Random Stuff You May Not Know: Seven

Following the latest Random Stuff You May Not Know: Six, here is list-article number seven in the series.


1- Most Crosswalk Buttons Do Not Work

These buttons can be found in many places around the world. Their secret is, the majority of them do not function and are intentionally left like that. Dubbed “placebo buttons”, in New York for example only about nice percent of them actually work according to New York City Department of Transportation. If cars are forced to stop every time a pedestrian pushes the button, it will slow down the overall traffic and cause delay.

We can say that crosswalk buttons exist to make people feel like they are in control; like they are getting what they want.

In certain areas around the UK, Canada, and the U.S, the buttons do function. However, only in certain times of the day, mainly after midnight to early morning, and/or only in quite areas. At a standalone pedestrian crossing, unconnected to a junction, the button will likely turn a traffic light red.

Since I have learned this crosswalk button fact last year, now I can’t help but notice everyone who uses them. Some actually keep pushing multiple times in hope that it works faster. But most of these buttons don’t do anything at all, especially in busy intersections.

Once I told a couple of 20-year olds after seeing them pressing the fake button here in Venice Beach. “By the way, I research stuff and I just found out that those are placebo buttons which do not work.” They laughed and seemed convinced. Maybe the research bit make it more believable. The following time a dude told me ‘Fuck you’ while flipping me the finger, to which I simply just smiled back.

That said, I then decided to keep the ‘secret’ to myself, or just write about it. I might tell closer friends as I already have. But no more random strangers in the street. After all, no one likes to feel they have been fooled, possibly for their entire lives. Maybe they wouldn’t even believe me. 

A similar situation can be seen with the ‘close’ button for most elevators, which by the early 1990s had stopped working all over the U.S. Some people though often tend to repeatedly push on those as well.

2- Wife-Carrying Championship
 

Known as Eukonkanto or Akankanto in Finnish, the Wife-Carrying Championship has been taking place in Finland every year since 1992. The track is 253.3 meters (831 ft) where there are numerous obstacles to pass along the way.

There are several types of carrying: Piggyback, Fireman’s carry — over the shoulder, or Estonian-style — the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders while holding onto his waist. Interestingly, one of the rules of the competition states that all entrants must have insurance.

Other than Finland, there is currently a Wife-Carrying World Championship is Australia, America, and Asia.

On a similar note, there is also a mobile phone throwing competition which had equally started in Finland in 2000. I’m not sure what is the mysterious link between Finns and throwing stuff. You can try to figure it for yourselves in the below video.

3- Painkillers Epidemic in America
 

Americans, constituting only 4.6% of the world’s population, consume 80% of the global narcotic painkiller supply — opioids. In 2012, 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers were written, which is more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills.

Ten of the highest prescribing states are in the South, with Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia leading the nation.

The Northeast, especially Maine and New Hampshire, have the most prescriptions per person for long-acting/extended-release painkillers and for high-dose painkillers.

The lowest prescribing state is Hawaii. We wonder whaii.

Those who are interested can watch the documentary Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs to know how the heck happened. 

EDIT:

Years later in 2023, there came a fictionalised Netflix show called Painkiller about the causes and consequences of America's opioid epidemic. It is based on two written sources: the 2003 book Pain Killer by Barry Meier — with an updated edition in 2018 — as well as the 2017 New Yorker article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe — which later in 2021 was expanded into his 2021 book Empire of Pain.

4- Cold Rinse After Shower  

Taking cold showers every once in a while is good for the soul.

As a kid my father taught me to finish the hot shower with a cold rinse so I don’t get cold once out. This stayed with me until today, especially in winter. I also enjoy the invigorating freshness as well as alertness sensation it gives you.

Later in life other physiological benefits of cold showers came to light. One, reduced stress levels; since it imposes a small amount of stress on the body, which leads to a process called hardening. Also, increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, and elevated respiratory rate.

Another advantage is a more robust immune response. In fact, according to a study published in the journal PLoS One, people who take cold showers are 29% less likely to call in sick for work or school.

An additional one is mood boosting; because cold showers activate the sympathetic nervous system while increasing the availability of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and endorphins, people may be less likely to experience depressive symptoms afterwards.

Even later I came across one more usefulness of that final rinse; and it’s how cold water shuts the hair cuticle, or the outermost layer of the shaft, tight. According to some hair peeps, this “will cause it to reflect the most light and give off the most shine”.

Now you know.

5- “The President”: The Oldest Known Living Sequoia 

Located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in the United States, east of Visalia, California, this giant sequoia stands at 247 feet (75 m) tall and is estimated to be over 3,200 years old. The trunk is 27 feet (8.2 m) wide, with 2 billion needles from base to top.

As of 2012, the volume of its trunk measured at about 45,000 cubic feet (1,300 m3), with an additional 9,000 cubic feet (250 m3) of branches. It was nicknamed “The President” after President Warren G. Harding in 1923.

The President is not the tallest giant sequoia tree in the world nor the widest in diameter at the base. But it is the third largest tree in the world, measured by volume of trunk, as well as the oldest known living sequoia. According to the scientists who climbed it, it also has the largest crown.

Because of its unbelievable size, the tree has never been photographed in its entirety...until recently. A team of National Geographic Photographers have worked along with scientists to create the first photo that shows this historical tree in all its glory.

They had to climb with pulleys and levers, and took thousands of photos out of which they selected 126 and stitched them together to produce this stunning portrait of The President.

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Random Stuff You May Not Know: Five

Random Stuff You May Not Know: Six

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