The United States consumes 22% of all pesticides used throughout the world. It works out to 6,135 pounds (2,782 kg) per person per year. That’s more than the weight of Continue reading “Pesticides”
Category: Food and Drink
Biggest Philanthropists
Who are the world’s greatest philanthropists? The makers of Cracker Jacks have given away fifteen billion prizes.
Bananas
Bananas do not grow on trees, they grow on big herb plants.
Official Uncorker of Bottles
An unusual profession: A man was named “Official Uncorker of Bottles” by Queen Elizabeth I. A law was passed that stated all bottles found washed up on beaches had to be opened by this man, and no one else, in case they contained sensitive military messages. The penalty for anyone else opening a bottle was the death sentence.
Champagne Corks
Some countries have passed laws that restrict the popping of champagne corks. The wine bottles sold in those countries must have tethers that keep the cork from flying across the room. In the United States, there are several law suits every year initiated by people injured from champagne corks.
Medical and Nutritional Training
The average doctor goes to medical school for four years, yet gets only two and a half hours of education on nutrition as it applies to preventive medicine or curative medicine.
The Way Spiders Eat
Spiders inject their victims with a chemical that dissolves them. Then the spiders drink their lunch with their mouths which are soda straw-like. A tarantula can totally liquefy a mouse.
Life Without Water
You can last about eleven days without water.
Number of Taste Buds
Some people have as many as 500 taste buds per square centimeter, others as few as five per square centimeter. Do pancakes with maple syrup taste the same to you as they do to me?
Four Kinds of Taste Buds
We have four different kinds of taste buds. Each can taste only one type of flavor. These basic flavors are sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Smell, texture and imagination make up the rest of the variety of flavors we experience. If you could feed a slice of raw potato to a blindfolded volunteer who also had a plugged nose, and said the potato was an apple, the volunteer would not say otherwise.