1/28/22
Celebrate National Daisy, Data Privacy, International LEGO, Activity Professionals, Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness, Global Community Engagement, Big Wig, Fun at Work, Kazoo, Pop Art, Preschool Health and Fitness, Rattlesnake Roundup, and Blueberry Pancake Day.
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You've probably heard this survival tip before: If you're lost in the desert, you can get water from a cactus, right? Well, that's not actually true.
They do hold moisture, but it's not drinkable water. In most cases, trying to suck liquid from a cactus will just make you sick and even more dehydrated. So you'll have even less time to find help. Here are five more bad survival tips that could get you killed.
Myth #1: If you're attacked by a shark, punch it in the nose. Their noses aren't really that sensitive. You're better off going for their eyes or gills.
Myth #2: If your car is sinking in a lake, wait until it's fully submerged, then open your door. The idea is you won't be able to open it until the pressure equalizes, which is true. But rolling your window down as soon as possible is a much better strategy.
Myth #3: If an alligator chases you, run in a zigzag pattern. The idea is they can't change direction that fast. But you should actually just run in a straight line. Alligators are fast runners, but their stamina sucks. So just don't fall down.
Myth #4: If you're stranded on a desert island, you should build a raft. You're actually much more likely to die if you try to leave the island. You're better off building a shelter, making a big S.O.S. sign in the sand, and hoping you get rescued.
Myth #5: If you're driving and see a tornado, hide under an overpass. Narrow openings like that actually make the winds accelerate. So being under an overpass could be more dangerous.
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Researchers at Cardiff University have found that both men and women are perceived to look better with a mask covering the lower half of their faces, and that's not because of all the designer face masks that are coming out.
The people in the study were asked to rate the attractiveness of faces: Without a mask, with a plain cloth mask, with a blue medical face mask, and holding a plain black book covering the lower part of their face.
The study found that a face covered with a disposable surgical mask was the most appealing, followed by a cloth mask.
The researchers say it's possible this is because masks direct more attention to people's eyes but this is a change from before the pandemic. So, they think it might have more to do with people feeling vulnerable now, and medical masks coming across as caring, reassuring, and positive.
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Remember when we weren't just plain stupid??
There's a new "health" trend on TikTok called the Sleepy Chicken Challenge that involves boiling your chicken dinner in NyQuil.
Someone somewhere got the idea in their head that it can cure a cold, but there's no evidence to back that up, and it could actually kill you instead.
Basically, you put a single chicken breast in a pot dump up to half-a-bottle of NyQuil in there and braise or boil it until it's cooked. Hopefully, fully cooked - people seem to be having trouble with that part.
It's dangerous even if you do fully cook it though. For two reasons
First, it's just an insane amount of NyQuil. When you boil it down, the water and alcohol evaporate, but the drugs are still in there. So you're basically loading a chicken breast up with way too much medicine, and you could overdose.
But also, when you boil liquid medicine like that, you can end up inhaling some of it, which is also bad.
When that happens, it bypasses your liver and goes straight into your bloodstream without any toxins being filtered out. And just that alone can mess you up.
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Wanna lose weight? A new study found an easy hack that might help. Just chew your food a little longer.
Researchers in Japan had three groups of people eat the same liquid diet during an experiment. One group just swallowed it immediately. Another left it in their mouth for 30 seconds and then swallowed, which didn't make a difference.
But the third group pretended to chew on the liquid for 30 seconds before swallowing it, and that did make a difference.
They found that just the act of chewing increased people's metabolism through a process called D.I.T., or "diet-induced thermogenesis."
It only raised their metabolism a little bit and burned a small number of calories. But it could still make a difference if you make it a habit.
They say chewing a little more every time you eat could potentially have a "substantial" effect if you do it every time you eat, 365 days a year.
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Actor Peter Robbins, who in his youth provided the original voice of Charlie Brown in various Peanuts cartoons, has died. He was 65.
Throughout the 1960s, Robbins lent his voice to Charlie Brown in several Peanuts specials, including the beloved holiday staples A Charlie Brown Christmas (in 1965) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (in 1966). He also voiced the character in other CBS primetime shorts, including Charlie Brown’s All Stars! (1966), You’re in Love, Charlie Brown (1967) and He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968), as well as the feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown, which was released in 1969.
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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - Music has some pretty interesting effects on living things. It makes plants grow faster and cows produce more milk.
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