Random Facts 6

Remember "Freedom Fries?"
No this is not intended as another Nazi comparison..."During World War II, the German sounding sauerkraut was renamed 'Liberty cabbage.'"
Taken from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History, p. 288

Elephants
Elephants can now be added to the select list of species that are capable of mimicry, and the study says. Zoologist studying a herd of elephants in Tsavo National Park, Kenya, say that some of them have been making truck sounds; the herd as being raised near a highway. One of elephants, named Mlaika, is such a good mimic, zoologist Joyce Poole tells National Geographic, "I was sometimes unable to distinguish between the distant truck and Mlaika's calling." Researchers also recorded the sounds of an African elephant who learned to imitate the Asian elephants with whom he lived for 18 years in a Swiss zoo. There have also been reports of elephants who have learned to hum, and even of "croking" elephants who may be imitating frogs.
Both taken from "The Week," April 15, 2005, Vol 5, Iss 203, pp. 21.

Octopuses
Octopuses are true masters of disguise, researchers have discovered. It's long been known that octopuses, while stationery, can change shape and color to avoid detection by predators. But now scientists have observed octopuses that can perform extraordinary "disappearing acts" while moving. The apple-sized octopus marginatus in the tropical waters of Indonesia, for example, wrap six of his arms around its body so it resembles a coconut--a handy disguise on the seafloor littered with coconuts. Then it tiptoes away on its other two limbs. The walnut-sized octopus aculeatus waves its arm above his head so that it blends in with the undulating algae. Scientists say octopuses have developed these unusual survival techniques because they are such tempting targets. The strange creature, marine biologist Roger Hanlon tells Science, is essentially "a soft-bodied yummy hunk of protein that everybody is trying to eat."
Both taken from "The Week," April 15, 2005, Vol 5, Iss 203, pp. 21.

Finger Aggression
If you want to know how aggressive a man is, check out his hands. Researchers at the University of Alberta examined the fingers of 300 men and women, who also filled out questionnaires aimed at measuring aggressive tendencies. It turned out that the shorter of man's index finger was compared to his ring finger, the more likely he was to be aggressive. No such relationship between finger length ratios and personality emerged among the women. Scientists theorize that finger length, like aggression, is connected to the amount of testosterone babies are exposed to in utero. "A large part of our personalities and our traits are determined while we are still in the womb," researcher Dr. Peter Hurd tells BBC News.com "Finger length can tell you a little bit about where personality comes from."
Taken from "The Week," March 25, 2005, Vol 5, Iss 200, pp. 21.

Velvet Crochet
Swiss mountaineer George de Mestral was out of hiking with his Irish pointer on a fine summer day in 1948, when he noticed little burs sticking on his pants and clinging to his dogs fur. The tenacious burrs inspired de Mestral to race home, neglect his burr-infested dog, and examined the burrs under a microscope. He noticed hundreds of little hooks clinging to the fabric and thought he might be on to something that would replace the zipper. The idea stuck in his head, he clung to his idea for years and finally had a patented in 1955. It took several years for the public to get hooked, but eventually, Velcro a combination of the words “velvet” and “crochet” caught on and became a multimillion dollar industry.
Taken from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History, September 2001, p. 259.

Star Insight
Nearly 13 billion years ago, one of the universe's first stars exploded, releasing an enormous burst of light and gamma rays. On September 5, those rays reached Earth, Discovery.com says. The star died when the universe was in its infancy, only 900 million years after the Big Bang. That makes the former star, which collapsed into a black hole, the oldest identified object in the visible universe. The blast was first detected by the orbiting Swift Gamma Ray Observatory, a project designed for just this kind of discovery. The gamma rays that were released when the star exploded were so strong, say scientists, that f the event had taken place in our galaxy, it would have destroyed Earth instantly. As the light and gamma rays traveled through space, researchers say, they accumulated "dings and scratches" that will provide a wealth of data about the history of the universe. "This is what we've been waiting for," astronomer Don Lamb of the University of Chicago says. "Now the fun begins."
The Week, September 30, 2005, Vol. 5, Iss. 227, pp. 23

Hope Diamond
A team of gem experts assembled at the Smithsonian Institution may have solved the mystery of where the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond came from. If they are right, it was cut from the 69-carat French Blue, a Diamond stolen during the French Revolution. The French Blue, in turn, was cut from the 115-carat Tavernier, named after the man who sold the Indian Diamond to Louis XIV. The French Blue disappeared in 1792. But 20 years later, a suspiciously similar 45.52-carat blue diamond was put on the market. By 1839 it was in the collection of London banker Henry Phillip Hope.
The Smithsonian research team made three-dimensional models of the gems, based on photographs of the Hope and historical drawings of the French Blue and the Tavernier. Still the evidence is circumstantial. "We can't conclusively prove (that the Hope was cut from the French Blue); we can just show its more than likely," Scott Sucher says.
Discover, June 2005, p. 13

Aggressive Finger
Psychologist Peter Hurd of the University of Alberta in Canada compared to the second and fourth fingers (the index and ring fingers) of 300 University students and found males with the longest ring fingers were most likely to get in fights. Previous studies suggest that men with longer ring fingers are better when it comes to sports and have especially developed male-pattern visuospatial skills. "Finger length explains only five percent of the variation in physically aggressive behavior between individuals," says Hurd. "But it does suggest more of our personalities are determined in the womb than we thought."
Discover, June 2005, p. 11

Ant Trap
Scientists have discovered a species of South American ant that builds and elaborate "torture rack" to trap and kill larger insects. The ant's use a sticky fungus that they cultivate themselves to glue plant fibers together into a large spongy platform full holes. When an unsuspecting insect land on the platform, the tiny orange-yellow ant's run out of the holes, grab the victim by the legs and antennae, and pull it out flat. The swarm of ants then stings its larger prey to death, and cuts it up into little pieces. Although ants are reknowned for accomplishing sophisticated tasks through coordinated group behavior, this is the first known instance of them collaborating to build a trap. The traps are found only on the stems of the specific Amazonian plant, Hirtella physophora, with which the ant, Allomerus decemarticulatus, enjoys a symbiotic relationship. "Ants helped to remove and deter herbivores from the plant," biologist Jerome Orivel tells National Geographic. "In return, it provides them a habitat."
The Week. May 6, 2005, Vol 5, Iss 206, pp. 21

Gyp
Anytime you say that someone has "gyped" you, that is, cheated or deceived you, you're using a racial slur (gyp comes from gypsy). "Gypsy" is a title that was put on them in the 16th century. The term "Gypsy" is inaccurate in any event, it's a shortened version of "Egyptian," based on the belief that Gypsies originated in the Nile Delta. They didn't. They're originally from northern India.
Excerpt taken from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History, pp. 330-332