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The 2008 ?Leap Second? on New Years
2008-12-29 01:06:00
Wait a second. The start of next year will be delayed by circumstances beyond everyone’s control. Time will stand still for one second on New Year’s Eve, as we ring in the New Year on that Wednesday night. As a result, you’ll have an extra second to celebrate because a “Leap Second” will be added ...
More About: Science , Space , Clock , Earth

Sleeping Less Hardens Your Arteries
2008-12-24 18:16:00
Calcified arteries were found in nearly a third of people who slept fewer than five hours a night. This dropped to around one in 10 for those who slept an extra hour, the Journal of the American Medical Association study of 495 adults found. [From BBC News]
More About: Health , Sleeping , Human , Blood

Men React Quicker to Caffeine
2008-12-23 20:46:00
A strong cup of coffee has a greater effect on men than women, research shows. In a study on 668 healthy volunteers, an espresso pepped up men after just 10 minutes. Women also became more alert after the beverage, but less so. [From BBC News ]
More About: Health , Food , Female , Coffee

Injuries from the Wii
2008-12-23 19:02:00
Up to ten people a week are being hospitalized with injuries caused by playing Nintendo Wii games, prompting doctors in Britain to issue warnings of the dangers associated with the video game system. [From Fox News]
More About: Health , Entertainment , Doctors , Games

Blood From Mosquito Identifies Car Thief
2008-12-22 17:06:00
Police in Finland caught a car thief using blood found in a mosquito. Finding the car in Seinaejoki, north of Helsinki, police saw that the mosquito had recently sucked blood and decided to send the insect for analysis. The DNA found from laboratory tests matched a man on the police register. The suspect denies stealing the car and ...
More About: News , Crime , General , Blood , Theft

Does Sugar Really Make Kids Hyper?
2008-12-19 05:00:00
A new report by Indiana University medical professor Dr. Aaron Carroll reveals a few interesting facts about commonly heard beliefs. Take the conventional wisdom about kids and sugar-that it makes them go wild for a couple hours. The report found no connection between sugar and hyperactivity, and 12 highly scientific studies back that up. One of those ...
More About: Health , Kids , Sugar , Human , Myths

Is There Ice on the Moon?
2008-12-18 21:55:00
Could there be ice on the moon? A team of British researchers thinks so, and theorizes that the water could be put to use by residents of a future permanent lunar base. Poring over data from NASA’s 1998 Lunar Prospector probe, the Durham University scientists found that hydrogen on the moon tends to be concentrated in dark ...
More About: Science , Space , Moon , Water , The Moon

When Was the Christmas Card Invented?
2008-12-14 19:18:00
The commercial Christmas card as we know it originated in London in 1843. That winter, Sir Henry Cole, a civil servant who helped organize the Great Exhibition and develop the Victoria and Albert Museum, decided he was too busy to write individual Christmas greetings to his family, friends and business colleagues. He asked his friend, ...
More About: Design , History , Holiday , Card

A 2,000 Year Old Brain
2008-12-14 04:01:00
Archaeologists have found what they say is the oldest brain ever discovered in Britain , or at least the shriveled remnant of one, in a decapitated skull that dates back more than 2,000 years. Inside the skull, the scientists found “a yellow substance which scans showed to be shrunken, but brain-shaped,” according to a University of York ...
More About: History , Human , Brain , Skull

Miles of Wire in a Pinball Game
2008-12-13 22:14:00
Despite containing modern electronics and circuits, most pinball machines today still contain at least a half mile of wiring! Older ones could have one or two miles of wire inside! [source]
More About: Technology , Entertainment , Electronics , Games , Miles

The Smallest Bird in the World
2008-12-13 21:14:00
Hummingbirds can fly backwards, and are the only group of birds able to do so. They flap their wings rapidly 15-80 times per second. The bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world, weighing in between 3 grams and 24 grams. [wikipedia]
More About: World , Weight , Animals , Birds , The World

A Plasma Cloak Surrounds the Earth
2008-12-13 00:07:00
A detailed analysis of the measurements of five different satellites has revealed the existence of warm cloak of plasma around Earth . This newfound feature is part of the magnetosphere, a shield of magnetic fields and electrically charged particles that surround and protect Earth from the onslaught of the solar wind. The northern and southern polar lights ? ...
More About: Science , Space , Plasma , Satellites

How Many Active Facebook Users?
2008-12-11 20:52:00
Facebook updated their public statistics with the number of active users on the site now over 130 million. The company also updated their advertising estimates provided to advertisers when creating an ad and the total number of users there adds up to more than 133 million users. Also of interest is that Facebook has grown over 14 percent in the past month to almost 41 million active users within the United States according to their advertising statistics. [From All Facebook.com]
More About: Facebook , Users , Active

The Sounds of an African Grey Parrot
2008-12-11 00:26:00
An interesting fact about the African Grey parrot is how well they can talk and copy sounds that they hear repeated often. They are like living recorders. If they like the sound of the words being spoken they will speak these words or sounds quicker than they will others. These parrots are well known in the ...
More About: Sounds , Animals , Language , Birds

Top Ten Fastest Rising Google Searches [2008]
2008-12-10 17:07:00
What have people been searching for this year? Google has published its yearly Zeitgeist containing the fastest rising search terms for a number of categories, including; News , Politics, Books and Images.   Fastest Rising (Global) sarah palin beijing 2008 facebook login tuenti heath ledger obama nasza klasa wer kennt wen euro 2008 jonas brothers [Google Zeitgeist]
More About: Internet , Research , General

What?s the Difference Between a Potato and a Sweet Potato?
2008-12-09 23:22:00
A sweet potato is a modified root and a potato is a modified stem and, therefore, a [true] tuber. One of the big differences is that the sweet potato is a perennial and they continue to grow indefinitely while a potato has a predetermined length of season after which the plant will senesce and ...
More About: Food , Sweet , Potato , Farm , Difference

Can You Die From Drinking Too Much Water?
2008-12-09 22:14:00
In January 2007, hours after competing in a radio station contest to win a Nintendo Wii, 28-year-old Jennifer Strange was found dead in her California home. The station’s “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” challenge awarded the game system to the contestant who could drink the most water without having to take a trip to ...
More About: Contest , Health , Water , Drinking , Death

The 40th Anniversary of the Computer Mouse
2008-12-09 04:13:00
On 9 December 1968 hi-tech visionary Douglas Engelbart first used one to demonstrate novel ways of working with computers. The first mouse that Dr Engelbart used in the demo at the Fall Joint Computer Conference (FJCC) was made of wood and had one button. Much of the technology shown off in the demo inspired the creation of ...
More About: Hardware , Technology , History , Anniversary

BBQs and Parties on Grave Sites!
2008-12-09 03:57:00
Did you know that some Pre-Columbian cultures had elaborate festivities at their graveyards? Some pre-Hispanic cultures in South America had elaborate celebrations at their cemeteries, complete with feasting and drinking grounds much like modern barbecue pits, according to a new archaeological study. Excavations of 12th- and-13th-century burial mounds in the highlands of Brazil and Argentina revealed numerous ...
More About: History , Party , Graveyard , Chief

Do Dogs Experience Jealousy?
2008-12-08 17:44:00
The Vienna-based researchers showed that dogs will stop doing a simple task when not rewarded if another dog, which continues to be rewarded, is present. Writing in the journal PNAS, the scientists say this shows a sensitivity in dogs that was only previously found in primates. The researchers now plan to extend their experiments to look at ...
More About: Science , Dogs , Research , Animals , Experiment

Message in a Bottle Found 39 Years Later
2008-12-07 22:42:00
A message in a beer bottle was found in North Carolina, 39 years after it was thrown into the sea. The note was sealed in a Schaefer beer bottle. It was dated Aug. 17, 1969 and read: “If found notify the North Haledon Fire Co. .2.” Mark Ciarmello and his 3-year-old daughter found the bottle along a ...
More About: Interesting , General , Time , Beer , Message

Haitian Zombie Powder
2008-12-06 21:27:00
Have you ever wondered if Zombies could actually exist? It turns out that the Puffer Fish contains a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin. When given to a human, can cause paralysis and death. Victims of this tetrodotoxin usually remain conscious until they die. Davis collected eight samples of this zombie powder in four regions of Haiti. ...
More About: Health , Animals , Human , Myths

How the Telephone Keypad Came About
2008-12-06 01:40:00
Here is an interesting article about how the telephone companies came about choosing the keypad configuration for dialing numbers. Ever wonder who came up with the order of numbers on a telephone? Ever wonder why it isn?t the same as those on a calculator, or a keyboard, ascending from lowest to highest? After all, adding machines ...
More About: Design , Technology , History , Configuration , Numbers

Prehistoric Flying Reptile Was Bigger Than a Car
2008-12-05 22:59:00
A fossil of a toothless flying pterosaur, with a body bigger than some family cars, represents one of the largest of these extinct reptiles ever to be found and has forced the creation of a new genus, scientists announced today. Pterosaurs ruled the skies 115 million years ago during the dinosaur age. They are often mistaken ...
More About: History , Animals , Flying , Reptiles , Birds

What Do People Use Their Cars For?
2008-12-05 17:52:00
Chicago-based consultancy Mintel found that 60% of survey respondents believe the main purpose of a vehicle is to get from point A to point B, and 55% say the true value of a car or truck is how long it lasts. Only 13% say they want their vehicle to catch other people’s attention. [Marketing Daily]
More About: Cars , People , Study , Driving , General

The Healthiest and Unhealthiest States
2008-12-05 17:00:00
Louisiana has displaced Mississippi as the unhealthiest U.S. state and other Southern states were close rivals due to high obesity and smoking rates in new rankings that deemed Vermont the healthiest. [From Fox News]
More About: United States , Health , Louisiana , Obesity , Smoking

Happiness is Contagious
2008-12-05 07:06:00
When you’re smiling, the whole world really does smile with you. A paper being published Friday in a British medical journal concludes that happiness is contagious ? and that people pass on their good cheer even to total strangers. American researchers who tracked more than 4,700 people in Framingham, Mass., as part of a 20-year ...
More About: Research , Study , Human , Happiness , Cheer

George Washington?s Life
2008-12-05 00:17:00
George Washington served as the first President of the United States starting in 1789, he is the only President to have gotten 100% of electoral votes. He was born in Virginia, and was educated at home by his family. He retired from the Presidency in 1797 and returned to Mount Vernon to live, ...
More About: Life , History

The First Shots of the Civil War
2008-12-04 18:01:00
The first shots of the American Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter on December 26, 1860. The fort was not yet fully constructed, and the Union commander had moved his forces there without orders from Washington because he thought reinforcing it might delay a Confederate attack. [source]
More About: History , Shots , Civil War

The World?s Fastest Cat
2008-11-25 18:42:00
The cheetah is the world’s fastest cat. As a matter of fact, it’s the speediest of all land animals. Cheetahs in full sprint can reach speeds up to 75 mph and they can accelerate faster than most sports cars. It takes a cheetah less than 3 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour. That can ...
More About: World , Cat , General , Animals , The World