Things I Learned: 10/25/11

-The Ancient Egyptians invented bowling

-Some dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia use conch shells to catch fish.

-Superior canal dehiscence syndrome, an inner ear disorder caused by a small hole in the bone covering part of the inner ear, causes every sound within the body to be amplified. (People with this disorder can hear their eyeballs move.)

-Wooly rhinos, which lived in what is now Tibet about 1 million years before the Ice Age, had large flat forward-leaning front horns that most likely acted as snow shovels.

-Niacin deficiency causes pellagra, a shriveling disease the Italians got from eating too much polenta (which is made from corn, which is deficient in niacin). Native Americans also ate a lot of corn, but they planted their corn with beans, which are loaded with niacin.

-Thomas Jefferson brought dried pasta to America.

-The model T was offered in colors until 1914 when Henry ford discovered that black paint dried faster.

-Fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on a cat.

-“Thriller” was originally titled “Starlight.”

-People’s tolerance for grossness (measured by their response to images of gross things like a man eating worms) is linked to their political views. People who were more disgusted by gross images tended to be more conservative. Study subjects who opposed gay marriage tended to exhibit the deepest levels of disgust for the images.

-Last year, 25% of the bras sold in intimacy boutiques were size G or larger.

-Dueling is legal in Paraguay (as long as both parties are registered blood donors).

-Personal drug use is not a criminal offense in Portugal.

-In Kentucky, it’s illegal for a human female to appear in a bathing suit on a highway unless she’s a) escorted by at least two police officers; b) armed with a club; c) lighter than 90 pounds or d) heavier than 200 pounds. A female horse can appear in a bathing suit on a highway without any of these silly restrictions.

-Shorter lower legs allow animals (modern mammals and Neanderthals) to maneuver over mountainous terrain more efficiently than those with longer lower legs.

-It’s illegal to plow a cotton field with an elephant in North Carolina.