Isabel

Thanksgiving is an official holiday due to the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb. Sarah Josepha Hale wrote to 5 different U.S. presidents asking them to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, finally convincing Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Source

The older you get the happier you are. Older people tend to be happier because they’re better at letting go of disappointments, but studies show that older brains also lose cognitive ability - making it easier to only concentrate on simple, happy thoughts. Source

Elephants are fighting poachers with evolution. An increasing number of elephants are being born tuskless. Experts think this could be due to males with the biggest tusks being hunted, so the smaller tusked males are doing more breeding. Source

Most Americans will pay more for organic food, even though they don’t know what it is. A 2014 study showed that 70% of shoppers were buying some sort of organic food, but 20% of them couldn’t explain what “organic” food means. Source

The comet that the Rosetta probe landed on is relatively small. At nearly 2.5 miles wide, you could walk across it in an hour, but this is how it looks compared to downtown Los Angeles. Source

There’s a ‘Normal Barbie’ doll that has brown hair and the measurements of an average 19-year-old girl. It comes with stickers that give the doll acne, cellulite, stretch marks, scars, freckles, and moles in hopes to teach kids that real life is cool. Source

Ancient Egyptian paint could gives us better phones. The world’s 1st synthetic pigment was “Egyptian blue,” and scientists found that it’s made of nanomaterials that can be used to improve TV remotes, phones, satellites, medical imaging, and the Internet. Source

William Shakespeare invented the word swagger. In fact, he invented over 1,700 common words that we use today, including bedazzled, aroused, drugged, addiction, puking, bloodstained, accused, dauntless, assassination, cold-blooded, elbow, and eyeball. Source

Sex makes you smarter. Having sex improves cognitive function and increases the rate of new brain cells being formed, giving you more brain power. But it doesn’t work in reverse, because smarter people usually have less sex. Source

Edgar Allen Poe predicted the future. His only novel is about 4 shipwrecked men who run out of food and eat the cabin boy, Richard Parker. 46 years after it published, a yacht sank in real life and 3 of the 4 survivors also decided to eat the cabin boy… named Richard Parker. Source

Fake smiles are more asymmetrical than real ones. Studies of facial expressions have shown that sincere smiles are often more symmetrical than those that are forced, which is why they look more pleasant. Source

If you could dig a hole through the Earth and jump in (without dying), you would not come out the other side. You’d fall down for 20 minutes until you reached the center, then technically you be considered ‘falling up’ until you made it to the opposite surface - where you’d fall down, over and over again. Forever. Source

Women can see more shades of red than men. The gene that allows us to see the color red is on the X chromosome, of which men only have 1. Because women have 2, they can see crimson, maroon, cardinal, ruby, and scarlet, but men may only see light red and dark red. Source

> > See videos of ravens talking here! (you won’t believe it at first)«

Ravens can imitate human speech. Their voices are deep and similar to a man’s, and some can learn to talk better than parrots. They’re also able to mimic wolf and fox calls to lead them to a carcass they want to eat but can’t open. Source

Racism is bad for your health. People who have negative feelings toward other races, and people who experience discrimination both release more stress hormones that damage the body. Researchers found that victims of racism have higher blood pressure and a greater decline of kidney function- symptoms that are both linked to stress. Source

Action-gamers are better learners. They excel at predicting the sequence of upcoming events and become better learners by playing fast-paced games, according to a recent study. Source

This baby elephant took down 14 lions. After straying from his mom, lions attacked the 1 year old elephant. He outsmarted them when he realized their hatred of water and ran into a watering hole to fight them off. He was later reunited with his family and given the name Hercules because of his courage and strength. Source

afloweroutofstone:

Citizens in various countries around the world were asked by WIN/Gallup in their 2013 End of Year survey, “Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?” Above, the number one answer from each nation is represented by the flag flown over their country. Thanks to Joe Hammer on Youtube for making the map.

Surprise, surprise.

(not really)

If you drink more, you earn more. Studies show drinkers earn 10-14% more money than those who don’t, and men who visit bars at least once a month earn an additional 7% more. CEOs claim it’s due to the connection between socializing and career advancement. Source

Brothers Gonzo and Poncho were on a dog sled team, but Gonzo went blind. He wanted to keep running, so Poncho began to nudge him in the right direction. Now Gonzo leans on his brother so they can run together every day. Source

Sony’s VAIO logo contains a hidden message. The letters ‘VA’ are a sine wave, and the letters ‘IO’ are a 1 and 0 that symbolize the digital signals in binary code. Together, they represent technology evolving from analog to digital. Source

Merkins are pubic wigs worn by actresses who don’t have enough pubes or need to cover their genitalia during nude scenes in a film. Women used them in the 1400s when they shaved themselves to combat pubic lice, and prostitutes wore them to hide their syphilis. Note: sometimes they are made of beaver fur. Source

In 1983, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video played for a week at a movie theater so it could qualify for an Oscar nomination, but it opened for Disney’s Fantasia and terrified the children. It did not get nominated. Source

Tardis em tamanho real na Comic Con Experience? Tem sim senhor!!! #CCXP Nerds de plantão, ATENÇÃO! Mais um de nossos sonhos está se tornando realidade! Quem for à Comic Con Experience em dezembro poderá tirar foto com a TARDIS EM TAMANHO REAL no estande da Loja Mundo Geek, que estará presente vendendo produtos oficiais de Doctor Who … Continue lendo »

The post Loja Mundo Geek traz Tardis em tamanho real para a Comic Con Experience! #CCXP appeared first on Doctor Who Brasil.

The Rubik’s Cube was invented because Erno Rubik wanted to build a structure with pieces that move independently without falling apart. He had no idea he was creating the best-selling toy of all time until he scrambled it and tried to fix it. It took him a month to figure it out. Source

►► Read more about what text messaging does to relationships and why women should do it and not men

In a heterosexual relationship, when the woman frequently texts her partner they are both happier with each other. But the more men text, both partners feel less happy and women often consider ending the relationship. Source

Stem cells could extend the lives of future humans. Scientists injected mice that normally live 21 days with stem cells and they lived about 70 days, which is equal to an 80 year old human living to be 200. Source

You can win an argument by using ‘extreme agreement.’ For example, instead of asking a political radical ‘why’ they want a specific change, asking them ‘how’ they suggest making that change will soften their views because you’ve turned the idea into something too extreme to accomplish. Source

When you start to panic because you’re about to introduce someone and you can’t remember their name, don’t feel too bad. It’s such a popular occurrence that the Scots have their own word for it: tartle. Source

A study found female scientists are consistently judged as less competent and offered lower salaries than males with identical qualifications - even if they were being hired by other female scientists. Source