Daily Archives: 03/09/2008

09.03.08
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I Didn’t Know That!

  • Steel from the WTC remnants has been recycled to be used in disparate ways – from making cutlery in China, cans in Korea, airplane doors in Malaysia to use in construction in Punjab and making Refrigerators in Chennai!
  • One of the largest hand-painted structure is the Humber bridge in the UK. Applying one coat of special anti-corrosive rubber-based paint takes as long as 7 years! The railings alone take 3 years!
  • Old but still-strong Shipping Containers are being used as houses – residential & commercial!
  • Clothing material undergoes more than 1000 tests before they can be used in making readymade dresses!

I came to know about this, and some other very interesting tidbits when I chanced upon an interesting Television show on the National Geographic Channel – aptly titled I Didn’t Know That:

This brand new ten-part series exposes some little-known facts behind everyday items. Wacky industrial scientists Richard Ambrose and Johnny Philips’ insatiable quest for knowledge leads them to various hands-on tests like slicing open plasma TVs, making steel, and testing wallpaper paste by gluing themselves to a wall. From airbags to teabags, toothpaste to tea, each 30-minute episode is a mind-blowing cavalcade of crazy demonstrations and rarely-heard info about everyday stuff.[Link]

Makes me realize, how mundane life has become w.r.t the kind of stuff I watch on the Telly: movies, songs, sports, general entertainment stuff etc. When there are so much other programmes that are educational, inspiring and interesting at the same time. Channels such as Nat Geo, Discovery, Animal Planet, History etc have so much of interesting content but I (we?) rarely watch’em and thus miss some very good stuff.

I’ve now added these channels into my favourites  on my TV (replacing Star+, SetMax, Sony & Zee :evil: ) and hope to catch some great programmes on them. Do you see these channels often? Care to recommend few good programmes?