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Illustration by Arnie Bermudez
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Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, December 3, 2003
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Things you always never wanted to know
Many bacteria that live on the human body reproduce most efficiently in warm, damp conditions. Taking a hot bath or shower may wash off innumerable dead bacteria, but it also encourages those remaining to increase their rate of production by up to 20 times.
Perhaps the most bizarre idea for the commercial exploitation of space was proposed by Space Services of America, Inc., run by a former astronaut, Deke Slayton, in association with a consortium of Florida morticians. As the ultimate funeral service, they planned to place the ashes of the departed in capsules aboard a satellite. The satellite would have been covered with a reflective material, so at night it would appear as bright as a star as it orbited the Earth. Interest in the novel form of immortality was not sufficient to get the idea off the ground.
Squirrels can fall long distances without coming to harm. One squirrel was observed plummeting 600 feet from a tree to the ground yet was unhurt, thanks to the long fur on its limbs and tail, which when spread helped slow down the animal's descent.
The shortest war ever fought occurred on Aug. 27, 1896 between Britain and Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania). Faced by a rebellious sultan, the British fleet bombarded his palace until he surrendered, after just 38 minutes.
In 1810, the Welsh "Bank of the Black Sheep" - the Aberstwynth and Tregaron Bank - issued bank notes that carried pictures of sheep, so that illiterate local shepherds could readily grasp their value. The 10-shilling note showed a lamb, the pound note a sheep, and the two pound note two ewes.
The famous distress message "SOS" doesn't actually stand for anything. It does not, for instance, mean "Save Our Souls" - it is simply an easy Morse code message to remember and recognize, even if badly distorted by adverse radio conditions ". . . - - - . . .". "Mayday," the distress call used in radiotelephone messages, is a corruption of the French "m'aidez," or "help me."
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