Some Things I Never Knew...

I'm sitting at work talking to my brother online about running and side-stitches. I decided to look up ways to help and prevent them. Then I realized that I didn't actually know what caused it, so I looked it up. After reading it I decided once in a while, maybe everyday at work I'm going to blog about 10 new things I learned that I never knew before. Expand on my knowledge. It seems the most interesting people are those that can recall these random facts. So here are 10 things I never knew until today!

1. Why a side-stitch occurs.

Let's start with the actual anatomy where the stitch is located. Right below your lungs is your diaphragm (a dome shaped muscle that separates the lung cavity from the abdominal cavity). When you inhale the diaphragm is pushed down from the inflation of the lungs and when you exhale the diaphragm is pulled upwards. Side stitches are found when you participate in a vigirous exercise and most commonly from the up-down movements (as in running, jumping or horseback riding). As each foot hits the ground your organs are bing pushed downwards naturally from gravity but as you take each step you inhale and exhale. It's the exhaling that pulls your diaphragm up against the pull of gravity wanting it to go down with each step. The stretching of the diaphragm muscle is what causes the sharp pain just under your ribs that we know as a side-stitch. :)

2. Why we don't all still have as much hair as cavemen.

This of course is all postulating but it is believed that it was around 2.5 million years ago when the genus Homo was creating new ideas and techniques of how to hunt. This in turn led to the evolution of the larger brain and larger body because of increased protein in diets. It is believed that because of the increased body size, the body heat also increased giving rise to a greater need to expel heat more rapidly. Along with this came the ability to sweat and thus body hair was lost in the process. Pretty interesting...

3. Albert Einstein's Last Words...

Albert Einstein's last words are unknown because they were in German and his room attendant in the nursing home was American and did not understand him.

4. Can elephants jump?

Baby elephants have been seen jumping but only when provoked. It seems obvious that with the size and weight of the elephant their legs would not be able to support the weight to land after being in the air. But zoologists say that their bone structure does not allow them to bend their legs easily which would allow them to get the momentum enough to get off the ground. Another reasoning in this is that they are the top of the food chain. The only thing that hunts elephants is people. In their natural habitat they don't need to jump because they aren't chased. Also because of their large size they can trudge through or over almost anything in the wild. In control mevements they found that even building trenches didn't do the trick. If they were small enough the elephants would walk into the trench and use themselves to cross it and anything larger that that they could just walk down and up the other side.

5. Why is 7-UP called "7-UP"?

7-UP was created in 1927. 7 was used because it was the original amount of ounces in a bottle and "UP" was the direction that the bubbles went in the drink.

6. How many children can a woman bear?

It depends a lot on each woman but the average woman is capable of bearing a child each year for a span of 25 years. The record is 23 single births to one woman. But a Russian peasant in the eighteenth century gave birth to 69 children. She birthed 16 sets of twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets. That's 27 pregnancies.

7. Does a person really eat 8 spiders a year in their sleep?

No. This traces back to a 1954 insect folklore book and has been used many times to prove the idea that people will believe anything they find on the internet.

8. Polar bear fur is actually clear.

It isn't the thick fur that keeps polar bears warm entirely. Their fur is actually clear and their skin under that is black. A high percentage of the sun's rays reach the black skin that absorbs the heat.

9. Plants can catch viruses.

Stories of plants catching viruses date back to the 15th century in tulips. When the colorful tulips were popular, gardners found when the colorful bulbs rubbed against the normal tulip bulbs a strange discoloration occured in the grown tulip. At the time they did not understand that they were actually spreading a virus from one bulb to the other. There are different types of viruses that are found among different plants or foods. Since plants cannot sneeze the virus is spread by other means (usually insects). There is no cure for plant viruses. The best way to keep them out is to remove and destroy any infected plant to prevent the spread ot other plants.

10. Fun Facts about Hershey's kisses.

I really wanted to know where Kisses got their name. There are two popular theories. One is that the machine that drops the chocolate out looks like its kissing the conveyor belt. The other is that the machine sounded like a kiss when the chocolate is being deposited. I did learn some other interesting things from their website though. The Kiss shape is not a mold it's just a machine that drops a blob of hot chocolate and then immediately cools it so that it keeps its shape when it drops. We do know where Hugs got their name. They say the inside looks like a chocolate kiss getting hugged by the outer kiss.

Phew! That was a lot. I may cut it down to 5 tomorrow. But it did pass the time! Alright, after reading it, leave a comment on how many you did or didn't know. I'm expanding my brain!