wtf fun fact

WTF Fun Fact 12987 – Japan’s Star-Shaped Sand

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Have you heard of the star-shaped sand in Okinawa, Japan? It’s one of nature’s fun little surprises.

Star-shaped sand particles

You can find the star sand on the Taketomi, Hatoma, and Iriomote islands of Japan. In many ways, it’s just like other beach sand. Except it has a distinct star shape that you can see with the naked eye.

According to the website Travel Awaits (cited below): “The Taketomi, Hatoma, and Iriomote islands, home to the stars, are all part of the Yaeyama Islands located off the mainland of Japan. They are both the southernmost and westernmost inhabited islands in the country. Unlike the many popular metropolis tourist destinations on the country’s mainland, visitors to these islands experience a tropical retreat. Tourists should come ready both to relax and to discover incredible little stars on the ground.”

But these “stars” are actually exoskeletons.

“Unlike most beaches, the sand on Hoshizuna Beach and other surrounding Japanese beaches is made up not of rocks and minerals, but rather of the remnants of previous organisms. Each little star is the exoskeleton of small, single-celled organisms known as Foraminifera. This means that, though the sand is no longer alive, it once was part of a living organism in the Pacific Ocean.“

The world’s rarest sand

These specific organisms are called Baculogypsina sphaerulata, and they’re only found in the coral reefs of East Asia. That makes the star-shaped sand among the rarest in the world.

If you’re interested in other rare types of sand, you can venture to Hawaii’s Papakolea Beach to see olive green sand made of crystallized magma, head to California’s Pfeiffer Beach to see their garnet sand, or plan a trip to New Zealand’s Muriwai Black Sand Beach, which is made up of dark volcanic glass.— WTF fun facts

Source: “The Truth Behind Japan’s Star Sand Beaches” — Travel Awaits

WTF Fun Fact 12986 – Healing A Broken Heart

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All you need is love. Well, all you need is oxytocin, really. That’s the brain’s “love hormone.” When it’s released into our bloodstream by our hypothalamus, it helps us bond with others and feel happy. And it turns out it could also be the key to healing a broken heart.

And we mean the real kind of broken heart – this hormone may be able to help cardiac health after a heart attack, at least according to a study using zebrafish and human cells.

Studying how to heal a broken heart

 Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology published the study, which found that oxytocin also has the ability to “promote the regeneration of the heart after an attack.”

According to IFL Science (cited below): “During a heart attack, cardiomyocytes – highly specialized cells responsible for heart contractions – die off. This can be a problem as they cannot replenish themselves.”

However, it appears that a subset of cells in the outer layer of the heart can undergo reprogramming and become something calls Epicardium-derived Progenitor Cells (EpiPCs). The cool thing about EpiPCs is that they can eventually become different types of heart cells, including the ones that are killed off during a heart attack.

Unfortunately, these EpiPCs need some help since they can’t regenerate fully under normal conditions. That’s why researchers looked at zebrafish.

Zebrafish are able to regrow parts of their heart. Naturally, scientists wanted to see just how they managed to do it so efficiently in the hopes that they could spur this regeneration in humans.

The role of oxytocin

The experiments involved injuring the hearts of zebrafish (through freezing them). Researchers found that the genetic material that leads to oxytocin production showed a 20-fold increase in the brain. This triggered a biological process that ended in some cells turning into EpiPCs and migrating to the heart to develop into cardiomyocytes.

“Here we show that oxytocin, a neuropeptide also known as the love hormone, is capable of activating heart repair mechanisms in injured hearts in zebrafish and human cell cultures, opening the door to potential new therapies for heart regeneration in humans,” lead author Dr. Aitor Aguirre said in a news release.

Now, the question is whether we can make something similar happen in humans.

It turns out it may be possible. But we’ll have to find a way to activate the production of oxytocin in order to produce EpiPCs.  

“Oxytocin is widely used in the clinic for other reasons, so repurposing for patients after heart damage is not a long stretch of the imagination. Even if heart regeneration is only partial, the benefits for patients could be enormous,” Aguirre added.

Next steps towards healing a broken heart

Now, the team will need to look at oxytocin production in humans who have experienced cardiac injuries as well as drugs that can stimulate oxytocin production. But before working on humans, it’ll have to go through a pre-clinical trial stage.

“Next, we need to look at oxytocin in humans after cardiac injury. Oxytocin itself is short-lived in the circulation, so its effects in humans might be hindered by that. Drugs specifically designed with a longer half-life or more potency might be useful in this setting. Overall, pre-clinical trials in animals and clinical trials in humans are necessary to move forward,” Aguirre concluded. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Love Hormone” Oxytocin Could Help Mend A Broken Heart” — IFL Science

WTF Fun Fact 12984 – Demetrius The Besieger

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Demetrius The Besieger was the son of one of Alexander the Great’s generals. And if you know much about ancient history, you know Alexander died young, leaving his enormous kingdom in the lurch when it came to a ruler. As a result, many men tried to step up and declare themselves king, splitting the empire into many parts.

It’s important to note, however, that most of what we know about Demetrius comes from the ancient biographer Plutarch, so it’s second-hand knowledge.

The story of Demetrius The Besieger

Dr. Charlotte Dunn from the University of Tasmania is an expert on Demetrius. In The Conversation (cited below), she explains how he came to power. Calling him “one of the more outrageous rulers of the time,” she notes that:

“…Demetrius was never supposed to be king. But he and his father Antigonus the One-Eyed didn’t let a lack of royal blood get in the way of ambition. The two of them spent many years fighting, stealing territory, and eliminating rivals. In 306 BCE, they both claimed the title King. They were trendsetters in this area, and soon self-made kings popped up all over the place, dividing Alexander’s empire into smaller kingdoms of their own. But even during this time of royally bad behavior and a multitude of rival kings, Demetrius still managed to gain a standout reputation.”

Demetrius became known as the Besieger after commissioning a giant machine called the Helepolis (or “city-taker”). It besieged cities with catapults and battering rams non-stop. In fact, even the citizens of the besieged cities were impressed by it. One city asked if they could keep it.

Dunn describes many more stories from Plutarch about the outrageous king. This includes one about his obsession with being admitted to the Athenian Mystery cult. Since admission only happened at specific times of the year, Demetrius changed the calendar to make it possible.

Making money with Demetrius

And while there are coins that appear to represent his predecessor Alexander the Great, it’s more likely that all coins made before Demetrius depicted divine beings (who may have had a resemblance to contemporary leaders, many of whom claimed to be descended from gods and goddesses).

Demetrius purposely ensured his image was on coins (though he sometimes bore a striking resemblance to Poseidon as well). He was likely the first ruler to do so in the Western world. He claimed to be the son of Poseidon and Aphrodite.

More “fun facts” about Demetrius the Besieger

Demetrius was also a partier, a polygamist, and a pretty poor leader.

He cavorted with wives and mistresses inside of temples, taxed his people in order to procure beauty products for his lovers, and dumped the petitions of his citizens into the river instead of reading them.

Eventually, he was chased out of Macedonia and captured by his enemies. However, he still maintained his bad behavior, even in captivity. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Siege warfare, polygamy and sacrilege: meet history’s most outrageous king, Demetrius the Besieger” — The Conversation

WTF Fun Fact 12983 – The History of Birthstones

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You probably know your birthstone, but do you know why we have them? If your answer is “because someone wants to make us feel sentimental about something in an effort to sell us more stuff,” you’re pretty much right. But there’s also an interesting history of birthstones that helps tell the story of how they came to be part of our cultures.

Where does the history of birthstones begin?

Nowadays there are one to three gemstones for every month/zodiac sign. But a birthstone for each month is a later development. Originally, the idea of 12 gemstones goes back to the story of Aaron, the brother of Moses in the Old Testament.

In the Book of Exodus, Aaron wears a breastplate adorned with 12 stones. Each stone represents one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Aaron was the first high priest of the Israelites to wear it. All those who come after him wore it too since it is said to have special powers to reveal the fate of the tribes. (That’s the short story,

First-century translations of the Old Testament texts reveal that “the first row contained carnelian, chrysolite, and beryl. The second row contained jacinth, agate, and amethyst, and the third row contained topaz, onyx, and jasper.”

According to the International Gem Society (IGS) (cited below):

“The naming of minerals at the time were dependent on color rather than chemical composition, so it is difficult to determine which gems were actually used. For example, chrysolite was used to describe gems with flecks of gold, which could have included topaz or peridot.”

From sacred gemstones to birthstones

In the late 1st century AD, the historian Josephus mentions the breastplate in his 20-volume work on Jewish customs. He also calls attention to its connection to the 12 months of the year and the 12 zodiac signs. He was one of the few Jewish writers that early Christian authors referenced. So it’s no surprise that Josephus’ ideas were picked up by St. Jerome in the 5th century AD. Jerome encouraged the use of the stones to represent months

According to the IGS “This established a tradition that would last for centuries, in which people would collect all of the 12 stones to wear at one time in extravagant belts, bracelets, and other ornaments. By the 8th and 9th centuries, this trend evolved to where people would own a collection of all of the jewels but only wear a single stone during a given month, where it was believed to have heightened powers. This most likely came from eastern traditions believing that birthstones can provide the wearer with protection and powers, as trade between the east and west began to surge during this time period. The modern tradition of wearing one stone for their month of birth did not begin until the 16th century and originated in either Germany or Poland.  This was the start of the birthstone trend we are familiar with today.”

Other cultural influences

Eastern cultures also associated gemstones, though it’s more often 9 stones than 12. Still, the idea of associating stones with astrological signs would have resonated around the world early on.

That made it much easier for someone (the gemstone industry) to eventually capitalize on it further.

In 1912, the National Association of Jewelers decided to standardize the list of American birthstones and the months they represented. This allowed them to promote the purchase of specific stones in large quantities at different times of the year.

In 1952, the list was modified as stones were harder to come by and became too expensive.

Now, you’ll see up to three stones associated with any single month or zodiac sign. This has a lot to do with what sorts of stones the industry is capable of selling. — WTF fun facts

Source: “History of Birthstones” — International Gem Society

WTF Fun Fact 12982 – Death By Turnip

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On December 19, 1881 a former British Conservative MP (Member of Parliament) named Sir William Payne Gallwey suffered death by turnip.

It’s even more strange since he was out on a shooting trip at his estate, Thirkleby Park. But a gun was not the cause of his death.

How does one die by turnip exactly?

The Northern Echo reported, that Gallwey “was out shooting in the parish of Bagby, and in crossing a turnip field fell with his body on to a turnip, sustaining severe internal injuries.”

He received medical aid after his fall. But already in poor health, he was unable to recover from his run-in with the turnip. He died a few days later.

Gallwey was 73, and he just retired from Parliament a year earlier.

According to Victorian Commons (cited below), “Gallwey is not the only MP whose death involved a turnip.”

A second death by turnip

In November 1833 Whig MP Lewis Fenton died after falling from a window at his home. He

“Press reports suggested that there was ‘considerable mystery’ surrounding the circumstances of his death, hinting at suicide, but the ensuing inquest returned a verdict of accidental death. As Fenton’s widow explained to the surgeon who tended him, Fenton had been in the habit of going into the attic to look at ‘a piece of ground where some turnips were growing, to see that none of his cows were trespassing in it’. He had apparently over-balanced while standing on a chair to look out of the window.”

Assuring people it was not a suicide, Victorian Commons notes that “Other evidence showed that Fenton had been in a cheerful mood the evening before his death, when he had drafted a speech for a forthcoming meeting regarding a testimonial to the anti-slave trade campaigner William Wilberforce.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “Beware the turnip! Unusual causes of death among Victorian MPs” — Victorian Commons

WTF Fun Fact 12980 – Pringles Are Not Potato Chips

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If you think a potato chip is made from thinly sliced potatos, then Pringles are not potato chips at all. However, as far as British courts are concerned, they’re made with enough potatoes to call themselves potato chips.

What’s in a name?

It took 3 court cases at three different levels drawn out between the years 2007 and 2009 to decide whether the makers of Pringles were entitled to use the phrase potato chip to identify their product. As you might imagine, it was all about money.

According to HowStuffWorks (cited below): “Here’s how this comically complicated problem started. In the mid-20th century, a tax was born by way of France and England called the value-added or VAT tax. This ‘consumption tax’ started off as a 10 percent tax on all goods bought from a business. More than 20 percent of the world’s tax revenue comes from the value-added tax making it a pretty big deal.”

Deciding if Pringles are potato chips

Ok, so what does this have to do with potato chips?

“In Britain, most foods are exempt from the value-added tax, except for potato chips or ‘similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour.’ This led to a long, arduous journey to figure out whether or not Pringles (which, by the way, were touted at one time as the “newfangled potato chip“) were actually potato chips. If they were ruled as chips, Pringles’ parent company at the time, Procter & Gamble, would be subject to a 17.5 percent VAT tax.”

As you may have noticed, many companies will go to great lengths to reduce their tax burdens. But get this…”Procter & Gamble’s initial argument was that, no, Pringles were not potato chips because they didn’t “contain enough potato to have the quality of ‘potatoness.‘”

In 2008, a lower British court agreed with P&G , but a year later, the Court of Appeal re- reversed that decision, “calling Procter & Gamble’s argument that the ingredients of a product don’t define the product ‘hogwash.'”

Potatoness begets taxedness

That overturned decision was bad news for P&G because they were now on the hook for $160 million in taxes.

Apparently, 42% of potato flour is enough to constitute potatoness for the point of British taxes. — WTF fun facts

Source: “It Took a Court to Decide Whether Pringles Are Potato Chips” — HowStuffWords

WTF Fun Fact 12978 – How Does Temperature Affect the Color of Leaves?

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Have you noticed that autumn looks a bit different every year? Sometimes the leaves fall early. Other times they’re on the trees much longer to give a full display of color. A lot of this has to do with the temperature outside. But how does temperature affect the color of leaves?

The temperature of fall and its effect on leaves

As the nights get cooler in the northern hemisphere in September and October, we begin to see the trees change. If you’re lucky enough to live around a mixture of trees, you’ll begin to see bright red, orange, and yellow leaves appear.

Without as much daily sunlight, trees don’t go through as much photosynthesis. This is aprocess that produces sugars, which trees use as energy to grow and flower.

A reduction in photosynthesis leads to a reduction in chlorophyll as well, which is the pigment that makes leaves green. As they lose chlorophyll, they lose their green color and prepare to shed for the winter so trees can conserve their energy inside the branches and bark.

How does temperature affect the color of leaves?

But that still doesn’t explain the role of temperature.

The weather leading up to shorter days is actually quite important when it comes to determining how fall plays out for leaves .

We know that a reduction in chlorophyll leads to leaves being less green, but what makes some seasons produce more vibrant red leaves than others? Why does a tree turn bright orange one year and only a dull copper the next year?

Well, it turns out that the pigments that begin to show up once chlorophyll is reduced are dependent on both temperature and moisture conditions right before days start getting shorter. For example, some weather conditions make a leaf turn red early. It also helps it stay on the tree longer, so it goes through its full range of colors before falling off.

The role of weather in fall leaf displays

According to scientists at Michigan State (cited below), lots of warm days and cool nights narrow the veins in leaves. This helps trap the sugars made during photosynthesis in those leaves. When this happens, the sugars produce more vivid pigments.

“The most brilliant leaf displays follow a period of warm days filled with sunshine and cool nights. During this weather cycle, leaves produce an abundance of sugars during the sunny days. The cooler nights and gradual narrowing of leaf veins in the fall, means that a majority of the sugars produced are trapped in the leaf. An abundance of sugar and light in the leaf lead to the production of vivid anthocyanin pigments, which produce red, purple and crimson colors. Yellow and gold leaf colors are produced by carotenoid pigments, which are ever-present in the leaves and are therefore less dependent on the aforementioned conditions.”

Other factors in fall leaves

“Soil moisture also plays a role in the timing and brilliance of leaf color. The best displays are produced when the soil has been adequately moist throughout the year coupled with the aforementioned late summer weather. A late spring, or severe summer drought can delay the onset of color. A warm period during the fall can also decrease the intensity of fall colors by triggering early leaf drop before the colors have had a chance to develop.”

Finally, MSU explains that other factors can play a role in individual trees:

“Trees on the edge of low-lying areas, where cooler air collects at night, often display colors sooner than trees in an upland forested setting. Trees that are diseased or in decline may also display fall colors earlier than their healthy neighbors.“

And that’s why no two autumns will ever look the same. — WTF fun facts

Source: “How weather affects fall colors” — Michigan State University Extension

WTF Fun Fact 12977 – Why Isn’t September the 7th Month?

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To us, the months of the calendar can mean lots of things. It can signal big changes (new school years, new fiscal years, birthday months, the beginning of Spring, harvest season, etc.). But historically, calendars were also instruments of power. That’s part of the explanation as to why September isn’t the 7th month of the year anymore.

What does September mean?

Our month of September comes from the ancient Roman calendar. The month named Septem literally meant “seven” – as in the 7th month of the year.

For much of their ancient history, the Romans has a 10-month calendar. However, to be fair, emperors were always inserting new numbers of days or months named after themselves in there. In fact, the infamous emperor Commodus tried to rename all the months after himself (a measure that was repealed after his assassination).

What did calendars really mean?

People weren’t hanging their calendars on the walls back in the ancient world. They mostly went by the night sky and used the position of the sun and the seasons to figure out what needed to be done in the fields (nearly all society was agrarian at the time).

Those in power – whether it was political or religious power (or both) – used calendars to try to make the world operate according to their whim. And while you can’t change the pace of the seasons or the lunar cycles just by sticking in a random month, you can change things like the time when taxes are due, which can really mess things up for the people around you. Politicians would even try to lose or gain a month to shorten someone’s tenure in power!

So, why isn’t September the 7th month anymore?

Recalling the entire history of the calendar would take a while. Let’s just say there have been plenty of disagreements over the centuries about how many months were needed, how many days would be in each month, when new days should be inserted to keep up with the astrological “calendar,” and what the months would be called.

But the end of September’s literal meaning started in 451 BCE when January and February were added by the Roman ruler Numa Pompilius to create a 12-month year. He added them at the end of the old calendar (which began in March), then switched things around again, but the 12-month idea clearly made more sense because it lined up with the lunar cycles.

The calendar went through many more changes, including the inclusion of the 27/28-day month called Mercedonius at one point. In 46 BC Julius Caesar had enough and reformed the calendar. That didn’t mean there weren’t tweaks here and there after that, but there’s a reason we refer to our current calendar as the Julian calendar.

It’s just that no one really cared that poor September had lost its meaning along the way. — WTF fun facts

Source: “September (Roman month)” — Wikipedia; “Roman republican calendar” — Britannica

WTF Fun Fact 12976 – Rubber Bands Last Longer When Refrigerated

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Rubber bands aren’t expensive, but they can be important to have around. And making sure you don’t use them recklessly could help keep rubber out of landfills. But did you know that there’s an easy way to prolong the life of your rubber bands? Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

Why do rubber bands last longer when refrigerated?

The rubber used to make rubber bands is unlike most other materials. In many cases, materials do better in warmer or room temperature environments places that don’t stress the bonds hold them together. But that’s not the case for rubber bands.

Cold temperatures make the polymers in the rubber more relaxed. This prevents them from degrading or forming the dry rot that causes them to break just when you need them most.

According to JFlex (cited below): “When a rubber band is stretched it causes its polymer chains to become very ordered and it expels thermal energy (heat), thus shortening its life. This is increased further when placed in higher temperature environments which increases the oxidisation rate. Also, the natural rubber that is used to make rubber bands crystallises over time, giving us what is commonly called ‘dry-rot’ – which is where the bands get dry, crumble and no longer have any elasticity.”

Be careful when removing rubber bands from the fridge

Now, if you do decide to refrigerate your rubber bands, make sure not to stretch them right away.

“When a rubber band is in its relaxed state it is very unordered, and will cool when going from a structured state to a relaxed state. So when a rubber band is put in the refrigerator it makes the polymers even more relaxed due to the way they behave in the cold.

Something to be careful of is immediately stretching the rubber band after being in the fridge, as this will cause it to weaken significantly because of the rapid change of temperature state.”

Who knew? —WTF fun facts

Source: “Why do rubber bands last longer when refrigerated?” — JFlex