Interesting adverts.

Realizing your childhood dreams- Randy Pausch

Maybe you've watched it. But if you haven't, you SHOULD.

No.0010 - Human sense

MYTH 1: There are fives senses.

True Story: Most of us have been taught that we have 5 senses in schools. But that isn't true, there are at least 9 senses and some even argue there are 21 senses.

The five senses was listed first by Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. In addition to his list: hearing, smell, taste, sight and touch, the common agreed 4 senses are:
6. Thermoception - sense of heat on our skin
7. Equilibrioception - sense of balance
8. Nociception - sense of pain
9. Proprioception - sense of where our parts of bodies are, without being able to see or touch them

There are also hunger, thirst, which can be included in the list.


MYTH 2: There are four (or five) basic taste senses in our tongue, and certain parts of our tongue is responsible for different tastes (as shown below).



True Story: This 'tongue map' is completely rubbish, but has been taught in schools around the world. Every parts of our tongue can taste the basic tastes.

What's more, there are more than 4 or 5 tastes that our tongue can distinguish.
The basic tastes are: bitter, sour, sweet, salty and umami (also known as savouriness or MSG).
In addition to these tastes, our tongue can sense the following:
- fattiness
- hotness (spicy)
- temperature
- coolness - or freshness, minty feeling
- dryness - unripe fruits
- metallicness

No.0009 - St Bernard

MYTH: St Bernard carry brandy in its barrel around its neck.



True Story: St Bernards never carried a brandy barrel.

The idea of a brandy barrel was an English artist Sir Edwin Landseer*'s. He painted a scene called "Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating a Distressed Traveller" in 1831 (shown below), which shows one of the St Bernard wearing a miniature barrel around its neck. He added the barrel 'for interest', however it got stuck.

The name "St Bernard" was also popularised by Landseer.

It is estimated that St Bernards have made around 2500 rescues since 1800, however none in the last 50 years.


* Sir Edwin was a renowned painter of landscapes and animals. His most famous works are "The Monarch of the Glen" and his sculpture of lions around the base of Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square.

Don't forget to smile today =)

Aim for the moon,

Even if you fall,

You will be among the stars~

A weekend must watch!

When Boris met Dave...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVEhMCshD0&has_verified=1

Dandelions

Some facts:

• High in nutrients and particularly rich in Vitamins A and C.
• Contains more carotene than that which is found in Carrots.
• Contains more Iron, Copper and Potassium than many common vegetables like Lettuce.
• The root is particularly good for the digestive and is also believed to help break up gallstones.
• The flower can be used to make Dandelion Jam or Dandelion Wine.

Myths:

• In some places, Dandelions have served as weather forecasters. If they do not open in the morning, it will rain. Or, if down flies off the seed heads though there is no wind, it will rain.
• If a child picks a dandelion, it will make him wet the bed (hence the name 'peed the bed' as a substitute for dandelion at times).

"The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world."

No.0008 - Bank of England

Some people were raising their voices when the Bank of England started circulating new £20 banknote* in 2007, as it featured the portrait of Adam Smith, who is Scottish.

However the irony is, the Bank of England was found by a Scottish banker William Paterson in 1694. Even more bizarrely, Bank of Scotland was found by an English banker John Holland in 1695.

Acts of Union, which united England and Scotland, was passed in 1707, not so long after the establishments of the two central banks.

* It is the first of the Series F banknotes to be issued by the Bank of England. The second banknote is to be issued in late 2010, which will be £50 banknote.
The old £20 banknote (Series E), featuring Edgard Elgar is going to be withdrawn from the circulation in 30 June 2010.

No.0007 - Glass

MYTH: Glass is a liquid.

True Story: Most of us have believed glass is a solid material as a child (quite rightly), but as we grow up some of us have been told that actually glass is a liquid, which flows very very slowly. They point to the old church window glasses as a proof, as there are old glasses with its bottom thicker than its top.

But the real reason behind this is simply that medieval glaziers couldn't cast perfectly flat sheets of glasses*, and when that happens they preferred to fit the glass with the thicker end at the bottom just as many of us would do.

So the normal state of glass is solid, although it's an "amorphous" solid.

* In fact, we would not be able to produce perfectly flat sheets of glasses until mid-20th century. Sir Alastair Pilkington thought of floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal. As a result, he made it possible to build skyscrapers with glass rather than heavier concrete, which was the standard before then, such as the Empire States Building in New York.