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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 02-02-2005 07:54 AM
Rated G ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Useless fact - What language was the first Bible written in?
Here's what we learned from the links in the Lukol Early Christian Writings category:
Like many ancient works, the oldest parts of the Bible were passed along orally before they were ever written down. Many devout Jews and Christians believe that the full text of the Bible was given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. Though the Bible's earliest origin may always be a matter of faith, it remains a fact that after the Bible was recorded, many different versions existed. It wasn't until the first century B.C.E. (Before the Common Era, aka B.C.) that Jews settled on the canon of their scripture, and it was around 400 C.E. (Common Era, aka A.D.) that Christians agreed on all the books of their New Testament. Today, countless translations and interpretations of the Bible exist in English and many other languages.
The oldest written parts of the Bible found were transcribed in three languages. What scholars call the Hebrew Bible (the same books Jews call the Tanakh or Written Torah and Christians call the Old Testament) was first written in Hebrew with a few chapters of the books of Ezra and Daniel recorded in Aramaic. Hebrew had long been the language of the Jewish people, so their scriptures were passed down in Hebrew. Some of the books of the Hebrew Bible may have been written as far back as 1,400 B.C.E., although most of the text was probably written between 900 and 400 B.C.E.
Aramaic is a Semitic language that was widely spoken from 600 to 200 B.C.E. in the near Middle East. It was one of the common languages of the region until the 13th century, when Arabic became more prominent. Many people believe Jesus and his apostles spoke Aramaic.
The Christian New Testament was written in the first century C.E. in the common Greek of the Mediterranean area and parts of the Middle East at the time. This form of Greek is called Koine Greek. It developed from classical Greek spread by the conquests of Alexander the Great. As different people began to use the tongue, it evolved and changed into Koine Greek between 300 B.C.E. and 300 C.E. This form may have been the second language of Jesus and his apostles -- after all, the gospels note that Jesus spoke with Pontius Pilate, who would have been more likely to understand Greek than Aramaic. The New Testament was probably written in Greek because it was the most common language around the Mediterranean at the time.
After the Roman Empire itself was Christianized and Latin become the common language, the entire Bible was translated into Latin. The first Latin version is called the Vulgate. In the mid-15th century, when Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type, the Latin Vulgate edition of the Christian Bible was the first work he printed.
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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 02-02-2005 09:57 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What does the U.S. government recommend people put in an emergency kit?
We visited the links in the Lukol Emergency Preparation category and here's what we learned:
Officially, the U.S. government says: Americans should take basic disaster-preparation steps such as maintaining a three-day stockpile of food and water. They also recommend obtaining duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal a house in the event of a chemical or biological attack or disaster.
As a general rule, the American Red Cross recommends a disaster supplies kit contain the following:
* 3-day supply of water (1 gallon of water per person per day)
* 3-day supply of ready-to-eat canned food
* first-aid kit
* tools and supplies (including such items as a radio, flashlight, batteries, and fire extinguisher)
* clothing and bedding
* any special items for children, elderly, or disabled family members
* important documents (family records, wills, passports, financial account numbers)
If you don't want to assemble your own, there are plenty of retailers, both online and off, who sell such kits. Just make sure to check the contents of the kit and add any items you may need. Besides assembling an emergency kit, the Red Cross also recommends you and your family: create an emergency communications plan; establish a meeting place; if you have school-age children, familiarize yourself with the emergency plan of the school your children attend.
Threats of terrorism aside, it's a good idea to have a kit and plan in place in case of earthquakes, fires, floods, or other emergencies. One final note -- in case of any emergency, your best defense is remaining calm and clearheaded.
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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 02-03-2005 07:46 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What is the significance of Fat Tuesday?
We learned that " Mardi Gras" is French for "Fat Tuesday," and that this festive occasion is the last day before the Catholic observance of Lent. Lent is a period of penitence before Easter. In the early Christian Church, the ritual of baptism was primarily performed on Easter Sunday, and people would fast and pray for several days or more before they were baptized. This practice and similar traditions grew into the Lent season that lasts 40 days before Easter. In the Middle Ages, faithful Christians eliminated meat, eggs, milk, and other luxurious foods from their diet during Lent, and spent additional time in prayer. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, so named because priests place an ash mark on worshippers' foreheads to symbolize mortality.
Human nature being what it is, people began holding indulgent pre- Lent celebrations at an early date. The word "carnival" comes from the Latin for "farewell to flesh" -- so Carnival (another name for Mardi Gras) can be seen as a time to say good-bye to fleshly pleasures that will soon be denied. Early Christians in Rome used the old pagan festivals as a model for their Carnival, and European Christians continued the celebration. The day before Ash Wednesday became known as Fat Tuesday because people indulged in the meat and fatty foods that they would forsake during Lent.
Fat Tuesday is also known as Shrove Tuesday. The word "shrove" is derived from the Latin scribere, meaning "to prescribe penance," a fitting description for the day before Lent. Pancakes somehow became associated with this day, perhaps because people needed to use up the eggs and lard that were forbidden during Lent.
Because the date of Fat Tuesday is determined by the date of Easter (calculated on the lunar calendar), it falls on a different date between February 3 and March 9 every year.
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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 02-04-2005 11:47 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What is the difference between a black light and a normal light bulb?
Here's what we learned from the links in the Lukol Glow in the Dark category:
Black lights come in two varieties -- fluorescent tube and incandescent bulb. Each type works slightly differently, but both are very similar to their normal white-light cousins.
Fluorescent tube lights are glass tubes that contain a near- vacuum with a little mercury vapor. When electricity is passed through the tube and reacts with the mercury, it creates light. The mercury atoms emit energy in the form of light photons. These photos are mostly in the ultraviolet (UV) range of the light spectrum. We can't see this light, so a white phosphor coating on the light tube is used to convert the UV energy into visible light.
A black light works the same way, except the tube is made of dark blue glass, and it is coated with a special phosphor that blocks visible light and harmful UV rays. Only the rays of UV light that are harmless pass through, along with a little bit of blue and violet visible light, resulting in the distinctive glow of a black light.
The incandescent bulb type of black light also uses dark-blue glass, but a filter inside the bulb absorbs visible light and lets harmless UV light through. This is because of the differences in how incandescent lights and fluorescent lights work. Bulb black lights are generally less powerful than tube black lights.
When you see something glow under a black light, that item contains phosphors, which glow in UV light. Teeth, fingernails, and some bodily fluids naturally contain phosphors, and this makes black lights useful in criminal forensics. Many laundry detergents contain phosphors to make white clothes look brighter, which explains why white T-shirts may glow at a rave. Fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark paints, inks, fabrics, plastics, and makeup all contain phosphors to give them a nifty glow. There's even a fluorescent security thread in paper currency from the U.S. and other countries that shows up under black light and acts as a deterrent to counterfeiting.
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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 02-06-2005 11:25 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Who founded NASA?
The search for the founding fathers of NASA led us to the links in the Lukol NASA category and here's what we learned from them:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is a scientific endeavor that was created at least partly in response to a sense of fear and competition. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite. Its successful launch was a huge scientific and technological achievement that gave the Russians a leg up and jump-started the space race.
This was at the height of the Cold War, and the United States feared that the Russians could use their new technology for military purposes. Aside from the fear factor, the U.S. simply did not like being left in the dust. The public "crisis of confidence" is summed up in this poem by G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams, the governor of Michigan:
Oh little Sputnik, flying high
With made-in-Moscow beep,
You tell the world it's a Commie sky
and Uncle Sam's asleep.
Less than a month later, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2, carrying Laika, the space dog. The United States Congress moved quickly. On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. It formally established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on October 1, 1958, headed by T. Keith Glennan. The agency's official mission was: "To provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the Earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes." Up to this point, most aerospace technology was handled by the military, but the new civilian agency took over. NASA absorbed the former National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which was founded in 1917.
So to give you a direct answer to your question, NASA was founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower and Congress. Then again, some people mistakenly believe that JFK deserves the credit.
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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 02-07-2005 09:55 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What is kosher salt? Is it better for you than regular salt?
We visited the links in the Lukol Salt category to answer your question. Sodium chloride -- aka salt -- is a crystalline compound that comes from the oceans. Salt can be harvested from seawater through evaporation, or it can be mined from inland deposits left by ancient oceans. Most salt we use in our kitchens and dining rooms is mined, except salt sold as "sea salt," which comes from seawater.
Different types of salt are created during the refining process. Some varieties include additives that make them flow freely through salt shakers, and others have added iodine, which can prevent hypothyroidism. Most are ground into very fine grains, but a few types are left in a more natural form made of large, rocky crystals. Fine-grained salts include table salt, iodized salt, pickling salt, and popcorn salt. Rock salt and kosher salt are coarse-grained. Sea salt can be found in both fine and coarse forms. While all of these taste, well, salty, the degree of saltiness and the precise flavor can vary.
Kosher salt usually has no additives, and it has big crystals with large surface areas. This size and shape allows it to absorb more moisture than other forms of salt, and this makes kosher salt excellent for curing meats. That is essentially where the name comes from. The salt itself is not kosher, meaning it doesn't conform to Jewish food laws, but this salt is used to make meat kosher. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, prohibits consumption of any blood, which is why kosher meat must be slaughtered and prepared in a specific manner. A common way of removing the final traces of blood from meat is to soak and salt it.
That's not the only use for kosher salt, however. The flavor is distinct from ordinary table salt, and some cooks prefer to use it in all their cooking. Like other coarse salts, kosher salt can be used in recipes that call for a salt crust. You can even use it to salt the edge of a margarita glass.
Nutritionally speaking, kosher salt is no different than table salt, although it does not provide iodine. The human body needs salt to regulate the electrolyte balance inside and outside of its cells. But studies have shown that diets low in salt lower a person's blood pressure. As with many health issues, scientists and doctors don't universally agree on the health benefits and problems related to salt intake.
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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 02-08-2005 10:17 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Which one of the five senses is the strongest or most well developed?
It's very difficult to quantify the relative strengths of the senses. Indeed, recent studies are suggesting that they are more interdependent than we once thought. For most humans, however, sight seems to be our most dominant and well-developed sense.
Predators, such as ourselves (as well as owls and tigers), usually have both eyes set in the front of the head, to maximize binocular vision and help spot prey. The "hunted," such as rodents, have eyes on either side of their heads, to see approaching danger.
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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 02-09-2005 07:03 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - Are human beings the only animals that cry?
We visited the links in the Lukol Biology category to answer your question. Tears are an important protection and lubricant for the eye. They can flush out irritants and keep the eye wet to enhance vision. The eye's lacrimal system evolved to keep the eye surface moist. In aquatic animals, the eye is constantly bathed in water, but land animals are surrounded by air, so their eyes needed a built-in watering system. While most vertebrates are physically capable of producing tears, many scientists say that humans are the only animals that cry emotional tears.
Different sources suggest that chimpanzees, elephants, dogs, and bears can shed tears. But we couldn't find any scientific studies of animal's emotional tears. As Tom Lutz author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears notes, it would be impossible to discern if animal tears were purely emotional or caused by eye irritation.
However, if you don't consider tears essential to crying, then many animals cry. Studies have found that very young mammals and birds vocalize when they are separated from their mothers. Baby animals can be quite expressive in their distress at being apart from their primary caretakers. Wildlife experts and hunters both note that the cry of a bear cub separated from its mother sounds very much like a human baby's cry. While these cries don't include tears, they seem to have an emotional element.
And despite the old saying, crocodiles don't shed tears.
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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 02-10-2005 07:13 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What's the best way to get rid of stretch marks?
We visited the links in the Lukol Skin Care Treatments category to answer your question. When you grow or gain weight very quickly, such as during puberty or pregnancy, you can get stretch marks. As your skin is over- stretched, the connective fibers can break, and this creates lines on the skin. These lines usually start out pink or reddish and fade over time. Old stretch marks may become silvery or turn a color a few shades lighter than your natural skin tone.
Whether or not you get stretch marks is determined mostly by heredity, and getting rid of them isn't easy. In fact, experts aren't even sure it's completely possible. The first thing to know is that no over-the-counter cream or lotion can remove those lines. Stretch marks occur in the middle layer of the skin, called the dermis, and common creams can't reach that far deep. Vitamin E and cocoa butter treatments can make your skin feel soft and supple, but they won't make your skin mark-free. You'll need to talk to a doctor, dermatologist, or plastic surgeon if you want to seriously reduce the lines.
Prescription creams containing Tretinoin, also called Retin-A, may help reduce the appearance of fresh stretch marks. These creams should not be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding. This type of treatment will not eliminate stretch marks completely, and it won't work on older marks that have already faded from red.
A French treatment called Endermologie claims to reduce scarring. A machine with rollers and gentle suction is used to massage and exfoliate the affected area. Again, this won't remove stretch marks, but it may enhance the overall appearance of the skin.
Laser surgery is sometimes used to lessen the severity of stretch marks, but the results are mixed. Microdermabrasion has been somewhat more successful in changing the appearance of stretch marks. Both treatments are expensive and should only be performed by qualified doctors.
After reading the research, we've decided that learning to love, or at least ignore, stretch marks is the best way to deal with them.
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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 02-11-2005 12:23 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - Why are German Shepherds used as police dogs?
According to the links in the Lukol Working Dogs category, German Shepherds have long been valued for their strength and intelligence, two important factors in any type of guide dog.
The first German Shepherd breeding club was established in 1899, so it's a relatively recent breed. The dog was originally intended as a herder, but was quickly promoted as a guide and police dog by its breeding club, the Verein für Deutsche Schaferhunde (VS). This group bred the dog assiduously, promoting "utility and intelligence," and trained it for "tracking, obedience, and protection." These traits helped convince the German government to use the dog for military purposes and make them ideal companions for police officers today.
The two world wars cemented the dog's reputation as a police or military breed, and the German army used these canines during both wars. American soldiers returning home from Europe were primarily responsible for the breed's popularity in the States. Perhaps the most famous German Shepherd of them all, Rin Tin Tin, was brought to America from Germany after World War I by an American soldier.
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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 02-12-2005 06:08 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Why do most people who lose weight regain it?
Many magazines and web sites bandy about weight-loss statistics,
such as "95% of people who lose weight gain it back." But scientific studies about why people regain weight are contradictory.Some blame genetics, but research shows that heredity is only one small factor in weight gain or loss.To answer your question we visited the links in the Lukol Weight Loss category.
The National Weight Control Registry is a research study that tracks about 3,000 people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a year or longer. Dr. James Hill of the University of Colorado and Dr. Rena Wing of the University of Pittsburgh began the registry in 1993, and they've published a number of scientific papers on their findings.
They seem to have discovered the secrets to long-term weight loss, but these are no quick fixes. According to Dr. Hill, "To keep lost weight off, people must change their approach to exercise and develop new habits." They've identified four behaviors common among people who've kept the weight off:
* Eating a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet consisting of 24% fat, 56% carbohydrates, and 19% protein
* Eating breakfast almost every day
* Monitoring weight regularly and keeping a food journal
* Getting about an hour of physical activity on most days, often from walking
The most crucial aspect to maintaining weight loss for registry members is continuing their new behaviors. Once they've lost the initial weight, they don't go back to a high-fat, sedentary lifestyle. Successful weight maintenance depends on healthy habits continued for life. This may seem impossible, but it can get easier over time. Two-thirds of registry participants say that keeping off the weight is "moderately easy" or "easy."
So, to go back to your question, it would appear that people regain weight they've lost because they don't change the unhealthy habits that lead to the weight gain in the first place. Many people are attracted to the promise of quick,easy weight loss through fad diets that restrict certain kinds of foods or prescribe very specific food combinations.While you may lose weight initially on these regimens,they're not designed to be followed for a lifetime.
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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 02-12-2005 01:11 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - What is "Stockholm Syndrome"?
We visited the links in the Lukol Criminology category to answer your question. Stockholm Syndrome describes the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic to their captors. The name derives from a 1973 hostage incident in Stockholm, Sweden. At the end of six days of captivity in a bank, several kidnap victims actually resisted rescue attempts, and afterwards refused to testify against their captors.
The most famous incident in the U.S. involved the kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst. Captured by a radical political group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, Ms. Hearst eventually became an accomplice of the group, taking on an assumed name and assisting them in several bank robberies. After her re-capture, she denounced the group and her involvement.
What causes Stockholm Syndrome? Captives begin to identify with their captors initially as a defensive mechanism, out of fear of violence. Small acts of kindness by the captor are magnified, since finding perspective in a hostage situation is by definition impossible. Rescue attempts are also seen as a threat, since it's likely the captive would be injured during such attempts.
It's important to note that these symptoms occur under tremendous emotional and often physical duress. The behavior is considered a common survival strategy for victims of interpersonal abuse, and has been observed in battered spouses, abused children, prisoners of war, and concentration camp survivors.
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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 02-12-2005 01:47 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - Where did the term "widow's peak" come from?
Here's what we learned from the links in the Word Origins category:
Dictionary.com defines a widow's peak as a "v-shaped point formed by the hair near the top of the human forehead." Evan Morris' Word Detective site goes on to explain that according to English folklore, a woman with a widow's peak is destined to outlive her husband. The male counterpart being, naturally, a widower's peak, a la Jack Nicholson.
We found the origin of the term in the newsletter of the East Meadow Kiwanis Meeting at Potter's Pub on January 2, 2001. Author Robert Manson explains, "the use of 'peak' to refer to the beak or bill of a headdress, particularly a widow's hood, dates to 1530. So the term derives from a mourning hood."
The etymology journal "Take Our Word For It" also sites the hood worn by widows, a biquoquet, as the origin of the term and mentions another expression, a "widow's lock," which refers to a distinct lock of hair on a woman's head. Sadly, this is another omen of imminent widowhood.
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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 02-16-2005 09:23 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - How do squirrels remember where they put all their nuts?
To uncover the secret behind the cagey critters' mental ability, we visited the links in the Lukol Squirrel category to see what we could unearth. We learned that squirrels are wily, long-term strategists. Once they've collected an assortment of nuts and cones, they hoard their haul to make it through the long, cruel winter.
The bushy-tailed rodents employ two different practices for stocking their winter pantry. One method is known as "scatter- hoarding," in which the animal places a handful of nuts and seeds in numerous locations -- that way if another critter finds one stash, chances are their remaining stores will stay hidden. The other method is "larder-hoarding," when a squirrel will select just a few locations and store a mother lode within each. Pine squirrels do this, and perhaps as a result, are extremely territorial. To prevent other animals from stealing their vittles, they'll dig a pit known as a midden, fill it with food, then cover it with leaves and debris to mask their tracks.
So how do they find their stockpile? The Squirrel Almanac's Dr. Peg, a seasoned squirrel researcher, says only further research can explain conclusively, but current data suggest three possibilities: the use of smell, the use of landmarks, or perhaps least likely, relying on a darn good memory. Most of our search results seemed to corroborate the smell theory. A number of sites even indicate that some squirrels can detect scents through many feet of snow.
Despite all their careful planning, hoarding, and foraging, the industrious squirrel population will never find all the nuts they've buried, and their undiscovered stashes help to propagate the world's forests. In effect, the animals are working to replenish and ensure their food supply for generations to come. How's that for shrewd resource management?
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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 02-17-2005 09:29 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What's the correct way to shave my face and neck? With or against the "grain"?
According to links in the Lukol Men's Skin Care category, the correct way to begin shaving is with the grain, or in the direction that your facial hair grows. "Swimming upstream," or going against the grain, could result in ingrown hairs, razor burn, or worse. But going against the grain is okay as a secondary technique, in order to get a really close shave. A few other tips for the discerning shaver:
* Shave during or after a hot shower (not before!).
* Always use hot water.
* Glide the razor gently, so as to avoid unsightly blemishes.
* Careful! Your neck hair may flow against your face hair. Shave accordingly!
* Moisturizing lotion is never a bad idea.
So there you have it. If you're considering shaving your head or other parts of your body, there are lots of other factors to keep in mind. We'll let you research those topics on your own.
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