Cloning dogs and emojis in court: what surprised us in 2019

Each outgoing year sums up its own results. Journalist Tom Whitwell, for example, compiled a large collection of incredible facts that he learned in 2019. Life hacker chose the most interesting. We talk about the cloning of police dogs, the use of emojis in court, and why to dry cherries with helicopters.

Фото: Depositphotos

1. Each year, humanity produces transistors 1 times more than grain, rice and wheat combined.

2. Emoji begin to appear as evidence in court cases, where there are correspondence. Lawyers are seriously worried about this, because there are no clear rules for interpreting characters in sequence.

3. Baiju - the most popular liquor in the world. Almost 10 billion liters are sold every year, with almost all of it coming from China. The second most popular drink is vodka. It sells for just 5 billion liters a year.

4. At least three private companies in 2019 were victims of audio fraud. In each case, the CEO’s computerized voice clone called for “a senior CFO to request an urgent money transfer.”

5. Drunk shopping can bring in $ 45 billion a year, and only 6% of people regret such spending.

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6. Between 1880 and 1916, Ireland had its own time zone, which was 25 minutes and 21 seconds less than Greenwich Mean Time.

7. The benefits and effectiveness of 10 daily steps have never been proven by research. This standard could appear because the Japanese manufacturer of the tracker considered the character 万, meaning 000, very similar to the walking symbol.

8. On AliExpress, there are more and more mechanical devices for winding up numbers on the pedometer of a smartphone or fitness bracelet. Many people buy them to demonstrate incredibly active life on the Web.

9. The Korean police include five dogs, which are clones of a dog named Quinn. It was he who, in 2007, in just 20 minutes, discovered the body of the missing girl whom the police had been looking for for a month.

10. From a botanical point of view, eggplant, tomatoes, bell pepper and pumpkin are fruits. And mushrooms, including truffles, have more in common with people than with plants.

Фото: Depositphotos

11. In the northwestern United States, rain often damages fruits on cherry trees. To quickly dry them after a rainstorm, they use helicopters: pilots are paid to fly over the gardens and dry the trees with a downward flow of air.

12. Facebook is developing Fashion ++: a project based on computer vision, which from the photo of your outfit offers “minimal corrections to improve the image”. In particular, the system may advise putting on a scarf, tucking in a shirt, or removing some accessory.

13. Throughout the world, the perfume industry lags behind cosmetics and skin care products. Why? Because you cannot smell the selfie.

14. 80% of prisoners released at the end of 2018 after a presidential pardon decided to return to the infamous Makala Prison in Kinshasa (Congo). The reason is the lack of livelihoods.

15. Cheetos Flamin Hot chips were invented by a simple cleaner at the Frito ‑ Lay factory. He is currently vice president of sales at PepsiCo America.

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16. Some visually impaired people are able to understand speech, which is almost three times faster than normal. They can use speech synthesizers at a speed of 800 words per minute (in normal conversational speech - 120-150 words per minute). Studies show that sound processing accelerates the part of the brain that is usually responsible for the response to light.

17. In 2012, only one sports team (Manchester United) cost more than $ 2 billion. Today there are 52 of them.

18. The person who bought the NULL car number received bills for parking fines of $ 12. And all because the accounting system records the NULL value if the license plate of the intruder could not be fixed.

19. Placebo drugs are so effective that they can provide results without direct use. In a recent study, it was proved that even having an analgesic cream devoid of the active ingredients helps reduce pain.

20. Since the 1960s, British highways have been designed by the computer as a series of long curves rather than straight lines. This was done for security reasons (less sleepy) and aesthetics (looks like a sculpture of grandiose proportions).

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