It has been reported that the Great Wall of China is larger than had previously been thought. It remains, however, no more visible from outer space – say, from the moon. Conversely, it is also not the only man-made object that can be seen from earth’s orbit: many such items are visible, eg, the Pyramids. These, like the one about Eskimos and words for snow, are “factoids”. If something is repeated often enough, it will be believed. We asked you to invent some new and plausible-sounding factoids to foist on the gullible
Report by Ms de Meaner
Well done. I’m afraid the one about the calories used up during sex meaning you don’t have to diet featured on Oprah.com. The singletons/doubletons get £5/£10 book tokens. The rest get £15, including Godfrey Holmes, who also gets the Tesco vouchers.
Muesli is more carcinogenic than Coco Pops.
More pedestrians are killed by silver cars than any other colour.
Seventy-six per cent of all banknotes have been, or will be, handled by criminals.
In England it rains on Thursdays more than on any other day.
Nicholas Hodgson
The length of a double-decker bus is a standard measurement in eastern Europe.
If all the golf balls lost annually could be located, they would fill the Commons to a depth of six feet.
D A Prince
Male pigeons lose their homing instinct when fitted with a ring.
John Samson
Hitler really had ginger hair, but he dyed it black.
If a penguin stays dry for three days, it turns red.
Michael Cregan
Expense claim forms submitted by MPs of all parties annually, if laid end to end, would reach to the moon and back twice.
Covering the inside walls of your house with old newspapers will cut your energy bills by half.
Shirley Curran
Each cat in the UK has a 91 per cent chance of not being run over.
Only 10 per cent of secondhand books are read line for line after page 20.
There is a 2 per cent chance that a man will witness someone else using a Durex machine in 40 adult years of patronising the Gents.
Godfrey Holmes
There is no word in the Italian language for a corrupt, fascistic lecher.
More people were killed making Saving Private Ryan than died in the Normandy landings.
Ian Birchall
The memory of an average pocket calculator equals that of 100 million earthworms.
Adrian Fry
The system of numbering postcodes in the UK is based on the Kabbalah.
J Seery
Tolkien had a gerbil called Gollum.
Bill Greenwell
The total volume of spam messages being sent each day exceeds by a factor of two the world population since Creation.
In every episode of The Wire (except the penultimate) there is a reference to Homer’s Odyssey.
There is a Starbucks in the Vatican, but none in Italy.
John O’Byrne
The anger of the electorate can be seen from low earth orbit.
Josh Ekroy
No 4080 Just Gordon
Set by Dipak Ghosh
Time looks as if it is running out fast for members of the current cabinet to start thinking about writing their autobiographies – using their spare time in the near future. We want you to suggest suitable titles for books from prominent members of the cabinet.
Max ten titles by 11 June
Email: comp@newstatesman.co.uk
