Why do we toast?

A toast... by Omar G!.

Whether during the drinks before a meal or at the end of a meal, it’s pretty common for guests at a dinner party to toast while wishing each other good health.

This practice dates back to the Middle Ages. During this epoch,  it wasn’t too rare to die from being poisoned or from inadvertently ingesting some poison during a meal. To cut down on the risk, it was custom to touch your drinking glass against those of your fellow guests before drinking in order to pass a bit of the liquid from person to person. If the charming party-goer to whom you proposed to clink your respective glasses refused your offer, you could then be justified in having serious doubts about the contents of your drink. On the other hand, if they accept your humble invitation, then they will in turn gentlly hit their glass against yours. In this way, the respective guests could ascertain the loyalty of their fellow guests (or perhaps just the lack of homicidal tendencies) as well as generally feel more merry and at ease during the celebration knowing that their mortality won’t be tested during the course of the evening.

The expression ‘To health!’ associated with this gesture also comes from the same practice; if there is no poison in the glass, one consequently ‘wishes’ oneself good health by virtue of not incurring bad health. Today, however, toasting is usually more of a symbol of friendship rather than a skeptical search for sly murderers and deadly chemicals.

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Who has more bones, a child or an adult?

It seems that in this mighty battle, it’s the child who wins. A baby’s born with about 300 soft bones; on growing older, some of them harden and others join together. The disparity between the adult and child bone count is due to the fusion of the small bones in the child’s skull, vertabral column, coccyx bone, and pelvis. For example, the four nethermost vertebrae glue together to form the coccyx.

At the age of 20 there usually only remain about 206 distinct bones. Those of the hands and feet represent more than the majority – there are 27 bones in each foot, and 26 in each hand. 24 in the vertebral column, 24 in the ribs, 22 in the head…

The longest bone is undoubtedly the femur (50 cm long in a man 1.8 meters tall, or for the metrically challenged about 20 inches for a 6 foot man), with the smallest being the miniscule stirrup bone in the ear, which measures in at a mere 3mm.

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Why is pink for girls?

It’s fairly commRoseon to see pink versions of devices marketed specifically towards women, with all of the other models presumably reserved for the men. In particular, I’m thinking of the pink Smartphones and GPSs. If you’re anything like me, then you can get a bit tired of seeing the pink candy catalogs that are only for girls.. But thankfully, men also have the right to pink. The prevalent female attraction to pink has not only been proved, but it also seemingly has an explanation. Two researchers at the University of Newcastle gave a simple test to 208 English and Chinese volunteers. The test subjects were presented with two cards of differing colors and asked to choose between them. The results of this test revelead a global female preference for the color pink (more precisely, for variants of the warm colors red and pink).

The researchers asked themselves why this might be so and according to them, this preference is an evolutionary vestige. In tribal times, women were usually entrusted with picking out and collecting berries; that is, red and ripe berries against the generally green tint of the bushes that propped up the succulent fruit. This theory would suffice in explaining the results of the study.

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Why do we age?

To say that the very minute that you’re reading this article your body is aging would teach you absolutely nothing. Of course it is aging, but why is it happening? It’s a good question. Why exactly do we age?

The majority of people might reply that ‘life’ is just like that, but that’s most certainly a fallacious view. Bacteria, microbes, and viruses don’t age at all. Fancy that.

In fact, aging its concurrent processes are predominantely caused by one most unfortunate chain of events. The earth is situated at just the distance away from the sun that allowed for life to develop, which is a rather good thing as far as  things go, since it’s thanks to this fact that we all exist at all. However, the multicellular organisms that have flourished on our good blue sphere have inherited a cardio-respiratory system that required a constant stream of oxygen in order to survive. And that’s where the problem starts.

Oxygen is responsible for oxidation; in other words, oxygen is a natural poison that literally ‘destroys’ the atoms that it fixes to by stealing from them, little by little, their electrons. This phenomemom is for that matter also partly responsible for the formation of rust.

On breathing, we force oxygen to enter our lungs. This oxygen is then diffused through the entirety of our bodies, bathing our organs and allowing out body to function.

So then, with time, our body ‘oxidizes’ itself and it’s partly because of this that our bodies degrade over the years. Keep in mind however, that there’s a multitude of psychological and physical reasons playing a role in the destruction of the human organism.

But so why don’t bacteria age?

Bacteria and other unicellular organisms don’t have and don’t use a respiratory system. They have no need of oxygen in order to exist.

To conclude, remember to be a bit wary of the next person who tells you to ‘get a breath of fresh air’!

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Equestrian Statues

It’s always amusing to note how certain things are bursting with information even if you’re completely incognizant of it. That’s the case with equestrian statues. Yes, these statues do much more than display guano stains of various thickness depending on their location; they actually inform you of the cause of death of the mounted figure depicted on the horse.

- If the horse has its two front paws in the air, this signies that the warrior was has died in combat. A true hero then!

- If the equine has a single front leg raised, it means that the rider was pretty badly beaten up in the course of battle but managed to get out before breathing his last breath on the battlefield. But he eventually died of the wounds inflicted during the brawl. A fighter nonetheless!

- And if your ungulate has his four hooves firmly planted on the platform, then your rider has done nothing glorious enough to be commemorated. Doubtless, he was well-known in his time and he probably died old, riche, and pot-bellied, of a natural death (perhaps by the ‘fires of love’).

Finally, if you happen to encounter an equestrian statue that has 3 legs in the air, then the cavalier was about to be in for a nasty fall flat on his face. But this is nothing but a personal interpretation.

More seriously, try think of these categories the next time you come across a famous statue.

P.S.: It seems that certain sculpteurs scrapped this code which they considered to be rather veiled and far from tacit. Don’t be shocked to discover a statue that isn’t in line with the rule.

How to measure shoe size

Due to the astounding popularity of the article ‘How to determine bra size’, I’ve written this explanation of how to figure out your shoe size.
Pointure de chaussure
Shoes sizes are hardly globally standardized and there’s quite a bit ambiguity to be confused by. However, I’ll outline the standard procedure for finding shoe sizes in America and the UK. Knowing the correct shoe size is a boon for online shopping but it’ll also help you attain a more accurate fit even when buying in person.

American system:
1. Measure the length of your foot. It’s best to do this by setting your bare foot on a piece of paper and marking of the spots where your heel and toe touch, then measuring the distance between the two notches in inches with a ruler or tape measure.
2. Measure the width of your foot. With the same method, mark off the widest part of your foot and measure.

U.S. shoes are categorized by length. Here are two nifty tables for men’s and women’s sizes:
U.S. Men’s:
Size/Length (in inches)

* 6 = 9.25″
* 6.5 = 9.50″
* 7 = 9.70″
* 7.5 = 9.85″
* 8 = 10″
* 8.5 = 10.15″
* 9 = 10.25″
* 9.5 = 10.50″
* 10 = 10.70″
* 10.5 = 10.85″
* 11 = 11″
* 11.5 = 11.15″
* 12 = 11.25″
* 12.5 = 11.50″
* 13 = 11.70″

U.S. Women’s:
Size/Length (in inches)
* 5 = 8.70″
* 5.5 = 8.85″
* 6 = 9″
* 6.5 = 9.15″
* 7 = 9.25″
* 7.5 = 9.50″
* 8 = 9.70″
* 8.5 = 9.85″
* 9 = 10″
* 9.5 = 10.15″
* 10 = 10.25″
* 10.5 = 10.50″
* 11 = 10.70″
* 11.5 = 10.85″
* 12 = 11″

And if you’re based in the UK, or have an inordinate amount of interest in shoes sizes, here is the corresponding table of sizes based on foot length in cm.

Length of foot (cm)/U. K. shoe size

- 25,33 = 5.5
- 26,00 = 6.5
- 26,67 = 7.5
- 27,33 = 8.5
- 28,00 = 9.5
- 28,67 = 10.5
- 29,33     = 11.5
- 30,00 = 12.5
- 30,67 = 13.5
- 31,33 = 14.5
- 32 = 15.5
- 32,67 = 16.5
- 33,33 = 17.5

Happy shoe-ing.

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How do you determine bra size?

If there ever was a topic that men knew nothing about then surely it’s the different models of bras.

Soutien Gorge

Here’s a bit of explanation to help you get a handle on the different measurements and categories of bras. Your new-found knowledge should definitely make your life easier the next time you go to buy fancy lingerie for your significant other.

Determining band size:

In most of Europe the band size is measured in cm, but in England and America it’s taken in inches. Two measurements must be taken to determine bra size. The first, the band width or band size, is simply the circumference of the thoracic cage taken just below the bust. This is the flat area that the bottom of your bra will fit around. If you’re European, add 12.5 cm to this number. If you’re English or American, add either a) 4 inches if the measurement you just took is even or b) 5 inches if this number is odd.

English bra sizes are manufactured in sizes in increments of 2 inches (32, 34, 36..) so to get a perfect, snuggly fit you’ll most likely have to fiddle a bit with the hooks.

Determining cup size:

The second measurement is called the cup size which is expressed by a letter, i.e. the A, B, C, D, or E. Take this measurement at the fullest part of your bust. The difference between this number and your band number (the one explained above) will give you the value that determines your cup size with a quick reference to the following table:

Difference of..
- 0in, your Cup size is A
- 1in. gives Cup size B
- 2in. gives Cup size C
- 3in. gives Cup size D
- 4in. gives Cup size DD
- 5in. gives Cup size E
and so on through F, FF and G

100% of the women surveyed during the making of this article didn’t know the method of calculating the size of their bras. From experience, I would not recommend this as a flirting technique at parties.

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1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and zero are called Arabic numerals. Who invented them?

Contrary to their name, it wasn’t the Arabs that came up with these numbers. Rather, it was the Indians!

In Europe, Roman numerals were used until up to the Middles Ages. So to write 138, you essentially had to write 100+10+10+10+5+1+1+1, i.e. CXXXVIII. With this system, arithmatic operations were inevitably extremely complicated.

At the same time in India,a much better system was in place: each number, including zero, was represented by a symbol. So then, to express the idea of ‘one dozen’, one only had to write the symbol ‘1′ followed by  the symbol ‘2′.

The Arabs, being ingenious mathmaticians and mighty travelers, immediately understood the inherent value in the Indian system; they adopted it and spread it up to the Middle East. It was here, in the 10th century, that Europeans finally discovered this system and adopted it for themselves.

ChiffresArabesIndens

Since these numbers were in use by the Arabs, the Europeans called them ‘Arabian numerals’, ignorant of their true Indian origin. For what it’s worth, these ‘Arabic numbers’ are in Arabic called ‘Hindu numbers’.

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Why are there holes in cheese?

cheese-holesWhere do the holes in cheese come from?

Children’s tales will tell you that they’re there because of little mice that come to nibble on the cheese at night, but the reality is a bit less fantastical.

In fact, the holes are simply carbon dioxide gas formed during the ripening of cheese. The gas is created by propionic bacteria present in the cheese who, under the effect of the wine cellar’s heat, profusely emit CO2 (more than 100L of CO2 per wheel of Emmental) which then forms the bubbles of air that you see. The higher the temperature of the maturing cellar, the more holes your cheese will have.

Note: Emmental cheese has holes but Swiss cheese doesn’t, contrary to what cartoons would have us believe.