in the age of the internet an entire gold mine of knowledge is never more than a few clicks away the problem is that it sometimes seems like there's just too much out there how do you decide what's worth knowing and what'll only clog up your brain with useless nonsense that's where i come in from the weird and wonderful to the downright amazing coming up are 20 facts you didn't know five minutes ago a cucumber cure picture this you have a first date planned at a fancy restaurant but when you arrive you realize you forgot to bring any breath mints with you and to make matters worse you've just ordered garlic bread as a side fear not friend all you need to do is order a side salad with cucumber you see fibrous vegetables such as celery and cucumbers boost your mouth saliva production which washes away odor-causing bacteria and in turn cures bad breath for a simple hack holding a slice of cucumber between your tongue and the roof of your mouth for about 90 seconds can help to eliminate nasty odors and if there's no cucumber on the menu parsley also has the same odor neutralizing effect so just discreetly chew on your garnish and you should be covered mysterious fingernail markings have you ever glanced down at your fingernails and noticed some bizarre white markings that weren't there before this kind of discoloration is actually a common condition known as leukonychia most of the time it doesn't signify anything serious and there are a number of potential causes the primary reason is as a result of injury to the nail bed which can occur if you accidentally strike or pinch your nail because of the time it takes your fingernails to grow you might not even recall the injury by the time any white spots show up gluconica can also appear as an allergic reaction to cosmetic products like polish gloss hardener or nail polish remover sometimes it can also mean your nails are deficient in certain minerals or vitamins most commonly zinc or calcium but unless your entire nail turns white and you experience any pain these markings will usually go away on their own so there's no reason to worry now that i've got you looking at your fingers why don't you make them useful by heading on over to those like and subscribe buttons and showing them some love see that little bell icon you should totally tickle that too to make sure you're the first to know when i upload more amazing content now let's get back to boosting your brains say prunes before you have your photograph taken you should expect to hear the oh so familiar phrase say cheese but back in the day prunes were on the menu instead in the 1800s most people weren't comfortable smiling due to a general lack of good dental hygiene which meant they didn't have very attractive teeth having your photograph taken was also considered a luxury and was treated with a good deal of seriousness meaning a big cheesy grin was seen as childish so photographers in british studios in the 1840s told people to say prunes to keep their mouths taut instead and that predates today's fish-faced pout by about 180 years by the mid-20th century photography had become much faster cheaper and more casual plus people had better teeth so when kodak started making cameras in the u. s which ordinary people could afford to buy they marketed them with photographs of smiling faces former ambassador joseph e davies was the one to come up with the idea to say cheese as the perfect formula for an instant smile and the rest is history a flaming hot invention in 2019 flaming hot cheetos were declared america's favorite snack brand for the third consecutive year but what if i told you that the super addictive snack nearly didn't exist at all in 1976 18 year old richard montagnes was hired as a janitor at a frito lay plant in rancho cucamonga california the position paid four dollars an hour with benefits and montagnes's wife filled out the application for him because he struggled to read and write while on the job montagnes noted that a broken machine on the cheetos assembly line had spat out a batch of plain cheetos without the cheese powdered dust montagnes took the cheetos home and dusted them with chili powder he credits the idea to a favorite snack grilled corn dressed with lime and chili powder sold by a local street vendor montagnes first pitched the idea to former pepsico ceo roger enrico over the phone and was given two weeks to prepare a presentation to the executive suite of course it was an instant hint montagnes went on to become an executive vice president at pepsico north america and is now a best-selling author and motivational speaker what an inspiration chuck the difference if there's one thing americans and europeans will always bicker over it's chocolate if you've sampled both sides there's no denying that chalky tastes totally different across the pond but why the simple answer is different regulations firstly european chocolate is technically creamier because it requires a minimum of at least 14 percent dry milk solids while the minimum amount in the u. s is 12 euro chocolate is also slightly richer because it's required to contain at least 3.
5 milk fat compared to the 3. 39 needed in the us what's more european chocolate is well just more chocolaty that's because it also has a higher requirement for cocoa content which gives bars their deep flavor but that's not the only reason why europeans love to hate american chocolate you see hershey's also uses a special ingredient that sets it apart from the rest butyric acid this ingredient makes the chocolate last longer on shelves but also gives it that tangy flavor that many foreigners find off-putting does that settle the age-old hershey's versus cadbury debate for you let's start a healthy discussion about this unhealthy treat in the comments below which brand of chocolate do you personally prefer and if you can think of any other foods that taste different in your country go ahead and let me know i'm genuinely interested let's get back to the facts dunce caps for smart people at one point in the middle ages the dunce cap we now associate with idiocy and punishment was actually a symbol of respected scholars it all began with master philosopher and metaphysical thinker john dunn scotus whose name later lent itself to the phrase dunce cap scotus was a proponent of the use of pointy hats believing they would somehow act as a reverse funnel for knowledge with wisdom flowing into the pointed tip and spreading to the brain below these hats were also popular among his followers known as dunsman and therefore became a signifier of high intelligence but by the mid 16th century popular thought had begun to turn against scotus and the dunsmen came to be associated with idiocy instead naturally their pointy hats were adopted as a symbol of stupidity and found their way into elementary school classrooms where they were used to traumatize and humiliate kids until the late 1950s the spanish eiffel tower the eiffel tower is one of the first things that come to mind when someone asks you to think of france but this world famous landmark almost ended up in spain designer gustav eiffel first pitched the plans for the monument to barcelona but the city rejected his ideas thinking it would look like an eyesore he was forced to re-pitch the project elsewhere and the tower found its home in paris where it served as the main archway for the 1889 international exposition surprisingly the parisians didn't like it much either one critic even referred to the enormous iron structure as a metal asparagus the tower wasn't supposed to stay up for long and was even offered up for sale as scrap it was only spared because the french army found that its 984 foot height worked pretty well as a communications tower thankfully this famously hated sculpture has since survived to become one of the world's most well-loved landmarks who needs kneecaps did you know that a baby's body has about 300 bones at birth compared to the 206 bones that adults have over time the process of smaller pieces fusing together reduces the number of bones in the body one seemingly crucial thing babies aren't born with is kneecaps instead babies are born with a piece of cartilage that will eventually become a bony kneecap or patella cartilage which can be found in the nose ears and joints is flexible and gives structure where it's needed in the body most children's kneecaps begin to ossify that is turn from cartilage into bone between the ages of two and six often several pieces of cartilage will begin to harden into bone at the same time until the kneecap is one complete bone by the age of about 10 or 12. being born with kneecaps could actually make the birthing process more difficult or could even result in birth injuries because bone is rigid and less flexible than cartilage isn't the human body smart space booze drifting 10 000 light years from earth in a constellation far far away is a massive cloud of alcohol the cloud which was discovered in 1995 near the constellation aquila is one thousand times larger than the diameter of our solar system what's more it contains enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion trillion pints of beer anyone got a rocket i can borrow sadly the cloud is 58 quadrillion miles away so an interstellar pub crawl is probably off the cards what's more it contains a cocktail of 32 compounds and some like carbon monoxide hydrogen cyanide and ammonia aren't so desirable another alcohol cloud called sagittarius b2 also holds 10 billion billion billion liters of mostly methanol alcohol which is used in antifreeze and windshield wiper fluid but how did this cosmic hooch get up there well if the conditions are just right simple alcohol compounds can form completely naturally in space often on the surface of bits of floating space dust as this dust moves within the high energy vicinity of celestial bodies like stars the alcohol is forced to separate from the dust forming massive alcohol clouds which then float off presumably to get some aliens very drunk i wonder if space booze goes well with moon cheese use your head how many times have you parked your car in a parking lot and walked away only to realize you forgot to lock it instead of retracing your steps towards the car until it's in range there's one simple way to reach your car from further away hold the metal key part of your key fob against your chin then press the lock button you might look slightly weird while doing it but you'll be grateful when it saves you a few extra steps the trick works by turning your head into an antenna according to silicon valley radio engineer tim pozar with all the fluids in your head and the electrical currents flowing in your body your noggin ends up being a pretty decent conductor it won't work across great distances but using your head can actually extend the key's wireless range by a few car lengths battery hack most modern smartphones are supposed to have a great battery life but it seems to me like they're always dying when you need them the most thankfully there's one super simple way you can make the most out of your remaining juice if like most people you carry your smartphone around in your pocket then part of the problem might be that your pocket is too warm you see cell phone batteries do actually last a bit longer if they're kept cool the average 98.
6 degrees fahrenheit body heat of a human being when transmitted through a cloth pocket to a cell phone inside is enough to speed up chemical processes inside the phone's battery as a result it runs down at a faster rate the simplest way to keep your phone cooler is to carry it inside your bag or on a belt clip instead and if you ever find yourself away from home without a charger you can switch off your phone and pop it in the refrigerator to slow the battery losing charge i don't recommend using the freezer though surprising salmon salmon is one of the most popular seafoods in the world but if you've ever prepared the fish yourself then you'll have probably run into the issue of that white funky stuff that seems to appear when you cook it most people assume it's just fat but the white gunk you see oozing from your dinner is actually a simple protein called albumin whether boiled baked fried or barbecued the substance will still appear albumin lives in fish in liquid form and appears when the muscle fibers are heated and they contract pushing out the white colored protein although it's totally safe to eat some people find it unsightly to try and remove albumin you can either blot the cooked fish with a paper towel or brine it before cooking to brine your fish just give it a quick soak in a blend of sea salt and water which should help to relax and dissolve the muscle fibers and minimize the appearance of albumin giggling rodents rats aren't the most conventionally cute animals but their reputation is disgusting vermin seems a little harsh especially when you learn that they're ticklish a study conducted in 2016 was able to pinpoint the tickle center of the mammalian brain showing for the first time that stimulating neurons in that particular region can elicit a series of ultrasonic squeaks that are too high to be heard by human ears shinpei ishiyama a neuroscientist at the humboldt university of berlin noted that the rats not only return over and over again to the place where they were tickled but that tickling their bellies also triggers the neurotransmitter dopamine in the key reward related brain circuits in the rodents if that wasn't enough to prove that they love being tickled rats also show a classic display of positive emotion found in many species such as dogs foxes and even human children called joy jumps true to their name this involves leaping into the air with both legs together talk about a cuteness overload disappearing socks during a clothes wash socks seem to creep into the yawning abysses of the laundry drum never to be seen again but where do they really go there are actually a couple of explanations for their mysterious disappearance if you have a top loader machine a sock could sneak into the crevice between the inner and outer drums then get snagged in the water drain or pump as a result of overloading the appliance it's also possible for a sock to get stuck underneath the spinning agitator for front loading watchers though a rogue suck might get lodged just underneath the rubber water seal notice the gasket and if you pull this part back you could find a gold mine of lost socks even if socks do make it to the dry cycle they can be easily victimized by static electricity and get stuck to the inside of pant legs or other materials during the folding process in short no there isn't a sock eating monster in your washing machine waterfall wonders niagara falls is pretty big but it's far from the biggest waterfall known to man some claim angel falls in venezuela is the world's tallest with a staggering height of 3212 feet and a plunge of 2648 feet but that doesn't even come close to the truth the denmark strait is more than three times the height of angel falls and it can be found in the ocean that's right this mammoth waterfall located near the southern tip of greenland begins 2 000 feet under the ocean surface and plunges to a depth of ten thousand feet a nearly two mile drop what's more the denmark strait carries an estimated 123 million cubic feet of water per second that's equivalent to almost 2 000 niagara falls at peak flow but how can a waterfall happen under water simply put cold water is denser than warm water in the denmark strait southward flowing frigid water from the nordic seas meets warmer water from the irminger sea the cold dense water quickly sinks below the warmer water and flows over the huge drop into the ocean floor creating a downward flow that goes completely undetected without the aid of scientific instruments an iphone secret apple's newest set of iphones come with a whole array of new features not to mention a hefty price tag but there's one thing that sets the iphone 12 pro and pro max models apart from their predecessors in addition to the three super powered cameras look a little closer at the back of the phone and you'll notice an inconspicuous black dot in the bottom right corner it's completely flat to the touch and pretty easy to miss on first glance but what is it it's officially known as a lidar scanner which stands for light detection and ranging this is a radar related method for optical distance and speed measurement which uses tiny laser beams that can't be perceived by the human eye a lidar scanner determines the distance between itself and an object by monitoring how long it takes a laser to bounce back by sending hundreds of thousands of light pulses every second lidar scanners can accurately work out distance and object sizes over small distances the data can then be used to construct 3d models of any environment so whether you're an architect drawing up building plans an archaeologist creating real-time 3d maps or a gamer who loves augmented reality this swanky news scanner could revolutionize the way we use our phones old school sunglasses sunglasses as we know them today were first invented sometime in 12th century china the primitive frames were a crude slab of roughly shaped smoked quartz made to block out the sun the darkened lenses were only available to the very rich they weren't vision corrected and didn't offer protection against harmful uv rays but they did help to hide emotions from others while talking this was particularly handy for chinese judges at the time who routinely wore smoke-colored quartz lenses which allowed them to conceal their true feelings and seem emotionally detached while questioning the accused but centuries before chinese judges found a use for sunglasses rudimentary snow goggles had been used by inuit and yupik communities these snow goggles would be made from driftwood ivory or bone with a slit cut into them and protected the eyes from sunlight reflecting off bright white snow i guess they had permanent cinemascope vision too no fancy riding there are plenty of bizarre laws across the united states of america but one particular law in the city of galesburg illinois is a real sucker for cyclists no fancy writing for a definition of fancy riding look no further than the galesburg coat of ordinances which states that no rider of a bicycle shall remove both hands from the handlebars or feet from the pedals or practice any acrobatic or fancy riding on any street well that rules out galesburg for my cycling circus door according to a galesburg police officer the bizarre law probably came about during a time of great concern about bicyclists safety when there were more crashes than usual thankfully the law is seldom enforced with any punishment so kids are free to take their hands off the handlebars without the fear of being thrown in jail life-saving foil seals ever wondered why pill bottles have protective foil seals beneath the lid you might assume it's there to keep the pills air tight but the real reason is far more morbid on september 29 1982 mary kellerman took a tylenol for a cold a few hours later she was dead that same day adam janus died in exactly the same circumstances when his brother and sister-in-law visited and developed headaches they took tylenol from the same bottle and both perished within the next two days in the days that followed three more people suffered the same mysterious faint by early october investigators discovered that the pills the victims took were laced with cyanide over 31 million bottles of tylenol were recalled and a couple more deadly bottles were found on shelves in the chicago area someone had taken the bottles off the shelves put cyanide into the pill capsules and then placed them back the criminal was never caught but the following year u. s congress published the tylenol bill making it a federal offense to tamper with consumer products and in 1989 the fda established federal guidelines for manufacturers to make all such products tamper proof which included protective foil seals ancient apples they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away but what if that apple had been sitting around for a year sounds totally gross but here's the catch most people have eaten a year old apple at some point apples ripen during a very short period in the u.
