BE CAREFUL WHILE HAVING COLD

Ice cream headaches 

When you stick something extremely cold in your mouth and eat it quickly such as drinking an ice cold beverage or eating ice cream rapidly, it quickly cools the palate of your mouth. Why this is significant is that there is a nerve centre located just above the back of the roof of your mouth. This nerve centre includes nerve clusters that send signals to the brain about changes in body temperature. When these nerve clusters are rapidly cooled by what you are consuming, they are over stimulated and send the message to the brain that the body just lost a severe amount of heat. This ends up resulting in the rapid contraction of blood vessels in your head. Shortly thereafter, the temperature at the palate of your mouth goes back to normal and the nerve centres signal everything is fine and the blood vessels end up rapidly dilating. This all happens in a matter of few seconds, but the end result of this rapid contraction and dilation of blood vessels is an extreme, sharp pain, often in your temples, forehead or sometimes even your face itself and is referred to as 'ice cream headaches' or 'brain freezes'

DO YOU KNOW

Why newspapers turn yellow over time?

Paper is made from wood, which is made up mainly of white cellulose. Wood also has a lot of a dark substance in it called lignin, which ends up in the paper, too, along with the cellulose. The exposure of lignin to air and sunlight is what turns yellow.

Lignin makes wood stiff and trees stand upright. You can say it acts as a glue to bind the cellulose fibres together. Dr. Hou-Min Chang, a professor of wood and paper science at N.C., compares lignin to the concrete used in buildings, with cellulose as the steel frame. Without lignin, Chang says, a tree could only grow to be about 6 feet tall. Lignin also helps protect the wood from pests and other damage. 

Newsprint, which must be produced as economically as possible, has more lignin in it than finer papers. At the mill, the wood that will be turned into newsprint is ground up, lignin and all. 

Paper manufacturers utilise the benefits of lignin in some types of paper, though. Brown kraft paper, the dark brown paper used in grocery store bags, and cardboard are stiff and sturdy because they have more lignin in them, and because those kinds of paper aren't treated with bleaching chemicals. It doesn’t matter how dark they are because the printing on them is limited. 

To make a fine white paper, the mill puts the wood through a chemical solvent process, which separates and discards the lignin. Pure cellulose is white, and the paper made from it will be white and will resist yellowing. 

Lignin eventually turns paper yellow because of oxidation. That is, the lignin molecules, when exposed to oxygen in the air, begin to change and become less stable. The lignin will absorb more light, giving off a darker colour. If newsprint were kept completely out of sunlight and air, it would remain white. After only a few hours of sunlight and oxygen, however, it will start to change colour. 

AQUATIC ANIMAL

 Sea Pig

Thriving on the deepest ocean floor, Sea Pig behaves much like slugs do on land. They scavenge the ocean floor for any organic material using their tube feet to move them along and using their tentacles to push food into their mouth. The Sea Pig is not an endangered species, but rare to see due to the depths of ocean in which they live. Though they appear to be some sort of slug/pig combination, Sea Pigs are scotoplanes or sea cucumbers belonging to the genus of the deep sea Holothurians.

GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF LAUGHTER

World Laughter Day 😃😂🤣

Everybody knows that laughing feels good, but few realise how valuable these simple tools can be in improving our wellness and wellbeing. Laughter cannot heal or solve anything but it can improve the situation. That’s what World Laughter Day is for!

World Laughter Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May annually and is a global celebration of laughter, smiling and of all things positive. 

It can be celebrated by anyone, but it is mostly observed in cities where large groups of people gather to laugh together, spread some joy and bond. Laughter is a universal language that brings us all together. World Laughter Day is all about uniting us with the power of fun and laughter. 

History of World Laughter Day: World Laughter Day was founded by Dr. Madan Kataria in Mumbai, India in 1998. Dr. Kataria started the Laughter Yoga movement in 1995 as he understood the positive effects laughing and smiling have on the body. He wanted to spread the message across the globe. Today this message has spread over 70 countries.

The benefits of laughing: We all love to laugh but did you know that laughter has proven to actually improve your health? Here are just a few benefits from having a laugh. 

* Laughter boosts the immune system - It helps to increase infection fighting antibodies which can help combat infection. 

* Laughter relaxes the body and reduces stress - A proper belly laugh can help reduce stress and can relax your muscles.

* Laughter is good for your heart - Laughing can help increase blood flow and improves the functioning of blood vessels which can help protect you against heart attacks. 

* Laughter burns off calories - Laughing for around 10-15 minutes a day can burn off up to 40 calories. 

NATIONAL GAME OF ARGENTINA

Pato

Pato is a sport that has been played for hundreds of years in South America and is considered one of the oldest sports on the continent. It is a unique and exciting sport that combines elements of basketball, polo, and rugby. 

The game is played with two teams of four players each, who ride horses and try to score goals using a ball that has six handles on it. The ball is made of leather and is about the size of a soccer ball. 

The aim of the game is to score goals by throwing the ball through a vertical hoop that is located at each end of the field. The hoops are placed 2.5 metres above the ground and are similar to basketball hoops. 

The game starts with a throw-off, where one team throws the ball into the air, and both teams try to catch it. Once a player has possession of the ball, they can ride their horse and try to pass it to a teammate or shoot it towards the goal.

The game is very fast-paced and requires a lot of skill, coordination, and teamwork. 

Players need to have good riding skills and be able to control their horses while also handling the ball. 

Pato is not just a sport but also a cultural tradition in South America, where it is considered a symbol of the gaucho (cowboy) culture. It is often played at festivals and celebrations and is a great way for people to come together and enjoy the excitement and camaraderie of the game. 

DO YOU KNOW

Why doughnuts have holes?

The origin of why doughnuts have holes is a bit unclear, and there are several different stories or theories. 

One popular theory is that a man named Hanson Gregory, who was a sailor in the mid-nineteenth century was the first to create the hole in the doughnut. The story goes that Hanson wanted a better way to cook his doughnuts while on board a ship, so he used a round tin pepper container to punch a whole in the middle of the dough, which allowed the doughnut to cook more evenly and prevented the centre from being undercooked. 

Another theory is that doughnuts were traditionally made as a twisted shape, and the hole was added to make them cook more evenly and quickly. 

Yet another theory is that the hole was added for practical reasons, such as making it easier to carry several doughnuts at once on a stick or string.

Regardless of the exact reason, the hole in the centre of the doughnut has  become a defining characteristic of this popular treat. Today doughnuts come in a wide variety of flavours and styles, from traditional glazed doughnuts to more modern creations like bacon maple bars or cronuts (a hybrid of a croissant and a doughnut)

MATERIALS THAT PROTECT OUR BODY

Fabrics 

The need to protect the body from heat and cold using fabrics has existed as long as humans have. Over time, this fabric has evolved from animal skin, to cloth made from plant fibres and most recently, to synthetic fibres. 

Clothing is among humankind's most basic needs. In the late Stone Age, that is roughly around 1,00,000 years ago, humans wore clothes made from animal skin and used bones and antlers as pins to hold garments together. They also used vegetation to cover themselves such that their bodies were protected from cold, heat and rain.

The first evidence of woven textiles dates back to around 6,000 BC, when this kind of fabric was used to wrap dead bodies in Anatolia, Turkey. Historians have found traces of linen in Ancient Egypt around 5,000 BC. Two millenia later in 3,000 BC, domesticated animals like sheep were used as a source of cloth fibre. Throughout the Indus Valley Civilisation, fabrics made of cotton were used in India. In 2,600 BC, a Chinese princess discovered silk, which then came to India via the Silk Route. 

During the Middle Ages, simple clothing was favoured by the majority of people, while finer materials such as silks and linens were available only to royalty and the rich. 

The ancient methods of manufacturing textile didn't change significantly until the Industrial Revolution, when the speed and capacity of production increased phenomenally. It was during this time that the production of synthetic fabrics began. The first synthetic material was invented by Sir Joseph Swan in the early 1880s. He presented his research in 1885 during the International Inventions Exhibition and noted that synthetic materials could overcome many of the limitations of natural fibres. Rayon, also known as artificial silk, was the first manufactured fibre and was produced in 1910. Nylon came into the market by 1939 as one of the first synthetic materials created from petrochemicals. Polyester was discovered in 1953 and quickly became the most commonly used man-made fibre in the USA. Synthetic fibres are more durable than most natural fibres. They are stretchable, waterproof and stain resistant. 

Microfibre or ultrasuede was invented only 20 years ago in Japan and it is the thinnest man-made fibre ever made. It is 100 times thinner than a strand of human hair. 

Fibres are of two kinds - natural fibres, which include animal fibres, and man-made fibres, which are synthetic fibres. 

Natural fibres are derived from various sources - animals, plants and minerals. Plant fibres are sourced from the seeds, leaves, fruits, stalks and even the trunks of trees and plants. For many years, there have been four main natural fibres ruling the industry - flax, cotton, wool and silk. Natural fibres are also used to make paper and felt. 

Flax is considered to be the oldest natural textile fibre used. In ancient times, people used flax fibres by separating them into strands and then plaiting or weaving them into simple fabrics. These fabrics were then coloured with dyes extracted from plants. Flax linen was also used as burial shrouds for Egyptian pharaohs.

Cotton and wool came into existence around 3,000 BC. Cotton fibre is sourced from the Gossypium plant, also known as the cotton plant. 

Bamboo was also a major source of fibre and was used to make clothes, shoes and hats. 

Silk, wool, fur, cashmere and catgut are examples of animal fibres that are drawn from animal hair, feathers, silk or even the produce of animals. Animal fibres are obtained from animals like goats, sheep, rabbits, camels and even dogs. Animal fibres are obtained by methods that include combing, plucking, shearing etc.