Things We Know Now...

Came across this article about the "50 Things we know now that we didn't know this time last year" and realized that some of them are really interesting and are an eye-opener. I've selected some of the interesting ones to share out here. Here you go, enjoy!

#2. Grumpy people think more clearly because negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking. (Agree!! I think it's because when a person is grumpy, all they can think of is the cause of their grumpiness, kinda make them stay focused :P)

#5. One mutated gene is the reason humans have language, and chimpanzees, our closest relative, do not. (You mean we could talk because of our one mutated gene??!!!)

#9. Babies pick up their parents' accents from the womb, and infants are born crying in their native dialect. Researchers found that French newborns cry in a rising French accent, and German babies cry with a characteristic falling inflection. (Oh wow! I'll just have to wait till Ben can talk one day to see whether this is true or not! ;) )

#10. Surfing the Internet may help delay dementia because it creates stimulation that exercises portions of the brain. (Hooray to Internet! Who says I'm wasting time doing nothing when surfing the Internet?!)

#19. The calmest place on Earth is on top of an icy plateau in Antarctica known as Ridge A, several hundred miles from the South Pole. It is so still that stars do not twinkle in the sky because there is no turbulence in the atmosphere to distort the light. (Wow! According to this article, the air is 100 times drier than the Sahara and the winter averages -70C (minus 94F), which also gives Ridge A the accolade of the driest and coldest place in the world. Brrrrrr...)

#20. The thrill of driving a sports car makes the body produce more testosterone. The findings suggest a biological explanation for why some men buy a sports car when struck by a "midlife crisis." (That is not an excuse to splurge your retirement savings money!!)

#23. A massive, nearly invisible ring of ice and dust particles surrounds Saturn. The ring's entire volume can hold 1 billion Earths. (Wow! 1 billion Earths?!! I am already thinking our house is big enough, let alone the city, country and the Earth!! How awesome!)

#27. Women who revealed about 40 percent of their skin attracted twice as many men as those who covered up. Any more than 40 percent and the signal changes from allure to one indicating general availability and future infidelity. (Now how do they get to the 40% figures??)

#37. Differences in body odors produced by people who are more prone to insect bites show they have lower levels of fruity-smelling compounds in their sweat than those who are resistant to mosquitoes.

#50. Watermelon is more efficient at rehydrating our bodies than drinking water. It contains 92 percent water and essential rehydration salts.(Oh really??!)