Etymologically, “bulimia” comes from the Greek bous (meaning “ox”) and limos (meaning “hunger”).  One with bulimia is said to have the appetite of an ox. 

Wait… appetite of an ox?  Ohhhh, I get it.  People with bulimia have the desire to eat grass.

The koala is one of the few mammals, other than primates, to have fingerprints.  Their fingerprints are very similar to human fingerprints.  According to an infamously dubious, free, online encyclopedia, human and koala fingerprints are so similar that “even with an electron microscope it can be quite difficult to distinguish between the two.”

Crime Scene Investigator: Here’s the gun from the murder scene.

Forensic Scientist: Thanks.  Once I just take a look at this gun with my trusty electron microscope, I will be able to pinpoint the killer immediately.

Looks in electron microscope.

Forensic Scientist: I see the prints.  It looks like I’ve narrowed it down to two suspects.  But it’s quite difficult to distinguish between the two, even with my electron microscope.

LATER:

Behind one-way glass, a witness looks at the two suspects in a police line-up.  A 46 year-old man with a history of violence and drug addiction …and…  a 25-pound koala with a pouch full of revenge.

The white doves that are “set free” at some weddings are most likely just white homing pigeons.  Nice.  I don’t like pigeons.  They’re gross.  Might as well just release a bunch of white rats on my wedding day.

Brown adipose tissue (aka brown fat) is one of two types of mammalian fat (the other is white fat).  The primary function of brown fat is to generate body heat-  it’s especially important in hibernating animals and newborns that don’t shiver.  (I’m sure it’s even more helpful for hibernating newborn babies…)  Compared to white fat, brown fat has a higher density of mitochondria, which contain iron and make it brown.  Brown fat takes calories from white fat and burns it to generate heat, which could be a new weight loss strategy.  Babies have more brown fat than adults, however.  So, I suppose it would be a great weight loss strategy for fat babies.  Just put them in cold water and they will look great in no time.

NOTE: DO NOT LEAVE YOUR BABY IN COLD WATER

Or you could put the babies on the “baby food diet” as was previously discussed

http://smartestyear.com/post/794887298/baby-food-diet-7-10-10

The monster Godzilla first appeared in a 1954 Japanese film called “Gojira.”  The name Godzilla is the anglicized form of Gojira, which is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (gorilla) and kujira (whale).  This is fitting because, in the early stages of the film’s production, Godzilla was described as “a cross between a gorilla and a whale.”

A cross between a gorilla and a whale?  What an odd and useless creature. I can imagine the script:

Man 1: Watch out for Godzilla!

Man 2: Why?

Man 1: Because it’s a mix between a gorilla and a whale!

Man 2: So…It’s a super endangered species?

Man 1: No, it’s a mix between two giant things.

Man 2: Yeah.  But it’s probably extremely awkward and worthless on land and water…Sounds kinda hilarious actually.  Let’s go poke it with a stick.

“The nose print of a dog is like the fingerprint of a person – no two are alike. Get a good relief and you can identify your dog by the mark it leaves behind!” 

I’m guessing your dog’s face will help you distinguish your dog too. Or maybe its general appearance or its collar…  Maybe this fact is supposed to help me track my dog…or help the police if my dog committed a crime or something.  But I would have to rely on the fact that he used his nose to shoot a gun.  Wow!  I can identify my dog by “the mark it leaves behind!”  I don’t know about you, but my dog doesn’t walk around with ink on its nose pressing it up against things.  Or shooting people.

I’ve read way too much about horses today.  I hate when I do that.  Anyway,  I knew the height of a horse was measured in hands, but I never knew a hand was equivalent to 4 inches.  Maybe dwarfs primarily measured horses back in the day.  I also learned that the only truly wild species of horses that still exists is the Przewalski’s Horse, although it’s currently listed as an endangered species.  I’m sure environmentalists could rally a little more with a name change, though.   A “Save The Whales” bumper sticker is a little catchier than “Save The Przewalski’s Horses”.

In Middle English, the word pygg referred to a type of clay used in pottery.  People often kept their money in jars made out of this clay.  They were called “pygg jars.”  Eventually this evolved into “pig bank,” and finally “piggy bank.”  I remember seeing in cartoons people breaking their piggy banks open with a hammer to get the money.  I always questioned the thinking behind that decision—-you’re going to spend all your money buying a new piggy bank.  A vicious, irrational cycle.

Misunderstandings between brown eggs and white eggs have torn families apart for generations.  Now it shall be settled.  So what’s the difference between brown eggs and white eggs (other than the color…nice one)?  The Egg Nutrition Board— yes, it’s a real thing— says that there is no difference in taste or nutrition.  Simply, “white shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and white earlobes.  Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red earlobes.”  What!?  Earlobes!?  Like people earlobes?  Big dangly, droopy, old-people, chicken earlobes? 

I have white earlobes…I would probably lay white eggs.

Geese and some other migratory birds fly in a V formation for a couple main reasons.  First, the V formation reduces the drag force that each bird encounters compared to the force he would feel flying solo.  In one study, the heart rates of pelicans was monitored.  It was found that a flock of 25 birds in formation can fly 70% farther than a single bird using the same amount of energy.  The second benefit of the V is communication.  All the birds can keep track of their fellow travelers.  This is the reason why I will train my family to move in a V formation when we go to amusement parks, airports or other crowded places.  Not to mention the benefits I will get from drafting off of my family members.  I will be able to walk 70% farther than if I was at Disneyland by myself.  And it would be 70% less depressing than being at Disneyland by myself.

Continuing from yesterday’s post about driving on the right side of the road vs the left side…

In the feudal times, knights would ride their horses on the left side of the road.  They usually kept their sword and scabbard on their left side, so the easiest way for them to climb onto the horse, without their sword getting in the way, was from the left.  Driving on the right side of the road came about in the 1700s, when horse-drawn wagons were used to transport farm products.  The wagon driver would ride on the back left horse, so he could use the whip with his right hand and hold the reigns in his left.  He wanted to make sure he wouldn’t rub wheels with oncoming wagon traffic, so he moved to the right side of the road in order to keep an eye on the side of the wagon that would be nearest to the other passing wagons.  It basically boils down to the fact that most people are right handed. 

Whenever I am driving a wagon down the street, I feel so lucky to be driving on the right side of the road.  Otherwise, I could hit my wagon wheels on an oncoming semi-truck, and absolutely destroy myself, my horses, and my farm products.

Herpetology is the study of reptiles, coming from the Greek herpeton, literally meaning “creeping thing.”  This is also where herpes comes from.  I mean the word.  The actual viral disease comes in a much more informal way. 

10-91H is the police code for “Stray Horse.”  I will make sure I watch for this when I am listening to the police scanner.  I would hate to get in the middle of this.  I bet the LAPD would give a whole new meaning to beating a dead horse.

Ming was the name given to a clam that was found off the coast of Iceland in 2007.  Judging by the annual growth rings on Ming’s shell, the clam was believed to be between 405 to 410 years old, making it the oldest living creature ever recorded.  This claim was made by researchers at Bangor University, where Ming died during the age assessment process.  Scientists hope that Ming will give insight into ways humans can fight the aging process.  Here’s the first thing humans can do:  Don’t get studied by Bangor University.

R.I.P. Ming.  You will be remembered for pretty much doing nothing for 400 years.

If you think about it, the expression, “there is more than one way to skin a cat,” is pretty messed up.  I mean, who skins cats?  And why so many ways?  I couldn’t find a definite origin of the phrase.  In 1678, a variant of the idiom was first published as “there are more ways to kill a cat than by choking it with cream.”  That’s weird.  Also, Mark Twain used the quote a couple hundred years later.  It’s also been said that the saying comes from a gymnastics move called “skinning the cat,” but I don’t really buy it.  The only thing I do know is that skinning a cat is a harbinger of becoming a serial killer.