Status Updates From Why Do Onions Make Me Cry?:...

I find myself skipping whole chapters because I don't really care for the question being asked.... YAWN!!!

Oh... and there is a chapter about yawning... I yawned a whole lot but it was probably the most interesting chapter so far...

You know when you sign up to follow a blog or something and are asked to confirm your humanity by filling in the captcha? Well, I bet you didn't realize that CAPTCHA stood for "Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart."

My mind is blown, folks! :D

Okay, this one had me laughing. All the mathematical equations to give the possibility that at this point you're breathing in one of the same atoms (of air compounds) that Julius Caesar did in his last breath.

Cool, but how relevant I wonder?! LOL

So, I was astonished to learn that it's not just planes that break the sound barrier by going faster than the speed of sound ( which is at sea level 760 mph). The same effect can be caused by a bullwhip; the sharp crackle or snap is literally a sonic boom. Also, the SAME speed can be achieved by flicking a wet towel. O_O


Dangerous weapons wet towels can be! :D

Another interesting thought. Elephants can't jump.

"They can go up to 15 'mph, but even at that top speed, they're still keeping at least 1 foot on the ground. At high speeds, the elephant's front legs are essentially walking; it's called the "vault" pattern, because the leg is planted and the animal moves over it in the same way that a pole-vaulter plants his pole and flies over it."

How could Rikki-tikki-tavi survive a cobra's bite?

I can't say I ever wondered asked that question, but in case you did... The venom molecules can't bind to mongooses' receptor muscle molecules and block the contact points between muscle and nerves like it can in other animals, paralyzing them. They're immune. So are honey badgers. :D

In turn king cobras are immune to snake venom, snakes being their primary prey.

Did you know that mosquitoes are first attracted to you by picking up the carbon dioxide you exhale? Adjusting their fligh pattern to the higher contration of CO2, they start buzzing toward you until they get closer and start paying attention to the visual features around them (because they don't want to fly into your mouth), and then they deploy heat and chemical-sensing to find the right landing spot.

Kay, so my mind is just blown. Not by all the cool stuff I'm reading about how the electric eel is basically a living battery, but by the fact that they have to come up to breathe about every 10 minutes. They can't breathe underwater! How did I not know that?

The in-depth scientific answers to all these questions are both super intriguing and making my head ache. :D

Currently reading about deja vu...

I think I've just established my reputation as a nerd by reading this book. :D But, hey, the answers to life's pressing questions are all within. LOL