TWL There are more captive tigers in the USA alone than there are wild tigers in the entire world
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums estimates that up to 12,000 tigers are being kept as private pets in the US, significantly more than the world's entire wild population, 4,000 are believed to be in captivity in Texas alone. Part of the reason for America's enormous tiger population relates to legislation. Only nineteen states have banned private ownership of tigers, fifteen require only a license, and sixteen states have no regulations at all. The success of breeding programmes at American zoos and circuses led to an overabundance of cubs in the 1980s and 1990s, which drove down prices for the animals. The SPCA estimate there are now 500 lions, tigers and other big cats in private ownership just in the Houston area.
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TWL Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise
When our solar system was formed, Venus might have begun with a different rotation period and obliquity, then migrated to the current state because of chaotic spin changes caused by Sun's gravitation and tidal effects on its dense atmosphere.
Venus rotates once every 243 Earth days—by far the slowest rotation period of any of the major planets. At the equator, the Venusian surface rotates at 6.5 km/h (about 4mph); on Earth, the rotation speed at the equator is about 1,670 km/h (about 1,038mph).
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TWL One of Mongolia’s national treasures is a fossil of a velociraptor and protoceratops locked in combat
Apparently locked in combat, these two fighting dinosaurs were remarkably preserved in this action pose some 80 million years ago.
Velociraptor was a fierce carnivore that hunted prey animals, such as the plant-eating Protoceratops. Here, the Velociraptor has embedded its deadly foot claw into the neck of the crouching Protoceratops, near the region that housed the blood supply for the head. In turn, the Protoceratops appears to have bitten and broken the right arm of the Velociraptor, whose left hand grips the head of the Protoceratops.
A sudden sand flow may have quickly buried these foes, capturing them in this fighting position. In 1971 a Polish-Mongolian team discovered this specimen embedded in the white sandstone cliffs of the southern Gobi Desert. It is considered a national treasure of Mongolia.
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TWL Some colorblind people actually cannot see color
Achromatopsia is a medical syndrome that exhibits symptoms relating to at least five separate individual diseases. Although the term may refer to acquired disorders such as color agnosia and cerebral achromatopsia, it typically refers to an autosomal recessive congenital color vision disorder, the inability to perceive color and to achieve satisfactory visual acuity at high light levels (typically exterior daylight). The syndrome is also present in an incomplete form which is more properly defined as dyschromatopsia. The only estimate of its relative occurrence of 1:33,000 in the general population dates from the 1960s or earlier.
There is some discussion as to whether achromats can see color or not. As illustrated in The Island of the Colorblind by Oliver Sacks, some achromats cannot see color, only black, white, and shades of grey. With 5 different genes currently known to cause similar symptoms, it may be that some do see marginal levels of color differentiation due to different gene characteristics. With such small sample sizes and low response rates, it is difficult to accurately diagnose the 'typical achromatic conditions'. If the light level during testing is optimized for them, they may achieve corrected visual acuity of 20/100 to 20/150 at lower light levels, regardless of the absence of color. One common trait is hemeralopia or blindness in full sun. In patients with Achromatopsia, the cone system and fibres carrying colour information remain intact. This indicates that the mechanism used to construct colours is defective.
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TWL Silly string has long been used by American and British military forces
Silly String and similar products have been used by American and British military forces to detect tripwires for explosive booby traps. The string is sprayed over the suspected area, and if the string falls to the ground, no tripwires are present since the string would catch on the tripwires (but is not heavy enough to activate the explosive).
As of 2006 it is being used by U.S. troops in Iraq for this purpose. However, because the material is an aerosol, it cannot be shipped privately to Iraq and it is not provided by official channels. Thus, 80,000 cans were unintentionally stockpiled in New Jersey. In October 2007, a shipping company with the required credentials was finally found.
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TWL Where the original argument for finger printing prisoners comes from
In 1903, a prisoner named Will West arrived at Leavenworth. The record clerk took the photographs above and, thinking he remembered West, asked whether he had been there before. West said no.
The clerk took some measurements, went to the file, and produced this record, bearing the name William West:
Amazed, the prisoner said, “That’s my picture, but I don’t know where you got it, for I know I have never been here before.”
Incredibly, this was true. A different William West had been serving a life sentence at Leavenworth since 1901, and the new prisoner had the same name, face, and measurements.
The case became a strong argument in favor of the new science of fingerprinting.
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TWL That there is no link between sugar and hyperactivity
Experts say some of the most convincing evidence against the link between food and behavior is on busting the sugar-hyperactivity myth.
"There is elegant research demonstrating that sugar is not at all related to inattention or hyperactivity," says Mina Dulcan, MD, head of child and adolescent psychiatry at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Dulcan and Pliszka point to studies that have shown no effect of sugar on the behavior of children whose parents are convinced that the food makes them more hyperactive. But if the parents think their child has had sugar, they often perceive a difference in behavior that is not really there by objective measures.
Instead, psychiatrists say it's the context of parties, holidays, and other special occasions in which children get their biggest doses of sugar that is often responsible for behavior changes.
Dulcan says part of the reason the sugar-hyperactivity myth has persisted is because people often confuse proximity with causality when it comes to food and behavior. When parents observe a change in behavior, their minds often go back to the child's last treat rather than other circumstances that might have influenced the behavior.
Experts say most children get too much sugar in their diets anyway, but cutting back on sugar is no substitute for addressing other issues that affect behavior. If the child's behavior is disrupting family life or affecting their performance in school, it may be a symptom of bigger problem, such as a conduct disorder or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and should be evaluated by a mental health professional.
"It won't hurt anybody to limit their sugar," says Dulcan. "But it won't help their behavior."
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TWL That random and pre-employment drug tests are illegal in Canada.
According to the Canadian Human Rights Act, random drug tests are not allowed in Canada. In addition, this Act bans pre-employment drug screening. The one exception to the ban on drug tests in Canada is alcohol testing including breathalysers in situations where the safety of employees could be at risk if alcohol is consumed at work
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TWL 10,000 shipping containers are lost at sea each year
Each year, an estimated 10,000 shipping containers fall off container ships at sea. Although many of these containers float at the surface for months, most eventually sink to the seafloor. No one knows what happens to these containers once they reach the deep seafloor.
From March 8 to March 10, 2011, a team of researchers from MBARI and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) will use a robotic submarine to study the biological impacts of a shipping container resting on the seafloor about 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside of Monterey Bay (but still within the boundaries of the sanctuary).
MBARI researchers first discovered this lost container at a depth of about 1,300 meters (4,200 feet) during a marine biology dive in June 2004. Video from MBARI’s submersible clearly showed serial numbers on the side of this container. Sanctuary staff sent these numbers to the U.S. customs agency, which was able to identify the ship that had originally carried the container.
The merchant vessel Med Taipei left San Francisco on February 25, 2004, in the middle of a winter storm. As the ship steamed south toward the Port of Los Angeles, it began rolling violently in seven- to nine-meter (23- to 30-foot) swells. In a rush to get his goods to port, the captain continued southward at high speed, despite the rolls. Unbeknownst to the captain and crew, the containers on their ship had been stacked incorrectly, with massive, heavy containers perched on top of lighter ones.
Shortly after midnight on February 26, when the Med Taipei was directly offshore of Monterey Bay, stacks of containers began to break free of their lashings and topple sideways. Fifteen of the 40-foot-long containers fell overboard into the churning sea. Yet the ship continued south. By the time the ship reached the Port of Los Angeles, nine more containers had fallen overboard, and another 21 lay crumpled on deck.
Map of Monterey Bay area showing where containers were lost and where one container was found
This map shows the reported position of the container ship Med Taipei when it lost lost 15 containers overboard on February 26, 2004. It also shows where one of these containers landed on the seafloor, just outside of Monterey Bay. Image: MBARI/Google Earth
You would have thought a disaster like this would have made the national news. But no one was hurt, and there is no legal requirement for shipping companies to report such losses. No government officials knew about this debacle except perhaps a few customs inspectors.
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TWL The British gave their troops LSD to see what would happen
A crew of British military men were each given LSD-25 (Acid) while on the field.
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- TWL There are more captive tigers in the USA alone than there are wild tigers in the entire world
- TWL Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise
- TWL One of Mongolia’s national treasures is a fossil of a velociraptor and protoceratops locked in combat
- TWL Some colorblind people actually cannot see color
- TWL Silly string has long been used by American and British military forces
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