The goal of this blog is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many.
Today’s daily writing prompt is “Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met”. That is former President George W Bush. In 2010 I met him at a Barnes and Noble book signing event here in northern Dallas where I live. It is also where he lives. He was selling and signing his book Decision Points. I bought four books, but he only signed a maximum of two books. Hundreds of people, perhaps thousands, wanted to have signed books and the security was rigorous, so signing a lot of books for each person was not practical.
George W. BushFront cover of the book Decision Points by George W. Bush. Click here or on the book to visit the hardback version of the book on Amazon.Back cover of the book Decision Points by George W. Bush. Click here or on the book to visit the paperback version of the book on Amazon.
I should say that at the time I was an admirer of George W. Bush, but I have a more nuanced understanding of him at this point. I have to admit I have not read his book yet. It has been sitting in my bookshelf for 15 years. I have a substantial TBR list and I have to admit that I might have bought the book for other reasons than reading it. But I will eventually get to it.
Senator Ted Cruz
Another famous person that I’ve met is Senator Ted Cruz and in this case the contact was a bit more substantial. I am a member of a non-partisan organization that seeks to create political will for solving the climate crisis. They are called Citizens Climate Lobby, or CCL. We find bi-partisan legislation and try to get both Democrats and Republicans onboard with it and we have been fairly successful. I am the CCL liaison for Senator Cruz office and have had the pleasure to meet him in person a couple of times. We shook hands, talked, and took photographs with him.
Senator Ted Cruz TXJR with Citizens Climate Lobby in 2017. The senator is standing immediately to the right of the American flag, and I am standing immediately to the left of the American flag.Senator Cruz hosts a Texas Tuesday Coffee for Constituents in Washington, DC on July 22, 2025. (Official U.S. Senate photo by Rebecca Hammel) Ted Cruz is standing in the back between the flags. I am in the front row, second from the right wearing a blue suit. We are twelve people.
To read more about CCL and why I decided to engage in this issue click any of the links below.
I have two blogs, Leonberger Life and this one called Superfactful.
Leonberger Life feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar. With my Leonberger Life blog I want to spread information about the Leonberger breed, a rare, large, furry, friendly and fun dog breed and also bring attention to my book The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, stories and tips from thirteen years with a Leonberger.
The goal of Superfactful, which is this blog, is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true and yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many. I call these kinds of facts Super facts because they could potentially be very impactful on how we view the world.
Humans have accumulated an enormous amount of knowledge. Science does not know everything, but it knows a lot. The same cannot be said for us as individuals. We know next to nothing and harbor a lot of false beliefs. I think that is pretty much true for all of us, including me, but we may not know it. With this blog I am trying to correct some of that, at least regarding important facts. In addition, along the way, I am hoping to learn a lot myself and have some of my own false beliefs corrected.
In short, the change I would like to make in the world with my blog is to correct as many false beliefs as possible and educate my readers, and myself, about facts that are both important and mind blowing.
Smash your old beliefs with new surprising facts, super facts. Expand your mind. Shutterstock ID: 1685660680 by MattL_Images
What is a Super fact?
A super fact is:
An important fact but it can be simply stated.
Very surprising, shocking, widely disputed, misunderstood, or mind-blowing.
Yet it is true with a very high degree of certainty.
The first two criteria are subjective. The last criteria can be determined from longstanding scientific consensus, my own expertise and education (valid for just a few topics), agreement between multiple reliable online or offline sources such as agreement among research papers, reputable scientific organizations, NASA, NOAA, Pew Research Center, Our World in Data, etc. I should say I also link to less academic sources such as Wikipedia, but I do not solely rely on them.
You can read more about how I choose super facts here. Also, I am open to challenges based on good data (not opinions), as well as questions. With that I don’t mean that you cannot give your opinion in a comment. I just won’t update or remove a super fact based on an opinion. In addition, I am happy to receive suggestions for super facts. I am trying to collect a few hundred super facts and need all the help I can get. In the end I want to pick the 100 best ones. I might use a poll for that.
Sometimes a super fact involves doing myth busting of a popular myth and sometimes a super fact is stating something that is well known but disputed by many. In these cases, the evidence is likely to be conclusive, but the fact is still disputed by those who don’t know much about the evidence, or don’t want it to be true. In this case, I will include a substantial amount of evidence, and it might be lengthy. People get bamboozled all the time, and that includes me. It is not easy to admit that you have been bamboozled. You can read about my own experiences with that here.
Fact or myth. Shutterstock Asset id: 2327968607
Examples of Super Facts
At the time of posting this I have made plans for 150 super facts and so far, I have posted 54. I will post a lot more. Below I am listing a few of my first 54 super facts.
Superfact 5 : Two events may be simultaneous for some but not for others. Click to visit post.
Two events may be simultaneous for some but not for others. This means that two events that are simultaneous to an observer may happen at different times to other observers. If two lamps A and B turn on at the same time according to observer #1, lamp A may turn on first for observer #2, and lamp B may turn on first for observer #3. All three observers are correct because time is relative.
Amy is traveling at a high speed to the left compared to two lamps A and B. Alan is standing still compared to the lamps. Adam is traveling at a high speed to the right compared to two lamps A and B. Alan turns on the lamps at the same time. After considering the travel time of the light she sees, Amy concludes that lamp B turned on first. After considering the travel time of the light he sees, Adam concludes that lamp A turned on first. I should add this non-simultaneity can only happen if the lamps are separated by a distance.
Superfact 7 : Poverty and child mortality has been sharply reduced worldwide. Click to visit post.
Extreme poverty as well as child mortality has been sharply reduced the world over. The countries that are the worst-off today are still better off than the countries that were doing the best at the beginning of the 19th century. Over the last 20 years extreme poverty and child mortality have continued to decline sharply.
Child mortality in in the world since 1950. The spike you see around the end of 1950 to 1960 is the great leap forward famine in China. In 1950 the child mortality rate was 22.7% and in 2023 the child mortality rate was 3.6%.
Superfact 25: Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us – click to visit post.
Global warming is happening. Or if you call it Climate Change or Climate Disruption is indeed happening. And it is happening very fast. We also know that it is caused by us primarily as a result of our burning of fossil fuels. There is a long-standing scientific consensus on these two facts because the evidence is conclusive. Check the evidence in the post.
Superfact 28: That Earth is round was well known long before Columbus – click to visit post.
That Earth is round, or spherical (or closely spherical) had been known for at least a couple of thousand years by the time Columbus set sail. Columbus did not set sail to prove that earth was round, and he knew it was round.
Illustration of the measurement of the Earth circumference by Eratosthenes (2,300 years ago). On June 21st there is no shadow in Syene/Aswan but there is one in Alexandria. Asset id: 2319651251 by Javier Jaime
So, on what subject(s) am I an authority? My understanding on what being an authority on a subject means is that it is being an expert with recognized credibility on that subject. However, the word “authority” has so many other meanings and it brings to mind the “appeal to authority fallacy”. The “appeal to authority fallacy” refers to appealing to influential people or organizations who may not necessarily be experts, and regardless of the evidence.
In science you don’t really have such authorities, you have experts who often disagree with each other. In the event almost all experts agree on a certain fact that has been thoroughly vetted you can trust that fact with nearly 100% certainty, and that is not appeal to authority but a probability argument. Therefore, I don’t really like the use of the word authority in this context. It is confusing. I would have preferred the question to be “In what subject(s) do you have recognized expertise?”
This is the front page of my PhD thesis “Reflex Control for Obstacle Avoidance and Self Preservation”.
Robotics
Reflex Control for Obstacle Avoidance and Self Preservation
My PhD thesis was in Robotics, specifically Reflex Control for Obstacle Avoidance and Self Preservation. Therefore, you can say that I am an expert on Reflex Control for Obstacle Avoidance and Self Preservation, Reflex Control (in Robotics) as well as Robotics. My expertise has been recognized through my published research papers, the citing of those papers, my PhD thesis, and my peers including Rodney Brooks.
Rodney Brooks is a former director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, founder of several robotics research companies, and he is arguably the most famous roboticist in the world. In the 1990’s he was featured on the front page in national magazines such as Time Magazine several times. During my internship at the Robotics Lab at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1993, I spoke to Rodney Brooks about my research, and he congratulated me on my research, which he liked.
Briefly, reflex control in Robotics refers to functionally simple, quick, and reliable behaviors that override whatever more complex algorithms or humans (joystick / telerobotics) are commanding in case those algorithms or humans execute dangerous motion. Take for example, a robot moving quickly among multiple objects and the path planning algorithm generates a faulty command that would result in a collision when executed. The reflex control layer would detect the problem (assuming it knows about the objects) and halt the robot before it collided with the object. This would need to happen quickly, in milliseconds, and always in a failsafe way. After the collision has been avoided the system or the human can figure out what went wrong and figure out a new path.
To do this the Reflex controller needs to be embedded with the motion controller, and know the characteristics of the motors, the robot configuration, and mechanical characteristics, such as mass, friction model, inertia, etc., exactly. The result is that when you drive a robot around among multiple objects such as boxes hanging from the ceiling, coat racks, and sombreros, and other robots it will avoid colliding with these objects regardless of input from people or high-level path planning algorithms. It looked like the objects were protected by an invisible force field.
This is an old black and white photo of the Robotics Research Corporation Robot surrounded by objects including boxes hanging in the ceiling, a coat rack, and a control cabinet. I took the photo, and I created the software for the robot and placed the objects in its workspace.
Robot Kinematics
In addition, to “Reflex Control for Obstacle Avoidance and Self Preservation” or “Reflex Control for Robots”, which is very narrow field, I gained expertise in fields of robotics that are a bit wider. One such field is robot kinematics. That includes, for example, calculating the position, speed and acceleration of the tool tip (the end tip) of the robot from the position and motion of the joints of the robot. Or it could be calculating the possible joint angles from the position of the tool tip. The RRC robot was a seven-jointed robot so this could get complicated. I should say that when I worked for ABB Robotics (after my Ph.D) I created the kinematic models for 30+ of ABB Robotics robots. Therefore, I have expertise and recognized credibility in Robot Kinematics as well.
The drawing shows the seven joints, the seven possible rotations around those joints, the seven joint angles (the thetas), and the seven coordinate systems and their origos (the O’s) at each joint.
Robot kinematics can get complicated, at least for a seven-jointed robot like the RRC Robot. An example is the Jacobian, which is a matrix that relates joint velocities to end-effector / tool-tip velocities. The Jacobian is crucial for understanding and controlling robot motion, particularly for inverse kinematics and trajectory planning. Below is the Jacobian for the first four joints of the RRC robot. I spent an entire day deriving it. Depending on your eyesight it is difficult to read the scribbles, but it is a bunch of very long, mostly trigonometric equations. Don’t worry about understanding the matrix, it is just to show how complicated robot kinematics can get.
First part of the 4-dimensional (first four joints) Jacobian for the RRC Robot.Second part of the 4-dimensional (first four joints) Jacobian for the RRC Robot.Third part of the 4-dimensional (first four joints) Jacobian for the RRC Robot.Fourth part of the 4-dimensional (first four joints) Jacobian for the RRC Robot.
Configuration Space in Robotics
Another subject I gained a lot of expertise in is configuration space or so-called C-space. It is related to robot kinematics. C-space is a mathematical representation of all possible configurations a robot can take. In C-space for a robot arm (like the RRC Robot) the coordinates are the joint angles instead of X, Y and Z. For the seven-jointed RRC robot you have seven joint angles and C-space is thus seven dimensions. C-space is very useful if you succeed in representing obstacles in it. A point might become a curve, or multi-dimensional membrane in C-space, and a ball might become a multi-dimensional banana. I had a lot of fun creating algorithms for creating C-space with obstacles in it.
My Other Expertise
I also have a degree a master’s degree in engineering physics (Teknisk Fysik) from Uppsala University in Sweden. I should say that engineering physics in Uppsala was focused a lot on theoretical physics and modern physics as well as practical applications for physics. Case Western Reserve University later converted this degree to a master’s in electrical engineering. I loved physics and was a good student, but my special interest was the theory of relativity. Even though I had and still have a hard time with the General Theory of relativity and I studied the special theory of relativity way beyond what was required at school, and I read dozens of technical books on the subject. So, this is also sort of an area expertise for me.
Below are some links to topics related to the special theory of relativity on this website:
I spent at least 30 years working with software as a software engineer / robotics engineer and gained a lot of experience in software development. It was mostly embedded software but also graphical user interfaces, things you can see on a screen, and Networking Software Development. I worked a lot with Visual Studio, a powerful, expandable, and popular integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft.
I developed a lot of code using C++ and C#, .Net, WPF, but also other languages and libraries. I started with Visual Studio 97 (in 1997), then Visual Studio 6, Visual Studio .NET 2002, Visual Studio .NET 2003, Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio 2008, Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2015, Visual Studio 2017, but I never got around to Visual Studio 2019 and Visual Studio 2022. So, you can say that I am an expert on Visual Studio with C++ and C# and .NET (I am less of an expert on the other languages typically used with Visual Studio).
Later in life I also came to learn a lot about climate change / climate disruption / global warming / the greenhouse effect whatever you call it. I used to be skeptical about climate change, and I thought it might be politicized by the scientific community, but after some interesting red flags I took a deep dive into the subject, and I learned that climate change is very real and caused by us. I was politicized not the scientific community. There is a scientific consensus on the subject for very good reasons. I continued by reading dozens of climate science papers and several dozens of technical and non-technical books on the topic. Therefore, at this point I know more about it than a lot of people. Maybe expert is a strong word, but almost expert.
Least but not last
Being a Leonberger Dog Expert
I know a lot about Leonbergers because my family was lucky enough to live with one for thirteen years. His name was Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle—but we called him “Bronco” for short. Bronco wasn’t our only dog, but our world wouldn’t have been the same without him. For instance, he once saved the life of our pug by fending off an attack from another dog. He probably saved our Labrador’s life, too, by sniffing out an impending insulin shock before it happened. Then there was the time he scared off a trespasser who’d been terrorizing my wife and other women in the neighborhood.
Bronco loved to dance and hug. Here he is giving me a hug (not yet fully grown).
Bronco is no longer with us, but even in his passing he was distinctive. Leonbergers tend to live less than nine years—but Bronco came very close to reaching his thirteenth birthday. In fact, he received an award for longevity called the “Grey Muzzle Award.” We already knew he was a special dog, but we sent his DNA to two labs for research anyway. I wrote a book about our amazing Bronco and his many amusing adventures and included helpful information on Leonbergers for new owners and interested dog lovers. I also have a Leonberger website.
In the process of writing my book about Bronco and Leonbergers I came to learn a lot about Leonberger dogs, the Leonberger breed standard, their history, health issues, Leonberger organizations, health and care, etc. I became a bit of a Leonberger expert. If you are interested in the book, check it out here or here. You can also get it from Amazon in many other countries, Barnes & Noble, Chapters Indigo and many other bookstores. For more information check here.
Yes, I see wild animals every day despite living in a large city (Dallas). I see squirrels, rabbits, coyote, bats, birds of all kinds, crows, owls, hawks, pelicans, blue jays, mockingbirds, rats and mice, and I see snakes every now and then. Not too long ago we had a rat snake in the sink. I live in Texas and here we have 116 snake species.
I guess insects are animals too, and we have cicadas and crickets, wolf spiders, spider wasps of various kinds, including mud daubers and tarantula hawks, and sometimes I see them inside the house. We also have a lot of coyotes in the neighborhood. A few years ago, a coyote ran up to me as I was walking my two small dogs, a pug named Daisy and a Japanese Chin named Ryu. I was worried about my dogs, so I stared him down, and he ran off.
Every now and then we leave the city and there’s plenty of wild animals in the countryside. Two days ago, we visited a dark spot in Oklahoma. A dark spot is an exceptionally dark place intended for sky watching. I saw a skunk in the middle of the night. But we’ve seen foxes, coyotes, deer, antelope, wild turkeys, turkey vultures, wild pigs, bobcats, eagles, fish of all kinds, and many other types of animals. In the past we’ve also gone fishing and hunting and we’ve seen many wild animals that way.
We’ve also visited national parks, for example, Yellow Stone and Grand Teton where we’ve seen grizzly bears, black bears, cinnamon bears, wolves, bison, elk, moose, prong horn, big horn sheep, marmots, whizzle pigs, and much more. I can add that sometimes we also visit other countries where we’ve seen more exotic wild animals, kangaroos, crocodiles, sharks, koalas, lynx, dolphins, etc.
Bison in Yellowstone National ParkElk in in Yellowstone National Park, photo by meMy daughter caught a rainbow trout in Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, photo by me.Grizzly bear in Grand Teton National Park, photo by Gabriel Goncalves, a fellow traveler.Grizzly bear cubs in Grand Teton National Park, photo by Gabriel Goncalves, a fellow traveler.A whistle pig in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by me.A marmot in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by me.A grey wolf in Yellowstone National Park.A moose in Yellowstone National Park.A tarantula hawk (wasp) is stinging a tarantula and then dragging it. This was in Oklahoma. Photo by either me or my friend Mark Segal.
So I am trying out the Daily writing prompt for the first time, answering the question “What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?”.
I’ve always been interested in astronomy and astrophysics, and I studied engineering physics, later electrical engineering. I did not think astronomer or astrophysicist was an easily attainable career and perhaps not very well paid either, but I think it would have been a fun job to have.
I am a bit of an amateur astronomer, and I own a basic telescope for amateurs, a Celestron Powerseeker 70EQ. It is not a great telescope, but it is good enough for observing objects such as Saturn and its rings, Jupiter and its four Galilean moons, Mars, Venus (the crescent), the moon and its craters. Those objects you can see from inside a big city like Dallas. Naturally you can do much better if you leave the city and especially if you visit a dark spot. I am a member of TAS, Texas Astronomical Society and they own a dark spot in Oklahoma. Below is a photo of my Celestron Powerseeker 70EQ standing in my garage.
Celestron Powerseeker 70EQ
What Does an Astronomer Do?
Astronomers study the universe, including galaxies, stars, planets, and other celestial objects, using telescopes and other instruments to observe and analyze them. They observe and analyze celestial objects. Depending on their specific area, astronomers have different duties.
They observe celestial objects using telescopes.
They conduct research, analyze data and test hypothesis.
They use and develop models including complex mathematical models and computer simulations to understand complex astrophysical phenomena.
They collaborate with peers, they teach, and they do mentoring and public outreach.
Types of Astronomers
Observational Astronomers use telescopes and other observational instruments to collect data from celestial objects.
Theoretical Astrophysicists use mathematical models and computer simulations to understand the physical processes in the universe. They may study stellar evolution, galaxy formation, cosmology, and black holes.
Planetary Scientists study planets, moons, and other objects within our solar system. They use data collected by space missions, telescopes, and remote sensing techniques.
Stellar Astronomers study stars, their properties, and their life cycles. They may study variable stars, binary star systems, massive stars, stellar remnants such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes.
Galaxies and Cosmology researchers study galaxies and the large-scale structures in the universe.
Radio Astronomers study celestial objects using radio waves instead of visible light. They may study radio galaxies, cosmic microwave background radiation, and the structure of the Milky Way.
Exoplanet Astronomers study and discover planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. They use techniques such as transit photometry and radial velocity measurements to detect and characterize exoplanets.
Famous Astronomers
Nicolaus Copernicus 1473–1543, discovered the heliocentric model putting the sun at the center of our solar system.
Johannes Kepler 1571–1630, revolutionized our understanding of how planets orbit the Sun. He used the Copernicus heliocentric model and very careful measurements to show that the planets moved in elliptical orbits around the sun and he came with additional laws to describe the speed of the planets in their orbits.
Galileo Galilei, 1564–1642, or Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer who greatly improved the optical telescope and discovered the four primary moons of Jupiter and the rings of Jupiter. He proved that all falling bodies fall at the same rate, regardless of mass, and developed the first pendulum clock. He got in trouble for defending Nikolai Copernicus idea.
Edmund Halley, 1656–1742, investigated and discovered many things including the nature of comets’ orbits.
Edwin Powell Hubble, United States, 1889–1953. Hubble proved that many objects previously thought to be clouds of dust and gas and classified as “nebulae” were galaxies beyond the Milky Way. He showed that these galaxies were moving away from us and each other leading to the conclusion that the universe was expanding.
Vera Rubin, 1928–2016, studied the rotation of galaxies and uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted and observed angular motion. This led to the discovery of dark matter.
What about you? What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?
Super Facts 