These interesting tidbits are care of Coffee News, a rather small publication that lives up to its name. It's perfect to read while enjoying a cup of coffee.
1. An electric eel has a current producing organ that can generate an average charge of 350 volts. The rivers of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and Peru are where you'll find an eel that produces the greatest shock-from 400 to 650 volts.
2. The male emperor penguin shares incubating duties with the female when she lays her one large egg. Later, the female is away feeding when the egg hatches, so the male feeds the baby by regurgitating a milky substance. (Gross)
3. A nine-branded armadillo has an unusual claim to fame. It almost always gives birth to quintuplets of the same sex, resulting from the fact that one egg usually divides into four parts.
4. It was Queen Elisabeth I who decided a statute mile should be 5,280 feet or 1,609 meters. It was based on walking distance established by the Romans, who said 1,000 paces made up a land mile.
5. In 1787, Levi Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire, came up with one of the earliest versions of an alarm clock. It only rang at one time-4 am.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
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2 comments:
Pointless facts rule! I think I am going to google the alarm clock guy. How the hell did he make a machine to that? Was 4am his only option, or was it his perferred time? I can't help but imagine a crazt multi-tiered invention ala Loony Tunes cartoon, with an egg that falls on a wooden plank which rolls a can onto a straw which shoots a pea at a sleeping cat who screams and wakes the guy up at 4am. But I'm sure it was better than that.
Hey, I knew #2! My daughter loves penguins, so I pick up a lot of stuff from her. I'm learning from a 4 year old!
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