30 Industry-Specific Niche Facts Professionals Are Sharing With The General Public

We already have so much knowledge but there is still so much to learn about the world that it’s truly mind-boggling sometimes. Every day we learn new things either through experience, practice or sharing of knowledge. With 8 billion people in the world, our wealth of knowledge is certainly vast. However, we don’t even really know how much we know or don’t know, as may be a more accurate description of the case. 

#1

Image source: Springstof, Christian Wiediger

I work in live chat support. We can see what you type when you are chatting with us, before you send it.

#2

Image source: ragecage42, Taylor Friehl

One of my favorite facts about alcohol ads: In the US, nobody is allowed to be shown actually drinking the product. They can only be shown ‘enjoying’ it in ways that don’t involve drinking it – so essentially holding it, pouring it, handing it to a friend, etc

#3

Image source: kms2547, Mourizal Zativa

A corporate policy of requiring users to change their passwords every 90 days **does not** make your system more secure. It tends to actually make things less secure.

#4

In scoring for film, the orchestra/ensemble actually plays the music live as the movie is played behind them. It is recorded and synced

Edit: should have specified the conductor (who is usually the composer) stands facing the screen and has a small screen in front of them with different colored bars to indicate starting/stopping and pace, as well as other cues and insets. Composers have watched the film beforehand and are often frequent collaborators with certain directors.

Image source: anon

#5

Image source: Everything80sFan, Philip Myrtorp

There is no such thing as a perfectly functioning aircraft. Every plane you fly on has a multitude of maintenance issues, just not severe enough to affect safety of flight.

#6

Image source: leprechronic, Ludemeula Fernandes

Heartworms are treatable for dogs, but not for cats.

Also, keep on top of your heartworm prevention for your dog; if they get heartworm but you can prove that they’ve been continually covered (which isn’t difficult; the receipts are good enough, and your vet will have them in their database), then the heartworm prevention manufacturer will pay for the treatment.

#7

Image source: lasteclipse, T K

Nominal pipe diameters are not indicative of their actual diameter. So a 1″ pipe is rarely actually 1″ in either outside or inside diameter.

Why? I have no idea. But if you drill a hole of exact diameter and stick that pipe in there, you’re going to have a bad time.

#8

Image source: zencanuck, Lisa McIntyre

There is a surprising amount of infrastructure under your feet. You’d be surprised how much public utility runs underneath private property. Always call before you dig.

#9

Image source: mbjb1972, Andrew Spencer

An elevator will go up to the top of the hoist instead of crash to the floor in most catastrophic failures due to the counter weights.

#10

Modern cars aren’t made weaker than old cars, or at least not in the way people would expect. A good example of this is if an old car hits a modern car and the modern car is crumpled to f**k and the old car looks like nothing happened. The cars nowadays aren’t ‘weaker’ or ‘made cheaper’, it’s a safety design and the reason this happens is so that if you have a collision the cars bodywork absorbs the energy of the impact and crumples, while you walk away from the crash relatively unharmed. An old car on the other hand doesn’t absorb the impact, which means the energy of the impact is felt by everyone inside the car instead, which is extremely dangerous and depending on the severity of the accident can badly injure or kill the occupants of the vehicle. Your car isn’t ‘cheaply made’, it’s an intentional safety design by the company that has saved so many people from broken bones, potential paralysis and death.

Image source: george_reeves_

#11

If you’re putting in new carpet, always go top shelf with the pad. The increase in cost is neglible and the upgrade to feel, usability and endurance of the rug on top will be way better dollar to value ratio than spending on the carpet itself. 8 lb memory foam is maybe 2 bucks a yard more than trash apartment grade stuff but 10 times better underfoot.

Go for the cheapest carpet you can stand (remember, you aren’t going to be running your fingers through your house’s carpet for more than 3 days after it’s installed) and put the best damn pad money can buy under it. You’ll spend less and it’ll feel like you bought 50 dollar a yard carpet.

Image source: Seraph_VI

#12

Image source: goddamnmike, Lucas Lenzi

Touching your fresh tattoo with your unwashed fingers is bad. It’s absurd how many times we have to tell this to people.

#13

The lighter the roast of coffee, generally the more caffeine found within the bean. I know a ton of people who drink dark roast mistakenly thinking they’re getting their morning buzz going. Sorry to break it to you..

Image source: IPostUnderThisAlias

#14

Image source: videcortuus, Providence Doucet

There is no difference between a violin and a fiddle other than how you play it.

#15

True A.I. is a LONG way away.

I’m a software engineer, and I work with a lot of algorithms. What’s billed as “A.I.” today isn’t quite “Artificial Intelligence”, it’s just a bunch of advanced algorithms, some of which are capable of ‘learning’ things in a very strict/narrow scope. In other words, people (specially marketing) seem to use the terms ‘machine learning’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ interchangeably, when they shouldn’t be. I guess I understand why, *Artificial Intelligence* sounds cooler, but really none of these things can actually make decisions on their own, which is a true benchmark of A.I.

Image source: whatissevenbysix

#16

Nuclear power is pretty handily the safest and cleanest method of electricity generation. However, thanks to general misunderstanding and pop culture (looking at you, Simpsons), public trust in nuclear is lower than coal.

Image source: prtproductions

#17

Image source: raethas, National Cancer Institute

As a chemist the thing that gets me every time is the, “I don’t want chemicals in my……” statement.

LITERALLY. EVERYTHING. IS. A. CHEMICAL. SUSAN.(KAREN)

#18

Image source: skribsbb

The first thing you do if you think your computer is being hacked is unplug it from the network (or disable the Wi-Fi).

#19

Image source: rickbarr21, National Cancer Institute

Potential cancer cells develop in the human body every day and our immune system efficiently kills them without any trouble and we just go on living our lives like nothing ever happened.

#20

Image source: chachagirlsmom, Tim Marshall

Drowning is silent. I pulled out a kid literally less than a foot away from a large group of adults and not one of them noticed that his head was totally submerged and that he was struggling.

#21

Image source: DogsNotHumans, Christin Hume

Most people are not good at detecting lies, and consistently score no better than chance (50/50) when tested. The score goes up slightly when it’s someone they know that they’re talking to, but not much.

Ironically, most people rate themselves as very good at detecting lies, but they’re wrong.

#22

You cannot go from having black hair to silver or platinum blonde in one sitting. It takes multiple and 9 times out of 10, your hair is fried beyond repair by the end of it. Kim Kardashian or whoever you pinned on your pinterest page or Instagram is wearing a wig.

Image source: DaemonsAngel

#23

Image source: hotmesssketch, GC Libraries Creative Tech Lab

Coffee shops spend more on milk than coffee.

#24

Image source: BleedingTeal

Turning your computer or phone off and on again will fix a solid 70-80% of all problems the device likely has.

#25

The “essential” in essential oils doesn’t mean it is *essential* to your body or health.

It basically means that it is the pure essence of that particular plant or flower.

So many people have taken this to mean that they are literally *essential* to our health and well being. It hurts my brain.

Image source: JohnyUtah_

#26

Image source: Vinterblad, jay huang

Truckers leave extra space between themselves and the vehicle in front of them because if they are fully loaded they need the the extra space to be able to stop without flatten the someone. A truck can weigh the same as more than 50 small cars.

They don’t leave the space, out of the goodness if their hearts, for a couple of cars to squeeze themselves into and create a potentially fatal situation!

#27

Most swiss cheeses (Gruyère, emmentaler, Appenzeller) are lactose-free, as well as any cheese that’s been aged at least 2 years, like Parmigiano Reggiano or an aged gouda. I work at a cheese shop, and clients are usually surprised when I share that information with them. I wish more people with lactose intolerance knew about it!

Image source: NatchoFriend

#28

Just because a disabled child/person is non-verbal, that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t understand everything you’re saying.
It’s crazy how often I have to tell my own staff to watch what they’re saying. These kids still get embarrassed or upset if you talk about the massive s**t they just took right in front of the whole class.

Image source: Mespegg

#29

Children behave differently at home than they do at school.

Seriously, teachers have no reason to lie about your child misbehaving. Logging behavior and initiating a less-than-positive exchange creates more work for us. Why would we lie to create more work for ourselves?

Image source: porterlily7

#30

Image source: mmmnms, Kelly Sikkema

The best treatment for a child with anxiety is treating their parent’s anxiety.