- Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:43 am
#395522
A few here:
Colin Baker is the only actor to be (wrongfully) sacked from playing The Doctor in Doctor Who, all the other actors have left on their own accord. Colin Baker wanted to beat Tom's record of 7 years.
Crane flies are known as Daddy Long Legs in the UK, however a Daddy Long Legs is also a nickname given to a Pholcidae spider, which is where Ricky Gervais get's his "fact" about Daddy Long Legs having poisonous venom from:
From Wikipedia:
Misconceptions
There is an urban legend stating that daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but that their chelicerae (fangs) are either too small or too weak to puncture human skin; the same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly, also called "daddy long-legs" in some locales. Indeed, pholcid spiders do have a short fang structure (called uncate). However, brown recluse spiders also have uncate fang structure, but are able to deliver medically significant bites. Either pholcid venom is not toxic to humans or there is a musculature difference between the two arachnids, with recluses, being hunting spiders, possessing stronger muscles for fang penetration. [5]
In 2004, the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (Season 1, Episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0.25 mm (average human skin thickness varies from about 0.5mm to 4mm), the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans. Additionally, recent research by Alan Van Dyke has shown that pholcid venom is actually relatively weak in its effects on insects as well.[6].
According to the University of California at Riverside, the daddy long-legs spider has never harmed a human and there is no evidence that they are venomous to humans.[7]
Regards, Johnny 1989
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