Wednesday, December 27, 2006
50 things we learned this year that we didn't know in 2005
This article lists some interesting facts.
Among the highlights:
8. The U.S. government has paid about $1.5 billion in benefits to thousands of sick nuclear-weapons workers since 2001.
(I wonder when we'll get my uncle's check.)
14. An impact crater 18 miles in diameter was found 12,500 feet under the Indian Ocean.
22. The hole in the earth's ozone layer is closing - and could be entirely closed by 2050. Meanwhile, the amount of greenhouse gases is increasing.
(And I'm 100% confident our science-friendly government will get everyone to band together and solve this problem, just like we did with the Ozone layer....)
25. Women gain weight when they move in with a boyfriend because their diet deteriorates, but men begin to eat more healthy food when they set up a home with a female partner.
(so let me get this straight, even as a guy begins to take diet seriously, what he eats is still worse for his partner than if she were living single? Are all these single women crysterbeating?)
28. Around the world, middle-aged and elderly men tend to be more satisfied with their sex lives than women in the same age group, a new survey shows.
(maybe they're seeing the world through blue-pill colored glasses?)
32. Just 30 minutes of continuous kissing can diminish the body's allergic reaction to pollen, relaxing the body and reducing production of histamine, a chemical cell given out in response to allergens.
(it doesn't say where they're kissing...)
39. The common pigeon can memorize 1,200 pictures.
(and I can't remember where I stashed my keys!!!!)
43. Sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday can disturb your body clock, leaving you fatigued at the start of the week.
(we DIDN'T know this in 2005? Seriously? Oh, yeah, maybe its because too many scientists are going to bed early on their friday and saturday nights.)
45. During the past five years, the existence of a peanut allergy in children has doubled.
(this makes trail mix all the more tempting to give out on halloween.)
46. Photos taken of Mars in 1999 and 2005 show muddy sand, indicating there may have been a flood sometime between those years.
(Mars has spring break...now mars just needs women.)
47. A python was the first god worshipped by mankind, according to 70,000-year-old evidence found in a cave in Botswana's Tosodilo hills.
(As Richard Dawkins would say, "More evidence that religion was a bad joke since day 1.")
49. One of the most effective ways for athletes to recover after exercise is to drink a glass of chocolate milk.
(Now I'll never get my SO to cut back on her chocolate milk intake.)
50. Researchers from the University of Manchester managed to induce teeth growth in normal chickens - activating genes that have lain dormant for 80 million years.
(I, for one, welcome our new chicken overloads.)
Among the highlights:
8. The U.S. government has paid about $1.5 billion in benefits to thousands of sick nuclear-weapons workers since 2001.
(I wonder when we'll get my uncle's check.)
14. An impact crater 18 miles in diameter was found 12,500 feet under the Indian Ocean.
22. The hole in the earth's ozone layer is closing - and could be entirely closed by 2050. Meanwhile, the amount of greenhouse gases is increasing.
(And I'm 100% confident our science-friendly government will get everyone to band together and solve this problem, just like we did with the Ozone layer....)
25. Women gain weight when they move in with a boyfriend because their diet deteriorates, but men begin to eat more healthy food when they set up a home with a female partner.
(so let me get this straight, even as a guy begins to take diet seriously, what he eats is still worse for his partner than if she were living single? Are all these single women crysterbeating?)
28. Around the world, middle-aged and elderly men tend to be more satisfied with their sex lives than women in the same age group, a new survey shows.
(maybe they're seeing the world through blue-pill colored glasses?)
32. Just 30 minutes of continuous kissing can diminish the body's allergic reaction to pollen, relaxing the body and reducing production of histamine, a chemical cell given out in response to allergens.
(it doesn't say where they're kissing...)
39. The common pigeon can memorize 1,200 pictures.
(and I can't remember where I stashed my keys!!!!)
43. Sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday can disturb your body clock, leaving you fatigued at the start of the week.
(we DIDN'T know this in 2005? Seriously? Oh, yeah, maybe its because too many scientists are going to bed early on their friday and saturday nights.)
45. During the past five years, the existence of a peanut allergy in children has doubled.
(this makes trail mix all the more tempting to give out on halloween.)
46. Photos taken of Mars in 1999 and 2005 show muddy sand, indicating there may have been a flood sometime between those years.
(Mars has spring break...now mars just needs women.)
47. A python was the first god worshipped by mankind, according to 70,000-year-old evidence found in a cave in Botswana's Tosodilo hills.
(As Richard Dawkins would say, "More evidence that religion was a bad joke since day 1.")
49. One of the most effective ways for athletes to recover after exercise is to drink a glass of chocolate milk.
(Now I'll never get my SO to cut back on her chocolate milk intake.)
50. Researchers from the University of Manchester managed to induce teeth growth in normal chickens - activating genes that have lain dormant for 80 million years.
(I, for one, welcome our new chicken overloads.)
Labels: 2006, lists, me trying to be funny, Reddit, science
