Here are some fun facts to help get you through the day and look like the most informed person at the water cooler…
Fun (or not-so-fun) Facts:
- The African spiny mouse is the only known mammal that can lose up to 60% of its skin and grow it all back. Their skins are brittle and can easily tear to help them escape their predators.
- Isaac Newton believed the world would end in 2060 . . . not based on his scientific studies or findings but based on the extreme religious beliefs he developed late in his life.
- There’s a place called Inaccessible Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and, because of weather patterns, it’s only possible to get there one week a year.
- The world’s first cyberattack happened in 1988 when a student at Cornell University wrote a program to detect how many computers were connected to the Internet . . . and he wound up clogging up the entire thing.
- Based on the way our bodies are built, we SHOULD faint every time we stand up . . . and scientists are just now figuring out why we don’t. They believe it has to do with some special neurons that keep it from happening.
(Nature / NY Post / Atlas Obscura / Live Science / Science Alert)
Strange and trending news:
- 65% of people say they “feel too much pressure” on their vacations to actually enjoy it. (Full Story)
- 23% of parents say they were more excited to get a pet than their kids. (Full Story) (To be clear, the parents said they were more excited about getting the pet than the kids were . . . not more excited about getting a pet than having kids. Although that may also be true.) (???)
- If you had a child, which do you think would be worse . . . finding out they were being bullied . . . or finding out they ARE a bully? In a poll, 35% say them being bulled would be worse. 45% say it’s finding out they ARE a bully. (Full Story)
- Chocolate makers are reporting booming sales . . . and not just because of Halloween. (Full Story)
- A 36-year-old man in Massachusetts was caught driving nearly 110 miles per hour on a highway . . . with a child in the car. (Full Story)
- A 38-year-old man in Texas was caught stuffing a bottle of eggnog in his pants . . . and hair brushes in his pocket . . . at a grocery store. And then, he FOUGHT with store employees. (Full Story)
- A 35-year-old man named Jason Bourne was arrested for assault in the U.K. recently. And yeah, that’s apparently his real name. (Full Story)
- Election Fall-Out: Pennsylvania State Representative Tony DeLuca won re-election in the state’s 32nd Legislative District . . . but sadly, he isn’t still around to know about it. He died on October 9th of lymphoma. He was 85. (Full Story)
- Recreational weed is now legal in 21 states. The potheads at“USA Today” have a rundown of where it passed, and where it was rejected this week. (Full Story)
- 5% of Americans think we have the worst electoral system in the world . . . and the people who were MOST likely to say it’s the worst are: Independents and others who aren’t aligned with one particular party. (Full Story)
- Voters in North Carolina just elected a 21-year-old college student with no experience to be a county tax collector. He’s still in school . . . but now he’s also responsible for collecting $40 million annually in property taxes. In an interview, he said he thinks he can handle both school AND the job. (Full Story)