Category: Science

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How Often Should You Be Pooping?

The number one question on a lot of people’s minds when it comes to going number two is, “How often should we be going poop?” Is it once a day? Or maybe once in the morning and another time at night? Is there an actual average amount of times per week a person should be pooping?

According to experts, it’s not so much about how often you poop, as it is how regularly you go. Being on some sort of routine is really what counts the most. Whether you go after every meal, or only three times per week, you are still within normal ranges according to Lifehacker. What’s normal for each individual person is far more important than what is normal for everyone else.

Photo Credit: Twitter

What you need to be aware of is when your routine changes. If you’ve been sitting upon the throne regularly every morning for as long as you can recall, and suddenly it becomes an every other day event, or less, you may want to check with your doctor. It could be a sign of IBS, celiac disease, or something missing in your diet. Only a doctor can tell you for sure.

Photo Credit: Instagram, lifesteilblog

Also, if you are having some trouble going and feeling like you need to “force one out,” don’t! Let things happen naturally. If you’ve been trying to go for more than 10-15 minutes, get up and give it a break, as pushing too hard can lead to hemorrhoids, according to Men’s Health.

So, the upshot is: whether you’re dropping one thrice daily or just three times a week, you’re going poop enough, just so long as you’re on your regular schedule.

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The 10 Fastest Animals on Earth Will Make You Feel…Very Slow

What is the fastest animal on Earth? Usain Bolt is definitely the fastest human animal, clocking in at around 25 mph, but compared to animals in the wild, he’s barely moving. Don’t believe us? Check out this list of 10 animals faster than an Olympic champion.

10. A day at the races

Photo Credit: YouTube

Quarter horses reach speeds up to 55 MPH. A lot of different animals come in close to this mark, but quarter horses have a higher top speed than all of them, and they can finish about as fast as they start which is pretty impressive.

9. Catch me if you can

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

On the African Savannah, the Springbok eludes prey by running at high speeds for long distances. They actually get up to 60 MPH, and can stay near that speed for miles if that’s what it takes to avoid being dinner. Like their cousin, the black wildebeest, they have really funky muscle fibers which allow them to be so dang fast!

8. They say I used to be faster

Photo Credit: BBC

The pronghorn used to be considered the second fastest land animal in the world back in the 1940s, but better technology has changed that. However, they’re still way faster than Usain Bolt. They can technically hit 62 MPH, but tend to hang out around 40+ MPH.

7. What’s that up in the sky?

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Anna’s Hummingbird is a cute little winged thing that is crazy fast once it gets going. It can fly up to 61 MPH over short distances, but when measured by how many body lengths per second (bl/s) it travels, which is up to 320, it’s faster than the space shuttle.

6. I’m not as fast as you think I am

Photo Credit: BBC

Cheetahs are pretty fast, to the tune of 65 MPH, but that comes with a disclaimer. Domesticated cheetahs raised at zoos have gotten to that speed, or close to it, but in the wild, cheetahs tend to run much slower, because it allows greater maneuverability when hunting.

5. My speed is uncommon

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The common swift can hit speeds of up to 70 MPH when it’s just cruising around at level flight looking for statues to sit on. They may go faster, but there haven’t been many reliable readings of their speed. Even if they don’t though, it’s still pretty impressive!

7. Don’t let the gray on my head fool you

Photo Credit: Oceanwide Expeditions

The gray-headed albatross is regarded as the fastest bird at level flight, clocking in at 80 MPH. That’s insane! But here’s the real scoop on it — the record could be the product of a performance enhancer. It seems that the specific gray-headed albatross that was clocked doing 80 MPH had a tailwind of 40MPH, possibly even up to 50 MPH helping it along.

8. I’m fast when I want to be

Photo Credit: la reserva

The Hybomitra hinei wrighti horsefly might reach 90 MPH, according to one researcher. However, while his observations are considered interesting, it’s going to take more than one horsefly chasing a plastic pellet from an air rifle to count as an official record.

9. I want to fly like an eagle, but faster!

Photo Credit: EMNRD

There have been claims that the Brazilian free-tailed bat has gone up to 100 MPH, but they’ve been met with great skepticism. Seven bats were studied, and while all could go at least 55 MPH, five almost reached 70 MPH, and supposedly this one super buff bat clocked in at 100 MPH. Kinda makes you wonder if it had a performance enhancer like that gray-headed albatross did.

10. I’m always first to dinner

 

Photo Credit: NPS

If you count when the peregrine falcon goes into a stoop, which is a wicked crazy hunting dive for dinner, they can go over 200 MPH! Granted, they only fly around 50 MPH at level, but the diving for dinner thing blows the doors off everyone else.

Whether a dive technically counts or not is up to debate, but either way, that is amazingly fast!

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This Little Girl Has Gorgeous and Unusual Eyes Due to a Rare Genetic Disorder

Wherever Mehlani goes, people can’t help but notice her big, beautiful eyes. Her mother, Karina Martinez, must constantly stop what she is doing to listen to strangers tell her how beautiful her daughter is. What parent wouldn’t want their child to receive all this positive attention?

Well, when it comes to Mehlani, those big, beautiful eyes are the product of Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome. It is a very rare condition, according to the NIH, that has made her eyes develop differently from most people’s. It’s so rare, Karina had never even heard of it until she was told Mehlani had it.

Photo Credit: Buzzfeed

Her condition makes the iris of her eye appear misshapen. And with her condition comes a high probability of glaucoma, pressure inside the eye that can damage the optic nerve if left untreated – which she does currently have. It also makes Mehlani’s eyes very sensitive to light, and could eventually lead to blindness.

Photo Credit: Buzzfeed

While Karina loves that people think her daughter and her eyes are beautiful, she sometimes wonders if she should tell them why. Usually, she just smiles and thanks everyone for the compliments, even if it makes her feel uncomfortable.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Like most moms, Karina also worries if children will be nice to Mehlani as she gets older. She says some kids are already commenting on how big Mehlani’s eyes are. Most of all, she just wants her little girl to know she is beautiful and loved.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Since her tweets went viral, Karina and Mehlani have received an outpouring of love, and Karina has been contacted by a lot parents who have kids with the same condition. She’s very glad to know that she and Mehlani are not alone!

Photo Credit: Twitter

We (and everyone else) wish all the best for the lovely, little Mehlani!

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Did Candy Corn Really Used to be Chicken Feed?

Candy corn: people either love it or hate it. However you feel about the classic Halloween treat, I bet you don’t know where it came from, do you? You might think that it’s just little pieces of sugar shaped like corn, but the truth is way more surprising.

Photo Credit: Unsplash,Dane Deaner

The origins of the candy are a little spotty, but it seems to date to the 1880s, when candy companies made mellowcreme into all kinds of shapes, including pumpkins, turnips, and various agricultural products. At that time, farmers made up about half of American workers, so companies geared their candy toward kids who lived on farms.

Photo Credit: Flickr,Juushika Redgrave

Wunderle was the first company to sell the multi-colored candy corn, but the Goelitz Candy Company was the first to popularize the now ubiquitous treat, around 1889. Goelitz marketed candy corn as “Chicken Feed” because before World War I most Americans didn’t eat corn, it was strictly for farm animals.

During the lean years of WWI, wheat shortages caused many Americans to begin using corn-related foods as a cooking staple. After the war and until the 1950s, candy corn became known as a “penny candy” that kids (and adults with a sweet tooth) could buy in bulk. And it wasn’t strictly associated with Halloween. People also ate candy corn at Thanksgiving and Easter.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that Halloween became more and more dominated by and associated with candy. That’s also when companies began advertising candy corn around Halloween.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Today, the National Confectioners Association estimates that 35 million pounds of candy corn are sold every year. But you better believe a good chunk of those sales come in October.

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Someone Call Charlie Brown, Cuz This is the Largest Pumpkin Ever

A man in New Hampshire recently set a new record for the largest pumpkin ever grown in North America! If that doesn’t get you excited for Fall, then we don’t know what will!

Steve Geddes broke the record last month at the Deerfield Fair in New Hampshire. Geddes’ massive prize weighed a whopping 2,528 pounds, shattering the previous record.

Photo Credit: Facebook,Deerfield Fair

Geddes won $6,000 in prize money for his behemoth.

Photo Credit: Facebook,Deerfield Fair

Even though pumpkins are extremely American (at least I think they are), the largest one ever grown in the world is actually from Belgium back in 2016. That monster weighed 2,624 pounds. Let’s hope Mr. Geddes keeps growing pumpkins and brings that title back to the USA where it belongs!

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7 Awesome Facts About Pretty Much Everything

I’m confident that you are going to find some very useful and interesting facts on this list.

So read on to get just a lil’ bit smarter.

1. Now that is epic

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2. Lavender labyrinth

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3. How cool is that?

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4. Always an awkward situation

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5. Check your grammar, bro

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6. Nice work Damian!

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7. That makes sense…

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Feel a little bit smarter? Good!

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5+ Great Facts to Share with Your Friends

Good thing Neil deGrasse Tyson had a change of heart about his career.

If not, we might be seeing him in the flesh, lighting himself on fire.

Don’t believe me? Read through this fact set and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

1. Security blanket

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2. A real tongue twister

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3. Wish we could see it…

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4. Here come the waterworks

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5. Good career move

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6. Hot rod kitties

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Remember: share these facts far and wide!

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7 “Facts” People Should Stop Believing

There are some myths that are so ingrained in popular culture as “facts” that just about everyone believes they’re true. For example, did you know Mount Everest isn’t the tallest mountain in the world? Or that drinking milk isn’t necessary for developing strong bones?

Below are 7 more things that are patently false, and we think it’s high time people started to circulate the truth instead of the long-believed myths.

#7. Mars is red.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Mars is the red planet, right? Welll. It all has to do with the tricky science of color. The initial images from Mars in the 70s showed an image that could have come from Arizona – blue skies, and umber ground. But the image was processed to show what it would look like under Earth-like lighting conditions. Mars has different chemicals scattering light in the sky, so NASA believes its sky and ground would look more pink/orange than Earth’s to the human eye.

However, NASA also clarifies that parts of the planet are actually blue and grey.

Not so straightforward, is it?

#6. Milk is essential for your bones.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

It turns out that the calcium contained in milk doesn’t help prevent fractures. In fact, Harvard researchers have found that people from countries where dairy is not a regular diet staple suffer from fewer broken bones than people from countries like the US where many people consume dairy on a regular basis.

If you want to increase your calcium intake, sardines, salmon, beans, almonds, and figs are probably better sources.

#5. Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

It’s not even close in reality. It does have the highest elevation above sea level at 8,850 meters, making it the the world’s highest mountain – but if we consider total height, Mauna Kea, which is located in Hawaii and technically starts at the bottom of the Pacific ocean, is the tallest at over 10,000 meters.

#4. Chocolate causes acne.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

There are still people who avoid chocolate because they believe that doing so improves their skin. Those folks are going to be super bummed to read that research has shown consuming chocolate is in no way harmful to one’s skin. What’s more, the results have been confirmed by dermatologists worldwide.

So eat up, chocolate lovers!

#3. If you’re caught in a lightning storm, your car is a safe place to be.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The rubber tires will ground you from any strikes, right? Yes and no — the grounding actually doesn’t come from the tires, but the car itself. Because it’s made from metal, it basically acts as an accidental Faraday cage. But be warned: the protection afforded will only work if all of the doors and windows are closed, and there are really no absolute guarantees where so much energy is concerned.

#2. Running every day is good for you.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

People who run tend to think that they’ll lose out somehow unless they pound the pavement on a daily basis, but the truth is that doing so can actually harm your health. Running too much can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, and premature aging. Scientists recommend running 3-4 times a week and not exceeding a total distance of 19 miles.

#1. The placebo effect only works on people.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

It might sound far-fetched, but research points to the possibility that it also works on dogs. If a dog is sick and its owner hands over a pill, the dog stops feeling pain for a short while even if that pill is just a vitamin.

Spread the word!

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7 Ways You Can Tell Someone Is Lying

Science and psychology have some useful tips on how you might be able to tell if the person across the table is being straight with you. There are several good reasons to be able to tell when someone is lying to you — starting and ending with it’s nice to know who you can trust.

#7. They tend to stand very still.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Though it is true that some people fidget when they get nervous, just as many people stand purposefully still. Glass explains scientists think this is because the body is preparing for a confrontation.

“If you observe a rigid, catatonic stance devoid of movement, it is often a huge warning sign that something is off.”

#6. Pointing may become a factor.

Image Credit: Pixabay

People often feel put on the defensive when they’re lying, and will attempt to turn the tables. Watch for increasingly aggressive gestures, like pointing, to emerge.

#5. They may touch or cover their mouth.

Image Credit: Pixabay

If someone doesn’t want to answer a question, they often put their hands over their mouth or lips.

“They are literally closing off communication,” says Glass.

#4. They may go overboard with information.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Glass explains that if someone is giving you too much information “that is not requested and especially an excess of details, there is a very high probability that he or she is not telling you the truth.”

“Liars often talk a lot because they are hoping that, with all their talking and seeming openness, others will believe them.”

#3. You can tell a lot from their feet.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Are they shuffling them a lot? If so, you might be spotting someone who is uncomfortable and nervous, and who would like to be anywhere but where they are.

“This is one of the key ways to detect a liar. Just look at their feet and you can tell a lot,” Glass advises.

#2. They may repeat words or phrases.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Glass says that if someone repeats words and phrases, they could be trying to convince you — and themselves — that they’re not lying. It could also be a way to buy themselves time as they reorder their thoughts around the untruth.

#1. Watch for changes in their breathing pattern.

Image Credit: Pixabay

If you’re close enough to someone to hear them breathing, if they’re lying, you might hear them start to breathe more heavily. You should also observe if their shoulders rise and/or their breathing becomes shallow.

“In essence,” Glass says, “they are out of breath because their heart rate and blood flow change.”

 

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Scientists once gave drugs…

Scientists once gave drugs to bees, and found that they respond similarly to humans: bees on cocaine tend to overestimate the amount of sugar they find and exaggerate when reporting back to the hive. 10