Long before renowned Muppeteer Frank Oz used animatronics and puppetry to create Yoda, the goal was to recruit an actual actor... a simian actor, that is. They planned to put up a real monkey in a Yoda suit and mask, according to The Making of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back. There are pictures of the monkey in training as well as a rather awful Yoda mask prototype. Fortunately, a crew member who had previously worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey pointed out that the monkeys used in that film's introduction were a major pain, which convinced Empire's creators to dismiss their Yoda monkey.

When all of the time spent by every gamer playing Call of Duty back-to-back is added together, it equals 2.85 million years of gameplay. Humans haven't even been on the planet that long. Call of Duty has far outpaced evolution!

This may frighten you, but according to research, you should never be more than 10 feet away from a spider. Don't worry, most of the time they're hidden away in some crevice, minding their own business.

Due to the popularity of Sudoku puzzles in 2008, pencil sales in London increased significantly.

The researchers behind this project compiled data from museums, botanical gardens, agricultural centers, and other sources to conclude that there are currently 60,065 tree species known to science. These include Abarema abbottii, a rare and poorly understood tree native to China and Kyrgyzstan, and Zygophyllum kaschgaricum, a vulnerable limestone-bound tree found only in the Dominican Republic. The Global Tree Assessment, which aims to assess the conservation status of all of the world's tree species by 2020, is the next step in this field of research.

Toby Gard, the creator of Lara Croft, joked that it became clear that Tomb Raider needed a female protagonist when he realised that third-person games require a lot of staring at the main character's butt, so he should probably make that butt a lady's butt to keep him sane during the long hours. In reality, Core was probably afraid of being sued by Lucasfilm for their obvious Indiana Jones rip-off, so they needed a new character who couldn't be confused with Harrison Ford. The simplest way to accomplish this was to switch genders.

As you try to decide between products that treat each area of the body, the skin-care aisle at your neighbourhood drugstore might make your head spin. It's perfectly acceptable to use different products for different places depending on your preferences, skin type, and circumstances (such as acne). But keep in mind that taking care of your skin doesn't have to be difficult just because it performs a lot of tasks.

Although we are accustomed to seeing spider silk in the form of webs, did you know that it is actually a liquid? When the silk is exposed to air, it hardens, allowing them to create and build their webs.

Magnesium, which is present in it and aids in muscle relaxation and heart disease protection.

When asked what colour is their favourite, people all over the world consistently say blue. Blue is preferred by up to 40% of those polled, with purple being preferred by around 14%. Surprisingly, mosquitoes prefer blue to any other colour; they try to bite people wearing blue more than any other colour.

Although they are both composed of keratin, your nails are stronger than your hair because of how the molecules are arranged differently, giving your nails more robust qualities.

 The lack of natural predators in their usurped habitat is why sea lampreys have been so successful in their penetration into the Lakes. This increases the urgency with which the administration must cope with the invasion.

The best approach to consuming micronutrients like vitamin B-3 is through a balanced diet. Only use supplements under a doctor's guidance to cure deficiencies. You may get some of the advantages of niacinamide from the foods you eat when it comes to general skin health.

Branwell was a constant pain in their side, despite the sisters' strong feelings for him. He struggled to maintain employment because he was an unsuccessful poet, an alcoholic, and possibly an opium addict. Part of Branwell and his demons served as the inspiration for Anne's villain in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

A 5.9-liter V12 engine powers Aston Martins such as the DB9 and V12 Vantage S. Don't be deceived by the company's claim that it's a 6.0-liter. Another component of this engine that AM does not emphasise is what it begins as. This is due to the fact that it is effectively a pair of Ford Duratec V6s joined together. Sure, many components have been replaced in the quest of horsepower and torque – 565bhp and 457lb-ft in the V12 Vantage S – but several simple Ford sedan engine parts remain.

The Earth is 4.5 billion years old, and plants, most likely mosses and liverworts with shallow roots, may have colonized land as recently as 470 million years ago. Vascular plants appeared around 420 million years ago, but no plants grew higher than 3 feet (1 metre) off the ground for tens of millions of years after that.

Isaac Newton was just seeing the fall of a fruit, which inspired the development of Newton's law of universal gravitation. The scientist's biographer, William Stukeley, noted this in his book Memoirs of Isaac Newton's Life. This is the source of the legend of an apple falling on Newton's head.

The pan shot, also known as the panorama shot, was invented in 1987, when panning cameras were first used in film production. Cameras used to be stationary, so you had to move the entire camera and tripod to get any movement. This was a significant step forward in filmmaking and cinematography as an art form.

The median age in the 1950s was 33 years old, but it is increasing every year. The median age of the Swiss population in 2015 was 42.2 years. Switzerland, on the other side, has the greatest percentage of persons over 100 in Europe and the second-highest life expectancy after Japan. Of course, given the purity of the air, the amount of walking routes, and the availability of high-quality health care, they will live a long life.

There are numerous references to this phenomenon when looking deeper into the online crochet community. This completely surprised me because I try to live simply and am generally turned off by consuming more than is necessary. According to a practical joke, crochet hooks ought to be labeled "Caution, use of these may cause yarn addiction!" I think I've got it under control by this point, mostly because I've run out of room and have a closet full of yarn—referred to in the needlecraft community as a stash.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as the saying goes, and this proved to be true for a very early design of the mousetrap. Colin Pullinger unveiled his Perpetual Mousetrap in the mid-1800s, claiming that it would last a lifetime. Pullinger could still make that claim more than a century later.Even without bait, the 155-year-old device on display at England's Museum of English Rural Life caught a mouse that snuck into it in 2016. In an attempt to build a nest, the mouse entered the trap and activated the see-saw mechanism. Unfortunately, the rodent did not make it. The perpetual mousetrap, on the other hand, clearly does!

Bhutan had no roads, automobiles, telephones, postal systems, or electricity until the 1970s for the same reason. The government only relaxed the ban on television and the Internet in 1999. The Bhutanese government did this to preserve its national identity. As a result, Bhutan has kept many of its customs and has remained a remote Himalayan country steeped in mystery.

Area 51 is a government-owned piece of property in the United States that is considered to be the site of intense extraterrestrial activity. But did you know that in the Marvel reality, Iron Man really owns Area 51? Iron Man bought Area 51 from the government and used it as a safe haven for the reality jewel.