Despite ancient Roman bridges…

Despite ancient Roman bridges being the first large and lasting bridges ever built, many are still used despite being around 2,000 years old.

March 13, 2019

Charles Ponzi, the creator…

Charles Ponzi, the creator of the Ponzi scheme, received Christmas cards from some of his investors and requests to invest money while he was in prison.

March 13, 2019

This Poor Gentleman’s Ginormous Poop Nearly Killed Him (Seriously)

You might be proud of your ability to “hold it” until you get home, until after the kids go to bed, until a more convenient time, but take heed, people – holding in your poo for too long can literally kill you.

Proof? This 53-year-old Australian man went to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain, swelling, nausea, and a sudden inability to feel or move his right leg. Doctors confirmed the leg was paralyzed – it also had no palpable pulse and was cold to the touch.

At first, physicians were stumped. The man had no history of drug abuse, no risk of vascular disease, and really no significant or out-of-the-ordinary medical history at all.

What he did have was a really, really big poo.

Image Credit: BMJ Case Report

Holy sh*t.

A rectal examination and abdominal scans revealed massive fecal compaction that was putting life-threatening pressure on his abdominal organs. There was so much of it that it had distended his large intestine and put pressure on his right iliac artery, which is what caused the pain and paralysis in his leg.

The case was serious – he was showing signs of renal impairment and metabolic acidosis – the man required surgery to remove the backlog of poo and relieve the building pressure. The team wrote a case report, which expanded on their findings.

“Significant faecal disimpaction was performed manually under general anaesthesia with approximately 2 liters of feces removed.”

Image Credit: BMJ Case Report

2 liters, y’all. How long had it been since he’d gone?!

He was given constipation relief during recovery and left the hospital after four days. He finally walked again after 13 days.

Doctors are unsure what caused the massive build-up, but there’s no doubt that not being able to (or choosing not to) poop for a long period of time is incredibly dangerous. A teenage girl with a toilet phobia actually died in 2015 after holding it for 8 weeks, and this guy would have suffered the same fate had he not visited the doctors when he did.

Like my grandfather always said, better out than in. Never go against your body when death is on the line, my friends. You’ll come out on the losing end.

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March 13, 2019

Calming Down is Easy with This Military-Approved Breathing Technique

Between work, your spouse, your kids/pets, politics, or the general state of the world, life is pretty stressful.

That’s why it’s essential to have great good coping mechanisms that you can bust out when necessary. This particular one is actually used by the military – arguably one of the most stressful jobs ever. Known as combat breathing, four-count breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing, it can really help bring you back to center.

Image Credit: YouTube

The tactic lowers your heart rate and helps you regain control of your breathing, explains clinical psychologist Belisa Vranich. She’s also the author of 2016’s Breathe: The Simple, Revolutionary 14-Day Program To Improve Your Mental and Physical Health.

Image Credit: YouTube

“It’s one you can use when things are blowing up around you – both literally and figuratively – and you need to be able to stay calm.”

Image Credit: YouTube

She demonstrates the tactic in the Business Insider video below – practice with her until you feel cool enough to tackle the rest of your day.

Of course, a cup of coffee never hurt, either.

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March 13, 2019

15 People Share the Moment That They Realized “Yep, I’m Definitely Gay”

Although some folks might believe otherwise, the fact is that being gay is not a choice. It’s something you either are, or you aren’t. These AskReddit users can attest to that fact, and they shared the moment that they actually realized the truth.

#1. On a mission

“When I was a Mormon missionary in Eastern Europe. The other missionaries were tempted by the pretty girls and lingerie ads, and I was tempted by the other missionaries.”

#2. The crush

“I never had any crushes or interest in anything romantic until quite a few years after my sister and stepsister did (13 months and 22 months younger than me, respectively). Then, when I finally developed a crush, it was on a girl. Suppressed it for years after my crush rejected me, so hard even I, myself, believed it was untrue, until I got drunk around a campfire with my best friend and ended up making out with her all night.

My best friend and I have now been married for 5 months .”

#3. That’ll do it

“When I realized I fell in love with my best friend. Also we were both on the football team and we shared a locker…”

#4. It clicked

“I liked beast boy AND raven from teen titans. it clicked when i realized.”

#5. Wait a second…

“The moment I, a male, thought “Damn, why are all the hot guys gay?” followed immediately by “Wait, what?”

#6. Oh, maybe…

“In sixth grade, my teacher made an announcement after people had been making poor taste gay jokes. He said, “There’s a high change that one of you in here is gay, and you probably don’t know it. it might be you, so shut up” and in that moment i was like “lmfao ya ok sure i’d know if i was gay” and then two years later i was crankin it to a guy and after a while of doing that i was like “oh, maybe I am gay.” “

#7. Yep

“I was like 12 or 13. I watched the movie “But I’m A Cheerleader” because it was on tv late one night and I was like, yep, I’m gay.”

#8. An entire lesbian

“I was 12 years old. I was watching the movie Practical Magic for the umpteenth time. Sandra Bullock did something particularly attractive, and it clicked in my brain and suddenly I just knew.

I’d been wondering for a little while, after a (female) friend of mine did something unintentionally suggestive and I had a really strong reaction, but it was that particular viewing of Practical Magic that took me from “is it possible I’m gay?” to “Wow I am an entire lesbian.”

#9. That ass changed it all

“My best friend, who grew up as a good Irish Catholic schoolgirl, was walking behind a woman in an airport in the most amazing yellow dress. Just going on and on in her head about how beautifully it flowed, how it curved, how it settled on… After minutes of this, she realised that actually she was just staring at That Ass. It was an amazing ass.

“Oh shit!” She thought, as she realised, looking back down her life: “Every time I’ve admired another woman’s clothes… I’ve totally been admiring them.”

So, yeah. That Ass changed her life.”

#10. All the lesbians

“I’m so embarrassed but it was while watching that absolutely grim show ‘A shot at love with Tila Tequila’ on MTV.

I was an 18yr old girl, had never met a gay person (that I knew about) in real life, and BOOM I loved all those lesbians on the show.

Dani the firefighter, thanks for all the feelings.

Can’t believe it’s a shout out to Tila Tequila for her dumb show.”

#11. “I fall hard”

“I never knew until I started to develop feelings for my best friend. We had been close since middle school, but around 8th or 9th grade I started feeling attracted to her. Of course, since we both came from Christian backgrounds, I tried to deny it, and I even made up stories about liking guys just to seem straight in front of my peers. But when those feelings wouldn’t go away, my mind was just like. “F*ck.”

Before then I had never had any real crushes on anyone in my school, and I thought that romance was sappy and not worth my time. I still kinda feel that way today, but I realized from this incident that when I fall for a girl, I fall hard.”

#12. It’s not you! I’M GAY!

“The “hot” girl on college campus that my friends all wanted but she wanted me. I was questioning if I was gay and found guys attractive but never told anyone. I thought I just needed to have sex with a girl to prove I wasn’t gay. Went back to her room, making out, get her undressed, decide to just “go for it” and with my face literally inches from her lower lady bits I say out loud…

“I’M GAY! Sorry, it’s not you. I’m gay. Really gay!” She was pissed and confused. I got dressed and went back to my buddy’s dorm. I told him I was gay. He was shocked but supportive and happy he “has a chance with her now”. “

#13. What does that mean?

“I was at summer camp, between 7th and 8th grade. I’d made a new friend and we were talking about stuff, getting to know each other. He made an offhand comment about one of his friends who was bisexual. I was like, “What does that mean?”

I’d never even heard of the concept before then. It had never even crossed my mind that people could be romantically interested in the same sex. So he tells me what it means to be gay and bisexual. I think to myself, “Huh. Am I? I didn’t know I could be like that. Maybe I am.” Spoiler alert: I was.”

#14. OBSESSED

“Lesbian here.

When I was around 5 my brother brought home his first girlfriend. He was fifteen & she was sixteen.

I remember being OBSESSED with her. Her name was Tara & she had long brown hair & would compliment my drawings. She gave me a teddy bear & I still have it to this day. Looking back, I had a huuuuge crush on her.”

#15. It just hit me

“One of my gay friends was telling me how he realised he was gay and I found myself relating to everything he was saying. Before that, I thought I was asexual. I knew I wasn’t into girls but had never really seriously contemplated whether or not I was into guys, perhaps because I was afraid of the conclusion I’d reach, so I just settled on thinking I was asexual.

In hindsight, I’d always been into guys, I just misinterpreted all my feeling of attraction as feelings of jealousy. I’d see a hot guy and tell myself that I really wanted to look like him and that that was why I couldn’t stop staring. It made sense at the time, even though it sounds absurd in retrospect.

During that conversation, the realisation that I had been in denial for years just hit me and I knew I was gay.”

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March 13, 2019

Tumblr User Blows Everyone’s Mind with Post About a Horse’s Ass

What do a horse’s ass and a spaceship have in common? It’s definitely a question I’ve never once considered until today, because you wouldn’t tend to think they have anything in common.

But, it turns out I couldn’t be more wrong. Just follow along now.

It starts out simple enough…

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Indeed. Why WAS that gauge used? You’re about to find out…

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Get ready! You’re about to learn the wonders of wheel ruts!

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Of course the Romans were involved. Because they ran things back in the day.

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Now, the horses come in and it’s glorious…

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Trains and tunnels and rockets! Oh my!

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Well, my ass is officially astounded!

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Boom! Mind blown!

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March 12, 2019

So, Apparently Charles Dickens Tried to Have His Totally Sane Wife Committed to a Mental Institution

Maybe you didn’t know this, but back in the olden days, it didn’t take a whole lot of effort for a man to get out of a marriage. Basically, if your wife was getting all annoying and wanting to be treated like an equal human being and stuff, you could just say she went crazy and get her locked up in a mental institution. That’s a lesson that Catherine Hogarth Dickens, wife of illustrated author Charles Dickens, almost learned the hard way.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

The Smithsonian reports that after 1o children and 22 years of marriage, the Dickens couple had a not-so-cordial separation that was probably Catherine’s idea. But although Dickens wrote to his agent that Hogarth wanted out of the marriage because of her “mental disorder” and that “she felt herself unfit for the life she had to lead as my wife, and that she would be better far away,” he made no mention of his affair with a much younger actress.

Not only that, but University of York professor John Bowen recently dug into a treasure trove of never-before-seen letters sent by Edward Dutton Cook – Catherine’s neighbor after the separation – that he found in the Theatre Collection at Harvard’s Houghton Library.

They don’t paint a pretty picture of Dickens – though of course, it’s a he-said, she-said situation.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Cook wrote in one letter that “He [Charles] discovered at last that she had outgrown his liking. She had borne 10 children and had lost many of her good looks, was growing old, in fact. He even tried to shut her up in a lunatic asylum, poor thing! But bad as the law is in regard to proof of insanity he could not quite wrest it to his purpose.”

The letters made Professor Bowen uncomfortable – rightly so. “Biographers and scholars have known for years how badly Dickens behaved at this time, but it now seems that he even tried to bend the law to place his wife and the mother of his children in a lunatic asylum, despite her evident sanity. What I discovered was detailed and shocking…”

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Detailed and shocking, perhaps, but in the longstanding tradition of men with power and the way they treat the women in their lives, it can hardly be called surprising.

If Catherine Hogarth Dickens were alive today, she might have tweeted her story with #metoo attached.

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March 12, 2019

10+ of the Best, Most-Popular Tweets of 2017

Twitter is an amazing platform because it democratizes hilariousness. You don’t have to have the biggest number of followers or be someone famous to potentially hit the 150k retweet barrier. All you have to do is be hilarious.

Here are 12 of 2017’s most popular tweets:

1. This happy little accident

Photo Credit: Twitter

2. This airplane fan boy

Photo Credit: Twitter

3. This evil trickster

Photo Credit: Twitter

4. This employee of the year

Photo Credit: Twitter

5. This spoiled puppy

Photo Credit: Twitter

6. This dog’s ear

Photo Credit: Twitter

7. This kitteh kleenex

Photo Credit: Twitter

8. This CAROL moment

Photo Credit: Twitter

9. This best Uber driver ever

Photo Credit: Twitter

10. blah

Photo Credit: Twitter

11. This unfortunate mistake

Photo Credit: Twitter

12. This absolute abomination

Photo Credit: Twitter

We have to say goodbye for now, but never fear- there are plenty more tweets to be had.

I’ll be back CAROL…

The post 10+ of the Best, Most-Popular Tweets of 2017 appeared first on UberFacts.

March 12, 2019

Sorry, Night Owls: Your Brain Chemistry Could be Sabotaging Your 9-5 Schedule

I believe humanity can be divided into two basic categories: the morning people who are just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the minute the sun comes up, and the night owls who hit their stride when the sun goes down.

While there’s nothing wrong with being one or the other, day people definitely have an advantage, since the world tends to operate on a 9-5 schedule.

“A huge number of people struggle to deliver their best performance during work or school hours they are not naturally suited to,” said lead researcher Dr. Elise Facer-Childs. “There is a critical need to increase our understanding of these issues in order to minimise health risks in society, as well as maximise productivity.”

Roughly 50% of people identify as a night owl, which for the purpose of the study meant going to bed “late” and rising after 8:20am.

Image Credit: Pixabay

If that’s the half of the world you fall into, this new study published in the journal Sleep proves it’s not just something you can up and change – your brain is physically and chemically different from those who leap out of bed in the morning.

The international team of scientists, led by the University of Birmingham in the UK, found that night owls have lower connectivity in the areas of the brain linked to consciousness. That means that during “normal” working hours, night people are affected by sleepiness, a lack of attention, and slower reaction times.

“This mismatch between a person’s biological time and social time – which most of us have experienced in the form of jet lag – is a common issue for night owls trying to follow a normal working day. Our study is the first to show a potential intrinsic neuronal mechanism behind why ‘night owls’ may face cognitive disadvantages when being forced to fit into these constraints,” explains Facer-Childs.

Image Credit: Pixabay

38 volunteers completed questionnaires and underwent MRI scans at various points of the day, all the while reporting how sleepy they felt.

Research concluded that morning people were less sleepy and had faster reaction times in the early morning working hours, while night owls hit their stride around 8 in the evening and struggled after rolling out of bed. Night owls did not, however, perform significantly better than morning people at 8pm, which could mean that society’s business hours could have a detrimental effect on those whose natural body rhythms encourage them to wake up later.

Facer-Childs explains how this can be applied to the real world:

“To manage this, we need to get better at taking an individual’s personal body clock into account – particularly in the world of work. A typical day might last from 9am-5pm, but for a night owl, this could result in diminished performance during the morning, lower brain connectivity in regions linked to consciousness and increased daytime sleepiness. If, as a society, we could be more flexible about how we manage time we could go a long way toward maximising productivity and minimising health risks.”

Which is to say, you just might have an argument if you want to lobby your boss for flexible work hours.

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March 12, 2019