fact
A 4 year old boy fell and scraped his knee at the beach. Couple of weeks later a black bump started growing on his knee. When squeezed, a live snail emerged from the bump. The boy adopted the snail and named it “Turbo” after his favorite cartoon character.
7 year old Stella Berndtsson drowned in icy water Dec 23 2010. Her body was found after 3½ hours by a rescue helicopter and was taken to hospital. Her body temperature was 13°C/55.4°F. Despite this the doctors succeeded in saving Stella by warming her slowly. Stella made a remarkable recovery. Stella still lives with her […]
A lot of people believe that paying money for bottled water is a better idea than drinking tap water. Some believe it’s actually healthier for them, while others might insist that it’s cleaner. While there can be some truth to this (if you live in Flint, MI, for instance), a recent study may have consumers thinking twice about how much they spend on bottled water in the future.
The study tested 259 bottles across 11 brands and 9 countries (including the United States) and found that 93% of the tested bottles contained microplastics – around 10.4 plastic particles per liter of water.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
In case you’re wondering, that’s twice the amount of contamination found in most tap water, according to an Orb Media investigation.
Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic, including the plastic used to make some of the bottle caps. Researcher Sherri Mason told AFP “I think that most of the plastic that we are seeing is coming from the bottle itself, it is coming from the cap, it is coming from the industrial process of bottling the water.”
Even though research shows that microplastics can be harmful to marine life, it’s unclear whether or not they have similar effects on humans – they’re found in other edible products, like fish and shellfish, and in tap water, and a recent study found that they’re absolutely making their way into humans, too.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Mason continued:
“There are connections to increases in certain kids of cancer to lower sperm count to increases in conditions like ADHD and autism. We know that they are connected to these synthetic chemicals in the environment and we know that plastics are providing kind of a means to get those chemicals into our bodies.”
Joe Doss, the President of the International Bottled Water Association, cautions that the study hasn’t been peer reviewed and should be taken with a grain of salt until it is.
“Consumers can remain confident that bottled water products, like all food and beverages, are strictly regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and, thus, are safe for consumption,” Doss said in a statement. “The bottled water industry is committed to providing consumers with the safest and highest quality products.”
Photo Credit: Pixabay
The World Health Organization confirmed to BBC that they will be conducting a review into the potential risks posed by microplastics found in bottled water.
Until then…I don’t know. Buy a filtered pitcher or bottle? Switch to Gatorade? Drink from the tap? Your choice!
The post New Study Finds Your Bottled Water May Be Dirtier Than You Think appeared first on UberFacts.
A lot of people believe that paying money for bottled water is a better idea than drinking tap water. Some believe it’s actually healthier for them, while others might insist that it’s cleaner. While there can be some truth to this (if you live in Flint, MI, for instance), a recent study may have consumers thinking twice about how much they spend on bottled water in the future.
The study tested 259 bottles across 11 brands and 9 countries (including the United States) and found that 93% of the tested bottles contained microplastics – around 10.4 plastic particles per liter of water.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
In case you’re wondering, that’s twice the amount of contamination found in most tap water, according to an Orb Media investigation.
Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic, including the plastic used to make some of the bottle caps. Researcher Sherri Mason told AFP “I think that most of the plastic that we are seeing is coming from the bottle itself, it is coming from the cap, it is coming from the industrial process of bottling the water.”
Even though research shows that microplastics can be harmful to marine life, it’s unclear whether or not they have similar effects on humans – they’re found in other edible products, like fish and shellfish, and in tap water, and a recent study found that they’re absolutely making their way into humans, too.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Mason continued:
“There are connections to increases in certain kids of cancer to lower sperm count to increases in conditions like ADHD and autism. We know that they are connected to these synthetic chemicals in the environment and we know that plastics are providing kind of a means to get those chemicals into our bodies.”
Joe Doss, the President of the International Bottled Water Association, cautions that the study hasn’t been peer reviewed and should be taken with a grain of salt until it is.
“Consumers can remain confident that bottled water products, like all food and beverages, are strictly regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and, thus, are safe for consumption,” Doss said in a statement. “The bottled water industry is committed to providing consumers with the safest and highest quality products.”
Photo Credit: Pixabay
The World Health Organization confirmed to BBC that they will be conducting a review into the potential risks posed by microplastics found in bottled water.
Until then…I don’t know. Buy a filtered pitcher or bottle? Switch to Gatorade? Drink from the tap? Your choice!
The post New Study Finds Your Bottled Water May Be Dirtier Than You Think appeared first on UberFacts.
Climate change is REAL! Seriously. I know some people like to claim it isn’t, but the science is pretty damning. We need to take drastic action, collectively as a species, and we need to do it fast. Hopefully, these alarming facts will make you pay more attention to the issue.
Photo Credit: did you know?
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Photo Credit: did you know?
Photo Credit: did you know?
Photo Credit: did you know?
Photo Credit: did you know?
Photo Credit: did you know?
Photo Credit: did you know?
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Photo Credit: did you know?
Wake up, people! And do your part!
The post 10+ Facts About Climate Change That’ll Light a Fire Under Your A** appeared first on UberFacts.
Meggy Doodle is a nurse who’s had enough with all these anti-vaxxers talking about how “Big Pharma” is just out to get you. Considering she’s a nurse, we’d say she knows what she’s talking about. Maybe that’s why her Facebook rant on the issue is going viral.
Here’s how it starts:
Photo Credit: Facebook
Don’t want to vaccinate, don’t do it. Fair enough. She continues:
Photo Credit: Facebook
Well, that seems harsh. I suspect there’s a reason for this, though.
Photo Credit: Facebook
Ah, things are coming together. I wonder what else “Big Pharma” is behind?
Photo Credit: Facebook
No getting away from “Big Pharma,” then. Fair enough. This isn’t all she has to say to anti-vaxxers, though.
Photo Credit: Facebook
I think they have a different definition of “research.”
Of course, anti-vaxxers may think that since everyone else is vaccinated, they’re okay. Doodle points out that that’s not actually the case.
Photo Credit: Facebook
Mic drop.
The post This Nurse Has a Very Powerful Message for Anti-Vaxxers appeared first on UberFacts.
It’s a pretty commonly held belief that if you’re stressed out after a tough day, a drink (or two) can help you wind down and relax. This belief is bolstered by the fact that a glass of wine in the evening has become a crucial ritual for many a stressed parent trying to relax.
Luckily, for us, it’s not an unsubstantiated practice. Believe it or not, studies have shown that certain types of wine can have legitimate health benefits beyond the mental stress relief.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Alcohol quickly boosts our serotonin levels, which results in an elevated or euphoric improvement to our mood. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter (a biological chemical, basically), and it’s a key player in our happiness and mood. People who experience anxiety and depression often have lower than average levels of serotonin in their gut, blood and central nervous system.
The problem is, after that initial boost in serotonin brought on by a couple of drinks, serotonin levels fall down even lower than they were prior to your drinking. So if you drink habitually, it means that you’re regularly lowering your serotonin levels to below what is considered average, and that can eventually rewire your brain.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
If you’re someone who doesn’t struggle with depression and anxiety, then you may not have anything to worry about – but if you do, having a drink or two every day might be something you want to rethink.
The post The Truth Behind How Alcohol Really Impacts Your Mood appeared first on UberFacts.
Are you someone who’s always cold? My mom is actually like that. No matter what the temperature indoors or out, she’s almost always reaching for a sweater. I think I at least partially inherited that tendency, because I definitely have a much lower threshold for cold weather than, say, my wife for example.
Maybe you know someone like this too? It could be your spouse, or a family member, or maybe a coworker. If so, you might want to show them these 10 reasons that might explain why they’re always cold.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
One study showed that women’s hands tend to be colder than men’s, so sex might just be one of the answers to this puzzling question. Sorry, ladies!
Photo Credit: Flickr, Quinn Dombrowski
Iron deficiency (aka anemia) could be to blame for your chills. Iron is a key component of red blood cells, and if you’re lacking it, it’s tough for your blood to carry oxygen as efficiently as it should, which can lead to feeling cold. If you have anemia, you might also feel lightheaded, tired, and have a rapid heart rate or shortness of breath.
Anemia can also be the result of having low B12 levels, something that vegetarians and vegans should be on the lookout for.
Surprise! Many pregnant women wind up with anemia and poor circulation, which can cause them to feel cold or like they have a chill. Though you should definitely take a pregnancy test before jumping to this conclusion.
Photo Credit: Max Pixel
Drink up! Water speeds up your metabolism and breaks down food, which creates energy and heat. Most people are at least a little dehydrated, so maybe you just need to drink a whole lot of water.
People with anxiety tend to feel colder than others. If you suffer from anxiety, your amygdala is activated, the part of your brain that is responsible for responding to danger and protecting the body. It floods your system with chemicals that force your body into using its energy to keep you safe because it thinks you are in danger.
But when your body is focused on keeping you safe, blood flow stops working the way it should to keep you warm.
Photo Credit: Flickr, Stannah International
The older you get, the more your metabolism slows down and the less heat you produce. Decreased muscle mass in aging people also contributes to feeling colder.
Hormones in both males and females can affect body temperature. Women’s menstrual cycles can also cause changes in body temperature and sensitivity to the cold.
If your hands and feet are much colder than the rest of your body, you might have circulation issues. Bad circulation can can be genetic, but it can also be a sign of cardiovascular disease. Smoking also contributes to constricting blood vessels, so if you can knock off the cigarettes, you’ll have a better chance of keeping warm.
Photo Credit: Flickr,Alpha
Your thyroid may be under-active (this is called hypothyroidism). Because the thyroid helps regulate body temperature, if you are constantly cold, it may be a sign it isn’t working like it should.
Certain foods might be to blame for your constant coldness. Clinical nutritionist Josh Axe says, “People who eat lots of water-dense, cold foods are going to feel cooler.” These include salads, smoothies, and iced drinks. Try eating more warm foods, like soups or stir fry.
The post 10 Scientific Reasons You’re Always Freezing, No Matter What appeared first on UberFacts.
Although it is commonly shown in medical dramas, you do not shock someone with a flatline. You only use defibrillators on people with ventricular fibrillation, and pulseless ventricular tachycardia (heart beats out of rhythm or heart beats that are really fast and out of sync). 00
If you’re asked to be a bridesmaid (or a groomsman) for one of your friends, the acceptable response is to jump for joy, say thanks, and accept the honor immediately.
That said, there are exceptions like financial problems, health issues, and being asked by someone you’ve never even met before (true story). Sadly, the AskReddit stories that follow don’t all fall into the above ‘acceptable’ reason column, but most still make a great deal of sense once you read them.
“I’ve said no at least three times because I absolutely hate being a bridesmaid. But each time I’ve offered to play violin for the ceremony instead. All three times I was taken up on the offer.
Saved me the expense of being a bridesmaid, saved the bride $ on music for the ceremony (I always played these weddings for free), and I still got to be an important part of the event. Win, win, win.”
“I told her I wasn’t even going to be able to attend the wedding because of health issues. She had selected an out-of-state rural location that was not accessible for my wheelchair. I wouldn’t have been able to afford the trip to begin with anyway. She got upset and said I was just being cruel.
I guess she talked to someone else or had time to calm down and called me the next day apologizing for accusing me if trying to ruin her special day. I mean I had been dealing with the same health issues long before she got engaged or even started dating the man she was about to marry. Also, asking someone in a wheelchair to attend a wedding in the forest off a hiking trail with no easy access isn’t well thought out is it?”
“Had a girl I had never met or heard of before call and ask me to be her bridesmaid.
She was a friend of a friend whom I had helped out years before by being a bridesmaid and doing all her flowers and such because that friend wasn’t very well off. Apparently this girl thought I was some sort of volunteer paratrooper bridesmaid florist? It was very weird.
I told her that I couldn’t because:
A) I didn’t know herAND
B) I was going to have a three week old baby at the time if my due date was correct and didn’t want to drive 8 hours with a newborn.
She seemed ok with this and hung up, only to call again a few minutes later to ask if I was refusing because he was so much older than her and I was being judgmental and I said no, because I literally knew none of this because I do not know you. I have never heard of either you or your fiance before. Which is – again- the major reason I would not be your bridesmaid…
I wished her every happiness and hung up.”
“My sister asked me to be her Maid of Honor and I declined. She was like “What the heck, why?!” I told her “You’re just asking me to be nice and because you think it’s the right thing to do. But I’m not your best friend. Jocelyn is your best friend, and she should be your maid of honor.” My sister cried and said what a good sister i was. So i guess i demoted myself to bridesmaid.”
“My sister had a destination wedding in the beginning of August of this year. I have three sisters, and the one getting married is the youngest one. All of the sisters would be bridesmaids (plus like 5 of her best friends). Problem was, I got pregnant and my baby was due in the middle of June. Fortunately, she was also pregnant and due in March, and she totally understood.
The timing was so borderline. If he was born on his due date, he would only be 7 weeks old by the wedding. They recommend waiting until two weeks after the 6 weeks vaccinations to fly, but they could do the vaccinations as early as 4 weeks. If he was early, we might be able to make it. If he was late, maybe not. This was also my first child, so I had NO clue what to expect. Maybe it would be chaos and traveling was a horrible idea. I just had no way of knowing.
As it turned out, I had an induction 5 weeks early due to a medical emergency. I missed all of the wedding planning stuff due to being sick and then having a newborn. But baby was healthy, really easygoing, and it was looking like I was going to be able to go. Not only that, but my husband wanted to take two weeks of his parental leave so that we could take a family vacation just the three of us. We were going to island hop for two weeks, visit one of his friends, etc. We were so excited. I told my husband that I would book our travel and accommodations for Oahu first (where my sister was getting married) and the rest of the trip was up to him. I was down for whatever. I bought my bridesmaid dress and booked our travel. Everything was coming up Millhouse.
Then my husband passed away suddenly two and a half weeks before the wedding. Obviously I was a total f*cking wreck. But literally all of my family was going to Hawaii for the wedding. My in-laws live across the country from me. Nobody wanted me to be left alone so they insisted baby and I still come to Hawaii. One of my sisters helped me cancel my husband’s flight, move mine so that I wouldn’t have to travel alone, cancel my accommodations and crash in their room with the baby.
Now, I thought it was obvious I wasn’t going to be in the wedding anymore. I thought I didn’t have to have that conversation. It was already always up in the air whether I would be able to attend the wedding at all, let alone be a bridesmaid. I thought it would be clear that a wedding would be really f*cking hard for me as it is. I didn’t want to ruin all the videos and pictures with my thousand yard stare, running mascara, and bags under my eyes.
Well, it just never occurred to my baby sister that I wasn’t still one of her 8 bridesmaids. God love her, she is amazing and thoughtful and the most loving and sweet person I know. But she just had a lot going on and she probably hadn’t thought about it.
The day of the rehearsal, I put the baby in a stroller and hoofed it from the resort. We walked around Waikiki and I tried to not be desperately miserable behind sunglasses. I took pictures of my son with the Duke Kahanamoku statue, bought and ate a rapidly melting pineapple soft serve cone, and window shopped. My parents called me and told me to come back to the hotel so we could “go shopping” so I sighed and went back. When I got there, they were like, OK we’re going to the rehearsal. I said, uh you guys are, I’m not. They said, “[your sister] wants you there.”
I thought it was weird, but I went. And I sat in the back with the baby while everyone chatted and got directed around. Then the wedding coordinator kept making references to where I’ll be standing and sitting, etc. All the bridesmaids and groomsmen and my sister and brother in law were standing fanned out up front, when the wedding coordinator started talking about where in the order I will be standing during the wedding (mind you, at this point I’m sitting in the third row with my baby).
So I said flatly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not a bridesmaid.” And my sister, standing where the bride stands in front of everyone says, “yes you are.”
And I said, “I thought you knew I wasn’t going to be. I didn’t have time to get my dress hemmed. I didn’t even bring my dress.”
LONG PAUSE.
I don’t remember what happened after that except for they reset to do the whole march again and I picked up my baby and walked away to sob behind some bushes. Once I got all my sh!t together I went back and watched the rest of the rehearsal. Afterwards I immediately went back to the room, where one of my sister’s friends was working on handwritten name cards.
That friend was the first people who had donated to a GoFundMe after my husband died, so as soon as I parked my stroller in the room I started crying and thanking her. She gave me a big hug and I told her about how I had a mega meltdown during the rehearsal, and she held me and told me it was OK, that it’s understandable. My sister walked into the room while I was crying and she gave me a big hug. I told her that I was sorry, I messed up her rehearsal, and I should have told her I wasn’t going to be her bridesmaid. She said it was OK, she wasn’t mad.
SO yeah. That’s how that went. The wedding was hard for me, but I was happy for my sister. She still included me as much as I was willing to be included. She still had my makeup and hair done, and I was in her video a little and in family photos. During the reception my sister and BIL gave a speech, and she gave a shout out to my husband and I ugly cried. Anyway, I’m still glad that I went. I love my sister, she was there for me when I had my baby and she was there for me when my husband died. I wish I could have been there for her during her wedding, but I did the best that I could. Super glad I wasn’t a bridesmaid, though.”
“She asked, and thus ended up being one of the first people I told I was pregnant. I couldn’t even go to the wedding—I lived 500 miles away and on the wedding day I was 8 months pregnant on no-travel orders. Baby was born 2 weeks later.
Bride was excited, not angry.
Over a decade later I am still sad I missed that wedding though—so many of our friends and families have not all been together since.”
“I was a broke college student that had my own bills to pay on a student worker part time wage. She expected me to buy my own dress, and the one she picked out was $400 and refused to change to a cheaper one. I literally made $400 per month so there was no way I could afford it. She got mad and has not talked to me since, which does not bother me because she was being extremely selfish.”
“My then-boyfriend’s brother’s fiance asked me to be her maid of honor. It was a shotgun wedding due to her pregnancy but it was also about 6 weeks away. I barely knew her and thought it was really weird. I told her she should choose someone she’s known longer and has a deeper connection with or perhaps a family member. I also pointed out that if my bf and I broke up, she would probably hate having me in their wedding photos. That’s got a weird reaction from everyone involved.”
“I turned down an opportunity to be in a wedding party on the summit of Longs Peak in Colorado. Start hiking at 3 am so we could be off the summit before the afternoon lightening storms killed us. Sounds great! (actually sounds awful, let’s be real.)
All of us were in sh!t shape, bride especially. WTF were they thinking? I heard later that it was absolutely miserable. I guess it turned out so badly that multiple people dropped out of the hike. We didn’t get the full story for months. Lots of minor injuries and they didn’t make it to the summit until noon.
No one could tell her it was a stupid idea.
This was long before social media. I shudder to think what she could have come up with in the age of social media. They would been dropping on to the summit with parachutes.
Yes, they divorced in a few years.
I have no idea why a chubby bride thought her chubby friends would all enjoy hiking up a 14K foot mountain for a sunrise wedding.”
“Yes….I declined because I saw the groom to be picking up the bride by her neck. We were young, we were out clubbing, I don’t know why these two were even trying to get married, this was back in say, 1998. Anyway, groom-to-be picks up bride by the neck, I call cops, they come arrest him, she bails him out same night. It was about 3 or 4 months later that they were getting married and she asked me to be the maid of honor! No can do I told her, I told her the truth. And she was okay with it.
They were over within a year. I just remember she was crying and so embarrassed that she had just gotten all these gifts for the wedding, and that all those people who came to her wedding would find out that it was all for nothing. As far as I know she moved back in with her parents for a while, she was quite young.”
“Bride asked me to be a bridesmaid on a Wednesday. Wedding was on a Saturday. Across the country. She claimed she had ‘asked my Dad to tell me’ (I don’t even live with him anymore) and spent years without talking to me after I declined.
Not a big loss.”
“I had a friend from high school ask me to be her maid of honor. I said yes, but I was worried about the money. I bought the dress, started planning her shower and she was already hounding me about her bachelorette party, even though she was four months away from getting married. Bridal shower went well in my opinion, until the bride kept making side comments about how there weren’t enough games, or prizes. (I was recently unemployed and didn’t have money, but my parents were helping.) I had planned four games, and I thought that was fair. She also said the food wasn’t good enough either, and spent the entire time talking to her other friends and ignoring me.
The next day she messages me saying we need to meet and plan her bachelorette party. She wanted all the bridesmaids to come over and have dinner. Well, night of the dinner I was really sick. I have a lot of health concerns and she was aware of them, but still got mad at me. Keep in mind I had been planning and trying to accommodate her requests for the bachelorette party while also making it feasible. She wanted an over night weekend get away in a air B&B and it would have been like $300 per person or something like that. I tried to convince her it wasn’t feasible and wanted to plan something else. I found something else to do, but hadn’t told her about it yet.
She messaged me later that night saying how disappointed she was that I wasn’t being a good maid of honor, and that she shouldn’t have to plan her own bachelorette party, and she basically yelled at me and said that I was a terrible friend because I did not do what she wanted exactly. Our entire friendship she always made it about herself, and I had distanced myself from her recently, and so I was surprised she asked me to be her MOH. After that message I was like fine, I’m done. And I quit her wedding.
We are no longer friends, and When we met in person to discuss it she blew up at me for not being there for her, that I was ruining her special day, and that she wasn’t getting what she wanted. I knew I had done nothing wrong and she was being a bridezilla. Their wedding recently happened and I could care less. She was a toxic person and I don’t need that negativity. Sure I feel bad about it, but I also know I needed to stand up for myself as our entire friendship she always walked over me.”
“My half sister asked me to be her bridesmaid at her extravagant, not small wedding. All good, until I was told she wasn’t inviting my dad, because he ‘wasn’t her family’ despite financially supporting her for 15 years while her dad refused to pay any parental contribution.
I wanted nothing to do with the wedding after that. I attended, and went to bed very swiftly after I had a free meal.
To this day, my sister is still very standoffish and rude to my dad. It’s caused no end of drama in our house, but I love my dad to pieces and I will always stick up for him and all the amazing things he’s helped us achieve and experience even as adults. He’s a very wonderful man.”
“My ex husband’s sister had asked me to be her bridesmaid. I declined because it was shortly after his affair and there was a lot of bad blood between his family and me. It was really heartbreaking to do; we had been best friends for years prior. Unfortunately, we no longer speak.”
“A friend of a friend asked me to be a groomsman at his wedding. I thought it was odd because we only ever saw one another when we were hanging out with our mutual friend. I don’t even remember if I ever met his fiance.
At the time my wife was pregnant and due to give birth right around the time of the wedding and also I had just gotten a job again after being unemployed and was trying to catch back up on finances so paying for a tux wasn’t an exciting prospect. I declined and told him I didn’t want to leave them in a lurch if my wife ended up going into labor because it was such an important day for them. I thanked him for inviting me and told him I would attend the wedding but this way at least they weren’t depending on me.
He understood and was fine with it but called me a couple days later, clearly embarrassed and told me his fiance was furious and had disinvited me from the wedding.
They ended up getting divorced a few years later.”
The post 15 Women Reveal Why They Refused Being a Bridesmaid (and What Happened After) appeared first on UberFacts.