Each second about four million metric tons of matter is converted to energy within the Sun’s core. This gives the Sun a lifetime as a main sequence star of about 10 billion years with about 5 billion years to go. The surface temperature of the Sun is about 5780 K, which is equivalent to just under 10,000 F and 5,500 […]
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Jonathon T. asks: Why is there an r in Mrs. when it’s pronounced misses? You may have wondered, if you’ve ever thought about it, why there is an “r” in “Mrs.” when it’s generally spoken as “missus” (also sometimes spelled “missis”). “Mrs.” first popped up as an abbreviation for “mistress” in the late 16th century. At the time, “mistress” didn’t […]
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A typical kernel of popcorn once it pops will complete the popping/expanding process in under 1/50th of a second. Why Popcorn Pops
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You should know how to treat a jellyfish sting. Contrary to popular belief, you should never urinate on a jellyfish sting. This will just make the problem worse, as does washing the sting with fresh water without prior treatment. You should also not try to put ice on it before properly treating the area, which is sometimes people’s initial inclination […]
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Today I Found Out was started on January 1, 2010 and today reached its 1000 post including: 554 regular articles, 56 This Day In History articles, 324 Quick Facts, 44 Infographics, 13 Answers, and 8 You Should Know articles, the latter two being new sections launched just this month. I thought I’d use this 1000th post to share the most […]
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Dolphins have been observed to teach their young to use tools. They also have a complex communication system and have been observed to display a variety of cultural characteristics such as holding a type of funeral ceremony for their dead. Reference
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Miss Piggy’s full name is “Pigathia Lee”, as revealed on episode 106 and 116 of The Muppet Show. ‘Pigathia’ is derived from ‘Piganthius’, which is Greek for “river of passion”. Reference
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You should know the difference between an acronym and an initialism. Both acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, but there is a key difference between the two, at least at present. Due to rampant misuse of the term “acronym” some dictionaries are now starting to add an extra definition to it, allowing acronyms to expand their scope to include initialisms. So […]
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Myth: Reading in a dimly lit area will damage your eyesight. In fact, the only “damage” reading in a dimly lit setting will do, in comparison to reading in an ample lighted setting, is to cause extra eyestrain, which will go away simply by resting your eyes. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise given the fact that for […]
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Thomas Jefferson didn’t just write the Declaration of Independence, he also re-wrote the Bible to his liking. Jefferson didn’t hold with the supernatural elements of the Bible. He thus set about making his own Jeffersonian translation that basically excluded every part he didn’t agree with. In his view, separating the wheat from the chaff. Reference
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Ali asks: What is the origin of Spelling Bee contest, its rules and regulation and interesting facts about it, the first winner, etc? Though spelling competitions were very likely around long before “spelling bees”, the first documented case of a spelling bee called such was in 1825. It wasn’t until a century later that the first National Spelling Bee was […]
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Carl F. states: During WWII, I saw my father go to get a physical for the Navy, when he returned home for a week before shipping out he had red ink on the back of his hand that took 2 or 3 days to wash off. He said after the physical if you passed they would brush red ink on […]
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Redheads are harder to sedate than any other group. Using most common anesthetics, they require on average about 20% more anesthesia. They also have a higher tolerance for pain than ‘normal’ people. This is because the Melancortin 1 Receptor mutation that gives them red hair also triggers the excess release of Pheomelanin, which among other things stimulates a brain receptor […]
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Today I found out some ants are used as living food storage vessels by their colony. While honey bees will collect and store their food in combs, certain species of ants take a different route, using the bodies of some of their fellow ants, often the larger bodied ants of the colony called “majors”, to store what they need. Worker […]
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Funny enough, the term ‘retarded’ was used to replace the terms ‘idiot’, ‘moron’, and ‘imbecile’ due to the fact that these terms gradually became thought of as derogatory. This obviously only worked for a while and now ‘retarded’ is itself considered not politically correct. It seems any word that basically means ‘low intelligence’ is fated to be thought of as […]
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Caryn Elaine Johnson, better known as Whoopi Goldberg, chose the first part of her stage name from often being called “like a whoopee cushion” due to her fondness for frequent flatulence when performing. The second part of her stage name, Goldberg, was suggested by her mother as she felt using a Jewish last name would help Caryn in Hollywood. Bonus […]
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You should know that the expression to describe when someone is falsely convicted of a criminal charge or is on the receiving end of unjustified criticism is “bad rap”, not “bad wrap”. Further, “rap” in this sense is not an acronym of “Record of Arrest and Prosecution”, though has since been backronymed as such. The reality is that the meaning […]
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Henry Chadwick, the creator of the baseball box score, was the first to setup a demonstration proving that the rotation of a baseball could cause the ball to curve. Before this, some pitchers had already observed and used this to their advantage (even though many of the day considered it cheating), but no one had yet proved that it was […]
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