Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Facts that Warm You

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Today’s Blog Post


The Facts that Warm You

Just back from putting the garbage out. WOW – is it ever cold in our city! I need something to warm my world up… even if it is just inside my mind.

I need Facts… lots and lots of facts… and when I went looking did I ever find them.(thanks to fellow Blogger – Taryn)

Did you know about Cold Nosed Rabitts…?
“The Himalayan rabbit has white body fur and it's nose, tail, feet and ears have black fur. Yet Himalayan rabbits have a genotype for black fur all over their body! Genotype is the genetic composition of an organism, what is encoded in their genes. Phenotype is the visible or physical result of a genotype. So a rabbit with a genotype for black fur, should have a phenotype of black fur, but instead, the Himalayan rabbit has a phenotype of white fur with black accents - why?

The Himalayan rabbit is an example of the environment influencing gene expression. Its genotype says that all the fur should be black, but the enzyme that produces black pigment only functions at temperatures below 93°F. At normal climates, extremities of a Himalayan rabbit, such as the nose, ears, tail, and feet, are cool enough for the black pigment to produce black fur. The rest of the rabbit's body is warmer than 93°F and thus has pale fur instead!

Siamese cats are the same. Their fur color is influenced by the surrounding environment.”

Did you know about Origen of Alexander….?
Origen was a Christian scholar and theologian who was the head of Alexandria's Catechetical School during the second century AD.

Today, Origen is considered one of the father's of the Christian church, though in his time he was labeled a heretic for his controversial beliefs. Origen believed in the eternal pre-existance of the human soul and the ultimate salvation of all beings - even Satan himself would be redeemed at the end of the world.

Rumor has it that at age twenty Origen had himself surgically castrated so that he could tutor women without suspicion. Of course, there is dispute as to whether or not this is true as he never wrote about it, but in his time castration was considered an acceptable (though drastic) action against sexuality and "the sins of the flesh." It is likely that Patriarch Demetrius of Alexandria maliciously started the rumor. Originally was one of Origen’s supporters, Demetrius eventually became enemies with Origen and had him banished from Alexandria.

Did you know about the Pilots that tried to shoot Venus…?
“During World War II, a squadron of B-29 pilots mistook the planet Venus for a Japanese plane and tried to shoot it from the sky.”

Did you know…?
“Outer space does some crazy things to your inner ears. The confusing information reaching the inner ears causes nearly every astronaut to experience space sickness. Symptoms include but are not limited to: nausea, headaches, and trouble locating your own limbs. Pregnant rats that were sent into space gave birth to tipsy topsy baby rats whose inner ears were still developing while in outer space.

Another symptom of weightlessness: fluids move upward causing nasal congestion and a puffy face; bones lose calcium, forming kidney stones; and muscles atrophy, slowing the bowels and shrinking the heart.

Zero gravity does make you taller though. The decreased pressure on the spine causes most space travelers to grow about two inches.

If you are ever exposed to the vacuum of space without a suit on, don’t hold your breath: Sudden decompression would cause your lungs to rupture. In addition, water on the tongue, in the nose, and in the eyes would boil away. This actually happened in 1965, when a space suit failed during a NASA experiment and the tester was exposed to a near vacuum for 15 seconds.

Contrary to Hollywood, though, you wouldn’t explode. Lack of oxygen in the blood is what would kill you, but it would take about two minutes.

More explosion paranoia: Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s space-tourism company, reportedly considered barring women with breast implants due to fears that they might blow up.

If astronauts tried to sprinkle salt and pepper on their food it would float away, and likely cause some serious issues. Instead astronauts add salt and pepper to their meals in liquid form.

Returning astronauts report extreme difficulty moving their arms and legs right after touchdown, one reason why they call landing “the second birth.” Long-duration cosmonauts report that the hardest thing to readjust to about life on Earth is that when you let go of objects, they fall.

So after all of this? A total of eighteen people have died on space missions, but never in space—always on the way up or the way down.”

Now you are warmed up and so am I… gotta go shovel soon.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
Resource

http://thefactbox.blogspot.com/

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