35 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Guinea Pig | Amazing Facts 4U

1. The guinea pig was domesticated as early as 5000 B.C. in South America as a source of food. They were also used in religious ceremonies and in traditional medicine. They have been kept in households as companion animals since being introduced by European traders in the 16th century.
2. The scientific name of the guinea pig is Cavia porcellus, which means “little pig.”  They belong to the family Caviidae, which is a family of South American rodents. They are also not from Guinea; they originated in the Andes.
3. Guinea pigs may have been called pigs for several reasons. For example, they have a similar squeal to a pig’s. They are also somewhat built like a small pig, with a large head, stout neck, and no real tail.
4. While guinea pigs are not from Guinea, it is possible “guinea” was included in their name because they may have been sold for a guinea (English coin). Another theory is that Europeans may have believed guinea pigs came from the African country Guinea since ships carrying the furry mammals from South America often stopped there before going on to Europe.
5. Male guinea pigs are called boars, females are referred to as sows, and young ones are called pups.
6. If a female guinea pig is uninterested in a male during courtship, she will sometimes squirt a jet of urine at the persistent male.
7. The gestation period of a guinea pig is about 70 days. A female guinea pig (called a sow) is able to produce a litter of up to 4 young guinea pig pups.
8. The amazing fact is that if a female guinea pig does not give birth before she is 6 months old, her pubic bones will fuse. If she tries to give birth later, the fused bones will prevent her from giving birth resulting in the death of the mother and the unborn pups.
9. Guinea pigs have a high maternal mortality rate of about 20%.
10. Baby guinea pigs are born with their eyes open and are covered in fur. Baby pups are able to drink from a water bottle and can eat hay within hours of being born. They can run only 3 hours after being born.
11. Guinea pigs in fact have 3 toes on their forefeet and 4 toes on their hind feet.
12. Guinea pigs have a long and detailed history of being used in medical research from the 17th century. While rats and mice have become more popular test animals in the modern era, guinea pigs are still used as subjects for juvenile diabetes, tuberculosis, scurvy, and pregnancy complications.
13. There are two general categories of guinea pigs: long-haired and short-haired. Short-haired guinea pigs are typically easier to care for than long-haired ones.
14. Guinea pigs typically live about 4 or 5 years, though they may live up to 8. The longest-living guinea pig on record was Snowball from Nottinghamshire, England. She died at the age of nearly 15 years in February 1979.
15. Guinea pigs don’t have to sleep for long periods. They prefer to take short naps throughout the day and night.
16. Guinea pig ears are very sensitive to noise and they do not like any loud bangs.
17. Guinea pigs can hear sounds of up to 40,000 to 50,000 Hz, and some guinea pig vocalizations are ultrasonic at above 20,000 Hz.
18. Guinea pigs are particularly vocal. They have a range of vocalizations to communicate with each other, including ‘purring’ when content and ‘chirping’ when stressed.
19. Guinea pigs can’t sweat like humans can and so can get heatstroke if they are left out in the sun or become too hot. They have to find shade whenever possible.
20. Guinea pigs have what is known as “open rooted” teeth like rats which constantly grow to require them to constantly grind down their teeth while eating food keeping them properly aligned.
21. Guinea pigs will eat all day and night.
22. They do not bite in self-defense and will only bite because they think your hand is food.
23. Guinea pigs have a very good field of vision and are able to see around them so as to detect predators. The amazing fact is that they can’t see anything straight in front of their noses which means they don’t see what they eat.
24. The American guinea pig is one of the oldest breeds of guinea pigs and is considered the “classic guinea pig.” One of the most commonly found, it is an ideal pet for children because of its short, smooth fur.
25. Guinea pigs typically run a higher temperature than humans, at about 101° F. Their high temperature places them at increased risk on hot days or when they’re exposed to direct sunlight.
26. After about 4 years old, guinea pigs are usually considered senior citizens, and genetic health issues usually appear at this time.
27. Guinea pigs are very social and are truly happy only when they are together with other guinea pigs. Even the most loving human cannot take the place of other guinea pigs.
28. Because guinea pigs are so social, it is illegal to own just one in Switzerland.
29. When you are holding a guinea pig, the way to settle it down if it’s wriggling too much is to bring your hand under its back-side and amazingly it will stop wriggling.
30. A recent study found that children ages 5 to 12 on the autism spectrum showed a marked decrease in stress while interacting with guinea pigs. The pet could act as a “social buffer” for students with autism who may have difficulty making friends.
31. Guinea pigs are fragile creatures and so need to be treated with gentle hands. If you are rough, you could break its bones. In fact, they have a total of 258 bones in the body.
32. Amazingly guinea pigs always march in single file, with the largest guinea pig at the front and the young protected in the middle.
33. Guinea pigs have been found to be allergic to penicillin.
34. Guinea Pigs have excellent spatial orientation and are able to learn complex maze tasks using symbols as signposts.
35. Like humans, guinea pigs are unable to make vitamin C and need to acquire it through food sources. Failing to do so can lead to scurvy and eventually death.

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30 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Supernova | Amazing Facts 4U

1. One of the most spectacular events of our universe is the Supernova explosion. It is the most powerful explosion known to humans. It is nothing but a stellar explosion being an explosion of a star.
2. The explosion is so massive that briefly, it outshines the entire galaxy in which it explodes.
3. The amount of energy radiated in one supernova explosion so much that it equals the amount of energy that has already been radiated by our Sun plus the energy that it will radiate for the rest of its life.
4. A supernova is so bright that it literally takes weeks and sometimes months for the brightness to fade away.
5. During a Supernova explosion, luminous radiations are burst out and almost all of the material of the exploding star is expelled into outer space.
6. The material that is expelled from the exploding star travels at a very high speed of 30,000 km per second.
7. This explosion sends out a shockwave in nearby outer space referred to as interstellar medium which is defined as matter that exists in space between stars within a galaxy.
8. As this shockwave travels through this interstellar medium, the gas and dust from the exploding star are bound by the shockwave and it continues to expand. This expanding structure is known as a supernova remnant.
9. Every time a supernova explosion takes place, the interstellar medium is enriched by elements of higher mass.
10. Not every star explodes. Our Sun will never explode. Stars that are about 10 to 100 times bigger than our Sun eventually explode and create a supernova explosion.
11. When a massive star eventually runs low on hydrogen (the fuel that is converted to helium through fusion reaction), the remaining hydrogen pushes outwards towards the shell, surrounding a helium core.
12. When the hydrogen moves to the outer shell around the helium core, the star becomes unstable and the outer shell is enormously inflated, converting the star into a red giant.
13. At this stage, the hydrogen in the outer shell of the red giant still fuses into helium producing thermal energy that wants to expand the star.
14. The helium core on the other hand exerts gravitational pull attempting to crush the star.
15. When the remaining hydrogen burns out, the gravitational pull of the helium core wins and helium atoms start fusing to form iron atoms, thus forming an iron core inside the helium shell.
16. Eventually, the core becomes too heavy and cannot withstand its own gravitational pull and the core starts collapsing. This is when the star explodes to form a supernova.
17. Supernova explosions also take place in what is known as binary star systems. A binary star system consists of two stars one of which is a carbon-oxygen white dwarf. The other is known as the companion star.
18. In this type of star system, the white dwarf (which is actually a star close to its life’s end, eventually collapsing into a small size almost similar to the size of earth) is known to be a thief. This white dwarf steals or draws matter from the companion star. This happens because of the enormous gravitational pull of the white dwarf.
19. At some point, the white dwarf ends up accumulating too much matter. This excessive amount of matter eventually causes the star to explode violently, resulting in a supernova explosion.
20. Supernova explosion shoots out billions and billions of atoms in every possible direction and they form colorful nebulae.
21. The exploding star may end up as a black hole and a nebula. However, if the star isn’t really a big one, the supernova explosion will end up as a neutron star and a nebula.
22. The expanding supernova remnant can produce enough kinetic energy that can compress the highly-dense molecular clouds in the interstellar space and form new stars.
23. Supernova explosions of supernovae are the primary sources of metals in interstellar space and till date, they remain known as the only dominant mechanism for the distribution of heavier metals that are usually formed inside a star during its life through nuclear fusion reaction.
24. The last known supernova explosion in our galaxy Milky Way was SN 1604. Astronomer Johannes Kepler started observing the supernova on 17th October 1607 and hence, it is named as SN 1604.
25. The latest observed supernova was in Andromeda Galaxy in 1885 and is known as S Andromeda.
26. The first stars of our universe became supernovae around 14 billion years ago. Our sun is not big enough to become a supernova.
27. Elements like carbon, iron, silicon, nitrogen, and oxygen that we find on Earth actually came from a supernova.
28. During the explosion, elements like uranium and gold are formed because of the extremely high millions of degrees of temperature caused by the explosion.
29. In 1054 AD, Islamic and Chinese astronomers observed and documented a supernova. It was so bright that it was visible in broad daylight.
30. The Crab Nebula that we see today is actually a result of the supernova explosion of 1054 AD.

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20 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Tears | Amazing Facts 4U

1. Everyone starts life with that first cry. As you grow up, you still produce about 200 ml of tears a day, even if you never or rarely cry.
2. Although babies have the same instinct to cry to satisfy their needs, each culture’s socialization processes lead to different ways of crying as an older child or adult.
3. The film of tears on the eye is a complex system, in fact consisting of three layers of oil, water, and mucus. The water layer is the thickest and contains electrolytes like sodium and potassium, proteins (mostly enzymes), glucose, and other substances. Various facts in the outer oil layer slow evaporation.
4. The specific composition of tears may change day today.
5. The lacrimal glands that secrete tears are located on the outer portion of the upper eyes. They are peanut-sized. blinking spreads the tears across the eye surface. Tears drain into the tiny openings in the eyelids, called puncta (one on the inside corner of each lid), and then through ducts to the nasal cavity, where you either swallow them or they become part of nasal fluid.
6. Besides lubricating the eye and flushing away debris, tears also serve the function of delivering oxygen and nutrients and removing waste products. Tears also improve the image that forms on the retina by smoothing any irregularities on the surface of the eyeball.
7. Tears also serve as a defense mechanism. The antibodies, enzymes, and other immune components in tear help protect the eyes against microorganisms.
8. There are three types of tears. Continuous (or basal) tears are produced for basic eye function, such as lubrication. Reflex (or irritant) tears occur when the eye is exposed to excessive light, the cold, wind, a foreign body, or irritating food like cut onions. Psychogenic tears are shed for emotional reasons.
9. Crying is a way to communicate needs and elicit attention from others, at least in early life, and maybe a means of releasing emotional tension. As per research, psychogenic tears differ in composition from other tears, and crying may be a way to rid the body of stress-related chemicals.
10. Boys and girls cry in equal frequency. Women reportedly cry more than men.
11. When a person cries and the first drop of tears comes from the right eye, it’s happiness. But when the first tears come from the left, it’s pain.
12. Emotional tears actually contain leucine encephalin, a natural painkiller.
13. A baby who cries for more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week, for more than 3 weeks may have abdominal colic.
14. The ducts that drain tears from your eyes can become blocked due to aging, infection, inflammation, injury, tumor, or cyst causing symptoms of excessive tearing and watery eyes.
15. In certain neurological conditions, crying along with laughing can be uncontrolled. The condition is called pathological laughing and crying (PLC). Laughter or sobbing can occur at inappropriate times. PLC can appear as a symptom of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS).
16. All vertebrates i.e. animals with backbones that spend time on land have continuous tears and perhaps reflex tears. Humans are the only animals that also have emotional tears. There are also reports of elephants shedding tears in grief.
17. Syn-propanediol-S-oxide is the chemical released by onions in the air which irritates the eyes making lacrimal glands release more tears. New Zealand researchers have been able to produce tearless onions by inhibiting the gene that makes this chemical.
18. If tear production declines or tears evaporate too quickly, the result is dry eye. Inflammation may play a role. Besides causing burning or grittiness, dry eye syndrome can cause blurry vision and can potentially damage the eye.
19. Tears have the same composition as saliva made up of proteins, salt, and hormones.
20. A woman’s tears amazingly send a particular chemical signal to men which causes a dip in male sexual arousal, which is an involuntary yet interesting means of nonverbal communication between the sexes.

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25 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Alligator | Amazing Facts 4U

1. There are two living species of alligator in the world: the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis).
2. Like crocodiles, alligators are part of the order ‘Crocodylia’. They are cold-blooded reptile species.
3. The alligator is often described as “a living fossil” that has changed little in the past 65 million years.
4. American alligators live in south-eastern areas of the United States such as Florida and Louisiana while Chinese alligators are found in the Yangtze River but they are critically endangered and only a few remain in the wild.
5. The American alligator can grow up to 11 feet long and weigh nearly 450 Kg while Chinese alligators are smaller, growing nearly 5 Feet and usually weighing below 35 Kg.
6. In contrast to alligators found only in the US and China, crocodiles are found all over the world.
7. Alligators have shorter, wider heads that are more U-shaped than crocodiles. Crocodiles have V-shaped snouts.
8. Alligators strongly favor freshwater while some species of crocodile live in seawater.
9. Alligators are less aggressive than crocodiles and also tend to have a darker appearance than crocodiles.
10. An important differentiating feature of a crocodile from an alligator is that the fourth tooth of a crocodile sticks out when its mouth is closed while all of the alligator’s upper teeth can still be seen when its mouth is closed.
11. Alligators have a powerful bite but the muscles that open the jaw are very weak so much so that an adult human can hold the jaws of an alligator shut with their bare hands.
12. Alligators are social creatures and often stay in groups called congregations.
13. Female alligators construct nests made of vegetation and mud. They can lay over 50 eggs in a single season. They are amongst the most attentive parents in the reptile world, caring for them, for as long as three years.
14. The sex of a newborn alligator is determined by the temperature of the nest. Incubation temperatures of 28 Celsius or below will produce females, whereas 34 Celsius or above will produce males. Temperatures of 31 Celsius will produce an even number of males and females.
15. As soon as they are born, the babies, called hatchlings, can go and catch their own food. American hatchlings are around 6 to 8 inches long. After around 2 years, they leave their mother’s protection to start their own families.
16. Although seriously endangered in the 1950s the American alligator’s numbers have grown since they came under legal protection. They were killed mainly for skin.
17. Alligators can have up to 80 teeth at any given time. New teeth grow to replace worn ones and throughout a lifetime an alligator can have between 2,000 and 3,000 teeth.
18. Alligators aren’t strict carnivores. They also eat fruit when they get the chance, and might be important seed-dispersers.
19. Alligators have their eyes bigger than their stomachs. Thanks to a special blood vessel, the second aorta, they’re able to shunt blood away from their lungs and towards their stomachs, stimulating the production of strong stomach acids to break down their meals faster.
20. Amazingly juvenile alligators are capable of eating about 23 percent of their body weight in one sitting.
21. Alligators keep to themselves and usually don’t attack humans unless they are threatened.
22. Besides swimming, alligators walk, run, and crawl on land. They have a “high walk” and a “low walk.” The low walk is sprawling, while in the high walk the alligator lifts its belly off the ground.
23. American alligators are fairly accomplished climbers. Alligators can climb trees to get to a better basking spot or get the drop on you. Be aware.
24. Alligators are opportunistic feeders who ambush their prey rather than chase them. They can reach 30 miles per hour in a short burst.
25. In North American shamanism, alligators are symbols of adaptability and survival. The alligator became the official state reptile of Florida in 1987.

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20 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Socrates | Amazing Facts 4U

1. A philosopher by profession, Socrates can rightly be called the father of Western thought. He hailed from ancient Greece.
2. It was around 470 BC when Socrates was born in Athens, Greece. He was executed in 399 BC.
3. Socrates’ father was Sophroniscus, a sculptor and stonemason from Athens and his mother was a midwife by the name of Phaenarete.
4. He received basic Greek education because he did not belong to a noble family and hence, he learned the skills of his father at a very early age.
5. Before turning a philosopher, Socrates took up masonry and sculpting as his profession for several years.
6. Socrates didn’t write anything. No record of his writings exist.
7. Whatever information exists today is a result of some of the records that were kept by his disciples Xenophon and Plato.
8. Xanthippe was Socrates’ wife. The two had three children by the names Menexenus, Sophroniscus, and Lamprocles. She was not happy with the ‘philosopher’ profession of Socrates.
9. Socrates was far more interested in the intellectual upbringing of the young minds of Athens rather than looking after the upbringing of his own sons.
10. Socrates was the teacher of Plato, who in turn was the teacher of Aristotle.
11. The primary emphasis of Socrates was on the importance of the mind and not on physical attractiveness.
12. Socrates always believed that if anything could improve the well-being of society, it was none other than philosophy.
13. His way of thinking led him to believe that attaining true wisdom is the only way to create a government that is neither a democratic government nor a tyrannical government. He always believed that the government required individuals with greater understanding and knowledge.
14. There was no fixed classroom for Socrates as such. He traveled all across Athens and questioned common and elite men alike in order to find out the truth about ethics and politics.
15. He invented a new style of conversation which is now referred to as the “Socratic Method.” This involved asking lots of questions until finally reaching an answer, rather than simply conveying information. This was based on his philosophy that “true wisdom is drawn from knowing that you know nothing” and is why he was accused of corrupting the entire social system.
16. Socrates challenged the conventional wisdom of Greek and adopted a humorous path for the same and in the process had some enemies who hated his philosophy.
17. Socrates was charged for questioning the existence of the gods and he was also charged for corrupting the youth of the city. He was put on trial where he was convicted to death. He lost his case by 280 votes against and 221 votes for him.
18. According to Athenian law, any convicted person could ask for an alternative punishment. Socrates made things worse by asking for honor, rewards, and payments for the services he rendered to the people in an attempt to enlighten them instead of asking for exile.
19. Socrates’ demand forced the jury to sentence him to death by hemlock poisoning.
20. After being sentenced to death, many of Socrates’ friends asked him to flee to exile by offering to bribe the guards but he declined. He instead said that despite the fact that the Athenian law sentenced him to death, he was still a loyal citizen of Athens and would happily accept his death. He drank a hemlock poison mixture without the slightest hint of hesitation.

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30 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Radiation | Amazing Facts 4U

1. Radiation is the energy that comes from a source and travels through space. When this energy passes into the body, either by penetrating skin or being swallowed or inhaled, it may be harmful. Whether the radiation is ionizing or non-ionizing will influence the health risks.
2. Sources of ionizing radiation include nuclear weapons handling and detonation, nuclear plants, x-rays, etc.
3. Non-iodizing radiation is low-energy radiation that includes radiation from sources such as sunlight, microwaves, radio frequencies, radar, and sonar.
4. Radium, a radioactive element was discovered by Marie Curie who in fact died from radiation exposure.
5. Millirem is 1/1000 REM, a unit to measure radiation.
6. The loss in life expectancy from a 1 millirem dose is about 1.2 minutes, equivalent to crossing the street three times, taking three puffs on a cigarette, 10 extra Calories for an overweight person.
7. Nuclear power plants are very safe. In fact, the safety limit for exposure is just 5 millirem.
8. The average radiation exposure due to medical diagnostic procedures is about 80 millirem per year.
9. People in America living near coal-fired power stations are exposed to higher radiation doses than those living near nuclear power plants.
10. Chest X-ray gives off about 30 millirems of radiation.
11. The average person absorbs about 300 millirems of radiation per year in total from background sources.
12. 1% of static on an untuned analog TV is from cosmic background radiation from the Big Bang.
13. The thorium-rich sands of Kerala, India give off 380 millirems per year, and similar sands in Guarapari, Brazil give locals an amazing 600 millirems per year.
14. Residents of Denver, Colorado get about four times as much cosmic radiation as those in who live at sea level, giving them an extra 115 millirems of radiation per year.
15. The Manhattan Project secretly tested the effects of radiation on its own citizens, including injecting pregnant women with radioactive mixtures and feeding children radioactive oatmeal. In the end, about 1,400 children died due to these experiments.
16. During the Manhattan Project, a man was injected with Plutonium without his knowledge or consent and he survived it for 20 years, eventually surviving the highest radiation dose known for any human.
17. Bananas are slightly radioactive and eating a banana exposes a person to radiation.
18. Because of the amount of granite used in its construction, the Grand Central Station of New York City produces more radiation than what is allowable at a nuclear power plant.
19. Astronauts on the Apollo missions reported seeing flashes and streaks of light when they closed their eyes. This was later confirmed to be caused by cosmic radiation bombarding their retinas while outside of the Earth’s magnetosphere.
20. All the American flags placed on the moon are now white due to radiation from the sun.
21. In the 1950s, there was a toy called the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory that came equipped with low-level radiation sources and four Uranium-bearing ore samples. It sold for $49.50. The product stayed on the market for only about a year between 1950 and 1951.
22. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster was huge. It is still giving off radiation, and that there is a high chance of the containment structure collapsing, causing huge amounts of radiation to spread out.
23. A fireman’s eyes at the Chernobyl disaster are said to have turned from brown to blue because of the intensity of the radiation he received.
24. There is a type fungi inside the Chernobyl reactors that thrives on radiation.
25. Flight crews are classified as radiation workers and some are exposed to more radiation annually than nuclear plant workers. One flight from New York to London is equivalent to one chest X-ray.
26. Smokers receive a radiation dose equivalent to about 300 chest x-rays annually due to the radioactive isotope Polonium-210 contained in tobacco smoke that comes from the ingredients of the fertilizers that are used in farming tobacco.
27. The USA originally denied that atomic bombs caused lingering radioactivity, calling such claims Japanese propaganda
28. A handful of raw uranium ore actually only has about as much radiation as 10 bananas. Banana has radiation due to potassium content.
29. The use of nuclear weapons and testing has resulted in steel contaminated with background radiation in many areas after  1945 making it unusable for many scientific and medical applications and steel made before 1945, often taken from sunken battleships, must be used instead.
30. On December 27, 2004, Earth was hit by the largest blast of radiation in recorded history. It came from a “giant flare” on a magnetar 50,000 light-years away.

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