Did you know…. A fun, and very simple game.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Your skeleton replaces itself roughly every 10 years

your skeleton does replace itself roughly every 10 years through a lifelong process called bone remodelling, where old bone is broken down and new bone is built in its place. 

This constant renewal maintains bone strength and allows the skeleton to adapt to daily wear and tear.

The process involves bone cells called:

• Osteoclasts (which break down bone)
• Osteoblasts (which build new bone).

[uk666]

Did you know.....

The Atacama Desert in Chile is considered one of the driest places on Earth

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest non-polar desert on Earth, thanks to a combination of high mountains and cold ocean currents. 

While some parts of the desert are so arid that no rain has ever been recorded, coastal areas receive moisture from a thick marine fog known as camanchaca. 

The unique, Mars-like landscape makes it a location for testing scientific instruments for space missions and for astronomical observation. 

It is home to the Atacama Large Array (ALMA), composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, one of the world's largest telescope arrays.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Ants closely resemble human manners:  When they wake, they stretch & appear to yawn in a human manner before taking up the tasks of the day

Ants stretch their legs and may open their mandibles in a way that resembles a human yawn when they wake up, and they also have a period of rest that is sometimes compared to sleep, though they typically have shorter, more frequent resting periods than humans. 

These actions are often seen as preparatory behaviours before they begin their daily tasks, similar to how humans might stretch to become more alert in the morning.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Crickets are called the poor man's Thermometer

The relationship between cricket chirping and temperature has been noted for a long time.

In Western science, it is called Dolbear’s law after the most widely referenced early publication on the phenomenon published in 1897 by Amos Dolbear. 

His observations showed that you can count the number of chirps per 15 seconds, add 40, and that will give you the temperature in Fahrenheit (F).

Crickets chirp by rubbing their wings or legs over each other. Yet it is only the males of the species that make this noise — they do so to attract mates. 

Therefore, when you're happily listening to the soothing sound of crickets chirping, you're actually eavesdropping on a courting ritual meant to warn off other lust-filled male crickets and to draw interested females to the ones doing the serenading.

Now, granted, this mode of determining the temperature will work only when there are crickets about. Also, it's accurate only down to 55 degrees Fahrenheit or so, because at lower temperatures crickets either aren't about or aren't in the mood for love.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

scorpions are generally shy creatures that are non-aggressive

Scorpions create a lot of fear in people, which can be justified. They do have sharp pincers and tail with venom, scorpions are generally shy, non-aggressive creatures that are only dangerous when they feel threatened or provoked. 

They are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night and hide in dark places like burrows, woodpiles, or crevices during the day to avoid the sun and predators. 

Most scorpion stings occur accidentally, such as when a person steps on a scorpion or reaches into a hiding spot where a scorpion is concealed.

They will not attack something bigger than them unless threatened, so acting calmly and respectfully towards the animal will result in a pleasant interaction on both ends.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos

As we walk through the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, general manager Dan Nita describes the “conspiracy theory” behind casino design: They have no clocks or windows so people will lose track of time and spend more money.

While you won’t see natural light or clocks in most casinos, it’s not for the reasons you might think, according to Nita. “We recognize that everybody has their own time devices, whether it’s their phone or their watch,” he says, pausing under a glittering chandelier. Direct sunlight, he continues, would create a glare on cards and machines.

Granted, if the lack of clocks at the Horseshoe is what’s making that chain-smoker go to town at the Sex and the City slot, Nita probably wouldn’t be the one to tell me. But the man has science on his side. 

In a recent review of more than 15 psychological studies on casino design, British psychologist Mark Griffiths found no conclusive research on the effect of windows or wall clocks on gamblers. 

Still, Griffiths, who has been studying gambling since the ’90s, turned up plenty of unexpected factors that play into how you spend your cash on the gaming floor.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

When you sneeze, air and particles travel through the nostrils at speeds over 100 mph

When you sneeze, air and particles are expelled from the body at high speeds, often cited as reaching 100 miles per hour (mph), though some estimates go even higher, up to 600 mph.

This powerful expulsion can launch tens of thousands of droplets, which may contain viruses or bacteria, over several feet, making covering your sneeze crucial for preventing the spread of germs.

When you feel a sneeze coming, try to avoid sneezing onto your hands; grab a tissue instead! After your sternutation, dispose of the tissue properly and wash your hands. This will greatly reduce the transmission of germs.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley’s gum

a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum was the first product to be sold using a barcode scan. The historic scan occurred on June 26, 1974, at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

In 1948, a frustrated supermarket executive approached the Drexel Institute of Technology, asking researchers to find a solution for faster checkout and inventory tracking.

Two grad students, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, accepted the challenge. One day, while sitting on a Miami Beach, Woodland had his “Eureka!” moment.

He drew four dots in the sand, then extended them into long, parallel lines—just like Morse code but stretched out. This was the original idea of a barcode.

Woodland and Silver filed for a patent on their barcode concept on October 20, 1949, and it was granted on October 7, 1952, under U.S. Patent 2,612,994.

Their early barcode scanner used a 500-watt light bulb (way too big and expensive). The technology wasn't ready yet, and their idea sat unused for decades.

Fast forward to the 1970s, and technology finally caught up. George Laurer at IBM developed the Universal Product Code (UPC), the barcode system we still use today.

In 1973, the Symbol Selection Committee of the Uniform Grocery Product Code Council (UGPCC, later renamed GS1 US) selected the UPC, developed by IBM's George Laurer, as the industry standard barcode.

NCR Corporation built the first commercial barcode scanner. In 1974, Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, became the first store to install barcode scanning.

That one small scan in 1974 revolutionized industries worldwide. Today, it's estimated that several billion barcodes are scanned each day globally across retail, healthcare, logistics, and more.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Annual growth of WWW traffic is around 20% to 30%

Global WWW traffic is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 20% to 30%, with specific figures like a 25% increase in 2023 and a 32% CAGR for international bandwidth between 2020 and 2024 reported. 

These growth rates fluctuate and vary significantly by region, with developing regions like Africa and the Arab nations seeing much higher growth compared to more saturated markets in the West.

We already spend a large part of our leisure time on screens. A study (Digital 2024: Global Overview Report, 18-64 years) estimates Internet screen time at 5 hours 17 minutes a day in France, below the world average (6 hours 40 minutes), while the record of 9 hours 21 minutes is held by South Africa.

Half of all Internet time is spent on smartphones. And overall, half of all screen time (including TV) is spent watching TV or video. But these figures vary with age, with younger people being much more connected than their elders, a factor that helps explain differences between countries like South Africa and France.

To put these figures into perspective, the time spent on leisure, socializing and domestic tasks was 8.06 hours in 2010. Finally, 60% of leisure time is spent on screens, which also includes terrestrial TV. With working hours and other physiological activities broadly constant.

Looking ahead 5 to 10 years, the infrastructure needed to support rising traffic volumes appears to be an extension of what already exists, with a relatively conservative outlook canteredaround video. In fact, in some high-usage countries, data traffic per user could eventually plateau. Will some declare the "end of network history"?

But other data storms are on the horizon. generative AI (services such as chat GPT) is becoming increasingly multimodal, involving not just text but also voice, images, and video. What's more, this information will be exchanged by computer agents (agentic AI), who will take the place of humans, that can operate without constraints of time, place, or identity. One person might have multiple agents working in parallel, multiplying sources of traffic.

Ultimately, new objects such as high-definition cameras (drones, video surveillance, glasses, etc.) or autonomous vehicles will need very high bandwidth capacities.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

58% of Americans had watched pornography on the internet

A 2022 study by the Institute for Family Studies found that 58% of Americans had watched pornography on the internet at some point in their lives, and 27% had watched it in the past month.

Men are much more likely to view online pornography. The Institute for Family Studies found that American men were four times more likely than women to have watched pornography in the past month (44% versus 11%). 

Research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) based on 2004–2016 data also showed a substantial gender gap, with a higher percentage of male internet users viewing pornography during a given month.

Another study from the NIH found that among internet users, the highest proportion of pornography viewers was in the 18–22 and 23–27 age groups, but use was also found in adolescents and children.

Data on pornography use can be difficult to collect accurately due to the sensitive nature of the topic, which can lead to social stigma and dishonest self-reporting.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

The average lead pencil will write approximately 45,000 English words

The history of the pencil is as charming as the little tool itself. Back in 1858, Hymen Lipman gave us the first pencil with an attached eraser, what a stroke of genius! Since then, this unassuming marvel has left a mighty legacy. 

Did you know that a single pencil can be sharpened 17 times, write 45,000 words. And if that’s not impressive enough, it can be used underwater, in space and even upside down!

With 14 billion pencils produced every year — enough to wrap around the Earth more than 40 times, it’s safe to say that the world shares our love for them.

More than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world annually. That’s enough to circle the globe 62 times. 

The most expensive pencil in the world is a limited edition of the Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. It’s crafted from 240-year-old olive wood and 18-karat white gold and costs $12,800

Originally, pencils were only manufactured to be round, but people were frustrated by the fact that the pencils often rolled off surfaces. So, the popular hexagon shape was introduced. March 30th is National Pencil Day.

Do you know why most pencils are yellow? In the 19th century, the best graphite came from China, and in China, the colour yellow is associated with royalty and respect. So, to give off a luxurious, high-quality vibe, American manufacturers started painting their pencils yellow.

Many authors have favoured pencils over pens, including William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck, Mary Norris, Henry David Thoreau, and Earnest Hemmingway to mention only a few. That’s probably because pencils don’t bleed, burst, run dry or freeze like ink pens do. 

[Seafood]

In this modern era I still use pencils today!

 

[uk666]

Did you know.....

The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30ft (9 meters)

Your heart really isn't just a pump; it's a SUPER pump. Every part of your body needs oxygen to survive, and your heart pumps oxygen-rich blood to every organ in your body, every minute, of every day.

For its size, your heart is a remarkably strong pump, the pressure it generates is strong enough to squirt blood thirty feet across a room.

Your heart begins beating four weeks after conception and doesn't stop beating until you die. It beats 100,000 times a day, and almost one million times a week.

What's remarkable is that although your heart can weaken for other reasons, it won't fatigue, it never tires out, it has tremendous endurance. Think about trying to squeeze a tennis ball in your hand (which is similar to the force of a beating heart) 1000,000 times a day, you couldn't do it.

Depending on what you're doing, your heart will pump one to seven gallons of blood a minute, and as much as 2000 gallons a day. Over the course of your lifetime, your heart will pump one million barrels of blood, that's enough blood to fill two oil super tankers!

[uk666]

Did you know.....

The very first song sung by a computer was in 1961

the very first song sung by a computer was in 1961, when an IBM 7094 at Bell Labs sang "Daisy Bell". This was one of the earliest demonstrations of computer speech synthesis, created by John L. Kelly Jr. and Max Mathews.

The brilliant brains at Bell Lab would often play their rendition of Daisy Bell to visitors, one of whom was Arthur C. Clarke, the British writer who co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. It clearly left an impression.

Fans of the film may remember that the song is featured in the movie when HAL, the spacecraft’s sentient AI system, is being dismantled. As David Bowman removes the computer's physical modules, HAL becomes increasingly incoherent and starts singing the song Daisy Bell, their voice gradually deteriorating into a slurred, disjointed drawl.

In the internet age, the 1961 recording of Daisy Bell has re-found fame thanks to digital creator Nebbed, who uses the audio in a retro-style animation. The clip regularly goes viral on social media, where commenters appear to be both utterly freaked out and (very occasionally) charmed.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continually from the bottom of the glass to the top

a raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down because of a continuous cycle of carbon dioxide bubbles attaching to it. The raisins, with their rough surfaces, trap the gas bubbles, which increases their buoyancy and lifts them to the top. 

At the surface, the bubbles pop, causing the raisin to lose its lift, sink back down, and start the cycle over again. 

The process repeats as the raisin sinks, attracting more bubbles that lift it back to the top, continuing until the champagne is no longer carbonated. 

[uk666]

Did you know.....

In 1778, fashionable women of Paris never went out in blustery weather without a lightning rod attached to their hats

This trend emerged after Benjamin Franklin's invention of the lightning rod was introduced to Europe.

In 1778, experiments were performed testing the concept of placing a lightning rod above a person's head, in an accessory, to protect them from lightning strikes. A woven metal ribbon was placed around a lady's hat, and a small chain made of silver was attached to the ribbon.

The chain was meant to run down the back of the lady's dress and drag on the ground. The electricity of a lightning strike to the ribbon would theoretically travel down the chain and into the ground, thus protecting the wearer of the hat. The supposed protection that this type of hat offered made it a popular Paris fashion trend in 1778

A gentleman's 1778 version of the lightning hat involved an umbrella with a tip extended into a pointed rod. A metal chain ran from the rod over the exterior of the open umbrella and down onto the ground, thus providing a conduit for the lightning to follow.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

1 in 8 Americans has worked at a McDonalds restaurant

McDonald’s, with its more than 13,000 locations in the U.S. alone, is known for being the first job many teens have, with many folks keeping the Golden Arches as their place of employment well into adulthood. 

Now, a statistic from the fast-food giant serves as inspiration for a new initiative by the 68-year-old company,

McDonald’s announced a surprising statistic: 1 in 8 Americans have worked at a McDonald’s restaurant. McDonald’s confirmed that it surveyed a representative sample of American adults and found that 1 in 8 (just over, actually, at 13.7%) reported that they currently or formerly worked at a McDonald’s restaurant.

With high turnover, particularly among younger employees, McDonald’s has accrued an impressive list of alumni. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, TV personality Jay Leno, music artist Pink, and Vice President Kamala Harris have all worked under the golden arches.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen’s 'Born in the USA'

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. was the first commercial music CD pressed in the United States, produced at the opening of the CBS Records plant in Terre Haute, Indiana, in September 1984. Prior to this, CDs sold in the U.S. were imported, primarily from Japan.

The album had been released on LP and cassette in June 1984, but the physical CD format was not yet produced in the U.S. This event marked the beginning of U.S. domestic CD production, which helped the format gain a stronger foothold in the American market.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Tom Sawyer was the first novel written on a typewriter

In Mark Twain's autobiography, he claimed to be the first author to submit a typewritten book manuscript for publication.

He used a Remington typewriter to type out his manuscripts, and, in his autobiography, he states 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' as being the first typewritten manuscript. The year – 1876.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

There are about 2.5 million ants for every human

Scientists estimate there are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth, which is approximately 2.5 million times the number of humans. This estimate is considered conservative, as it may not fully account for ants living underground.

Ants generally live in colonies, sometimes consisting of millions of them divided into groups with different roles such as workers, soldiers, and queens.

The workers, all females, care for the bigger queen and her offspring, maintain the nest, and forage for food. Males mate with queens, then die.

These six-legged creatures serve vital roles in the ecosystem, as they help spread plant seeds, accelerate decomposition, and support the food chain as both predator and prey.

Despite their grand numbers, though, their populations are declining due to habitat destruction, invasive species, and climate change

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Burps of ten cows could keep a small house heated and its stove operating for a year

Cows burp a lot. Each year the cow population of the United States burps some 50 million tons of hydrocarbons into the air. Capture and efficiently channel those accumulated burps of 10 average cows, say researchers, and you could keep a small house heated and its stove operating for a year.

Harnessing the gas is not so easy with cows though.

Scientists in Argentina have created a method of using the gas, directly from the cow's stomach as it grazes, but it means the poor thing must walk around with a huge harness and a tank.

There are an estimated 1.5 billion cows in the world, so to fit that to every cow and convert it into a useable gas, well, that's a lot of work.

But a group of scientists in the United States, where cow burps account for over a quarter of methane emissions, think they've come up with a better plan.

They have discovered that adding a compound to cow feed called 3-nitrooxypropanol, or 3NOP to us normal people, the methane gas in the burps is reduced by about 30%.

Not only that, but the milk production is unaffected, and the cows put on more weight meaning they derive more energy from the food and presumably provide more burgers.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

A full-loaded supertanker traveling at normal speed takes at least 20 minutes to stop

A fully loaded supertanker can weigh hundreds of thousands of tons. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an external force. The immense mass of a tanker means it has incredible inertia, requiring a large amount of time and energy to overcome.

Unlike a car, a ship has no physical brakes. The primary method of stopping is by reversing the engine, which is a slow and gradual process.

Supertankers typically travel at speeds between 12 and 17 knots (14 to 20 mph). While this may seem slow, it is still a significant velocity for such a massive object.

In an emergency, a "crash stop" manoeuvre can be performed by reversing the engine at full power. While this reduces the stopping time, it still takes approximately 15 minutes to come to a halt.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Whale milk is 50% fat and so thick it won’t dissolve in water, allowing calves to drink straight from the ocean

Whale milk contains an exceptionally high fat content, ranging from 35% to 50%, giving it a thick consistency similar to toothpaste. 

This specialized composition allows the milk to remain cohesive underwater, enabling whale calves to nurse effectively while swimming with their mothers

Baby whales can often consume anywhere from 2% to 10% of their weight in milk daily.

In terms of how long a baby whale may feed on its mother’s milk, the length of nursing can vary greatly, lasting anywhere from 6 months – 2 years, depending on the whale’s species.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

Nearly half the foods eaten throughout the world today were developed by farmers in the Andes Mountains

The Andes are one of the world's primary centres for plant domestication, and many foods that are now global staples originated there. These include a diverse range of potatoes, quinoa, and other crops like oca.

While these Andean crops are incredibly important to global diets, they do not represent half of the world's food supply. For example, a large percentage of the world's food supply comes from Asia, such as rice and wheat, and Mexico and Central America are the origin of maize and beans.

The Andes are not the only region for food domestication. Other major centres include Mexico and Central America, which gave the world maize, beans, and chili peppers, and Asia, which is the origin of crops like rice.

[uk666]

Did you know.....

The first human made object to break the sound barrier is the whip

The first object to break the sound barrier was a whip, as the tip of a cracking whip moves faster than the speed of sound, creating a sonic boom. 

However, for aircraft, the first to break the sound barrier in level flight was the Bell X-1 rocket plane, piloted by Chuck Yeager on October 14, 1947.

To date, only one land vehicle has officially travelled at supersonic speed, the ThrustSSC. The vehicle, driven by Andy Green, holds the world land speed record, having achieved an average speed on its bi-directional run of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) in the Black Rock Desert on 15 October 1997.

The origins of the bullwhip are unknown. They are famous for their design which allows them to be cast in such a way that a sharp cracking noise is produced. This noise occurs because the tip of the whip has broken the speed of sound which, in dry air at 20 C is 342.3 metres per second.