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08 July 31: Up!

2008-08-01T17:00:00.009-07:00

The year is up!

‘People learn something every day, and a lot of times it's that what they learned the day before was wrong.’ Bill Vaughan

08 July 30: Bacteria

2008-08-01T17:00:00.007-07:00

When two people kiss, they exchange between 10 million and one billion bacteria.

08 July 29: Emissions

2008-08-01T17:00:00.005-07:00

Between the first Earth Day in 1970 and the new millennium, human-made emissions of greenhouse gases rose 70%.

08 July 28: Snore

2008-08-01T17:00:00.003-07:00

You cannot snore and dream at the same time.

08 July 27: Foundation

2008-08-01T17:00:00.001-07:00

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie gave more than $8.5-million to their charitable foundation in 2006.

08 July 26: Levels

2008-08-01T16:59:00.010-07:00

Studies show HIV-infected men are more likely to progress to AIDS if they are under high stress than those with lower levels of stress.

08 July 25: Gynotikolobomassophile

2008-08-01T16:59:00.009-07:00

gynotikolobomassophile: ‘one who nibbles on women's earlobes’

08 July 24: Pi

2008-08-01T16:59:00.007-07:00

Pi is the most recognized mathematical constant in the world.

08 July 23: Payne

2008-08-01T16:59:00.005-07:00

Alexander Payne is on the short list of American directors who have final cut rights for their films.

08 July 22: Calories

2008-08-01T16:59:00.003-07:00

Passionate kissing burns 6.4 calories a minute.

08 July 21: Marlboro

2008-08-01T16:59:00.001-07:00

Barack Obama smokes Marlboro Red cigarettes.

08 July 20: Cuts

2008-08-01T16:54:00.013-07:00

During the worst years of the Depression (1933-1934) the overall jobless rate was 25% with another 25% taking wage cuts or working part-time. The gross national product fell by almost 50%.

08 July 19: Womb

2008-08-01T16:54:00.011-07:00

Approximately two-thirds of people tip their head to the right when they kiss. Some scholars speculate this preference starts in the womb.

08 July 18: Topophone

2008-08-01T16:54:00.009-07:00

topophone: ‘instrument to determine direction and distance of a fog-horn’

08 July 17: Balloon

2008-08-01T16:54:00.007-07:00

The fastest time to create one balloon dog sculpture is 6.5 seconds by John Cassidy (USA) at the Balloon Saloon store in New York, USA on 28 March 2006.

08 July 16: Sheets

2008-08-01T16:54:00.005-07:00

Lines that adjust sails on a yacht are called sheets.

08 July 15: Sign

2008-08-01T16:54:00.003-07:00

Most baby signers speak earlier than babies who do not learn baby sign language.

08 July 14: Regime

2008-08-01T16:54:00.001-07:00

Until 1997, contact between tourists and Cubans were de facto outlawed by the Communist regime.

08 July 13: Cuba

2008-08-01T16:53:00.014-07:00

Tourism in Cuba attracts over 2 million people a year.

08 July 12: Jeans

2008-08-01T16:53:00.013-07:00

An original pair of Levi Strauss & Co (USA) 501 jeans aged over 115 years old was sold to an anonymous Japanese collector for $60,000 through eBay on June 15, 2005.

08 July 11: Lecanoscopy

2008-08-01T16:53:00.011-07:00

lecanoscopy: ‘staring at pool of water as means of self-hypnosis’

08 July 10: Eames

2008-08-01T16:53:00.009-07:00

The Eames moulded plywood chair, designed by Charles and Ray Eames was named The Best Design of the 20th Century by Time magazine.

08 July 9: Burn

2008-08-01T16:53:00.007-07:00

Longest Full-Body Burn (without Oxygen): Ted Batchelor, 2 min 38 sec, Nelson, Ohio, USA, July 17, 2004.

08 July 8: Sofa

2008-08-01T16:53:00.005-07:00

Marek Turowski achieved a speed of 148 km/h (92 mph) while driving a motorized sofa at Leicestershire, UK on May 11, 2007.

08 July 7: Wireless

2008-08-01T16:53:00.003-07:00

In 1908, U.S. Patent 887,357 for a wireless telephone was issued to Nathan B. Stubblefield of Murray, Kentucky.

08 July 6: Sunlight

2008-08-01T16:53:00.001-07:00

‘A daily dose of sunlight may help the immune system guard against invading pathogens and sun-induced skin damage, according to a new study. The findings reveal how immune cells specialize to protect the skin and suggest that staying out of the sun could cause harm if carried too far.’

08 July 5: 720

2008-08-01T16:52:00.001-07:00

By August 9, 2001, Elaine Davidson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, had a record-breaking total of 720 piercings.

08 July 4: Calcographer

2008-08-01T16:51:00.006-07:00

calcographer: ‘one who draws with crayons or pastels’

08 July 3: Waist

2008-08-01T16:51:00.005-07:00

Smallest Waist on a Living Person: Cathie Jung, 38.1 cm (15 in), Old Mystic, CT, as of 1999. Cathie Jung's waist is about the same size as a regular jar of mayonnaise. She's been wearing a corset every day for years, and now wears one 24 hours a day.

08 July 2: Instructions

2008-08-01T16:51:00.003-07:00

Dolphins have been known to instruct each other as well as receive instructions and act accordingly.

08 July 1: Gallons

2008-08-01T16:51:00.001-07:00

Estimated number of gallons of extra gasoline burned each year because Americans are overweight: 938,000,000

08 June 30: Anaesthesia

2008-06-30T19:17:00.003-07:00

The 1 or 2% of people who are redheads may require as much as 20% more anaesthesia than blonds or brunettes.

08 June 29: Venice

2008-06-30T19:17:00.001-07:00

The world's first major film festival was held in Venice in 1938.

08 June 28: Chain

2008-06-30T19:16:00.008-07:00

On December 11, 2004, over 5 million people joined hands to form a human chain, 1,050km (652.4 miles) long from Teknaf to Tentulia, Bangladesh.

08 June 27: Zoomimetic

2008-06-30T19:16:00.007-07:00

zoomimetic: ‘imitating an animal or part of an animal’

08 June 26: Hummer

2008-06-30T19:16:00.005-07:00

On July 19, 2007, Paris Hilton attempted to demonstrate her environmental consciousness by telling Us Weekly magazine that she had ordered a Hummer Hybrid.

08 June 25: Voices

2008-06-30T19:16:00.003-07:00

A UK woman with a lifelong inability to recognize voices is a medical mystery.

08 June 24: Embrace

2008-06-30T19:16:00.001-07:00

Spider monkeys embrace to keep the peace.

08 June 23: Household

2008-06-30T19:15:00.012-07:00

Year by which South Korea intends to have a robot in every household: 2013

08 June 22: Eusocial

2008-06-30T19:15:00.011-07:00

‘Some insects, such as ants and bees, live in eusocial groups, in which different members carry out specialized jobs to help maintain the colony.’

08 June 21: Ozone

2008-06-30T19:15:00.009-07:00

‘A major component of smog, ozone is a by-product of chemical reactions involving nitrogen oxides and other pollutants. It oxidizes lung tissue, causing inflammation. This exacerbates asthma and leads to other respiratory problems.’

08 June 20: Venography

2008-06-30T19:15:00.007-07:00

venography: ‘injecting radioactive material into veins for medical examination’

08 June 19: Dyslexics

2008-06-30T19:15:00.005-07:00

‘All dyslexics are not alike. According to new research, Chinese- and English-speaking people with the disorder have impairments in different regions of their brains. The findings shed light on the neurological basis of dyslexia and reveal fundamental differences in how brains process the two languages.’

08 June 18: Birdseed

2008-06-30T19:15:00.003-07:00

People dish out 500,000 metric tons of birdseed each year in the United States and the United Kingdom.

08 June 17: Cereal

2008-06-30T19:15:00.001-07:00

Mothers who eat at least one bowl of cereal per day are more likely to bear sons.

08 June 16: Choice

2008-06-30T19:14:00.012-07:00

Researchers have found patterns of brain activity that predict people’s decisions up to 10 seconds before they’re aware they’ve made a choice.

08 June 15: Arsenic

2008-06-30T19:14:00.011-07:00

Scientists warn that some rice products for infants contain worrisome levels of arsenic.

08 June 14: Mobile

2008-06-30T19:14:00.009-07:00

Minimum number of South Africans who do their banking entirely by mobile phone: 500,000

08 June 13: Quinquagenarian

2008-06-30T19:14:00.007-07:00

quinquagenarian: ‘person between the ages of 50 and 59’

08 June 12: Theory

2008-06-30T19:14:00.005-07:00

Decision theory has boomed in the past decade.

08 June 11: Prison

2008-06-30T19:14:00.003-07:00

Chances that a resident of Florence, AZ is living in prison: 3 in 4

08 June 10: Rococo

2008-06-30T19:14:00.001-07:00

During the Rococo Period, men's clothing became so colourful that women began to feel threatened.

08 June 9: Splashy

2008-06-30T19:13:00.012-07:00

152,000 votes were tallied in an online Greenpeace poll last fall to name a humpback whale in the South Pacific; 79 percent favoured the name Mr. Splashy Pants.

08 June 8: Blood

2008-06-30T19:13:00.011-07:00

In an average healthy adult, the volume of blood is about one-eleventh of the body weight.

08 June 7: Arabica

2008-06-30T19:13:00.009-07:00

Arabica coffee normally contains less caffeine than the robusta variety.

08 June 6: Balaniferous

2008-06-30T19:13:00.007-07:00

balaniferous: ‘acorn-bearing’ (balanoid: ‘acorn-shaped’)

08 June 5: Memory

2008-06-30T19:13:00.005-07:00

A team of neuroscientists reports results suggesting that the continuing activity of a particular enzyme is somehow necessary to maintain long-term memory, something that's not predicted by most current hypotheses on the mechanisms of memory.

08 June 4: Memorials

2008-06-30T19:13:00.003-07:00

At least 700 9/11 memorials have been constructed so far in New York City.

08 June 3: Salt

2008-06-30T19:13:00.001-07:00

In space, salt and pepper are available, but only in a liquid form.

08 June 2: Shaadi

2008-06-30T19:12:00.006-07:00

Number of different skin tones that members of the South Asian matchmaking site Shaadi.com can register as having: 6

08 June 1: Academy

2008-06-30T19:12:00.005-07:00

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of 1927 and 1928.

08 May 31: Orbit

2008-06-30T19:12:00.003-07:00

The sun rises and sets every 90 minutes in low Earth orbit.

08 May 30: Jaculation

2008-06-30T19:12:00.001-07:00

jaculation: ‘the act of throwing or hurling’

08 May 29: Bruxism

2008-05-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-27T16:55:00.005-07:00

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

08 May 26: Cars

2008-05-27T16:55:00.003-07:00

Future cars may save gas, but waste water.

08 May 25: Symmetrical

2008-05-27T16:55:00.001-07:00

Only 1 in 500 women has symmetrical breasts.

08 May 24: Victoria

2008-05-27T16:54:00.014-07:00

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

2008-05-27T16:54:00.013-07:00

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

08 May 22: Cathode

2008-05-27T16:54:00.011-07:00

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

08 May 21: Axiniform

2008-05-27T16:54:00.009-07:00

axiniform: ‘shaped like an axe-head’

08 May 20: Gravity

2008-05-27T16:54:00.007-07:00

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

08 May 19: 578

2008-05-27T16:54:00.005-07:00

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

08 May 18: Caterpillars

2008-05-27T16:54:00.003-07:00

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

08 May 17: Nothing

2008-05-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

Physicists stored and retrieved a nothing.

08 May 16: Uniforms

2008-05-27T16:53:00.005-07:00

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

08 May 14: Miles

2008-05-27T16:53:00.001-07:00

Beijing's newest airport terminal is two miles long.

08 May 13: Eudaimonistic

2008-05-13T20:10:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

‘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

2008-05-11T12:35:00.003-07:00

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

2008-05-11T12:35:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-11T12:34:00.001-07:00

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

08 May 8: Pashmina

2008-05-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

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

08 May 7: New?

2008-05-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

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

08 May 6: Facial

2008-05-06T15:06:00.006-07:00

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

2008-05-06T15:06:00.005-07:00

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

08 May 4: Anvil

2008-05-06T15:06:00.003-07:00

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

08 May 3: Calories

2008-05-06T15:06:00.001-07:00

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

08 May 2: Intervention

2008-05-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

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

08 May 1: Heartache

2008-04-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

Days of ‘heartache leave’ that employees of one Japanese cosmetics company are allowed to take each year: 3

08 April 30: Chickens

2008-04-30T16:43:00.006-07:00

Chickens dream.

08 April 29: ‘1’

2008-04-30T16:43:00.005-07:00

Amount a businessman in the UAE paid this year for the nation's license-plate number ‘1’: $14,000,000

08 April 28: Miles

2008-04-30T16:43:00.003-07:00

Beijing's new airport terminal is two miles long.

08 April 27: Southdale

2008-04-30T16:43:00.001-07:00

The Southdale shopping centre in Minnesota is the world's first true shopping mall, making it a landmark as important to architectural history as the Louvre or New York's Woolworth Tower.

08 April 26: Livestock

2008-04-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

Livestock generate 18 percent of greenhouse gases.

08 April 25: Inter@ctive

2008-04-25T19:36:00.001-07:00

In 1998, Research in Motion (RIM) released the Inter@ctive Two-Way Pager. A year later, RIM introduced the BlackBerry to the world.

08 April 24: Kitchen

2008-04-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

According to a 27-country survey for IKEA by IsoPublic, a polling firm, less than 20% of Chinese families eat in the kitchen compared with 64% of Canadian and over 50% of American ones.

08 April 23: Poiret

2008-04-25T19:34:00.004-07:00

Paul Poiret, King of Fashion, liberated women from the ‘stifling, tight-waisted, hoop-skirted monstrosities’ of the 19th century. ‘Poiret effected a concomitant revolution in dressmaking, one that shifted the emphasis away from the skills of tailoring to ... the skills of draping.’

08 April 22: Power

2008-04-25T19:34:00.003-07:00

In 2006, American data centres consumed more power than American televisions.