http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_archive.jsp?ccid=52 Reader's Digest Asia - Facts of Life Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:27:00 -0000 http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7512 var addthis_pub="rdasia"; var addthis_brand = "RD Asia"; var addthis_options = 'email, digg, facebook, delicious, friendfeed, linkedin, multiply, friendster, twitter, technorati, more'; http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7513 A vaccination mark is nothing more than scar tissue. A vaccination causes an inflammation intense enough to destroy the hair follicles in its vicinity. Any deep injury to the skin will destroy hair follicles and cause hair loss. One can transplant hair onto a vaccination mark, but one can never bring a dead hair follicle back to life. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7510 Rain is water. Water is light in colour. Rain clouds are full of water. Therefore, rain clouds should be light. Impeccable logic, but wrong. Obviously, there are always water particles in clouds. But when the particles of water are small, they reflect light and are perceived as white. When water particles become large enough to form raindrops, however, they absorb light and appear dark to us below. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7511 The venerable Oxford English Dictionary cites that the first written use of this expression was in a 1919 song, “My Name Is Kelly,” whose lyrics include: http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7374 ‘Fore' is simply a shortened version of the ‘before' in ‘ware before'. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7375 Engineers specialise either as hardware or software experts. An ATM is a good example of how they collaborate: Software engineers write the programs that process your request to withdraw cash, and hardware engineers build the chips necessary to perform the transaction. A third group, mechanical engineers, design the machine that physically grabs your bank card.University of Alberta professor Greg Kondrak illustrates the job of a computer scientist, who concentrates on software. In 1999, while doing doctoral research in compu-tational linguistics, he developed ALINE, a program to identify similar-sounding words in any language. In 2002, when the US Food and Drug Administration was hunting for a way to curb the sometimes fatal confusion that arises when very different drugs are given similar names, Kondrak was contacted. The computer scientist passed along ALINE and made another program that compares the spelling of words. The FDA now uses a blend of both to analyse names proposed for new drugs. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7371 Sleep specialists haven't pinned down what causes hypnic jerks or why they occur only at the onset of sleep. Although some people experience them more often than others, their appearance is unpredictable, unlike myoclonic jerks – spasms that occur at regular intervals during deep sleep. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7372 ''The term ‘brownout' is used only when the power outage is localised, involving small areas. The outages during brownouts involve only distribution lines, not generators. Blackouts are usually caused by power generators and/or power transmission systems, and they cover a wider area,'' he says. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7113 Elementary physics, it turns out. You lose the true colour of the garment in three ways: Firstly, even a thin coating of water will force light coming towards the garment to refract within the water film. The available light is thus dispersed. Secondly, the reflection on the surface of the water causes incoherent light scattering.And finally, a combination of the two points above ensures that there will be less light available on the surface of the jacket to reflect back to your eyes. Thus the spot will appear darker than the rest of the jacket that doesn't have to compete with water in order to reflect light. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7114 Heroin was originally a legitimate trademark taken by a German pharmaceutical company, so the brand name was consciously designed to evoke only positive associations. Not only was heroin effective as a painkiller, it also had the ‘bonus' of giving patients a euphoric feeling, and as we now know, delusions of grandeur. Although these side effects can be deadly in an illicit drug, it was at first a distinct selling point in marketing heroin to physicians as a painkiller. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7111 It's suggested that the origin of this ''rule'' could be that men were only allowed to beat their wives with rods no thicker than their thumbs. The more probable origin, however, may not be that bizarre. According to Professor Philip Hiscock of the Department of Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, wood workers knew their trade so well that they preferred measuring lengths using their thumbs instead of rulers. This rule came into metaphorical use by the late 17th century. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7112 ''Spelling bee'' is apparently an American term that first appeared in print in 1875. However, they are certain the term was used orally years before that. The Bee also points out some scholars have rejected the social gathering explanation and have suggested this ''bee'' is a different word. One possibility is that it either comes from the Middle English word ''bene,'' which means prayer or favour, or a dialect form – ''been'' or ''bean,'' which refers to voluntary help given by neighbours towards the accomplishment of a particular task. No-one is entirely certain, the Bee concludes. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7109 European scribes continued to use the ''uu'' term and this usage was brought back to England along with the Norman Conquest in 1066. Early printers sometimes used ''vv'' for the lack of a ''w'' in their type but the pronunciation ''double u'' stuck around till now. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7110 But if you're referring to the practice of main cabin lights being extinguished during take-off, it has absolutely nothing to do with safety or technical problems. The flight attendants turn out the lights; United Airlines captain Mike Lauria claims that the lights-out custom is motivated by passengers' desire to better see the lights outside the plane on take-off. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6772 It's hard to have a face when you don't have a head. Sea stars, like all echinoderms, are radially symmetrical with a top side, but no front and back. They have five - or more - arms and absolutely no notion of forwards or backwards. Sea stars have a groove running along the bottom of each arm that contains hundreds of tiny "tube feet". These not only enable sea stars to move, but are also equipped with suction cups, which allow them to grip surfaces with some of the tube feet and propel themselves forward with others. Each arm contains a single tube foot that is longer than the other feet and does not have a suction cup. When a sea star moves, this special tube is able to sense chemicals in the water. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6682 Many people think that cats are afraid of water. They're not. Occasionally, one can see a cat pounce spontaneously into the water. Nature documentary fans can attest to the fact that many of the cats' larger relatives, such as tigers and jaguars, love to swim. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6683 There are five different types of corn. Popcorn is the only variety that will pop consistently. According to Greg Hoffman of American Popcorn, other corn might pop on occasion but with little regularity. The key to popcorn’s ability is, amazingly, water. Each popcorn kernel contains water, which most popcorn processors try to maintain at about 13.5 percent. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6684 Wouldn’t you get flushed if you were dumped into a vat of boiling water? But seriously, before the lobster gets boiled, it has a dark purplish-bluish colour. But hidden in the exoskeleton of the lobsters (and shrimp) is a pigment called astaxanthin, in a class of compounds called carotenoids. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6685 The saffron threads used to colour and flavour many dishes, particularly in Indian cooking, are the golden orange stigmata of the autumn crocus, a plant of the iris family. Autumn crocuses are far from rare. So why is saffron so dear? http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6686 We have probably all had this experience. We listen to a tape recording of ourselves talking with some friends. We insist the tape doesn’t sound at all like our voice, but everyone else’s sounds reasonably accurate. According to speech therapist Dr Mike D’Asaro, there is a universal pattern of rejection of one’s own voice. Is there a medical explanation?