FACT 1: Mike threw his first punch when a neighborhood bully killed one of his pigeons and threw it in his face. "The reason for the fight was because the guy ripped the head off my pigeon. This was the first thing I ever loved in my life, the pigeon. I don't know why, I feel ridiculous just trying to explain it. They're so much like people."
FACT 2: "Sneakernet", the transferring of electric files via courier rather than over the web, has been tested using pigeon couriers. In one UK experiment, ten pigeons carrying USB keys were released from a Yorkshire farm, at the same time as a five-minute video upload was begun. All the pigeons reached their destination in Skegness within 1 ¼ hours, while only 24% of the file had uploaded via the web.
FACT 3: The Reuters News Agency began as a pigeon service, ferrying stock prices between Belgium and Germany.
FACT 4: Pigeons are considered to be one of the most intelligent birds on the planet. They are one of only six species, and the only non-mammal, that can recognise themselves in a mirror; they can recognise all 26 letters of the alphabet; and they have shown that they are able to differentiate between photographs and even between two different human beings in photographs.
Taking on Tyson
Did You Know?
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Fact 5:
Mike Tyson is a vegan
FACT 6: Pigeons will mate for life unless separated.
FACT 7: Pigeon manure, rich in saltpetre, was a key manufacturing component of gunpowder.
FACT 8: Pigeons save lives at sea! A team of navy researchers have trained a group of pigeons to identify red or yellow life jackets when floating in the water. Project Sea Hunt found that the pigeons were not only more reliable than humans at spotting the jackets, but quicker too. The birds can see colour in the same way that humans do but, unlike humans, they can also see ultra-violet.
FACT 9: How do pigeons navigate? There are many theories about how pigeons manage to return ‘home’ when released hundreds of miles away. A ten-year Oxford University study concluded that pigeons use roads to navigate but other theories include navigation by use of the Earth’s magnetic field, using landmarks as visual aids, navigation by the sun or even by low frequency seismic waves called infrasounds.
FACT 10: Mike Tyson’s 26 of his first 28 professional bouts were all won by knockout or technical knockout. Sixteen of those knockouts occurred in the first round.
NEXT: EPISODE GUIDE
FACT 7: Pigeon manure, rich in saltpetre, was a key manufacturing component of gunpowder.
FACT 8: Pigeons save lives at sea! A team of navy researchers have trained a group of pigeons to identify red or yellow life jackets when floating in the water. Project Sea Hunt found that the pigeons were not only more reliable than humans at spotting the jackets, but quicker too. The birds can see colour in the same way that humans do but, unlike humans, they can also see ultra-violet.
FACT 9: How do pigeons navigate? There are many theories about how pigeons manage to return ‘home’ when released hundreds of miles away. A ten-year Oxford University study concluded that pigeons use roads to navigate but other theories include navigation by use of the Earth’s magnetic field, using landmarks as visual aids, navigation by the sun or even by low frequency seismic waves called infrasounds.
FACT 10: Mike Tyson’s 26 of his first 28 professional bouts were all won by knockout or technical knockout. Sixteen of those knockouts occurred in the first round.
NEXT: EPISODE GUIDE
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