Today’s interesting fact has to do with the oldest living animal found so far.
It is a Quahog clam, scientific name Artica islandica.
Clams are like trees, in that they lay down a new layer of shell every year, just like trees do.
Trees will sometimes lay down two rings a year, but they have never found this discrepancy with clams so far.
This latest specimen is between 405 and 410 years old.
The oldest mammal is thought to be a either a Blue whale or a Bow whale.
As we get older, the lenses of our eyes get thicker; a layer of cells gets laid down every year.
By counting these layers, you can determine the age of the animal.
Bow and Blue whales grow to enormous sizes, and it takes time for an animal to get so big.
Counting these lens layers they have gotten an estimated age of 178 years for one Bow whale, which means that when we were still hunting these animals in wooden boats, at least one of them was an adult.
This could be one reason it is so difficult to get near Bow whales.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with Cholera.
There are from 3 to 5 million cases of Cholera a year.
Cholera is a completely preventable disease; the method for preventing outbreaks was discovered in the Victorian age.
Cholera can be prevented by investment in sanitation and clean water, by the use of soap and water before handling food and finally by the boiling of drinking water.
The introduction of tea and coffee to the British Empire actually helped prevent Cholera outbreaks because those who brew it always brought the water to boiling before use.
There are from 3 to 5 million cases of Cholera a year.
Cholera is a completely preventable disease; the method for preventing outbreaks was discovered in the Victorian age.
Cholera can be prevented by investment in sanitation and clean water, by the use of soap and water before handling food and finally by the boiling of drinking water.
The introduction of tea and coffee to the British Empire actually helped prevent Cholera outbreaks because those who brew it always brought the water to boiling before use.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with The War of Jenkins' Ear.
Robert Jenkins was a captain of a British merchant ship.
He exhibited his severed ear in Parliament in 1731.
It had been cut off during the boarding of his vessel by the Spanish coast guard.
This, along with a number of similar incidents started a war against the Spanish Empire.
The war eventually became part of the War of the Austrian Succession.
Robert Jenkins was a captain of a British merchant ship.
He exhibited his severed ear in Parliament in 1731.
It had been cut off during the boarding of his vessel by the Spanish coast guard.
This, along with a number of similar incidents started a war against the Spanish Empire.
The war eventually became part of the War of the Austrian Succession.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with Tetrahymena thermophila.
This is a ciliated portozoan which has two types of cell nuclei, a somatic macronucleus and a smaller germline micronucleus that are always found in the cell.
The germline nucleus come in seven different varients which they have labled as sexes.
They can reproduce in 21 different combinations, but not with themselves.
This is a ciliated portozoan which has two types of cell nuclei, a somatic macronucleus and a smaller germline micronucleus that are always found in the cell.
The germline nucleus come in seven different varients which they have labled as sexes.
They can reproduce in 21 different combinations, but not with themselves.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with what type of food our ancestors ate.
From studying bones and teeth, and the various isotopes found within them, they have found they can accurately determine the diet of the creature they are studying as well as where the animal grew up and if it moved from one area to another.
From their studies we know that before 10,000 BC, the average human ate average of probably 65% plant to 35% animal derived foods.
After 10,000 BC depending on where they were in the world, this changed to as high as 90% plant to 10% animal derived foods.
Before 10,000 BC humans got their animal protein from various sources.
In order of decreasing importance to the diet or if you prefer the amount they ate, we have insects or their grubs, small lizards, mammals and birds, fish, shellfish, and the occasional large animal.
It is also interesting to note that before 10,000 BC, the average human was taller, stronger and healthier than after 10,000 BC when they became weaker, shorter and had more infections.
There are multiple reasons for the decrease in health the ancients but one they have positively identified is the switch to a more vegetarian diet.
From studying bones and teeth, and the various isotopes found within them, they have found they can accurately determine the diet of the creature they are studying as well as where the animal grew up and if it moved from one area to another.
From their studies we know that before 10,000 BC, the average human ate average of probably 65% plant to 35% animal derived foods.
After 10,000 BC depending on where they were in the world, this changed to as high as 90% plant to 10% animal derived foods.
Before 10,000 BC humans got their animal protein from various sources.
In order of decreasing importance to the diet or if you prefer the amount they ate, we have insects or their grubs, small lizards, mammals and birds, fish, shellfish, and the occasional large animal.
It is also interesting to note that before 10,000 BC, the average human was taller, stronger and healthier than after 10,000 BC when they became weaker, shorter and had more infections.
There are multiple reasons for the decrease in health the ancients but one they have positively identified is the switch to a more vegetarian diet.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with raw food and diet.
A couple weeks ago, I heard a science podcast where a Palaeobiologist who is also an Archeologist was being interviewd about our ancestors and the food they ate.
He pointed out that our digestive system has been fine tuned to eating cooked foods.
During the interview this he pointed out that given the sources of foods our ancestors had access to, if one of us would slowly starve on a raw vegetable diet as we could not eat enough to provide the nutrients our bodies need.
This suggests that we have eaten cooked foods long enought for our digestive system to rely on it.
A couple weeks ago, I heard a science podcast where a Palaeobiologist who is also an Archeologist was being interviewd about our ancestors and the food they ate.
He pointed out that our digestive system has been fine tuned to eating cooked foods.
During the interview this he pointed out that given the sources of foods our ancestors had access to, if one of us would slowly starve on a raw vegetable diet as we could not eat enough to provide the nutrients our bodies need.
This suggests that we have eaten cooked foods long enought for our digestive system to rely on it.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with Spiders and the thread they make.
Spider thread has five times the tensile strength of steel and is stronger then even the best currently available synthetic fibres.
It has been shown that if you have enough silk it is better than Kevlar in bullet proof vests and weights considerably less.
The genes that produce spider thread have been added goats in the section that produces milk, and they have produced some spider silk by extracting it from the milk these goats produce.
They have also added different genes to various bacteria and are hoping to produce the chemicals that get mixed to produce the silk in larger quantities.
Once they have the chemicals needed in large enough quantities all that will be needed is something that reproduces the spider’s spinneret.
Spider thread has five times the tensile strength of steel and is stronger then even the best currently available synthetic fibres.
It has been shown that if you have enough silk it is better than Kevlar in bullet proof vests and weights considerably less.
The genes that produce spider thread have been added goats in the section that produces milk, and they have produced some spider silk by extracting it from the milk these goats produce.
They have also added different genes to various bacteria and are hoping to produce the chemicals that get mixed to produce the silk in larger quantities.
Once they have the chemicals needed in large enough quantities all that will be needed is something that reproduces the spider’s spinneret.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with bacteria and antibiotic resistance.
This is a subject I could write on all day, so I will be doing several posts over the next few weeks on the subject.
When antibiotics were first introduced, many people who would have died from what we now consider minor infections instead lived and they were considered a modern miracle.
However many bacteria are developing antibiotic resistances.
Sometimes this occurs from mutations within their genome.
Just as often, it seems the bacteria are getting the genes from other bacteria.
It seems that bacteria have sex.
And not just with bacteria from their own species, but also from other bacterial species.
This is why so many diseases are more serious.
This is a subject I could write on all day, so I will be doing several posts over the next few weeks on the subject.
When antibiotics were first introduced, many people who would have died from what we now consider minor infections instead lived and they were considered a modern miracle.
However many bacteria are developing antibiotic resistances.
Sometimes this occurs from mutations within their genome.
Just as often, it seems the bacteria are getting the genes from other bacteria.
It seems that bacteria have sex.
And not just with bacteria from their own species, but also from other bacterial species.
This is why so many diseases are more serious.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with green potatoes.
This past weekend, I was asked if it was safe to eat green potatoes.
The simple answer is that it isn’t.
I was then asked why… no one should ever ask me why if they don’t want the answer.
When potatoes are exposed to light, they turn green.
This is caused by chlorophyll becoming active in the tuber under the skin.
But it is not the chlorophyll that causes the problem, but the glycoalkaloids that are produced along with the chlorophyll.
These are mostly the chemicals solanine and chaconine, but there are others.
High concentrations of these compounds can cause headaches, diarrhoea, cramps, coma and death.
So don’t eat green potatoes.
This past weekend, I was asked if it was safe to eat green potatoes.
The simple answer is that it isn’t.
I was then asked why… no one should ever ask me why if they don’t want the answer.
When potatoes are exposed to light, they turn green.
This is caused by chlorophyll becoming active in the tuber under the skin.
But it is not the chlorophyll that causes the problem, but the glycoalkaloids that are produced along with the chlorophyll.
These are mostly the chemicals solanine and chaconine, but there are others.
High concentrations of these compounds can cause headaches, diarrhoea, cramps, coma and death.
So don’t eat green potatoes.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with Blue Whales.
Blue Whales are as far as we know the largest animals to ever have ever existed.
The Blue Whale is a filter feeder using baleen, a hair-like substance that grows from the roof of the mouth, to filter out small fish, krill and plankton from water they engulf, but do not swallow.
All whales that have baleen have a special joint at their chin that allows each side of the jaw to rotate.
This allows them to engulf vast amounts of water.
The Blue Whale has a mouth cavity that can engulf a volume of water equivalent to its own body mass.
Blue Whales are as far as we know the largest animals to ever have ever existed.
The Blue Whale is a filter feeder using baleen, a hair-like substance that grows from the roof of the mouth, to filter out small fish, krill and plankton from water they engulf, but do not swallow.
All whales that have baleen have a special joint at their chin that allows each side of the jaw to rotate.
This allows them to engulf vast amounts of water.
The Blue Whale has a mouth cavity that can engulf a volume of water equivalent to its own body mass.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with vampire bats and how they find their prey.
Vampire bats do not swoop down on their prey.
Instead they land, shuffle along the ground to the animals they will feed on, then they carefully slice through an artery or vein, and carefully lap up a few teaspoons of blood, before shuffling off to where they take off and go back to their roost.
Vampire bats are very proficient in finding the parts of the body where the blood vessels are close to the skin.
Scientists have recently discovered they use the same heat identifying nerve cells we have in our lips and tongues to find these spots.
But where our nerve cells are set to identify heat that would burn us, the vampire bats heat nerve cells in their lips are have been set the temperature of the blood.
So the vampire bat's lips are heat seekers.
Vampire bats do not swoop down on their prey.
Instead they land, shuffle along the ground to the animals they will feed on, then they carefully slice through an artery or vein, and carefully lap up a few teaspoons of blood, before shuffling off to where they take off and go back to their roost.
Vampire bats are very proficient in finding the parts of the body where the blood vessels are close to the skin.
Scientists have recently discovered they use the same heat identifying nerve cells we have in our lips and tongues to find these spots.
But where our nerve cells are set to identify heat that would burn us, the vampire bats heat nerve cells in their lips are have been set the temperature of the blood.
So the vampire bat's lips are heat seekers.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with colonic irrigation.
A recent study at St George University in the UK has taken followed the health records of a large number of individuals who have had colonic irrigation over a number of years.
The outcome of the study suggests that there are no health benefits to colonic irrigation, instead it can actually be bad for you as it may remove beneficial bacteria and there are side effects that can vary from nausea, vomiting, intestinal injury and death.
Doctors sometimes give patients with impacted faeces an enema, but these tend to use no more than a half a litre of an isotonic fluid or distilled water.
A colonic irrigation on the other hand can have as much as 65 litres of water introduced into the large intestine.
It has been known for a number of years that the introduction of water used in a colonic irrigation can cause blood isotonic issues, where the process of osmosis means at essential salts are drawn from the blood into the intestine, which is why doctors often use isotonic fluids.
But until now, no one has ever done a study to see what the benefits of colonic irrigation actually are, and now we know there are none.
A recent study at St George University in the UK has taken followed the health records of a large number of individuals who have had colonic irrigation over a number of years.
The outcome of the study suggests that there are no health benefits to colonic irrigation, instead it can actually be bad for you as it may remove beneficial bacteria and there are side effects that can vary from nausea, vomiting, intestinal injury and death.
Doctors sometimes give patients with impacted faeces an enema, but these tend to use no more than a half a litre of an isotonic fluid or distilled water.
A colonic irrigation on the other hand can have as much as 65 litres of water introduced into the large intestine.
It has been known for a number of years that the introduction of water used in a colonic irrigation can cause blood isotonic issues, where the process of osmosis means at essential salts are drawn from the blood into the intestine, which is why doctors often use isotonic fluids.
But until now, no one has ever done a study to see what the benefits of colonic irrigation actually are, and now we know there are none.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with humans and the time we spend indoors.
From a number of studies done recently, the average individual in the developed world spends only 90% of their time out of doors.
I found this hard to believe at first, but after thinking more about it, I spend a little over 2 hours walking to and from work during the week, and on weekends, I may go out several times, but much of my time is spent inside shops instead of outside.
If you include the time people spend inside cars, which most people do more than they think, this average becomes obviously true.
From a number of studies done recently, the average individual in the developed world spends only 90% of their time out of doors.
I found this hard to believe at first, but after thinking more about it, I spend a little over 2 hours walking to and from work during the week, and on weekends, I may go out several times, but much of my time is spent inside shops instead of outside.
If you include the time people spend inside cars, which most people do more than they think, this average becomes obviously true.
Today’s interesting fact has to do with muscles and chimpanzees.
The average chimp's muscles are twice as strong as a human's muscles.
The reduction in strength is thought to have allowed us humans to increase our dexterity, and therefore produce the flints, wood work and eventually societies we now have in the modern world.
So the loss of strength is not necessarily a bad thing, if you want to write or use a keyboard as a ten finger typist.
The average chimp's muscles are twice as strong as a human's muscles.
The reduction in strength is thought to have allowed us humans to increase our dexterity, and therefore produce the flints, wood work and eventually societies we now have in the modern world.
So the loss of strength is not necessarily a bad thing, if you want to write or use a keyboard as a ten finger typist.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with Meat.
In 1932, Winston Churchill predicted we would soon be growing specific cuts of meat, instead of slaughtering animals to get them.
It may have taken a bit longer than he thought it would have, but they have now grown meat in labs from stem cells and have served and eaten the cuts.
While the consistancy of the cuts of meat does not yet match the naturally grown cuts, they fully expect to match it in the near future.
We can eventually look forward to pain free meat products.
In 1932, Winston Churchill predicted we would soon be growing specific cuts of meat, instead of slaughtering animals to get them.
It may have taken a bit longer than he thought it would have, but they have now grown meat in labs from stem cells and have served and eaten the cuts.
While the consistancy of the cuts of meat does not yet match the naturally grown cuts, they fully expect to match it in the near future.
We can eventually look forward to pain free meat products.
Today’s interesting fact has to do with Xanthan gum and low fat foods.
Xanthan gum is a polysaccharid that is used to lower the fat contents in foods.
The biggest problem with low fat foods is that removing the fat changes the consistancy of the food we eat.
Fortunately someone noticed that a bacteria that grows on cabbages, and makes those black spots we often find on cabbages that are in our fridges, produces a polysaccharid that can be used to produce much the same consistancy.
Xanthomonas campestris is grown in sterile vats, broken down, and then used to lower the fat content in food,
Xanthan gum is a polysaccharid that is used to lower the fat contents in foods.
The biggest problem with low fat foods is that removing the fat changes the consistancy of the food we eat.
Fortunately someone noticed that a bacteria that grows on cabbages, and makes those black spots we often find on cabbages that are in our fridges, produces a polysaccharid that can be used to produce much the same consistancy.
Xanthomonas campestris is grown in sterile vats, broken down, and then used to lower the fat content in food,
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