08 May 29: Bruxism

Bruxism - the grinding of teeth at night - affects anywhere from 15 to 96 percent of the adult population at some point in their lives.

08 May 28: Zappos

Zappos offers new call-centre employees US$1,000 on top of what they have earned after a few weeks of intensive training, if they want to quit. The theory is that the people who take the money ‘obviously don't have the sense of sense of commitment’ Zappos requires. About 10% of its trainees take the offer.

08 May 27: Opium

Afghans' widespread use of opium ‘is killing communities.’

08 May 26: Cars

Future cars may save gas, but waste water.

08 May 25: Symmetrical

Only 1 in 500 women has symmetrical breasts.

08 May 24: Victoria

Victoria Day, colloquially known as May Two-four, May Long, or May Run is a federal Canadian statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on 24 May, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday.

08 May 23: Cults

The number of cults in the USA is estimated at about 2,500.

08 May 22: Cathode

The origin of video games lies in early cathode ray tube-based missile defence systems in the late 1940s.

08 May 21: Axiniform

axiniform: ‘shaped like an axe-head’

08 May 20: Gravity

Without the compressive force of gravity, your spinal column expands and you grow taller, usually by between 5 and 8cm.

08 May 19: 578

One of Japan's oldest construction companies, Kongō Gumi, was founded in 578.

08 May 18: Caterpillars

Memories of pain in young caterpillars are retained by old moths.

08 May 17: Nothing

Physicists stored and retrieved a nothing.

08 May 16: Uniforms

Biologists found that those English soccer teams with red uniforms tend to win more often.

08 May 14: Miles

Beijing's newest airport terminal is two miles long.

08 May 13: Eudaimonistic

On Happiness, two theories predominate:

‘The first says happiness comes when pleasure is at a maximum – the ‘hedonistic theory.’ The second holds that we are happy when we find meaning, even if it is through effort and frustration – the ‘eudaimonistic theory,’ from the Greek daimon, our true self.’

08 May 12: Taboo

‘During the war, Chinese feminists continued their struggle on two fronts. In 1938, Mao Liying founded the Chinese Career Women's Club in Shanghai, which addressed both their society's gender assumptions and the Japanese occupation.

In Shanghai, where public baths were closed to women, members of the club held ‘bathing parties,’ during which they rented a hotel room, and in which they sang, danced and ate, as they took turns taking baths. Club members also bicycled around Shanghai in groups, breaking another cultural taboo.’

Source: ‘Shanghai in 1942

08 May 11: Benz

The film version of Sex And The City has just about as many Mercedes-Benz cars as it has pairs of Manolo Blahniks.

08 May 10: IAT

The Implicit Association Test is based on the observation that we make connections much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do between pairs of ideas that are unfamiliar to us. Try a computerized IAT at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/.

08 May 9: Lavender

Whiffing lavender oil during your next dental visit may blur the memory of your pain.

08 May 8: Pashmina

The test for a quality pashmina has been warmth, feel and the passing of the shawl through a wedding ring.

08 May 7: New?

The New Kids On The Block are hard at work on their first new album since 1994.

08 May 6: Facial

The Geisha is the latest facial to hit New York City. It is a $180 mask made with bird excrement. Article here.

08 May 5: Advertising

2 in 3 U.S. public schools accept advertising from corporations that sell junk food.

08 May 4: Anvil

Anvil has released thirteen studio albums, and has been cited as having influenced many notable heavy metal groups.

08 May 3: Calories

For every year after 30, women require seven fewer calories per day.

08 May 2: Intervention

The Snobby Coffee Intervention at Un-Snobby Coffee is a Washington McDonald's marketing campaign designed to ‘help a friend kick their snobbish habit.’