Trivia

What’s not always explained in tales of medieval knighthood was just how chivalry worked. A knight was only supposed to be chivalrous to women of his own class. What he did with the peasant girls didn’t count. And he did a lot that didn’t count.

Q. According to our ski instructor, men on skis tend to fall on their faces, women on their backsides. Why the difference?

A. Their centers of gravity differ. A woman’s usually is lower than a man’s.

In Japan, the chirigami kokan truck, playing a taped message and jingle, drives through neighborhoods, collecting throwaway newspapers, magazines, cardboard containers and fabrics. What givers get for same depends on the weight of what’s given. The truck driver hands back however many rolls of toilet paper.

The cornea of an ostrich’s eye is interchangeable with a human cornea, say eye surgeons.

Q. What’s a “myoclonic jerk”?

A. That massive muscle spasm that sometimes wakes you up just when you’re on the brink of deep sleep. Sort of a toe-to-topknot hiccup. Sleep researchers haven’t yet explained the why of it, but most people have had the experience.