Apparently, some hardcore pub-crawlers of the time loved the flavor of pee in their brew–ale could be single- or double-lanted, according to taste.
Lant was used in pastry recipes to help the glaze stick. Yum!
Fact. Urine is sterile when it comes out of your kidneys. It only becomes contaminated after contact with bacteria on your skin–or if you have an infection of some sort.
Bullsh*t! It’s an old wives’ tale. Some people have reported relief from peeing on a jellyfish sting and many others have not. According to scientists, urinating on a sting can actually make the pain worse.
Urine does not contain acetic acid–that’s the primary ingredient of vinegar, which is also touted as a remedy for jellyfish stings. Jellyfish stings do leave behind tiny stingers, called nematocysts, which can continue to inject venom after the jellyfish is gone. Acetic acid (in vinegar, not pee) can neutralize the nematocysts in some jellyfish stings, but can make things worse in others.
Any change in the balance of solutes (i.e., saltiness) can cause nematocysts to sting. For this reason, rinsing the sting with fresh water is not recommended. Urine is largely fresh water.
If you get stung by a jellyfish, have some dignity and don’t piss yourself.
P!
P is the symbol for the chemical element phosphorus, which has the atomic number 15. Phosphorus can be distilled from urine.
p is the symbol for momentum in physics. Momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. Therefore: p = mv.
P is the symbol for the Paratore constant, which is the magnitude of electric charge per mole of electrons. It is handy in the study of electrolysis.
Fact. Yes, P can be distilled from pee. Urine is high in phosphates.
Phosphorus is a basic element and can be found on the periodic table of the elements, indicated by P and its atomic number, 15.
Fact. This is true in classical mechanics, but gets much more complicated in relativistic mechanics, where you have to account for the Lorentz factor (Y).
The formula in relativistic mechanics is p = Ym0v.
If you disagreed with the statement based on that criteria, then you are too smart for this book and should go back to grading papers now.
Bullsh*t! The statement is true about the Faraday constant, which has the symbol F. F is also what you get if you guessed this statement was true.
ELECTROCUTION!
When the metal band Crowstone played a 2008 outdoor concert in Harvey Park near Columbus, lightning struck the stage. Guitarists Greg Rahm and Mike Leach were both electrocuted instantly, and bassist John Peters knocked unconscious. Drummer Travis Kline was completely unscathed.
In the late nineteenth century, Thomas Edison presided over the electrocution deaths of numerous innocent stray dogs and cats, as well as a few cattle and horses. He concluded the gruesome demonstrations with the 1903 public electrocution of a Coney Island elephant named Topsy.
When murderer Pedro Medina was executed in 1997, the electric chair, Old Sparky, malfunctioned. Witnesses reported that foot-high flames shot from Medina’s head.
Bullsh*t! The event is fictional. Greg Rahm, Mike Leach, John Peters, and Travis Kline are all members of the metal band Struck by Lightning.
Crowstone and Harvey Park don’t exist (as far as I know!).
Fact. Edison was himself a proponent of DC current, as opposed to Nikola Tesla’s AC current. He fried all the animals in question with AC current in hopes of convincing the public that it was too dangerous for household use. His efforts (and many animal lives) were in vain, and AC current became the standard shortly thereafter.
Fact. The case went on to prove a strong argument for the continued shift away from electric chairs and towards lethal injection for executions. But Florida attorney general Bob Butterworth found the sudden PR gratifying. “People who wish to commit murder, they better not do it in the state of Florida, because we may have a problem with our electric chair,” he said.
THE ROBOT!
“Death by robot” may sound like a science-fiction idea, but it happens. In 1979, a Ford assembly line worker was knocked on the head and killed by a robot. In 1981, a Japanese factory worker was shoved into a grinder by a robot and died. And in 2008, an Australian man was shot and killed in his driveway by a robot.
The Defense Department is sponsoring the development of a flesh-eating robot. The robot, playfully called the “CAR-nivore,” will find its own fuel sources from biomass on the battlefield, which will include corpses.
The word “robot” was introduced to the world in Karel C˘apek’s 1921 play R.U.R., which opens in an artificial-human factory. The word is derived from the word robota, which roughly means “serf labor” and “work” in many Slavic languages.
Fact. Robert Williams’s 1979 death is the first recorded death by robot. A robotic arm collided with him while it was trying to fetch a part.
Kenji Urada’s 1981 death occurred when he failed to adequately power down a robot he was working on. The robot’s hydraulic arm shoved him into a grinding machine.
In 2008, Francis Tovey built a suicide robot with instructions he found on the Internet and programmed it to shoot him. His science project was successful.
Bullsh*t! The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has sponsored the development of a biomass-consuming battlefield robot. But the robot’s developers have promised that it will be strictly vegetarian.
The robot is called EATR, which is short for “Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot.”
The inventor of the biomass engine used in EATR (in other words, its digestive system) is Cyclone Technologies, whose CEO, Harry Schoell, had this to say: “We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission.”
Fact. Czech playwright C˘apek originally wanted to call the robots labor˘i, but his brother suggested the term roboti. R.U.R. stood for Rossum’s Universal Robots, but the creatures in the play would be better described today as androids.
DENTISTRY!
Working in Pakistan in 2006, researchers from the University of Poitiers discovered what are believed to be dental tools along with skulls, demonstrating evidence of sophisticated tooth extraction dating to 500 B.C., and indicating that dentistry was practiced more than 2,500 years ago.
The first dental school in the world was the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, founded in 1840. The institution was the first to issue a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree (DDS) and is still in operation as part of the University of Maryland.
Contrary to popular assumption, our teeth are not made of bone. They are made up of four major components: enamel, dentin, cementum, and pulp. But no bone at all.
Bullsh*t! The University of Poitiers team found out that dentistry is much older than 2,500 years. They discovered eleven molars from a Neolithic graveyard in Pakistan with perfectly drilled holes, dating to 7000 B.C., indicating that sophisticated dentistry occurred more than 9,000 years ago.
The prehistoric dentists used flint-tipped drills connected to rods and bowstrings to make holes that modern dentists have dubbed “amazing” in their quality. Anthropologists believe that the skill of the work might be due to the expert bead-working skills that prehistoric people of the area possessed. Smoothing of the teeth show that the patients (or should we say “victims”?) continued to chew for a long time after their visit to the “dentist.”
Too bad that modern anesthesia would not be invented until the nineteenth century.
Fact. BCDS was, in 1840, the first school in the world to offer a science-based education in dentistry. Dentistry was practiced long before that, which makes me wonder: Who taught those dentists?
The second school was Philadelphia Dental College, founded in 1863, and now a part of Temple University and called the Kornberg School of Dentistry.
Fact. The visible part of our teeth is the enamel, which is the hardest substance in the human body. Underneath it is the dent
in, a calcified tissue that is actually yellow in color. Cementum is a calcified substance that forms around the roots of our teeth. Finally, pulp is at the center of our teeth and is made up of living connective tissue and cells.
BACTERIA!
The bacteria Escherichia coli, commonly called E. coli, was discovered in 1933 by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and named after the Dutch artist M.C. Escher. It is one of the most virulent strains of bacteria known. Being infected by even a tiny amount of E. coli will likely lead to major sickness including fever and diarrhea, and it carries life-threatening risks.
Anthrax, syphilis, cholera, leprosy, the clap, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the bubonic plague are all caused by bacteria.
There are approximately five nonillion (5,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000) bacteria on the planet. There are more bacteria cells on or in your body than there are any other kind of cells making up your body.
Bullsh*t! Escherichia coli was discovered by a pediatrician named Theodor Escherich in 1885, and was eventually named after him. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was a seventeenth-century scientist who was the first to observe any kind of bacteria.
Only certain strains of E. coli lead to food poisoning or sickness. In fact, E. coli exists harmlessly in the intestinal tract of most warm-blooded animals. Humans are typically colonized by E. coli within forty hours of birth, and the bacteria stick around until we die.
So gaze down at your navel and wave hi to the little guys!
Fact. Those diseases and conditions, ranging from annoying to awful, are caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, Treponema pallidum, Vibrio cholerae, Mycobacterium leprae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Rickettsia rickettsii, and Yersinia pestis, respectively.
Fact. The number of bacteria on the planet was estimated by the report “Prokaryotes: The Unseen Majority.” The five nonillion bacteria represent a huge portion of the world’s biomass.
Scientists estimate that we have as many as ten times the number of bacteria as human cells in our body.
In truth, we’re just giant collections of bacteria walking around.
FINGERNAILS!
The record for the world’s longest nails on a single hand belongs to Evgeny Kolyadintsev of Moscow, whose nails were over 6 feet long on his right hand.
Fingernails grow between three and four times faster than toenails. The nail on your index finger grows faster than the one on your pinkie.
Fingernails and hair are made of the same substance, keratin.
Bullsh*t! The record for the world’s longest nails on a single hand belongs to Shridhar Chillal of India, whose nails were over 20 feet long on his left hand (his hand became disfigured from carrying around the weight, and he got out the nail trimmers in 2000). The record for the world’s longest nails on both hands belongs to Lee Redmond, of Salt Lake City, Utah, whose nails were, on average, 30 inches long. When she was involved in a car accident in 2009, she survived, but her freakishly long nails didn’t.
Fact. The speed of nail growth directly corresponds to the length of the actual finger or toe. The longer the bone, the faster the nail grows.
Fact. Fingernails and hair are both made up of a protein called keratin. It’s also the main ingredient in the outer layer of your skin. Keratin comes in both soft and hard varieties, which is why your hair can be so soft and bouncy and your nails can be as tough as … well, nails. Certain fungi eat keratin, which is why it can be hard to get rid of athlete’s foot.
LASERS!
The term “laser” began as an acronym. L.A.S.E.R. stood for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” Less well known, but equally important, is the maser, the name of which also comes from an acronym (“Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”). The maser emits coherent microwave radiation, while the laser emits coherent visible or infrared light radiation.
Researchers at Harvard have managed to control the actions of worms without wires or electrodes, using nothing but laser light. The system they designed is known as the “CoLBeRT” (“Controlling Locomotion and Behavior in Real-Time”) after TV personality Stephen Colbert.
Although laser weapons are common in science fiction, at our current level of technological advancement, any kind of actual laser weapon is impossible. Lasers can be used to enhance weapons (laser scope) or even to trigger them, but laser light itself cannot hurt or kill.
Fact. The maser was actually invented first. When the laser was invented, the term “optical maser” was suggested, but “laser” was adopted instead.
Fact. The researchers at Harvard’s Center for Brain Science genetically modified the neurons of nematode worms, favoring worms with an inherent gene that produces light-sensitive ion channel proteins. The worms are “programmed” to respond to different wavelengths of light with different actions (such as turning left, stopping, etc.).
So if you see a Harvard scientist pointing a laser at you, run away. (Unless, of course, that’s exactly what he wants you to do.)
Bullsh*t! Even a laser pointer can hurt (particularly if it hits your retina).
The air force initiated the YAL-1 airborne laser system in 1996. The YAl-1 is a giant laser mounted on a Boeing 747, designed to destroy airborne tactical ballistic missiles. In January 2010, the system successfully destroyed two test missiles.
The ZEUS laser was the first laser weapon deployed by the military, and was used with great success in the Iraq War, although primarily to heat up and detonate land mines.
The Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser, or MTHEL, is under development by the U.S. military and Israel, and has the purpose of shooting down missiles and aircraft.
Handheld laser guns are not around yet because of the extraordinary power they would need to operate. Laser beams themselves can heat and cut (I should know, I had LASIK eye surgery).
In 1995, the United Nations issued the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, with the express purpose of banning the use of lasers to blind enemies.
HICCUPS!
Forget holding your breath or drinking a glass of water upside down. Medical studies have unveiled an unlikely but effective treatment for uncontrollable hiccups: digital rectal massage.
Iowa farmer Charles Osborne had the hiccups during waking hours for sixty-eight years. Until his death in 1991, it’s estimated he hiccupped 500 million times.
The word “hiccup” comes from the Latin hic, which means “breath.”
Fact. Yes, “digital” as in fingers, and “rectal” as in butt. There are a handful of cases in which a “rectal massage” has shown to cure hiccups.
It seems this discovery was a happy accident. A sixty-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with acute pancreatitis and immediately fitted with a nasogastric tube. Hiccups commenced, and continued for two days. Multiple treatments were attempted (including a spoonful of sugar), to no avail. Finally, during a routine rectal examination, the hiccups abruptly stopped. A few hours later, they began again. The rectal exam was repeated, and the hiccups again stopped.
A report on the subject from the Bnai Zion Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, called “Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage,” outlines the details of this new and exciting remedy. The doctors in the report “suggest that this maneuver should be considered in cases of intractable hiccups before proceeding with pharmacological agents.”
Fact. Despite traveling to doctors all over the country to look for a solution, Osborne never encountered a permanent solution to his hiccups, which began in his late twenties. He hiccupped about twenty times a minute, on average, for nearly seven decades. The hiccups subsided each night as he slept, only to return in the morning.
Bullsh*t! The word “hiccup,” first alternately spelled “hiccough,” is actually an onomatopoeia from the seventeenth century. (An onomatopoeia is a word that, accidentally or on purpose, sounds like its meaning.) Invented to describe the sound of a hiccup, the word has no relation to previous words or languages.
&n
bsp; Hic is the Latin word for “here.”
VIAGRA!
(also known as sildenafil)
Viagra’s not just for bedroom performance: Professional athletes use the drug to enhance their athletic ability, and the little blue pills are under investigation as to whether they should be considered performance-enhancing, and therefore be banned.
Sildenafil was first developed at Pfizer as a treatment for hypertension and angina. During its clinical trials, researchers noticed that the drug was ineffective for treating those conditions, but that it was producing penile erections. Subsequently, they decided to market it for erectile dysfunction.
Sildenafil is a crystalline tropane alkaloid which inhibits phyllosilicate hydroxyl (Al2Si2O5(OH)4), a protein which regulates blood flow to the penis. Besides Viagra, sildenafil has been marketed under the brand names Levitra, Vivanza, and Cialis.
Fact. According to the New York Daily News, anonymous sources report both Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds used the drug to enhance on-field performance, and Italian cyclist Andrea Moletta was accused of “doping” with Viagra.
Major League Baseball and the Giro d’Italia do not specifically ban Viagra, but the World Anti-Doping Agency is investigating the idea that the drug would enhance athletic ability.
Some Viagra experts assert that the drug would have very little benefit to athletes and that any benefit would be a case of the placebo effect.
Fact. The drug was patented in 1996 and approved by the FDA as a treatment for erectile dysfunction in 1998. It was the first-ever oral treatment for ED.
Fact. Fact. Bullsh*t! Page 13