Here are a few interesting facts you may not have known…
Although September is the ninth month of the year, septem means “seven” in Latin. The same goes for October, November, and December, octo being eight, novem being nine, and decem being ten. This is because before the Julian calendar, which had 12 months in a year, the Roman calendar had only 10 months. It was in the year 45 B.C.E. that Julius Caesar introduced the new calendar that included two more months, January and February, which pushed all the other months back two places and made their names inconsistent with their placement.
Different animals use different techniques to hunt for food. “Smasher” mantis shrimp are crustaceans that can grow to be around 10 cm long. They use their clubs to hunt by striking their prey. They can punch from 50 to 83 km per hour, reaching the speed of a .22-caliber bullet. This causes the surrounding water to boil and creates bubbles. These bubbles, called cavitation bubbles, release energy as they collapse, which shatters prey, even the hard shells of snails. Cavitation can also cause problems for some parts of ships.
While you probably know that consuming too much sugar is not good for your health, did you know that the World Health Organization strongly recommends that free sugars – which are sugars added to food and beverages, or present in honey, syrup, and juice – should make up less than 10% of total energy intake? This means that for someone with a 2 000-calorie diet, sugar intake should be limited to less than 50 g (12 tsp). The WHO also suggests that reducing free sugar intake to less than 5% of total energy intake can provide additional health benefits.
The human body contains a lot of muscles. In fact, it contains around 640 muscles. The longest muscle is the Sartorius, that goes from the upper outer thigh to the lower inner thigh. It is used for hip and knee flexion (flexion occurs when the angle gets smaller) and abduction (when the leg moves away from the body). The smallest muscle is the Stapedius, found in the middle ear. It is used to control the movement of the stapes (the smallest bone in the human body).
Maybe you have already heard that tomatoes are fruits. But do you know why? Fruits come from the flowers of a plant and contain seeds. Vegetables, however, are all of the other edible parts of a plant. This means that cucumbers, pumpkins, corn, bell peppers, and even nuts are actually fruits. They are commonly referred to as vegetables because fruits are often sweet whereas vegetables are often savoury.
I hope you learned something new!
