15 Science Factlets You Don’t Know

1. Raindrops are not shaped like a teardrop (as they are almost always depicted in drawings) – they are actually spherical.

2. When something “sublimes” it turns directly into a gas from a solid – bypassing the liquid state. This is what would happen if you throw dry-ice into a fire.

3. Gorillas sleep in nests (pictured above) – they weave together soft foliage and bent branches from trees. Males tend to like sleeping on the ground while females like to have their nests in trees.

4. Champagne doesn’t fizz because of carbon dioxide – it fizzes because of dirt or dust. In a completely smooth glass with no dust molecules in it, champagne would be completely still.

5. Most digestion occurs, not in the stomach, but in the small intestine. This may be the reason that a person can be bulimic whilst still staying fat.

6. The red juice that comes out of rare steak is not blood – it is myoglobin a close relative of blood. Almost all the blood has been removed from a steak by the time it hits the market.

7. Plastic bags are better than paper bags for the environment. The manufacturing process that makes paper bags requires far more energy than that which produces plastic. Recycling paper bags takes more energy than recycling plastic, and paper bags take up more space in a landfill. Because landfills are usually airtight beneath the surface, paper and plastic are equally bad at biodegrading.

8. Polar bears are fascinating creatures. Their fur is transparent (not white), their skin is black (not white), and when kept in warm humid environments, their fur can turn green from algae.

9. Pet allergies are usually not allergies to fur but allergies to the animal’s dead skin, saliva, or waste matter. Regularly cleaning pets can dramatically reduce allergies.

10. The tongue map is a lie – you can taste all tastes on all parts of the tongue. The tongue map is derived from a discredited German paper from 1901.

11. When you hold a shell to your ear to hear the sea, the sound you hear is actually your own blood rushing through your veins! You can use any cup shaped object to hear this effect.

12. When you are alive, your brain is pink. When you die, it turns grey. While we describe the brain as “gray matter” and “white matter”, this is not a true description of its color.

13. Mercury, the fascinating liquid metal is not the only liquid metal. Gallium (Ga – pictured above) is solid at room temperature but will melt if held in your hand, caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr) – the second rarest naturally occurring element, can also be liquid at or near room temperature.

14. Dolphins don’t drink water – if they drank sea water it would make them ill and potentially kill them. They get all of their liquid needs through the foods they eat.

15. The Soviet Union was the first country to have a spacecraft on the moon – not the Unites States. In 1959, Luna 2 was the first craft to crash-land on the moon. In February, 1966, Luna 9 was the first soft-landed craft on the moon which relayed back pictures. Four months later, the United States landed its first craft on the moon (Surveyor I).

10 Things You Ought To Know

These are 10 of the most interesting facts hand picked from ‘The Book of General Ignorance’, written by John Lloyd, and forwarded by English broadcaster and entertainer, Stephen Fry. The human brain is, by far, the most complex single object in the cosmos, having more neurological connections within it than there are positively charged particles in the entire universe. With this astonishing level of computing power, there’s only one thing to do with it; use it.

10. Henry VIII

How many wives did Henry VIII have?

The answer? Two, not six. Henry’s fourth marriage to Anne was annulled, as the marriage was never consummated, in other words it was seen to that the marriage technically never took place, also Anne happened to be betrothed to Francis, Duke of Lorraine. At the time ‘betrothal’ would bar the individual from marriage. So that leaves 5 wives. Henry’s second marriage to Anne Boleyn was declared illegal by the pope, because the king was still married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Henry, as the head of the church of England, declared himself that his first marriage was invalid on the grounds that a man cannot sleep with his brother’s widow. He did the same with his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, bringing us down to two wives. 

9 Huge!

What’s the largest living organism?

The elephant? The blue whale? The T-Rex? No. The largest ever living organism is a mushroom. And not even a particularly rare one. The Armillaria ostoyae or ‘Honey fungus’ is very common, and is probably in your garden as we speak. However, lets hope it doesn’t grow as large as the largest ever recorded specimen, in Malheur National forest, in Oregon. It covers 2,200 acres (890 hectares)!! And is between 2,000 and 8,000 years old!! The majority of the organism is under ground, in the form of a massive mat of tentacle-like mycelia (the mushroom’s equivalent of roots). The giant honey fungus was originally thought to grow in different clusters around the forest, but researches have confirmed it is in fact one very, very large single organism!

8 Chameleons

Why do chameleons change their skin color?

Not to blend into their background, never have, never will. They change their color depending on a number of emotional states, they change often, and so it’s no wonder that eventually they will match their backgrounds, but only until the next change. They change color when frightened, when mating, when fighting another chameleon etc. A chameleon would have little use for blending in, their main prey, insects, tend to have eyesight unfit to spot them when they are still anyway, and being an apex predator, chameleons don’t tend to have any natural predators. 

7 Matter

How many states of matter are there?

Three surely? Solid, liquid and Gas? Actually, it’s more like fifteen. Although the list grows almost daily, some examples are: Solid, amorphous solid, liquid, gas, plasma, super-fluid, supersolid, degenerate matter, neutronium, strongly symmetric matter, weakly symmetric matter, quark-gluon plasma fermionic condensate (pictured above), Bose-Einstein condensate and ‘strange matter’. The most interesting is possibly Bose-Einstein condensate, or ‘bec’. which occurs when you cool a specific substance down to a fraction below absolute zero (-273 degrees), at this point, things get peculiar. For example if you put a ‘bec’ in a beaker, and keep the beaker at the correct temperature, the bec will actually climb the sides of the beaker. If you don’t believe me: YouTube. This happens because behavior only before observed at atomic levels are observed at greater levels. Some scientists believe the behavior is a result of the bec trying to “reduce it’s own energy”. 

6 Number of the Beast

What is the number of the Devil?

616. For 2000 years, 666 has been the number of the dreaded anti-Christ. An unlucky number for many, even the European parliament leaves seat number 666 vacant. The number is from the book of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible. However, in 2005, a translation of the very earliest known copy of the book of revelation clearly shows it to be 616, not 666! The 1,700 year old copy was recovered from the city of Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt, and deciphered by a palaeographical research team from the University Of Birmingham, UK. The team was led by Professor David Parker.

5 Golden Skies

What color was the sky in ancient Greece?

Bronze! There was no word for blue in the ancient Greek language. The nearest words to blue – glaukos and kyanos are more like expressions of relative light intensity than descriptions of color. So when the Greek referred to the sky as ‘bronze’, they meant that it was dazzlingly bright, like the sheen of a bronze shield, rather than actually bronze-colored. It seems the ancient Greeks described things based on other qualities, so when a word is used that, to us, seems to indicate ‘yellow’ or ‘light green’ really just means fluid, living and fresh, and was therefore used to describe flowers, blood, the sea and sheep. It would appear to us that the Greeks were referring to all of these things as yellow colored, but that’s because of the way we describe things. Interestingly, in Russia, there are two words for blue: goluboi and sinii, one word referring to light blue, the other dark, which to Russians are two different, distinct colors, not shades of the same color, much like other cultures perceive pink to be a shade of red, rather than a color in it’s own right. 

4 Senses

How many senses do you have?

At least nine. The five we all know about: Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, were first proposed by Aristotle, but there are now four more which are agreed among scientists to be official senses, these are:

1. Thermoception – the sense of heat (or it’s absence) on our skin,
2. Equilibrioception – our sense of balance, which is determined by the fluid filled cavities in our inner ear.
3. Nociception – Pain.
4. Proprioception – or ‘body awareness’. This is the conscious knowledge of where our body parts are without having to look, for example, close your eyes and waggle your big toe, you still know where it is in relation to the rest of you.

Some neurologists also argue that there are even more than 9. What about hunger? Or thirst? It’s certainly a grey area. 

3 Over the Edge

What shape did medieval people believe the earth was?

Wrong again. Since around the fourth century BC, almost no-one, anywhere has believed the earth to be flat. This misconception that people where ignorant of the shape of the earth comes from the partially fictional text ‘The Life And Voyages Of Christopher Columbus’ (1828), which incorrectly stated that Columbus set out to prove the earth was round. Truth is, nobody would have disputed the theory. Evidence shows that almost all cultures of the world worked out, through mathematics or just observation, the spherical nature of the Earth.

2.  Moth to a Flame

How does a moth react to a light?

They are not attracted to them, but disorientated by them. The reason being that moths use natural light sources, i.e. the sun and moon, to navigate. The insects use the location of the light source from the Sun or moon to determine what direction they should be facing (i.e. what direction is up!) and how to fly in a straight line. When people come along with artificial suns and moons in their bedrooms, it confuses the insect, making it think it’s somehow moving in a curved path, because the direction of the light source has suddenly changed, to rectify this, moths try to straighten their trajectory, but the light source being so close, the only way to do this is to fly around in circles. And moths don’t eat cloths, their caterpillars do. 

1 Arid Land

Where is the driest place on earth?

The Sahara desert? Nevada? Actually, it’s Antarctica. Some parts of the continent hasn’t seen any rain for two million years! A desert is technically defined as an area of land that receives less than 254mm (10 inches) of rain a year. The Sahara gets 25 mm, Antarctica gets around the same amount, but some areas of Antarctica never get rain, and haven’t for millennia. Making Antarctica the driest place on earth. Also, Antarctica can claim to be the windiest place on earth, with wind speeds of up to 200mph, the fastest ever recorded.

The Maths Teacher

One day Maths teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't

matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in 'Kargil' war and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never attended Funeral of a serviceman before. He looked so handsome, so mature.  

The place was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk. The teacher was the last one to bless .

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Sanjay's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Sanjay talked about you a lot.'

After the funeral, most of Sanjay's former classmates were there. Sanjay's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Sanjay when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Sanjay's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Sanjay's mother said. 'As you can see, Sanjay treasured it.'

All of Sanjay's former classmates started to gather around. Arjun smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'

Prithwiraj's wife said, ' Prithwiraj asked me to put his in our wedding album.'

'I have mine too,' Rashmi said. 'It's in my diary'

Then Deepali, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Deepali said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Sanjay and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care.

If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships?

Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You

Begin with a Blank page

If you could start your life all over what would be different? What would you change now if you were able to wave a magic wand and start from scratch?

Just imagine you have no ties, no burdens, no limits, no memories, and no past. What would your life look like? If the answer that comes to your mind is different than what you are doing, what is that? Is it because of someone else's opinion? A parent - or may be your friend?

The ultimate test of your life is to close your eyes and think of yourself as you are and the way you want to be. If given a chance would you like to change the report card of your last year's final exam? If yes, then, why not work hard this year and get good marks. Kids, life is not about regrets and if you do have some them I am sure you can get rid of them easily by doing what is right at this very moment.

At the end, what counts is how much effort you have put in your assignments. Never regret the past, in fact learn from it because each day is blank page and you can scribble anything on it. So, why not begin this day with a smile and write down things that you must do today.

All your wishes that start from "I wish I had been bolder.....I wish I had given more......I wish I had tried harder to see more, do more and feel more will become part of your life and there will be no regrets.

Make an attempt today to start with a brand new page of your life. Create your life story how you want it. Here is the good news. Your life is your life. No once can take that away from you. You are not a slave. You are free to try, do, and be whomever you wish. So, wish for being a better person and start this task today.

It might not be easy, but it sure might be worth it.

How to stop negative thoughts?

The question I have often been asked is "How do I stop my negative thoughts?"
 

The answer is unexpected – you cannot STOP negative thoughts; on the contrary, you will find that the more you try to STOP such thoughts, the appear with greater force.

The trick is to REPLACE negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

Try this simple exercise – can you think of a negative and a positive thought simultaneously?

You cannot – only one of them can exist at a time!

Thus, plant good and positive thoughts; when your mind is filled with them, negative thoughts cannot appear.

If one of them does appear, instantly REPLACE it with another positive thought. Do it everyday, all the time, consciously with complete awareness and you will find it becomes a habit. The barrage of negative thoughts start diminishing rapidly.

When you try to STOP negative thoughts, you are focusing on what you don't want - negative thoughts - and you will attract an abundance of them. They can never disappear if you are focused on them. The STOP part becomes irrelevant - the negative thoughts are your focus.

It doesn't matter if you are trying to stop negative thoughts or control them or push them away, the result is the same. Your focus is on negative thoughts, and by the law of attraction you are inviting more of them to you.

The truth is always simple and it is always easy. To stop negative thoughts, just plant good thoughts! Deliberately plant good thoughts! You plant good thoughts by making it a daily practice. Appreciate all the things in your day. Appreciate your health, your car, your home, your family, your job, your friends, your surroundings, your meals, your pets, and the magnificent beauty of the day.

Compliment, praise, and give thanks to all things. Every time you say "Thank you" it is a good thought! As you plant more and more good thoughts, the negative thoughts will gradually be wiped out.

Why? Because your focus is on good thoughts, and what you focus on you attract. So don't give any attention to negative thoughts.

Don't worry about them. If any come, make light of them, shrug them off, and let them be your reminder to deliberately think more good thoughts now.

The more good thoughts you can plant in a day, the faster your life will be transformed.

Life's mantra

Once a King called upon all of his wise men and asked them, Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every circumstances, in every place and in every time, in every joy, every sorrow, every defeat and every victory? One answer for all questions? Something which can help me, when none of you is available to advise me? Tell me is there any mantra?

All the wise men were puzzled by the Kings question. They thought and thought. After a lengthy discussion an old man suggested something which appealed to all of them. They went to the King and gave him something written on paper, with a condition that the King was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in extreme danger, when the King finds himself alone and there seems to be no way, only then he can see it. The King put the paper under his diamond ring.

Some time later, the neighbors attacked the Kingdom. The King and his army fought bravely but lost the battle. The King had to flee on his horse. The enemies were following him, getting closer and closer. Suddenly the King found himself standing at the end of the road – that road was not going anywhere. Underneath there was a rocky valley thousand feet deep. If he jumped in to it he would be finished and he could not return because it had enemy. The sound of enemy's horses was approaching fast. The King became restless. There seemed to be no way.

Then suddenly he saw the diamond in his ring shining in the sun. He remembered the message hidden in the ring. He opened the paper and read the message. The message was – this too shall pass.

The King read it. Again read it. Suddenly something stick him – Yes! This too will pass. Only a few days ago, I was enjoying my kingdom. I was the mightiest of all the kings. Yet today, the kingdom and all its pleasure were gone. I am here trying to escape from enemies.

Like those days of luxuries have gone, this day of danger too will pass. A calm came on his face. He kept standing there. The place where he was standing was full of natural beauty. He had never known that such a beautiful place was also a part of his kingdom.

The revelation of the message had a great effect on him. He relaxed and forgot about those following him. After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy coming was receding. They had moved in to some other part of the mountain and were not near him.

The King was very brave. He reorganized his army and fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his empire. When he returned to his empire after victory, he was received with much fanfare. The whole capital was rejoicing in the victory. Every one was in festive mood. Flowers were being showered on the King from every house, from every corner. People were dancing and singing. For a moment, the King said to himself, I am one of the bravest and greatest kings. It is not easy to defeat me. With all the reception and celebration, he saw an ego emerging in him.

Suddenly the Diamond of his ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He opened it and read it again this too shall pass.

He became silent. His face went through a total change – from the egoist, he moved to a state of utter humbleness. If this too is going to pass, it is not yours. The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours. You are just a watcher…. Everything passes by. We are witnesses of all this. We are the perceivers. Life comes and goes. Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.

One is just a witness of change. Experience it, understand it, and enjoy the present moment…..this too shall pass.

Change Your Life With These Ten Questions

1. Am I truly happy in the job I am doing?

We spend nearly a quarter of our lives working. If we are not happy in that job it means we are unhappy for nearly a quarter of our lives. Most of us have to work and most of us are not doing a job we love, however it’s difficult to do a job we love and put money on the table. There is ALWAYS something we can do about our job, you’re never too old to change careers, you might need training for a career change but 1 -3 years of your life studying for a new career is better than another 20 years being miserable in your job.

2. Am I truly happy in my relationship?

A truly important question to ask yourself. If you are unhappy and you have tried to make things work and it hasn’t, get out of the relationship. Do you really want to stay and be unhappy or go and try to make it on your own? If you have kids, it’s a lot more difficult but it needn’t be. Kids know when there is no love in a house between parents and may not be as unhappy as you think about a split up.

3. How can I save Rs. 50 every single day for 30 years?

Saving up Rs. 50 per day for 30 years and putting it in a safe bank account will net you over Rs. _____ in 30 years time. If you put in a mutual fund that follows the main market, historically, it will net you over Rs. _______ .

4. How can I have a better relationship with my kids?

Another hugely important question to ask yourself. If you don’t have children then think about your relationships with your nieces and nephews. If you don’t have nieces and nephews then stop reading this section.

Our relationships with the children in our lives are more important than you might think. They are copying you in nearly everything you are doing so it is important to be mindful of your words, actions and behaviour.

We only have our formative children for about 14 years, after that time they generally spend more time with their peers. Your time with your children is precious, try to make the most of it.

5. What makes me happy?

The answer to this question will truly change your life. Many people don’t even ask this question.

If you ask yourself this question every day and you can work on the answers and implement a plan of action then your life will change forever.

6. How can I make my relationships better?

Working on your relationships and thinking about how to improve them is another great way to work on yourself and help others.

Your most obvious relationship is your partner, ask yourself ‘what could I do today to tell them I love them?’ it doesn’t have to be a huge thing; even a little note can make a big difference.

Work on all your other relationships this way starting with your family and going down to your work colleagues. Just thinking about improving your relationships and doing 1 thing every day can make an enormous difference.

7. How can I make more money?

There are literally millions of ways to make more money nowadays. If you can make an extra £1 per day and save it for 30 years you will have over £24,000 if you put it in a 5% yielding bank account. Stick that £1 per day in the market and in 30 years time you have £67,000.

When we try to make money we think in big numbers. We think, as I did, if I could get £70,000 and pay off my mortgage that would be great. In our minds the figures we think of are just too big. I we ask ourselves ‘How can I make an extra £1 per day’ that make it a lot easier. Now the beauty of it is, if you can make an extra £1 you can then go on to make an extra £2 and then and extra £10 per day and so on. Try not to think about the big numbers, think about the small numbers, which go a long way to make the big numbers.

Money is a source of stress for many people and figuring out how we can make more and live comfortably can make us happier.

8. What can I do to make a difference to someone else?

Not as altruistic as it sounds, but if your hearts in the right place then it doesn’t matter. The fact that you are helping someone will make a difference. Helping other people achieve their goals or simply helping someone with their shopping can make a difference. Giving feels much better than receiving and gives our spirits a lift.

This is another question to ask yourself every day. Do one thing a day for another person and spiritually you will be lifted, don’t worry if you’re not comfortable with the word spiritual, it will make you feel good.

9. What can I do to make me more healthy?

Most of us know the answer to this question already; it’s just that we rarely ask ourselves this question for fear of what the answer involves and the action that needs to be taken.

10 minutes of exercise per day could change your life if you are willing. Watching how much rubbish you are eating could change your life. You don’t need to go to the gym to exercise, see the article Top 5 gym free exercises

You don’t need me to give you advice on your health, you know what you have to do: are you brave enough to ask the question?

10. What is the worst that can happen?

A fantastic question, which can help you out in times of stress. I have been in lots of seemingly stressful situations and asked myself this question. When I am stressed about not seeing as many clients as I think I should have I ask ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ and usually the answer is I will see them tomorrow, no big deal. Stress is caused by the undue pressure we put on ourselves.

Most situational stress can be alleviated by asking ourselves this one question, as the answer is not usually as bad as you might think.