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Topic: Useless Fact's
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 01-24-2003 02:55 PM
Rated G ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Useless fact - Why are moths drawn to light and what do they get out of it?
The moth,specifically the male moth,is attracted to an illuminated lightbulb for the sad but simple reason that it
thinks it's the moon. F
For roughly 150 million years,the visually impaired lepidopterans relied on the giant orb to help them navigate in a straight line,always keeping the moon's rays at a constant angle during their nightly mating excursions—flying a more or less steady course until they caught the scent of a female perched on a nearby leaf. But moth history took an unfortunate twist when the incandescent lamp arrived on the scene in 1879.
"Moths will never forgive Thomas Edison," says Cornell University entomologist Cole Gilbert,noting that chaos ensued as the nocturnal creatures began mistaking light-bulbs for the moon.
Unfortunately, flying so close to these surrogate moons makes it
nearly impossible for a moth to maintain a straight course, so it must constantly correct its bearing. Soon it becomes completely confused and disoriented.
"Before you know it," says Gilbert, "the poor guy is fluttering
around in circles." Relief comes only when the moth resigns itself to a celibate night on a strange porch,waiting until dawn,when it can find its way back into the thickets to fly again in search of a mate.
~source used: "Why Moths Hate Thomas Edison" by Hampton Sides~
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 01-25-2003 07:57 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - What makes peppers so hot?
Not all peppers are hot.For example,paprika,pimiento,and bell
peppers are not hot.However,peppers such as chili,ja-lapeno,and habanera are very hot.These peppers contain capsaicin,which
stimulates the nerve endings in the mouth and makes the brain
believe it is experiencing true heat.Eating a hot pepper can
also make the eyes water and the nose run,and can induce
perspiration.
To counteract the pain,the brain releases morphinelike endorphins that create a mild euphoria,similar to a "runner's
high." Because of this,peppers can be slightly addictive.Pure capsaicin is so hot that if you dilute a single drop in 100,000 drops of water and then sip the water,it will blister your tongue.
Another interesting trait of capsaicin is that,unlike ginger or
mustard, it can desensitize one to pain if small amounts are
eaten repeatedly or if a large amount is eaten all at once.This
is why chili lovers can eat progressively hotter peppers and
foods.
When you burn your mouth by eating a hot pepper,the typical
reaction is to drink water or milk.This won't help at all.
Capsaicin will not dissolve in water and drinking a liquid only
spreads the capsaicin more until your whole mouth is burning.
To alleviate the burning, many people recommend sour cream or
yogurt because the casein in these products breaks down the bond
between the capsaicin and the pain receptors in your mouth.The
most effective method we've found to relieve the burning sensationis to take a level spoonful of sugar, moisten it with some water,and then roll it around in your mouth for a half minute or so.
Cancer patients often suffer painful mouth sores when undergoing
chemotherapy. Researchers at the Yale University School of
Medicine have found that a candy made of hot peppers and taffy
relieves the pain.
The capsaicin found in peppers has been found to be an
anticoagulant. Anticoagulants tend to reduce the risk of heart
attacks and strokes caused by blood clots.
Peppers are a rich source of vitamin C. Green bell peppers have
twice as much vitamin C as citrus.A hot pepper contains 3.5 times as much vitamin C as an orange.
~source used: "Do Fish Drink Water?" by Bill McLain~
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 01-27-2003 08:56 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Why Do Birds Bother Flying Back North After Migrating to the South?
Why bother flying so many miles south, to more pleasant and warmer climes, only to then turn around and trudge back to the only seasonably hospitable northeastern United States?
Come to think of it, are we talking about birds here or half the population of Miami? We're not sure what motivates humans to migrate, but we do have a good idea of what motivates birds to bother flying back north again.
Of course, birds probably don't sit around (even with one leg tucked up in their feathers) thinking about why they migrate; undoubtedly, hormonal changes caused by natural breeding cycles trigger the migration patterns.
After speaking to several bird experts, we found a consensus on the following reasons why birds fly back to the North:
1. Food. Birds fly back north to nest. Baby birds, like baby humans, are ravenous eaters and not shy about demanding food.As Todd Culver of the Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University put it, "The most likely reason they return is the super abundant supply of insects available to feed their young." The more food the parents can raise, the healthier the offspring will be and the lower the babies' mortality rate.
2. Longer daylight hours. The higher the latitude, the longer period of daylight parents have to find food and feed it to their babies. Some birds find food sources solely by using their vision; they cannot forage with any effectiveness in the dark.
3. Less competition for food and nesting sites. If all birds converged in the southern latitudes when nesting, it would be as easy to find a peaceful nest and plentiful food sources as it would be to find a quiet, pleasant, little motel room in Fort Lauderdale during spring break.
4. Safety. Birds are more vulnerable to predators when nesting. In most cases, there are fewer mammal predators in the North than in the South. Why? Many mammals, who don't migrate, can't live in the North because of the cold weather.
5. Improved weather. Some birds migrate south primarily to flee cold weather in the North. If they time it right, birds come back just when the weather turns pleasant in the spring, just like those humans in Florida.
~source used: "Do Penguins Have Knees?" by David Feldman~
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 01-27-2003 06:02 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - Why are stoplights red, yellow, and green?
Why not some other colors?
For a darn good reason, as we shall see.
Early traffic officials borrowed the red-yellow-green code from
the railroads,which used it for the track signals needed to
control trains.
The railroads chose red for the "stop" signal because for
thousands of years it had been the signal for danger.Red is the
color of blood.So if you want to tell people to stop lest they
face death and destruction,red makes sense.
But the other colors were pretty much pulled out of a hat.In
fact,when the railroads first got started in the 1830s and
1840s,the color for "caution" was green and the color for "go"
was "clear"—white,in other words.
After a while,it became apparent that these colors presented
some serious problems.For one thing,it was easy to mistake an
ordinary white light (say, a street lamp) for a "go" signal.
But even worse things could happen.The story is told that once
the red glass lens fell out of a stop signal,showing the
ordinary white light bulb behind.A train engineer, seeing the
white light,thought he was looking at a "go" signal rather than
a "stop" and failed to slow his train.The result was a terrible
crash.
So the railroads decided to change to a more foolproof system—red for "stop," green for "go," and yellow for "caution." If an
engineer saw a white light where a signal was supposed to be,he
would know something was wrong,and he'd stop to check things out.
Traffic engineers,knowing a good thing when they saw one,
borrowed the red-yellow-green system for use in stoplights.The
first electric traffic signals,which were installed in Cleveland
in 1914,used just two lights,red and green.But yellow was added within a few years and it's been that way ever since.
Yellow still means "caution," by the way.I feel it's important
to mention this.Many drivers these days seem to think it means
"go for it."
~source used: "Know It All" by Ed Zotti~
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 01-28-2003 08:05 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - How hard Is it to tread grapes with your feet?
It's harder than you'd think.For example,keeping your footing is
difficult in the slippery pulp.Ancient Egyptians invented a grid
of overhead hand bars for treaders because they kept falling in
and drowning:while a little "body* is considered a good thing in
wine,an actual body is not.
Also,over long days and nights of treading,grapes would ferment, releasing carbon dioxide,and treaders sometimes died from asphyxiation.
If treading grapes still sounds like fun to you,despite these
hazards,perhaps this description of a visit to a Spanish winery
in 1877 will change your mind:"The treaders,with their white breeches well tecked up,form three separate rows of ten men each ... and placing their arms,on each other's shoulders, commence work by raising and lowering their feet... varying this,after a time,with songs and shoutings in order to keep the weaker nd the lazier ones up to the work, which is quite irksome and monotonous.... Taking part with them in the treading is a little band of musicians ... who strike up a lively tune.... The grapes become pretty well crushed and walking over the pips and stalks,strewn at the bottom of the lagar,becomes something like the pilgrimages of old when the devout trudged wearily along, with hard peas backed between their feet and the soles of their shoes. The treaders move slowly in a listless way.... The fiddle strikes up anew, and the overseers drowsily upbraid.But all to no purpose. Music has lost its inspiration and authority its terrors, and the men, dead beat,raise one purple leg languidly after the other."
...Or this from an American visiting a Burgundy winery at about
the same time (the American later turned down his host's offer of red wine,electing to drink an untreaded white wine instead):
"Ten men,stripped of all their clothes,step into the vessel and begin to tread down the floating mass,working it also with their hands.This operation is repeated several times if the wine does not ferment rapidly enough.The reason is that the body heat of the men aids the wine in its fermentation."
~sorced used: "Just Curious Jeeves" by Jack Mingo & Erin Barrett~
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
|
posted 01-29-2003 02:32 PM
Rated G
Useless Fact ***
Why does "let the cat out of the bag" mean "to let a secret be known"?
In 18th century England,British tenants who farmed land that belonged to gentry were required to pay part ofeverything they produced as rent. To avoid paying some rent, many cunning farmers secretly sold some of their pigs without reporting the transactions.
Often, these farmers would hide their pigs in a heavy bag, or a poke (which, by the way, is why the phrase "pig in a poke" means "something that's offered in a disguised way").
Eventually, crafty salespeople realized that,in their haste,
customers who engaged in these illegal deals didn't bother to look inside their bag, which made it easy to pass off a cat as a young pig.Once the buyer arrived at home, however,the secret came out in the open,as he let the cat out of the bag. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
|
posted 01-30-2003 07:28 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What are the different types of caviar and
why is caviar so expensive?
Caviar is salted fish eggs,called roe,from the Turkish word
havyar,meaning "bearing eggs."True caviar is made only from
sturgeon roe.There are 26 species of sturgeon in the world,but
only a few are commercially important as a source of caviar.In
the United States,any fish eggs can be called caviar provided
the name of the fish precedes the word caviar.
Many parts of the world produce caviar,but only the Caspian Sea
has the unique combination of ideal water temperature,climate,
and in-flowing rivers conducive to producing the finest caviar.
In fact,almost 95 percent of the world's caviar comes from the
Caspian Sea.The sturgeons in the Caspian Sea are the beluga,
osetra, and sevruga.Beluga caviar is the most prized and the
most expensive(as high as $75 an ounce).The eggs are larger than other caviar and their color ranges from dark steel to light gray.One reason for the cost is that at least 20 years must pass before a beluga sturgeon is mature enough to produce eggs.
Osetra eggs are smaller and golden yellow or brown.Although
sevruga caviar is the cheapest of the three (about $27 an ounce),it is also the most delicate.The eggs are small but have a strong flavor and are light to dark gray in color.
Caviar contains acetylcholine,which increases a person's
tolerance to alcohol.Russians often drink caviar oil extract
before drinking alcohol,believing it will prevent hangovers.
Up until the late 1800s,the United States produced 90 percent
of the world's caviar from sturgeon in the Great Lakes. By then,
overfishing had made the lake sturgeon virtually extinct and
production of caviar was stopped.Today lake sturgeon caviar is
only available in Canada. The Caspian Sea fisheries did not begin producing caviar until 1925.
Sturgeon can live up to 100 years and grow to 20 feet in
length.Prior to Prohibition in the United States,there was such
a large supply of caviar that New York bars gave it away to
encourage people to drink more beer.
Today,if you have a chance to eat some quality caviar,savor
every mouthful,knowing the amount of work and money it took to
get it from the Caspian Sea to your plate.
~source used: "What Makes Flamingos Pink?" by Bill McLain~
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