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Author Topic: Useless Fact's Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-18-2005 09:59 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - What is the oldest university in the world? According to the links in the Lukol World Colleges and Universities category, Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, is generally considered to be the oldest university in the world. It was founded roughly the same time as the city of Cairo, in 969 AD. The first lecture was delivered in 975 AD. Like many centers of learning, Al-Azhar University was originally intended as a place of worship and religious instruction. The mosque at Al-Azhar is one of the most famous in the Muslim world, and is still considered the seat of Sunni Islamic study. The university pioneered systems of advanced academic instruction with its hierarchy of regular instructors and visiting professors. Its history follows the turbulent rise of the Islamic Empire, replete with political revolutions and competing religious philosophies. While Al-Azhar University has a storied history of religious instruction, it also boasts a robust secular curriculum, offering advanced degrees in engineering and medicine. As with all matters medieval, historical facts and figures are up to academic interpretation. Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez, Morroco, has also laid claim to the title of oldest university in the world. Europe's oldest university was founded in 1088 in the northern Italian city of Bologna. The United States's oldest university, Harvard, opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1636, not long after the first English colonists arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-21-2005 10:18 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Why is Judaism based on maternal lineage? We turned to the links in the Judaism category to answer your question. It's been said that Judaism is "more like a nationality than like other religions," because traditionally, a person must be born Jewish or go through a lengthy conversion process. The strictest definition of a Jew is one whose mother was Jewish. This doctrine of matrilineal descent has been part of Judaism since at least the second century C.E. (common era), when it was codified into the Talmud, the body of religious writings that supplement the Jewish holy book of the Torah. The Talmud expands on the Torah passages of Deuteronomy 7, which oppose intermarriage by Jews. This verse states that the child of a Jewish woman and a non-Jewish man will be Jewish. Other Torah verses admonish Jewish men from taking non-Jewish wives because their children will not be Jewish. Why and how matrilineal descent evolved is unclear. Other aspects of lineage, such as one's affiliation with the Jewish tribes, are traced through the father. And in the Hebrew Bible, paternal lineage often plays a more important role. Scholars have suggested various reasons for the use of maternal lineage in determining Jewish status. For one, a child's mother is always known, while the father couldn't be positively identified before modern technology. Also, the Jewish people suffered a long history of oppression, during which Jewish women were sometimes raped by their oppressors. Instead of casting out the woman and the child born of the rape, the Jewish community took them in by considering the child to be Jewish. Responding to the rise of intermarriage among American Jews, the Reform movement of Judaism took the radical step of redefining who is considered Jewish. The Central Conference of American Rabbis declared that the child of one Jewish parent, mother or father, is presumed to be Jewish. However, children of mixed Jewish parentage should establish their Jewish identity through Torah study and public, formal acts such as a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. This Reform position is controversial among Jews and not typically recognized in Israel today.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-23-2005 10:37 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Are shrunken heads for real? Hunting the Web for shrunken heads, we quickly cut this question down to size. As we learned from the Amazonian category, shrunken heads are indeed real, and the process used to create them is just as grisly as you might imagine. Taking heads and other physical trophies from battle was common among many world cultures since antiquity, but shrinking the trophy head seems to have only occurred among a few tribes in Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil and probably dates back to around 200 B.C or earlier. In the 19th century, Europeans first discovered and publicized the last remaining tribe that practiced head shrinking. These were the Shuar people of the Jivaro tribe in the tropical forest of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon. The shrunken head -- called the tsantsa -- was more than just a souvenir of battle for the Jivaro. The process of shrinking the head was thought to paralyze the spirit of the enemy, thus preventing it from taking revenge. Also, the power and strength of the defeated victim was passed on to the person who killed him. A Jivaro warrior with a history of taking many shrunken heads was to be feared. However, the Jivaro didn't keep the shrunken heads very long. The heads were used in a series of ceremonies and feasts in the Jivaro village to celebrate the victory. After that, the heads were usually discarded and sometimes used by children as toys. Tsantsa-making began immediately after battle, where the head was cut off and taken away from the battleground. In deference to those with a weak stomach, we won't get into the gruesome details, but you can read all about it if you like in Amazonian category. (Just don't say we didn't warn you!) After Europeans discovered the Jivaro, many counterfeit shrunken heads began to pop up. Some were faked from animal heads or goatskin, while others were actual human heads taken from morgues and shrunk by taxidermists. Some of the shrunken heads you'll see currently displayed in museums are early counterfeits, not traditional Jivaro heads.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-23-2005 09:22 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - When did the dodo bird become extinct? To uncover the poor fate of dodo bird we turned to the links in the Lukol Birding category and here's what we learned: The odd-looking bird known as Raphus cucullatus in scientific circles, but commonly called the dodo, was only known to humans for a scant 80-some years before it disappeared off the face of the Earth. Portuguese sailors discovered the creature in 1598 on Mauritius, a small island off the coast of Africa. The bird had no natural predators before the arrival of humans, and so it was not afraid of these strange new interlopers. Mistaking its lack of fear for a lack of intelligence, the sailors called the bird the "dodo" from the Portuguese "doudou," meaning "simpleton." After the remote island became inhabited by humans, the dodo's fate was sealed. The poor fowl had lived in relative isolation for so long that it had few defenses and proved to be easy prey for humans and the animals they brought with them. The flightless bird was hunted for sport and food by humans, and its eggs, laid individually in nests on the ground, were devoured by dogs, cats, and pigs. By 1681, the entire species was wiped out. Two similar species were discovered on nearby islands, but sadly, they fared no better and were both extinct by 1750. On an interesting side note, not only did the extinction of the dodo deprive the world of one of nature's most curious creations, it almost led to the extinction of yet another species, a certain type of tree whose seeds could only germinate after passing through the digestive tract of the dodo. With the disappearance of the dodo, the tree was slowly dying out. There were only 13 trees left when it was discovered that turkeys could also be used to help the seeds activate, and the tree, now known as the dodo tree, has avoided extinction for the time being.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-23-2005 09:47 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - What makes things glow in the dark? Glow sticks, star stickers, heavy metal posters, and all other glow-in-the-dark novelties are powered by phosphors, chemical compounds that emit visible light after being radiated. Phosphorescent materials continue to glow after their energy source (light) is gone, while fluorescent materials will dim immediately. The electrons in phosphors, like children and politicians, are easily excited. When charged with light, they quickly ascend to a higher electron orbit, giving off light energy in the process. Glow-in-the-dark light emanates from electrons that are in an intermediate but still excitable condition, kind of like the way you feel after you've just finished the hundred-yard dash. Most glow-in-the-dark toys contain either zinc sulfide or strontium aluminate, because these substances have relatively long phosphor persistence (i.e., they glow longer). Some pricey watches contain glow-in-the-dark elements that don't need charging, because they contain mildly radioactive materials. Guess what? You're staring at a group of densely clustered, electrically charged phosphors right now. TV sets and computer monitors use thousands of tiny phosphor elements to emit varying shades of red, green, and blue.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-24-2005 09:16 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Why is giving someone the middle finger a derogatory gesture? We learned some history of this "bad manner" from the Lukol Etiquette category. Apparently, the middle finger has long been considered a phallic symbol in many cultures, possibly because it is the longest of the digits. Displaying it to someone is an insult of the first degree, though the gesture seems to be one of aggression rather than sexuality. According to a contributor on the always interesting Urban Legends Archive, the upright stab of the middle finger represents "phallic domination/hostility." Despite the popular and widely circulated story that the gesture comes from the 1415 battle of Agincourt, this ultimate insult actually dates back as far as to ancient Greece and Rome. The first written record of someone "flipping the bird" comes from the writings of Aristophanes, who spoke of it in "The Clouds," a play from 423 B.C. The Romans even had a special name for the middle finger -- they called it digitus infamis (infamous finger) or digitus impudicus (indecent finger). Though the interpretation of the gesture varies from country to country, it is fairly widespread. In England, one might display either the middle finger solo, or the index and middle finger together (with the palm facing inward) to convey the same message. And in a recent court case in Japan, a judge ruled, "The sign of raising the middle finger with the back of one's right hand down is recognized in Japan as an act signifying insult or provocation, although it is not as common as in the U.S." These days, the gesture is becoming more commonplace and is danger of losing some of its "badness." Many celebrities are not above displaying their longest digit. What is the world coming to?  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-24-2005 12:50 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Are there any exercises that will help get rid of a double chin? Short of a pricey cosmetic procedure or serious weight loss, there are very few realistic, non-surgical solutions to the pesky double chin. Those unflattering fatty deposits beneath the jaw line are largely determined by a genetic predisposition. Just as some people store fat along their hips, others develop a gut as they age, and still others develop a double, or even triple, chin. This tendency doesn't necessarily correlate with overall obesity, which is why some heavier folks never seem to develop jowls while other, more slender people can sport a floppy neck. We visited the links in the Facial Exercise category and here's what we learned: One article recommended the following toning exercise. First, open your mouth as wide as you possibly can. Are you doing it? Now hold that position for about 10 seconds, then relax your mouth, and repeat a few more times. Apparently the muscles that open and close your mouth are located in the exact area you wish to target. For faster results, add resistance by placing a tennis ball underneath your chin while testing your jaw-span. On the BBC web site, Doctor Rob Hicks provides a variation on this exercise. As you open your mouth wide, pull your bottom lip over your bottom teeth and wiggle your jaw up and down. In addition, he suggests using a skin toner and slapping the area under your chin with the back of your hand. If preventive measures such as a low-fat diet and good overall fitness don't soften the blow of genetics and aging, try wearing your hair in a more flattering fashion or using make-up to mask reality.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-24-2005 12:55 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Where does horseradish come from, and why is it called that? We usually avoid the spicy white "horsey sauce" whenever we stop by Arby's, but we really had no idea just what it was we were actually passing up. We soon dug up the dirt on this racy root in the Home Cooking category. Horseradish is actually an herb. This perennial is a member of the mustard family and is related to cauliflower, the common radish, and Brussel sprouts. The plant (scientific name Cochlearia Armoracia) grows about 24" tall and 18" wide and sprouts tall crinkled leaves. Its thick white root is harvested in the spring and the fall. The root is grated to release an oil called isothiocyanate, which is responsible for its heat, then mixed with distilled vinegar to temper the tang. Then the paste is processed with spices or other ingredients such as salt, cream, sugar, or vegetable oil. As for the condiment's distinctive name, there are at least two possibilities. "Radish" comes from "radix," the Latin word for "root." The "horse" part may have been tacked on to distinguish it from the edible radish and to convey the size and coarseness of the root, as was done for other herbs such as horse mint and horse chestnut. Alternatively, it may have originally been named "harsh radish" due to its bitter flavor. Some other interesting horsey facts: * Horseradish used to be considered an aphrodisiac in medieval times and still has many medicinal purposes. * It's high in vitamin C and contains zero fat. * Approximately 85% of the world's horseradish supply comes from the town of Collinsville, Illinois. * The herb can be used in everything from biscuits to beverages. Maybe next time we pick up a roast-beef sandwich, we'll give the white heat a try.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-25-2005 06:01 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - How long does it take an oyster to make a pearl? We dove deep into the Pearls category and searched the oceans blue to discover that pearl-making is a pretty involved process. How long it takes depends upon how big of a pearl you want. Any mollusk with a shell can create a pearl. In fact, the same materials that create the animal's shell go into the pearl itself. Contrary to popular opinion, it's not always an irritating grain of sand that prods an oyster into making a pearl. More likely, a stray food particle gets stuck under the shell. The mollusk coats the irritant with layers of aragonite and conchiolin, and the composite material is called nacre. That is what gives pearls their luster. At least one species of oyster can secrete nacre over an irritant at a rate of about 0.1mm to 0.2mm per year. But mollusks rarely create pearls naturally -- only one out of 10,000 animals will produce a pearl in the wild. Since the 1930s, the vast majority of pearls have been created with the help of humans. Cultured pearls are created by surgically implanting a bead or piece of shell into a mature oyster. The bead or shell becomes the irritant around which the oyster naturally forms layers of nacre. The bigger the irritant, the bigger the final pearl. Successfully implanted oysters are returned to the ocean or a lake to grow the pearls. The pearls are harvested anywhere from one to three years after implantation, depending on conditions in the pearl farm and the size of the pearls desired  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-25-2005 10:52 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Where do churches get holy water? We dipped into the Lukol Catholicism category and were blessed with many results. We soon learned that the Catholic church makes a fresh batch of holy water each week. Holy water is simply water that has been blessed by a priest. Christian churches have used holy water since the fifth century, if not earlier. In many religions, water symbolizes a spiritual cleansing, and indeed, one of the oldest Christian rituals is baptism, in which a new convert is dipped into or doused with water. In the Bible, Jesus's baptism took place in a river, but eventually Christian baptisms moved inside churches and utilized basins of water specially blessed for the purpose. Baptism is not the only use for holy water. Catholic churches bless water weekly for use during Sunday services, and holy water is used to bless anything worth sanctifying. The Baltimore Catechism describes how a priest prays over the water to bless it and provide protection for those using it. The water is intended to inspire devotion, and Catholic churches provide holy water near the doors so attendees can take a few drops and make the sign of the cross to show their faith. Holy water is also made on the Saturday before Easter. This Easter water receives a more elaborate blessing than everyday holy water and is often reserved for baptisms. Before the Second Vatican Council modernized Catholic rituals in the 1960s, priests added salt to make holy water. The salt was exorcised of possible evil spirits and then mixed with water during the blessing.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-25-2005 11:15 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - What does the "G" in G-string stand for? No one can give me a sensible answer. Looks like this is another one of those pesky questions that doesn't have a definitive answer. Like the etymology of many common terms, the origin of G-string is rather shady. But after visiting the links in the Lukol Wordplay category we are able to hazard three educated guesses. Theory One: It's short for "girdle string." The first known reference to the item was found in J.H. Beadles' Western Wilds penned in 1878. "Around each boy's waist is the tight 'geestring,' from which a single strip of cloth runs between the limbs from front to back." Back in the day, a girdle pretty much fit the above description. Theory Two: It's a reference to a fiddle. Musically speaking, a G-string is the lowest, darkest string on a violin. The emphasis on this theory is on the word "low" -- low note, low-cut underwear. Theory Three: It comes from a Native American word. Many etymologists believe that it originated from the native word "geestringi." Apparently this was an item of clothing worn by some Plains Indians. The word was changed to the more English sounding "G-string." So there you have it. Personally, we're leaning towards theory #3.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-25-2005 08:18 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - What's the difference between a sunroof and a moonroof? According to the helpful salesman at our local car lot, the difference is in name alone. Of course, we all know you can't believe everything someone, especially a salesman, tells you, so we looked for confirmation, and visited the links in the Lukol Auto Parts category. The answer? "Sunroof" is the generic term used to describe an operable panel in a vehicle roof which can let in light and/or air. "Moonroof" is a term created by Ford in the 70s, yet is now used generically to describe glass panel inbuilt electric sunroofs. Hmmm, so all moonroofs are sunroofs, yet not all sunroofs are moonroofs? We found further clarification -- "sunroof" is the term originally used to describe a metal panel that would only allow light or air in when opened. A "moonroof," on the other hand, is a glass panel that can allow light in even when it is closed (provided, of course, you slide back that nifty fabric- covered panel to expose the glass). True sunroofs, those made just of metal, appear to have gone the way of 8-tracks in automobiles, and these days, most "sunroofs" are really "moonroofs" -- panels of tempered glass, usually tinted, that tilt up to allow a flow of air, or slide back into the roof entirely, giving the car occupants a brief but tantalizing glimpse of life in a convertible. Seems like our friendly salesperson wasn't telling us quite the whole story...  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-26-2005 10:37 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Do the Amish pay taxes? Just like the rest of us, the Amish are not exempt from life's two certainties -- death and taxes. However, there is a reason behind the persistent myth that the Amish do not pay taxes. The Amish live within self-sufficient communities and do not collect Social Security, unemployment, or welfare benefits. According to their religious beliefs, paying Social Security, an insurance premium for the elderly, is tantamount to not "taking care of their own." Amish people who are self-employed are not obliged to pay Social Security tax, but they do still pay all other taxes, including property, income, and sales tax. If an Amish person decides to work outside of the community, he or she must also pay Social Security tax like any other American. In 1955, the IRS extended the Social Security Act of 1935 to include farm operators. At the time, some Amish people immediately complied with the tax, while others conscientiously objected to it. Many felt that it violated the separation of church and state, some did not want to accept monies for government programs, and still others believed that paying a commercial insurance for the elderly went against their trust in God to take care of them. The IRS and the Amish played a convoluted shell game for close to a decade, until it all came to a head with the seizure of a struggling farmer's horses in 1961. The Amish elders stuck firmly by their principles, and the ensuing media and community outrage over the incident led the IRS to relent four years later. Tucked away in the 1965 Medicare Bill was a clause exempting the "Old Order Amish" and other religious groups that conscientiously objected to paying insurance premiums from Social Security tax. To be exempt, the group or sect must have been established prior to 1950 and maintain reasonable provisions for their elderly.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-26-2005 11:42 AM                        Rated G Useless fact - Will drinking coffee really stunt the growth of children? There is no compelling evidence that coffee stunts the growth of children, but as the links in the Lukol Coffee category point out, it's generally a bad idea to give kids caffeine. It can interfere with sleep habits, exacerbate hyperactivity, and contribute to dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it causes the body to eliminate water. Kids get most of their caffeine through soft drinks. By opting for these fizzy drinks over milk, vegetable, or fruit juices, children can miss out on nutrients. Also, both caffeinated drinks and many juices can contain hefty helpings of sugar, and excessive sugar consumption is a big contributing factor to childhood obesity. Not surprisingly, coffee and caffeine are a constant subject of health studies. Recent health studies claim that caffeine is a contributing factor in heartburn, high blood pressure, and even still-births. Still, the general consensus is that moderate consumption of caffeine (200-300 mg, or two cups of coffee, a day) doesn't pose a health risk  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-26-2005 04:01 PM                        Rated G Useless fact - Where was the Garden of Eden supposedly located? As we learned from the links in the Lukol Christian Archaeology category this is a very popular topic among Christian online resources. An article by researcher Dora Jane Hamblin notes that the Book of Genesis is actually quite specific regarding the location of the garden of Eden: "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison...And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel [Tigris]: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. -- (Genesis 2:10-14)" Thus, Eden holds the headwaters of four major rivers and should be fairly easy to identify. The Tigris and Euphrates are well known, but identifying the rivers of Pison and Gihon has puzzled researchers for years. There is no consensus on the geographical basis for the Garden of Eden, but several sites have been suggested. Archaeologist David Rohl claims to have located the site in a "lush valley beneath an extinct volcano in Iran." Others have suggested it lies somewhere in the Tigris and Euphrates Valley, under the waters of the Persian Gulf, or even in Missouri. The jury is still out.  |  IP: Logged

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