Wednesday Whys: Did you know ...

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

16 Aug 2006 05:00 AM

Happy Wednesday! It's hump day and we're that much closer to Friday and TGIF! It's day five of being back to school here and we're finally getting into our routine. It's also hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk (though I am far from tempted to try). The temperature reached a 107 on the thermometer here in North Texas yesterday and I don't even want to think about the heat index. Be sure to drink plenty of water regularly, because dehydration becomes a real factor in this kind of heat. A good rule of thumb is to drink a half an ounce per pound of body weight per day.

In the meanwhile, let's keep cool with a few did you knows:

• Did you know that yawns are contagious because it's a visual response to hearing or seeing someone else do it and you are more susceptible to yawning if you are empathetic and self-aware?
• Did you know that liver spots are caused by a build-up of excess pigment in the skin and have nothing to do with your liver?
• Did you know that orange juice tastes so bad after you brushing your teeth because of the sodium lauryl sulfate in the toothpaste modifies your taste buds briefly? It actually reduces your ability to taste saltiness and sweetness and enhances the bitter taste of sour foods?
• Did you know that we have eyebrows to protect our eyes from sweat and water running into them? That's also why our foreheads protrude slightly from our head. Did you know that the eyebrows are also there to help cushion and protect the bone from blows to that area.
• Did you know that you close your eyes when you sneeze because it's just a reflex, because the nerves governing your eyes closing and the reaction of a sneeze are very close together?
• Did you know that hearing running water can cause the need to urinate out of the power of suggestion only? This suggestive influence works on dogs too and you don't have to have a full bladder to feel the need.

So tell me, did you know?

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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