Interesting Facts

Researchers have worked out how shoelaces come undone. (Seemingly "knot failure" happens in a matter of seconds, and is triggered by a complex interaction of forces:  These include  the stomping of the foot, which gradually loosens the knot.  The movement of the foot creates a whipping force which acts like hands tugging on the ends of the laces. Then as the tension in the knot eases and the free ends start to slide, a runaway effect takes hold whereby the knot suddenly unravels. They offered some advice to those plagued by this issue: The  square knot is less likely to come unravelled compared with a granny knot. All in all it is a knotty problem.)

According to researchers at Kyoto University cats have a rudimentary understanding of physics. (The researchers showed how cats would react differently when they shook boxes with something in them, than when they shook empty boxes. Amazing! Cats reacted to a rattling sound? I don't suppose it occured to them that the shake of a cat  treats container has preconditioned cats to this.)  

According to British scientists over half of the world's plants are misnamed. (Scientists at the University of Oxford and the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh discovered that one species of African ginger has been called the wrong name for more than half a century. Recorded as Aframomum alboviolaceum by scientists in 1945, researchers last year correctly identified it as Aframomum lutarium.   A new species, first discovered this year, Ipomoea lactifera, which is a wild relative of the sweet potato, had been incorrectly labelled in collections as a different species, Ipomoea umbraticola. In yet another case, researchers found a specimen of Ipomoea lactifera which did not even have a name recorded to it. Never mind guys, think of all the fun you'll have putting it to rights.)

For years, mysterious radio signals known as perytons have been picked up at the Parkes Observatory in Australia. (Theories as to the source of the signals had ranged from evaporating black holes to extraterrestrial communication and mergers of neutron stars. Now researchers at the Parkes Observatory claim they have finally found the source of these 'alien' signals - it was the microwave in the staff kitchen. Seemingly, if you open the microwave door before the timer goes off a brief burst of radiowaves can be generated, because the magnetron hasn't completely turned off, and as a result, the microwave oven briefly transmits radio waves into the open air. Which goes to prove that scientists don't read the instruction manual - "DO NOT open the oven door until 2 beeps sound and cooking time appears on the Display Window.") 

Experiments carried out at the University of California have shown you can unboil an egg. (Scientists have figured out how to pull apart the proteins in cooked egg whites, and allow them to refold into their original shape. I don't really know whether I would want to uncook my breakfast.) Source

A new study, conducted at Yale university, suggests that having a cold nose might make us more vulnerable to catching a cold. (The reason for this is that cold weather tends to lead to a spike in sniffles and sneezes, because the cold virus thrives in a slightly cooler environment. Professor Akiko Iwasaki, says there might be a simple, even old-fashioned way, to ward off the common cold,  we simply keep our nose toasty by wearing a thick scarf over it, just like granny taught us. Personally, I think scientists are annoyed they haven't found a cure.)

Scientists have found that californium, a synthetic chemical element discovered in the early 1950s, shows potential for storing and even recycling radioactive waste into fuel. (This sounds like great news, until you realise that five milligrams of californium costs a whopping $1.4 million.) Interesting Video Source

According to a study carried out at the University of Minnesota, in the USA, rats experience regret when their actions make them miss out on better food options. (Scientists believe that the emotion of "regret" is unique to humans, and is different to disappointment.  Prof David Redish said, "Regret is the recognition that you made a mistake, that if you had done something else, you would have been better off. The hard part was that we had to separate disappointment, which is just when things aren't as good as you hoped. The key was letting the rats choose. Funnily the dictionary defines regret as a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment.)

Britain has its first cloned dog, a tiny dachshund puppy. (The crazy thing is that the cloning was the prize in a competition from Sooam Biotech who are launching a £60,000 dog cloning service in the UK. The "winner" was Rebecca Smith, the owner of a 15 year old dachshund called Winnie. I guess they will call the puppy Winnie the Mini.)

According to ONS (Office for National Statistics) figures in the UK, just over 80% of "science, research, engineering and technology professionals" are male. (By contrast, 82% of workers in "caring, leisure and other services", and 78% of administrative and secretarial workers are female.)

Scientists have grown a miniature "human brain". (The artificially grown brain is  the size of a pea, and incapable of growing any larger, or achieving any kind of "thought".   I think I have that brain!) Source

According to a study published in the journal Psychological Science, singing Happy Birthday before having a slice of cake makes it taste better. (The study shows that performing rituals before eating food can make it taste better. It works by creating what the psychologists call an 'intrinsic interest' in the food, which draws you into the experience of eating and boosts any positive feelings towards it. I wonder if it would work on a plate of spinach?)

The last typewriter to be made in Britain has come off production line - and gone straight into the Science Museum in London. (The last typewriter, manufactured by Brother's in Wrexham, has been sent to the Science Museum to be displayed as an artefact. The saddest thing is this ends nearly 30 years of production at the company's plant, which has produced 5.9 million typewriters since it first opened in 1985. I learnt to type on a sit up and beg typewriter. Yes, I am that old.)

Researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam ave identified genetic factors that contribute to facial appearance. (The scientists have managed to identify 9 points, including the position of the cheekbones, the distance between the eyes, and the height, width and length of the nose. This could mean that the good old photo-fit might be a thing of the past, as it may be possible in the future to produce portraits of suspects from a scrap of their DNA.)  

The vast majority of the human genome plays a vital function by regulating the genes that build and maintain the body. (This debunks the myth of "junk" DNA, a term coined 40 years ago to describe the part of the genome that does not contain any genes, but it is in fact an elaborate patchwork of regulatory sequences that act as a huge operating system for controlling the genome. So, be careful of calling stuff you don't fully understand "junk".) The research was carried out by hundreds of researchers from 32 institutes around the world and the findings published in a series of 30 research papers in Nature, Science and other scientific journals.

Scientists have found the gene that makes people happy – but it only works in women. (The gene, called MAOA, affects the levels of feel-good chemicals in the brain, and comes in two varieties, a highly active and a less active type. Women with the less active type were happier than others, and those with two copies of the ‘happy’ type of MAOA were the happiest. However even though many of the men in the study carried the gene they were no happier than others and this could be because its effects are cancelled out by testosterone. I always knew testosterone was a poison.) Source: Daily Mail

According to a study carried out by psychologists at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, members of the upper classes are more likely to lie, cheat and even break the law than people from less privileged backgrounds. (The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that those from rich or powerful backgrounds appeared greedier, more likely to lie in negotiation and more likely to cheat. Is this really a surprise? They didn't get rich by being nice.)

According to economics students at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA it would cost more than £541,261 trillion just for the raw materials to build a real Star Wars Death Star. ( This is 13,000 times the world's gross domestic product (GDP), and that's just to supply the steel; labour and other construction costs would send the costs even higher. Oh and if that weren't enough, it would take more than 833,315 years at current production levels to supply enough steel for the 87 mile diameter space craft. So, if you were hoping to achieve universal dominance any time soon, think again. Somehow this actually reassures me.)

According to an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists in Russia have grown plants from 30,000 year old fruit. (The fruit found in n the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia, was probably squirreled away by - squirrels, and the Institute of Cell Biophysics team raised plants of Silene stenophylla - of the campion family from it. This is the oldest plant material by far to have been brought back to life, the record was previously held by date palm seeds found Masada in Israel, which were a mere  2,000 years old.)

According to scientists at the University of Cambridge, abnormalities in the brain may make some people more likely to become drug addicts. (Experts have always been unsure whether drugs changed the wiring of the brain or if drug addicts' brains were wired differently in the first place and this study has shown the same differences in the brains of addicts and their non-addicted brothers and sisters. So you really can blame it on  your parents.) Source