Fun facts

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.

6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system.

10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

Astronauts pen

The Space Pen (also known as the Zero Gravity Pen), marketed by Fisher Space Pen Company, is a pen that uses pressurized ink cartridges and is able to write in zero gravity, underwater, over wet and greasy paper, at any angle, and in a very wide range of temperatures.

The ballpoint is made from tungsten carbide and is precisely fitted in order to avoid leaks. A sliding float separates the ink from the pressurized gas. The thixotropic ink in the hermetically sealed and pressurized reservoir is able to write for three times longer than a standard ballpoint pen. The pen can write at altitudes up to 12,500 feet (3800 m). The ink is forced out by compressed nitrogen at a pressure of nearly 35 psi (240 kPa). Operating temperatures range from −30 to 250 °F (−35 to 120 °C). The pen has an estimated shelf life of 100 years.

Antigravity

Quantum levitation- antigravity

Quantum levitation as it is called is a process where scientists use the properties of quantum physics to levitate an object (specifically, a superconductor) over a magnetic source

Provides a frictionless motion and also works when inverted

Cryptex

The cryptex featured in the novel is described as a stone cylinder comprising "six doughnut-sized disks of marble that had been stacked and affixed to one another within a delicate brass framework"; end caps make it impossible to see inside the hollow cylinder. Each of the disks is carved with the entire alphabet and, since they can be rotated individually, the disks can be aligned to spell different five-letter words.

The cryptex works "much like a bicycle's combination lock", and if one arranges the disks to spell out the correct password, "the tumblers inside align, and the entire cylinder slides apart" . In the inner compartment of the cryptex, secret information can be hidden, written on a scroll of thin papyrus wrapped around a fragile vial of vinegar as a security measure: if one does not know the password but tries to force the cryptex open, the vial will break and the vinegar will dissolve the papyrus before it can be read.

Do now

History of car rims

The industry might be new, but wheel culture is not. People have been tricking out rims in this country since the wagons went West. But rims didn’t become big business until the mid-’90s. That’s also when “rim inflation” exploded, taking us into the current world of 32-inch rims. It’s a world that earlier generations of car and wheel aficionados could not have imagined.

The story of how modern wheels blew up past 30 inches is a long and complicated one. Which came first: big wheels or big rims? “You’re going to get a different story from everyone you ask,” says David Zuckerberg, a pioneer in the development of donk culture.

Veteran observers say that the pendulum is beginning to swing. “I see standard sizes falling back and settling in between 18 and 22 inches,” says Quincy Jonathan of Victoria Tire & Wheels, the Los Angeles showroom that has been in the business since 1965. “It’s already starting to go down, and I’m seeing a lot of 24 inches right now.”

Whatever the size of the wheel, more people around the world are taking wheels seriously. The Asian market is growing, with China seen as the next big customer. We recently spoke to some custom car experts about how wheels became an art form, and what we can expect in the future.

What makes italian marble good?

The most famous of the marbles is from the Carrara region of Italy. Used by Michelangelo, Donatello and Canova in their sculptures, Carrara marble was always chosen for its purity and durability. Calacatta and Statuario, in all their different forms (and there are many of them), are more of the Italian marbles from this region, similarly admired for their white colour. (By the way, "Carrera" is a Porsche and "Carrara" is the Italian marble.)

In our experience, Italy has many of the best marbles in the world, having stood the test of time in some of the most famous places in the world. For example, in the displays at the Vatican Museum, the Italian marble is of exceptional quality.

Italian marble has earned its reputation primarily because the quarries in Italy have access to some of the best raw material in the world. Secondly, Italian quarries have set the highest standards for quality control and everything from selecting and cutting the blocks to packaging and shipping is done with precision.

So that you can better understand where to use Italian marble in your home, it helps to learn about how it is formed.

Marble has also been known as “crystallized limestone” because this is exactly how it is formed. When the sedimentary rock (limestone) is subject to a high temperature and immense pressure, large crystals form and bind together to create the metamorphic rock, marble. In marble however, we do not see the fossils in the same way that we would in limestone as the heat needed to form the crystals means that most of the impurities (fossils) are destroyed. So you are left with large sections of white marble with a varying degree of coloured ‘veins’ running through it which depends on the type of minerals present in the rock; this naturally varies depending on the original location of the marble, giving a uniqueness to each and every one.

The intense heat and pressure in the earth's core and the consequent formation of large crystals means that marble is harder and more durable than the limestone it originated from. This makes it an ideal choice for any areas of your home that are in frequent use, such as kitchens, bathrooms and hallways. Marble has been used for centuries not only in construction but in art too, for statues and vases for example, thanks to it resilient nature. Marble can be polished to give a high shine due to the way that light reflects off of the large, pure crystals. A simple sheet of polished marble with its exquisite veining can, in its own right, be a work of art produced by nature.

The fact that marble is generally more durable than limestone does not mean, however, that it is indestructible. It requires a little awareness of what can damage it.

Motivation

How goosebumps form

Goosebumps form when adrenaline causes contractions of tiny muscles attached to each hair. The muscles pull the hairs up and the hairs pull the skin.
you can also get goose bumps when you get a chill from your thrill. Being afraid can make You sweat..which cools you off. The raised hairs that produce goose bumps are an attempt to trap air and body heat

How goosebumps form

Goosebumps form when adrenaline causes contractions of tiny muscles attached to each hair. The muscles pull the hairs up and the hairs pull the skin.
you can also get goose bumps when you get a chill from your thrill. Being afraid can make You sweat..which cools you off. The raised hairs that produce goose bumps are an attempt to trap air and body heat

Be positive

True fact

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz) from fixed and mobile devices, and building personal area networks (PANs). Invented by telecom vendor Ericsson in 1994.

Sun Facts

One million Earths could fit inside the Sun

The Sun will one day be about the size of Earth and will be called white dwarf

The Sun contains 99.86% of the mass in the Solar System

The Sun is an almost perfect sphere

Light from the Sun takes eight minutes to reach Earth

The Sun travels at 220 kilometres per second

The Sun has a very strong magnetic field

The temperature inside the Sun can reach 15 million degrees Celsius

Chimps are mentally superior

Chimpanzees are better at memorizing things and recalling numbers than almost any human, according to a controversial new study.

Results of a research project at Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute in Japan involving 14 chimpanzees have shown the animals have quick-working minds to rival their two-legged counterparts.

The ground-breaking findings were presented this week during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston by Professor Tetsuro Matsuzawa.

Ayumu, age 12, has learned the sequence of digits from one to 19, and it only takes him a second to remember their exact positions on the monitor

The chimp touches the number one. The remaining numerals are automatically hidden behind white squares. But relying on his memory, Ayumu can correctly touch the spot where each number was, in ascending order - something that an average person is incapable of doing.

The researcher told the Toronto Star that that the reason chimps can memorize and recall things better than humans is because the animals are living only in the present, and their minds are not overloaded with thinking of the past and future.
Matsuzawa said his findings are considered controversial because many people in the West are not ready to accept that chimps are mentally superior to humans

Earth's most silent place

The longest anyone can bear Earth's quietest place is 45 minutes

They say silence is golden – but there’s a room in the U.S that’s so quiet it becomes unbearable after a short time. The longest that anyone has survived in the ‘anechoic chamber’ at Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis is just 45 minutes. It’s 99.99 per cent sound absorbent and holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s quietest place, but stay there too long and you may start hallucinating.

It achieves its ultra-quietness by virtue of 3.3-foot-thick fiberglass acoustic wedges, double walls of insulated steel and foot-thick concrete. The company’s founder and president, Steven Orfield, told MailOnline: ‘We challenge people to sit in the chamber in the dark - one reporter stayed in there for 45 minutes.

Strange facts

In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!

There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos!

Every day 20 banks are robbed. The average take is $2,500!

The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad!

Tablecloths were originally meant to be served as towels with which dinner guests could wipe their hands and faces after eating!

Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!

One car out of every 230 made was stolen last year!  

A lightning bolt generates temperatures five times hotter than those found at the sun's surface!

It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!

When glass breaks, the cracks move faster than 3,000 miles per hour. To photograph the event, a camera must shoot at a millionth of a second!

Norwegian Spiral Anomaly

On December 9, 2009, a strange phenomenon was witnessed over Russia, and photographed in northern Norway and Sweden. The event began when a blue light soared up from behind a mountain in the north end of Russia. The light stopped in mid-air, and then began to move in circles. Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky. Once expanded, a green-blue beam of light shot out from the center of the object, lasting for ten to twelve minutes before disappearing completely. Thousands of onlookers described the event. One account indicated that the object appeared as a giant fireball which traveled around in circles. It had a powerful light that surrounded its center, and some shooting star visuals. The pictures and video of the bizarre event quickly spread over the Internet, and were accompanied by many claims that the lights looked like a path to another dimension, similar to one that you would see in the movies. After the story was published all over the world, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged a failed test of a RSM-56 Bulava missile, on the day in question. It has been suggested that the phenomenon was the result of the failed missile test.Apparently, the missile failure caused the exhaust of the projectile to travel out sideways, sending the object into an uncontrolled spin. However, people have proclaimed that the event looks like a wormhole opening up, and that the occurrence has been linked with the recent high-energy experiments undertaken at the Large Hadron Collider, in Switzerland. Many Intellectuals have voiced a problem with the official explanation of a failed missile launch, stemming from the fact that the event was sustained for so long. Some have gone so far as to draw connections with the famous Project Blue Beam conspiracy theory, which involves a NASA plan to trick the world population into believing in extraterrestrial life, using high powered lasers that are often mistaken for UFOs. Others suggest a secret government weapons test involving the HAARP program or a Russian equivalent.

Oregon vortex

A Place Where Gravity Has a Mind of Its Own

The Oregon Vortex is the name given to a naturally occurring physical phenomenon that can be witnessed in Gold Hill, Oregon, and it surrounding areas. For anyone unfamiliar, Oregon is a U.S. state located in the north-west corner of the country. The area has a long and storied history in the Native American culture and was often viewed as cursed land. The Oregon Vortex has been described as a spherical field of force that causes objects to defy the laws of gravity. It covers a large area and every person standing on the grounds appears to be leaning in one direction. It feels as if you are
standing straight up, but your body is inclined towards the magnetic north or south. This creates an optical illusion that drastically changing a person’s height. Someone can walk across the grounds and it looks like they are shrinking or growing.

At the Oregon vortex, objects appear to roll up hills and can balance on their sides. Many people claim that the site is paranormal in nature and sits at the intersection of ley lines, at the boundary of geomagnetic fields, and is an actual gravitational anomaly. The strange effects are most strong during a full moon and many people get ill and dizzy when visiting the vortex. Others feel that the area is simply full of optical illusions and one large gravity hill.

A gravity hill is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an optical illusion that makes it seem like a very slight downhill slope is an uphill slope. This does not explain the height illusion, but people claim that the changes in height are due to the theory of forced perspective, which involves a distorted background causing an optical illusion. However, this theory has been disproved, as the height effect can be viewed from every angle in the area with many different background settings

Self Confidence

The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.

Biodegradable car parts

A car made from grass may not sound sturdy, but scientists say plant-based cars are the wave of the future.

Researchers in Australia and England are working on developing materials from plants like hemp and elephant grass to replace plastic and metal-based car components. Scientists say the materials are biodegradable and can increase fuel efficiency since they weigh about 30 percent less than currently used materials.

"The lighter the car, the less fuel you need to propel it," explains Alan Crosky of the School of Material Science and Engineering in the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Crosky and his partners have been developing tough material from hemp, the reedy, less controversial cousin of the marijuana plant. "Hemp fibers have higher strength-to-weight ratios than steel and can also be considerably cheaper to manufacture," he says.

The hemp used in car construction contains only traces of the narcotic tetrahydrocannabinol, which lends marijuana its psychedelic effect.

Crosky explains building cars—even their outer shells—from plants like hemp could reduce the number of rusting car bodies and rotting car parts on old lots. The plant fibers are cleaned, heated, in some cases blended with small amounts of biodegradable plastics and molded into hardened paneling and filling.

Predicta TV

The Philco Predicta is an American television made in several models by the Philco company in the late 1950s. It is arguably the most iconic television set in existence and is to many people the "classic" 1950s TV set. With its trademark detached picture tube, it is atypical of most early television sets which were build in sturdy wooden or Bakelite cabinets. It was one of the first commercially released televisions to feature a nearly flat screen.

Pain n Gain

Invisible ship experiment

The Philadelphia Experiment is an alleged military experiment that is said to have been carried out by the U.S. Navy at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania some time around October 28, 1943. The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Eldridge was claimed to be rendered invisible (or "cloaked") to enemy devices.

The experiment was allegedly based on an aspect of the unified field theory, a term coined by Albert Einstein; the theory aims to describe– mathematically and physically– the interrelated nature of the forces that comprise electromagnetic radiation and gravity—in other words, uniting the fields of electromagnetism and gravity into a single field.

According to the accounts, unspecified "researchers" thought that some version of this field would enable using large electrical generators to bend light around an object via refraction, so that the object became completely invisible. The Navy regarded this of military value and, by the same accounts, it sponsored the experiment.

Testing allegedly began in the summer of 1943, and it was supposedly successful to a limited degree. One test allegedly resulted in the Eldridge being rendered almost completely invisible, with some witnesses[citation needed] reporting a "greenish fog" appearing in its place. Crew members supposedly complained of severe nausea afterwards. Also, it is said[citation needed] that when the ship reappeared, some sailors were embedded in the metal structures of the ship, including one sailor who ended up on a deck level below that where he began and had his hand embedded in the steel hull of the ship as well as some sailors who went "completely bananas."

The story is widely believed to be a hoax but some people claims it to be true.

Bonsai tree

Although the word ‘Bon-sai’ is Japanese, the art it describes originated in the Chinese empire.  By the year 700 AD the Chinese had started the art of ‘pun-sai’ using special techniques to grow dwarf trees in containers.  Originally only the elite of the society practiced pun-tsai with native-collected specimens and the trees where spread throughout China as luxurious gifts. During the Kamakura period, the period in which Japan adopted most of China’s cultural trademarks, the art of growing trees in containers was introduced into Japan. The Japanese developed Bonsai along certain lines due to the influence of Zen Buddhism and the fact that Japan is only 4% the size of mainland China.  The range of landscape forms was thus much more limited.  Many well-known techniques, styles and tools were developed in Japan from Chinese originals.  Although known to a limited extent outside Asia for three centuries, only recently has Bonsai truly been spread outside its homelands.

Worlds most famous Game-- Playing cards

Worlds most famous game and without which not even single casino can sustain--- Playing Cards.

Playing cards were invented in Imperial China. They were found in China as early as the 9th century during the Tang dynasty  (618–907).

A complete set of cards is called a pack (UK English), deck (US English), or set (Universal), and the subset of cards held at one time by a player during a game is commonly called a hand. A pack of cards may be used for playing a variety of card games, with varying elements of skill and chance, some of which are played for money. Playing cards are also used for illusions, cardistry, building card structures, cartomancy and memory sport.

History of firearms

The firearm was originally invented in China during the 10th century AD, after the Chinese invented gunpowder during the 9th century AD. These inventions were later transmitted to the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. The world's first firearm in history was the fire lance, the prototype of the gun. The fire lance was invented in China during the 10th century and it is the predecessor of all firearms.

Samurai Sword

Samurai sword history is roughly divided into four main time periods - Koto (the old sword period, pre 1596), Shinto/Shinshinto (1597 to 1876) Gendai (1877 to the end of world war II) and Shinsaku (modern).

But the earliest origins of this fascinating weapons can be traced back some 1300 years...

The first Japanese swords were basically variations of the Chinese Jian (called Chokuto) - in other words a straight, double edged iron blade.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF SAMURAI SWORD HISTORY

The Kamakura (1192 to 1336) and Muromachi (1337 to 1573) periods were without a doubt the Golden Age of Samurai sword history. After the great Mongol invasion of Japan, which was only narrowly averted by the weather (the Kamikaze/Divine winds) the need for a strong national defense force was apparent and in response new sword smithies appeared all over the countryside.

It was during the last part of the Kamakura that Samurai sword history celebrates one of the most famous and respected smiths came to prominence, the almost legendary Masamune

THE DARK AGE OF SAMURAI SWORD HISTORY

During the 100 year wars of the later Muromachi period, Samurai Sword History records such thirst for weapons to be churned out as quickly as possible that the skills of the sword smiths from the Golden age were lost forever. In 1543 the gun was introduced into Japan, and as many sword smiths now became gunsmiths, the skills of earlier generations deteriorated further still.

Cloud Computing

Origin of the term

The origin of the term cloud computing is unclear. The expression cloud is commonly used in science to describe a large agglomeration of objects that visually appear from a distance as a cloud and describes any set of things whose details are not inspected further in a given context.

During 50s

The underlying concept of cloud computing dates to the 1950s, when large-scale mainframe computers were seen as the future of computing, and became available in academia and corporations, accessible via thin clients/terminal computers, often referred to as "static terminals", because they were used for communications but had no internal processing capacities. 

During 90s

In the 1990s, telecommunications companies, who previously offered primarily dedicated point-to-point data circuits, began offering virtual private network (VPN) services with comparable quality of service, but at a lower cost. 

Types

Private cloud

Private cloud is cloud infrastructure operated solely for a single organization, whether managed internally or by a third-party, and hosted either internally or externally. Undertaking a private cloud project requires a significant level and degree of engagement to visualize the business environment, and requires the organization to reevaluate decisions about existing resources.

Public cloud

A cloud is called a "public cloud" when the services are rendered over a network that is open for public use. Public cloud services may be free or offered on a pay-per-usage model.

Hybrid cloud

Hybrid cloud is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community or public) that remain distinct entities but are bound together, offering the benefits of multiple deployment models. Hybrid cloud can also mean the ability to connect collocation, managed and/or dedicated services with cloud resources.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR)

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. This nondestructive method uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the radio spectrum, and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures. GPR can be used in a variety of media, including rock, soil, ice, fresh water, pavements and structures. It can detect objects, changes in material, and voids and cracks.

GPR uses high-frequency (usually polarized) radio waves and transmits into the ground. When the wave hits a buried object or a boundary with different dielectric constants, the receiving antenna records variations in the reflected return signal. The principles involved are similar to reflection seismology, except that electromagnetic energy is used instead of acoustic energy, and reflections appear at boundaries with different dielectric constants instead of acoustic impedances.

Reason behind colorblindness

Colour blindness is a usually a genetic (hereditary) condition (you are born with it). Red/green and blue colour blindness is usually passed down from your parents. The gene which is responsible for the condition is carried on the X chromosome and this is the reason why many more men are affected than women. The inheritance process is explained in more detail in the section Inherited Colour Vision Deficiency.

NORMAL VISION
8% of the male population and 4.5% of the population of the UK as a whole are colour blind and there are estimated to be over 250 million colour blind people worldwide. The vast majority of people with a colour vision deficiency have inherited their condition from their mother, who is normally a ‘carrier’ but not colour blind herself.

The retina of the eye has two types of light-sensitive cells called rods and cones. Both are found in the retina which is the layer at the back of your eye which processes images. Rods work in low light conditions to help night vision, but cones work in daylight and are responsible for colour discrimination.

There are three types of cone cells and each type has a different sensitivity to light wavelengths. One type of cone perceives blue light, another perceives green and the third perceives red. When you look at an object, light enters your eye and stimulates the cone cells. Your brain then interprets the signals from the cones cells so that you can see the colour of the object. The red, green and blue cones all work together allowing you to see the whole spectrum of colours. For example, when the red and blue cones are simulated in a certain way you will see the colour purple.

The exact physical causes of colour blindness are still being researched but it is believed that colour blindness is usually caused by faulty cones but sometimes by a fault in the pathway from the cone to the brain.
People with normal colour vision have all three types of cone/pathway working correctly but colour blindness occurs when one or more of the cone types are faulty. For example, if the red cone is faulty you won’t be able to see colours containing red clearly. Most people with colour blindness can’t distinguish certain shades of red and green.