Lilichka Topchik

15/12/2021

Apples originally come from Asia. The first pies were baked in Medieval Europe. Even the concept of putting apples in pie traces back to a recipe from England in 1381. Nevertheless, the phrase "as American as apple pie" turned up by 1924 and became a common saying during the years of the Second World War.

06/12/2021

06/12/2021

If you listen very closely, hot water and cold water sound slightly different when being poured. The heat changes the thickness, or viscosity, of the water, which changes the pitch of the sound it makes when it's poured. What we feel as heat comes from the molecules of the water moving faster. Cold water is thicker and therefore makes a slightly higher-pitched sound.

02/12/2021

Not everyone lives in a booming city or sprawling suburb. Many people still make their homes outside of bustling locations—especially in India, which has the largest number of people living in rural areas (approximately 893 million people live outside of the city), according to Reuters. China also has an impressively large rural population, with 578 million living outside of major centers.

23/11/2021

Experiments in universities have actually been carried out to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, both with machine and human lickers (because this is important scientific knowledge!). The results ranged from 252 to 411.

20/10/2021

Among lost works, this story might be even worse: Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley, left a suitcase full of the author’s writing on a train. When she went back to get it, it was gone. “I had never seen anyone hurt by a thing other than death or unbearable suffering except Hadley when she told me about the things being gone,” Hemingway wrote in A Moveable Feast.

20/10/2021

There is not one letter “q” in any US state name, the only letter in the alphabet to be missing. “J” and “z” are only represented once each, in New Jersey and Arizona.

19/10/2021

Michelin stars are highly coveted by elite and upscale restaurants the world over—but they’re actually given out by the Michelin tire company, the same one whose mascot is the marshmallow-like Michelin Man. If you want to get fancy, pronounce it in the original French, “mich-LEH.”

19/10/2021

Lincoln Logs were created by John Lloyd Wright, son of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, in the 1920s. They were named after Abraham Lincoln, who grew up in a log cabin.

18/10/2021

Cartoonist Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey, came up with names for the things we often see in comics and cartoons: “briffit” is the dust cloud a character makes when he runs away quickly; “plewds” are the beads of sweat when a character is under duress; and “grawlix” are symbols such as “ #@*%” that stand in for curse words.

18/10/2021

The heart of the blue whale, the largest animal on earth, is five feet long and weighs 400 pounds. The whale in total weighs 40,000 pounds.

15/10/2021

Those who think everything on the planet has already been discovered might just not be looking close enough. A tiny chameleon discovered in northern Madagascar and measuring just 28.9 millimeters is believed to be the smallest reptile on Earth. The itty bitty chameleon was recently discovered and reported in the January 2021 issue of Scientific Reports. But there's one thing about these critters that's big for its size: The genitalia of the males measures almost 20% of its body length.

15/10/2021

It sounds like something out of a horror film, but it's all too real: The Elysia cf. marginata, a type of sea slug, has been found to not only survive decapitation, but to be able to grow a whole new body from it. Ecologists at Nara Women's University in Japan found that, a few hours after having their heads severed from their bodies, the snails' heads were already nibbling on algae as if nothing had happened. In about 20 days, one-third of the sea slugs studied had fully grown back their bodies—heart included.

14/10/2021

A surprising side effect of pregnancy is that nails and hair grow faster than usual. This is due to changes in hormones as well as increased blood circulation and metabolism supplying nutrients. According to Amy O'Connor, writing for What to Expect, a pregnant person's hair also "might feel thicker and look more shiny and healthy than usual." Though she warns that it can occasionally mean that the expecting "may suddenly sprout strands in places [they'd] rather not." If you want to question everything you know, check out 50 Well-Known "Facts" That Are Actually Just Common Myths.

14/10/2021

Few odors are as pleasing as "new car smell"—and not just because it's nice to be in a brand new car. But while the scent may be strangely satisfying, the fact is that it's pretty much just a combination of 50+ chemicals (known as "volatile organic compounds") that are released into the car, decaying quickly over time. The concentrations found in a typical new car aren't dangerous, but among the VOCs that make up much of that new car smell are those found in nail polish, auto fuel, and petroleum.

13/10/2021

Some owners of disobedient dogs may have trouble believing this, but dogs can learn to recognize a vocabulary of about 165 words. Unsurprisingly, dogs respond best to short words, as well as words with hard consonants like "t" or "r," which may explain why they can hear "treat" from three rooms away.

13/10/2021

It's a sad fact the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is a site where many su***des take place. However, one California Highway Patrol officer has done more to combat this problem than any other individual. Officer Kevin Briggs, who battles depression himself, has personally talked more than 200 people down from the proverbial ledge throughout his career. After retiring in 2013, Briggs wrote a book called Guardian of the Golden Gate and now goes on speaking tours to encourage public discussion of su***de and mental illness.

12/10/2021

You might think that it's just fish that have gills, but there are several species of sea snake that breathe through their skin as well. For example, the Hydrophis cyanocinctus has been found to breathe through the top of its own head. It has a small hole and collection of blood vessels at the top of its head for picking up oxygen from the seawater and sending it to the reptile's brain while it moves underwater.