Today we have a user submitted question from Conley Ligon! Thanks Conley!

 

Conley wants to know why is the deck of a ship often referred to as a "poop deck"?

 

While it is quite a funny term to Americans, it is simply formed from the french word for stern (back end of the boat).

Stern translates to la poupeor (in Latin puppis)

 

Thanks for reading!

Today (well ... tonight), I learned that you (no...not you Walt) and I can out run a T-Rex.

It is reported that a T-Rex would have a max speed of 10-15 miles per hour.  While the fastest human (Usain Bolt) runs at 23.35 miles per hour. 

 

So... if you ever encounter a T-Rex... run. 

Today, 1/27/10, I learned:

Artiodactyl is Having an EVEN number of toes on each foot while perissodactyl is having an ODD number of toes on each foot.

We, humans, are artiodactyl and animals like camels and rhinos and perissodactyl.

 

Today, 11/30/09, I learned

 

Words like iPhone or MacIntosh or MacNeice are called "camel case" (a hump in the word) - Other terms include “intercaps” and “incapping.”

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=2

 

Today, 1/4/10, I learned:

Why is it called "Thousand Island Dressing"?

Is the delicious dressing named after an actual chain of islands? You bet it is. The Thousand Islands are an archipelago that sits in the Saint Lawrence River on the U.S.-Canada border, and there are actually 1,793 of them, some of which are so small that they contain nothing more than a single home.

So why is the dressing named after an archipelago? No one’s quite sure. Some people claim that early film star and vaudevillian May Irwin, who summered on the Thousand Islands, named it, while others contend that George Boldt, the famed proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria, gave the dressing its name because of his own summer place in the region. No matter who named it, it’s tough to beat on a sandwich.

For More: (How on how ranch, A1, Worcestershire, Heinz 57, Tarter and Hollandaise got started)

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs//archives/26550

 

Today, 8/26/09, I learned:

That once items are in a landfill the process of burying things seems to horribly retard biodegradability. For example, one way that people who do digs at modern landfills see how far back in time they are is to check dates on the newspaper.

The difference in composting and a landfill is that with composting, you also need air. In landfills, everything is compacted and covered in dirt....and so voila a hot dog can last 50 years or more!

 

Bud Light's Real Men of Genius began in 1999 and was originally called Real American Heroes. The name was changed after the 9/11 attacks, as Anheuser-Busch felt that they could not morally continue to use the term "hero" in that context after so many people had performed what many felt to be genuine acts of heroism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Men_Of_Genius

 

Researches at the University of Tokyo have found that the brain pauses for up to 450 milliseconds with every blink, meaning we miss up to 6 seconds of visual info for every minute—or about 15 minutes for a 150 minute film.

--Four times that if it's Sex and the City and you're male.

http://gizmodo.com/5332047/study-says-we-miss-15-minutes-of-a-movie-just-by-blinking

 

"The more you know... (insert shooting star)"

Today I learned:

The word "avocado" comes from the Nahuatl word āhuacatl ("testicle", a reference to the shape of the fruit)

Thanks wikipedia!




"The more you know... (insert shooting star)"

 

Apologize for the lack of updates.... but we are back with today's edition of WRLT!!! (please hold your applause)

Today I learned....Why Milk Goes Bad...

Two main reasons... not cold enough (duh)... and air in the jug.... (interesting!)

so its actually a downward slope... the faster you drink the milk the faster it will spoil (because there is more air)... that is if you just decide to stop drinking at your previous rate. 

Some dude invented a nifty little container....

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/07/shrinking-jug-keeps-milk-fresh-an-extra-week.php

One of the main reasons milk goes bad is its exposure to air. As you tip the carton, drenching your seventh bowl of Chia Goodness Cereal you are getting rapidly closer to the moment of pouring the chunky remnants down the drain. What a waste.
A clever solution to this problem just might be Fresh, the Shrinking Milk Jug. The refillable jug sits on the table while the user presses down on the top. With each press, the air void in the container is eliminated, keeping the milk fresher longer; up to a week longer, according to its inventor.

Today I learned (surprisingly early might I add)....

That the taco bell dog as a female!....and DEAD.

Died of a stroke on Tuesday.  Lets have a moment in silence for Gidget.....


.....you may carry on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_Bell_chihuahua