10 Details We Don't Know About Everyday Things - Listverse

10/1/2015
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OUR WORLD
10 Details We Dont Know About

Everyday Things
DEBRA KELLY JANUARY 27, 2015
Some days, it seems like there are no mysteries left in our everyday lives. Our diets are
dissected to the smallest element, there are countless books on how to raise our children
and train our pets, and if we have questions, we can just turn to the Internet to find the
answer. However, there are a few things left in our everyday lives that still have the experts
stumped.
10
Why Do Hiccup Cures Work?
http://listverse.com/2015/01/27/10detailswedontknowabouteverydaythings/
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Hiccups are weird things, and were not even sure why they happen. Theres no real,
practical reason for a hiccup, and we dont know why all of our tried-and-true hiccup cures
work. Everyone has their favorites, from eating a spoonful of sugar to holding your breath
until the hiccups stop. There are so many ways to get rid of a hiccup that no matter where
you are when you get it, someone will have a suggestion for making it stop. It turns out
that none of the cures are guaranteed to work for everyone, and theres not much scientific
support for any of them. As for the ones that do work? Well, dont really know why they do.
Hiccups are essentially caused by the diaphragm having a spasm, which can be caused
by anything from laughing to medication. Stopping a hiccup seems to rely on a couple of
different things. Raising the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood seems to have some
success in stopping hiccups, but no ones sure what that has to do with the process. Other
somewhat successful remedies work by impacting the vagus nerve, which is involved in
making sure we dont try to breathe and swallow at the same time. We dont know what
that has to do with the diaphragm, either, but that seems to be why things like pressing on
your eyes or pulling your ear helpthose actions stimulate the nerve. Another method
thats been found to cure hiccups is, bizarrely, rectal massage. Used as a cure for an
extreme case of the hiccups in 1988, its success was once again traced back to stimulating
the same vagus nerve.
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Why Are Moths Attracted To Light?
Weve all watched it happen, and chances are we never really thought about it that much.
Bugsparticularly mothsare attracted to light, but why? Its the principle that many bug
traps and zappers are built on, but no one knows just why it works. There are a couple of
different theories about why moths are attracted to light, but theres not even one that
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stands out as a front-runner. In fact, there are pretty convincing arguments against all of
them.
One theory suggests that only man-made, artificial lights attract bugs. Presumably, theres
something different about artificial light that interferes with the bugs ability to navigate,
but we dont even know whether bugs are using light as a navigational aid. Its also been
suggested that moths may be confusing the frequencies of artificial lights with
pheromones given off by willing mates, but theres nothing to really support that theory,
either.
Researchers have found that its a pretty bizarre behavior, specifically because it seems to
cross species but also works against the survival of those species. In spite of the kamikaze
behavior that could be expected to discourage the practiceor at least kill off the part of
the population that does itits still a major behavior pattern.
What Is Foam?
Every time you wash dishes or lather your hands with soap, youre creating one of the most
mysterious household compounds: foam. Foam isnt classified as a liquid, a gas, or a solid,
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but its all three at the same time. Different substances form different types of foam that
all seem to work differently. Theres not much thats actually known about the physics of
what forms this weird cohesion of matter states or how we can predict what type of foam
will be formed from what type of substance.
Most foams are made up primarily of gas in between bits of liquid, but theres no
mathematical formula for discovering how a foam will behave. Some foams are stiff, like
shaving foams, while others are delicate, like soap bubbles. The size of the bubbles doesnt
seem to have any impact on how the foam behaves. The reason we havent been able to
learn much about foam is a weird one.
Foam bubbles are inherently oddly shaped. The critical point of foam, defined as the
moment when all the bubbles in the foam are perfectly spherical, is impossible to
achieve on Earth because of gravity. Gravity pulls foam bubbles downward, and its
impact is so great that even in a layer of foam just a few centimeters thick, theres a
definite difference between the shape of the bubbles at the bottom and the top. This
makes it impossible to perform experiments on foam without changing what it is.
Why Does Static Electricity Happen?
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Its a mildly annoying occurrence that usually happens when the weathers dry and youve
done something like walking across a carpet. While we know how static electricity builds
up, the question of why it happens is a surprisingly complicated one, with a weirdly
elusive answer.
The problem in finding an explanation happens when one of the materials involved is,
theoretically, an electrical insulator. Theres no confirmed reason for why an electrical
charge should be transferred from or to an insulating material; an insulator, by nature,
shouldnt allow this. The problem is further complicated by the fact that different materials
and conductors have different mechanisms for the cause, buildup, and transfer of static
electricity.
A static electric shock can also occur between two objects made of identical materials,
which makes the phenomenon even stranger. In theory, the difference in properties should
be what makes the electrical charge jump from one material to the other, but experiments
performed by rubbing two identical materials together have shown that static electricity
still passed between the two objects. Currently, there are no satisfactory answers from the
fields of physics or chemistry, suggesting that its actually a way more complicated
phenomenon than either can account for on their own.
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Where Did Dogs Come From?
Theyre some of our most constant companions, but theres a lot we dont know about
when dogs were first domesticated, where the process happened, and what the first
domesticated dogs even were.
Studies on the subject have proven highly inconclusive, with estimates for the first
domestication ranging from 9,00034,000 years ago. Not only is that a huge gap, but it
leaves a lot of unanswered questions as to how it happened. Dogs on the most distant
end of that scale would have been associating with hunter-gatherer groups, while the more
recent instances of domestication would have been happening when the human race had
already discovered agriculture and settled into a more sedentary lifestyle.
Researchers from the University of Turku have isolated DNA from some of mans early
canine companions with some staggering implications. Some of the oldest DNA
samples were taken from dogs that were living alongside humans around 33,000 years ago
and were traced through to dogs that lived in Greenland about 1,000 years ago. But this
particular DNA seems to be unrelated to todays dogs, and its now suggested that some of
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the dogs that were domesticated for thousands of years werent the same as todays
dogs and were instead a sort of sister species. Ancient dogs have been found in Europe, the
Middle East, and Asia, but its still not known if the idea of domestication spread from one
area to the other or occurred independently in all areas. If it did, its not known who was
first.
Were Not Really Sure What Colors Are
Our world is filled with color, and for the most part, weve reached a consensus on what
certain colors are. Its easy enough to identify a banana as yellow and broccoli as green, but
whats to say one persons image of green is the same as anothers? Not much, and it turns
out that science really isnt sure that were all seeing the same colors in the same way. The
idea seems odd, especially considering that the mechanism that allows us to see colors is
essentially the same: Light enters our eyes, its interpreted there, and then its processed by
our brain. But it turns out that its not as clear-cut as that, and the idea of colorblindness is
only part of the reason.
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We know that different people have different numbers of photo receptors in their eyes.
People who are colorblind have weak receptors, most commonly suffering from a deficiency
in the ability to detect green (or variations of green). But theres another end to the
spectrum, too: people who are theoretically incredibly sensitive to color. Tetrachromats
can see more colors than exist in the normal color spectrum. To them, the rest of us appear
colorblind.
But thats a pretty extreme example, and experiments suggest that the way we see colors
can differ considerably between individuals. When monkeys whose photoreceptors would
normally only allow them to see blue and yellow were infected with a virus that changed
the type of color their eyes could interpret, they demonstrated the ability to see these
new colors. They recognized that the colors were different, but we have no way of telling
what their brains were interpreting the colors as. They were essentially seeing new colors
that their eyes had never had the ability to process, making the link between the eyes
receiving colors and the brain processing colors even more vague.
Is A Virus Alive?
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For the most part, everything falls into one of two categories: Its either alive, or it isnt. Ever
since scientists have been aware of the existence of viruses, theyve been unable to
successfully determine which of these two very distinct groups viruses belong to.
Originally, viruses were thought to be alive. The scientists that discovered viruses saw
them as organisms that could spread and multiply, suggesting that they were very clearly
alive. By the 1930s, however, researchers from the Rockefeller University were finally able
to get a look into what was going on inside a virus. Since it didnt have any metabolic
functions, they decided that it wasnt alive.
But its far from clear, as further research by the same team discovered that a virus
also exhibits one of the key components of life: reproduction. It not only makes more of
itself but creates more proteins and internal chemical structures. Viruses have also been
known to change over time, evolve, and carry on processes like repairing damage done to
them. All this seems to indicate theyre alive, unless nonliving organisms are also capable
of evolution, which seems like a pretty odd thing to even suggest.
Viruses are also unable to carry on these processes outside of a living host, leading some to
suggest that theyre functioning on something along the lines of life borrowed from
another organismbut that doesnt make the answer any more clear.
Why Do We Age (And At Different Rates)?
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Every day we deal with the problems of aging, ever so gradually. Weve been doing it for as
long as weve been a species, but we have no idea what actually causes it. We know what
happens to cells as they age: Muscles lose mass, tissues become more or less rigid,
connective tissues stiffen, and new cells become less and less efficient at absorbing
nutrients and removing waste. We just dont know why.
There are a couple of different theories on why cells age the way they do, including the idea
that the aging process is a by-product of the bodys waste materials, or that its because of
damage done by external factors like ultraviolet rays. Its also been suggested that were
simply genetically programmed to age, and how fast or how well we age has nothing to
do with external factors.

Even more bizarre is the question of why we age at different rates. Looking at the
methylation patterns of cells gives an indication of how old they are, and all of our cells age
at different rates. Female breast tissue, for example, shows patterns and changes that
indicate its about three years older than a persons calendar age. At the other end of the
spectrum are heart cells, which age more slowly and can actually test as being several
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years younger than the body as a whole. Just why the body ages as it doesand why it
ages at allis nowhere near being completely understood.
What Causes A Migraine?
Those who are prone to migraines know what it feels like to have one starting. Its a special
kind of headache that goes way beyond just pain and can include nausea, vomiting, painful
sensitivity to stimuli, blurred vision, and even loss of consciousness. What were not
sure about is why some people get migraines and why there are so many different triggers
for them. Some people can have migraines that are triggered by anything from a change in
the weather to bright sunlight and physical exertion. For some, its sensorymigraine can
be triggered by a certain smell or exposure to a certain food, drink, or food additive.
Even those sensitive to certain triggers dont always get migraines when theyre exposed to
those triggers, and they can also come down with a migraine without being exposed. Just
why it happens to people isnt known, although its suspected that theres a genetic
connection, because migraines seems to run in families. One suggestion is that people
susceptible to migraines have parts of their brains that are more sensitive to certain
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stimuli than others or that migraines happen in response to certain changes in brain
chemistry. So far, though, there have been no concrete findings regarding just what
causes migraines in some people and not others.
Why Do Allergies Come And Go?
Living with allergies can be a nightmare. From not being able to indulge in ice cream or not
being able to own a pet to feeling like youre always on the verge of coming down with the
flu, allergies can make life difficult. Many people suffer from allergies, which makes it even
more surprising that we have no idea why they have a tendency to come and go, seemingly
at random. Almost any kind of allergy can disappearand reappearover time. Some
people may find their symptoms are occasionally greatly reduced, even if they dont go
away completely.
Peanut allergies are among the most potentially dangerous types of allergies, and its
recently been discovered that about 20 percent of people who have peanut allergies as
children lose their sensitivity as they get older. As much as 80 percent of children with
milk allergies outgrow their sensitivity by the time theyre in their teens, and those allergic
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to eggs will also commonly outgrow the allergy. Blood tests can tell if an allergy is going
away, and sometimes desensitization done with small amounts of food or food prepared in
a certain way can helpbut this should always be done under the supervision of a doctor.
Even stranger is the fact that kids today are much more likely to outgrow their allergies
than the kids of the last generation, which raises more questions than it answers.
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Jointhediscussion
WhatFucknEver 8monthsago
'Anothermethodthatsbeenfoundtocurehiccupsis,bizarrely,rectal
massage.Usedasacureforanextremecaseofthehiccupsin1988,its
successwasonceagaintracedbacktostimulatingthesamevagusnerve.'
Whathappensinvagus...
66
Reply Share
LeadFaun>WhatFucknEver 8monthsago
Ibetsomepeopledidthatforotherreasons...
7
Reply Share
WhatFucknEver>LeadFaun 8monthsago
Sciatica?
2
Reply Share
HitMe!>WhatFucknEver 8monthsago
Rectalmassagehuh?Soisitsupposedtobeinternalorexternal?
2
Reply Share

16/23
10/1/2015
Reply Share
WhatFucknEver>HitMe! 8monthsago
Well,theanusisonthemtospecify.
3
Reply Share
NowIwantarectalmassage.Hmmm.Anyvolunteers?
1
Reply Share
Don'tholdyourbreath.Unlessyou'vegothiccups.
Reply Share
No!Iwantarectalmassage.Now!*throwstantrum
1
Reply Share
AlrightI'llhavetoseewhenIcanfitinyouin.
1
Reply Share
That'swhyIdon'tgethiccupsoften.
1
Reply Share
Buttwhenyoudo...
1
Reply Share
BigDickJerry>WhatFucknEver 8monthsago
"Hey,maybearectalmassagewillcurethesedarnhiccups!Wilson,getinhere,
needyoutolendmeahand."
1
Reply Share
WhatFucknEver>BigDickJerry 8monthsago
"No*hic*Stillthere*hic*Trygettin'itinuptotheelbow."
2
Reply Share
Hillyard 8monthsago
Bossesareaknowncauseofmigranes.
IoncehadadreamthatmyMomtoldmetodrinkhotwatertocurehiccups.WhenIasked
heraboutitshelookedatmeasifIhadlostwhatlittlesenseIhad.NexttimeIhadthe
hiccupsItrieddrinkinghotwaterandsureenoughitdidn'twork.Somuchformydreams.
17/23
10/1/2015
hiccupsItrieddrinkinghotwaterandsureenoughitdidn'twork.Somuchformydreams.
24
Reply Share
BUTTH0LE>Hillyard 8monthsago
Ineverhaveproblemswithmybosses,wellthatonetime,butIputmyselfinthat
situationbyhavingsexwithher.Notetothyself,donthavesexualrelationswithsex
starved,careerwomen.
15
Reply Share
WhatFucknEver>BUTTH0LE 8monthsago
Didyougetaraise?
11
Reply Share
MB>WhatFucknEver 8monthsago
Inanycase,shegotaraise!
13
Reply Share
WhatFucknEver>MB 8monthsago
That'swhathardworkwilldoforya.
4
Reply Share
MB>WhatFucknEver 8monthsago
I'mlayin'pipeallnightlong.Layin'pipeI'mworkin'sohard.I'mlayin'
pipeAllnightlong.Layin'pipeTosatisfythatwoman
9
Reply Share
'LessShe'sintoguysworkin'onthechaingaaaaangg...
5
Reply Share
BUTTH0LE>WhatFucknEver 8monthsago
WiththeemphasisonHARD.
6
Reply Share
Italsohelpstobeabored...sorry...boardmember.
6
Reply Share
Iguessshewasamazesatthesightofthe"member"plankinginmid
airdefyingallthelawsofgravity.
5
Reply Share
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ButitwasyourhumblenessthatreallysnaggedHer.
6
Reply Share
Igottworaises,thenshebecamethreatenedbymypopularity
amongmypeersandhadmefiredonsomebogusshit.Itdidn't
matterbecausethatleadershipexperiencegotmethemuchbetter
payingjobthatIcurrentlyworknow.
5
Reply Share
So,workingyourwayuphelpedyouworkyourwayup.
6
Reply Share
Or"workingmywayin"helpedmeworkmywayup.
9
Reply Share
Aslongasyougotabonus.
6
Reply Share
someoneyoumightknow>Hillyard 8monthsago
Ihadadream...ThenIwokeupandforgotit.
8
Reply Share
LunaTaylor32>Hillyard 8monthsago
Formeredwinecausesheadachesandoddly,swollenfingers.
2
Reply Share
spiritreign 8monthsago
Alotofthingstothinkabout,veryinterestinglist.Here'sanotherone.
WhyDoWeSleep?
Whilewedoknowthatthehumanbodyisregulatedbyacircadianclockthatkeeps
humansonasleep/wakecycle,wedontreallyknowwhy.Sleepisthetimewhenour
bodiesrepairtissuesandperformothermaintenanceactivities,andwespendnearlyathird
ofourlivessnoozing.Someotherorganismsdontneedtosleepatall,sowhydowe?
Thereareafewdifferentideasoutthere,butnoneseemtosolidlyanswerthequestion.
Sometheorizethatanimalswhoareabletosleephaveevolvedtheabilitytohidefrom
predators,whileotherswhoneedtoremainmorealertareabletorestandregeneratein
otherwayswithoutfullygoingtosleep.Whilescientistsdontquiteknowwhywedoit,they
arestartingtolearnmoreaboutwhyitisimportant,andhowsleepimpactsimportantthings
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arestartingtolearnmoreaboutwhyitisimportant,andhowsleepimpactsimportantthings
likebrainplasticity.
www.iflscience.com/physics/top...
17
Reply Share
DanielSanCarter>spiritreign 8monthsago
Yes.Iwishweknew.BecauseIhatesleep.
7
Reply Share
spiritreign>DanielSanCarter 8monthsago
Notwhenyou'resleepingnexttoMeganFox.
9
Reply Share
MB>spiritreign 8monthsago
WithElizabethHurleyontheotherside.
Thougharguably,notmuchsleepwouldbehappening!
7
Reply Share
Guest>MB 8monthsago
Alotofsleepwouldbehappeningbecauseyoudhavetobedreaming
forthattohappen.
6
Reply Share
Guest>Guest 8monthsago
owned
2
Reply Share
MB>Guest 8monthsago
Buuuuurn...mademelaugh,though.Andyes,itissomewhatunlikely
thatI'llfindmyselfinthemiddleofababesandwichwithMeghanFox
andLizHurley.
1
Reply Share
BUTTH0LE>MB 8monthsago
Now,that'sawomanIwanttohearmoaningbeneathmeinher
MotherEnglishaccent.
5
Reply Share
MB>BUTTH0LE 8monthsago
Dude,onasidenoteyouravatarinspiredmetowatchArcher
fantastic.Andyourabovecommentismuchtothestyleofthelead
character.Loveit!
20/23
10/1/2015
character.Loveit!
5
Reply Share
BUTTH0LE>MB 8monthsago
I'vehadwomentellmethatmypersonalmannerismsarelikehis.I'm
definitelynotascarelessbutwesharethesametasteinwomen.
Thestoryaboveistruethough.
4
Reply Share
spiritreign>MB 8monthsago
Agreed.Butshe's49yearsold?That'salmostdoublemyage!
3
Reply Share
Experiencemyfriend,experience!Iguessitshowsmyageshe
wasasuperbabe(andstillis,inmyopinion)backintheday.
4
Reply Share
Experiencedoesn'talwayscomewithage)
2
Reply Share
Noonesaidyouhadtocomeatthesametime...
Toofar?
3
Reply Share
Comeagain?
3
Reply Share
Guest>MB 8monthsago
dependswhereyoucome
2
Reply Share
PleaserememberthanI'mhalfangelmyfriend)
1
Reply Share
BUTTH0LE>spiritreign 8monthsago
LikePamPooveyinfamouslysaid"that'ssomehighpricedMILF.
3
Reply Share
spiritreign>BUTTH0LE 8monthsago
21/23
10/1/2015
spiritreign>BUTTH0LE 8monthsago
That'shighagedforme.
2
Reply Share
BUTTH0LE>spiritreign 8monthsago
You'llfindoutonedaythatthosehighagedwomenyouspeakof
knowhowtakecareoftheirbodiesandhavemasteredallthetricks
andtradesofthebedlife.Iwouldgetintodetailbutwedon'tneed
anyonewhiningandcrying
7
Reply Share
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