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World's biggest family

2011-02-27T01:33:00.003+08:00

He is head of the world's biggest family and says he is 'blessed' to have his 39 wives. Ziona Chana also has 94 children, 14-daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren. They live in a 100-room, four storey house set amidst the hills of Baktwang village in the Indian state of Mizoram, where the wives sleep in giant communal dormitories.

Read More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358654/The-worlds-biggest-family-Ziona-Chan-39-wives-94-children-33-grandchildren.html

Why don't polar bears eat penguins?

2011-01-19T15:02:00.003+08:00

Despite the fact that the polar bear does eat a lot, there is no possibility that the polar bear could have a penguin as a tasty treat. Although both the polar bear and the penguin are polar mammals, the polar bear inhabits the Arctic and the penguin inhabits the Antarctic living nearly 12,000 kilometres apart! The only place they could meet is at the zoo.

Source: http://www.tommcmahon.net/2003/06/why_dont_polar_.html

Why we are not allowed to eat before surgery?

2011-01-10T17:26:00.000+08:00

The drugs used for anesthesia are so powerful that they slow or stop your respiratory drive. When you are under general anesthesia a breathing tube is inserted through your mouth and into your airway, (trachea), to help you breathe. The trachea and the esophagus open at nearly the same place in the back of the throat. Under normal conditions a small flap of tissue covers the trachea when we swallow preventing the inhalation of food into the lungs. When you are under general anesthesia this defense mechanism is compromised and contents from the stomach can come up through the esophagus and be inhaled into the lungs. You're also at increased risk of vomiting. These two things can lead to a very dangerous condition called aspiration pneumonia.

The best way to prevent this is to make certain that there is nothing in your stomach that could be inhaled into the lungs. Even small amounts of liquids are dangerous. Smoking, chewing gum, sucking on a mint, or brushing your teeth can cause your stomach to create digestion fluids which can also be inhaled into the lungs. Therefore, it is very important that you follow your doctor or nurses instructions about not eating prior to surgery.

Source: http://ent.about.com/od/livingwithentdisorders/f/eatbeforesurgery.htm

Is coffee creamer bad for you?

2011-01-09T20:16:00.000+08:00

The nutrition label on the powdered coffee creamer in your office or kitchen might list ten calories and just a half a gram of saturated fat. Those sound like healthy low levels. But use a more realistic tablespoon-size serving instead of the miserly teaspoon listed on the nutrition facts label, and you’re looking at 45 calories and three grams of heart-harmful saturated fat. Have three or four servings per day and you’ve unknowingly consumed half a day’s saturated fat.

But the liquid version of these coffee creamers is worse. Instead of using coconut and palm kernel oils, used in the powdered version, the liquid versions use partially hydrogenated soybean or cottonseed oil. Three cups of coffee with that, delivers 1.86 grams of saturated fat, not to mention the 2.76 grams of trans fat, which is more than an entire day’s worth of the kind of fat that raises your bad cholesterol and lowers your good cholesterol.

Read more: http://www.suite101.com/content/is-your-coffee-creamer-silently-killing-you-a232355

The origin of PlayStation controller's button

2010-10-11T10:00:00.003+08:00

If you’ve owned any of the PlayStation consoles (the original PlayStation or PSX, the PS2, the PS3 and the PSP) then you’ve seen the button scheme that they’ve been using on their controllers. Instead of having A-B-C X-Y-Z like what Nintendo did with their controllers, Sony stuck with a colorful and much more recognizable scheme.

PlayStation designer Teiyu Goto explains why. Just who is Teiyu Goto? Well he’s none other than the father of the PlayStation, the man behind the designs for the original PlayStation, the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3!

So why shapes and colors? In an interview with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, it’s all about keeping things simple.

“That was…pretty tough,” he says. “Other game companies at the time assigned alphabet letters or colors to the buttons. We wanted something simple to remember, which is why we went with icons or symbols, and I came up with the triangle-circle-X-square combination immediately afterward. I gave each symbol a meaning and a color.”

“The triangle refers to viewpoint; I had it represent one’s head or direction and made it green. Square refers to a piece of paper; I had it represent menus or documents and made it pink. The circle and X represent ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision-making and I made them red and blue respectively. People thought those colors were mixed up, and I had to reinforce to management that that’s what I wanted.”

Source: http://www.atmaxplorer.com/2010/08/decoding-the-playstation-controllers-buttons/

Can lightning strike the same place twice?

2010-09-22T20:13:00.004+08:00

"Lightning never strikes twice." This often quoted phrase has been around for hundreds of years, although it has been proven false on several occasions.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lightning does just the opposite of the myth and often strikes the same place repeatedly. This is because certain structures attract lightning better than others. On their page devoted to lightning myths, they point out that the Empire State Building is hit about 25 times per year.

Several people have also been struck multiple times by lightning. The Guinness Book of World Records lists a Virginia Park Ranger named Roy Sullivan as the man who has received the most lightning strikes, having survived 7 strikes over the course of 35 years.

According to National Geographic, the odds of being struck by lightning in an average person's lifetime is about 1 in 3,000.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/news-you-can-use-in-national/lightning-never-strikes-the-same-place-twice

Whose voice is that behind every movie trailers?

2010-09-10T14:33:00.005+08:00

You may not know his name, and you probably don’t recognize his face, but you’ve undoubtedly heard the voice of Don LaFontaine. Borned in August 26, 1940, LaFontaine was an American voiceover artist famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers.

LaFontaine started his showbiz career as a recording engineer. He became a trailer narrator when, in 1964, he filled in for a voice actor who was unavailable to finish the trailer for a Western called Gunfighters of Casa Grande. The filmmakers loved his melodramatic approach, and by 1970 LaFontaine was the most imitated trailer narrator in Hollywood. Because voice actors are largely behind the scenes of a movie or other production we don't often think of them, but Don was one of the most famous voice actors to have ever lived, and during his career he earned the nicknames “The Voice of God,” and “Thunder Throat.” That’s why LaFontaine is the highest paid trailer narrator in Hollywood.

Sadly LaFontaine died on September 1, 2008 following complications from a blood clot in his lungs. Don's final voice over was for the trailer of the movie Call + Response, a documentary for which Don donated his talent about the global slave trade. Don will likely always be remembered for his work in thousands of movie trailers and other voice over work.

Source: http://swindlemagazine.com/issueicons/don-lafontaine/

Where did the bull and bear market get their names?

2010-07-30T16:05:00.004+08:00

First of all, let's remember that bears are sluggish and bulls spirited and burly. The terms are used to describe general actions and attitudes, or sentiment, either of an individual (bear and bull) or the market. A bear market refers to a decline in prices, usually for a period of a few months, in a single security or asset, group of securities or the securities market as a whole. A bull market is when prices are rising.

The actual origins of these expressions are unclear. Here are two of the most frequent explanations given:

The terms "bear" and "bull" are thought to derive from the way in which each animal attacks its opponents. That is, a bull will thrust its horns up into the air, while a bear will swipe down. These actions were then related metaphorically to the movement of a market: if the trend was up, it was considered a bull market; if the trend was down, it was a bear market.

Historically, the middlemen in the sale of bearskins would sell skins they had yet to receive. As such, they would speculate on the future purchase price of these skins from the trappers, hoping they would drop. The trappers would profit from a spread - the difference between the cost price and the selling price. These middlemen became known as "bears", short for bearskin jobbers, and the term stuck for describing a downturn in the market. Conversely, because bears and bulls were widely considered to be opposites due to the once-popular blood sport of bull-and-bear fights, the term bull stands as the opposite of bears.

Source: http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/129.asp

World's largest Maze

2010-07-08T02:19:00.004+08:00

Italian publisher Franco Maria Ricci, the man who published some of the world’s most fantastical works and luxurious volumes has created its biggest maze. His labyrinth of bamboo hedges at Fontanellato near Parma reportedly covers some seven hectares (17.5 acres), which would make it more than five times larger than the Pineapple Garden Maze on Hawaii, the largest permanent hedge maze in the Guinness Book of Records.

The maze is scheduled to open to the public in 2012. Bring a cell phone with you if you go, just in case you get lost.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/world-largest-maze-italy

Why do men have Morning Erection?

2010-07-05T23:10:00.005+08:00

Morning erections, colloquially referred to as "morning wood" and scientifically defined as nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) are a healthy and normal physiological response that most men experience. Normally it happens when they are asleep. Men begin having them in early childhood and they continue throughout adult life. They appear during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the stage of sleep where dreaming occurs.

However, these involuntary erections have nothing to do with dreams or sexual excitement. They occur when neurological stimulators cause blood to flow into the penis. This ensures that oxygen is properly delivered to the penis and helps keep penile tissue healthy.

Men don't normally notice these erections, but may occasionally encounter them upon waking. On average a healthy male will have between three and five erections in a full night sleep, with each erection lasting between 25 -35 minutes. Men who are unable to have an erection because of a psychological problem still have erections during the night.

Many men say that "morning" or nocturnal erections are noticeably harder than those during the day. This is normal, and a natural result of nocturnal erections.

Source: http://www.mybrotha.com/mens-sexual-health1.asp

For more: http://sexuality.about.com/od/malesexualanatomy/a/morning_erectio.htm

How to wrestle a 20-feet Anaconda?

2010-07-03T15:38:00.003+08:00

Ross Allen was a famous herpetologist who started Reptile Institute in Silver Springs, Florida in 1929 displaying native snakes, alligators, and an "Indian Village" with Seminoles he recruited from the Everglades. After watching Ross handle the snakes and Indians wrestle gators, tourists could purchase their own souvenir live reptiles to take back home with them.

One of his incredible stunt was wrestling a 20-feet Anaconda underwater together with his son, Tom.

Source: http://www.lostparks.com/rossal.html

How did Lamborghini get started?

2010-07-01T14:06:00.004+08:00

Ferruccio Lamborghini, a major Italian tractor manufacturer, loved luxury cars. He owned quite a few brands such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Mercedes Benz, but his most beloved cars were Ferraris. He purchased several of them over his lifetime despite a slight dissatisfaction with them. He thought they were just track cars repurposed for the road and found them inelegant.

After having the clutch on his latest Ferrari fixed one too many times, Lamborghini brought his complaints straight to Enzo Ferrari himself. Enzo Ferrari, a man known for his arrogance, told Ferrucio that the problem was not with the car but rather with the 'farmer'.

After being insulted, Ferruccio was furious and at that moment decided to show Enzo how he should build sport cars. Ferrucio went back to his factory, had his Ferrari's clutch dismantled and realized that the clutch manufacturer was the same who supplied the clutches for his tractors. In his warehouse he found a spare part which he thought suitable, and when it was installed the problem was solved. That gave him the inspiration to start his own car line to rival Ferrari’s.

Had Enzo Ferrari a little less pride and a little more awareness of his customer base, the popular Lamborghini brand may never have existed. Instead, his arrogance lead an influential and resourceful customer turn from a loyal fan into a rabid rival.

What is the purpose of the brushes at the side of an escalator?

2010-06-23T01:09:00.005+08:00

No, they are not there to clean your shoes but instead, they are there for a safety reason. This long continuous brush called "Deflector brush" or "Skirt Brush" is made of stiff bristles that runs up the sides of the escalator just above the step level. It is designed to deflect objects like garments, shoes and other things away from the gap between the steps and the side wall. They also work as an indicator to tell passengers that they are close to the step's edge.

How T-Shirt Begins?

2010-06-20T02:25:00.003+08:00

T-shirts started off as underwear. During the First World War, European soldiers wore them underneath their uniforms to keep warm. American troops copied the idea and started calling them 'T-shirts' because of their T shape.

In the 1950s, movie stars like James Dean shocked the world by wearing their T-shirts as proper clothes on telly. It caught on fast and by the 1960s T-shirts had taken over. Sports teams, clubs and rock bands were all using colours and logos on their 'tees' to get noticed.

During the 20th century, the T-shirt went from military-issue wear to an iconic fashion statement, according to the "The T-Shirt Book," a 2002 history of the garment by Charlotte Brunel.

Brunel writes that the shirt went through several mid-century phases, as a symbol of heroism worn by World War II fighters, the rebel uniform of movie icons like Marlon Brando, the socially conscious garb of the 1960s peace movement, and the in-your-face costume of the punk rock scene.

The T-shirt was also a democratizing force in the military because it was worn by all ranks, a philosophy extended to the civilian world when veterans "by the likes of Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy as well as the working man" kept wearing the shirts after completing their service, Brunel said.

"In a word, the T-shirt is to clothing what the blank sheet of paper is to writing -- a surface for imagination and free expression to run wild," Brunel writes.

People are still using T-shirts to make statements. Madonna recently big-upped Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue by wearing their names on her chest.

The latest craze in T-shirts is 'customisation' - decorating them yourself. Trendy fashion designer JJ sparked it off by buying old clothes from charity shops and revamping them for the catwalk. Now, everyone is doing it.

Source: http://www.t-shirtteasers.com/history-of-the-t-shirt.htm

How much is winning a World Cup actually worth?

2010-06-10T16:01:00.002+08:00

When the World Cup kicks off in South Africa this summer, FIFA will have set aside some £250 million for prize money. A huge amount you will agree, especially when you consider that the prize money on offer in 2006 was only £140 million.

The 2010 World Cup winners will receive £18million for becoming champions, the losing finalists will take home a miserable £14 million.

Third and fourth, will take home £12 million and £11 million respectively. Losing Quarter-Finalists will be awarded £8.5 million each while teams exiting in the second round will receive £5.5 million each, leaving teams who were knocked out in the first round to leave with their tale between their legs carrying £5 million each.

In addition to that, each of the 32 teams on show will receive £600,000 each for expenses incurred during preparation for the month long tournament. This money will go some way to keeping the competing teams happy, and knowing that club sides from all over the world will be represented, FIFA has also set aside £25 million for them, too.

The way their payments are structured is that from 15 days before the tournament commences until one day after the player exits the cup, clubs will receive £980 for every day a player is there. Meaning that the minimum that any team will receive for one single player is £25,480.

This was in exchange for clubs not suing an international team should a player become injured.

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/worldcup/story/030810-how-much-is-a-world-cup-worth

Why called Siamese Twins?

2010-06-01T10:41:00.004+08:00

The origin and the historical roots of the term "Siamese twins" can be attributed to Chang and Eng Bunker, the famous conjoined twins from Siam (now Thailand) who earned their living in the U.S. as a circus attraction in the Barnum and Baily Circus. They were born on May 11, 1811 in Siam (now Thailand) joined at the lower chest by a narrow band of flesh, which connected their livers. The twins were discovered in Siam by British merchant Robert Hunter and exhibited as a curiosity during a world tour. As they traveled the world, they became known as "the Siamese twins."

Upon termination of their contract with their discoverer, they settled in the United States, where they married two sisters and had nearly two dozen children. They were successful businessman and farmers in Wilkes County, North Carolina, where they lived until 1874. They were 63 years old when they died.

Why fish fear their own reflections?

2010-05-27T09:35:00.003+08:00

As they swim gently around their tank or bowl, fish tend to enjoy a stress-free existence. But they face one great potential peril, scientists have found. Apparently, if they catch sight of their reflection gawping back at them, they try to fight it.

They are then terrified when their lookalike fights back in exactly the same way. Scientists say the discovery shows how similar their brains are to ours. Biologist Dr Julie Desjardins, who led the study, said: 'I think this indicates there is more going on cognitively than people have long assumed in fish.' Male African cichlids, a territorial species, were either shown their reflection or another fish behind a pane of glass. In both cases the fish tried to fight.

All showed high levels of testosterone and other aggression-inducing hormones in their blood. The fishes' brains were also examined but only those that had fought with their reflection showed high activity in the amygdala, the brain region tied to fear and fear conditioning in all vertebrates - including humans.

Dr Desjardins, of Stanford University, California, said the fear was due to the unfamiliarity of the encounter, adding: 'The fish was not seeing the expected response from its opponent. 'The fact we saw evidence of a really high level of activity in the amygdala is pretty exciting and surprising.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1280218/Are-looking-Why-fish-scared-reflection.html

World's most expensive hair dresser

2010-05-10T14:07:00.003+08:00

Everyone likes to spend big bucks on their hair, but we are talking really big bucks here. I mean like the world's most expensive hairdresser's charges. Stuart Phillips' packages are for those with a fat, let's just say morbidly obese wallet. He offers three VIP packages which are more than just a haircut. The Gold Package starts for $16,300 and features limo ride from the airport to the salon, champagne lunch upon arrival at the salon, hair consultation, head and scalp massage, cut and blow dry from Stuart Phillips himself, instruction to maintain your styling and suggestions for different ways to wear it, a selection of L’Oreal products to take home and limo ride back to the airport after your appointment.

The next in line is the £20,000 ($32,000) Diamond Package which is a two day/night adventure that includes chauffeur driven limo from your home to the airport, first class flight to the UK, limo will pick you up at the airport and take you to one of Britain’s finest hotels, champagne lunch, Stuart Phillips will escort you to the salon, extensive hair consultation, head and scalp massage, haircut, instructions to maintain style and suggestions for different ways of wearing it, selection of L’Oreal products, limo ride back to the hotel, day two to spend as you wish, limo ride back to the airport on the final day, limo ride from airport to your home and a portion of the proceeds go to two different charities.

The third Platinum Package is so expensive that you have contact Stuart Phillips Salon to get a quote. By the way, this package has anything you want including Stuart Phillips coming to you.

Source: http://www.luxurylaunches.com/other_stuff/stuart_phillips_is_the_most_expensive_hair_dresser_in_the_world.php

Boy saved from certain death by his ears

2010-05-06T09:27:00.003+08:00

A boy in China was saved from the certain death of an eight-storey fall when his head got stuck in the bars of a window after he fell through. Ming Ming, aged six, was only prevented from plunging straight through the grate to his death by his ears. Instead, he was left dangling high above the street, to the terror of passers-by below. His screams, audible at street level, alerted them to his life-threatening predicament.

Emergency services raced to save him, worried the weight of his body might pull him through the bars or cause him to suffocate. They used a hydraulic pressure expander to force the bars apart and pulled Ming Ming back into his family's flat. A large crowd gathered on the street below as they carried out the rescue.

He is believed to have wandered to the window while looking for his grandfather, who had left him sleeping to run an errand. Fire service spokesman Wang Shen said its was a miraculous escape. He said: 'He could have fallen to the ground - or have been suffocated - at any minute.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1273158/Boys-ears-save-certain-death-storey-fall.html

Does Counting Sheep Really Help You Fall Asleep?

2010-04-22T10:45:00.002+08:00

As far as we can tell, the idea of counting sheep to get to sleep might go back to ancient shepherds, who had to literally count their sheep every night before turning in, to make sure they were all there. Given the timing and the monotony of the task, someone eventually gave it a shot as a sleep aid and it caught on.

But does it work? Not according to researchers at Oxford University. Allison G. Harvey and Suzanna Payne, from the university’s Department of Experimental Psychology, conducted a study where volunteer insomniacs were monitored as they tried different distraction techniques for falling asleep over several nights.1

Harvey and Payne found that subjects took longer than usual to fall asleep on the nights they were instructed to count sheep, or were not told to do anything. When the insomniacs were told to distract themselves with a relaxing scene like a quiet beach, a walk in the woods, a massage, etc., though, they fell asleep 20 minutes sooner, on average, than they did when sheep counting or doing nothing. Harvey and Payne concluded that counting sheep is just too boring to do for very long, but a more engrossing distraction, like the detailed images of relaxing beaches, occupies enough “cognitive space” to keep people from engaging with too many other thoughts or worries.

Source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/

What is the Maximum Memory Capacity of the Human Brain?

2010-04-21T10:59:00.002+08:00

The human brain consists of about one billion neurons. Each neuron forms about 1,000 connections to other neurons, amounting to more than a trillion connections. If each neuron could only help store a single memory, running out of space would be a problem. You might have only a few gigabytes of storage space, similar to the space in an iPod or a USB flash drive. Yet neurons combine so that each one helps with many memories at a time, exponentially increasing the brain’s memory storage capacity to something closer to around 2.5 petabytes (or a million gigabytes). For comparison, if your brain worked like a digital video recorder in a television, 2.5 petabytes would be enough to hold three million hours of TV shows. You would have to leave the TV running continuously for more than 300 years to use up all that storage.

Source: http://www.neatorama.com/

Is earthquake activity increasing?

2010-04-20T11:02:00.008+08:00

China’s tragic magnitude 6.9 earthquake on April 13 and the recent devastating earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Mexico, and elsewhere have many wondering if this earthquake activity is unusual.
Scientists say 2010 is not showing signs of unusually high earthquake activity. Since 1900, an average of 16 magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes — the size that seismologists define as major — have occurred worldwide each year. Some years have had as few as 6, as in 1986 and 1989, while 1943 had 32, with considerable variability from year to year.

With six major earthquakes striking in the first four months of this year, 2010 is well within the normal range. Furthermore, from April 15, 2009, to April 14, 2010, there have been 18 major earthquakes, a number also well within the expected variation.

“While the number of earthquakes is within the normal range, this does not diminish the fact that there has been extreme devastation and loss of life in heavily populated areas,” said USGS Associate Coordinator for Earthquake Hazards Dr. Michael Blanpied.

What will happen next? Aftershocks will continue in the regions around each of this year’s major earthquakes sites. It is unlikely that any of these aftershocks will be larger than the earthquakes experienced so far, but structures damaged in the previous events could be further damaged and should be treated with caution. Beyond the ongoing aftershock sequences, earthquakes in recent months have not raised the likelihood of future major earthquakes; that likelihood has not decreased, either. Large earthquakes will continue to occur just as they have in the past.

Source: http://www.usgs.gov/

Can stress cause hair to turn grey?

2010-04-18T18:14:00.002+08:00

If you look at photos of President Obama taken before he ran for president and then more recently, you’ll notice a distinct difference: where there used to be only dark brown hair, there are now areas of gray dotting the landscape. It seems that the stress of running a country would turn any person’s hair gray. But is stress really to blame? And why does hair turn gray, even for those of us who don’t have jobs quite as stressful as President Obama’s?

Stress doesn’t actually turn hair gray—the color can't change once produced by hair follicles, so hair cannot suddenly turn gray if you are under a great deal of stress. If a single strand of hair starts out brown (or red or black or blond), it's never going to turn gray. Your hair follicles produce less color as they age, so when hair goes through its natural cycle of dying and being regenerated, it’s more likely to grow in as gray beginning after age 35. Genetics can play a role in when this starts. President Obama is in his mid-40s, so aging could explain his graying. But stress may have played a role, too.

Stress can trigger a common condition called telogen effluvium, which causes hair to shed at about three times the rate it normally does. The hair grows back, so the condition doesn’t cause balding. But if you’re middle-aged and your hair is falling out and regenerating more quickly because of stress, it’s possible that the hair that grows in will be gray instead of its original color.

When and how thoroughly your hair turns gray has mostly to do with the genes you inherit from your parents. Though stress may play a role in the process, it would be more helpful to look to past generations rather than your current stress levels to help you predict when or if you’ll go gray. That’s true whether you’re the President of the United States or someone with a less stressful job.

Source: http://health.msn.com/health-topics

What's Inside the iPad and What it Costs to Make?

2010-04-09T11:01:00.003+08:00

The single most expensive part of an iPad is its 9.7-inch diagonal, thin film transistor liquid-crystal display that supports 262,000 colors and costs $65.

LG Display, a South Korean company, made the display in the particular model torn down by iSuppli, but the firm said that Apple might enlist other companies to make these displays down the road. The same goes for other parts and pieces of the iPad, and as Apple refines its manufacturing processes the costs and number of parts needed should decline, iSuppli said.

The next most expensive component, a glass touch screen and bezel assembly ballparked at $30, is made by Wintek, based in Taiwan.

Rounding out what one feels when holding an iPad is the aluminum backing that adds on $10.50.

For more: http://www.technewsdaily.com/ipad-breakdown-whats-inside-and-what-it-costs-to-make-0410/

Can soap get dirty?

2010-04-05T16:39:00.000+08:00

Soaps are mixtures of sodium or potassium salts derived from fatty acids and alkali solutions in a process called saponification. Each soap molecule is made of a long, non-polar, hydrophobic (repelled by water) hydrocarbon chain (the “tail”) capped by a polar, hydrophilic (water-soluble) “salt” head. Because soap molecules have both polar and non-polar properties, they’re great emulsifiers, which means they can disperse one liquid into another.

When you wash your dirty hands with soap and water, the tails of the soap molecules are repelled by water and attracted to oils, which attract dirt. The tails cluster together and form structures called micelles, trapping the dirt and oils. The micelles are negatively charged and soluble in water, so they repel each other and remain dispersed in water—and can easily be washed away.

So, yes, soap does indeed get dirty. That’s sort of how it gets your hands clean: by latching onto grease, dirt and oil more strongly than your skin does. Of course, when you’re using soap, you’re washing all those loose, dirt-trapping, dirty soap molecules away, but a bar of soap sitting on the bathroom counter or liquid soap in a bottle can also be contaminated with microorganisms. This doesn’t seem to be much of a problem, though.

In the few studies that have been done on the matter, test subjects were given bars of soap laden with E. coli and other bacteria and instructed to wash up. None of the studies found any evidence of bacteria transfer from the soap to the subjects’ hands. (It should be noted that two of these studies were conducted by Procter & Gamble and the Dial Corp., though no contradictory evidence has been found.)

Dirty soap can’t clean itself, though. A contaminated bar of soap gets cleaned via the same mechanical action that helps clean you up when you wash your hands: good ol’ fashioned scrubbing. The friction from rubbing your hands against the soap, as well as the flushing action of running water, removes harmful microorganisms from both your hands and the soap and sends them down the drain.

Source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/50967

How did Adolf Hitler die?

2010-04-01T09:25:00.001+08:00

With the end of World War 2 nearing, defeat of Germany was evident. While the war raged on, Adolf Hitler along with Eva Braun, his girlfriend of long standing, took shelter in the subterranean bunker - Führerbunker on January 16, 1945. It was located below Hitler's Reich Chancellery in Berlin. As German forces suffered one loss after another in the hands of the Allied forces, it is said that Hitler suffered a nervous breakdown on April 22, 1945. By that time the Russian army had entered Berlin and were marching on to the center of the city to capture Hitler.

Hitler consulted his physician Werner Hasse on the best way to commit suicide. Hasse suggested a dose of cyanide along with a gunshot to the head. On the suggestion of his physician, Hitler got doses of cyanide but paranoia seized him after he heard of the attempts of Henreich Himmler's to negotiate peace with the enemies. This was a big blow to Hitler's faith in his men and he started suspecting that the pills were fake. To test their authenticity, Hitler ordered the pills to be tried on his dog Blondii whom he was known to love a lot. The pet died due the poison in the capsules.

Hitler's confidence further suffered a huge setback when he heard about the execution of his Italian ally Benito Mussolini. He did not want to suffer the same fate as Mussolini and the execution of the Italian dictator made Hitler finalize his act of suicide.

On April 29, 1945 around midnight, Hitler married his long time girlfriend Eva Braun in his bunker with minimal ceremony. Later early morning Hitler is said to have signed his last will. He also granted permission for an attempt to breakout later that night to his general Helmuth Weidling. After having their lunch, Hitler and his new bride conveyed their last farewell to their men in the bunker and retired to his personal study at around 14:20 hours.

Witnesses report to have heard a loud gunshot at around 15:30 hours from the study. Hence, the answer to the question when did Hitler die is April 30, 1945 and not April 29, 1945 as it cited in certain resources. When Hitler's valet Heinze Linge opened the door of the study, he found the couple slumped on the sofa leaning away from each other. Hitler had a gunshot wound in his temple from which blood was oozing out. The smell of prussic acid, the gaseous form of cyanide, pervaded the room. Eva Braun did not have any physical injury. It was evident that she had died due to consumption of cyanide. Later reports confirmed that Hitler had also consumed cyanide.

Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-did-hitler-die.html

Why Are Keyboards QWERTY?

2010-03-25T14:19:00.000+08:00

The arrangement of the first six letters in the top alphabet row of a standard keyboard – QWERTY – goes way back. The layout was created in 1873 when Christopher Latham Sholes made improvements to his earlier typewriter models in order to design a quicker and more efficient typewriter for E. Remington and Sons.

Sholes noticed the alphabetical layout of the keys in his original models tended to jam, so he changed their order, spreading the most common pairs of letters farther apart. Sholes' QWERTY model was named the Remington and became available as the first commercial typewriter in 1874.

Since then, many alternatives to QWERTY have been created, such as the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (named after professor and co-creator August Dvorak) and the Colemak keyboard layout. Even though these new keyboards are designed to increase typing speed while maintaining ergonomic considerations, QWERTY remains the standard.

"The QWERTY keyboard layout was developed to reduce keys jamming on mechanical typewriters to improve typist productivity," Alan Hedge, a professor in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell University, where he directs the Human Factors and Ergonomics research programs.

"These days computers don't have keys that jam, but even though QWERTY isn't the optimal keyboard layout, it's not the worst and it seems that we're stuck with it," Hedge told Life's Little Mysteries.

As in other behaviors, it seems, humans are creatures of habit:

"With electronic keyboards, there is no need for QWERTY, but people have become accustomed to the design and that is why it continues to be used," explained Robert L. Goldberg, a professor at the University of California's Ergonomics Program.

Source: http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/why-are-keyboards-qwerty-0459/

Something about German cars

2010-03-22T15:44:00.008+08:00

Mercedes-Benz

Founded in 1926 by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler after the merging of their car companies, Daimler-Motored-Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie. The name "Mercedes" came about in 1900 when a wealthy European businessman named Emil Jellinek wanted a faster car with new engine and to be named after his 10-year-old daughter’s name, Mercedes Jellink. The three-pointed stars represent their dominance on land, sea and air.

BMW

BMW or Bavarian Motor Works was founded in 1913 by Karl Friedrich Rapp, an aircraft engine manufacturer and Gustav Otto, a German aircraft manufacturer .Some believed that their logo represents a Bavarian flag which has blue and white cases while others believed that it represents white propeller blades against a blue sky (during World War I, BMW was a major supplier of airplane engines).

Audi

Founded in 1910 by German engineer August Horch, who used to work for Karl Benz. The name came from a son of his business partner, Franz Fikentscher. "Audi" in Latin means "listen", which is "Horch" in German (Horch was August's former company). The four interlinked rings logo represents four car makers Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer when they merged to form Auto Union in 1932.

Volkswagen

Founded in 1937, Volkswagen (German for "People’s Car") was originally a proposal from Adolf Hitler to Ferdinand Porsche, the car designer to design a car that can fit 5 people and deliver speed of 100km/h (62mph). He instructed that the car should look like a May beetle. Later it was found out that Hitler transformed the car into a war vehicle that carries 3 men, a machine gun and ammunition. It was only after the war in 1946 that the Volkswagen finally became the “Peoples Car” after the British took over.

Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche founded Porsche in 1931. Interestingly, he was the engineer for the first Volkswagen created, hence the first Porsche made used machinery from the Volkswagen Beetle. The first model was launched in 1938 and 10 years later the second Porsche was released, the 356. The end of the war saw Porsche participating in motor racing which proved to be highly successful. 1963 saw the launch of the Porsche 911, the most well known model, which is still in production today due to its success by the public and on the race track. The idea for the Porsche emblem came from the founder's son, Ferry Porsche. The 6 antlers in the logo date from the province emblem of Baden-Württemberg.

Images from: http://www.instantshift.com/2010/02/25/22-corporate-brand-logo-evolution-of-automobile-groups/

World's oldest football club

2010-03-19T16:02:00.002+08:00

Sheffield FC established in 1857 is the first football club to have ever become a formalised and independent organisation, the 152-year history of Sheffield FC has been inextricably linked with the progression of the game in Britain and the growth of football into the globalised entertainment industry it is today.

Established during the height of the industrial revolution in Britain’s most prolific steel-producing centre, Sheffield FC quickly became an integral force during the gradual installation of football as a more organised and systematic athletic discipline in the UK.

After the club’s foundation in 1857 the committee began to methodically analyse the various loosely regulated codes of mob football that dominated the British game at the time, eventually arriving at a standardised set of rules which were adopted by the Sheffield Football Association, football’s first formal governing body, at its establishment in 1857.

In 1863, just six years after the formation of the Sheffield FA, the club became a founder member of the Football Association, the first national bureaucracy designed solely for the purpose of administrating the game of football and a hugely significant development in the game’s journey towards professionalism.

Despite now playing their football in the semi-professional Northern Premier League, Sheffield FC’s impact on the game should not be underestimated. Indeed, the club should be lauded as a revolutionary influence and controlling presence on the early history of association football.

Source: http://soccerlens.com/oldest-football-clubs/36385/

World's strongest granny

2010-03-15T01:30:00.014+08:00

Introducing 76-year-old Sakinat Khanapiyeva from the village of Sultan-Yangiyurt in Dagestan, Russia. This pint-size old timer is the world's strongest granny, and she can tear through phone books, lift a 52-lb. dumbbell while standing on a carpet of nails, and break horseshoes.

Supergran found out how strong she was at the age of 10 when she moved a 661-lb. box of grain (that's the weight of four grown men) and has been showing her titanic power ever since. Alas, only last year did she make it into the Guinness Book of Records.

But perhaps most endearing are her wise words of wisdom. "Anyone can do anything they want," she told this news crew. "But good deeds are what matter most."

Source: http://www.asylum.com/2010/03/10/Sakinat-Khanapiyeva-worlds-strongest-granny-76/

Do Eskimos live in igloos?

2010-03-14T00:12:00.004+08:00

Eskimos do not actually live in igloos as what most people commonly think. The word "igloo" means house in one of the Eskimos dialects and not always referring to a round-shaped structure made of ice blocks. Eskimos or rather "Inuit", as what they preferred to be called live in more permanent structures.

The Inuit, and other Artic populations, have used igloos as temporary shelters for thousands of years, especially during a hunting trip. In order to find food, it was necessary for them to live a wandering life, following their migrations. Generally, they would have a summer home and a winter home. Tents made of seal or caribou skin provided shelter during the summer months and during the winter, they built igloos.

Inside an igloo, the temperature can be below zero, but when comparing to the outside, -40 degrees Celcius, it is still much warmer. Igloos are surprisingly strong and can hold the weight of the builder standing on top. The important thing about igloos is that they are relatively easy to build (with practice) and can be built very quickly (10 minutes) and it uses a resource that there is plenty of in the artic, ice and snow.

What's Bangkok actual name?

2010-03-12T12:04:00.008+08:00

Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand is internationally recognized and common to foreigners. However, the Thais do not call their capital, Bangkok. In fact, locals who lived in the rural areas may not have heard of Bangkok at all. Krung Thep or the longer version, Krung Thep Mahanakorn is the actual name of Bangkok. The name is pretty much shorten because the real length name of the city is so long that it was recorded in the Guinness book of records as the world's longest place name.

Given by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, and later edited by King Mongkut, the full ceremonial name of the city is;

Krungthep mahanakorn amorn ratanakosin mahintara yutthaya mahadilok phop nopparat rajathani burirom udomrajaniwes mahasatharn amorn phimarn avatarnsathit sakkattiya visanukam prasit.

The meaning is;

The great city of angels, the supreme unconqueralble land of the great immortal divinity (Indra), the royal capital of nine noble gems, the pleasant city, with plenty of grand royal palaces, and divine paradises for the reincarnated deity (Vishnu), given by Indra and created by the god of crafting (Visnukarma).

It takes about 12 seconds to pronounce the name. Listen here

Source : http://www.thailandlife.com/ericshackle/placename.html

Tortured Boy eat feces and drink urine to survive

2010-03-12T11:59:00.002+08:00

The 9-year-old was being kept a prisoner in a bedroom by his stepmother, Jaime Day. The door was tied with a dog leash so it couldn't be opened. Inside the cops found the boy, weighing just 38 pounds, lying on dirty foam atop a box spring covered in blood and urine.

He was dressed only in a T-shirt, shorts, and a diaper. It seems stepmom wouldn't let him use the bathroom, since the room reeked of urine. He also had bruises across his body and face.

The boy spent 13 days in the hospital recovering, suffering from hypothermia due to malnutrition. And his story of abuse seemed unparalleled.

He said Jaime Day refused to feed him, instead forcing him to watch as the rest of the family including two boy ages 4 and 6 ate in front of him. At times he became so hungry and thirsty that he drank his own urine and ate his own feces to survive.

He was also tortured. Jaime Day set a sock filled with rice on his back, then heated it up, causing the boy second-degree burns.

Jaime Day has been hit with 25 counts of child cruelty. Murry Day faces an additional five counts.

Source: http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/03/jaime_b_day_wicked_stepmother.php

Girl mistakes gun for Wii controller kills herself

2010-03-09T09:23:00.004+08:00

Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan, a Tennessee girl, aged 3, accidentally killed herself on Sunday night, according to local police in Wilson County. The incident allegedly occurred after she mistook a gun for a Wii controller.

Investigators claim that the girl's stepfather, Douglas Cronberger, had left a semi-automatic weapon on the living room table, and that the child had mistaken it for a Nintendo Wii controller. The child is then said to have fatally shot herself in the abdomen. She was rushed to hospital, but pronounced dead the same night.

The child had been playing a Wii game. The game’s controller, according to authorities, was shaped like a gun that looked very similar to the real handgun. The authorities claim the girl "pulled the gun off the table and it went off."

No charges have been filed in the case.

Source: http://allaboutthegames.co.uk/feature_story.php?headline=Girl-mistakes-gun-for-Wii-controller---kills-herself-News&article_id=10318

What comes after Tera?

2010-03-04T15:52:00.017+08:00

The terms, Kilo, Mega, Giga and Tera particularly used with "byte" are common and known of by most of the people but ever wondered what come's after Tera? Here goes the list.

Table from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix

World's biggest airplane graveyard

2010-02-24T16:49:00.001+08:00

New high-resolution images from Google Earth reveal the size and extent of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, where the United States Air Force sends their outdated and decommissioned planes to rest.

As reported by the Telegraph, "The Boneyard," as the location is known, covers 2,600 acres and houses over 4,200 military aircraft valued at roughly $35 billion dollars.

The location holds aircraft there for a variety of reasons. Some planes are held for long-term storage, some are scavenged for spare parts, some are held for short-term storage or sale, and others are later restored to flight status. The location has also been utilized by Hollywood as a set for movies such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/23/boneyard-military-cemeter_n_473529.html

Why sky is blue?

2010-02-23T15:56:00.001+08:00

The blue colour of sky is due to the scattering of light by small particles of the atmosphere (air molecules) when the light is incident on particles whose size is smaller than the wavelength of light, it is scattered.

According to Rayleigh law, the intensity of scattered light is inversely proportional to the fourth power of wavelength.

As the wavelength of blue colour is smallest and that of red light is longest, the blue light is scattered most and the red light is scattered least.

The scattered blue light reaching the eye gives the appearance of a blue sky. The sky will appear black in the absence of earth’s atmosphere because no scattering of any colour takes place in that case. While flying in an aeroplane one can observe the sky to be black at high altitudes.

Source: http://www.icbse.com/2009/sky-appears-blue-colour/

The Jade Emperor

2010-02-22T14:23:00.004+08:00

Prior to the introduction of Buddhism in the first century A.D., the deity was never represented in human form in China. But the native Taoists were quick to assimilate this new form of worship into their own. A Triad of Gods was created, the most important being the Pure August Jade Emperor, Yü Huang Shang Ti, who became so popular that the Buddhists in time also adopted him. Also known as Tien Kung, he is the supreme deity of folk religion. His rule was traditionally conceived of as equal to that of the reigning emperor of China. His concern is meting out justice to men through his subordinate deities. He is ultimately responsible for the deification of other gods, or for their dismissal from the pantheon.

The Jade Emperor dwelt in the Jade Castle of Abstraction, high above the earth and the thirty-three heavens, according to some accounts; or according to others, on the Mountain of Jade in the K'un Lun range. Here, on the shore of the Jade Lake, grew a Jade Tree, which measured three hundred arm lengths across and whose red jade fruit conferred the boon of eternal life.

On the Jade Emperor's birthday (the ninth day of the first lunar month), special sacrifices of pork, chicken, duck and occasionally goat are placed before his image. Although the emperor himself is considered a vegetarian, he is believed to feast with meat-eating friends. The emperor is usually depicted with two servants who hold fans above his head; in a few temples, he is flanked by civil and military aides. Images of the Jade Emperor normally show him seated in imperial robes, his flattopped crown notable for the short strings of pearls that dangle from the front. He holds a short, flat tablet in both hands before his chest. Historically, he did not come into prominence until the ninth century, considered late by Chinese historical standards.]

Source: http://www.holymtn.com/jade/JadeEmperor.htm

What Really Makes a Good Cell Phone Camera?

2010-02-19T10:37:00.002+08:00

The great megapixel race may finally be slowing down in digital cameras, but it's picking up steam in cell phones.

If this sounds a little crazy, that's because it is, experts say. Few people need 12 megapixels, especially in a cell phone camera. The megapixel race has grown out of the megapixel myth, the false notion that a camera with higher resolution is always better. Manufacturers and retailers, eager to convince consumers that they need the latest camera and phone models, have pushed this faulty idea hard.

"By itself, the number of megapixels doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the image produced," said Steve Berardi, founder of PhotoNaturalist.net. "Sure, it will tell you how big the image is, but bigger doesn't always mean better quality."

For the average shutterbug, five or six megapixels is probably plenty of resolution. Beyond this level, various other camera characteristics, such as the size of the image sensor and optics quality, are more important than raw megapixels.

As with the early days of digital cameras, the quality of cell phone photos is improving. But higher megapixel counts are likely not the main reason why, Berardi told TechNewsDaily.

"It's probably because they're using better [image] sensors, or just larger ones."

Source: http://www.livescience.com/technology/cell-phone-camera-guide-100211.html

Who was Saint Valentine?

2010-02-14T12:55:00.000+08:00

Several tales have taken root as the cultural heart of Valentine's Day, most of which stem from the patron Saint Valentine.

One legend describes a priest named Valentine who lived during the third century in Rome. The Roman Emperor Claudius II was building up a military at the time and supposedly thought single men would make better soldiers. To build a stronger army, the emperor outlawed marriage for young men. Feeling this sweetheart ban was unjust, Valentine apparently performed secret marriage ceremonies. When found out, legend has it the love priest was put to death.

A slight twist to the tragic love story has the priest or bishop being publicly beheaded for refusing to denounce the name of Christ. His feast day was set as Feb. 14 by the Church to honor his heroic life.

Valentine's name was not associated with romantic and courtly love until the 14th century, when Geoffrey Chaucer incorporated St. Valentine’s Day into his love poem "The Parliament of Fowls," according to Philip Florio, assistant to the vice president of student life at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

The ensuing Valentine's Day has been linked with heroism and romantic love for centuries. Flowers, candies and syrupy-sweet cards help men and women profess their love for one another.

Source: http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/070214_llm_valentine.html

Is it safe to drink urine?

2010-02-12T15:36:00.001+08:00

Short answer – yes. Long answer – probably, yes. There is nothing particularly dangerous about drinking your own urine and none of the compounds found in urine are going to kill you. In fact, some people regularly drink their urine for health, healing, and cosmetic purposes. This practice is known as Urine Therapy. Nasty crap if you ask me, but to each his own.

The safety of drinking it changes depending on the situation you’re in though. A normal person with a healthy intake of food and water every day is more than safe why downing a glass of their pee. This is because they have enough water in their body – mainly their kidneys – to dilute the urine and the compounds it contains.

But what about someone in an emergency or survival situation? Often, when you’re in a survival situation you’re dehydrated. If you’re thinking of drinking your own piss to stay alive, you damn well should be. When you’re dehydrated your urine is concentrated. The sodium content, which is already quite high, is even higher. This also means the other chemicals and any toxins your kidneys had filtered out are more concentrated.

When you drink your urine when you’re already dehydrated you’re introducing concentrated chemicals back into your body for your kidneys to filter again. You might get a very slight amount of hydration from doing it, but as the urine if cycled through your kidneys again and becomes even more concentrated it will quickly become more of a danger than a benefit to drink it.

Source: http://www.eluctor.com/should-you-drink-urine-to-survive/

Sea Serpent or Dragon?

2010-02-08T22:17:00.005+08:00

The origin of sea serpent stories is quite literally based on sea serpents. The oarfish or scientifically known as Regalecus Glesne is a strange-looking fish. Its long body undulates like a snake, and can grow up to the length of 11 meters (36 feet) and weigh as much as 300 kilograms (660 pounds).

These deep water fish of the tropics and subtropics are rarely seen, and usually only dead or dying specimens are found washed ashore. In 1996, a team of U.S. Navy SEALs found an oarfish while training on Coronado Island off the coast of San Diego, southern California. It was 7.3 meters (24 feet) long and weighed 136 kilograms (300 pounds).

The distinctive red dorsal fins that the oarfish can raise like a bird's crest give it the dragonesque appearance that no doubt impressed ancient seafarers. They described their sightings of sea dragons and thereby contributed to the dragon lore of many cultures.

In Asia, due to its strong resemblance to the mytical creature, "Naga" or dragon, the fishermen believed that whoever caught the fish must return it back to the sea for fear of the Sea Naga King. They believed that bad luck will be bestowed upon them if they don't do so. It is said that this creature was seen beached before the Tsunami disaster happened back in 2004.

How did Bruce Lee die?

2010-02-04T22:35:00.001+08:00

Following the untimely death of Bruce Lee, there were many rumors and speculations about the cause of his death. These rumors ranged from murder to drug overdose. None of which were true.

For the most part, the course of events on that fateful July day in 1973 can be pieced together. According to Lee's wife, Linda, Bruce met film producer Raymond Chow at 2 p.m. at home to discuss the making of Game of Death. They worked until 4 p.m., and then drove together to the home of Betty Tingpei, a Taiwanese actress who was to also have a leading role in the film. The three went over the script at Tingpei's home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.

A short time later, Lee complained of a headache and Tingpei gave him a tablet of Equagesic a kind of super apirin. Apart from that, Lee reportedly consumed nothing but a couple of soft drinks.

At around 7:30 p.m., Lee lay down for a nap and was still asleep when Chow called to ask why he and Tingpei had not yet shown up for dinner as planned. The actress told Chow she could not wake Lee. The ensuing autopsy found traces of cannabis in Lee's stomach, but the significance of this discovery is debatable. Some believe the cannabis caused a chemical reaction that led to the cerebral edema, but the coroner's inquiry refutes this theory. In fact, one doctor was quoted as saying that the cannabis being in Lee's stomach was "no more significant than if Bruce had drunk a cup of tea that day."

After a lengthy coroner's inquest in Hong Kong. A panel of medical experts eventually concluded that Bruce Lee had died from a hypersensitive reaction to a compound in the drug Equagesic. This hypersensitivity led to a swelling of the brain and resulted in Bruce Lee entering a deep coma from which he never awoke. The coroner declared himself satisfied with the finding, and so did Linda Lee, his wife.

Source: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/16964

Will eggs raise your cholesterol?

2010-02-02T23:56:00.002+08:00

For more than 50 years, eggs have been called unhealthful because they are among the foods that contain the highest levels of cholesterol. However, in recent years eggs have been rehabilitated. In Bangkok, a team of researchers at Mahidol University showed that adding an egg a day to the diets of healthy people in Thailand raised the good HDL cholesterol that prevents heart attacks. It did not affect the bad LDL cholesterol or triglycerides.

Adding as many as three eggs per day to your diet will not raise cholesterol. More than 80 percent of the cholesterol in your body is manufactured by your liver, and less than 20 percent comes from the food you eat. When you eat more cholesterol, your liver makes less. When you eat less cholesterol, your liver makes more. However, if you add eggs you must subtract another equal source of calories, because increasing caloric intake will raise cholesterol. So this is not an invitation to eat an unlimited amount of eggs. The study supports other research showing that eggs in moderation are not harmful, and that up to one egg a day may have specific health benefits.

Source: http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthy-eating-article/eggs-do-not-raise-cholesterol/7364

Why snow is white?

2010-02-01T22:13:00.001+08:00

The reason we see snow in the first place is due to light. As snow falls through the atmosphere and lands on the ground, light is reflected off the surface of the ice crystals. Since the snow has multiple facets, some of the light is scattered.

Visible light from the sun is made up of a series of wavelengths of light on the electromagnetic spectrum that our eyes interpret as different colors. When light hits an object, different wavelengths of light are absorbed and some are reflected back to our eyes. To complicate matters, light passing through ice will not continue through the ice crystal without first changing directions or reflecting off an interior angle within the ice crystal.

No one really ever sees one snowflake at a time. Most of the time, we see huge collections of millions of snowflakes on the ground. As light hits the snow on the ground, there are so many locations for light to be reflected, that no single wavelength of light gets absorbed or reflected with any consistency. Most all of the white light from the sun hitting the snow will reflect back and still be white light. Therefore, snow on the ground appears white.

One other important point to remember is that snow is indeed tiny ice crystals. Ice itself is not transparent like the glass in a window, but translucent. Light does not pass through ice easily. Instead, it bounces around back and forth within the ice crystals. As the light inside an ice crystal bounces around off the interior surfaces, some light is reflected and other light is absorbed. With the millions of ice crystals in a layer of snow, all this bouncing, reflecting, and absorbing leads to a neutral ground. That means there is no preference to one side of the visible spectrum (red) or the other side (violet) to be absorbed or reflected. The sum total of all that bouncing leads to white.

Source: http://weather.about.com/od/winterweather/a/snow_white.htm

Boy, 14 killed parents over chores

2010-01-26T23:38:00.003+08:00

Chores are never a teenager's favorite way to spend a fall afternoon, but for 14-year-old John Caudle chores were the motive for murder, Colorado police say.

In an arrest affidavit, Caudle told investigators that on Oct. 26, 2009 he argued with his mother because he didn’t want to do household chores like taking out the trash or cleaning his room. Then he said he went to a gun safe, removed two .22 caliber pistols and shot his mother dead.

Caudle said he then hid in a laundry room and shot his stepfather when he
walked past a short time later.

Family members found the bodies. After allegedly killing his parents, he spent the evening watching movies and playing on a computer. The next morning, Caudle even drove his stepfather's truck to school, according to KUSA-TV.

His friends and teachers said that Caudle seemed "happy" the day after the murder, investigators said. Authorities have charged Caudle as an adult in the slayings. He faces two counts of first-degree murder.

How English was created?

2010-01-26T22:50:00.004+08:00

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from "Englaland" (Land of the Angles) and their language was called "Englisc" from which the words England and English are derived.

The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English or "Anglo-Saxon". Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.

The most famous surviving work from the Old English period is the epic poem "Beowulf" composed by an unknown poet.

Source: http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm

Saudi girl, 13, sentenced to 90 lashes after she took a mobile phone to school

2010-01-24T14:53:00.002+08:00

A 13-year-old Saudi schoolgirl is to be given 90 lashes in front of her classmates after she was caught with a mobile camera phone.

The girl, who has not been named, was also sentenced to two months in jail by a court in the eastern city of Jubail.

She had assaulted her headmistress after being caught with the gadget which is banned in girl schools, said Al-Watan, a Saudi newspaper. The kingdom's use of such punishments has been widely condemned by human rights organisations.

Three years ago 16 schoolchildren, aged between 12 and 18, were each sentenced to between 300 and 500 lashes for being aggressive to a teacher.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1244689/Saudi-girl-13--sentenced-90-lashes-took-mobile-phone-school.html#ixzz0dDNfSojJ

Man Buried in Haiti Rubble uses iPhone to treat wounds, survive

2010-01-22T08:46:00.003+08:00

U.S. filmmaker Dan Woolley was shooting a documentary about the impact of poverty in Haiti when the earthquake struck. He could have died, but he ultimately survived with the help of an iPhone first-aid app that taught him to treat his wounds.

After being crushed by a pile of rubble, Woolley used his digital SLR to illuminate his surroundings and snap photos of the wreckage in search of a safe place to dwell. He took refuge in an elevator shaft, where he followed instructions from an iPhone first-aid app to fashion a bandage and tourniquet for his leg and to stop the bleeding from his head wound, according to an MSNBC story.

The app even warned Woolley not to fall asleep if he felt he was going into shock, so he set his cellphone’s alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes. Sixty-five hours later, a French rescue team saved him.

Woolley’s incident highlights a large social implication of the iPhone and other similar smartphones. A constant internet connection, coupled with a device supporting a wealth of apps, can potentially transform a person into an all-knowing, always-on being. In Woolley’s case, an iPhone app turned him into an amateur medic to help him survive natural disaster.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/haiti-survivor-iphone/

Why Secondhand Smoke is Dangerous?

2010-01-21T08:31:00.003+08:00

Secondhand smoke has a variety of names, including environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), passive smoking, and involuntary smoking. By definition, secondhand smoke is "sidestream smoke" (smoke from the burning end of a lit cigarette) or "mainstream smoke" (smoke that is exhaled from the lungs of a smoker).

When doctors refer to secondhand smoke, they are mostly describing sidestream, or ambient, smoke. Put another way, when a smoker lights up a cigarette, roughly 80 percent of the smoke burns off into the room and only 20 percent is inhaled. Sidestream smoke, then, is more dangerous than mainstream smoke.

While both types of smoke share most of the same compounds (including more than 200 substances known to be harmful) sidestream smoke has much higher concentrations of ammonia and chemical carcinogens such as benzene (an additive formerly found in gasoline before it was deemed to be too dangerous). A primary reason for this is that when a smoker inhales, he or she is drawing oxygen through the lit end of the cigarette, thereby nearly doubling the heat at which the smoke is produced. This increase in temperature results in the formulation of smaller, less harmful compounds.

Secondhand smoke is not solely derived from cigarettes; pipes and cigars produce many of the same harmful substances. In fact, a cigar produces much more sidestream smoke than a cigarette because of its larger size. Recent studies have shown that even hookahs carry a significant secondhand smoke risk

You may be surprised about the contents of secondhand smoke. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, here is a list of some chemicals in secondhand smoke and the other places you can find them:

Carbon monoxide (also found in car exhaust)
Arsenic (rat poison)
Ammonia (window cleaner)
Acetone (nail polish remover)
Hydrogen cyanide (gas chamber poison)
Napthalene (mothballs)
Sulphur compounds (match tips)
Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
Butane (lighter fluid)

Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/understanding-secondhand-smoke-ga1.htm

Why cats have 9 lives?

2010-01-20T19:15:00.003+08:00

The belief that a cat has nine lives is probably based on the fact that a cat is more tenacious of life than most other animals. Those who have undertaken to kill cats appreciate that fact.

Attempts have been made to trace the origin of the common expression back to ancient Egypt. It is often said that Pasht, or Bastet, the cat-headed goddess of Egypt, had nine lives and that this circumstance gave rise to the old saying about a cat having nine lives. Egyptologists, however, say that they have found no evidence for the statement. In fact Bastet, being a goddess, would be regarded as immortal. Nine, however, was a favorite number in Egypt, as well as with other ancient orientals, and it may have somehow been associated with the cat-headed goddess.

Source: http://www.logoi.com/notes/cat-nine-lives.html

I can't go to work today because I murdered someone

2010-01-17T04:09:00.001+08:00

A Belgian woman who is employed in an old peoples' home has come up with an original excuse for not turning up for work. 'I won't be at work tomorrow because I've murdered somebody,' 32 year-old Valerie

Pilloni wrote in an SMS which she sent to her boss at Herve, near Liege. And she was telling the truth. Police were alerted by her employers, after a man was found lying dead in a pool of blood at the nurse's home.

Ivan Brasseur, 58, had been stabbed several times. The couple had been living together for several weeks, but the reason for the killing is unknown.

Pilloni is now in custody.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1243465/I-come-work-today-Ive-murdered-What-absent-worker-told-boss.html

The World's Oldest Lightbulb still burns

2010-01-16T02:32:00.001+08:00

If Adolphe Chailet had his way some 110 years ago, buying light bulbs would be a rarity. This competitor of Thomas Edison is the engineering mind behind the world’s oldest light bulb, a 109-year-old light at Fire Station 6 in Livermore, California. Not only has Chailet’s design survived several moves and a multitude of earthquakes, it’s also survived going up in voltage from 110 to 120 volts. It’s indestructible!

Even when it was built back in 1900, the Shelby-style light bulb was remarkable. During a series of challenges, Chailet’s bulb proved to have the strongest filament, surviving increasing voltage levels while competitor bulbs burned out. The so-called Centennial Light just kept getting brighter. The light stays on all day, and has only been off for a grand total of one week, during station renovations in 1937. It’s not very creatively made or exceptionally bright these days, but it’s definitely stood the test of time.

When they say that things were better made in the old days, they’re not taking into account this light. Even in the old days, they didn’t make a bulb this good! Chailet didn’t build his inventions to fail.

Source: http://www.popfi.com/2010/01/15/the-worlds-oldest-lightbulb-still-burns/

World's loudest insect

2010-01-14T22:32:00.002+08:00

The sound of the cicada love song can be deafening. In fact, it's the loudest song known in the insect world. Some species of cicadas register over 100 decibels when singing. Only males sing, trying to attract females for mating. Cicada calls are species-specific, helping individuals locate their own kind when different kinds of cicadas share the same habitat.

The Mating Call of the Male Cicada
The adult male cicada possesses two ribbed membranes called tymbals, one on each side of its first abdominal segment. By contracting the tymbal muscle, the cicada buckles the membrane inward, producing a loud click. As the membrane snaps back, it clicks again. The two tymbals click alternately.

Air sacs in the hollow abdominal cavity amplify the clicking sounds. The vibration travels through the body to the tympani, which amplify the sound further.

The Cicada Chorus
If a single male cicada can make a noise over 100 decibels, imagine the noise produced when thousands of cicadas sing together. Males aggregate as they sing, creating a cicada chorus. Together, the males sing and fly, landing on sunny branches near the tops of trees.

The Female Response – Wing Flicking
A female cicada that finds a male attractive will respond to his call by doing a maneuver descriptively called the "wing flick." As you might imagine, this involves a brisk movement of the wings. The male can both see and hear the wing flick, and will reply with more clicking of his tymbals. As the duet continues, the male makes his way toward her and begins a new song, called the courtship call.

The Alarm Call
In addition to its mating and courtship calls, the male cicada makes noise when startled. Pick up a male cicada, and you'll probably hear a good example of the cicada shriek. Similar to the mating call, the alarm call adds to the noise of the cicada population.

Source: http://insects.about.com/od/truebugs/f/cicadacalls.htm

Why Porn Actors don't use Condoms?

2010-01-09T10:10:00.001+08:00

The porn industry doesn't fall under the watchful eye of any government agency; it is self-regulating and has created certain rules that performers are required to follow. The Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, known as AIM (aim-med.org), is a nonprofit organization that does all the STD testing for the porn industry. It was founded in 1997 as the centralized place for HIV testing, and today it provides full STD testing and treatment as well as other medical services.

The industry now requires that all performers arrive on a set with an AIM test no older than 30 days with negative results for HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. While AIM tests for other STDs, performers are not required to disclose those results; Belladonna's post broke the silence about herpes and other risks.

So why doesn't everyone use condoms to protect themselves? The gay-male-porn industry adopted a widespread policy of mandatory condom use, but the straight-porn world has not followed suit. At the height of an HIV outbreak in 2004, which infected four performers, there was a quarantine period, followed by announcements from some companies that they'd be condom-only. By 2006, the policies were abandoned, and nearly all straight porn shot today is condom-free.

The rationale is that consumers don't want to see condoms in what's supposed to be a fantasy. Some producers claim that movies with condoms sell drastically fewer copies than movies without them. Performers themselves have mixed opinions.

Many would love to use them for every scene, but don't out of fear of losing work. Others, including women, say that it makes sex less comfortable or more difficult. Some male performers find that condoms hamper their ability to maintain an erection—thus the scenes take longer to shoot.

Source: http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-09-04/columns/danger-on-the-set/

Why do you feel sleepy after eating?

2010-01-08T10:20:00.000+08:00

Eating sugary foods or those made from flour, such as bakery products or pastas, causes blood sugar to rise higher than normal. This causes your pancreas to release large amounts of insulin, which drives one of the protein building blocks called tryptophan from your bloodstream into your brain, where it is converted to serotonin that makes people fall asleep naturally at night.

Many meals contain the L-tryptophan. This essential (cannot be made in the body) amino acid needs to be taken on an empty stomach and without any other amino acids or protein in order to make you drowsy.

Some people think, however, that feeling drowsy is not necessarily due to this tryptophan. Tracy Gensler, a registered dietitian in Chevy Chase, U.S.A, says tryptophan does not deserve nearly the blame it gets for making us sleepy. "The body wants to focus its efforts on digestion," Ms. Gensler says. "Drowsiness occurs after any big meal, regardless of the meal components. Digestion of any large meal, whether it's a high-protein, a high-fat or a high-carbohydrate meal, causes the familiar after-meal drowsiness."

Source: http://www.yementimes.com/DefaultDET.aspx?i=825&p=health&a=2

How do you clean the world's tallest skyscraper, Dubai's Burj Khalifa?

2010-01-06T10:48:00.002+08:00

Cleaning the windows of skyscrapers can be a daunting process. But never more so than for the company who landed the epic task of cleaning the windows of the world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa.

Towering at 2,717ft and with 1,292,500 sq ft of glass, the £1billion Burj is an imposing building, and one designers were determined would be sparkling clean in time for yesterday's extravagant opening ceremony.

Dale Harding, the general manager of cleaning company Cox Gomyl, said the firm installed £5 million of hi-tech equipment, including unique window-cleaning carousels which they designed, to ensure the Burj was constantly clean.

Twelve machines weighing 13 tons carry up to 36 cleaners, who use ordinary soapy water to wash down the Burj's 24,830 reflective windows in a process that takes three months from top to bottom.

The cleaners stand on the specially designed machines, which emerge from cavities in the skyscraper and track along rails skirting its curved towers.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1240837/Brave-window-cleaners-challenge-worlds-tallest-skyscraper-Dubais-Burj-Khalifa.html

Man Sleeps with Dead Wife for Five Years

2010-01-05T12:02:00.000+08:00

Le Van, a 55-year-old man from a small town in Vietnam's central province Quand Nam, has been sleeping next to the body of his dead wife for the past 5 years. Wanting to be close to his deceased wife, Le Van began sleeping over her grave following her death.

After 20 months, the harsh weather conditions at night lead him to find another way of remaining close to her. Le Van reportedly dug a tunnel-like access point to her grave in order to sleep close to her.

Once his seven children became aware of what he was doing, they expressed deep concern for Le Van's actions and forced him to come home at night.

It was in November of 2004 that Le Van actually dug up the remains of his wife and took them back to his home. It seems he tried to immortalize his wife's remains by encasing them in clay and then subsequently clothing her. He then placed her in his bed in order to continue sleeping next to her,

Neighbors remain concerned for Le Van and are hesitant to visit his home. He opened up to the press about his actions but it remains unknown what will become of his dead wife's remains.

Source: http://www.nowpublic.com/strange/vietnamese-man-le-van-slept-next-his-dead-wife-5-years

Worst Serial Killer of all time

2010-01-04T09:28:00.000+08:00

Pedro Alonso Lopez is by far the most dangerous serial killers of all time with a victim count of over 300. Better known as the Monster of Andes, Lopez killed nearly 100 tribal women in Peru by 1978. Caught by tribal authorities who were ready to sentence him to death, an American missionary who was passing by convinced the tribe to let her take him to the police, the police - who let him go - were not convinced that the killings were of importance to them. Lopez than went to Ecuador where he would kill between three and four girls a week. Once caught in 1980, Lopez confessed to over 300 murders, police only believed him when an unexpected flash flood uncovered a mass grave with most of Lopez's victims. He then was released by the Ecaudor government and deported back to Columbia in 1998.

For more readings: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/199066/top_10_serial_killers_of_the_world.html?cat=17

10 Reasons You Should Drink Beer

2010-01-01T10:35:00.001+08:00

1. Reduces General Heart Disease
Vitamin B6, found in beer, prevents the build-up of homocysteine, an amino acid which has been linked to heart disease. Higher levels of homocysteine in our bodies can make us more susceptible to vascular and heart diseases.

2. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
Case studies have shown that 30-35% of men who drink beer in moderation are less likely to have heart attacks. Polyphenol, an antioxidant, is just as much present in beer as it is in red wines.

3. Reduces Risk of Coronary Thrombosis
Coronary thrombosis occurs when the opening of an artery becomes so small, the flow of blood is blocked. Beer acts as a blood thinner, reducing the risk of a heart attack.

4. Reduces Risk of Atherosclerosis
Beer boosts levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the good cholesterol, lowers insulin levels, which is good for non-diabetics because it reduces the chance of developing atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

5. Reduces Risk of Kidney Stones
It is not 100% certain why kidney stones form. Genetics and diet have played a major role with those individuals who develop them. Kidney stones may be reduced in middle-aged men by 40%. Scientists are unsure if these results were due to the water, alcohol, or hops.

6. Insomnia
A common disorder that affects 1 out of every 10 adults. A good night sleep is beneficial for you energy level and mood. The general affect of beer has a tendency to make one drowsy.

7. Cancer
The hops in beer contain xanthohumol, a powerful antioxidant. Concentrations of xanthohumol occur naturally in dark beer and can assist your body in stopping the early stages of tumor growth.

8. Reduces Osteoporosis
Hops in beer contain phyto-estrogens, a compound that will help reduce hot flashes and fight osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Beer should not be used as a replacement for estrogen therapy.

9. Lowers Cholesterol
Moderate consumption of beer has been shown to increase the HDL cholesterol and lowers the low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also know as the “bad cholesterol” in postmenopausal women. Analyzed data suggests more than one or two servings per day is not productive and considered detrimental.

10. Hypertension
Studies have shown a 14% lowered risk in high blood pressure by women consuming two or three beers a week. Hypertension is a disease where the blood pressure is chronically elevated.

An average 12oz beer contains 150 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no caffeine, and is 92% water.

Source: http://blog.collegebars.net/10-reasons-to-drink-beer/

Record setting caves

2009-12-29T14:09:00.002+08:00

World's largest cave - Hang Son Doong or Mountain River Cave.
Located in the heart of the Vietnamese jungle, the cave was first explored by a British team in earlier 2009. Measuring at 200 meters high, 150 meters high, and at least 4.5 kilometers long, it is believed to be almost twice the size of the current record holder, the Deer Cave in Sarawak, Malaysia, which is 100m high and 90m wide.

World's longest cave - Mammoth Cave.
Located near Cave City, Kentucky, the cave has more than 367 miles (591 kilometers) of explored passage but cave explorers believe the cave system will eventually prove to be 560 miles (900 km) long. This record is unlikely to be surpassed in the near future, as the second longest cave in the world, Optimisticeskay Cave, is only 143 miles (230 km) long.

World's deepest cave - Krubera Cave or Voronya Cave.
Located in Abkhazia, Georgia, the distance between the entrance point to the deepest explored point is about 2,191 meters. The cave remains the only cave on Earth deeper than 2,000 metres.

Why Cell Phone use is banned on Airplanes

2009-12-26T17:00:00.000+08:00

It turns out that the ban on wireless devices has a lot more to do with possible interference for ground networks, rather than any danger posed to aircraft systems. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned in-flight use of most cell phones and wireless devices in 1991, citing the reason of ground network interference. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations uphold the FCC decision. But some airlines allow passengers to use cell phones in "airplane mode," which shuts off phone transmissions.

The FCC briefly considered lifting the in-flight ban on wireless devices, but eventually decided in 2007 to keep the current rules in place because there wasn't enough evidence to show whether in-flight wireless devices would cause harmful interference with ground networks. There also wasn't evidence demonstrating that the devices do cause interference, but the federal agency decided to play it safe.

Source: http://www.livescience.com/technology/091221-airline-devices.html

Does Drinking Ice Water Burn Calories?

2009-12-24T11:21:00.002+08:00

You have an 8-ounce glass of ice-cold water in front of you. That's about 240 grams of water.

When you drink the ice water, which is roughly 4 degrees Celsius, your body will expend calories to bring it to body temperature, which is about 37.5 degrees Celsius; that's a difference of 33.5 degrees. To raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius, 1 calorie is expended. (This is a "little" calorie - what scientists use to measure small units of energy. The calories we refer to colloquially are actually 1,000 of these and are known as kilocalories in the science world.)

Raising 240 grams of water by 33.5 degrees Celsius will take 33.5 calories x 240 grams of water, which equals 8,040 little calories.

Dividing 8,040 by 1,000 gives us 8.04 food calories (kilocalories). Therefore, you’ll burn about 8 calories for each glass of iced calorie-free beverage you drink. That's equal to about one Life Saver: not exactly a weight-loss miracle.

Using Clemens's figures, it would take about 435 8-ounce glasses of ice water to lose a pound.

Source: http://www.chow.com/stories/10877

The Tree Whisperer

2009-12-22T22:12:00.004+08:00

Alex Erlandson, born in 1884 has a passion for sculpting trees, also known as arborsculpture. As a young boy, the Swedish born grew up becoming a bean farmer in Central California near Turlock. There, inspired when he noticed that trees of the same species would naturally "inosculate" or bond together where they touch, he began to shape trees. It started out as a hobby for the amusement of himself and his family but turned into his life's work as his tree creations brought more and more attention from the public. Using a special set of skills, Erlandson started to sculpt things out of living, growing trees.

In 1947, Erlandson opened his Santa Clara Valley attraction called "The Tree Circus" where locals and tourists could pay to see his “World's Strangest Trees” and by 1957, he had created more than 70 circus trees. Alex Erlandson died in 1964.

Today 25 of Axel Erlandson's trees are on display at Gilroy Garden, California and his first creation, the "Four Legged Giant" remains alive and well at the park, some 80 years after it was begun.

Unfortunately, Erlandson never shared his techniques. When people asked him how he created them, he simply said "he talked to the trees". Many believe he may have done just that.

Can blind people see in their dreams?

2009-12-19T18:01:00.004+08:00

Most researchers believe that people who are blind from birth or who become blind in infancy do not see in their dreams. They do not retain visual imagery because it was never acquired in the first place.

However, those blinded in childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, or afterwards usually do see in their dreams. "They often retain visual imagery in their waking life and in their dreams," according to Drs Nancy Kerr of the Department of Psychology at Oglethorpe University and G. William Domhoff of the Department of Psychology at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

They write in the December 2004 issue of Dreaming that "individuals blinded before the age of about five report no visual imagery in dreams as adults, whereas those blinded after about the age of seven are likely to retain visual imagery in dreaming".

This conclusion is based upon four sleep laboratory studies conducted between 1966 and 1999. According to the Royal National Institute of the Blind in London: "Dreams are experienced in the same way as life is lived. If someone loses their sight, they will dream of events during the days when sight was available in visual terms. If dreams are about recent events when sight was not used, sensations will be in terms of sound, smell, texture, and so on." A person dreams as they live.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/09/the_odd_body_dreaming/

How to win a Nobel prize?

2009-12-18T06:00:00.002+08:00

Winning a Nobel prize makes you the most honorable individual on the planet and can fetch you a big amount of money (USD1.5 million up to date and getting higher each year). If you want to be part of it, here's how.

Do something useful
You're more likely to get the nod if you can actually offer some evidence that your work actually matters. For example; global warming is big news at the moment so solving climate change or the forthcoming energy crisis should score you a few points. Incurable diseases are always a popular area.

Move to the U.S. and, if necessary, have a sex change
Statistic shows that you stand a better higher chance of of winning if you're an American. And a man. Prior to 2006, 758 individuals and 18 organizations have been honored by the Nobel Foundation and almost 300 of those recipients have been American. For women though the figures look even worse. There had been just 33 female winners since 1901.

Be a famous humanitarian
This is the obvious approach. It is also the hardest. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Albert Schweitzer, who built hospitals in Africa; to Norman Borlaug, who developed high-yield strains of wheat; to Muhammed Yunus, who devised a new method of giving loans to low-income entrepreneurs; and to the Dalai Lama, who...actually, I'm not sure what the Dalai Lama does, but evidently it impresses a lot of people.

Bluff it
The key to Nobel success is that nobody should understand anything at all about what you do. Maybe you don't understand either, but that doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, all you have to do is convince somebody else that what you do is really important.

Start an international organization
Over the years, the Nobel Peace Prize has gone to Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, the UN's International Labor Organization, and the Red Cross. Gore himself will share his prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

World's largest artwork

2009-12-17T16:35:00.004+08:00

Etched onto the desert sands of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, this unique sand drawing is the world's largest single artwork with a total circumference of over nine miles. Big enough to contain over 176 Wembley Stadiums, the giant drawing is visible from 40,000 feet up in the sky, and has even been wowing airline passengers flying across the desert into San Francisco.

Taking 15 days to complete, Jim Denevan and a team of three colleagues worked day and night on the stunning piece in May of this year, which has a diameter of just over three miles.

Containing more than 1000 individual circles, Jim, 48, painstakingly built up the giant circle using a roll of chain fencing six feet across pulled by a truck round repeatedly to dig into the desert sand. Using GPS technology to organise their co-ordinates to create a perfect circle, the team braved the intense desert heat and night-time cold to construct their masterpiece.

Artist Jim has been creating sand art for the past 17 years and sees this piece as the next step in his ultimate plan to work with NASA to draw on the plains of Mars.

Click on the pictures for enlarged view.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1236380/Worlds-largest-artwork-etched-desert-sand.html

What if an Asteroid hits the Earth?

2009-12-15T15:53:00.005+08:00

What will Earth become if an asteroid as big as a mile-wide strikes the planet's surface at about 30,000 mph. An asteroid that big traveling at that speed has the energy roughly equal to a 1 million megaton bomb. It's very likely that an asteroid like this would wipe out most of the life on the planet.

It's difficult to imagine 1 million megatons, so let's try some smaller sizes. Let's say that an asteroid the size of a house crashed on Earth at 30,000 mph. It would have an amount of energy roughly equal to the bomb that fell on Hiroshima -- perhaps 20 kilotons. An asteroid like this would flatten reinforced concrete buildings up to half a mile from ground zero, and flatten wooden structures perhaps a mile and a half from ground zero. It would, in other words, do extensive damage to any city.

If the asteroid is as big as a 20-story building (200 feet on a side), it has an amount of energy equal to the largest nuclear bombs made today -- on the order of 25 to 50 megatons. An asteroid like this would flatten reinforced concrete buildings five miles from ground zero. It would completely destroy most major cities in the United States.

By the time you get up to a mile-wide asteroid, you are working in the 1 million megaton range. This asteroid has the energy that's 10 million times greater than the bomb that fell on Hiroshima. It's able to flatten everything for 100 to 200 miles out from ground zero. In other words, if a mile-wide asteroid were to directly hit New York City, the force of the impact probably would completely flatten every single thing from Washington D.C. to Boston, and would cause extensive damage perhaps 1,000 miles out -- that's as far away as Chicago. The amount of dust and debris thrown up into the atmosphere would block out the sun and cause most living things on the planet to perish. If an asteroid that big were to land in the ocean, it would cause massive tidal waves hundreds of feet high that would completely scrub the coastlines in the vicinity.

In other words, if an asteroid strikes Earth, it will be a really, really bad day no matter how big it is. If the asteroid is a mile in diameter, it's likely to wipe out life on the planet. Let's hope that doesn't happen anytime soon!

Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/asteroid-hits-earth.htm

Why Toyota and not Toyoda?

2009-12-12T01:00:00.001+08:00

Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan's largest car maker was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda but ever wonder why the company was named Toyota and not Toyoda?

Back in 1936, in anticipation for the launch for the Model AA, which was Toyota's first passenger car, Toyoda held a public competition to establish a new symbol mark to promote its vehicles. The company indicated that the new design should convey the feeling of speed. Twenty-seven thousand entrants answered the call and submitted their ideas to Toyoda. The winning design led to a change in the name of the automobiles and plants from "Toyoda" to "Toyota." The name change made the Japanese lettering more streamlined and was also chosen because the number of strokes to write Toyota in Japanese (eight) was thought to bring luck and prosperity. The sound of the word "Toyota" was also deemed more appealing.

Source: http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/traditions/nov_dec_04.html

How astronauts go to toilet in space?

2009-12-11T15:05:00.002+08:00

The Shower
Smart astronauts take long thorough baths before taking off because there is no shower in the space shuttle! So astronauts have to wash themselves with wet washcloths, using soaps that do not need to be rinsed and they bring plenty of towels to dry themselves with. For privacy, they extend the curtain of the WCS (Waste Collection System), the toilet or bathroom.

Brushing Teeth
Expectorating or spitting in a near weightless environment is never a good idea and so dental consultants of NASA developed a foamless toothpaste that can be swallowed. It is called NASAdent and they are now available in the market. Astronauts who can not bring themselves to swallow the toothpaste, or who have brought their own favorite brands sometimes spit into a washcloth.

Toilet Use
Since there is no gravity to either hold a toilet bowl full of water in place or pull human wastes down, NASA had to develop a way to use air flow to make the urine or feces go where they wanted to. The toilet which can be used by either men or women is designed to be as similar as those on Earth except for some changes. Straps are in place to hold feet against the floor and over the thighs to make sure that the astronauts don't float away. seated. Since the system operates on a vacuum, the seat is designed so the astronaut's bottom can be perfectly flush to make a good seal.

Besides the main toilet bowl, there is a hose, which is utilized as a urinal by men and women. It can be used in a standing position or can be attached to the commode by a pivoting mounting bracket for use in a sitting position.

The human waste is separated and solid wastes are compressed and stored on-board, and then removed after landing. Waste water is vented to space, although future systems may recycle it. The air is filtered to remove odor and bacteria and then returned to the cabin.

Is it Wise to remove Wisdom tooth?

2009-12-07T17:08:00.004+08:00

Wisdom tooth or third molar extraction is expensive, and recovering from the surgery is no easy feat, considering that pain, bleeding, swelling, infection and nerve injury are but a few of the complications. Still, removing wisdom teeth is recommended by many dentists to avoid the pain and periodontal disease that results from an impacted tooth. The surgery should be done during young adulthood, before the teeth attach to the jaw and become too difficult to extract.

In 2007, however, dentist Jay W. Friedman claimed in the American Journal of Public Health that at least two-thirds of wisdom tooth extractions are unnecessary. He and some other dentists argue that these teeth will come in at the proper position and cause no trouble. These dentists say that instead of simply doing preventative removals for most young people, we should only remove wisdom teeth that are impacted. Other dentists say that these teeth are still difficult to clean and should be removed.

Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/no-wisdom-teeth2.htm

World's Smallest Snowman

2009-12-05T14:45:00.003+08:00

He is just 0.01 mm across and measures about a fifth of the width of a human hair — the world’s smallest ‘snowman’ can be found in a British laboratory.

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in West London have created the smallest ever miniature figure from two tin beads, usually used to calibrate electron microscope lenses, which were welded together with platinum.

A focused ion beam was used to carve the snowman’s eyes and smile, and to deposit a tiny blob of platinum for the nose, The Telegraph reported.

It was put together by Dr David Cox, a member of the Quantum Detection group at the laboratory, who also took the picture.

However, Britons searching for the real thing will have to head for the northern hills of Scotland, where forecasters say there is a chance of snow falling over the weekend.

The NPL is one of Britain’s leading science facilities and research centres. It is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate measurement.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/europe/The-World-s-smallest-snowman/Article1-483157.aspx

Can You See the Great Wall of China from Space?

2009-12-04T09:30:00.001+08:00

This is a popular myth - the Great Wall of China is the only human structure that can be seen from space. Well, it's not true. The reality is that you can't easily see the wall from space with the naked eye.

In fact, China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, went into space, said that he couldn't see the structure of the wall from out his capsule window.

NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao attempted to photograph the Great Wall of China from out his window on the International Space Station. He photographed a region of Inner Mongolia, about 200 miles north of Beijing. Chiao and NASA believe they can identify parts of the Great Wall in his photograph, but it's not easy to see.

The ancient pyramids at Giza are easy to see out the window of the International Space Station, however.

This myth goes even further, though. People somehow think that the Great Wall of China can be seen from the Moon. The Apollo astronauts confirmed that you can't see the Great Wall of China from the Moon. The best you can see is the white and blue marble of our home planet.

For more details: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall.html

Brothers living in cave inherit $6.6 billion

2009-12-03T13:37:00.007+08:00

Zsolt and Geza Peladi and a sister who lives in the US are each to receive a share of a $6.6 billion inheritance. The broke brothers living in a cave on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary and selling scrap for pennies are now on the verge of inheriting their grandmother’s fortune. Their maternal grandmother died recently in Germany, entitling the pair to a share of her estate.

"We knew our mother came from a wealthy family but she was a difficult person and severed ties with them. She later abandoned us and we lost touch with her and our father until she eventually died", said 43-year-old Geza.

"If this all works out it will certainly make up for the life we have had until now – all we really had was each other. No women would look at us, living in a cave. But with money maybe we can find a partner and finally have a normal life.

Details of the wealthy grandmother have been kept secret to deter fraudsters.

Source: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/802591-hungarian-cave-brothers-inherit-billions

Why bugs are attracted to lights?

2009-12-01T14:19:00.007+08:00

Many insects are attracted to light, and some fly right into the light itself. Moths commonly hover around lights and are active at night. This attraction to light is a response called phototaxis.

When insects fly at night they use light sources such as the moon for navigation. Light from a distant source reaches both eyes with the same intensity. This enables the insect to fly in a straight line with both wings beating at the same rate.

If the light is from a closer source such as a candle or lantern, it changes the insect's perception. The light is perceived stronger in one eye than in the other eye. This causes the wing on one side to move faster. The insect then approaches the light in a spiral path, eventually drawing it into the light itself.

One good way to know if an insect is nocturnal is to look at their antennae. Insects with poor eyesight have longer antennae. Many varieties of beetles have poor eyesight. They use their antennae to move around safely at night.

Source: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/science_for_kids/11252

The History of Condoms

2009-11-30T21:34:00.003+08:00

1000 B.C.
The ancient Egyptians used a linen sheath for protection against disease.

100-200 A.D.
The earliest evidence of condom use in Europe are scenes from cave paintings at Combarelles in France.

1500s
An Italian doctor by the name of Gabrielle Fallopius (for whom, coincidentally, the female fallopian tube was named) suggested that linen sheath condoms be used to protect against syphilis, a deadly epidemic at that time in history.

1600s
Reports say farmers in Condom, France began using sheep guts as condoms, possibly the origin of the lambskin condom.

Allegedly, the name "condom" was coined when Charles II was given oiled sheep intestines to use as condoms by a Dr. Condom or Quondam. However, some believe the name "condom" came from the Latin word "condus" which means "vessel".

1700s
The English connection may explain the name legendary lover Casanova gave to his sheath. He would never mount without his "redingote anglaise", his English riding coat.

1843
Goodyear and Hancock began to mass-produce condoms made out of vulcanized rubber, which is a stronger and more elastic material. Men are advised that these rubber condoms can be washed and reused until they crumble.

1930s
Liquid latex manufacturing supersedes crepe rubber. It is still the basis for manufacture today.

1990s
New technology has considerably improved the condom and enabled the production of far more sophisticated versions than our ancestors were used to. The latest development is Durex Avanti made from a unique polyurethane material, Duron, which is twice as strong as latex! enabling a thinner, more sensitive film.

Today
Avanti Condoms by Durex are made from a unique non-latex polyurethane film and coated in a silky smooth lubricant. Each Avanti Condom is electronically tested for durability.

Condom sales reach nine billion worldwide.

Turkey facts on Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T17:28:00.006+08:00

Turkeys can fly.

Wild turkeys feed on the ground, which might explain the myth of their flightlessness. They can in fact soar for short bursts at up to 55 mph. But their tendency to stay on or near the ground contributed to successful hunting that brought the wild population of turkeys down to about 30,000 in the 1930s. There are now 7 million of them.

Dark meat is rare because ...
Meat is muscle. And muscle is fed by blood. In the blood is myoglobin, which binds with oxygen and stores it in muscles for when it's needed. Myoglobin also makes meat dark. Muscles that are used most, like those in drumsticks (legs), have more myoglobin. Domestic turkeys are too fat to fly, so they don't use their breast muscles much, which is why breast meat is white. The breast of a wild turkey is entirely different, darker (and far tastier for those who are game).

Turkey eggs wouldn't sell.
Chickens are champion egg-producers. Turkeys, not so good. Turkey eggs are bigger, so their nests tie up coop space. And farmers have learned that they make more raising turkeys for meat rather than eggs. Oh, and some turkeys are protective of their eggs, making the gathering more challenging.

It's not the turkey that makes you sleepy.
Turkey contains a natural chemical called tryptophan, which we need to build proteins for our bodies. Indeed, tryptophan is also related to the production of serotonin, which helps us sleep. But all meat has about the same amount of tryptophan. Cheddar cheese has a lot more. What really makes you sleepier after a Thanksgiving meal compared to other meals is eating too many carbohydrates, from potatoes to pies. Alcohol can contribute, too.

Dinosaurs had wishbones too.

The wishbone, called a furcula, is the fusion of two collarbones at the sternum. It's where a bird’s flying muscles hook up. It's elastic and great for flapping. Turns out T. Rex and the Velociraptor had wishbones, too. While they didn't fly, this fairly recent discovery is one of the many bits of evidence that shows birds evolved from dinosaurs.

For more details: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34154841/ns/technology_and_science-science/

The History of the Kiss

2009-11-24T18:04:00.004+08:00

Historians really don't know much about the early history of kissing. Four Vedic Sanskrit texts, written in India around 1500 B.C., appear to describe people kissing. This doesn't mean that nobody kissed before then, and it doesn't mean that Indians were the first to kiss. Artists and writers may have just considered kissing too private to depict in art or literature.

After its first mention in writing, kissing didn't appear much in art or literature for a few hundred years. The Indian epic poem "Mahabharata" describes kissing on the lips as a sign of affection. The "Mahabharata" was passed down orally for several hundred years before being written down and standardized around 350 A.D. The Indian religious text "Vatsyayana Kamasutram," or the "Kama Sutra," also describes a variety of kisses. It was written in the 6th century A.D. Anthropologists who believe that kissing is a learned behavior theorize that the Greeks learned about it when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 B.C.

There aren't many records of kissing in the Western world until the days of the Roman Empire. Romans used kisses to greet friends and family members. Citizens kissed their rulers' hands. And, naturally, people kissed their romantic partners. The Romans even came up with three different categories for kissing: Osculum was a kiss on the cheek, Basium was a kiss on the lips and Savolium was a deep kiss.

For more details: http://people.howstuffworks.com/kissing.htm

World's most polluted river

2009-11-23T11:00:00.026+08:00

It was once a gently flowing river, where fishermen cast their nets, sea birds came to feed and natural beauty left visitors spellbound.Villagers collected water for their simple homes and rice paddies thrived on its irrigation channels. Today, the Citarum river in crisis, choked by the domestic waste of nine million people and thick with the cast-off from hundreds of factories. So dense is the carpet of refuse that the tiny wooden fishing craft which float through it are the only clue to the presence of water.

Their occupants no longer try to fish. It is more profitable to forage for rubbish they can salvage and trade - plastic bottles, broken chair legs, rubber gloves - risking disease for one or two pounds a week if they are lucky.On what was United Nations World Environment Day, the Citarum, near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, displayed the shocking abuse that mankind has subjected it to.

More than 500 factories, many of them producing textiles which require chemical treatment, line the banks of the 200-mile river, the largest waterway in West Java, spewing waste into the water.

Twenty years ago, this was a place of beauty, and the river still served its people well.As one local man, Arifin, recalled: "Our wives did their washing there and our children swam."Its demise began with rapid industrialisation during the late 1980s.

In December 5, 2008, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to support Indonesia's efforts to clean up its most important river, the Citarum, through a $500 million multi-tranche loan, which will run for 15 years.

The 515 chemicals women put on their bodies everyday

2009-11-21T12:22:00.025+08:00

Women and beauty products - it's a love affair that's been going on for centuries. And no wonder. There's nothing like a new lipstick or favourite perfume to make us look and feel good. Or so we thought...

In fact, according to a new report, most of our favourite cosmetics are cocktails of industrially produced and potentially dangerous chemicals that could damage our health and, in some cases, rather than delivering on their potent 'anti-ageing' promise, are causing us to age faster.

Research by Bionsen, a natural deodorant company, found that the average woman's daily grooming and make-up routine means she 'hosts' a staggering 515 different synthetic chemicals on her body every single day.

Many of those are also used in products such as household cleaners, and have been linked to a number of health problems from allergies and skin sensitivity to more serious hormonal disturbances, fertility problems and even cancer.

Parabens, for example, which are designed to preserve the shelf-life of your cosmetics, are one of the most widely used preservatives in the world, and are found in shampoos, hair gels, shaving gels and body lotions. But their use is becoming increasingly controversial - a range of different studies has linked them to serious health problems including breast cancer, as well as fertility issues in men.

Click on the picture for enlarged view.

For more details: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/beauty/article-1229275/Revealed--515-chemicals-women-bodies-day.html

Facts you didn't know about your body

2009-11-20T14:46:00.024+08:00

Our body is capable of producing aspirin.

Eating fruits and vegetables may help the human body make its own aspirin. Findings from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry indicate that study participants who received benzoic acid, a natural substance in fruits and vegetables, could make their own salicylic acid, the key component that gives aspirin its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

Taking a nap at work is good for you.

A 20 minutes nap can improve your overall alertness, boost your mood, and increase productivity. William Anthony, co-author of The Art of Napping at Work (Larson Publications, 1999), says the post-nap boost can last for several hours. In addition, your heart may reap benefits from napping. In a six-year study of Greek adults, researchers found that that men who took naps at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

Ejaculation may cause men to sneeze.

Some men experience pain, headaches, or sneezing as a result of ejaculation. The increased activity in the nervous system during orgasm may be the culprit in triggering headaches. A possible explanation for the sneezing is that in the brain, the center for orgasms is close to the centers for yawning and sneezing.

Every person has a unique tongue print.

Just like fingerprints. The tongue is a unique organ in that it can be stuck out of mouth for inspection, and yet it is otherwise well protected in the mouth and is difficult to forge. The tongue also presents both geometric shape information and physiological texture information which are potentially useful in identity verification applications.

The foot is home to the body's thickest area of skin.

The skin on the palms and the soles of the feet is 4 mm thick and the thickest skin in the body, the heel portions of the feet being the thickest portions. It's also got the most sweat glands than in any other area.

The body is taller in the morning than in the evening.

The body is taller in the morning than in the evening. You might want to schedule that basketball game for first thing in the morning. That's because our bodies are on average about half an inch taller in the morning, thanks to excess fluid between our discs, which is replenished while we sleep. As the day goes on, and our bodies undergo the strain of standing, the discs get compressed and the fluid seeps out, so the body loses that small bit of extra height.

Body position affects your memory.

Can't remember your anniversary, hubby? Try getting down on one knee. Memories are highly embodied in our senses. A scent or sound may evoke a distant episode from one's childhood. The connections can be obvious (a bicycle bell makes you remember your old paper route) or inscrutable. A recent study helps decipher some of this embodiment. An article in the January 2007 issue of Cognition reports that episodes from your past are remembered faster and better while in a body position similar to the pose struck during the event.

Blondes have more hair.

They're said to have more fun, and they definitely have more hair. Hair color determines how dense the hair on your head is. The average human has 100,000 hair follicles, each of which is capable of producing 20 individual hairs during a person's lifetime. Blondes average 146,000 follicles while people with black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles. Those with brown hair fit the average with 100,000 follicles and redheads have the least dense hair, with about 86,000 follicles.

The average person expels flatulence 14 times each day.

Even if you'd like to think you're too dignified to pass gas, the reality is that almost everyone will at least a few times a day. Digestion causes the body to release gases which can be painful if trapped in the abdomen and not released.

Having orgasms prevent men from prostate cancer.

Two large studies, reported in 2003 and 2004, found that middle-aged men who had at least 4 orgasms a week had a reduced risk of prostate cancer by as much as one-third. Some researchers speculate that ejaculations may clear the prostate of carcinogens.

Source: http://www.oceanofweb.com/healthfitness/facts-body.html

Arkansas cop uses taser on 10 years old girl

2009-11-19T11:33:00.003+08:00

It was an encounter one Ozark 10-year-old will likely never forget.

Called to a home to help control an allegedly "unruly child," an Ozark police officer was reportedly told by the girl's mother that he could use the electric weapon to subdue her,according to 40/29 News Arkansas.

However, the girl supposedly kicked the officer in the groin when he approached. "He had no other choice [but to Taser her]," Ozark Police Choief Jim Noggle reportedly said. "He had to get the child under control."

According to the Associated Press, the officer's name is Dustin Bradshaw. His aggressive approach to dealing with a child has the girl's father enraged.

"If you can't pick the kid up and take her to your car, handcuff her, then I don't think you need to be an officer," Anthony Medlock, the girl's father reportedly said.

Ozark police argued that had the officer grabbed the girl, he could have hurt her. "If you grab somebody, you can slip an arm out of joint," the police chief added. "They can slip from you and fall on the ground."

The department's policy is to use a Taser on anyone who is thought to be a threat to others, regardless of age or mental stature, according to 40/29 News. Other area departments have greater restrictions on Taser use.

Medlock also reportedly said the incident is not the first in which the girl's mother has called the police on her daughter. He plans to seek custody of the girl due to the latest police encounter.

The girl has not been named because she is a minor.

Source: http://rawstory.com/2009/11/arkansas-cop-taser-10yearold-girl/

Rubik's Cube Facts

2009-11-18T14:07:00.004+08:00

Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian architect and sculptor. He called his invention the "Magic Cube". It was renamed the Rubik's Cube by the Ideal Toy Corporation in 1980.

More than 300 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide. If all the cubes were placed on top of each other it would be enough to reach the North Pole from the South Pole!

Rubik applied for his Hungarian patent in January 1975 and left his invention with a small toy making cooperative in Budapest. The patent approval finally came in early 1977 and the first Cubes appeared at the end of 1977. By this time, Erno Rubik was married.

Ernő Rubik became the first self-made millionaire from the communist block and it took Erno Rubik one month to solve the cube for the first time.

The Cube has 43 quintillion different possible configurations (43,252,003,274,489,856,000 to be precise) and only ONE solution.

The Inventor of Coffee Cup Sleeves

2009-11-17T09:53:00.002+08:00

The coffee cup sleeves used by millions of people everyday was invented by Jim Chelossi from San Carlos. It all started in 1988 when Jim had a 250 square foot building, his first coffee shop, the Coffee Club, in Belmont, California. "I didn’t know much about running a coffee shop then and opened my first one without a business license" Jim said. After a couple of years, the Coffee Club was a huge success with a total of 5 shops.

In 1991, more and more people started to ask him for a second cup on their coffee due to how hot the cup was on their hands. The cups were costing 8 cents a cup then and he had to think of a way to cut this expense.

In the San Carlos store he grabbed a napkin and created the idea of the sleeve. He drew a sketch of his idea and some rough costs on the napkin. The final cost of the sleeve was 3 cents and that was a savings of 5 cents for every sleeve he used instead of a second cup.

Then he decided to sell advertisements on the sleeve and that paid for all of the sleeves he used in the shops. Then he began selling sleeves to other distributors which would in turn sell them to other coffee shops.

That was the birth of the sleeve.

He patented his idea in 1995. A simple yet brilliant invention.

Source: http://www.mrlim.com/2008/05/interview-with-jim-chelossi-inventor-of-the-coffee-sleeve/

Why do airline seats have to be in an upright position?

2009-11-16T10:46:00.002+08:00

There are two main reasons why flight attendants pester people to keep those seats up—to keep injuries to a minimum during a crash and to clear the maximum amount of space for a quick exit.

The science is pretty basic, as explained by Brian Manning, a flight attendant for Mesa Airlines. "When the seat is up, it is locked. When the seat is back, it's not locked. In the event of an emergency, an unlocked seat has more force during impact, and the thrusting forward of that seat can cause passenger injury."

Like a catapult, the farther back the seat, the greater distance your head would travel during an impact, and the more force would be generated. Those three inches can add to the whiplash effect.

Also, Manning notes, people sitting behind a seat that is reclined or unlocked will not be able to brace properly. And yes, there are proper ways of bracing. In the late 1980s the FAA researched various ways to prepare the body for impact, using test dummies.

Before an airliner is certified, the manufacturer has to demonstrate that it can be evacuated quickly. For this reason, Section 121.311(d) of the Federal Aviation Regulations requires seat backs that can be locked into position. Having passengers weave around jutting seats as they shimmy into the aisle simply wouldn't do.

"Since most accidents occur during takeoff and landing, it is for the safety of everyone onboard the aircraft to have all seats in their upright and locked position," says Manning.

For more details: http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-know/NEED-seatbacks.html?c=y&page=1

Board Games Invention

2009-11-11T15:19:00.002+08:00

The oldest board game in the world is Senet appeared in ancient Egypt in 3300 b.c. Even King Tut had one. He liked it so much he was buried with it.

The oldest set of board gaming equipment ever found is The Royal Game of Ur, which was invented more than 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the site of present-day Iraq. It was a “race” game where the first player to complete the course was the winner. Moves were governed by throwing dice-like objects. Archaeologists believe it is the forerunner of backgammon.

Parcheesi, the original male chauvinist game, was created in the 1500s in India by Akbar the Great. It was played in the palace courtyard where Akbar would sit in the middle with slave girls dressed in different colors as game pawns.

The first American board game, “The Mansion of Happiness,” was produced in 1843. Its theme was Victorian: players tried to avoid Passion, Idleness, Cruelty, Immodesty, and Ingratitude. Drunkenness was punished by a trip to the stocks.

In 1860, Milton Bradley bought a lithographic press and began printing board games. His first game was called “The Checkered Game of Life.” The object was to land on the "good" spaces and collect 100 points. A player could gain fifty points toward this goal by reaching "Happy Old Age" in the far corner, opposite "Infancy" where one began. The game board was essentially a modified checkerboard.

In 1885, Mark Twain designed and patented a game intended to help people keep historical facts straight. He called it “Mark Twain’s Memory Builder: A Game for Acquiring and Retaining All Sorts of Facts and Dates. In the introduction to the rules he wrote, “Many public school children seem to know only two dates - 1492 and 4th of July but as a rule they don’t know what happened on either occasion. It is because they have not had a chance to play this game.

Monopoly was invented by Charles B. Darrow during the Depression in 1934 and at first, the game was rejected by the Parker Brothers due 52 design errors. In its first year, 1935, game was the best-selling game in America. Standard Monopoly bank starts with $15,140 and it is estimated that Monopoly has been sold 250 million times through out the world. Mr. Monopoly is the name of the Monopoly® man.

Source: http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/

Cheerleader Disabled After Flu Shot

2009-11-09T21:34:00.003+08:00

A 25-year-old woman Desiree Jennings in Ashburn, Virginia has come down with a severe debilitating neurological disorder days after receiving a seasonal flu vaccination.

For more details: desireejennings.com

Support her in Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Desiree-Jennings/163372563506

Something About The King Of Pop

2009-11-05T15:59:00.001+08:00

Jackson's oxygen chamber.

For the purposes of beauty and longevity, Michael Jackson used to sleep in an oxygen chamber.

Jackson and an ancient Egyptian sculpture.

A netizen called 'mandalariangirl' speculated that Michael Jackson got some of his plastic surgery ideas from this ancient Egyptian sculpture.

Jackson's unique anti-gravity boots.

Michael Jackson invented anti-gravity boots and patented the invention with the US Patent Number 5255452. These unique boots allow wearers to tilt so far forward that they appear to defy gravity.

Jackson's animal friend – a chimpanzee named "Bubbles".

Jackson regarded "Bubbles" as a son. Aside from teaching the chimp basic human behavior, Jackson also taught "Bubbles" to dance the "moonwalk." It was said that "Bubbles" also learned to fold a bed for Jackson.

Jackson suffered from a rare genetic disease.

Michael Jackson suffered from a rare genetic disease known as Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (a condition that raises your risk for certain types of lung disease, especially if you smoke), which is one of around 8000 rare diseases worldwide.

"Billie Jean" was the first MTV video to feature a black artist.

"Billie Jean" was the most successful single from Jackson's "Thriller" album.

Jackson's video game.

Japanese firm Sega Corporation specially developed a video game for Michael Jackson called "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker."

Jackson's Thriller zombie vinyl figure.

In many respects, the "king of pop" is considered to be quite eccentric.

The world's largest Thriller group dance.

In 2008, 4000 people from all over the world donned white gloves and zombie make-up to celebrate Michael Jackson's Thriller dance. The activity involved 4177 people in 72 cities in 10 countries performing a synchronized zombie dance.

Jackson's Nintendo game "Punch-Out".

Mike L. Mayfield created a Nintendo game called "Punch-Out" which stars an awesome and active Michael Jackson.

Internet will be boring without them

2009-11-05T14:41:00.003+08:00

Google, the Internet search company founded in September 1998. by Larry Page & Sergey Brin, got it's name from the word Googol, which represents number 1 followed with hundred zeros after it.

Facebook was originally named TheFaceBook and it was developed by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg. The first use of the FaceBook was on the Harvard campus and it was limited only to Harvard students. Soon the FaceBook spread like wild fire around the other major U.S. Universities. Mark Zuckerberg dropped the Harvard and pursued his facebook dream to become one of the 4th most-trafficked websites in the world with more than 90 million active users. The FaceBook website is built on PHP-MySQL technology and it is probably the most popular PHP website ever built. Interesting fact is that the facebook.com domain was purchased for $200,000 and FaceBook has more than 24 million photos uploaded daily.

Yahoo the complex internet organism has complicated name. Word "Yahoo" is shortcut for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle". It was coined by PhD candidates at Stanford University, David Filo and Jerry Yang.

Twitter is a micro-blogging social network service which allows users to share not-so-important things in their life by answering a simple question: "What are you doing?" Answers to this question are organized in a short messages called Tweets, length is limited to 140 characters. The good thing about Twitter, there is no "noise" created by boring people since "friendships" are not mutual - you can "follow" interesting people while they don't have to follow you. In February 2009, Twitter had a monthly growth (of users) of over 1300 percent - several times more than Facebook. Twitter made huge success from the mobile device users (in 2009 there was 735,000 unique mobile visitors).

Source: interestingfacts.org

YouTube was founded in the early months of 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. According to Chad and Steve, the developed the idea for YouTube after they had experienced difficulty sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Steve's apartment. Jawed did not attend the party and denied that it had occurred. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as subsidiary of Google.

Space hotel to open in 2012

2009-11-04T09:56:00.003+08:00

A company behind plans to open the first hotel in space says it is on target to accept its first paying guests in 2012 despite critics questioning the investment and time frame for the multi-billion dollar project.

The Barcelona-based architects of The Galactic Suite Space Resort say it will cost $4.4 million for a three-night stay at the hotel, with this price including an eight-week training course on a tropical island.

During their stay, guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. They would wear Velcro suits so they can crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

For more details: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33579859/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Gay Men Killed in Iraq

2009-11-03T14:52:00.001+08:00

A 67-page report by the Human Rights Watch in Beirut details a shocking trend moving across Iraq. Gay men are being rounded up, tortured and killed while the government stands by.

Men are being targeted by militias for their appearance, such as the length of their hair and the fit of their clothes. Their corpses are dumped in the garbage or hung on the street as a warning.

The killing is most intense in Baghdad, but it is also occurring in other parts of Iraq. Without fear of punishment, the killers invade homes, abducting men suspected of homosexuality. The men are interrogated and brutalized, their mutilated bodies left in the neighborhood the next day.

The failure of authorities to investigate makes reliable figures on how many have been killed unattainable, although the report claims that “hundreds” may have been killed. Despite pleas from gay activists for the Obama administration to step in and “save” Iraqi and *Iranian homosexuals, there is little that can be done.

“Given that one of the stereotypes of LGBT folk in Iraq is that they’re a product of Western influence, calls for the U.S. to somehow take them under its real or rhetorical wing are not likely to be very productive in terms of their safety,” says the author of the report, Scott Long.

Source: http://renovomedia.com/world-news/gay-men-being-tortured-and-killed-in-iraq/

Numbers and Its Origin

2009-11-02T11:55:00.001+08:00

The numbers that we use today are made up of algorithms (1, 2, 3, 4, etc…) which are called Arabic algorithms in order to distinguish them from the roman algorithms (I, II, III, IV, etc…).

The Arabs popularized these algorithms, but their origin goes way back to the Phoenician merchants that used them to count and do their commercial accountability.

Have you ever asked the question why 1 is “one”, 2 is “two”, 3 is “three”…..?

What is the logic that exists in the Arabic algorithms? The answer is there are angles!

Take a look at these algorithms written in their primitive form and check it up!

And the most interesting and intelligent of all...

History of Toothbrush

2009-10-29T11:59:00.002+08:00

We bet that a lot of you think brushing your teeth is annoying. You might even try to skip it every now and then, when you think your parents won't catch you! Well, imagine what your life would be like if you didn't have a modern toothbrush to clean your pearly whites. You'd do what people did before the toothbrush was invented: Find another way.

Thousands of years ago, people wanted to keep their teeth and gums clean, their breath fresh and their teeth white, just like people do today. They found different tools with which to do it.

Before toothbrushes, people used rough cloth and water to clean their teeth. They would also rub things like salt and chalk across their teeth to try to get rid of the grime.

The ancient Egyptians made a kind of brush by splitting the end of a twig. And the ancient Chinese chewed on twigs with a special flavor to freshen their breath.

People also used forms of toothpaste that they made out of ingredients you probably wouldn't want to put in your mouth.

Sometimes a powder was made of the ashes of ox hooves and burned eggshells. The ancient Greeks and Romans used materials such as crushed oyster shells and bones.

The Chinese are believed to have made the first natural-bristle toothbrush in the 1400s by using bristles (hair) from pigs' necks. The bristles were attached to a handle made of bone or bamboo.

The first toothbrush that resembles the one you use today was made in England in the 1770s. A man named William Addis came up with the idea while he was in prison, put there for having started a riot. He didn't think the rag he was given was cleaning his teeth well enough, so he saved a small bone from a meal. He put tiny holes in it and used glue to attach pig bristles he had gotten from a prison guard.

The first patent for a toothbrush was awarded to an American named H.N. Wadsworth in 1857, but it wasn't until the invention of nylon in the 1930s that toothbrushes came to look like the ones you use.

And it wasn't until after World War II that Americans started brushing their teeth regularly. U.S. soldiers brought the daily habit back home with them from abroad, and that helped make the practice popular.

Now go ahead and admit it: It would be pretty gross if you didn't have a toothbrush to clean your teeth, wouldn't it?

Source: washingtonpost.com

Mermaid Girl Dies at Age 10

2009-10-26T14:26:00.001+08:00

Shiloh Pepin, a girl who was born with fused legs, a rare condition often called "mermaid syndrome," and gained a wide following on the Internet and national television, has died. She was 10.

Doctors had predicted she would only survive only for days after her birth at the most, but the girl, described by her mother as "a tough little thing," died at Maine Medical Center on Friday afternoon, hospital spokesman John Lamb said. She had been hospitalized in critical condition for nearly a week.

Being born with "mermaid syndrome," also known as sirenomelia, meant that the Kennebunkport girl had only one partially working kidney, no lower colon or genital organs and legs fused from the waist down.

Some children who have survived sirenomelia have had surgery to separate their legs, but Shiloh did not because blood vessels crossing from side to side in her circulatory system would have been severed. She had received two kidney transplants, the last one in 2007.

Her story was featured recently on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and other national television programs.

Earlier this month, her mother, Leslie Pepin, said her daughter came down with a cold that quickly turned to pneumonia. Shiloh rushed to Maine Medical Center on Oct. 10 and was placed on antibiotics and a ventilator.

For a while, Leslie Pepin said, things were looking up. "She's a tough little thing," she said of her daughter earlier this week.

Shiloh was a fifth-grader at Kennebunkport Consolidated School. "She was such a shining personality in that building," said Maureen King, chairwoman of the board of the regional school district. Counselors will be available next week to talk to students.

Through the television shows, news articles, Facebook and other Web sites, Shiloh inspired many.

"I live in Iowa. I have cerebral palsy. I love your video," 12-year-old Lydia Dawley wrote to Shiloh on Facebook. "You have a great personality I wish you lived close so we could be friends and hang out. You opened my eyes because you are so brave."

May Shiloh rest in peace.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/24/shiloh-pepin-girl-with-me_n_332857.html

2012: End of the World?

2009-10-22T16:23:00.002+08:00

2012 is expected to be year of great positive change. It is not the end of the world! Back in 1899 something was identified called Schumann Cavity Resonance. It is the heart beat or frequency of the Earth. Since its discovery till 1986 this heart beat frequency was constant 7.8 Hertz per second. From 1986 it started to raise dramatically and in 1998 it was reported to be 10 hertz per second. On other hand magnetics of the earth are dropping dramatically and it is expected they will reach zero point in 2012. Maya calendar and other calendars end in 2012, but it is not the end of the world just beginning of the new one since every 26000 years Earth goes through grand cycle of evolution.

Source: interestingfacts.org

Something about Wales

2009-10-22T16:12:00.001+08:00

Wales (country that is part of the United Kingdom), there is a village called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters), which in English means "Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio near the red cave." The locals call it Llanfairpwll. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com is the longest single word .com domain name in the world.

Source: interestingfacts.org