Fun but useless facts and thought experiments

How many Wikipedia pages are there right now?

• 36 Million

• 58 Million

• 83 Million

• 18 Million

Answer explanation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics

What is the theoretical bandwidth of the Swiss Post per day?

• 3.9 Zettabit/day

• 560.9 Exabit/day

• 1014.6 Petabit/day

• 1.2 Yottabit/day

Answer explanation

1 TB MicroSD weighs 250 mg -> 3.9 PB per kg

This would cost 399,600.-

https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/product/sandisk-extreme-pro-microsdxc-1000-gb-u3-uhs-i-memory-card-20954996

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroSD

Biggest standard package is 30 kg

https://www.post.ch/de/pakete-versenden/pakete-schweiz

One package is 117.1 PB or 937.5 Pb

This would cost 11,988,020.50 with shipping included

1.3 Million packages daily record during Corona Pandemic 2020

https://www.post.ch/de/ueber-uns/aktuell/2020/neuer-allzeitrekord-taeglich-ueber-eine-million-pakete-seit-black-friday

So the Post throughput would be 1.2 Yb/d

What is the theoretical RTT (ping) of the Swiss Post?

• 86400000 ms

• 43200000 ms

• 93600000 ms

• 68400000 ms

Answer explanation

A priority package guarantees next day delivery.

https://www.post.ch/en/sending-parcels/domestic-parcels

In a French-suited playing card deck which king does not have a mustache?

• ♥️

• ♦️

• ♣️

• ♠️

Answer explanation

How is the color called that you see in the dark?

• Schwarz

• Dunkel

• Eigengrau

• Eigenschwarz

Answer explanation

Eigengrau (German for "intrinsic gray"; pronounced [ˈʔaɪ̯gŋ̍ˌgʁaʊ̯]), also called Eigenlicht (Dutch and German for "intrinsic light"), dark light, or brain gray, is the uniform dark gray background color that many people report seeing in the absence of light.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigengrau

What was the original purpose of the Monopoly board game?

• Anti monopoly teaching tool

• Pure entertainment

• Pro monopoly teaching tool

Answer explanation

It was intended as an educational tool, to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_(game)

A Minecraft world compared to earth is?

• Smaller

• About the same

• Bigger

Answer explanation

A Minecraft world is 3600 km2, earth in comparison is 510 km2

What was the original name for gummy bears?

• Bear Bites

• Bouncy bears

• Dancing bears

• Bearylicious Gummies

Answer explanation

Hans Riegel Sr., a confectioner from Bonn, started the Haribo company in 1920. In 1922, inspired by the trained bears seen at street festivities and markets in Europe through to the 19th century, he invented the Dancing Bear (Tanzbär), a small, affordable, fruit-flavored gum candy treat for children and adults alike, which was much larger in form than its later successor, the Gold-Bear (Goldbär).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gummy_bear

How many ants are there on earth?

• 42 quadrillion

• 50 quadrillion

• 5 quadrillion

• 20 quadrillion

Answer explanation

The astounding ubiquity of ants has prompted many naturalists to contemplate their exact number on Earth, but systematic and empirically derived estimates are lacking. Integrating data from all continents and major biomes, we conservatively estimate 20 × 10¹⁵ (20 quadrillion) ants on Earth, with a total biomass of 12 megatons of dry carbon.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2201550119

Could you fly a Cessna (plane) on the planet Mars?

• Can't even take off

• Worse as on earth

• About the same as on earth

• Even better

Answer explanation

A Cessna isn't up to the task but NASA is considering surveying Mars by Airplane. You would need around mach one to get off the ground.

"what if?" by Randal Munroe, Page 137