WTF Fun Fact 12740 – The Master Switch of Life

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The Master Switch of Life is a phrase coined by Swedish researcher Per Scholander in the 1960s.

His research took place in the U.S. the United States where he studied just how being underwater would affect humans. He had already studied Weddell seals and found that the creatures seemed to gain more oxygen the longer they were underwater.

The water tank trials

To see if the effect might be the same in humans, he put volunteers in a water tank and monitored their heart rates as they dove to the bottom of the tank. Immediately, the volunteers’ heart rates decreased.

Then he asked them to do some exercise at the bottom of the tank to try and raise their heart rates but to no avail. Being underwater continued to lower everyone’s heart rate, meaning they also needed less oxygen (the opposite of what happens on land when we exercise). In addition, when the volunteers were underwater, their blood began flowing away from limbs and towards vital organs (which also happens in seals).

When blood flows to the heart and brain, they stay oxygenated longer, meaning we need less overall oxygen for our bodies to continue to function.

The mystery of water

That’s when he wondered why water has such an unexpected effect on us.

It turns out that the more we dive, the more blood can penetrate the cell walls of our organs to counteract external pressure.

And here’s the really cool part, according to TED:

“Scholander found that a person need submerge only his face in water to activate these life-lengthening (and lifesaving) reflexes. Other researchers tried sticking a hand or a leg in the water in an attempt to trigger the reflex, but to no avail. One researcher even put volunteers into a compression chamber to see if pressure alone would trigger a similar diving reflex. No dice. Only water could trigger these reflexes, and the water had to be cooler than the surrounding air.”

A splash of cold water

All we need to do is splash some cold water on our faces to flip what he called this “Master Switch of Life.” Cool water basically makes us more amphibious and produces a physical change in our heart rates. That certainly explains why cold water feels so refreshing!

–WTF fun facts

Source: “Your body’s amazing reaction to water” — TED Ideas

WTF Fun Fact 12739 – The Dreams of Men

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Multiple studies have shown tend to have more male characters in their dreams.

We have very little control over what we dream about, even though many of us try to direct our dreams. (I know I do – if I could spend all night dreaming about being a wealthy villa owner on an abandoned tropical coast instead of reliving a made-up scenario about missing a vital exam and never graduating high school, I would!)

Studying dreams

Anyway, there are hundreds of studies on dreams. Most of them involve having people use dream journals where they write down the contents of their dreams any time they awaken. The journals are then processed by a researchers who looks for certain characteristics without knowing anything about the person the journals belong to (that’s why they’re called a “blind judge” in many research papers).

Researchers usually start with common themes and types of characters and count mentions of them. And a lot of the research has backed up the data we’ve collected over time. (However, there are some differences between cultures as to what we dream about.)

Demhoff’s dream research

For example, G. William Domhoff wrote one of the most widely-cited papers on the genders we dream about (nearly two decades ago, before talking about more than two genders was a cultural priority). It’s called “The Dreams of Men and Women: Patterns of Gender Similarity and Difference,” and it was published in 2005.

In the paper, Domhoff is very clear that “The study of gender similarities and differences in dream content has proven to be a dangerous mine field for dream researchers.” That’s because this kind of information has the “potential to stir up all the tensions that inevitably accompany any discussion of gender in a world where gender discrimination–and conflicts between men and women on many personal issues–are pervasive.”

Limited interpretations

In other words, it’s likely that a large number of people will dislike this “fun fact” because they somehow feel judged by it or don’t like whatever they think it implies (which is largely nothing).

Demhoff was also careful to not that variations across cultures and across genders make generalizations difficult. He’s just reporting on one characteristic that he found to be statistically significant – the gender of the characters in people’s dreams.

Demhoff concentrated on American subjects since he was most familiar with the cultural characteristics of Americans. But other researchers have studied other cultures and found some key differences.

To make sure everyone is categorizing things in a roughly similar way, Demhoff used a coding system developed in 1966 called the Hall/Van de Castle system, where most things fall into pretty simple categories like: men/women; indoor setting/outdoor setting, etc. But that system was created based on the dream journals of white, middle-class college students at Case Western in the 1950s and 60s. In general, other studies have found these categories useful too.

So, on to the results (because results don’t mean much without some context first!).

What men dream of

Demhoff asked what percentage of dreams had a negative element “such as aggressions, misfortunes, failures, and negative emotions (anger, apprehension, confusion, and sadness)…” And the results were that “men and women are similar in that 80% of men’s dreams and 77% of women’s have at least one of these negative elements.”

When it comes to positive aspects, “such as friendly interactions, good fortune, success, and happiness, 53% of dreams for both men and women have at least one of those elements. Men and women also have an equal number of dreams in which food or eating is mentioned–about 17%.”

In addition, “Both men and women are more often victims than aggressors in the aggressive interactions in their dreams, and they face the same attackers, namely, men who are not known to them (“male strangers”) and animals. On a more positive note, both men and women are equally likely to befriend another character in their dreams.”

But we started with the most reported-on finding, which is that “men dream twice as often about other men as they do about women (67% vs. 33%), and women dream equally about both sexes (48% men, 52% women).”

What’s implied by the dreams of men? Not much

And here’s where people get offended. No one is implying that men fantasize about other men. They can be someone you fight on the street, your 5th grade math teacher, your dad…whatever.

Women may also have more of a character gender balance because their dreams tend to have more characters overall. This may be a result of women’s dreams being longer overall than men’s.

But Demhoff points out that this in not universal. Even among Black Americans, men and women tended to have an equal gender breakdown in dreams. Studies of Mexican and Peruvian teens as well as German college students also showed more of a gender balance. However, in each case there were slightly more men than women in everyone’s dreams.

–WTF fun facts

Source: “The Dreams of Men and Women: Patterns of Gender Similarity and Difference” — G. William Domhoff

WTF Fun Fact 12738 – Balance For Better Health

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According to a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, your ability to balance on one foot may indicate better health and a longer life expectancy.

People in the study who were aged 51 to 75 and couldn’t balance on one foot for over 10 seconds were more likely to die within the next ten years.

According to CNN:

“While aging leads to a decline in physical fitness, muscle strength, and flexibility, balance tends to be reasonably well-preserved until a person’s 50s, when it starts to wane relatively rapidly, the researchers noted. Previous research has linked the inability to stand on one leg to a greater risk of falls and to cognitive decline.”

If you want to try it out, lift your foot and out the front of the foot behind your standing leg. Keep your arms at your side and look straight ahead (focusing on something in the distance often help maintain balance).

If at first you don’t succeed, that’s ok. You get three chances to get your body used to the task. You just can’t use anything to hang onto for support.

CNN explained the correlation between lifespan and balance in the study, citing one of the study’s authors:

“Being able to balance on one leg is important for older people for several reasons, and it is also reflective of wider fitness and health levels, said study author Dr. Claudio Gil Araújo at Exercise Medicine Clinic – CLINIMEX – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ‘We regularly need … a one-legged posture, to move out of a car, to climb or to descend a step or stair and so on. To not have this ability or being afraid in doing so, it is likely related to loss of autonomy and, in consequence, less exercise and the snowball starts,’ he explained.”

So, how did researchers get to their conclusion? One in five study subjects failed the test (balance is tricky!). Then the subjects were followed for seven years. During that time, 7% of study subjects died. But what was significant is that the proportion of people who failed the balance test was much higher than those who passed.

That doesn’t mean you’re doomed if you have bad balance. It just means that it may be indicative of other issues that may affect your health and long life. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Wobbly on one leg? Ability to balance is linked to a longer life, study finds” — CNN

WTF Fun Fact 12737 – Ornamental Hermits

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We know about garden gnomes, but what about ornamental hermits? They weren’t made of concrete or resin – they were real people.

In the 18th century, wealthy people with gardens didn’t want to be tacky, so no garden gnomes would do. The fancy way to decorate your garden was with an actual person paid to dress like a Druid, skip the showers, dress in tatty clothing, and wander around the estates.

Very rustic!

A British custom

This was mostly a practice in England, but there were ornamental hermits in Ireland and Scotland as well.

Atlas Obscura took a look at a book written about these interesting professionals by Gordon Campbell, a Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Leicester. In a video explaining his monograph, titled The Hermit in the Garden: From Imperial Rome to Ornamental Gnome, he noted:

“Recruiting a hermit wasn’t always easy. Sometimes they were agricultural workers, and they were dressed in a costume, often in a druid’s costume. There was no agreement on how druids dressed, but in some cases they wore what we would call a dunce’s cap. It’s a most peculiar phenomenon, and understanding it is one of the reasons why I have written this book.”

History of hermits

In his book, Campbell mentions an ad from Sir William Gell’s A Tour in the Lakes Made in 1797, in which he states that ”the hermit is never to leave the place, or hold conversation with anyone for seven years during which he is neither to wash himself or cleanse himself in any way whatever, but is to let his hair and nails both on hands and feet, grow as long as nature will permit them.” 

Apparently, the ornamental hermit can be traced all the way back to the Roman emperor Hadrian. His villa at Tivoli had a small lake with a one-person structure for hermiting oneself away from the world (which, we imagine, would be a nice thing for an emperor to do every now and them). Pope Pius IV may have also built one for himself.

But the structures built for ornamental hermits were mostly for show and not necessarily for spiritual reflection.

How to be a hermit

The hermits were also instructed to be rather dour in order to be authentic. No shoes, no guests, and no smiling.

Atlas Obscura found a 1784 guide to the Hawkstone estate in Shropshire describing how to care for your ornamental hermit:

“You pull a bell, and gain admittance. The hermit is generally in a sitting posture, with a table before him, on which is a skull, the emblem of mortality, an hour-glass, a book and a pair of spectacles. The venerable bare-footed Father, whose name is Francis (if awake) always rises up at the approach of strangers. He seems about 90 years of age, yet has all his sense to admiration. He is tolerably conversant, and far from being unpolite.”

We can’t decide if it sounds like a dream job or a really depressing life.

– WTF fun facts

Source: “Before the Garden Gnome, the Ornamental Hermit: A Real Person Paid to Dress like a Druid” — Atlas Obscura

WTF Fun Fact 12736 – When Cleopatra Lived in the White House

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Presidential pets have their own history museum. And it’s totally worth exploring (even online) since there have been some interesting animals with interesting names living on those grounds.

The first president to live in the White House and therefore keep pets there was John Adams. (George Washington had many horses and dogs, but he never actually lived in the White House.)

John Adams’ Menagerie

John and Abigail Adams had some of the most interesting pet names – but the reasons behind those names are unknown. For example, they had two dogs – Juno and Satan – and a horse named Cleopatra. 

They were definitely dog people through and through. According to the Presidential Pet Museum, Abigail Adams was especially fond of June, writing to her granddaughter: “If you love me … you must love my dog.”

We’re not so sure how they felt about Satan, but the name says a lot.

Other Presidential Pets

The most popular presidential pet is a dog, owned by 30 of the 45 presidents. But there have also been pet raccoons, former circus ponies, billy goats, and more. There has even been a famous presidential cow named Pauline, who was often covered in the press.

But if you really want to know about the weirdest pet moments in presidential history, behold:

– President Martin Van Buren tried to keep a pair of tiger cubs given to him by the Sultan of Oman. But Congress made him send them to the zoo.

– President Andrew Jackson had a parrot named Poll, who was taught to swear.

– John Quincy Adams (not to be confused with John Adams) kept an alligator given to him by the Marquis de Lafayette in an unfinished bathroom. AND he let guests try to use that bathroom! (Ok, some have tried to debunk this, so it’s up to you whether or not to trust the official Presidential Pet Museum or not.)

– There were two more alligators who visited the White House during Herbert Hoover’s presidency in the early 1930s. His son Allan owned the animals and would often bring them by.

– Thomas Jefferson was gifted with two grizzly bear cubs who were caged on the front lawn for public viewing before finding a new home when they grew too big.

So, while there’s been much hoopla in the press over President Biden’s shelter dog Major being a bit of a menace to the Secret Service, he was certainly not the most dangerous presidential pet!

– WTF fun facts

Source: “An alligator, tiger cubs, and a dog named Satan — these are the weirdest presidential pets in history” — Business Insider

WTF Fun Fact 12735 – The Summer Solstice

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The Summer Solstice happens at the instant the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer. That means it doesn’t really matter what your clock says – it can happen long before the sun even rises in your area.

In 2022, we know this moment will take place on June 21 at 09:13 UTC (that’s 5:13 AM EST) – and you should be able to do your own math from there.

While June 21st is usually the day people remember and mark on their calendars as the solstice, it can actually happen on the 20th or 22nd. But the latter is rare. In fact, the last June 22 solstice in UTC time was in 1975 and it won’t happen again on the 22nd until 2203. So, sorry if you missed it.

The word “solstice” actually comes from the Latin words sol and sistere. If you’re thinking that means soul sister, you’re wrong, but we were kind of hoping the same thing. It actually means sun and standing still, which makes a lot more sense.

North and South, Summer and Winter

Of course, lands south of the equator are welcoming winter. June 21st is their Winter Solstice. So, if you’re a fan of cooler weather (and are one of the millions experiencing a heat wave today, you can always celebrate in solidarity with your friends in Australia).

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year in terms of sunlight, while in the Southern Hemisphere it’s the shortest day. That’s because at the precise time of the solstice the earth is tilted either the minimum or maximum towards or away from the sun. In summer, you’ll see the sun stay at its noontime elevation for what seems to be a bit longer than usual, and that effect will last a few days. However, the earliest sunrise and the longest sunset take place a few days before and after June 21st.

There are two other interesting things to note here. The tilt of the Earth doesn’t really change, it’s the rotation of the Earth that changes and points our already tilted planet’s Northern Hemisphere towards the sun. And Summer Solstice is actually the time of year when the Earth is farthest away from the sun (or on its aphelion). So, it’s not really the distance that matters. It’s all about how the planet is positioned.

For those ready to jump on the whole Earth axis thing, please note that in our lifetimes (and those of everyone we’ll ever know or remember), the tilt of the Earth will be the same. Technically, the tilt of the planet does vary between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees, but this cycle takes about 40,000 years.

Solstice Celebrations

People around the world celebrate solstice or “midsummer” in many different ways, but most include festive meals, traditional songs, bonfires, or reconnecting with nature in some way. In England, the so-called modern-day Druids (and tourists) like to hang out at Stonehenge to see the stones align perfectly with the sun. In Sweden, families raise the maypole for traditional dances and music. – WTF fun facts

Source: “11 Things About the June Solstice” — TimeandDate.com

WTF Fun Fact 12734 – Man Wins Horse Race

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For only the third time since 1980, a human has won the annual Man vs. Horse race. Ricky Lightfoot beat 50 horses (and 1000 other human runners) finishing the 22.5-mile course in 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 23 seconds. He won about $4200 for his efforts – as well as bragging rights amongst friends and foals alike.

IFL Science humorously recounted the beginning of the Man vs. Horse race:

“The idea for the race came, as you might expect, from a drunken argument in a pub. Landlord of the Neuadd Arms in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, overheard two customers arguing (as you do) over the benefits of people vs the benefits of horses. 

After a few more pints, as was inevitable, one of the men proclaimed that over a long distance people could equal the performance of any horse. Not satisfied with mere speculation, the landlord – Gordon Green – decided that there should be a public competition where this slurred theory could be tested. Every year since then – bar a few years where the event was canceled due to the pandemic – people have raced against horses in a constant battle for supremacy.”

Even more striking is the BBC report that “The winner of the grueling Man v Horse race has revealed he had been awake for 29 hours before the event after flying from Tenerife to claim victory…Landing at 04:00 he travelled to Wales, arriving at Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, at 09:00 for the race start at 11:00. Crossing the line, the 6ft 4in athlete had no idea whether he had won as the people and animals take slightly different routes.”

The 37-year-old firefighter and father of 2 beat the first horse by over 2 minutes. So much for horsepower.

Apparently, Lightfoot’s family couldn’t believe he managed to win the race.

“I called my partner and said: ‘I beat the horse’. And she said: ‘You’re joking?’.
“And I said: ‘No, I did.’ She was like, ‘oh my God!'” he told BBC News.

Prior to the race, Lightfoot said he didn’t have much experience around horses.

“I’ve never rode a horse in my life. I once rode a donkey at Blackpool Pleasure Beach though,” he told the BBC.

After winning, Lightfoot headed right back home to Cumbria to report to work at 7:30 am the next day. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Man v horse: Powys race won by runner Ricky Lightfoot” — BBC News

WTF Fun Fact 12733 – The PAWSCARS

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Each year, American Humane puts on its own award show to celebrate the “furry, winged, and scaled” members of television and film casts. It’s called the PAWSCARS™, and it celebrates animal actors past and present.

American Humane has long played a role in ensuring the health and safety of animals on entertainment sets. According to their website:

“Since 1877, American Humane has been at the forefront of every major advance in protecting animals from abuse and neglect. Today we’re also leading the way in understanding human-animal interaction and its role in society. American Humane advocates for the American values of caring, compassion and hope. Our programs enrich our communities, prevent abuse of animals, and embrace the power of the human-animal bond. American Humane works in association with the American film and TV industry to help ensure the well-being of animal actors and promote the human-animal bond. They are on the set to protect animal actors. American Humane also celebrates the achievements of extraordinary dogs across the country with its annual American Humane Hero Dog Awards™. In addition, the organization enlists and works with many celebrities who speak on behalf of the voiceless that American Humane aims to protect.”

Their Hollywood initiative also includes the annual award show, which we really think should be televised since we would totally watch that (and we’re sure other animal lovers would too!).

Interestingly, the ASPCA also has Pawscers Awards, but these go to adoptable animals throughout the country, not to animal actors.

American Humane’s PAWSCER awards got the most press in 2016, when fans voted on their all-time favorite animal movies. The winners included

Favorite Animal Buddy Movie of All Time: “Turner and Hooch”

Favorite Animal Drama of All Time: “Seabiscuit”

Favorite Animal Family Movie of All Time: “Old Yeller”

Frankly, we want to know what people were thinking when they chose Old Yeller, which has a pretty devastating ending and scarred generations of children. But to each their own – the people have spoken.

American Humane’s explanation was that “Disney’s timeless classic from 1957 is credited as one of the first films to demonstrate the importance of the human-animal bond, the inextricable link between people, pets and the world we share.”

Overall, the PAWSCERS are designed to honor “some of America’s most treasured institutions.” And while we haven’t heard much about the awards in the last few years, we think it’s time to add more animal award shows to the television line up!

– WTF fun facts

Source: “Pawscers Awards” – The American Humane Society

WTF Fun Fact 12732 – Everyone Thinks Archimedes Created A Death Ray

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There’s a great New York Times article from 2003 that begins with the line “For the last time: Archimedes did not invent a death ray.”

Of course, it disappointed a lot of people. The reason someone had to say it was that the obsession with this particular invention had to be debunked so many times that even President Obama got involved and called on Mythbusters (who debunked it a third and final time on their show alone). Alas, people still believe it existed (presumably just because they think it sounds really cool and don’t care much for evidence).

Archimedes did invent a number of very wacky weapons though – we just have little to no evidence that most of them were ever used. Take the “claw of Archimedes,” for example. The ancient Greek inventor did come up with an idea to build a giant claw that would work like a crane to reach out into the sea and “grab” enemy ships to destroy them.

But while there are ancient accounts describing it (and even Wikipedia and some engineers and a handful of ancient historians might have you believe it was used), there isn’t so much as a single drawing or scrap of wood that would prove it was ever really built. There are, however, written accounts. It’s just that no one can be sure they aren’t recalling tall tales told during times of jubilant victory. But, hey, maybe underwater archaeologists will find one. It’s not entirely impossible.

So, about this death ray. The invention was basically a series of mirrors that would use the sun to point a ray of searing sunlight at enemy ships in order to incinerate and sink them as they launched an amphibious assault. It would work a bit like using a magnifying glass to burn an ant but on a very large level. We’ll admit, it does sound cool, but again, there would be a lot of evidence if someone had managed to construct something like that.

If you want to know why people remain obsessed with the “death ray” (which is not a name Archimedes used), blame some 12th-century historians and MIT students.

However, according to Sciencing: “Twelfth-century historians John Tzetzes and John Zonares credit Archimedes with using a system of mirrors to direct the heat of the sun at Roman ships, setting them ablaze. Zonares goes so far as to claim that Archimedes destroyed the Roman fleet this way. Many modern historians and scientists consider these claims dubious. However, a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineering students were successful in replicating the feat of setting a ship ablaze using only mirrors in a 2005 set test, lending plausibility to the legend that Archimedes invented a death ray using mirrors.”

Aspiring historian Spencer McDaniel has also convincingly debunked the myth using writing sources, noting that: “The Greek historian Polybios of Megalopolis (lived c. 200 – c. 118 BC), the Roman historian Titus Livius (lived 64 or 59 BC – AD 12 or 17), and the Greek biographer Ploutarchos of Chaironeia (lived c. 46 – c. 120 AD) all give detailed accounts of the Roman siege of Syracuse and not one of them ever mentions anything about Archimedes having built a death ray to defend the city.”

Only people writing 400 years after Archimedes’ death started writing about a “death ray.” Sorry. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Archimedes’s Death Ray” Debunked” — Tales of Times Forgotten