Ryan Dunn's Porsche - Scorched Heap of Scrap Metal [PICTURES]
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Ryan Dunn's wrecked Porsche 911 GT3 is now sitting in a tow yard ... just a few miles from Monday's fatal crash ... and all that's left is a mangled heap of obliterated car parts.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Funfact. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Funfact. Mostrar todas las entradas
DANGER: Don't have sex with a time-travelling sea monkey
By Duncan Geere
Evolutionary ecologists have discovered that having sex with a male sea monkey from the future can be hazardous to a female sea monkey's health.
Nicolas Rode from the Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology took advantage of sea monkeys' ability to weather droughts by remaining in their eggs for years before hatching once the water returns. He gathered eggs from layers of dirt formed in 1985, 1996 and 2007, and then reared them in their lab -- having females mate with males from their own time, as well as from other years.
The conclusion was disturbing. The further away in time the male sea monkey was from, the sooner his female sexual partner died. A male from 22 years away (about 160 generations) cut short the life of his baby-mother on average by 12 percent.
The reason is that male sea monkeys, like the males of many animal species, compete violently over who gets to mate with a particular female. The males evolve all kinds of weaponry to achieve this, from scoops to get rid of sperm from other males to the injection of "anti-aphrodisiacs" to stop the ladies having any desire to mate further.
That's not good news for the females. From an evolutionary perspective, the health of a single female is completely unimportant to a male, so long as they live long enough to birth another generation of offspring. As a result, some of the weaponry developed by the males can be downright toxic.
But the females fight back, evolving antidotes to the males' weaponry, which then force the males to evolve countermeasures, which in turn makes the females evolve more antidotes, culminating in an escalating arms race of sexual conflict, at least in theory.
Unfortunately the data from Rode's experiment wasn't clear-cut enough to determine whether that conflict does indeed escalate indefinitely or whether -- as some evolutionary ecologists suggest -- different sexual weaponry goes in and out of fashion over time, like an evolutionary merry-go-round.
Interestingly, too, is that the time-shifting didn't have any measurable impact on the sea monkeys' overall reproductive success -- the females dying early produced eggs at a faster rate to make up for it.
But either way, be warned: sex with time travellers appears to be far more dangerous than anyone had previously realised.
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / CC-licensed: Hans Hillewaert
Wikimedia Commons / CC-licensed: Hans Hillewaert
Traumatic brain injuries in the Asterix comics
A team of neurosurgeons has completed an exhaustive study of the causes of traumatic brain injury in the Asterix comics.
Needless to say, it is a work of pure genius.
And if the conclusions at the end of the summary don’t make you beam with delight, you are dead inside.
Traumatic brain injuries in illustrated literature: experience from a series of over 700 head injuries in the Asterix comic booksActa Neurochir (Wien). 2011 Jun;153(6):1351-5.Kamp MA, Slotty P, Sarikaya-Seiwert S, Steiger HJ, Hänggi D.Department for Neurosurgery
Heinrich-Heine-University DüsseldorfBackground: The goal of the present study was to analyze the epidemiology and specific risk factors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the Asterix illustrated comic books. Among the illustrated literature, TBI is a predominating injury pattern.Methods: A retrospective analysis of TBI in all 34 Asterix comic books was performed by examining the initial neurological status and signs of TBI. Clinical data were correlated to information regarding the trauma mechanism, the sociocultural background of victims and offenders, and the circumstances of the traumata, to identify specific risk factors.Results: Seven hundred and four TBIs were identified. The majority of persons involved were adult and male. The major cause of trauma was assault (98.8%). Traumata were classified to be severe in over 50% (GCS 3-8). Different neurological deficits and signs of basal skull fractures were identified. Although over half of head-injury victims had a severe initial impairment of consciousness, no case of death or permanent neurological deficit was found. The largest group of head-injured characters was constituted by Romans (63.9%), while Gauls caused nearly 90% of the TBIs. A helmet had been worn by 70.5% of victims but had been lost in the vast majority of cases (87.7%). In 83% of cases, TBIs were caused under the influence of a doping agent called “the magic potion”.Conclusions: Although over half of patients had an initially severe impairment of consciousness after TBI, no permanent deficit could be found. Roman nationality, hypoglossal paresis, lost helmet, and ingestion of the magic potion were significantly correlated with severe initial impairment of consciousness (p ≤ 0.05).
Why Red Wine Is So Good For You
Casey Chan — We've all grown up hearing that red wine is sooo good for us. Was it a lie parents told us so they could drink more? Nope, they were right. So what's red wine's little secret?The answer lies in a polyphenol compound known as resveratrol. Though much more studies need to be done to get all scientists on board, resveratrol contains anti-aging, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Basically, all the good of red wine is in resveratrol (other than the buzz). And wouldn't you know, red wine is the most important dietary source for that magic polyphenol.
Heather Hausenblas, a researcher in a study about resveratrol, says that:
"We're all looking for an anti-aging cure in a pill, but it doesn't exist. But what does exist shows promise of lessening many of the scourges and infirmities of old age,"
Basically, red wine can't bring you back to your beer chugging youth but it can help you age a little more gracefully. Resveratrol, when tested on animals, prevented "the growth of some cancers in mice, inhibits enzymes that cause inflammation, shrinks tumors and increases blood flow, thus reducing cardiovascular diseases. In many cases, it also extends the life of obese animals." In any case, I think I'm going to test out these health properties myself. [Medical Xpress, Image Credit: Shutterstock/Igor Kilmov]
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