Dec 11, 2015

Space Myth, Weightless

People assume that being on a space station or spaceship means that you are totally weightless. This is a common misconception, because even space has something called microgravity. This minute version of gravity is the pull you feel between two objects while you are in space. For example, even though you are not on the Earth’s surface, there is still a gravitational pull coming from the Earth that is extremely strong. There would also be gravitational forces from the Sun and the Moon, among others acting on you.

What this means is that even on a space station, you actually do not weigh that much less than you would on Earth. The reason people float on a space station is because of the way the station orbits the Earth. Technically, the people onboard are actually in a form of constant free fall, and the way the station curves around the Earth during its orbit keeps them floating. This effect can be replicated with certain airplanes in our own atmosphere. These planes what they use to train astronauts.

Cookie Cutter Face

Here is an interesting way to impress/scare the relatives for the holidays. Get your face made into a cookie cutter. Etsy company CopyPastry will make a cookie cutter from a picture for about $50, and you are ready to begin sharing your face with everyone.

Oatmeal raisin might be especially scary or maybe cranberry cookies for Halloween. Why not get one made of your significant other and you can bite their head off when you feel the need. The site even suggests getting your logo done, so you can pass out cookies instead of business cards. Here is the LINK.

Holidays and Flatulence

Every time we swallow, we gulp in air too. Fizzy drinks compound this. Bicarbonate in the saliva and pancreatic juices react with stomach acid to produce carbon dioxide and many of our gut bacteria react with whatever is passing through to produce methane, hydrogen and more C02. All of these cause wind, but it is the tiny amounts of sulfur containing gases that make it smell.

Things to avoid as much as possible when dining with relatives and friends for the holidays - go easy on food with a high proportion of the un-absorbable carbohydrate that provide a feeding frenzy for lower gut bacteria. These include beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, artichokes, root vegetables, prunes, apples, and fruit juice (which is heavy in fructose).

Fizzy drinks, gulping, eating too fast, and overeating pump the gut with wind that will escape either up or down, as does smoking and chewing gum. Tight clothing and restrictive underwear give your bowel gas fewer options.

A brisk outdoor walk is a great way of reliving the pressure and a charcoal biscuit or tablet from pharmacies can minimize the smell. Chemists have other anti-flatulence products and in extreme cases, Under-Tec pants have a carbon filter gusset that deals with the odor.

Disparate vs. Desperate

Disparate means different or distinct in quality or kind; disparate attractions as grand opera and game fishing.

Desperate means arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope. It also means showing extreme courage; a desperate cry for help or a desperate criminal.

Increase Sperm Count

Researchers at the universities of Manchester and Sheffield found that smoking cannabis can have a severe effect on male fertility, yet other lifestyle choices such as drinking alcohol and wearing tight briefs were not considered to cause problems, despite earlier reports suggesting otherwise.

Sperm quality has been in decline for decades, and scientists are unsure as to the exact causes. Last month a report published by Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic, following analysis of 12 studies conducted by different groups around the world, found that consumption of lycopene improved the quality, mobility, and volume of sperm dramatically, increasing sperm count by up to 70 per cent. Lycopene is an essential nutrient found commonly in red fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes, strawberries, cherries, and peppers.

A 2009 Spanish study by the Andalusian Center of Sports Medicine and the University of Las Palmas found that a prolonged spell on your bike can severely affect the shape and quality of sperm. After monitoring 15 Spanish triathletes with an average age of 33 the study found that "those that systematically cycled 300 kilometers a week, had a fertility problem."

In 2003, researchers from Sao Paolo University in Brazil studied 750 men and concluded that drinking coffee can improve the swimming speed of human sperm, although whether this means pregnancy rates are higher among coffee drinkers is unclear.

In 2012, a research team at the University of California published the results of a study which showed that men who consumed 75g of walnuts each day experienced a marked improvement in sperm vitality, motility and morphology.
Their conclusion was that there is a direct link between an increase in the consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids (which exist at high levels in nuts) and an improvement in sperm quality among healthy men eating a western diet.

Like walnuts, almonds are rich with arginine, an amino acid that has been shown to increase sperm production. Peanuts contain high levels of zinc, which is also associated with an increase in sperm count and motility.

Another Yosemite Sam

Somewhere in the New Mexico desert, possibly on the Laguna Indian Reservation outside of Albuquerque, there is a radio transmitter first noticed in 2004, that occasionally sends a mysterious burst of transmissions. These transmissions, called the Yosemite Sam transmission do not appear to make sense.

Spynumbers has a great post  that says beginning in December 2004, the FCC began getting reports of the Yosemite Sam transmission, which begins as an 800 millisecond data burst, similar to the sound a Blu-Ray player might make when it makes some horrible error. That is immediately followed by a clip of an arch nemesis of Bugs Bunny’s, Yosemite Sam, announcing, “Varmint, I’m gonna blow you to smithereens!”

Radio geeks/conspiracy trackers/curious people pinned down the phrase from the 1949 Bugs Bunny cartoon, “Bunker Hill.” Why it is attached to a burst of compressed information, often used by intelligence community is mysterious. That it is transmitted in on four frequencies - 3700, 4300, 6500, and 10,500 kHz - for a full two minutes without any missed time mark tends to make it even more mysterious.

These are the numbers stations - radio stations on shortwave that broadcast some sort of repetitive noise followed by strings of numbers. Amateur tech geeks first identified the stations after World War II. No one is sure what their purpose is.

Lawyers and Law School

Well-known American lawyers who did not go to law school or who did not finish
Patrick Henry (1736-1799) governor of Virginia
John Jay (1745-1829) first chief justice of the Supreme Court
John Marshall (1755-1835) chief justice of the Supreme Court
Daniel Webster (1782-1852) secretary of State
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) president, did not go
Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861) representative, senator from Illinois
Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) defense attorney in Scopes trial of 1925, dropped out
Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870-1938) justice of the Supreme Court
Strom Thurmond (1902- ) US senator, governor of South Carolina
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson.

Dec 4, 2015

Happy Friday

"If one were to build the house of happiness, the largest space would be the waiting room." -Jules Renard

I never wait to be happy, especially on a Happy Friday!

Christmas Books

If you were thinking of picking up a few books for Christmas presents, Bacon Orgazmia and Amazing Facts II - Tons of Trivia now have "look inside" on Amazon, which offers a free peek inside to see what you are getting before you buy. To see some of the other books, just type shubnell in the search box and my Amazon author page comes up. PS - if you do read any of the books, please leave a review. I appreciate it.

Bacon Orgazmia LINK

Amazing Facts LINK

Happy National Cookie Day today, December 4, 2015

The English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekje," which means little cake. Dutch bakers used to test oven temperatures with small amounts of batter so that they would not waste the entire cake mix if the temperature was not right. Soon, they discovered these tiny pieces of cooked batter were actually quite tasty.

Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah 2015 begins at sunset on Sunday, December 6, and ends on Monday, December 14.

Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. It commemorates the victory of the ancient Israelites over the Syrian Greek army, and the subsequent miracle of restoring the menorah in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The miracle of Hanukkah is that only one vial of oil was found with just enough oil for one day, and yet it lasted for eight full days.

Some celebrate Hanukkah at home by lighting the menorah (candelabrum with nine branches) each night, light one additional candle to the number from the previous night, playing dreidel (spinning top), and eating special foods unique to Hanukkah. Some people also sing Hanukkah songs or exchange gifts after lighting the menorah.

Many Hanukkah foods are deep-fried in oil, symbolizing the oil from the menorah used in the Temple. These include latkes, or potato pancakes, and jelly doughnuts. Many also make the Sephardic delicacy bimuelos (deep fried dough balls) and use applesauce as a topping.
If anything is deep fried, it must be good .

Did You Know

December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. December starts on the same day of the week as September.

Apple Brandy vs. Calvados

Fall is the time when apple harvesting is at its peak. Along with that comes fresh apple cider (and usually fresh warm doughnuts). Apple cider is a drink made from crushed apples, and sometimes fermented (hard cider).

B
randy is distilled from fruit, but if it is made from anything other than grapes, it is specified so, like apple brandy. US guidelines say this drink must be made from at least twenty percent apple brandy that has been stored in oak for no less than two years. To create a lighter profile, apple brandy is blended with a neutral spirit.

Like tequila and champagne, the French have Calvados, a legally protected appellation, which means that it must come from a specific geographic location, this is the Lower Normandy region of France. It also must be aged in oak casks for at least two years. Calvados tends to taste 'oakier' and slightly less apple than its American counterpart.

Dust to Dust

Several companies offer environmentally friendly coffins. Some are biodegradable and made from recycled paper or bamboo. I wonder what kind of sinkholes this might cause when the practice becomes widespread.