(Using a process known as gas chromatography mass spectrometry to isolate some 46 different compounds they then asked people to describe what they smelt like. Some of the smells they identified included butterscotch, cocoa, onion, flowers, cheese, and, believe it or not, ironing boards. It sounds like they asked Jilly Goolden to take part.)
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Interesting Food # 46 - Chips
Posted: February 10th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: smell
Scientists at Leeds University have isolated the tempting smell of chips.
(Using a process known as gas chromatography mass spectrometry to isolate some 46 different compounds they then asked people to describe what they smelt like. Some of the smells they identified included butterscotch, cocoa, onion, flowers, cheese, and, believe it or not, ironing boards. It sounds like they asked Jilly Goolden to take part.) -
On This Day
Posted: February 9th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: on this day
1763 - The Seven Years' War between Britain and Spain ended when The Treaty of Paris was signed. -
Interesting Animal # 83 - Snakes
Posted: February 9th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: snake
According to a report in the journal Nature, the fossilised remains of the world's largest snake, which lived in the rain forests of north-east Colombia 58-60 million years ago, show that it was about the length of a bus.
(They've called it the Titanoboa and it's estimated that it was 42ft (13m) long, weighed more than a tonne and it was so wide it would have reached up to a person's hips. To put it into perspective reticulated pythons - the world's longest snakes - can reach up to 32ft (10m) and green anacondas - the world's heaviest snakes - are lightweights at just 550lbs (250kg). I have heard of the film "Snakes on a plane", but they could make a new one called "The snake is a bus".) -
Interesting Fact # 987 - English Football Podcast
Posted: February 8th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: Interesting fact
According to FA chairman Lord Triesman, English football has total debts of more than three billion pounds (3.9 billion euros).
(Unsurprisingly, he says that the four big clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, probably account for about a third of that amount. They obviously subscribe to the Lily Allen school of Economics: "But it doesn’t matter cause I'm packing plastic, and that’s what makes my life so FA fantastic." -
Interesting Fact # 986 - Google Mail
Posted: February 7th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: Interesting fact
Google has adapted its free email service so that users can adjust their email settings to activate a feature that makes you solve a few simple math problems after you click "send" to verify you're in the right state of mind.
(It's to prevent anyone from letting loose after a few too many, just to make sure you really want to tell your boss what you think of him / her. Not recommended for anyone who is mathematically challenged though.) -
Interesting Fact # 985 - Transport
Posted: February 6th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: uk
According to the Tax Payers Alliance, in the fiscal year 2007/2008 13 out of 20 UK Government Departments spent over £18.5 million in flights.
(£10.6 million went on business and first class flights. But, when you include quangos and other bodies,the total bill for public sector flights was almost £70 million. I've never even been in first class, or business class, which is probably because so much of my income goes on taxes to pay for this.) -
On This Day
Posted: February 6th, 2009, 5:46am EST by Your Teacher
Tags: Interesting Facts
1958 - British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the Busby Babes, along with a number of supporters and journalists. Twenty-three of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in what was to be called The Munich Air Disaster. -
On This Day
Posted: February 5th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: queen
1952 - King George VI died in his sleep aged just 56 and Princess Elizabeth became sovereign of Great Britain.
(She wasn't declared Queen until February 8, and wasn't crowned Queen Elizabeth II until June 2, 1953.) -
Interesting Fact # 984 - The Trabi
Posted: February 5th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: trabi
The number of Trabants registered in Germany sank from 920,162 in 1993, to 52,432 in 2007 and to just 38,912 in 2008.
(Why? Well it has been driven by new emission regulations (you're simply not allowed to drive Trabis within most major cities here). So where have they all gone? Well without embarking on a Trabi hunt I can only think that a lot must be just sitting around not rusting away, they may outlast us all, although I have it on good authority that some Trabant bodies were ground up and used instead of sand or salt for traction on winter roads in the 90s. That said, people are strangely nostalgic about the old East Germany. They even have a word for it Ostalgie, (nostalgia for East Germany). Ost means east in German. So, I envisage lots of Trabi rallies in the future.) -
Interesting Fact # 983 - The Trabi
Posted: February 4th, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: trabi
Between 1957 and 19991 3,096,099 Trabants were produced in Zwickau.
(From ordering to delivery there was a waiting period of at least ten years.) -
On This Day
Posted: February 3rd, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: on this day
1789 - George Washington was elected the first president of the United States.
(He was from Virginia, and was the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was elected by all 69 presidential electors who cast their votes.) -
Interesting Fact # 982 - Aging
Posted: February 3rd, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: divorce
Research published in the ASPS medical journal, says that divorce can add two years to the age you look.
(Researchers examined 186 pairs of identical twins and found that twins who had been divorced looked nearly two years older than their identical siblings who were married, widowed or single. I wonder how many years it's added to Zsa Zsa Gabor? But then I guess anyone who can come up with the line, "I'm an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house,” didn't find the process that stressful.) -
Interesting Fact # 981 - Internet Use
Posted: February 2nd, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: Interesting fact
A study by global market information group TNS has shown that the Chinese spend the largest fraction of their leisure time online, an average of 40%, and under 25s a whopping 50%.
(However, in the UK, housewives spend even more time than that. Stuff the ironing! Let's hear it for the British housewife!) -
On This Day
Posted: February 2nd, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: buddy holly
1959 - Buddy Holly died. -
On This Day
Posted: February 1st, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: greenhouse gases
2007 - Hundreds of scientists who had taken part in a U.N.-sponsored study concluded in a report that human activity was to blame for global warming, largely through greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels. -
Interesting Fact # 980 - US Law
Posted: February 1st, 2009, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: blog
Annoying someone via the Internet is a federal crime in the USA.
(Basically anyone posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing their true identity is subject to criminal prosecution which can include stiff fines and two years in prison. It's a bit ambiguous though, I mean what constitutes "annoying"? And I wonder why they felt it was necessary to pass a law that should be covered by simple good manners. I guess it's because so many people hide behind the name "Anonymous" or as I shall now call it "Annoying mouse".) -
Interesting Fact # 979 - Population
Posted: February 1st, 2009, 6:41am EST by Your Teacher
Tags: uk
The population of Britain is expected to pass 70 million by 2028.
(It's currently only 61 million.) -
Interesting Fact # 953 - Fear
Posted: December 17th, 2008, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: Interesting fact
You really can smell fear.
(According to a study at Rice University in Houston there are chemical warning signals produced by fear. Now they just have to discover the sweet smell of success.
There's an a-z list of phobias and fears on the forum.) -
Interesting Fact # 953 - Football
Posted: December 16th, 2008, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: ban
In the UK, the offence of indecent or racist chanting at a designated football match under the Football Offences Act 1991 can be punished by a fine of up to £1,000 and can also lead to a football banning order.
(A football banning order prevents the subject from attending domestic matches. They must also attend a designated police station and surrender their passport when a control period starts and collect it only when the match of tournament is over. I'm not sure if they are enforceable if you abuse the ref though.) -
Interesting Word # 81 - Charlie's Dead
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 7:01pm EST by Your Teacher
Tags: Interesting word
"Charlie's dead" means that someone's slip is showing.
(Slip means petticoat and of course this is from a time gone by, when ladies wore petticoats. "Charlie's dead" was said when a ladies' petticoat was showing below her dress or skirt, along with the equally bizarre "It's snowing down south", which probably started because ladies' petticoats were usually white. There are a couple of different explanations for Charlie's dead though.
The first explanation is that the Jacobites wore white ribbons to identify themselves to each other as supporters of "Bonnie Prince Charlie. And after he died you could point to someone who had a piece of white in their clothing and say "Charlie's dead".
The other explanation that I found is that it may stem from Charles I, where apparently at his execution the women in the front row dipped their petticoats in his blood.
Of course, like most idioms, nobody really knows for sure.)