December 31, 2008 • 2:08 am 0
The Greenwich Time Signal (also known as BBC Radio’s ‘the pips’) play five 0.1 second 1kHz tones for each of the five seconds before the end of the hour followed by a 0.5 second tone played at the start of the next hour. At midnight an additional ‘leap second’ is introduced leading to a total of seven ‘pips’ just once a day.
Ref. Wikipedia
Filed under: History
December 29, 2008 • 1:00 am 0
The white truffle’s pleasure comes not from the taste but from the nutty and mushroom-like smell which lasts for approximately ten seconds after being grated onto the food.
Filed under: Food
December 28, 2008 • 4:41 pm 0
During a study in which subjects were given different priced glasses of wine (which unbeknownst to the drinker were identical) the test subjects not only said they enjoyed the more expensive wine more, but MRI brain scans actually showed that they did in fact experience more pleasure from the more expensive wine despite it being identical to the cheaper.
Filed under: Psychology
December 25, 2008 • 1:00 am 0
In Dutch folk law Zwarte Piet (translated as ‘Black Peter’) is a companion of Saint Nicholas whose annual feast in the Netherlands (usually on the evening of December 5th) is followed by the distribution of presents to all good children. The character of Zwarte Piet is typically (and controversially) played by a white man wearing black makeup.
Ref. Wikipedia & Dutch Business Partners.
Filed under: Culture
December 24, 2008 • 1:00 am 0
Disney’s town of Celebration in Florida has a population with more than twice as many bachelor’s degrees (or higher qualifications) than the US average resident (Celebration’s 57.4% compared to the 24.4% US average). These residents also earn almost double that of the average american.
Ref. US Census Bureau
Filed under: Geography
December 23, 2008 • 1:00 am 0
A merkin is a pubic wig, originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia to eliminate lice or disguise the marks of syphilis.
Ref. Wikipedia
Filed under: Miscellaneous
December 22, 2008 • 1:00 am 0
If you were to go to the beach and swallow a mouthful of sea water, each millilitre would contain 1,000,000 bacteria and 10,000,000 viruses.
Ref. Craig Venter at TED
Filed under: Science
