Did you know?

• It is a custom for South Africans to name their babies the first thing that comes to mind after birth. • In South Africa, termites are often roasted and eaten by the handful, like pretzels or popcorn. • The tattoos on Sirius Black’s body (Harry Potter) are borrowed from Russian prison gangs. These are to identify a person as one to be feared and respected. • The greatest height at which visible clouds ever exist does not exceed ten miles. • Some trees can “talk” to each other. When willows are attacked by webworms and caterpillars, they emit a chemical that alerts nearby willowsw of the danger. The neighboring trees then respond by pumping more tannin into their leaves making it difficult for the insects to digest the leaves. • Trees grow from the top, not from the bottom as is commonly believed. A branch’s location on a tree will only move up the trunk a few millimeters in 1000 years. • No tree dies of old age. They are generally killed by insects, disease or by people. California Bristlecone Pines and Giant Sequoias are regarded as the oldest trees and have been known to live 4,000 to 5,000 years. • Generally caterpillars with brightly colored larvae are poisonous; their color is a reminder to predators about their toxicity. Stinging Rose Caterpillar is a fine example. Hmmm….Caterpillars have 4,000 muscles while humans have 629 only. • Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii but went to live in Indonesia with his mum when his parents divorced. There he was introduced to dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper. Obama used to love wearing sweaters. Now you only see him in a suit and tie. • Obama won a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Spoken Word Recording for the audio version of his book; “Dreams from My Father”. Barack is a smoker but does not drink alcohol. • The Ostrich people in Africa are a group of people who have only two toes due to inbreeding (From Ripley’s believe it or not). • All mammals can get rabies (disease), but viral reservoirs are found in carnivores (foxes, dogs, cats) and bats. • The gender of Reptiles are determined not by the sex genes, but by the temperature in which the egg is incubated. A certain temperature will produce a male and vice versa for a female. • Rice and some other grains contain chemicals that can enhance brain functions. If you chew a cabbage/lettuce leaf properly, you’ll lose more energy than you’ll gain from actually eating it. • When an egg floats in water, it is “off” and should not be eaten. As eggs age, gases build up inside the shell making it more buoyant. This is the best way to test whether an egg is rotten without having to break open the shell, risking ‘arrghh’ odor. When an egg is extremely fresh it will lie on its side at the bottom of a glass of water. As it ages, the egg will begin to point upwards, and will finally float completely when it has gone bad. Fresh eggs have a very firm white, whilst old eggs have a very watery white. This is why it is best to use the fresh eggs for frying, though older eggs are perfectly good for omelets or scrambling. Quote: Live more, dream more, love more, work more, and be more. Ends