10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week

[Scheherazade]

BBC News Magazine has a section called '10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK' which is posted every Saturday. I really enjoy reading that. Here is this week's list:

1. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex.

2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold one copy every minute since its 1969 publication.

3. Giant mice eating rare chicks on the South Atlantic's Gough Island are descended from the British house mouse, but since arriving on ships in the 19th Century, have doubled in size and become carnivorous.

4. Birmingham was hit by a tornado in 1931, in the same area of the city damaged in the latest twister.

5. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.

6. Cats are genetically unable to taste sweet things. While dogs adore chocolate, cats remain indifferent.

7. Marilyn Manson's gift to his fiancée - a taxidermy fan - is two stuffed swans posed as if about to copulate.

8. On average you would have to cycle non-stop for 96 years before being killed in a road accident.

9. By law, rescued grey squirrels cannot be released into the wild.

10. Racial prejudice is learnt; and everyone has an in-built inclination towards learning to fear people who appear different, says US research.


If you would like to read more about these news items, please click on the link below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...7.stm#10things

[mono]

How interesting! Thanks for sharing the link and information, Scher.

2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold one copy every minute since its 1969 publication.

Ah, one of my favorite children's books of all time!

5. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.

I think psychology has known this trend for much longer than the past weeks. Alfred Adler, a neo-Freudian, first did research concerning, what he later called, the birth-order theory. Adler's research has gained both praise and much criticism, but seems to contain more truth than theory, in my opinion. How the research states basis in the U.S., I have no idea, since, I think, Adler came from Austria originally.
Keep in mind, I do not blame you, Scher, for this statement - just improper citing on the website's contribution. Very fascinating, nonetheless.

[Bongitybongbong]

5. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.

Ha I guess that makes me the one that would be reburied when found (got that from a science mag that said the American govt. found an Anglo-Saxton that dated before any other human life and that screws over their theory on the original people on the continent).

[imthefoolonthehill]

he dated before any other human life... man, i thought MY dates were ugly...

ahem... well actually i didn't, but the thought was funny.

[Helga]

so that is how they describe me....promiscuous, well at least they say I'm creative

[papayahed]

On average you would have to cycle non-stop for 96 years before being killed in a road accident.

A guy I know told me the story of his grandfathers death at 80 something: He got hit by a car while riding his bike. Later it was determined that the grandfather was legally drunk when he died.

I think I may have changed my mind on how I would like to go....

[Molko]

Very interesting you really do learn something new every day

[JaynaLove]

1. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex.

Ok. Thanks a lot you made me spit out my water! *Giggles* You really do learn something new everyday.

[baddad]

....Wow!!!! Sex and eating all at the same time........now if one could only read while all this was going on......

[Jay]

1. Smalls Lighthouse has but a 35-watt bulb powered by solar power - yet its beams can be seen from 21 miles away thanks to powerful lenses.

2. Scientists who cloned an Afghan hound had a 0.09% success rate.

3. The three Space Shuttle Main Engines use a lot of fuel. In approximately 8 minutes, 40 seconds, the three SSMEs burn over 1.6 million pounds of propellant (approximately - 528,000 gallons).

4. Temperatures inside the main combustion chamber reach 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt steel. Meanwhile, liquid hydrogen circulates through miles of tubing at minus 423F to cool the engines.

5. Reebok, which is being bought by Adidas, can trace its history more than 100 years back, to Bolton.

6. Jimi Hendrix pretended to be gay to be discharged from the US Army.

7. Giant leatherback turtles travel each year from the Caribbean to Cardigan Bay in Wales in order to eat jellyfish found here.

8. Researchers expect smoking to be virtually extinct in Australia by 2030.

9. Among UK cities, Birmingham had the most industrial accidents in the 12 months to April 2005, followed by Leeds and Glasgow.

10. Joss Stone's mother told her off when she addressed President Bush "George".

source

[Scheherazade]

1. Trigamy is being married to three people.

2. Alexander the Great was killed by a mosquito, says new research.

3. A towel doesn't legally reserve a sun lounger - and there is nothing in German or Spanish law to stop other holidaymakers removing those left on vacant seats.


4. One in six children think that broccoli is a baby tree.

5. Robin Cook grew his beard in tribute to his hero, George Bernard Shaw.

6. Ann Widdecombe last watched Top of the Pops in 1966.

7. Vinegar on chips may help burn the fat off the deep-fried spud.

8. We are more likely to die in our sleep because our brains can forget to tell our bodies to breathe.

9. Home Office minister Hazel Blears is 4ft 11ins.

10. Drivers are most likely to be in an accident between 4pm and 7pm on a Friday - and even more so in August.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/...8.stm#10things

[Jay]

I like no. 8

[papayahed]

I like no. 8

Oh great something else to worry about...

[faith]

8. On average you would have to cycle non-stop for 96 years before being killed in a road accident.

This is good!

[Taliesin]

1. Trigamy is being married to three people.

Why do they think that we didn't know it last week? It is only logical (monogamy - 1, bigamy- 2, trigamy- 3, tetragamy- 4 et cetera)

5. Robin Cook grew his beard in tribute to his hero, George Bernard Shaw.

We read it as: Robin Hood grew a beard...

6. Ann Widdecombe last watched Top of the Pops in 1966.

Who is this Ann Widdecombe and what is Top of the Pops? Is it the electing of the new pope? It is true, we didn't know it the last week, but well, why must one put the religious ideas of some elderly lady in a paper?