Over the past few weeks, I've been collecting some very odd little factoids from a most unlikely source. I've been meaning to 'verify' if they were true or not but haven't gotten around to that yet. Thought I'd share a few here today as they really have been keeping me amused.
1. Humans produce about 40,000 litres of saliva in a lifetime.
2. When a woman is pregnant, her uterus expands to 500 times its normal size.
3. On average, women say 7000 words per day. Men manage just over 2000.
4. Six year olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults laugh 15-100 times a day.
5. The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by the Egyptians in 2000BC.
6. One human brain generates more electrical impulses in a day than all of the world's telephones put together.
7. Only two animals can see completely behind themselves without turning their heads: the rabbit and the parrot.
8. 1.5 billion kilograms of chocolate are consumed worldwide each year.
9. 26 minutes of slow dancing will burn about 420 kilojoules.
10. Blype is the name given to skin that peels off after sunburn.
Can anyone guess where I've been collecting these from?
(Hint: Females living in Australia probably know the answer.)
Showing posts with label trivia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trivia. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Friday, September 11, 2009
Can I Read Aloud Without Yawning?
Aaron and I spend a lot of time reading. He will drop anything he's doing if I say "Lets read a story". I am definitely as interested in sharing the books with him as he is interested in listening.
Unfortunately, reading aloud makes me yawn uncontrollably. I'm neither bored nor tired but the yawns just keep coming. Some days, like today, its worse than others. I've tried sitting by the door, near a fan, on a proper chair, on the floor - EVERYWHERE. Perhaps its because reading automatically causes a person to exhale more than inhale. I've tried taking a deep breath after each sentence but I'm still yawning. And, it breaks up the story. So now, I basically try to just read through the yawns.
How do those people who read audio books do it? I've been Googling this but no answers so far. And, it seems that many other moms experience it too. So far, Aaron doesn't seem to mind or think that I'm disinterested in reading. I just tell him that I need breaks after every story.
While there are no solutions for me yet, I did come across some interesting trivia on yawning from Howstuffworks:
- The average yawn lasts about six seconds.
- Your heart rate can rise as much as 30 percent during a yawn.
- 55 percent of people will yawn within five minutes of seeing someone else yawn.
- Blind people yawn more after hearing an audio tape of people yawning.
- Reading about yawning will make you yawn. (Have you yawned yet?)
- Olympic athletes often yawn before competition.
- In humans, the earliest occurrence of a yawn happens at about 11 weeks after conception - that's BEFORE the baby is born!
- Yawns become contagious to people between the first and second years of life. (I read in a separate link that contagious yawning may have something to do with empathy so maybe thats why its only contagious after we have a year of experience.)
*yawn* *yawn* *yawn*
Unfortunately, reading aloud makes me yawn uncontrollably. I'm neither bored nor tired but the yawns just keep coming. Some days, like today, its worse than others. I've tried sitting by the door, near a fan, on a proper chair, on the floor - EVERYWHERE. Perhaps its because reading automatically causes a person to exhale more than inhale. I've tried taking a deep breath after each sentence but I'm still yawning. And, it breaks up the story. So now, I basically try to just read through the yawns.
How do those people who read audio books do it? I've been Googling this but no answers so far. And, it seems that many other moms experience it too. So far, Aaron doesn't seem to mind or think that I'm disinterested in reading. I just tell him that I need breaks after every story.
While there are no solutions for me yet, I did come across some interesting trivia on yawning from Howstuffworks:
- The average yawn lasts about six seconds.
- Your heart rate can rise as much as 30 percent during a yawn.
- 55 percent of people will yawn within five minutes of seeing someone else yawn.
- Blind people yawn more after hearing an audio tape of people yawning.
- Reading about yawning will make you yawn. (Have you yawned yet?)
- Olympic athletes often yawn before competition.
- In humans, the earliest occurrence of a yawn happens at about 11 weeks after conception - that's BEFORE the baby is born!
- Yawns become contagious to people between the first and second years of life. (I read in a separate link that contagious yawning may have something to do with empathy so maybe thats why its only contagious after we have a year of experience.)
*yawn* *yawn* *yawn*
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Pink For Boys, Blue For Girls?
Its easy to find the girl's section for children's clothing. SEA OF PINK! We all know that...
Little boys wear some of the other colors but mainly blue. And have you noticed that the younger the clothes, the more clearly they are designated into their boys blue and girls pink categories?
So far, I haven't consciously avoided pink for Aaron. They just don't make boy clothes in that color. It hasn't stopped me from putting him in pink socks. And when we're doing our coloring/drawing, the only color I use less of is brown because I just really don't like it.
Aaron doesn't have a favorite color but there have been several occasions that he has selected a pink item, just as he has selected blue, yellow and green items. Yesterday, I was picking out some grey hairclips for my mother and he insisted on getting a couple of pink ones for himself.
Grown men wear pink and I think many of them look good in it. So, I really don't see why little boys should be taught that pink is the color for girls. The only reason I wouldn't encourage it would be that he might get teased in school if he did end up showing a preference for the color. I'll deal with that when the time comes.
So have you ever wondered why the colors were matched to the genders this way?
The origins seem a little conflicted but here's what I got from the Color Matters website...
According to Jean Heifetz, for centuries, all European children were dressed in blue because the color was associated with the Virgin Mary. The use of pink and blue emerged at the turn of the century, the rule being pink for boys, blue for girls. Since pink was a stronger color it was best suited for boys; blue was more delicate and dainty and best for girls. And in 1921, the Women's Institute for Domestic Science in Pennsylvania endorsed pink for boys, blue for girls. (When Blue Meant Yellow. pp. 20 -21)
On the other hand, the idea of associating blue with male babies may stem back to ancient times when having a boy was good luck. Blue, the color of the sky where gods and fates lived, held powers to ward off evil, so baby boys where dressed in blue. In Greece a blue eye is still thought to have powers to ward off evil. The idea of pink for girls might come from the European legend that baby girls were born inside delicate pink roses.
Another theory states that the sexual origins can be found in ancient China. At a time when certain dyes were quite rare, pink dye was readily available and therefore inexpensive. Since blues were rare and expensive, it was therefore considered to be more worthwhile to dress your son in blue, because when he married the family would receive a dowry.
Interesting!
In 2007, there was some research published that the color preferences had a biological origin. Supposedly everybody prefers the color blue, but females prefer redder shades of blue. Here's the TIME magazine article on it.
I think I might go buy some matching pink shirts for Richard and Aaron....
Little boys wear some of the other colors but mainly blue. And have you noticed that the younger the clothes, the more clearly they are designated into their boys blue and girls pink categories?
So far, I haven't consciously avoided pink for Aaron. They just don't make boy clothes in that color. It hasn't stopped me from putting him in pink socks. And when we're doing our coloring/drawing, the only color I use less of is brown because I just really don't like it.
Aaron doesn't have a favorite color but there have been several occasions that he has selected a pink item, just as he has selected blue, yellow and green items. Yesterday, I was picking out some grey hairclips for my mother and he insisted on getting a couple of pink ones for himself.
Grown men wear pink and I think many of them look good in it. So, I really don't see why little boys should be taught that pink is the color for girls. The only reason I wouldn't encourage it would be that he might get teased in school if he did end up showing a preference for the color. I'll deal with that when the time comes.
So have you ever wondered why the colors were matched to the genders this way?
The origins seem a little conflicted but here's what I got from the Color Matters website...
According to Jean Heifetz, for centuries, all European children were dressed in blue because the color was associated with the Virgin Mary. The use of pink and blue emerged at the turn of the century, the rule being pink for boys, blue for girls. Since pink was a stronger color it was best suited for boys; blue was more delicate and dainty and best for girls. And in 1921, the Women's Institute for Domestic Science in Pennsylvania endorsed pink for boys, blue for girls. (When Blue Meant Yellow. pp. 20 -21)
On the other hand, the idea of associating blue with male babies may stem back to ancient times when having a boy was good luck. Blue, the color of the sky where gods and fates lived, held powers to ward off evil, so baby boys where dressed in blue. In Greece a blue eye is still thought to have powers to ward off evil. The idea of pink for girls might come from the European legend that baby girls were born inside delicate pink roses.
Another theory states that the sexual origins can be found in ancient China. At a time when certain dyes were quite rare, pink dye was readily available and therefore inexpensive. Since blues were rare and expensive, it was therefore considered to be more worthwhile to dress your son in blue, because when he married the family would receive a dowry.
Interesting!
In 2007, there was some research published that the color preferences had a biological origin. Supposedly everybody prefers the color blue, but females prefer redder shades of blue. Here's the TIME magazine article on it.
I think I might go buy some matching pink shirts for Richard and Aaron....
Thursday, July 5, 2007
7 Wonders of the World
Do you know what they are? I used to but it looks like there will be 7 new ones on 07.07.07 and almost everyone in the world can have a say as to which 7 it will be.
The campaign is being organised by the New7Wonders Foundation with the express aim of documenting, maintaining, restoring and reconstructing world heritage.
In 2005, 21 candidates were selected out of 77 nominees. They are
Acropolis, Athens, Greece <------------------ Still waiting for me
Alhambra, Granada, Spain <------------------- Still waiting for me
Angkor, Cambodia <--------------------------- May 2004
The Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico <-------- Still waiting for me
Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil <---- Still waiting for me
Colosseum, Rome Italy <---------------------- August 2000
Easter Island Statues, Chile <--------------- Still waiting for me
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France <---------------- August 2000
Great Wall, China <-------------------------- Still waiting for me
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey <------------- Still waiting for me
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan <-------------- Still waiting for me
Kremlin/St Basil, Moscow, Russia <----------- Still waiting for me
Machu Pichu, Peru <-------------------------- Still waiting for me
Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany <-- Still waiting for me
Petra, Jordan <------------------------------ Still waiting for me
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt <-------------------- Still waiting for me
Statue of Liberty, New York, USA <----------- Still waiting for me
Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom <------- Still waiting for me
Sydney Opera House, Australia <-------------- Lost count on the number of visits
Taj Mahal, Agra, India <--------------------- Still waiting for me
Timbuktu, Mali <----------------------------- Still waiting for me. I didn't even know Timbuktu was REAL until today.
4 out of 21 - I'd better get back on track with my trading if I'm going to visit the remaining 17 places.
Anyway, go vote for your favourite before 07.07.07
The campaign is being organised by the New7Wonders Foundation with the express aim of documenting, maintaining, restoring and reconstructing world heritage.
In 2005, 21 candidates were selected out of 77 nominees. They are
Acropolis, Athens, Greece <------------------ Still waiting for me
Alhambra, Granada, Spain <------------------- Still waiting for me
Angkor, Cambodia <--------------------------- May 2004
The Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico <-------- Still waiting for me
Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil <---- Still waiting for me
Colosseum, Rome Italy <---------------------- August 2000
Easter Island Statues, Chile <--------------- Still waiting for me
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France <---------------- August 2000
Great Wall, China <-------------------------- Still waiting for me
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey <------------- Still waiting for me
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan <-------------- Still waiting for me
Kremlin/St Basil, Moscow, Russia <----------- Still waiting for me
Machu Pichu, Peru <-------------------------- Still waiting for me
Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany <-- Still waiting for me
Petra, Jordan <------------------------------ Still waiting for me
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt <-------------------- Still waiting for me
Statue of Liberty, New York, USA <----------- Still waiting for me
Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom <------- Still waiting for me
Sydney Opera House, Australia <-------------- Lost count on the number of visits
Taj Mahal, Agra, India <--------------------- Still waiting for me
Timbuktu, Mali <----------------------------- Still waiting for me. I didn't even know Timbuktu was REAL until today.
4 out of 21 - I'd better get back on track with my trading if I'm going to visit the remaining 17 places.
Anyway, go vote for your favourite before 07.07.07
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Did you know?
I was always told that twin skipped a generation in families. It turns out thats actually an old wives tale and the occurances of twins have nothing to do with that. While there is research that shows that the conception of twins is more likely to happen to taller, heavier and African American women, the real reason of their occurance is still unknown. These days the rise in the number of multiple births is due to fertility drugs.
I watched the amazing National Geographic documentary 'In The Womb' when I first conceived Aaron. Last night, they had another 'In The Womb' episode out focusing on multiple births. Its even more interesting! There have been documented instances of twins who played a game in the womb, playing the SAME game when they were around 1.
Since making friends with a pair of twins in primary school, I've always wanted to be a twin. YES, there must be lots of problems, such as rivalry or individuality, involved but I still think its cool. Even today.
I used to think that having twins of my own would be cool too. I'm not so sure about that now if both came out like Aaron! HA HA. The only bonus would be that I'd have to go through pregnancy and childbirth just once and be done with it.
I watched the amazing National Geographic documentary 'In The Womb' when I first conceived Aaron. Last night, they had another 'In The Womb' episode out focusing on multiple births. Its even more interesting! There have been documented instances of twins who played a game in the womb, playing the SAME game when they were around 1.
Since making friends with a pair of twins in primary school, I've always wanted to be a twin. YES, there must be lots of problems, such as rivalry or individuality, involved but I still think its cool. Even today.
I used to think that having twins of my own would be cool too. I'm not so sure about that now if both came out like Aaron! HA HA. The only bonus would be that I'd have to go through pregnancy and childbirth just once and be done with it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)