Interesting Facts

The island of Ikaria is almost as far east as Greece gets,  just 100 square miles in size, the mountainous island is 30 miles off the coast of Turkey, but that's not what makes it interesting. What is interesting is the people there live longer and better than almost anywhere else on the planet. (According to longevity expert, Dan Buettner, Ikaria has that certain je ne sais quoi, and he has added Ikaria to the list of places in the world that have come closest to cracking the secret of eternal life.  A study showed that people on Ikaria were reaching the age of 90 with two and a half times the frequency of Americans. Ikarian men, in particular, are four times as likely to reach 90, often in better health. Other places on the list are: the island of Okinawa in Japan, the town of Loma Linda in California, certain parts of Costa Rica and the hills around the province of Nuoro in Sardinia. So, now you know. Oh and there's a web site (of course) of all these blue zone...

Fossils unearthed at two sites in China reveal that fleas, up to 10 times as large as modern fleas, drank the blood of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. (These Jurassic fleas are believed to be 165 million years old. They had claws on each of their six legs, with tiny teeth on the claws that helped the insects cling to hair shafts, and feathers. I do hope no-one gets the idea of cloning these wee beasties.) Source and icky picture.

The cost of the UK's happiness index has soared to £8 million. (The UK  Government has admitted that the Office of National Statistics has a £2million-a-year budget for it every year until 2015.  Well at least they'll be happy.)

According to  Professor Mark Wilcox, Clinical Director of Microbiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, whether you close the toilet lid before you flush, could have an impact on the spread of infections. (Seemingly leaving the lid up when you flush can allow a cloud of bacteria to explode into the air, settling on nearby surfaces. I won't go into the specifics, but they tested  the hospital superbug C. difficile, and  found that when flushing, bacteria was transported up to 10 inches above the toilet seat when it was open, and was found on the cistern, to the right and left of the toilet seat, and on the floor, in fact it was still detected in the air up to 90 minutes later, but when the lid was closed no C. diff. was recovered on any surface.  So, men, now you know why us women get so annoyed when you leave the lid up.) Source

According to a Royal Society report the age of criminal responsibility (currently 10 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) might be too low. (In a scientific study scans of the brain showed that at the age of 10 the parts of the brain connected with decision-making and judgement are still developing and are not fully mature "until at least the age of 20". Looking at the way some people behave, I wonder if they should be so sure it's 20.) Source

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) the cheapest lunchtime meal in Britain is the toast sandwich. (This shouldn't be confused with the toasted sandwich, or toasty. A toast sandwich, popular in mid-Victorian times, consists of two slices of bread around a slice of toast. The meal, which will cost you 7.5p to make, was first promoted by Victorian food writer Mrs Beeton. Here is the recipe:- Ingredients 3 slices of bread Butter Salt and pepper Method 1. Toast a thin slice of bread. 2. Butter two slices of bread and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. 3. Place the toast between the two slices of bread-and-butter to form a sandwich. 4. Eat. Bon appetite!)

According to the US 2011 Land Report 100, which ranks the top land owners, John Malone is now America’s biggest individual landowner. (The 70-year-old cable pioneer and chairman of Liberty Media now owns 2.2 million acres, after purchasing more than 1 million acres of timberland in Maine and New Hampshire earlier this year. I wonder if anyone has told him, you can't take it with you Mr Malone.)

The tiny water flea has more genes than you or I do. (It was the first crustacean to have its genome sequenced, and if you don't believe that it could be more complex than magnificent you, the average human has about 20,000 to 25,000 genes, whereas this little critter has  31,000 genes.  Which makes it the animal with the most genes to date.  As if that wasn't enough.  more than a third of the genes in the water flea are unique, and have never been seen before.  You see size really doesn't count, it's the actual count that matters.)

According to research by TV Licensing, people in Scotland watch an average of five hours’ television a day. (Tick tock, tick tock. You need to look at the previous post to make any sense of that .)

According to the results of a study published by the University of Queensland, watching too much TV is as bad for your health as smoking. (They calculated that over the age of 25 an hour of TV shortens the lifespan by an average of around 22 minutes, so >six hours of daily television viewing can cut a person’s life expectancy by five years. Tick tock, tick tock. Oh dear, I wonder if the same is true for staring at a computer monitor, or sitting behind a camera?)

Google's browser, Chrome, has become Britain's second most popular. (According to web metrics firm Statcounter. 22% of UK users now use Chrome, overtaking Mozilla's Firefox browser. Apple's Safari is number four, with a 9% share, but Microsoft's Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser for UK users with 45% of the market. I think the fact that it is pre-installed on almost all computers sold in Britain might explain that. Personally I use Chrome, Firefox and IE. I wonder what the statisticians would make of that.)

Apple has more money than the US government. (As of July 27th, the US Treasury held operating cash of $73.7bn, whereas according to its recent financial results, Apple had a few dollars more (cue spaghetti western music) at $76.4bn. It seems that Apple, once the darling of the independent anti-Bill Gates movement, is now the big corporate giant that everyone accused Microsoft of being. It has been valued at $364bn, compared with Microsoft's $230.5bn. At the moment, there is only one other corporation in the world – Exxon Mobil – that is bigger. So how has this maker of toys for the well-heeled become so rich? Well, apart from making diamond studded iPhones, if you want your paper or magazine to be available on the iTunes subscription store, it will cost you 30% for Apple straight off. Let's face it, in the Apple economy, only Apple gets rich.)

According to the Daily Mail, there are five times as many full time male staff who earn over £200,000, which is more than the prime minister does, as women at the BBC. (In addition, there are twice as many men on more than £100,000 at the BBC and the average man's pay is £41,916 while it is only £36,827 for female employees. They spent £212 million on star salaries last year, but I guess with a budget of £3.5 billion, they can afford it. I have to say I wasn't surprised by this story, the BBC is a perfect example of the "old boys network" in action. My question is, is there an ''old girls network'', and how do I get in it?)

Clownfish (of finding Nemo fame) can change sex. (Seemingly Clownfish society is quite hierarchical, with a reproducing female followed by a mating male, lower down the pecking order there is a bunch of non-mating males waiting in the wings, but, if the mating female dies, the dominant male morphs into a girly fish, and chooses a partner from the various non-mating males. Now that's not something they showed in the film, is it?)

Packets of sweets in the UK are starting to carry health warnings. (JellyBelly jelly beans, Ferrara Pan Atomic FireBlast candy and some swirly whirly lollipops are all carrying the warning that the artificial food colourings they contain, which include tartrazine -E102 and cochineal red-E122, are proven to have an impact on kids' behaviour. The warning is, "May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." Now you may think that this shows the manufacturers are being sensible, but they are simply following European Parliament regulations which ordered firms to warn of the risks associated with additives and colourings. The Food Standards Agency called for an outright ban, so I doubt the industry is worried, after all warnings have been commonplace on cigarette packaging for many years, but people still light up.) Source

That hat - the "unique sculptural celebratory headpiece" (not my words) as worn by Princess Beatrice to last month's royal wedding, is for sale on eBay. (Now, one would think that people of taste would avoid this particular auction like the plague, but of course it takes all sorts, and one person has bid £75,000!)

According to a report published by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, in 2010, South Korea had the fastest broadband in the world. (South Korea recorded a nice, healthy, average speed of 14.6 Mbps, while Japan occupied the second spot with an average speed of 7.9 Mbps. Constanta in Romania was found to be the fastest European city for broadband, with internet users able to download at an average of 8.23Mb. And the UK? 26th place! I checked my speed last week, and found I get a measly 3.5Mb. So, it's no wonder it takes me so long to post here!)

According to the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, around four in 10 British women buy shoes knowing they do not fit, and nearly two out of 10 men do the same. (I'm not surprised about the women, it's silly, but society says women are supposed to have small, dainty feet, but I am surprised at the men, or maybe they simply say their feet are larger than they really are.)

According to a study published in the journal Conservation Biology, up to one billion frogs are taken from the wild for human consumption each year. (France and the US are the two biggest importers, and Indonesia the largest exporter of frogs.)

According to Visit Britain, the British Monarchy generates over £500 million a year through attracting overseas tourists. (British culture and heritage, from theatres and galleries, to pubs, Premiership Football, castles and stately homes - generated £4.6 billion in total spending by overseas tourists in 2009, and supported 100,000 jobs, the report said. But within that total one-in-eight of those sites – ranging from the Tower of London to The Palace of Hollyroodhouse in Edinburgh and Ruthin Castle in Wales – are associated with the Monarchy. The report reveals that foreign tourists who visited them generated £500 million of spending, directly and indirectly. I wonder if they'd still come even if there was no monarchy?)