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(http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/.a/6a010535ce1cf6970c0120a7e4dab1970b-320wi)
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Cracking your knuckles does not actually hurt your bones or cause arthritis. The sound you hear is just gas bubbles bursting.
(http://www.directlyfitness.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Knuckle-cracking.jpg)
Cracking your knuckles (or any of your joints) can have therapeutic benefits. When you crack one of your joints you are pulling the bones that are connected at the joint apart from each other. This process stimulates your tendons, relaxes your muscles, and loosens your joints. Chiropractors do this for spinal joints when your back is sore and stiff, but you can do this on your own for your knuckles, toes, knees, neck, etc.
Unfortunately, there can be too much of a good thing. Cracking your knuckles will never lead to arthritis (despite what your mom keeps telling you), but scientists have discovered that it can cause tissue damage in the affected joints. Knuckle-cracking pulls your finger bones apart which stretches your ligaments. Too much stretching of your ligaments will cause damage to your fingers akin to the arm injuries sustained by a baseball pitcher who throws too many pitches. In addition to making your hand really sore, this ligament damage can also result in reduced grip strength.
How does this work? Your joints, the places in your body where you can bend, are where your bones intersect and are held together by ligaments. These joints are surrounded by a liquid called synovial fluid. When you stretch your ligaments by pulling the bones apart to crack your knuckles a gas in the synovial fluid escapes and turns into a bubble. This process is called cavitation. Cavitation ends when the bubble eventually bursts, producing that popping sound we know and love. After that, your joints won't be able to crack for another 25-30 minutes while the gas gets reabsorbed into the synovial fluid.
(http://www.drkarl.com/uploaded/Curly%20Questions/2-knuckle%20crack.jpg)
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Crossing your fingers for luck is actually a Christian symbol for invoking protection by emulating the shape of a cross!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/3/18/20c32205197860f49698c8affd60da33.jpg)
Crossing your fingers is a hand gesture commonly used to superstitiously wish for good luck. The gesture is referred to by the common expression "keeping one's fingers crossed" or just "fingers crossed," meaning "let’s hope for a positive result".
The gesture has also been historically used in order to allow believers to recognize one another during times of persecution. Some people, mostly children, also use the gesture to excuse their telling of a lie. It may have it's roots in the belief that the power of the Christian cross might save one from being sent to hell for telling a lie.
A similar belief is that crossing one's fingers invalidates a promise being made. The gesture is also used to express two people being close friends with the accompanying phrase, "They are like this." In 16th century England, people crossed their fingers to ward off evil. They also did it when someone sneezed or coughed.
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50 million years ago there was an animal with the body like a gorilla and the head like a horse!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/4/12/0a811329bf682d38a46d34f7b02dc565)
The Chalicotheres were a group of herbivorous mammals spread throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa approximately 55 million years ago. Fossils show long forelimbs and short hind limbs, which leads scientists to conclude that they walked with most of their weight on their hind legs.
Their front legs had long, curved claws which indicate that they walked on their knuckles, much like gorillas do. Chalicotheres had horse-like faces, and in fact, evolved 40 million years ago into smaller forest animals that were similar to early horses.
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(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TQWHBHsrd78/TQExtj2EkMI/AAAAAAAARsE/3Kbzqxq4FYg/s400/number-4-shaped-pinata.jpg)
Four is the only number that has the same amount of letters as its actual value.
F = 1 ,
O = 2 ,
U = 3 ,
R = 4
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The opposite sides of dice always add up to seven.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Gwg_CUzB4rQ/S98HZK6rS8I/AAAAAAAAAWw/unDxP79UbKk/s1600/number7.1.jpg)
As you can see in the picture, the 1 is on the opposite side of the 6, the 2 is on the opposite side of the 5, and the 3 is on the opposite side of the 4. Also, there are three different ways to get to 7 when you roll 2 dice, which means that a 7 is the most common outcome when you roll 2 dice.
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An elephant can die from a broken heart.
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/4/2/d8aa4561054086be53ba7f109e2354b5.jpg)
It turns out that elephants are highly emotional animals. They form close-knit relationships with one another and mourn the loss of loved ones. At times, if a fellow elephant dies, the others in the herd will gather around and pay their respects as if at a funeral.
If a baby elephant loses its mother, it will grieve. The elephant will often become withdrawn and emaciated. Other members of the herd will gather around and nurse the orphan back to life. Elephants can form deep attachments with humans too.
In one case, an elephant handler raised a baby elephant. She had to go away for a brief time to attend her daughter’s wedding. When she returned, she found that the baby elephant had died of a broken heart at her absence.
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Thomas CRAPPER popularized the toilet.
(http://www.donny.co.uk/Doncaster/ecards/images/Famous%20Doncastrians/48.jpg)
He didn't invent the toilet, but his company, Crapper & Co, was a popular plumbing company in the late 1800s. In the 1880s Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey all had Crapper brand products. Crapper also patented a lot of toilet innovations, including the flushing mechanism that is still being used today.
Among some of his less successful patents was an early version of an automatic flushing mechanism.
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A crocodile can't stick out its tongue.
(http://www.lifesizestatue.com/crocodile-statue.jpg)
The crocodile's tongue is attached to the bottom of its mouth by a membrane. A crocodile may not be able to stick out its tongue at you, but it isn't entirely useless. The crocodile's tongue has salt glands, which means that a crocodile's tongue performs the same function for a crocodile that kidneys perform for us: excreting salt. Crocodiles have less efficient kidneys and have thick, salt-resistant skin, which means that they have a hard time releasing salt through their skin. They have to use their tongue to get rid of salt and keep from getting dehydrated.
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Giraffes can't yawn.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Gwg_CUzB4rQ/S9kihE9EeMI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/FNj05gNUDfI/s1600/giraffe2.jpg)
Pretty much all warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals yawn. Birds, fish, mammals, and of course, people. An average human will yawn 250,000 times in one lifetime, and animals have been photographed yawning all the time. However, neither giraffes nor whales have ever been caught yawning.
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The Niagara Falls freezes. In 1848 it stopped flowing altogether.
(http://imagecache5.art.com/p/MED/27/2760/OL2TD00Z/andreas-feininger-frozen-niagara-falls_-trees_-park-grounds-and-rocks-covered-with-ice-and-mist.jpg)
In March of 1848, so much ice had flown into the the Niagara Falls that the falls literally stopped moving. As reported in the Buffalo Express: "The Falls of Niagara can be compared to nothing but a mere mill dam this morning. In the memory of the oldest inhabitants, never was there so little water running over Niagara's awful precipice, as at this moment!"
Despite what you hear from chain mail, the Niagara Falls rarely freezes over completely. Photographs have captured various times when parts of the Niagara Falls became frozen. In 1912, much of the Niagara River froze. The ice formed a bridge over the falls, but then collapsed, killing three people.
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Squirrels plant trees. ON ACCIDENT.
(http://www.driko.org/blogicons/squirrels_lightsabers.jpg)
Despite the fact that they've yet to learn to look both ways before crossing the street, squirrels are actually pretty smart. They have an elaborate system for preserving their food. This includes burying nuts and acorns underground so that they can get to them much later. Sometimes if they don't get around to eating their buried treasure, the nuts grow into trees. This is actually really important because it allows for trees to grow farther away from other trees so that forests can spread.
Squirrels know exactly how well the nuts and acorns they find can stay preserved, which means that when they find nuts they know which ones to bury at which time and where. They also have a process to make acorns last longer: taking out the embryo!
They're also really sneaky. Give a squirrel some nuts and he'll dig several "dummy" holes for each actual nut that he buries. This throws off other animals watching them who would try to steal their food. Sometimes they even pretend to bury nuts to send their competition on a wild goose chase.
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A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside. Also, contrary to popular belief, hippos are ill-tempered and aggressive toward humans.
(http://animalsneedkisses.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/hippo-yawn.jpg)
A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside. Also, contrary to popular belief, hippos are ill-tempered and aggressive toward humans.
Hippos have mouths that can open 150 degrees wide to be four feet high, revealing teeth that are 20 inches tall!
Hippos are very aggressive. Male hippos use their big teeth for fighting and when threatened they snort, roar, lunge and chase enemies. Female hippos are also highly protective of their young, and act very aggressively to intruders. If a hippo feels threatened by a person, the hippo can kill a person.
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Amazing Bridge
(http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/05/29/1243650462_8531/539w.jpg)
The Boston University Bridge is the only spot in America where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
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Facts About Cats
Cats that fall from higher than 7 stories get fewer injuries than those that fall from lower levels.
(http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/Images/ae411a.jpg)
A formal study on the effects of falling from building on cats has never been done (could you imagine scientists chucking cats off of a building, in the name of science?) However, a report in the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association assembled data about cats that have seen vets in New York City after falling from buildings, and the findings are remarkable. Not only did the cats have a 90% survival rate, but the cats that fell from the 7th floor or higher had less injuries than those that fell from lower floors. This phenomenon could be because cats have what is known as a "righting reflex". When cats fall, they shift their bodies in mid-air automatically to land on their feet. The cats that fell from higher floors had more time to shift their bodies and land on their feet.
Now, before everyone starts throwing their cats off of skyscrapers, there's an alternate theory. The 132 cats in the survey were cats that already survived their falls long enough to go visit a vet. It's possible that cats that fell off higher floors were clearly dead, so their owners didn't bother taking them to the vet, so they were never counted.
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(http://www.bubblews.com/assets/images/news/255568336_1360214230.jpg)
"The Sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" has the Guiness World Record for toughest tongue twister.
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CHESS Fact
"Checkmate" in chess is actually "Shah Mat," Persian for "the king is defeated" or the "king is helpless".
(http://questgarden.com/41/42/1/061112053111/images/tal_playing_chess.jpg)
Chess is a REALLY OLD GAME. The earliest evidence of chess dates back to the year 600 AD in Persia. "Shah" is the title of the royal Persian monarch, so naturally the King in chess was called the Shah. To win chess, you have to defeat the King, by attacking it and making it unable to move. This is called the "Checkmate" or "Shah Mat", literally, "The King is defeated". Mat is a Persian word for "defeated", "helpless", or "at a loss", all pretty good descriptions for a checkmated king.
Millions of chess enthusiasts wrongly assume that "Checkmate" actually means "The King is dead". Chess made its way from Persia to Europe through Arabia and "mat" is an Arab word for dead, so this is a likely source of the confusion. The King in chess can't be "killed" anyway, so "defeated" makes a lot more sense.
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Humans don't just shrink with age. They shrink EVERY DAY.
(http://www.mikewilkerson.com/images/six-flags-dude.jpg)
Humans shrink and regain height daily, sometimes as much as 3/4 of an inch in one day. When we move throughout the day, the fluid disks in in our spinal column compress and we shrink. When we rest at night our backbones reabsorb the fluid and our height comes back.
As our bodies degenerate over time, our ability to grow back our height diminishes over time. This contributes to the loss of height that occurs as we age. It's not uncommon to lose two whole inches by the time we hit 60 years old.
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China pays its citizens for choosing to be buried at sea!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/4/5/2bf57675ed94900f663373cfed56ceca)
China has a real cemetery problem. With 1.35 billion citizens, a rapid growing economy, and surging real estate prices, the cost of burying a person underground is getting really expensive and scarce.
Some cities in China are trying to incentivize people to choose to be buried at sea instead. They will pay their families up to $1,300 and an all-expenses paid boat trip for people to scatter their deceased loved one’s ashes at sea.
If this seems like a lot of money, it’s not as much as the cost of a grave. In Beijing, even a cheap grave can cost up to $16,000 to bury someone’s ashes. This is a real problem that they want to solve, as their death toll is expected to reach 20 million in just a few years.
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Warsaw radio mast was the tallest structure in the world until it's collapse
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/3/15/61ec303462364469525bb21a521b2913.jpg)
The Warsaw radio collapsed in August 1991. Before this, it was the tallest structure in the world. The mast was designed by Jan Polak and stood at 2,120 feet tall.
It was completed in 1974 in Poland and was used by the Warsaw Radio-Television for longwave radio broadcasting.
On August 8, 1991, an error was made while changing the guy-wires on the highest stock and the mast collapsed. The mast bent and then snapped about in half. An investigation determined that blame lay with the company that built the mast, Mostostal Zabrze.
The construction coordinator and the chief of the division that built the mast were sentenced to 2.5 years and 2 years in prison respectively.
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Greenland has the highest suicide rate in the world. It’s almost twice as high as Japan’s!
(http://foodmatters.tv/images/assets/antidepressants_suicide.jpg)
Japan is a country notorious for it's high suicide rate. It’s estimated that almost 50 in 100,000 people commit suicide each year. However, that is comparatively small compared to Greenland’s 100 per 100,000 rate.
Another sobering difference between most countries and Greenland is that in the island, most people who commit suicide are teens and young adults. In most other countries it’s elderly people who lead the statistic.
This is a relatively new development. The rate started growing since the 1970s. Although there is speculation that the reason for this high rate is alcoholism and poverty and incest rates, there are no firm studies that show why it’s such a big problem.
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Tea is the most popular drink in the world!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/3/5/cb080d3a69bbe0687df9f2144c4ac76c.jpg)
Other than water, of course, we're talking about manufactured drinks. Tea plants are native to East and South Asia. According to The Story of Tea, tea drinking began in modern day Yunnan province during the Shang Dynasty as a medical drink. From there, the drink spread to Sichuan, where the tea evolved from a medicine to a comforting beverage.
Since then, tea has spread across the world. In 2003, the world tea production was 3.21 million tons annually. In 2010, tea production reached over 4.52 million tons. The largest producers of tea are India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and of course, the United Republic of China.
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Only 20% of the Sahara is covered with sand!
(http://images.sciencedaily.com/2009/11/091111115843-large.jpg)
When you think the Sahara, you probably think of endless sand dunes with the occasional oasis thrown in. However, that is not close to the truth. In reality, only about 20% of the Sahara is covered with shifting sand dunes.
The desert, which covers 8.5 million sq km is formed not just of sand dunes, but also of bare gravel plains, stony plains, mountains and salt covered plains. In the driest parts of the Sahara, the annual rainfall doesn’t exceed 25mm. In places where it does rain, the water evaporates rather than soaking into the ground.
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When a Jumping Ant queen dies, workers fight it out until one wins and develops into a new queen!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/3/14/a75b7d2ca33b82193aa5dd633ee4b2bb.jpg)
Ant colonies are interesting in that they revolve around the queen ant. She lays the eggs while the other ants do the work to keep the colony going. However, a recent study found that the queen ant, despite her physical difference, is not genetically the same as the rest of the ants.
This makes it possible to replace the queen should she die. If that happens, one of the worker ants will assume the role of "pseudoqueen." Once it takes on the role, the ant will swell to a larger size and begin laying eggs. The new queen will also live longer than it would have if it remained a mere worker.
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You absorb more egg proteins if they’re cooked than if they’re raw!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/3/14/9110235aa25359a2f24e746aa9fe7d59.jpg)
You probably have the mental image of Rocky trying to bulk up by eating raw eggs. It’s a rather nasty image no? The reason for doing it that way is that some nutrients get lost after cooking.
An egg contains about 6 grams of protein, and when you eat them raw, you absorb roughly 50% of the protein. That means that 3 grams go to waste! Studies have found that when you cook eggs, the protein is absorbed at the rate of 91%.
The reason for the higher absorption percentage is that heat changes the molecular structural of protein. Not only that, but eating cooked eggs reduces other health risks, like salmonella.
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Hydrogen in Saturn gets so dense towards the core that it turns into metal.
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/3/18/893756a9779761af84b65ee31ad3b742.jpg)
It's sometime hard to believe that the same elements that exist on our little blue home are also present in the giant, magestic, cosmic beast that is Saturn.
Saturn is classified as a gas giant because the exterior is predominately composed of gas and lacks a definite surface. However, it does have a solid core.
The planet primarily consists of hydrogen. The density of the hydrogen reached at the radius is 99.9% of Saturn's mass. The temperature, pressure, and desnity inside the planet all rise steadily towards the core which, in the deeper layers of the planet, cause hydrogen to morph into a metal.
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Deaf babies learn sign language on the same timetable as hearing babies do spoken language!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/2/14/ab056a0677bba07412ecddbd8ebdc1d8.jpg)
For a long time it was believed that speech was a key component to learning language. Universal studies have been done and seemed to link baby babble happening at the same age with language learning. Dr. Laura Ann Petitto did extensive studies on the issue throughout her career. She totally busted the theory that hearing and speech were key in language acquisition. She found again and again that deaf infants who learned American Sign Language were at an equal level of language learning as hearing children were. She studied infants 0 to 48 months old primarily.
Today, it is very popular to teach infants various American Sign Language signs. Studies now show that infants exposed to ASL are able to develop their language centers in the brains more rapidly, because they can sign before they are able to verbally communicate. The studies show that infants exposed to ASL have higher IQ’s not because they are that much more intelligent than other infants, but simply because the language center in their brains was able to begin developing sooner.
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The word Apron used to be Napron. Why did it change?
(http://images1.vat19.com/covers/large/cooking-guide-apron.jpg)
Language can be a funny thing. It changes and evolves because it's a living code that we all share. In this case, the word Napron suffered something called metanalysis, a process by which a word is broken down in ways that were not original to it. In this case, the phrase "A Napron" had the N move to the article and it changed into "An Apron."
Another example of metanalysis is the name of a species of snake: a nadder became an adder. There are other types of metanalysis. For example, people took part of the word foremost and have attached the 'most' part to other terms like rightmost, uppermost. Clipping words is also a for of metanalysis, for example, calling it a copter instead of a helicopter.
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There is no synonym for synonym!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2012/12/6/a4c2606385c261cb186c136e2e6e2955.jpg)
A synonym is a word with the same or similar meaning of another word. An example of this would be the words “buy” and “purchase.” Considering the word synonym, blogger Phil Plait says it well writing, “The antonym of ‘synonym’ is ‘antonym’, and the antonym of ‘antonym’ is ‘synonym’…but ‘synonym’ has no synonym.”’
This is strange because the word alludes to another word with the same definition, yet there is no other word with the same definition as synonym! Just to clarify, there are actually hardly any words that are completely synonyms. Usually, if two words are generally considered synonyms there is always an instance where they could be used differently and destroy the definition. Yet nonetheless, the irony that synonym has no synonym is still hilarious!
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A female dude is a dudine, not a dudette!
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQvJq4kwKLlGjm3BkOJ6xLGabo5tAbHynRs81WXKDHtkdAeq_sV2A)
The Merriam-Webster dictionary is as official as it gets. It says dude can mean several things. First, it can mean a man extremely fastidious in dress and manner. It also means a city dweller unfamiliar with life on the range. Are many people familiar with the range these days? It also simply refers to a guy or a fellow. It was first seen in literature in 1883 making fun of fashion saying “dude” instead of “dud”. It is thought to be of Scottish origin.
The female version of dude is often said to be dudette and often used as so. Again, Merriam-Webster has the real answer, though. The fine dictionary says that the female version of a dude is actually a dudine. Your world is shaken at this point, and I understand why. Don’t worry, though. Dude is used as slang, and dudette is known and used in a slang manner, too. So, rest assured you can still say dudette and no one will get confused. Wow people at sophisticated parties and tell them the female version of dude is actually dudine. It’ll really impress the crowds.
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Michelin gives 3 Stars to restaurants that are so good, it's worth visiting its country to eat there. There are only 81!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/4/8/2a2e00ff590b221184b711b7d787f01b)
The Michelin Guide is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries. The term normally refers to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide, which awards the Michelin stars.
Michelin also publishes Green Guides for travel and tourism, as well as several newer publications such as the Guide Voyageur Pratique, Guide Gourmand, Guide Escapade, and Guide Coup de Cœur.
First published in 1900 for France, Michelin introduced additional guides thereafter for other European countries. In 2005, it published the first guide for the United States focusing on New York City; followed by it's first Asian guide in 2007 for Tokyo.
In 2012, the Michelin Guide collection had 27 guide books covering 23 countries on three continents, with over 45,000 worldwide addresses. The 3 star Michelin rating means the guide suggests you visit the country just to try out the restaurant.
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A 21-year-old CEO fired 66% of managers on day 1. He’s grown the company from $4m to $200m in sales!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/3/14/3f7099896119f8ed5941cf490a015714.jpg)
Ricardo Semler is a Brazilian businessman and majority owner of Semco, a Brazilian multimillion Dollar company. Semco was first owned by his father and Ricardo worked under him.
After frequent clashing about how to run the business, Ricardo threatened to leave the company. His father instead decided to step aside and let Ricardo run the company as he pleased.
On his first day on the job, Ricardo Semler fired 2/3rds of all top managers. He believes in a radical form of industrial democracy and a more participative system of business. Since he was 25 he has been inspired to want a greater work-life balance for him and his employees.
Through his leadership, the company expanded into many different industries and the revenues exploded: From $4 million in 1982 to $212 million in 2003.
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If a Google Employee dies, their spouse gets half pay for 10 years!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/2/27/351471c3136ad709dcfe2ef67d9a63c5.jpg)
Google has been known to treat their employees really well. They treat them to free food, fitness classes, laundry services, and car washes. Now, they’ve pulled out the big guns. They’re offering their employee spouses 10 years of half pay when their Google working spouse dies.
There’s no tenure requirement needed to receive the benefits either. Right now, only U.S. employees are covered by the policy at this point in time, though. The surviving spouse or partner of a deceased employee will also acquire vested stock benefits, and children will receive $1,000 a month until the age of 19.
The timeline can be extended if the child is in school full time. Google said it is taking this approach because it is the right thing to do, ensuring that each employee's family is taken care of if an unforeseeable event were to occur — even if there is no direct benefit to the business.
Although it might attract more candidates to apply for a position, Google said that is not the reason why it implemented the benefits — more potential hires would just be a side effect.
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The CEO of the 2nd largest gun manufacturer resigned because it was revealed he had been in jail 15 years for armed robbery!
(http://cdn.omg-facts.com/2013/2/26/52d4e0e8701028302bd0e4f217dc2c0a.jpg)
James Minder became CEO of Smith & Wesson in 2001 and was an invaluable member of the company. He had to resign in 2004, however, when it was revealed that he had spent 15 years in prison for armed robbery and an attempted prison escape.
The optics and public perception of having the CEO of the second largest gun manufacturer were too negative for the company, so they forced him to resign.
When he was asked why he hadn’t revealed that information before, he simply responded that no one had asked him about it. He had never lied about his past, he insisted, it just never came up.