

Quoting movies

“Look Marge, you don’t know what it’s like — I’m the one out there every day putting his ass on the line. And I’m not out of order! You’re out of order! The whole freakin’ system is out of order! You want the truth? You want the truth?! You can’t HANDLE the truth! ‘Cause when you reach over and put your hand into a pile of goo that was your best friend’s face, you’ll know what to do! Forget it, Marge, it’s Chinatown!”

Toilets flush backwards?

When The Simpsons went to Australia it was all because Lisa had told Bart that in Australia the water in a toilet spins the opposite way due to the Coriolis effect. Later we discover in the American Embassy in Australia there is a whole contraption built around the toilet to ensure the water spins ‘The correct American way’.

bartvsaustralia_01

Lisa Simpson was wrong—the amount of water in your toilet is far too small to be significantly influenced by the Coriolis effect.
If the water in your toilet, sink or bath does spin it’s influenced by many other more influential forces than the Coriolis effect.
Phil Plait covered this in more detail while debunking a viral video on his Bad Astronomy blog.

Rice makes birds explode!

Here is one we know is true because Lisa Simpson says so! During the episode “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge”  while planning for the wedding Lisa expresses her concern;

Marge: Let’s see.. candles, flowers, place cards, rice…
Lisa: Oh mom, you’re not supposed to throw rice anymore! Birds eat it, their stomachs swell, and they explode!
Bart: Why am I just learning this now!?

Then in “Rome-old and Juli-eh” we have confirmation!

Lisa: Dad, don’t throw rice, it makes the birds swell up!
Homer: Oh, Lisa, that’s one of those rumors you get off the internet.
(Behind them, three birds explode)
Homer: Hey Selma? Want some rice?

So what’s going on? How have I missed the Youtube videos of exploding birds everywhere?! Turns out that rice needs water to expand. Even if the bird were to keep drinking water to make the rice expand it would take many hours and it doesn’t stay in the stomach that long,

So why aren’t we supposed to throw rice anymore? People slip over on it and get hurt… Don’t go getting ideas now.

 

Are Eggs Good or Bad?

There is a classic scene in The Simpsons episode “Homer the Great”, When Lenny tells Homer that he can only join Stonecutters if he saves the life of a Stonecutter, Homer responds by grabbing the egg salad sandwich that Lenny was eating and throwing it on the floor. He tells Lenny that the eggs could have killed him by cholesterol. Lenny is unimpressed and defends the eggs cholesterol, to which Homer replies, “So one of those Egg Council creeps got to you too, huh?”.  

A man in an egg suit appears and heard what Homer said and runs away. Homer shouts at him, “YOU’D BETTER RUN, EGG!”

tumblr_naiscyjjSM1qc8z2xo1_250

According to Mr Burns, “Eggs have gotten a bad rap lately, You know” and he isn’t wrong, For a while around the mid 90’s the media went a little crazy with reports of the high cholesterol levels in egg, Specifically the yolk, All the cholesterol is in the yolk, about 186 milligrams in a large egg. We now know there is good and bad cholesterol and what we need to avoid are saturated and trans-fats.

Your body actually needs the cholesterol in meat and eggs, One study at the University of Connecticut found that the fat in egg yolks actually helps to reduce the “bad” cholesterol.

Eggs are also full of omega-3 fatty acids and deliver many of the B vitamins and nutrients — B6, B12, riboflavin, folate, and choline — that are believed to help prevent heart disease.

All of this is obviously negated if you decide to deep fry your eggs in bacon grease and butter.

mmmmmm Bacon…