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The African Renaissance Monument
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I bet you've never seen this statue before. Neither had I until today. It's "The African Renaissance Monument" in Dakar, Senegal. The monument stands at a height of approximately 49 meters (160 feet), including its base, making it one of the tallest statues globally. It was designed by Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby Atepa and was built by a North Korean company. The statue was inaugurated on April 4, 2010, during Senegal's 50 th independence anniversary celebration, and symbolizes Africa's emergence from a history of colonization and oppression and its progress toward a brighter future. ...
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105412 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
How to check for dead batteries
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Dead or depleted batteries, especially cylindrical ones like AA or AAA batteries, can exhibit a unique behavior known as "bouncing" when dropped from a short height. This phenomenon is primarily due to changes in the battery's internal chemistry and physical properties as it becomes discharged. Inside a battery, there are chemical reactions that generate electrical energy. As a battery discharges and its chemical energy is depleted, its internal chemistry changes. One of the changes that occur is a reduction in the pressure of gases within the battery. This decrease in gas pressure can make the battery feel lighter, contributing to its bounce. As a battery discharges, its internal components, such as the cathode, anode, and electrolyte, unde ...
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91166 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Playing possum
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Opossums, when they play dead, can emit an odor that resembles the scent of rotting carrion. This behavior is a defensive mechanism known as thanatosis or "playing possum." When threatened or cornered, opossums may go limp, fall to the ground, open their mouth, and emit a foul-smelling liquid from their anal glands. This odor, resembling that of decaying flesh, is believed to deter predators, as many animals prefer fresh prey over carrion. ...
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45134 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Higher testosterone levels linked to men who enjoy spicy food
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According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Grenoble in France, the results published were plain and simple - men who enjoyed dipping their food into hot, spicy sauce happened to have higher levels of free testosterone floating around their bloodstream after the meal. Salt preference, however, didn’t seem to have any link to testosterone levels. What does this correlation entail? Does capsaicin - the chemical responsible for spiciness - increase testosterone, or are those who are more likely to take risks possess higher levels of this potent male hormone? ...
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34494 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This strange animal can drink through its feet
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The thorny dragon ( Moloch horridus) is an Australian lizard that grows up to 20 cm in length, and it can live for up to 20 years. Not only is it covered entirely with conical spines, it has the uncanny ability to suck in water from all over its body - including its feet - through capillary action.
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32107 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Some people simply get away with more because of their look
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Which of these faces looks more trustworthy to you? Science says that some people just get away with more stuff, because they have more trustworthy looking faces. A trustworthy face, as psychologists have determined over years of research in this area, has two major characteristics: The eyebrows are slightly lifted, so that together, they form a kind of upside-down V shape; likewise, the corners of the mouth are also lifted slightly. An untrustworthy face, on the other hand, is the opposite: The eyebrows point slightly downward, forming a V shape, and the corners of the mouth are turned down a bit, too. Source: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/01/some-faces-just-get-away-with-stuff.html ...
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30004 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Pine cones the size of melons!
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The Australian Bunya pine drops pine cones that are the size of melons. The cones are 20–35 cm in diameter, and are opened by large birds, such as cockatoos, or disintegrate when mature to release the large (3–4 cm) seeds or nuts.
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27925 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Did you know underwater cables power the internet?
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I didn't lol Hundreds of thousands of kilometres of submarine cables lye on the ocean floor - sometimes at depths nearing 8,000 metres. These cables are essential for powering the modern Internet, transmitting 99 percent of all international data. The Submarine Cable Map is a free resource from TeleGeography. Data contained in this map is drawn from the Global Bandwidth Research Service and is updated on a regular basis. ...
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25716 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
If you thought being left-handed was odd, read this
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A rare condition, known as situs inversus, is when a person has their major organs mirrored from their normal positions. So, for example, the heart would be on the right side of the body, or the liver and gall bladder are on the left side. It is a congenital condition (meaning it's tied to your genetics) that affects 1 in 20,000 people - including Spanish-born singer Enrique Iglesias. Situs inversus is generally an autosomal recessive genetic condition, although it can be X-linked or found in identical "mirror image" twins. ...
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25471 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This beautiful white coat serves as a perfect camouflage
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The arctic fox is an incredibly hardy animal that can survive frigid Arctic temperatures as low as –58°F (-50°C) in the treeless lands where it makes its home. It has furry soles, short ears, and a short muzzle - all-important adaptations to the chilly clime. Arctic foxes live in burrows, and in a blizzard they may tunnel into the snow to create shelter. Arctic foxes have beautiful white (sometimes blue-gray) coats that act as very effective winter camouflage. The natural hues allow the animal to blend into the tundra's ubiquitous snow and ice. When the seasons change, the fox's coat turns as well, adopting a brown or gray appearance that provides cover among the summer tundra's rocks and plants. Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/ ...
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23544 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
A mammoth of a fly
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The Mydas fly ( Gauromydas heros) is the world's largest fly. It can reach body lengths of 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) and a wingspan of 4 inches (10 centimeters). Mydas fly are found in arid and semiarid regions of the world, but are infrequently encountered as the adult lifespan can be quite short.
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23227 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Developing immunity to the common cold
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Summer is officially over, and fall has arrived. With this season comes runny noses and doctor visits. Save yourself the time and money, because it's either the common cold or the flu, both of which have no cure other than to rest and endure the discomfort. Luckily, you can be immunized for the flu, but not the cold. In fact, many people battle the cold several times a year, rather than developing a natural immunity towards it, why is that? The primary reason that immunity generally does not develop against the common cold is that there is not a single cause of the disease. Over 200 serotypes of viruses, including enteroviruses (previously called rhinoviruses), coronaviruses, and adenoviruses, can cause the symptoms of the common cold. Ther ...
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22628 |
bio_man |
4 years ago |
Tiny bird packs a big punch
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This blackpoll warbler ( Setophaga striata), weighing no more than 12 grams can migrate over the Atlantic Ocean from New England and eastern Canada to the Caribbean islands - a 2500 kilometer flight - nonstop! These finding were discovered after researchers tagged these little birds with miniature geolocators on their backs. They concluded that no other "bird this size migrates for this long in one go... it is truly one of the most amazing migratory feats ever recorded." ...
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21824 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
She developed the building blocks for modern 'software engineering'
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Margaret Hamilton was the leader of the team that developed the flight software for the agency's Apollo missions. The concepts she and her team created became the building blocks for modern 'software engineering.' One example of the value of Hamilton's software work occurred during the Apollo 11 mission. Approximately three minutes before Eagle's touchdown on the moon, the software over rode a command to switch the flight computer's priority processing to a radar system whose 'on' switch had been manually activated due to a faulty written operations script provided to the crew. The action by the software permitted the mission to safely continue. Source: http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11Hamilton.html ...
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21018 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Canada's only desert
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You probably wouldn't associate Canada with having any deserts, since the country is typically attributed with winters that are long and harsh. However, that's not entirely true if you visit the southern region of Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada, known as the Okanagan Desert. In this area, summer temperatures regularly exceed 38˚C (100 °F), and portions of the area receive roughly 250 to 300 mm (10 to 12 inches) of rain per year – compare that to Vancouver, which receives approximately 1120 mm (43 inches) of rain per year. While some areas in British Columbia experience hotter summer temperatures and are at least as arid, the South Okanagan area is home to several species of plants and animals that are not found elsewhere in Canada. For e ...
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20242 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
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