The Book Of General Ignorance Part 22

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What has the largest brain in comparison to its size?

a) Elephants b) Dolphins c) Ants d) Humans The ant.

An ant's brain is about 6 per cent of its total body weight if we were to apply the same percentage to humans, our heads would have to be nearly three times as large, making us all look rather like the Mekon or Morrissey.

An average human brain weighs 1.6 kg (3.5 lb), which is a little over 2 per cent of body weight. An ant's brain weighs approximately 0.3 mg.

Although an ant's brain has only a fraction of the neurons of a human brain, a colony of ants is a super-organism. An average-sized nest of 40,000 ants has about the same number of brain cells as a person.

Ants have been around for 130 million years and there are about 10,000 trillion of them at large as we speak. The total ma.s.s of ants on the planet is slightly heavier than the total ma.s.s of human beings.

There are about 8,000 known species of ant. Ants account for about 1 per cent of all the insects on earth. The total number of insects in the world has been calculated at one quintillion (or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Ants sleep for only a few minutes a day and can survive for nineteen days under water. A wood ant can manage for twenty-four days without its head. A single ant cannot live alone outside the colony, head on or not.

Ants appear to have photographic memories to help them navigate. They seem to take a series of snapshots of landmarks. Scientists do not understand how ants' tiny brains can store so much information.

Ants are not stronger than people. Though ants can lift many times their own weight, this is only because they are small. The smaller an animal is, the stronger its muscles are in relation to its body ma.s.s. If people were the same size as ants, they would be equally strong.

ALAN I had an ant's nest in my flat, once. I had an ant's nest in my flat, once.

STEPHEN Did you? What did you do? Did you? What did you do?

ALAN Well, I was fairly stupid about it because I saw an ant. I thought, 'There's an ant in the flat!' Well, I was fairly stupid about it because I saw an ant. I thought, 'There's an ant in the flat!'

STEPHEN Ah. Ah.

ALAN And the next day, I saw an ant and thought, 'Oh ... there he is.' And the next day, I saw an ant and thought, 'Oh ... there he is.'

How much of our brains do we use?

One hundred per cent.

Or 3 per cent.

It's commonly said we only use 10 per cent of our brain. This usually leads to discussions of what we might do if only we could harness the other 90 per cent.

In fact, all of the human brain is used at one time or another. On the other hand, a recent paper by Peter Lennie of the New York University Center for Neural Science indicates that the brain should ideally have no more than 3 per cent of neurons firing at any one time, otherwise the energy needed to 'reset' each neuron after it fires becomes too much for the brain to handle.

The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord and is made of two kinds of cells: neurons and glia.

Neurons are the basic information processors, receiving input and sending output between each other. Input arrives through the neuron's branch-like dendrites; output leaves through the cable-like axons.

Each neuron may have as many as 10,000 dendrites but only has one axon. The axon may be thousands of times longer than the tiny cell body of the neuron itself. The largest axon in a giraffe is 4.5 metres (15 feet) long.

Synapses are the junctions between axons and dendrites, where electrical impulses are turned into chemical signals. The synapses are like switches, linking neurons to one another and making the brain into a network.

Glia cells provide the structural framework of the brain, they manage the neurons and provide a housekeeping function, removing debris after neurons die. There are fifty times more glia than neurons in the brain.

There are nearly five million km (about three million miles) of axons, one quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) synapses, and up to 200 billion neurons in a single human brain. If the neurons were spread out side by side they would cover 25,000 square metres (nearly 30,000 square yards): the size of four football fields.

The number of ways information is exchangeable in the brain is greater than the number of atoms in the universe. With such astonishing potential, whatever percentage of our brains we use, we could all, clearly, do a little better.

What colour is your brain?

So long as you're alive, it's pink. The colour comes from the blood vessels. Without fresh oxygenated blood (as when it's removed from the body) the human brain appears grey.

To confuse things, about 40 per cent of the living brain is made of so-called 'grey matter' and 60 per cent of 'white matter'. These terms are not accurate descriptions of the colours you see, but thinly sliced, and in section, they are clearly two different kinds of brain tissue.

Using brain scans, we have begun to understand what functions they each perform. Grey matter contains the cells where the actual 'processing' of information is done. It consumes about 94 per cent of the oxygen used by the brain.

The white matter is a fatty protein called myelin myelin which sheathes and insulates the dendrites and axons that extend out from the cells. It is the brain's communication network, linking different parts of the grey matter together and linking the grey matter to the rest of the body. which sheathes and insulates the dendrites and axons that extend out from the cells. It is the brain's communication network, linking different parts of the grey matter together and linking the grey matter to the rest of the body.

A good a.n.a.logy is the computer. The grey matter is a processor, the white matter is the wiring. What we call intelligence requires both to work together at high speed.

Now it gets even more interesting. Recent studies at the Universities of California and New Mexico scanned the brains of men and women with identical IQs. The results were surprising: the men had six and a half times more grey matter than women, and women had nearly ten times more white matter than men.

The women's white matter was found in a high concentration in the frontal lobes, whereas the men had none. This is significant, as the frontal lobes are believed to play a key role in emotional control, personality and judgement.

So, all the various 'Mars and Venus' theories of gender difference might find soon find a physiological justification. Men's and women's brains do seem to be differently wired and configured. The output (intelligence) is the same, but the way it is produced is very different.

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What effect does alcohol have on brain cells?

Good news. Alcohol doesn't 'kill' brain cells. It just makes new cells grow less quickly.

The idea that alcohol destroys brain cells dates back at least as far as the temperance campaigners of the early nineteenth century, who wanted all alcoholic drinks banned. It has no basis in scientific fact.

Samples from alcoholics and non-alcoholics show no significant difference in either the overall number or the density of neurons between the two groups. Many other studies have shown that moderate drinking can in fact help cognition. A study in Sweden showed that more more brain cells are grown in mice that are given alcohol. brain cells are grown in mice that are given alcohol.

Alcohol abuse does causes serious damage, not least to the brain, but there is no evidence that these problems are to do with the death of cells it's more likely that alcohol interferes with the working processes of the brain.

A hangover comes from the brain shrinking due to dehydration, causing the brain to tug on its covering membrane. It's the membrane which is sore. The brain itself feels nothing, even if you stick a knife in it.

The philtrum is the vertical groove on your upper lip that n.o.body knows the word for. It allows you to drink beer from the bottle by letting the air in.

If you were to open a beer can in zero gravity all the beer would come out at once and float around in spherical droplets.

Astronomers have recently discovered a ma.s.sive amount of alcohol in our region of the Milky Way. The giant cloud of methanol measures 463 billion km (288 billion miles) across. Although the alcohol we like to drink is grain alcohol (otherwise known as ethyl alcohol or ethanol) and methanol would poison us, the discovery goes some way to supporting the theory that the universe is here so that we can drink it.

PHILL Stephen doesn't have beer goggles; he has Madeira pince-nez! Stephen doesn't have beer goggles; he has Madeira pince-nez!

What do dolphins drink?

They don't drink at all.

Dolphins are like animals in a desert, without any access to fresh water. They get liquid from their food (which is mainly fish and squid) and by burning their body fat, which releases water.

Dolphins are whales the killer whale is the largest member of the dolphin family. Their name is a reversal of the original Spanish, asesina-ballenas asesina-ballenas, meaning 'whale killer'. They were so called because packs of them sometimes hunt and kill much larger whales.

Pliny the Elder didn't help their reputation. According to him, an orca 'cannot be properly depicted or described except as an enormous ma.s.s of flesh armed with savage teeth'.

Dolphins have up to 260 teeth, more than any other mammal. Despite this, they swallow fish whole. Their teeth are used solely to grasp prey. Dolphins sleep by shutting down one half of their brain and the opposite eye at a time. The other half of the brain stays awake, while the other eye watches out for predators and obstacles, and remembers to go to the surface to breathe. Two hours later, the sides flip. This procedure is called 'logging'.

Dolphins have been working for the US Navy since the Vietnam War, where they saw extensive service. The US Navy currently employs about a hundred dolphins and thirty other a.s.sorted sea mammals. Six sea lions have recently been posted to join the Task Force in Iraq.

After Hurricane Katrina, a story circulated that thirty-six US Navy-trained attack dolphins had escaped and were roaming the sea armed with toxic dart guns. The story seems to have been a hoax; apart from anything else, 'military' dolphins aren't trained for attack, only for finding things.

RONNI A lot of people say that they are, in fact, smarter than people, but if they were, wouldn't they be saying that? A lot of people say that they are, in fact, smarter than people, but if they were, wouldn't they be saying that?

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What was James Bond's favourite drink?

Not the vodka martini.

A painstaking study at www.atomicmartinis.com of Fleming's complete oeuvre has shown that James Bond consumed a drink, on average, every seven pages.

Of the 317 drinks consumed in total, his preferred tipple was whisky by a long margin he drinks 101 in all, among them fifty-eight bourbons and thirty-eight Scotches. He's pretty fond of champagne (thirty gla.s.ses) and in one book, You Only Live Twice You Only Live Twice (1964), which is mostly set in j.a.pan, Bond tries sake. He likes it: he has thirty-five of them. (1964), which is mostly set in j.a.pan, Bond tries sake. He likes it: he has thirty-five of them.

Bond only opts for his supposed favourite, vodka martini, nineteen times, and he drinks almost as many gin martinis (sixteen though most of these are bought for him by other people).

The famous 'shaken, not stirred' line appears for the first time in Diamonds are Forever Diamonds are Forever (1956) but isn't used by Bond himself until Dr No (1959). Sean Connery was the first screen Bond to utter 'shaken, not shtirred', in (1956) but isn't used by Bond himself until Dr No (1959). Sean Connery was the first screen Bond to utter 'shaken, not shtirred', in Goldfinger Goldfinger (1964), and it occurs in most of the films thereafter. In 2005, the American Film Inst.i.tute voted it the 90th greatest movie quote of all time. (1964), and it occurs in most of the films thereafter. In 2005, the American Film Inst.i.tute voted it the 90th greatest movie quote of all time.

James Bond's personal martini recipe, taken from the first book, Casino Royale Casino Royale (1953), is: 'Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel.' (1953), is: 'Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel.'

This is the only time he drinks a gin and vodka mix. He calls it the Vesper, after Vesper Lynd, the double agent and love interest in the novel. She is also the girl who drinks most in all the novels and stories.

Why does Bond insist on 'shaken' martinis? Strictly speaking, a shaken gin martini is called a Bradford. Purists frown on them because the intake of air caused by the shaking oxidises or 'bruises' the aromatic flavourings in the gin. But there's no such problem with vodka, and the action of shaking makes the drink colder and sharper.

Ian Fleming himself preferred his martinis shaken, and made with gin. On his doctor's orders he switched from drinking gin to bourbon later in life, which may explain his hero's predilection. Fleming and Bond were both men who knew what they liked.

What shouldn't you drink if you're dehydrated?

Alcohol is fine. So are tea and coffee.

Virtually any fluid will help to hydrate you, although you should steer clear of seawater.

There's no scientific basis for the curious idea that fluids other than water cause dehydration. As a diuretic (something that makes you pa.s.s water), caffeine does cause a loss of water, but only a fraction of what you're adding by drinking the coffee. Tea, coffee, squash and milk for children are all equally good at replacing fluids.

Ron Maughan, Professor of Human Physiology at the University of Aberdeen Medical School, has looked at the effects of alcohol, considered to be another diuretic, and found that, in moderation, it too has little impact on the average person's state of fluid balance.

His results, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology Journal of Applied Physiology, showed that alcoholic drinks with an alcohol content of less than 4 per cent, such as light beer and lager, can be used to stave off dehydration.

Seawater, on the other hand, is an emetic, so, if you drink it, you'll throw up. If you do manage to keep any of it down, then all the water in your body's cells will move towards the highly concentrated salty fluid, by osmosis, in an attempt to dilute it.

This will leave your cells dehydrated, and in severe cases can lead to spasms, the breakdown of brain functions, and liver and kidney failure.

STEPHEN Anyway, what should you not drink if you're dehydrated? Anyway, what should you not drink if you're dehydrated?

JIMMY Jacob's Crackers.... You could blend them up with a little flower top. Ooh, refreshing. Jacob's Crackers.... You could blend them up with a little flower top. Ooh, refreshing.

What contains the most caffeine: a cup of tea or a cup of coffee?

A cup of coffee.

Dry tea-leaves contain a higher proportion of caffeine by weight than coffee beans. But an average cup cup of coffee contains about three times as much caffeine as an average cup of tea, because more beans are needed to make it. of coffee contains about three times as much caffeine as an average cup of tea, because more beans are needed to make it.

The amount of caffeine in coffee and tea depends on several factors. The higher the temperature of the water, the greater the caffeine extracted from beans or leaves. Espresso, which is made with pressurised steam, contains more caffeine, drop for drop, than brewed coffee. The amount of time that water is in contact with coffee beans or tea-leaves affects the caffeine content. Longer contact equals higher levels of caffeine.

Also important are the variety of coffee or tea, where it is grown, and the roast of the coffee and cut of the tea-leaf.

The darker the roast of coffee, the lower the caffeine content. With tea, the tips of the plant contain a higher concentration than the larger leaves.

Paradoxically, an average 30 ml (1 fl. oz) espresso contains about the same amount of caffeine as a 150 ml (5 fl. oz) cup of PG Tips. So a single-shot cappuccino or latte won't give you much more of a caffeine hit than a cuppa. A cup of instant coffee, on the other hand, contains only half the caffeine of a filter coffee.

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Why was the dishwasher invented?

Not to make doing the dishes easier.

Its main purpose was to reduce the number of breakages caused by servants, rather than to act as a labour-saving device.

The first practical mechanical dishwasher was invented in 1886 by Josephine Garis Cochran (18391913) of Shelbyville, Illinois. She was the daughter of a civil engineer and, on her mother's side, the great-granddaughter of John 'Crazy' Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat. A prominent socialite, married to a merchant and politician, her main problem in life was worrying about the maids chipping her precious china (it had been in the family since the seventeenth century).

This enraged her and, so the story goes, one night she dismissed the servants, did the dishes on her own, saw what an impossible job it was and vowed, if no one else would, to invent a machine to do it instead. When her husband William died in 1883, leaving her in debt, she got serious.