Fact Dump!

As the end of the school year approaches and it is time to begin wrapping up the blog, I have decided to bombard you with the facts I collected over the semester. Facts that dis not make the cut, but were interesting none the less. So without further ado the final Fun Facts of the semester(No Pictures!):

•  Grahams number is so big that all the materials in the world cannot write the number. Most mathematicians don't know it completly but they know it ends with 7.

• Dolly the sheep was not the first animal to be cloned. in the 1880's a german cloned a sea urchin and in 1902 a German named Hans Spemann claoned a salamander. He used a baby's hair to seperate the cells of the embryo. 
• The first cat to be cloned was known as CC (copy cat) and looked completely different from the original.
•  The scream of Tarzan is the same when heard backwards.
• Champagne was not made in France. Champangne was made in England by Don Peringnon who used the grapes found from that region and added the mollases and etc. to make it fizzy in the 1600's. 
• A champagne bottle contains 3 times the air pressure of a car tire and requires a strong glass, which was available in Britain then.
• The patron saint of Ireland was not from Ireland. infarct he was sold to Ireland as a slave.That of course is St. Patrick.
• St. Nicolas was a Turkish saint.
• Ear lobes are hereditary. If parents earlobes are attached to the face then the child's should be as well and vice versa.
• Elephants ears are the biggest in the world but they aren't for hearing but cooling because of the large amount of blood vessels.
• There may be as many as 10 million species of beetle. On average, 1 beetle discovered per hour.
• Pakistan has a sport that is banned excepet for 15 days during the festival of Vasant Panchnami, which is the most dangerous sport existing: Competitive kite flying. The string is a glass string that can decapitate people. The aim of the game is to cut of the other persons kite.
• The largest kite ever made is 48 ft X 34 ft and weighed almost a ton. and takes 50 men to fly it and has 200 stings. 
• The smallest kite is 1.5 inches across. 
• The most number of deaths sustained by women are in the sport of cheer-leading. George bush is the most popular American cheerleader. 
• In 2005 more than 200,000 cheerleader were admitted with cheer-leading related injuries to the hospital.

And finally:

•  Ballet is illegal in Turkmenistan.

Final quote of the week:
Irish saying: "May you get to heaven a half hour before the devil knows your dead."

Yesterday is History!

Our life is created by the events of the past. What we are today is shaped by what was, yesterday. And over time, we have learned many things form our predecessors. But who is to say they did not have some kind of quirk, idiosyncrasy, whimsy, tick, oddity, peculiarity, foible, eccentricity, caprice, anomaly, peculiarity, nonconformity, kink or plain weirdness. So without further ado, five FünFacts about our long glorious and inglorious history:

#5
Ancient Greek did not have a word for the color blue. Plato called it bronze.

#4
The famous 'Creation of Adam' on the roof Sistine chapel was painted by Michelangelo in 1511 but 40 years later, the fingers of God and Adam fell off and were repainted by an unknown papal restorer.

#3
Julius Caesar was very vain an wore the laurel wreath only to cover up his baldness. According to Suetonius, Caesar believed his baldness was a disfigurement he was deeply ashamed

#2
Father Christmas died on may the 30th 1565 in Essex, London. His name was entered in the registry as Father Christmas. It was ok to call old people father if you didn't know their name.the

#1
Spartans always had haircuts before war. before the war of thermophiles, the Persian spies reported an easy victory since the were all getting their hair done.

Quote of the week:
Winston Churchill said to Sandy Baldwin in the house of commons, "History will note that the right honorable gentleman was wrong. I know it will because I shall right the history."


Images Used:
http://www.89thandbroke.com/2011/07/affordable-haircuts-arent-so-hard-to-find/
http://www.empowernetwork.com/cfletes/files/2012/10
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:God2-Sistine_Chapel.png
http://www.claremontportside.com/print-edition/december-2012-issue/the-band-aid-of-affirmative-action/

Kingdom Plantae

The World we live in is filled with more than just humans. And one of those things is plants. The brilliant and eclectic array of plants in this world can me more than spell binding. So without further ado, five FünFacts about the magnificent flora of the world:

#5
Ever seen a black flower? No species of wild plant produces a flower or blossom that is absolutely black, and so far, none has been developed artificially.

#4
One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of soda-pop. Finally, all that high fructose corn syrup makes sense. And I though it was something unhealthy!

#3
We all know Tomato is fruit and not a vegetable. But did you know, Pineapple is a berry.

#2
Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis sativa(marijuana) or as some of you might know it as, 'weed, bro!'  on their plantations. This was before Gonsalvez v Reich, correct?

#1
Where does all this oxygen, that billions of us breathe come from? One would easily think, trees but, 50% of the worlds oxygen comes from algae and not trees. Trees consume more oxygen than they give out.


Quote for the week:
"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."
-Erma Bombeck


Images Used:
http://www.facesofgm.com/2011/06/24/ryan-newman-fast-smart-and-caring/#.UYOm9cr_FRc
http://www.etftrends.com/2012/07/corn-prices-lead-agriculture-etfs-on-drought-forecast/
http://naturalfemina.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/spongebob__pineapple.jpg
eofdreams.com/pineapple.html
http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/vegetables-all-year-round/tomato-heaven/cool-white-bean-and-tomato-soup/attachment/tomato/

Fallacy - 2!

Now i learned some interesting things while researching for this blog. And one thing I realized is that a lot of the things we believe are FALSE! Its time for another segment of 'Fallacy.' Where I will debunk popular notions and refine them with truth or at least verisimilitude, you decide. So, without further ado five FünFacts that debunk popular notions:

 #5
A popular term for maps is Atlas. Now one would believe that that term originates from Greek mythology, since Atlas, the titan, was gursed to carry the globe on his shoulders.
FALLACY!
Atlas is always shown to carry the Earth but in actuality was punished to carry the heavens by Zeus. The Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator created a series of maps with atlas holding the world and that became very popular. He was the first to use the term Atlas and modern depictions of atlas show him with the world.

#4
It is almost universally believed that the the French word 'encore', which is used at the end of the performance for a repeat, is used by everyone, starting with the French.
FALLACY!
The French dont use the word 'encore'. They actually use 'bis' which means twice.

#3
If I were to ask you which is the driest place in the world, what would you say? some kind of desert, correct?
FALLACY!
The driest place in the world is in Antarctica. There are the dry valleys in Antarctica free from ice and snow that haven't had rain for 2 million years.

Extra fact: Antarctica is also the coldest place and wettest in the world. 70% of the worlds water is in Antarctica in the form of ice and they have wind speeds of up to 200mph.

#2
We all know that a day has 24 hours. But by now, you must know that that is also a
FALLACY!
An average day is always less or more than 24 hours. We assign a standard value to avoid inconsistencies.

#1
When you are having a crummy day and all you want to do is sulk, there is always that one annoying person who'll say in a saccharine tone, 'it takes more muscles to frown that smile you know!'Well, the next time that person tells you that just yell,
FALLACY!
It takes 12 muscles to smile and 11 to frown. So don't smile. It is such a waste of energy!

Quote for the week:
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, and if you can fake that, you've got it made" - Groucho Marx


Images Used:
 http://www.atlastrainingcenter.com/OurMission/tabid/96/Default.aspx
http://thefullmoxie.com/2012/05/23/yo-sassy-affairs-with-married-men-yay-or-nay/couch-therapy/
http://everypainterpaintshimself.com/article_images_new/1469759081_aed3c7259b_o.jpg
www.thejoinery.com/sites/default/files/products/810_ShakerWrittingD

Kingdom Animalia!

The World we live in is filled with more than just humans. And one of those things is animals. The brilliant and eclectic array of animals in this world can me more than spell binding. So without further ado, five FünFacts about the magnificent fauna of the world:

#5
I am sure everyone who reads this blog is an avid fan of dog racing. I mean who isn't, am i right?

Any way, for all the laymen out there, the breed of dog used in dog racing is the Greyhound. Now although because of mixed breeds Greyhounds vary in color. But the name Greyhound was believed to be derived from their color. The name comes from grieghund. grieg is german for a bitch(female dog). They were originally blueish in color.

#4
Now most people believe that the parrot is the bird that has the greatest mimicking abilities.
However, the superb lyre bird has the ability to mimic the sound of almost anything!

#3
I don't know if its just me, but I have always wondered why turkeys are called turkeys. And as expected, it has something to do with Turkey. Turkey is called a turkey because the first merchants to sell them were Turkish.

#2
The four- eyed fish also called in Latin Anableps Anableps actually has 2 eyes divided in 4. They are normally on the surface of the water so the top 2 are on the surface and the bottom 2 look inside the water.

#1
This one, I found very interesting, There is no green mammal. There are birds, reptiles but no mammals. There was a greenish sloth, but it was simply algae on the fur.

Quote for the week:
"My favorite animal is steak."
=Fran Lebowitz

The Human Body and Various Oddities.

I hope Everyone is recovering from Spring Break, because i certainly am struggling to. I realized that once your body get used to being lazy and inactive, a sudden resuming of hectic activities can take its toll. That, as you can imagine, got me thinking of the humans and how complex we are biologically and yet sometimes so strikingly simple minded. So, without further ado, five FünFacts of us humans and our bodies.

#5
The gut is the only organ that can continue working without the brain. It is similar to the brain in its composition. I wonder where the term gut-feeling comes from?

#4
Ever wake up in the morning and feel younger or older than you are? Different parts of the body have different ages. The entire human skeleton is replaced approximately every 10 years. The human body is only about 7 - 10 years old.

#3
Ever been told you have two left feet? The 1600's to the 1800's might be the place for you. In the 200 years between 1600 and 1800 boots were not made in left or right. They both were the same. There were lefts and rights before 1600 and after 1800.

#2
Trouble breathing? That's because we breathe only from one nostril at a time. We alternate nostrils. Each one breathes for 4 hours each.
Breathing from certain each side affect the way you answer different question on different subjects. Breathing through the right makes you better at visual and spatial things whereas the left is better for verbal things. Sports personalities wear a nose band so that they can breathe from both nostrils. Right nostrils being blocked make you feel more anxious. 

#1
Looking for a perfect figure to attract? Look no further. Dr. David Holmes, a psychology lecturer at the University of Manchester, created a formula to describe the beauty of a perfect bottom:

Quote for the week:
"If a world was a logical place, then men would ride side-saddle"
- Rita Mae Brown

Images Used:
 http://entericnervoussystem.webs.com/functions.htm
http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/my-left-foot/1668
http://shrek.wikia.com/wiki/Puss_in_Boots

If Music Were the Food of ... wait what?

I was listening to one of my favorite pieces of music and like i usually do, i got really emotional. It made me think of the regard we give to music and how it affects our lives. Music plays an essential role in inspiring us and of penetrating our deepest emotions and evoking a sense of realization. All of this by a simple, and sometimes not so much, tune. So without further ado, the song i was listening to:

Oh yes, five FünFacts about music and the brilliance of sound:

#5
For musicians, the term, "look at the music" might simply mean reading the notes on the sheet. But for some, that term is far more literal. Sound Synesthesia is a condition that some have, in which they see colors every-time certain music is played. Different notes of music have different colors for people who possess this condition.

#4
The University of Ohio performed an experiment in which they played music to spiders. The spiders wove their webs away form the speakers when they were blasted with Heavy Metal and Pop but built it close to the speakers when they played Classical.

Bonus fünfact: An experiment conducted by NASA on spiders who were exposed to different kinds of drugs which impacted the webs they wove. Below are the kinds of webs they produced, while exposed to the respective drug.

 

#3

 The tune for the famous nursery rhyme, 'twinkle twinkle little star', was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he was 5. He wrote multiple variations.

 

#2

The first thing to break the sound barrier was invented in china 7000 years ago and is still used extensively. It was, and still is, the whip. The crack of the whip is not the sound of the whip hitting its self but the breaking of the sound barrier.

#1

The birthday is the one day of self importance(and sometimes self-loathing) in a man's life. Its a moment of joy when our kith and kin gather to sing the generic, 'Happy Birthday to you.' But every time it is sung in public, we owe Warner Brothers money. Warner Brothers bought the rights to the song 'Happy Birthday' in 2004. The earned nearly $2million dollars in royalties in the year 2008, just from that song.

Qoute for the week:
 The conductor, Sir Thomas Beechum once said to a lady cellist,"Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it"

Remember to check out my previous post and answer the bonus question to win the $2 amazon gift card!


Images used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CaffeinatedSpider.jpg
http://www.fmvmagazine.com/?p=10898
http://blog.thecelebrationshoppe.com/2011/10/14/real-parties-girly-camp-party/singing-happy-birthday-camp-party/
http://www.nj.com/shopping/index.ssf/2011/04/get_a_free_sample_of_miracle_w.html
http://www.hellokids.com/c_6276/coloring/famous-character-coloring-pages/indiana-jones-coloring-book-pages/indiana-jones-and-his-leather-whip-coloring-page

Fallacy!

Now i learned some interesting things while researching for this blog. And one thing I realized is that a lot of the things we believe are FALSE! That is why i have decided to have a new segment called 'Fallacy.' Where I will debunk popular notions and refine them with truth or at least verisimilitude, you decide. So, without further ado five FünFacts that debunk popular notions:

#5
Now, we've all learned probability in high school in which we always assume the probability of getting a heads or tails is actually 50/50.
FALLACY!
The actual odds of determining the chances of heads or tails are not 50/50 if a human is flipping it. By the laws of mechanics, the chances of the face that is upwards is 51 and the other is 49. So next time you toss a coin, you know what to call.

#4
Ever noticed how babies are drawn to their mothers from the moment of their birth, like they know exactly who they are.
FALLACY!
Babies don't recognize or care for their mother, or for that matter anyone, for at least 3 months until they are used to their smell. And sometimes not even then if the mother is picky about what cologne to wear.

NB: I thought of Photoshopping a baby in some kind of joke, but look at that!
Coochie coochie coo!


#3
We all know that the Church of England does not necessarily conform to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and it is believed that that's the way it has always been since the theory was first published.
FALLACY!
Charles Darwin's theory when released did not actually worry the Church of England. They said the ideas in the bible were metaphorical and encouraged people to believe in the idea of linear evolution.

#2
Mars, not the God, but the planet, is often called the red planet because we believe that is it's color.
FALLACY!
Mars is actually dusty brown even though it is called the red planet. It appears red because of the dust in the atmosphere.

#1
This is interesting. I love rhyming and people always tell me, "Give me rhyme for orange, you can't can you? That is because there is no word that rhymes with orange" *say in annoying person tone and insert the word, 'dude', randomly*
FALLACY!
Words rhyming with orange: Blorenge (a place in Wales) and Gorringe (a last name that is probably a derivative of the German name Göring)

I will ask a question after every fallacy segment for which i will provide the answer to in the next fallacy segment(which could be weeks away, so i don't know why I'm doing this). If you think you know the answer, let me know in the comments. The first person to give me a right answer will have the satisfaction of being smarter than the others and will win a $2 amazon gift card!(it's not much, but to be fair, you are only answering a question.) So lets see some answers.

Fallacy question:
According to the bible, how many sheep did Noah take on his ark?



Images used:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/9226292.stm
http://reallycutestuff.com/babies/super-cute-suprised-baby-boy/170
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1392338/?forcedownload=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sylvia_plath.jpg
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/

Quote for the week:
"Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied."
- Otto Von Bismarck

Bingo!

I had a free day this past week which i decided to spend indulging in simple pastimes such as board games and sports(I slept through the day). It was quite a liberating day that helped rid me of worries(Sleeping does that). When the day was done, I reveled in carefree moments past and thought of the varied sports, games, and pastimes that humans have created to keep themselves occupied(Its called dreaming). So without further ado, here are five fun facts about the worlds games, sports and varied pastimes:

#5
Lets Begin at one of the earlier civilizations. We all know about Gladiators and about how ruthless, ferocious and blood thirsty they were. But in all likelihood, Roman Gladiators were Vegetarian. A study of Gladiators skeletons and chemical compositions revealed that they were almost certainly vegetarian. Also, the notion of them being sexy with well sculpted bodies is also possibly untrue. On the contrary, they were quite large.

#4
Since 2012 should have been the end of the world, it would be no fun to not mention the civilization that played one of the longest pranks ever: The Mayans. The Mayans had Great Games every year in which the prize for the winning team captain was death. They killed the captain and burned his heart. It wasn't until about 700 AD that one of the kings thought it would be more logical to kill the captain of the losing team.

#3
Now most of you might think that monopoly was and is the most the most popular board game and most of you would be right after the 80's. But up until about 1973 the most popular game was the Ouija board. The game lost its popularity as a game because of the horror film, The Exorcist. In fact, the Ouija board was not originally used to have a seance with those passed on but to contact a side of yourself that controls itself.

#2
I came across a most fascinating sport that originated in the Netherlands in 2003. Its called Chess Boxing. Quite literally, participants requires strong chess skills along with the athletic ability to box. One can win either with a knockout or a checkmate!


#1
Now I love gambling and card games and the best way to win against a casino is card counting but getting caught can get you banned for life. So, technically, blackjack is the most lucrative game, if you know card counting. But I came across a group of people who won £1.3 million in the Ritz Casino in the UK in the game of roulette. They had a camera which sent a stream of the spinning pearl to a computer that analyzed the speed of the pearl and gave an approximate number on which it would stop. They were allowed  to keep their winnings since they did not tamper with the roulette machine in any way.
I wonder when the app for that will be out.

Images used from:
http://www.howtokillanihilist.com/category/mayans/
http://itsaconspiracy.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mayans.gif
http://www.13moon.com/prophecy%20page.htm
http://www.krishnanfineart.com/2011/02/day-50-chessboxing.html
Info Source:
QI

Quote of the week:
"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. And, And then it's just, uh, fun you can't see."
-James Hetfield 

Sissylympics!

The Olympics were obviously a highlight of the last year. The Quadrennial meet showcase some of the most brilliant athletes from around the world and is not only a display of grit and perseverance but also of mutual camaraderie amongst people of every race, creed, nationality, ethnicity and whatever else we choose to distinguish ourselves by. But alas, this bravura display of testosterone filled machismo and progesterone fueled prowess was not always so full of pumping excitement. So without further ado, Five FünFacts about the Olympics former glory:

#5

We all know that the Olympics originated in Greece and were held in the honor of Zeus. But what was originally considered a gymnasium was not simply a place for people to work out but literally meant a place for people to be naked; Gymnos meaning naked, in Greek. Another popular act was gymnologising which was the act of debating naked.

#4

Baron de Coubertin was the father of the modern olympic movement. He was also a winner of a gold medal, but his victory is far more flattering. He entered and won a gold medal in poetry.

#3

Now, you might be wondering that poetry is an absurd category to win an olympic medal in, however, The olympic used to be much broader and contained various categories like sculpture, music, painting, literature, etc. Until 1948 there was a medal for Town Planning. They stopped it because categories involving artists meant that the people who were artist would continue to be so all their life but athletes can be so only during their peak.

#2

The oldest ever medal winner was a 78 year old named John Cockley from england who one for Engraving and Etching.

#1

Olympic gold medals aren't actually made of gold. There are almost 93% silver with only a bit of gold, usually 6 grams.The last actual gold medal was made in 1912. If each medal was made of 18 karat gold it would cost around $4,500 each and $2.3 million for all the medals.

Images used:

http://www.redstate.com/2012/10/18/obama-wins-debate-and-it-shows-in-the-polls/

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/338.html

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parthenon.at.Nashville.Tenenssee.01.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2005018148/

http://www.gcrunner.org/gcrgoldmedal.html

http://webneel.com/webneel/blog/20-photographs-olympic-athletes-crying-crying-games-london-2012

Quote of the week:

"The Olympics. Not a sport but several peculiar sports, each of which only commands your attention every four years, like a dental appointment." - Dan Jenkins