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You know what I know this week that I didn't know last week? I think it is really neat!
Dermoid cysts. They are cysts that can grow on the back of your neck, on the brain, on the ovaries, etc. They contain many different tissue cells, which is why they are called monster cells. They can have hair, sweat glands, teeth, and even eyes!
1. Britain's oldest unsolved murder dates back to 1866.
2. Discussion about politics is banned inside polling stations.
3. As is the wearing of rosettes by anyone except for election candidates and their polling agents.
4. Dawdling across a pedestrian crossing could land you in court.
5. 1,000,000,000 trillion (that's a billion-trillion) bytes of computer storage is called a zettabyte.
6. The inventor of the Maclaren folding pushchair also designed the Spitfire's undercarriage.
7. The difference between the minimum wage and "living wage" in London is £1.80 per hour.
8. People who regularly have less than six hours sleep increase their chance of dying over a 25-year period by 12%.
9. Despite its scary name, the colossal squid is no fast-paced predator - it prefers to drift about.
10. Blood pressure rises when checked by a doctor.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_134.shtml
Funny story about this; one of my good friends gets really nervous when getting his blood pressure and heart rate checked by a doctor to the point where they've had to send him to the hospital to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with him (there isn't).Quote:
10. Blood pressure rises when checked by a doctor.
A younger brother of a friend of mine once had to wear a monitor which logged his blood pressure for a 48 hour period in which he was instructed to do no exercise, in order to test for a hereditary heart murmur condition. At the time he was a young teenager without a girlfriend (you can probably see where this is going!)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hurricane
When he took it back the doctor had a look at the data which showed a five minute spell where the blood pressure exploded in a massive peak. The peak was late at night and the doctor thought it was unlikely he would have done any excercise at this time of day and began to get very worried. He was eventually faced with the toss up of either coming clean (no pun intended) or being diagnosed with a heart condition!
Anyway... 10 things I didn't know last week...
1). Lightning strikes the earth on average 100 times every second.
2). Bolivia has the highest turnover of governments (200 since 1825).
3). 5 billion crayons are produced every year.
4). 92 nuclear bombs are lost at sea
5). Peter the Great taxed people with beards!
6). Sea captains used to keep pigs on board because they believed, should they be shipwrecked, pigs always swam toward the nearest shore.
7). In Denmark there are twice as many pigs as people
8). There exists a critter called the Mongolian Death Worm.
9). The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is a wonderful film.
10). If I spent half the time I spend trawling the internet and watching films doing something constructive then I could probably have made a useful contribution to society last week!
1. £1m made up of £20 notes weighs 25 times as much as the equivalent of £1m in 500 euro notes.
2. Downing Street's famous black front door was once green.
3. And the original door - now in the Churchill Museum - has its own cleaner.
4. Shakespeare's Henry VIII is considered jinxed because during a performance in 1613, the Globe theatre burned down.
5. The prime minister's first task is always to answer the question of whether he would retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.
6. More than half of Spain's cabinet is female.
7. China smokes one third of the world's cigarettes.
8. And there are 4.5 trillion cigarette butts discarded each year.
9. Florence Nightingale used the pseudonym "Miss Smith" to evade the media.
10. Hair is used to clean up oil spills because it is adsorbent (not absorbent).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_135.shtml
1. Kiefer Sutherland watches Coronation Street.
2. In Greece, trombonists and hairdressers can retire early because their professions are classed as unhealthy.
3. Sex is not dangerous for heart attack patients.
4. A million people a month are refused a drink in a pub.
5. American and British sign language is different.
6. Twelve is the optimum age for lying.
7. Jigsaw puzzle sales reached a weekly peak of 10 million in 1933.
8. The German army used nettle fabric to make army uniforms during World War I.
9. There are 450 music festivals in the UK this year alone.
10. Sextuplets are born once in every 4.5 million pregnancies.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_136.shtml
1. People conduct 22 Google searches each day, on average.
2. Guinness really is good for you.
3. Planets eat stars.
4. Ray Alan's puppet Lord Charles was modelled on Stan Laurel.
5. A pollen expert is called a palynologist.
6. Brushing teeth is good for the heart.
7. Botticelli's Venus and Mars were high on drugs.
8. Andy Murray has a kneecap made of two separate bones rather than one.
9. In winning Eurovision songs, one word in every 50 is "love".
10. The risk of contracting HIV is higher during pregnancy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_137.shtml
Gosh, I'm definitely falling sdown on the job. Let's see how many I can tackle.
I guess the neighborhood is still in fear he's at large and ready to strike again. :wink5:Quote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
And Scher and Logos are there to moderate. :lol:Quote:
2. Discussion about politics is banned inside polling stations.
Or in the hospital. :)Quote:
4. Dawdling across a pedestrian crossing could land you in court.
Either a very comfortable car or a very uncomfortable chair. :DQuote:
6. The inventor of the Maclaren folding pushchair also designed the Spitfire's undercarriage.
I really need to get more sleep.Quote:
8. People who regularly have less than six hours sleep increase their chance of dying over a 25-year period by 12%.
Makes for good fried calamari though. :DQuote:
9. Despite its scary name, the colossal squid is no fast-paced predator - it prefers to drift about.
I think mine does too actually.Quote:
10. Blood pressure rises when checked by a doctor.
I bet they blame it on Greece. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
I wonder if the Stones's song "Paint It Black" had anything to do with it. :wink5:Quote:
2. Downing Street's famous black front door was once green.
I would think many of Henry VIII's wives thought he was a jinx. :lol:Quote:
4. Shakespeare's Henry VIII is considered jinxed because during a performance in 1613, the Globe theatre burned down.
And I would assume the answer would always be yes.Quote:
5. The prime minister's first task is always to answer the question of whether he would retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.
No wonder. :DQuote:
6. More than half of Spain's cabinet is female.
So that's the cause of global warming. :)Quote:
7. China smokes one third of the world's cigarettes.
That's revolting actually. Urrgh.Quote:
8. And there are 4.5 trillion cigarette butts discarded each year.
Something to talk about next time I go to the barber shop. My didn't realize he was saving the world. :DQuote:
10. Hair is used to clean up oil spills because it is adsorbent (not absorbent).
Never heard of him or the show.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
Sounds like everyone in Greece has a justification to retire early. And what's early, 30? :wink5:Quote:
2. In Greece, trombonists and hairdressers can retire early because their professions are classed as unhealthy.
I guess it depends who you're having sex with, doesn't it? :lol:Quote:
3. Sex is not dangerous for heart attack patients.
Bad breath is a real turn off. :)Quote:
4. A million people a month are refused a drink in a pub.
No different than American and British English. :DQuote:
5. American and British sign language is different.
If so, how come there are no politicians who are twelve years old?Quote:
6. Twelve is the optimum age for lying.
Strange, but probably fits my average.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
It sure is!! :cheers2:Quote:
2. Guinness really is good for you.
Definitely true!Quote:
6. Brushing teeth is good for the heart.
But Botticelli was clean sober. Sure. :pQuote:
7. Botticelli's Venus and Mars were high on drugs.
1. The number of snakes in the world is falling.
2. Indigenous Bolivians wear bowler hats because of the English.
3. The top sponsors of the World Cup pay on average £75m.
4. Forty-two people die on South African roads every day, on average.
5. Motor racing is popular in the West Bank.
6. More than one in 10 websites is pornographic.
7. When one police diver is under water, another four remain on dry land.
8. If all the worldwide television coverage of the 2006 World Cup was shown on one channel, it would take more than eight years to watch.
9. Man can beat a horse in a running race, in the right conditions.
10. A seal's whiskers can detect fish movement 100 metres away.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_139.shtml
The number of snakes is falling? Hissssssss-terical!
1. Whale poo helps absorb CO2.
2. The BBC failed to record Charles de Gaulle's famous broadcast to German-occupied France.
3. Vuvuzelas are pitched at the B flat below middle C.
4. Male menopause exists (in 2% of men).
5. Britain's VAT of 17.5% is one of the lowest rates in Europe.
6. That "USA WINS 1-1" headline in the New York Post? They were joking.
7. Men were taught to change nappies at Fathercraft classes in the 1920s.
8. The government considered blocking North Korea from the 1966 World Cup.
9. Using the words "Games" and "2012" could land advertisers a £20,000 fine come the next Olympics.
10. Mathematicians busk.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_140.shtml
There is a large region of Antarctica called West Antarctica.
1. More than 5,000 so-called mosquito alarms, which emit a sound to disperse teenage groups, are in operation in the UK.
2. Human hair is used as a food additive.
3. Italy's footballers were pelted with rotten fruit when they arrived back in the country after an early exit from the 1966 World Cup.
4. Scotland has the highest proportion of cocaine users in the world.
5. Tennis matches can last three days.
6. There are 820 government websites.
7. More than eight million visits were made to news websites every minute, on the night Barack Obama won the US presidential election. On the first day of the World Cup, there were 12m visits per minute.
8. General Stanley McChrystal only eats one square meal a day.
9. Nottingham Forest players got drunk the night before winning the League Cup final in 1979.
10. There are 6,000 islands in Greece, but only 227 are inhabited.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_141.shtml
Which also explains why the Friars are often called MonksQuote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
1. Ancient whales had really big teeth.
2. German fans moo at England football players and fans.
3. The process of encrypting secret data in images or text is called steganography.
4. The name comes from Steganographia, title of a book written in 1499.
5. Some 14 million British homes date from when asbestos was widely used as a building material.
6. The celebrity perfume market is estimated to be worth £255m in the UK alone.
7. Wonder Woman was originally an Amazon.
8. A Gazan man has more than 430 grandchildren (and 11 wives over his lifetime).
9. BBC Radio 2 was once called the Light Programme, and Radio 3 the Third Programme.
10. Withdrawn banknotes are shredded and sometimes used in compost.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_142.shtml