Weird Factoids of the Week

one more post today - here are some interesting and weird facts that i, and probably you, didn't know.

• it would take 1,200,000 mosquitoes (or "nippers", as newfoundlanders call them!), each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood. (discoverymagazine.com)
• if the sensory nerve to a female mosquito's abdomen is cut, she will keep sucking until she explodes. ewww! (science.howstuffworks.com)
• people named Paul have appeared on more no. 1 singles in the UK (57) than people with any other name. John is second (54), followed by David (53) and Brian (43). (news.bbc.co.uk)
• the odds of successfully quitting smoking for at least six months are about 2.5 times higher for spontaneous, umplanned attempts than for planned ones. (British medical journal)
• the air filling carnegie hall weighs about 31,750 kilograms (70,000 pounds)
• barn owls are about twice as proficient at tracking sounds that move horizontally than those that move vertically. (nature.com)
• here's a good one - the same ingredient that flavours salt-and-vinegar chips can be used to waterproof concrete. wow.
• the three TV bosses that most remind workers of their real-life bosses are: 1. Sam Malone from Cheers (fun), 2. Charlie from Charlie's Angels (absentee) and 3. Judge Judy (no nonsense). others mentioned in the top 10: Simon Cowell (judgmental), Miranda Bailey from Grey's (tough but fair) and disturbingly, The Simpsons' Mr. Burns (sinister). (careerbuilder.com)
• as a baby name, August ranked 618th in popularity last year. April was 319th. May hasn't been in the top 1,000 since the 1950's and June fell out in the 1990's.
• here's one for my left leaning friends - not counting the august break that he embarked on last thursday, President George W. Bush has taken 418 vacation days. The late Ronald Reagan holds the record for the most vacation time taken by a US president: 436 days. (the Houston Chronicle)
• worker performance declines about 1% for each degree that an office's temperature varies (hotter or cooler) from 22C (or about 74F).
• it a man's tie is too tight, his vision gets worse.
• today is International Left-Handers Day. the occasion is intended to raise awareness of "the challenges of living in a right-handed world". Their slogan? "Celebrate your right to be left-handed". dedicated to jennifer and jilly bean.
• lastly, yesterday was psychic sunday. but you probably already knew that. ha!