ADN

The Mexican Jumping Bean is not a bean. It is actually a thin-shelled section of a seed capsule containing the larva of a small gray moth called the jumping bean moth (Laspeyresia saltitans).

The average airspeed of the common housefly is 4 1/2 mph. A housefly beats its wings about 20,000 times per minute.

Aristarchus, a Greek who lived from 310 to 250 B.C., was the first to proclaim that the sun stands still and the earth revolves around it.

The Agulhas current in the western Indian Ocean is the fastest ocean current in the world. Even so, its speed is only 6 miles per hour.

Some deep ocean currents are moving so slowly that they will take thousands of years to reach the surface.

Ninety percent of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans. In 1993, scientists located the largest known concentration of active volcanoes on the sea floor in the South Pacific. This area, the size of New York state, hosts 1,133 volcanic cones and sea mounts. Two or three could erupt at any moment.

The total water content of the oceans on Earth would take one million years to be cycled through the atmosphere as part of the water cycle.

The upper sunlit layers to 350 feet (107 meters) are referred to as the epipelagic, or photic, zone.

The West Wind Drift, one of the main ocean currents in the southern hemisphere, carries 2,000 times more water than the Amazon River. It flows more than twice as fast as a person can swim.

Water from the north Pacific can be carried by deep ocean currents right around Africa and into the North Atlantic.

The Gulf Stream travels 111 miles across the Atlantic Ocean each day.

The largest water eddy in the world is the Sargasso Sea, a huge, slowly revolving area of water in the mid-Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and the West Indies.

The North Atlantic Deep Water Current is an oceanic "river" that carries twenty times more water than all of the rivers of the world put together.

Although the major trenches of the sea floor dips down more than 18,000 feet deep in only about twenty places, the average depth of the world's oceans is about 12,600 feet- more than two-and-a-quarter miles.

An undersea mountain range is our plant's most impressive geologic feature. It stretches 46,000 miles along the sea floor from the Artic, through the Atlantic Ocean, into the Indian Ocean and across the South Pacific, and is 900 miles wide, with peaks exceeding 9,800 feet above the surrounding sea floor.

If the Earth's surface were cpmpletely smoothed out, both above and below the water , the ocean would cover the entire globe to a depth of 12,000 feet.

The Artic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's oceans

The deepest trench in the world is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 36,201 feet. The second deepest trench is the Tonga Trench, also in the Pacific Ocean, at 35,430 feet deep.

The earth's tallest mountain, longest mountain range and deepest canyon are in the ocean

The average salinity of the world's oceans is 34.7 parts per thousand.

The telephone area code for a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean is 871.

33 Names of Things You Never Knew had Names


AGLET - The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.

ARMSAYE - The armhole in clothing.

CHANKING - Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.

COLUMELLA NASI - The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.

DRAG¢‚¬°ES - Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-coloured, used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.

FEAT - A dangling curl of hair.

FERRULE - The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.

HARP - The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER - A 64th note. (A 32nd is a demisemiquaver, and a 16th note is a semiquaver.)

JARNS,
NITTLES,
GRAWLIX,
and QUIMP - Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.

KEEPER - The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.

KICK or PUNT - The indentation at the bottom of some wine bottles. It gives added strength to the bottle but lessens its holding capacity.

LIRIPIPE - The long tail on a graduate's academic hood.

MINIMUS - The little finger or toe.

NEF - An ornamental stand in the shape of a ship.

OBDORMITION - The numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a limb is `asleep'.

OCTOTHORPE - The symbol `#' on a telephone handset. Bell Labs' engineer Don Macpherson created the word in the 1960s by combining octo-, as in eight, with the name of one of his favourite athletes, 1912 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe.

OPHRYON - The space between the eyebrows on a line with the top of the eye sockets.

PEEN - The end of a hammer head opposite the striking face.

PHOSPHENES - The lights you see when you close your eyes hard. Technically the luminous impressions are due to the excitation of the retina caused by pressure on the eyeball.

PURLICUE - The space between the thumb and extended forefinger.

RASCETA - Creases on the inside of the wrist.

ROWEL - The revolving star on the back of a cowboy's spurs.

SADDLE - The rounded part on the top of a matchbook.

SCROOP - The rustle of silk.

SNORKEL BOX - A mailbox with a protruding receiver to allow people to deposit mail without leaving their cars.

SPRAINTS - Otter dung.

TANG - The projecting prong on a tool or instrument.

WAMBLE - Stomach rumbling.

ZARF - A holder for a handleless coffee cup.


That's all folks!

13 Sick Random Facts


1) In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb".

2) Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only... Ladies Forbidden"... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

3) Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

4) It is impossible to lick your elbow.

5) Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

6) Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king in history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs - Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar

7) 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

8) Question: If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?

Answer: One thousand

9) In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase... "goodnight, sleep tight."

10) It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

11) In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

12) Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

13) This is pretty sick. I can read it actually!

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amazing huh?

20 Strange-But-True Facts!


1. To human taste buds, Zima is virtually indistinguishable from zebra urine.
2. SCUBA divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below.

3. The Boeing 747 is capable of flying upside-down if it weren't for the fact that the wings would shear off when trying to roll it over.

4. Male rhesus monkeys often hang from tree branches by their amazing prehensile penises.

5. The increased electricity used by modern appliances is causing a shift in the Earth's magnetic field. By the year 2327, the North Pole will be located in mid-Kansas, while the South Pole will be just off the coast of East Africa.

6. In the weightlessness of space a frozen pea will explode if it comes in contact with Pepsi.

7. The Venezuelan brown bat can detect and dodge individual raindrops in mid-flight, arriving safely back at his cave completely dry.

8. Due to the natural "momentum" of the ocean, saltwater fish cannot swim backwards.

9. Although difficult, it's possible to start a fire by rapidly rubbing together two Cool Ranch Doritos.

10. In WWII the US military planned to airdrop over France propaganda in the form of Playboy magazine, with coded messages hidden in the models' turn-ons and turn-offs. The plan was scrapped because of a staple shortage due to rationing of metal.

11. Due to the angle at which the optic nerve enters the brain, staring at a blue surface during sex greatly increases the intensity of orgasms.

12. Urine from male cape water buffaloes is so flammable that some tribes use it for lantern fuel.

13. Approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesdays.

14. Until 1978, Camel cigarettes contained minute particles of real camels.

15. Human saliva has a boiling point three times that of regular water.

16. In 1843, a Parisian street mime got stuck in his imaginary box and consequently died of starvation.

17. The volume of water that the Giant Sequoia tree consumes in a 24-hour period contains enough suspended minerals to pave 17.3 feet of a 4-lane concrete freeway.

18. The skin needed for elbow transplants must be taken from the scrotum of a cadaver.

19. Silly Putty was "discovered" as the residue left behind after the first latex condoms were produced. It's not widely publicized for obvious reasons.

20. Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting.

Useless Facts


The 3 most valuable brand names on earth are:- Marlboro, Coca-Cola and Budweiser - in that order.

Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of their hands.

The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." uses every letter in the alphabet.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

No word in the English dictionary rhymes with month, orange, silver and purple.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no-one knows why.

Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is screeched.

Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

A pack-a-day smoker will on average lose 2 teeth, every 10 years.

When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop...even your heart.

Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than the rest of the day.

QUOTEAlthough difficult, it's possible to start a fire by rapidly rubbing together two Cool Ranch Doritos.

I just want to know who tried that

QUOTEThe skin needed for elbow transplants must be taken from the scrotum of a cadaver.

I'm never going to get an elbow transplant

QUOTESilly Putty was "discovered" as the residue left behind after the first latex condoms were produced. It's not widely publicized for obvious reasons.

Just plain disgusting

Short Stories of the Truly Moronic


With a little help from our friends!

Police in Oakland, California spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them, shouting, "Please come out and give yourself up!"

Will the real dummy please stand up?

AT&T fired President John Walter after nine months, saying he lacked intellectual leadership." He received a $26 million severance package. Perhaps it's not Walter who's lacking intelligence.

What was plan B?

An Illinois man pretending to have a gun kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines. The kidnapper then proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts.

These nitwits are teaching our children?

A 9-year-old boy in Manassas, Virginia received a one-day suspension under his elementary school's drug policy last week - for Certs! Joey Hoeffer allegedly told a classmate that the mints would make him "jump higher." -and- A student in Belle, West Virginia was suspended for three days for giving a classmate a cough drop. School principal Forest Mann reiterated the school's "zero-tolerance" policy (not to be confused with the "zero-intelligence" policy).

Some days, it just doesn't pay to gnaw through the leather straps!

Fire investigators on Maui have determined the cause of a blaze that destroyed a $127,000 home last month - a short in the homeowner's newly installed fire prevention alarm system. "This is even worse than last year," said the distraught homeowner, "when someone broke in and stole my new security system."

The getaway!

A man walked in to a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Shop, and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him.

Too well educated?

In Medford, Oregon, a 27-year-old jobless man with an MBA blamed his college degree for his murder of three people. "There are too many business grads out there," he said. "If I had chosen another field, all this may not have happened."

Did I say that?

Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words, "Give me all your money or I'll shoot," the man shouted, "That's not what I said!"

Ouch, that smarts!

A bank robber in Virginia Beach got a nasty surprise when a dye pack designed to mark stolen money exploded in his Fruit-of-the- Looms. The robber apparently stuffed the loot down the front of his pants as he was running out the door. "He was seen hopping and jumping around," said police spokesman Mike Carey, "with an explosion taking place inside his pants." Police have the man's charred trousers in custody.

Are we are communicating?

A man spoke frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!" "Is this her first child?" the doctor asked. "No, you idiot!" the man shouted. "This is her husband!"

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer!

In Modesto, CA, Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun, but unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket.