Fact O' The Day

[Krandall]

"The Amish are one of the fastest-growing religious groups in America."

According to a study by Ohio State researchers, the Amish population in the United States doubles every 21 to 22 years, due in part to the likelihood of Amish people to remain within the community and continue to practice their religious beliefs as they start their own families. According to the study, there are a little over 250,000 Amish people in the U.S. and Canada, spread across 456 communities (up from 179 communities in 1990). The study also suggested that, within the next 15 years, some counties in the U.S. may be predominantly Amish (the study's author indicated Holmes County, Ohio, as the likeliest candidate).

[Krandall]

"Not sleeping enough affects your cognitive tasks -- even if you don't feel tired."


A study published in The Journal of Vision followed participants at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital who started the research period by getting 10-12 hours of sleep per night for a week. For the following three weeks, however, they were allotted only 5-6 hours of sleep per night on a 28-hour cycle. As the days wore on, participants scored worse and worse on visual search tests, growing slower and less accurate in identifying important details, even though they consistently felt only slightly more tired than during their first over-rested week. How tired you feel, researchers noted, isn't necessarily a valid indicator of how tired you are.

[Krandall]

"When you smell oncoming rain, part of what you smell is ozone."


The smell of rain, according to Scientific American, is a medley of scents that have varying meanings for humans. The first olfactory indicator, before a storm actually starts, is the pungent smell of ozone, generated by an electrical charge (be it lightning or an arc welder). The smell we associate with actual falling rain is something called petrichor -- airborne detritus agitated by falling water -- and the earthy post-rain smell is geosmin, an organic compound produced by many microorganisms (particularly by earthbound bacteria after it has rained).

[Hefe]

the earthy post-rain smell is geosmin, an organic compound produced by many microorganisms

geosmin?

isn't that what pools up on Sierra's belly?

[Peelz]

the earthy post-rain smell is geosmin, an organic compound produced by many microorganisms

geosmin?

isn't that what pools up on Sierra's belly?

Nope, that was the wet spot left on the carpet near the mirrored closet door. 

[Hefe]

BAAHAAAHAHAHAHHA

[Krandall]

"Men with shaved heads seem tougher but older."

A professor at UPenn's Wharton School realized after shaving his head that people's reactions to him had changed -- they were treating him with more deference than they used to. He developed three studies (published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science) to further test this phenomenon. In one study, participants rated photos of men with shaved heads as more influential and more powerful than men with various hairstyles; in another, researchers digitally altered photos of men with hair to make them appear bald (in which case they were also rated as more dominant). Finally, men without hair were perceived as stronger and even taller than men with hair -- though they were also rated as less attractive, and older (four years so) than their counterparts with hair.

[Krandall]

"Being honest makes you physically healthier."


A study presented at a meeting of the American Psychological Association followed 110 participants who came into the laboratory once a week to take a polygraph assessing their overall honesty throughout that week. Half of the participants were told not to lie for any reason throughout the 10 weeks (they were allowed to omit truths and keep secrets but were forbidden from making any statement they knew to be false). The control group was given no such instructions. The more honest people were overall -- in both groups -- the better off they were in terms of their physical and mental health. But the effect was even more pronounced for the no-lying group. That group also reported improvement in their relationships, as well as an increased sense of personal honesty.

[Krandall]

"A sense of humor is among the single most attractive traits (to both sexes)."


A study in the American Journal of Play surveyed 250 undergraduates to determine which traits they found important in a potential long-term romantic partner. Both sexes indicated that "fun loving" and "playful" were among the most important. Men ranked "sense of humor" as the highest priority, followed by a fun-loving personality and playfulness, before finally ranking physical attractiveness at a distant 9th. Women listed these traits in second, third and fourth place (the first trait they looked for was "kindness and understanding").



100% agree.

[Colorado700R]

"I'll take home a fat girl with a good sense of humor", "But a fat girl without a sense of humor better have a joke book in her back pocket"

~Rodney Carrington

[Krandall]

"People with allergies are less likely to have brain cancer."

New research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests a link between allergies and reduced risk of some kinds of brain cancer. Researchers analyzed blood samples from patients that were taken years before they were diagnosed with glioma (tumors originating from glial cells in the brain or spine), and found that patients with allergy-related antibodies in their blood were almost 50% less likely to develop the cancer 20 years later compared to those without allergies. The mechanism is not clear, but the study authors suggest that the increase in an allergic person's circulating antibodies may stimulate the immune system.

[Peelz]

"People with allergies are less likely to have brain cancer."

New research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests a link between allergies and reduced risk of some kinds of brain cancer. Researchers analyzed blood samples from patients that were taken years before they were diagnosed with glioma (tumors originating from glial cells in the brain or spine), and found that patients with allergy-related antibodies in their blood were almost 50% less likely to develop the cancer 20 years later compared to those without allergies. The mechanism is not clear, but the study authors suggest that the increase in an allergic person's circulating antibodies may stimulate the immune system.

sweet!!!!!! <sneeze> I should be good then!  LOL

I have all sorts of sinus allergies

[Krandall]

"People with allergies are less likely to have brain cancer."

New research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests a link between allergies and reduced risk of some kinds of brain cancer. Researchers analyzed blood samples from patients that were taken years before they were diagnosed with glioma (tumors originating from glial cells in the brain or spine), and found that patients with allergy-related antibodies in their blood were almost 50% less likely to develop the cancer 20 years later compared to those without allergies. The mechanism is not clear, but the study authors suggest that the increase in an allergic person's circulating antibodies may stimulate the immune system.

sweet!!!!!! <sneeze> I should be good then!  LOL

I have all sorts of anus allergies

Noice.

I'd hate to be sneezin all the time

[Peelz]

"People with allergies are less likely to have brain cancer."

New research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests a link between allergies and reduced risk of some kinds of brain cancer. Researchers analyzed blood samples from patients that were taken years before they were diagnosed with glioma (tumors originating from glial cells in the brain or spine), and found that patients with allergy-related antibodies in their blood were almost 50% less likely to develop the cancer 20 years later compared to those without allergies. The mechanism is not clear, but the study authors suggest that the increase in an allergic person's circulating antibodies may stimulate the immune system.

sweet!!!!!! <sneeze> I should be good then!  LOL

I have all sorts of anus allergies

Noice.

I'd hate to be sneezin all the time

yeah, but I don't gotz no tumors....

[Krandall]

"Men are more likely to be attracted to their opposite-sex friends than women."


According to research in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, men, whether single or not, are more likely to be attracted to their opposite-sex friends than women are. Men in opposite-sex friendships also tend to overestimate their friends' sexual interest in them. The researchers-who brought in 88 pairs of male/female friends and interviewed them separately for the study-also found that men were less likely to think of sexual attraction to a friend as something that got in the way of the friendship (women felt more strongly that attraction was a burden to the relationship, not a benefit).