The Extraordinary Book of Useless Information

by Don Voorhees

  Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is a rare disorder first found in northern Maine among French Canadian lumberjacks. It causes sufferers to have a heightened startle reflex, which makes them jump at the slightest stimuli. They also are very prone to suggestion, obeying commands given suddenly and imitating the actions of those around them.

  In 1962, an outbreak of mass hysteria known as the Tanganyika laughter epidemic occurred. Schoolgirls began having uncontrollable bouts of laughter that lasted from a few hours to sixteen days. Other symptoms included flatulence, crying, screaming, fainting, and rashes. Overall, one thousand people were affected and fourteen schools had to be shut down.

  Equally odd was the Dancing Plague of 1518 in Strasbourg, France. In a month’s time, some four hundred people began dancing uncontrollably for days at a time. Many died from exhaustion, heart attacks, and strokes.

  The 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic affected nearly one thousand Palestinian schoolgirls. The wave of dizziness, nausea, headaches, and fainting forced the closing of West Bank schools for twenty days. It is believed mass hysteria was the cause, after false rumors of poisoning were circulated.

  A 1997 episode of Pokémon aired on Japanese TV caused hundreds of people, mostly school age children, to go into seizures. The convulsions, fainting, and nausea started just after a five-second scene depicted flashing red lights in the eyes of the character Pikachu.

  WHAT’S LEFT?

  Left-handed people are more likely to suffer from dyslexia, schizophrenia, and ADHD than are righties.

  High stress during pregnancy results in an increased chance of having a left-handed baby, as does low birth weight.

  In some identical twins, one is right-handed and one is left-handed.

  Left-handed people on average earn less money.

  One percent of the population is ambidextrous.

  THAT’S THE SPIRIT

  In 1895, Anheuser-Busch sold Malt-Nutrine, a 1.9 percent alcohol beer that doctors could prescribe as a nutritional supplement for children.

  Whiskey and brandy were listed as medicines in the United States Pharmacopeia until 1916.

  Muscle tissue, which absorbs alcohol more effectively than fat tissue, prevents more of it from reaching the brain, meaning fat people are likely to get tipsy quicker than more muscular folks.

  A recent study suggests that, in general, wine drinkers are rather unadventurous, while vodka drinkers like to be in charge, and tequila drinkers are free-spirited.

  SUPER-SIZE ME

  The posting of calorie contents on fast-food menus makes no difference in the amount people eat.

  A recent study found that girls who eat frequent meals and snacks put on fewer pounds and gain fewer inches on their waistlines than those who only eat a couple of times a day, probably because the frequent meals and snacks keep them satisfied and prevent them from overeating.

  People who eat moderate amounts of chocolate regularly are thinner than those who eat it less often.

  Severe obesity is 50 percent higher among women than among men and twice as high among blacks as among Hispanics and whites.

  RAIN MEN

  Steven Wiltshire is a British architectural artist who is also an autistic savant and can precisely draw the exact arrangements and sizes of the buildings of a city from memory, right down to the windows, after one look. In 2009, after a twenty-minute helicopter ride around Manhattan, he rendered from memory a precise eighteen-foot-long drawing of the New York metropolitan area.

  Kim Peek, the inspiration for the movie Rain Man, had memorized twelve thousand books verbatim by the time of his death in 2009. He could also rattle off the zip code, area code, TV stations available, and highways for any town in the United States. It is believed he suffered from a rare genetic disorder known as FG Syndrome.

  Wim Hof of the Netherlands is impervious to cold. Through Tummo Tantric Buddhist meditation he is able to control his autonomic nervous system so that he can maintain his body temperature after being submerged in an ice bath for over an hour. He once tried to climb Mount Everest wearing only a pair of shorts, but failed due to a foot injury.

  OUT COLD

  Sleeping in a cold room can cause bad dreams.

  BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

  The hardest bone in the body is the jawbone.

  A fully inflated human heart has an internal surface area of one hundred square yards.

  It’s impossible to talk while inhaling through the nose.

  The eyes always see the nose, but the brain simply chooses to ignore it.

  The liver has at least five hundred different functions.

  Whispering puts more strain on the vocal cords than does speaking normally.

  The wrinkling of the skin on fingers and toes when exposed to water for a prolonged time may be an evolutionary adaptation to increase grip in wet conditions.

  THE PINOCCHIO EFFECT

  New research claims that when a person lies, the temperature of the skin around the person’s nose increases.

  STICKY PROBLEM

  Each year, 1.5 million Americans are injured by medical tape removal. Newborns and the elderly are the most easily injured, and permanent scars can result.

  ATTACK OF THE QUACKS

  Dr. Henry Cotton was an American psychiatrist who ran the state mental hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, from 1907 to 1930. Cotton believed that mental illness was the result of untreated infections in the body, and therefore had his staff remove patients’ teeth, which harbored germs. If this “cure” did not work, he progressively had the tonsils, cervix, testicles, ovaries, gall bladder, stomach, spleen, and colon removed, depending on which organs he felt were “infected.” Cotton gained international praise for his “progressive” work. He even had some of his own teeth removed after suffering a nervous breakdown. Sadly, up to 45 percent of his patients died from surgical complications.

  In 1998, British doctor Andrew Wakefield published a paper linking childhood vaccines to autism, sparking one of the worst health scares ever. Countless parents refused to have their kids vaccinated, and many still do today, even though Wakefield was totally discredited and found to have ties to class action trial lawyers, who cashed in on the scare. He had his medical license revoked, and no subsequent study has shown any linkage between vaccines and autism.

  Deaths in teaching hospitals spike 10 percent in July. This is when the new doctors start their first year of residency.

  It’s Not Rocket Science

  GIDDY UP

  Horsepower is technically defined as the amount of power required to lift 33,000 pounds by one foot in one minute. By this definition, the average horse only boasts 0.7 horsepower.

  Early cars had a radiator cap on the top front of the hood with a temperature gauge known as a “motometer.” When temperature gauges moved to the dashboard, hood ornaments replaced them. Large hood ornaments were given the heave-ho in the 1950s, as they were deemed dangerous to pedestrians in collisions.

  GERM OF AN IDEA

  There are an estimated 1 billion microbial species on Earth.

  The germiest thing commonly touched in public places is the handle of a gas pump. Seventy-one percent of pumps tested were covered in nasty bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella. The next two germiest things are escalator rails and ATM buttons.

  Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that attack bacteria.

  Phages are the most abundant form of life on Earth.

  Phages were used to treat bacterial infections before the discovery of antibiotics and are still widely used for that purpose today in Eastern Europe.

  Bacteriophages are sprayed on ready-to-eat meats to kill Listeria.

  The oldest living thing may have been a bacteria sample taken from Siberian permafrost that survived for 400,000 to 600,000 years.

  NO SEX, NO PROBLEM

  Bdelloid rotifers are tiny creatures that live in wa
ter. They are asexual, but oddly have developed quite a genetic diversity over the past 80 million years for a creature that does not swap DNA through sex with other rotifers. Uniquely, scientists believe they acquire new DNA from the bacteria, algae, and fungi they ingest.

  UNDER PRESSURE

  The pressure created by the carbon dioxide in a bottle of champagne is ninety pounds per square inch.

  The Armstrong line, or limit, is the altitude (about twelve miles) at which the atmospheric pressure is so low that exposed bodily fluids, such as tears, saliva, and fluid in the lungs, will boil away at normal human body temperature. Above this height, pressurized suits or cabins are required.

  Daredevil Felix Baumgartner was the first person to have skydived from above the Armstrong line, plummeting twenty-four miles. He reached a top speed of 834 miles per hour during his four-minute-nineteen-second free fall.

  WHAT A BLAST

  The world’s most powerful laser is in the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. It can produce blasts with 500 trillion watts, more power than the entire United States uses at any instant in time. Because the blasts last just five-millionths of a second, they only consume about twenty dollars’ worth of energy a pop.

  The estimated temperature at the moment of the Big Bang was 100 million trillion trillion degrees Kelvin. The average temperature on Earth today is 288 degrees Kelvin.

  ANTICIPATION

  Researchers at MIT have invented a coating for plastic bottles that is so slippery that every last bit of ketchup will flow right out of the container.

  YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

  Carbon monoxide is injected into plastic-wrapped meat packaging to prevent oxidation, which will cause red meat to turn brown.

  Castoreum is a yellowish secretion from the castor sacs found near the tails of beavers mixed with their urine. Castoreum is used as a “natural” raspberry, strawberry, or vanilla flavoring in some foods and drinks and also adds flavor and aroma to some cigarettes.

  Common sand is used in salts, coffee creamers, and soups to prevent clumping.

  Ground marble is used as a coating on chewing gums.

  Propylene glycol, which is found in antifreeze, is used in sodas, beer, and salad dressings to help ingredients mix better.

  Ground up South American cochineal beetles are used as a red coloring in several different foods, such as Yoplait yogurts, Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts, and Starbucks Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino mix.

  Scientists have engineered a cow that gives milk free of beta-lactoglobulin, the protein that triggers milk allergies.

  Adding oil to boiling pasta does not keep it from sticking together since the oil floats atop the water and doesn’t come into contact with the pasta until it is drained, and then it makes it difficult for the sauce to adhere. Oil is added to the water to keep it from boiling over.

  There is no conclusive scientific evidence that MSG causes or worsens migraine headaches.

  A 2011 investigation by Consumer Reports found that 10 percent of apple juice tested had dangerously high levels of inorganic arsenic, a carcinogen, and 25 percent of apple juice was found to have unsafe levels of lead. Eighty-eight brands were tested.

  FATAL FARTS

  A new British scientific study has calculated that the dinosaurs may have become extinct from their own gas emissions (that is, their farts), not from an asteroid strike. An estimated 520 million tons of methane gas a year were produced by the giant beasts, enough to cause global warming and their own demise.

  VIVE LA FRANCE

  In 1852, Frenchman Henri Giffard created the first powered aircraft when he outfitted a hydrogen-filled dirigible (balloon) with a three-horsepower steam engine.

  The names of seventy-two renowned French scientists, engineers, and others of distinction are engraved around the outside of the Eiffel Tower, just below the first balcony.

  THE GREAT UNKNOWN

  A 2011 census of world species found that they number close to 8.7 million, excluding bacteria. There are 5,500 mammal species on Earth.

  There are an estimated 750,000 marine species that have yet to be discovered and described, approximately three times the number that have already been described.

  DUCK TAPE

  Duct tape is not good for taping ducts. It tends to quickly dry out and fall apart when used for such a purpose. The product was probably originally known as “duck” tape when it debuted in World War II, for sealing ammunition boxes.

  WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD

  A gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds. The same volume of gold weighs 160.9 pounds.

  CREEPY CONTINENTS

  The continents of North and South America are slowly creeping northward, as are Asia and Europe. It is estimated that they will collide in about 100 million years, closing the Arctic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

  CARBON FOOTPRINT

  Odor-Eaters insoles are made with activated carbon.

  Activated carbon is made by heating coconut shells to a very high temperature, which causes the powder to become riddled with microscopic pores.

  One gram of activated carbon has a surface area equal to that of a football field, making it is the most adsorbent substance in the world.

  IN THE GREEN

  Three-quarters of the oxygen in the atmosphere is produced by algae in the oceans.

  A large oceanic algal bloom can cover a greater surface area than the Amazon rain forest.

  A well-watered golf fairway will require 1.6 million gallons of water a year.

  THE OCEAN BLUE

  The surf near San Diego, California, periodically lights up like a neon glow stick as it crashes onto the beach. This phenomenon is caused by phytoplankton in the water that are bioluminescent and emit an eerie blue light when disturbed. Surfers and swimmers splashing in the water also cause the strange light show to occur.

  CHANNEL SURFING

  The first remote control was invented in the 1920s. It was used to control a radio and had a dial like an old phone.

  In the late 1950s, Zenith came out with ultrasound remotes for their TVs that changed the channels using ultrasonic (high-frequency sound) waves. Today’s remotes use infrared light.

  A LITTLE LEARY

  William Lear, who is best known for founding the Learjet Corporation, also invented the first car radio and the 8-track audio cartridge tape. He developed them for use in his private jets.

  FREAKS AND GEEKS

  Some people “sleep text,” sending incoherent text messages to family and friends while asleep. They have no recollection of doing so upon awakening.

  Engineering students spend the most time studying—nineteen hours per week on average. By comparison, business and social science majors average fourteen hours per week of study time.

  THIS JUST IN . . .

  A 2010 University of Indiana study found that men pay more attention to the nightly newscast when an attractive woman is delivering it, but are less likely to remember what she said, as compared to when an unattractive female or a male newscaster reads the news.

  Women were found to be more attentive to a newscast when an attractive man delivered it, but in contrast to the male viewers, they had no problem remembering what the newscasters said.

  YOU’VE GOT MAIL

  Perhaps the person with the most recognizable voice who no one has ever heard of is Elwood Edwards, who is the voice of the AOL messages “Welcome” and “You’ve Got Mail.”

  Musician Brian Eno, who wrote the start-up music for Microsoft Windows 95, known as the Microsoft Sound, did so on an Apple Mac computer. Eno later said that he had never used a PC because he does not like them.

  NO SWEAT

  The relative humidity level at which perspiration fails to evaporate from the skin is about 60 percent.

  Gore-Tex, which was patented in 1976, was invented by Wilbert Go
re, his son Robert, and Rowena Taylor. The fabric allows water vapor (perspiration) to pass through, but not water droplets (rain). This is how it keeps the wearer dry.

  INNOVATION STATION

  A Japanese laboratory has invented a “Kiss Transmission Device” that consists of a plastic straw that when wiggled with the tongue will transmit a signal to another such device and remotely make its straw wiggle, presumably while in another’s mouth.

  Other Japanese inventors have come up with an air bladder–filled vest that will compress to simulate being hugged, in lieu of an actual hug from another person.

  The Lifesaver water filtration bottle, invented by Brit Michael Pritchard, is the size of a standard liter water bottle and contains a nano-filtration hollow fiber membrane that removes bacteria and viruses from the dirtiest water. One filter can purify six thousand liters of water.

  German biochemist and fashion designer Anke Domaske has invented a new fabric made entirely from milk. Marketed under the trade name QMilch, it drapes like silk and can be washed like cotton. Made from strands of milk protein, the fabric is said to be ideal for those with very sensitive skin and is more ecologically friendly than traditional fabrics.

  In 2011, the world’s smallest electric motor was created by Tufts University chemist Charles Sykes. It consists of a single molecule. The carbon and hydrogen atoms that stick out from it make the molecule spin like a propeller when an electrical charge is focused on it by a scanning tunneling microscope. The rotating molecule can then cause surrounding molecules to spin, acting like mechanical gears.

  The strongest insect repellent ever was invented in 2011. It is 100,000 times more effective than DEET (the most commonly used insect repellent). The compound, known as VUAA1, is also cheaper and longer-lasting than DEET. It works by overstimulating a bug’s olfactory system so that it cannot smell humans, or anything else.