Lusukat

Why children are thrown from the hight of 15 meters in India?

2011-12-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

In some of the Indian villages there is an old tradition of throwing new born babies form the top of the tower. For example, in the village Musti, Maharatsha state, new born babies are thrown from the hight of 15 meters. They explain that this ritual will bring them health and strength.

SOURCE: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/01/babies.tower/
IMAGE: www.anvari.org

Which ancient ruler has ancestors from half of the Western Europe's men population?

2011-12-06T02:42:00.000-08:00

The DNA tests of King Tutankhamun, who lived more than three thousand years ago, showed that he belongs to a genetic haplogroup R1b1a2. Half of the population of Western Europe's men have the same haplogroup, in case of UK more than 70% of men are from R1b1a2 group. This means that they all had the same ancestor with Tutankhamun. Interestingly enough, only 1% of the population of Egyptian men population belongs to that DNA group.

IMAGE: lowerhouse.ik.org
SOURCE: http://af.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idAFTRE7704OR20110801

Could a person have no fingerprints?

2011-12-06T02:32:00.000-08:00

A very rare mutation in the gene SMARCAD1 could result dermatoglyphic error - a genetic error, which results the absence of fingerprints. There are only 4 families in the world that had been registered with such a case, a man in Switzerland failed to pass though the customs check, because she failed to pass the fingerprint analyses.

IMAGE: danchristensen.blogspot.com

SOURCE: http://www.science20.com/news_articles/adermatoglyphia_no_fingerprints_disease_linked_smarcad1_gene-82762

Why Chinese girls till the beginning of the 20th century bandaged their feet?

2011-12-04T06:57:00.000-08:00

In aristocratic families in China till the beginning of the 20th century, it was common the case of bandaging girl's feet. All the toes, but the big were tied to foot, after time the foot was deformed so much that woman couldn't walk at all. It was considered to be a good quality, since women from the aristocratic families didn't need to walk all the job was supposed to be done by their workers.

IMAGE: www.wikipedia.org
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding

Which plants help bats to find themselves?

2011-12-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

Some of the bats prefer nectar of plants, which plants use them for its own pollination. However for bats it is very complicated to locate some of the flowers, because they have a bad vision and only rely on echo-location. The plant named Marcgravia evenia has leaves of special form that have the shape of a plate, which allow bats to find them. Since this kind of shape allows the reflection of signals much more efficiently.

IMAGE: frogstofall.f3h.com
SOURCE: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/07/how-to-invite-bats-for-dinner.html

Why Van Halen asks in its contract to remove all the brown M&M's candies?

2011-12-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

The American hard-rock group Van Halen toured around the world with large amounts of equipment due to the fact that their show required large number of complicated special effects. One of the requirements in the contract of the group states that on the table in the room of each artist should be a plate with M&M's from which should be removed all the brown sweets. This statement in the contract wasn't explained due to the capricious nature of the musicians, but it explained the demand of Van Halen attention to details. If organizers didn't bother to remove all the brown candies then it said that they don't pay enough attention for the organization and therefore there could be some other details missing during the show. Which could result worse quality of the show.

IMAGE: bobsfavoriterecipes.worldpress.com
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Halen

Which animals living as prostitutes?

2011-11-24T17:46:00.000-08:00

Adelie penguins build nests in gravel to lay their eggs. When nearby pairs are distracted, these penguins do not hesitate to steal their stones. And some females are engaged in prostitution to earn some stones, even though they already have a long term partner. There are single males who also make their nests in the hope to have a family, females visit them to have sex and afterwards leave taking couple of gravel stones.

SOURCE: http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Birds/Archives/2005/Mating-in-a-Material.aspx
IMAGE: www.graphicshunt.com

What were the names of Roman coins that showed the images of sexual positions?

2011-11-24T17:41:00.000-08:00

In ancient Rome, there were special bronze coins to pay for prostitutes - spintrii.They were shown erotic stories - as a rule, people in various positions at the time of intercourse.

Wife of which Roman Emperor owner a brother and herself worked there?

2011-11-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

The wife of Roman Emperor Claudius, Messalina, was so lustful and depraved,that it struck accustomed to many contemporaries. According to the historians Tacitus and Suetonius, it not only contained in the Rome public building, butthere she moonlighted as a prostitute, serving customers in person. She evenheld a contest with another well-known prostitute and won it, to serve 50 clients to 25.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeria_Messalina

IMAGE: www.wikipedia.org

What animals apart from humans have the scene of rhyme?

2011-11-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

Before scientists believed that the sense of rhyme was only applicable for humans. In 2011 scientists started to observe videos with a parrot called Snowball, who could dance listening to music. Depending on the pace of music Snowball could speed up his moves or slow them down. As a result, Snowball was the reason for new scientific discovery.

SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2011069/Snowball-dancing-cockatoo-sense-rhythm-amazed-scientists.html
IMAGE: hairstylebangs.blogspot.com

Where do you play three sided football?

2011-11-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Dutch painter Asger Yorn in 1990s found the concept of three sided football. It is played simultaneously by 3 different teams on 6 sided field. The winner of the match is not the team who scores the most, but the team who saves most goals. The author aimed to have a philosophical approach to the game of football and concentrate on defense more, rather than attack. Nowadays, three sided football is played during festivals and various exhibitions.

SOURCE: http://infoeditors.com/2011/03/19/three-sided-football/

IMAGE: www.infoeditors.com

Which country has the biggest borders with France?

2011-11-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

Brasil has the biggest border line with France due to French Guinea. The total length of the border is 673 kilometers, the second longest border is with Spain which equals to 623 kilometers.

SOURCE: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granica_brazylijsko-francuska
IMAGE: www.lonelyplanet.com

In which country you can marry the dead man?

2011-11-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

In France you can officially marry a dead man. Mainly this type of weddings are done to legalize children that bride has and consider a dead person father of her child. Each wedding is personally checked by the President of France. During the ceremony bride and future husband stand next to each other, where monarch states: "until death separates you" in the past tense. This types of weddings exist in Sudan and China.

SOURCE: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariage_posthume

IMAGE: www.facebook.com

In which movie Sylvester Stallone asked to fight for real, which resulted him going to hospital?

2011-11-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

During Rocky-4 shooting Dolph Lundgren was given the role of the Soviet boxer - Ivan Drago. Stallone asked Lundgren to fight for real, so the scene looks as realistic as possible. After couple of punches Stallone was taken to the hospital, where he recovered for 8 days.

SOURCE: en.wikipedia.org

IMAGE: www.free-extras.com

Why Lara Croft has big breasts?

2011-11-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

At the beginning Lara Croft wasn't planned to have big breasts. Once, one of the designers during settings of the main character accidentally increased Lara's breasts by 150%. He immediately liked the result and showed to the rest of the team, which later decided to leave it as it is.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara_Croft

IMAGE: www.videogamesrepublic.com

How many bridges are going over Amazon river?

2011-11-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

Including the length of the Amazon river, which almost 7000 kilometers there is no a single bridge that connects two shores. Only in 2010 there was built a bridge, which connects two biggest ports in Amazon. The length of the bridge is 3,595 meters; which makes it one of the longest bridges in the world.

SOURCE: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River
IMAGE: www.flickr.com

Which book was published in different countries under different names depending on exchange rate?

2011-11-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

The novel by Fredrick Berbedera - "99 Franks" was published in 2000, it was recommended to sell in France for that price. The same principle served when it was published in different countries, depending on exchange rate: "39,90 marks in Germany; 9,99 pounds in Britain; 999 Yen in Japan" etc. In 2002 the book was republished due to collapse of Euro and was called - 14,99 Euro. After some time the popularity of the book fell, so authors decided to rename it to - 6 Euro.

SOURCE: http://definite.livejournal.com/268282.html
IMAGE: www.artsjournal.com

Where prisoners are forced to play computer games?

2011-11-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

In worlds major countries there is an existing problem of money trading within online games. Virtual money is earned through "Gold farms", where people sit everyday and try to earn as much virtual money as possible. Most of the "Gold farms" are located in China - only in 2005 it was expected that there are around 100,000 people. Additionally, in many Chinese prisons Security personnel and heads of prisons force their inmates to play online computer games, through which they get illegal income.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_farming
IMAGE: www.dailycaller.com

In which countries people dance striptease during funeral?

2011-11-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

In the past century in Taiwan striptease became a very popular method of entertainment during funerals. At the beginning, invitation of striptease dancers was popular among mafia members, however later it spread among ordinary people. In the middle of 1980s Taiwanese government signed a law, which prohibited such activities, however even now it is still possible to see strippers during funerals in rural areas.

SOURCE: http://io9.com/5819625/in-taiwan-you-can-hire-a-stripper-for-your-funeral
IMAGE: en.wikipedia.org

How many flags it takes to complete one United Kingdom flag?

2011-11-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

The history of the UK flag started from the moment of declaration of union between England and Scotland in 1603. The complete flag was created by placing English flag of Saint George (red cross with white background) on Scottish flag of Saint Andrew (white diagonal cross on blue background). In 1801 when Ireland joined the Kingdom, on top of existing flag was placed another flag of Saint Patrick (diagonal cross on white background).

SOUCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom
IMAGE: www.flickr.com

Why in Japanese army warehouses left pair of shoes used to store separately from right pair?

2011-11-14T03:57:00.000-08:00

On the Kuril Islands it is possible to visit the warehouse of left military boots. In order to avoid theft Japanese army decided to store different boot pairs in different locations.

SOURCE: http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/razvorot/714534-echo/
IMAGE: www.cheapmilitaryboots.org

Where can you see Ice-cream graveyard?

2011-11-14T03:52:00.000-08:00

In the state of Vermont there is an ice-cream graveyard. It was built by Ben & Jerry's, which is one of the most famous brands in USA. There you could see real graves with real tomb stones of ice-creams that lost their popularity and are not sold well. Among one those ice-creams there is one called "White Russian", which reminds of an alcoholic drink, which consists of Votka and Coffee Liquor. On the web-page of Ben & Jerry's fans can vote for the resurrection of the ice-cream.

SOUCE: http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-wacky-ice-cream-graveyard-of-vermont.html
IMAGE: www.flickr.com

How did Nike came up with their famous slogan: "Just Do It"?

2011-11-13T06:35:00.000-08:00

Gary Gilmore committed many robberies and murders and was sentenced to death in 1977. Before the execution he was given the right of a final word and Gilmore said: "Let's Do It". Later this phrase inspired Nike in creation of their slogan: "Just Do It".

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gilmore
IMAGE: www.mikeroussell.com

Where is the gallows that at once could hang 50 people?

2011-11-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

In 13th century near Paris, there was built a gigantic gallows Monkhofon, which didn't preserve till current times. Monkhofon was separated into different sections, which could fit up to 50 people at once. King's assistant De Marini thought that the image of many bodies hanging would make other people loyal to the king and prevent them from doing any crimes. At the end De Marini himself was hanged there.

SOURCE: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibet_de_Montfaucon
IMAGE: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibet_de_Montfaucon

With what purpose did the Italian cardinal, Giuseppe Mezzofanti, learn whole new language over night?

2011-11-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

One of the most famous polyglots of mankind lived in 18-19 century, Giuseppe Mezzofanti could fluently speak in 39 languages, and almost the same amount of languages he could freely understand. He could speak so many languages even though he never left the territories of Italy. Once he learned the language over night, so he could take the confession of overseas criminal who was sentenced to death.

SOURCE: http://www.nkj.ru/archive/articles/4582/
IMAGE: en.wikipedia.org