10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. A Sudoku with fewer than 17 numbers filled in will have more than one possible solution.
More details (New Scientist)

2. Skydiving can help you earn a GCSE qualification.
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3. A horse fly is named after Beyonce.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

4. State workers in South Carolina answer the phone with, "It's a great day in South Carolina."
More details (New York Times)

5. Snakes know when their prey's heart stops beating.
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6. The average US share holding lasts 22 seconds.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

7. Sound travels five times faster through water than through air.
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8. Michelle Obama has a pair of $515 (£332) trainers.
More details (The Guardian)

9. Beer brewed 75 years ago can still be drinkable.
More details (Small World News)

10. The government of Iraq considers the buttocks from a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein part of its national antiquity.
More details (Hereford Times)

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Diners in China subvert salad bar rules by building elaborate towers of food.
More details (Daily Mail)

2. People eat Christmas trees.
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3. The Milky Way is white.
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4. Authors who finish other writers' unfinished works are known as "continuators".
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5. Monkeys have faces that help them find each other.
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6. Kodak invented the digital camera in 1975.
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7. Frogs can be very, very small.
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8. Superglue is used in forensics.
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9. Stars blow bubbles.
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10. Some people think dogs can act.
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10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

Bees are being turned into "zombies" by a parasitic fly.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

Scientist Stephen Hawking does not understand women.
More details (Mirror)

Bond star Daniel Craig does not like his knees.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

Brain function can start declining at the age of 45 - much earlier than previously thought.
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Loch Ness tilts back and forth each day.
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The town of Swindon is twinned with Walt Disney World in Florida.
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JRR Tolkien was passed over for the 1961 Nobel literature prize as judges deemed his prose "second-rate".
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A young Hitler may have been saved from drowning by a priest.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

Lord Byron was one of the first diet icons.
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Events can be made to "disappear" through a hole in time.
More details (Christian Science Monitor)

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Pet crocodiles in the UK have to be micro chipped.
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2. Kim Jong-il was known by 50 names, including Dear Leader, Supreme Leader, Our Father, The General, Generalissimo.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

3. There is a 100-year-old Christmas cake.
More details (Daily Mail)

4. The average webpage has grown 33% in size in the last year, up from 726 kilobytes in 2010 to about 965 kilobytes in 2011.
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5. This year's top10 most watched YouTube clips have racked up more than 285 million hits worldwide since being posted onto the internet.
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6. The world record for Christmas lights covering a property is 331,038 lights.
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7. Sleeping on left side of the bed makes you more cheerful and positive.
More details (Daily Mail)

8. Britain's cheapest house this year sold for £16,000.
More details (Express and Star)

9. In Scotland you can eat deep fried butter.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

10. The first celebrity to enter the US chart of the most popular search terms this year across all search engines is Justin Bieber at 92.
More details (Daily Mail)

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Fish walk.
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2. Ground walnuts are now used by set designers for theatrical dust.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

3. Men are at their most competitive between the ages of 45 and 54.
More details (Guardian)

4. Hairy limbs keep bed bugs at bay.
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5. Alcohol tastes sweeter when loud music is playing.
More details (Daily Mail)

6. The UK often tops world rankings in terms of the number of tornadoes per square kilometre.
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7. A cat can have 26 toes.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

8. The name "God Particle" began as a reference to "that goddamn particle".
More details (Economist)

9. Ibuprofen was developed in house in Nottingham.
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10. You can have a faecal transplant.
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100 things we didn't know last year

Interesting and unexpected facts can emerge from daily news stories and the Magazine picks out such snippets for its weekly feature, 10 things we didn't know last week. Here's an almanac of the best of 2011.

1. Birds binge drink.
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2. Bald people grow the wrong type of hair - so fine it's invisible to the naked eye.
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3. Aristotle is thought to have been the last individual to know everything that was known at the time.
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4. Women's tears reduce sexual desire in men.
More details (Guardian)

5. President Kennedy's famous line "Do not ask..." was inspired by the headmaster of his prep school.
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6. Princess Diana had two wedding dresses - one a back-up design in case her first choice was revealed before the big day.

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7. Huskies can smell thin ice.
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8. JD Salinger was a fan of Tim Henman.
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9. Good cops are better at getting confessions than bad cops.
More details (Daily Mirror)

10. The average hug lasts three seconds.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

11. Cattle once regularly swam between Hebridean islands.
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12. Elton John has no mobile phone.
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13. Incan brides had to peel a potato to prove they would be a good wife.
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14. UK postal workers get through two million red rubber bands a day.

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15. Artist LS Lowry was a debt collector.
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16. The ransom paid to release Richard the Lionheart, captured in 1192 on his return from the Crusades, was the equivalent of about £2bn in today's money.
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17. People with full bladders make better decisions.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

18. Chickens feel empathy.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

19. About 40% of skyscrapers due to be completed in the next six years will be in China.
More details (Economist)

20. St Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Montserrat.
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21. Sharks go to the cleaners.
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22. More than 90% of UK schoolchildren study Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
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23. YouTube's first video was called "Me at the zoo".
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24. The average person uses 20,000 words, with another 40,000 in reserve.
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25. One in six people live in India.
More details (Daily Express)

26. The word "loo" dates from medieval times, thought to have derived from the warning shout of "gardez l'eau!" given by those tipping chamber pots out the window.
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27. Seat belts are banned on some roads.
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28. Male humpback whales play "Chinese whispers" across 6,000km.
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29. Dogs watch how nice people are to others to work out whom to approach to beg for food.

More details (Daily Mail)

30. Swearing relieves pain.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

31. A rare version of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols is the most valuable record of all time.
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32. French police are currently allowed 25cl of wine or a small beer with their lunch while on duty.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

33. Transparent typewriters are sold to prisons, to avoid the risk of hidden contraband.
More details (The Daily Feed)

34. The perfect nap lasts 26 minutes.
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35. New York taxis used to be red and green, but in 1907 were all repainted yellow to be visible from a distance.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

36. It costs $60,000 to train a Navy Seal dog - like the one that accompanied US special forces on the Bin Laden operation.

More details (The Times)

37. Humans stare longer at people with bad reputations.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

38. There are only two beret factories left in France.
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39. It is illegal to sell moon rocks in the US.
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40. "Dong xuan" means frozen garlic in China, but winning an election in Taiwan.
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41. Heart disease is less common among religious people.
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42. Vultures are better than sniffer dogs at searching large, overgrown areas for dead bodies.
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43. The odds of scoring two hole-in-ones in the same round of golf are 67 million-to-one.

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44. Chimps can outperform eight-year-olds in solving problems.
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45. Women don't see Porsche drivers as marriage material.
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46. The yellow brick road leads to a car park.
More details (Wall Street Journal)

47. Sonic the Hedgehog's shoes are based on Michael Jackson's footwear in the Bad video.
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48. Half of Britons have German blood.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

49. The US only got its first roundabout in 1990, in Nevada.
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50. The male water boatman insect sings with its penis.
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51. California has drawn up a legal definition for the hot dog.

More details (Daily Mail)

52. The UK's Speaking Clock still receives 30 million calls each year.
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53. Stick insects can go without sex for a million years.
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54. Cows have best friends.
More details (Daily Mail)

55. Apple has more cash than the US government.
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56. Uganda's national anthem is the world's shortest.
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57. There are poisonous rats.
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58. A hole dug in the ground qualified as a private members' club in Wales.
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59. A shorter than average tongue makes it more difficult to speak Korean.
More details (The Sun)

60. Singing sparrows are actually trading insults.
More details (Daily Mail)

61. Asda Illustrated is the UK's top-selling magazine.
More details (Press Gazette)

62. Mr Men author Roger Hargreaves was the third best-selling author of the last decade, topped only by JK Rowling and Dan Brown.

More details (Metro)

63. The average Briton suffers 726 hangovers in a lifetime.
More details (Daily Mail)

64. Steve Jobs patented designs for two glass staircases - now used in many Apple stores.
More details (New York Times)

65. Getting married increases the risk of putting on weight.
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66. The world's atmosphere is worth £4.3 quadrillion, going by the air we breathe in and the price of CO2.
More details (Metro)

67. In 1941 state surveys in the UK asked how many bras women owned.
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68. Crocodiles go off their food when stressed.
More details (Guardian)

69. The Queen's swans get flu jabs.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

70. Women remember men with a deep voice more than those with a high voice.
More details (Daily Mail)

71. Australians have a third choice when describing their gender on passport applications.
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72. Yawning cools down the brain.

More details (Huffington Post)

73. MI5 used to have special kettles kept solely for steaming open envelopes.
More details (Reith Lecture)

74. Facebook remembers all the devices you've ever used to log in, and who else has used that same device.
More details (Forbes)

75. Letters addressed to Kabul include directions - there are few street names and numbers, and no postcodes.
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76. Preston bus station is on this year's list of at-risk cultural heritage sites, along with the Nazca Lines in Peru and a Greek cemetery.

More details (Daily Mail)

77. The first e-book, back in the 1970s, was the US Declaration of Independence.
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78. One in six mobile phones in Britain is contaminated with poo.
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79. Piranhas bark.
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80. There is a decrease in natural births on Halloween and an increase on Valentines Day.
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81. Alice Cooper runs a Bible class.
More details (Daily Mail)

82. Staffordshire town Burton upon Trent now has its own perfume, Eau de Burton, with hints of football boots and Branston Pickle.
More details (Burton Mail)

83. Polar bears have a surprisingly weak bite, while giant pandas have a very strong one.
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84. Rival rugby teams face a fine if they stray over the half-way line while the All Blacks perform the haka.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

85. Horses with distinctive black-and-white leopard-like markings roamed Europe 25,000 years ago.
More details (Wired)

86. Scottish remembrance poppies have four petals and no leaf, unlike the more common two petals and a single green leaf.

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87. Jimmy Savile and Margaret Thatcher celebrated New Year's Eve together 11 years in a row.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

88. Thierville in Normandy did not lose any service personnel in France's last five major wars.
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89. Many Afghans associate the number 39 with pimps.
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90. Until 1912 there was no set design for the Stars and Stripes.
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91. In the fifth and sixth decades of life, you are less likely to die over the coming year than at any other time in your life.
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92. Facebook users average 3.74 degrees of separation.
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93. The world's only sex school is in Austria.
More details (Daily Mail)

94. Wasps recognise each other's faces.
More details (Nature)

95. You are given a lottery ticket if you clean up dog poo in New Taipei City in Taiwan.
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96. The girl on the classic British road sign "children going to or from school" is based on a school photo of its designer Margaret Calvert.

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97. Alcohol tastes sweeter when loud music is playing.
More details (Daily Mail)

98. Hairy limbs keep bed bugs at bay.
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99. Lakes can be given village green status.
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100. Fish walk.
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10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Ravens are the only species other than apes who can "point" and share objects like humans.
More details (Daily Mail)

2. You are not allowed to take conkers from Royal parks.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

3. More than one in every 10 banknotes in circulation in Britain is contaminated with cocaine.
More details (Guardian)

4. The world's only sex school is in Austria.
More details (Daily Mail)

5. The FTSE, the London stock market measure of leading share prices, was the most popular Yahoo search this year, ahead of the likes of Justin Bieber and Katie Price.
More details (This Is Money)

6. Turtles communicate with each other before hatching.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

7. Having a shed can lower your blood pressure.
More details (Daily Mail)

8. The 12 days of Christmas now cost: $101,119, the most expensive item being seven swans a swimming, which would cost $6,300.
More details (The Consumerist)

9. Wasps recognise each other's faces.
More details (Nature)

10. Swearing really can relieve pain.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. The Crown owns almost half of the UK's shoreline.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

2. Four out of the past nine governors of the US state of Illinois have gone to prison.
More details (Washington Post)

3. You are given a lottery ticket if you clean up dog poo in New Taipei City in Taiwan.More details

4. There is a bamboo plantation on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
More details (Daily Mail)

5. Polar bears are cannibals.
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6. Singer Adele doesn't like North American beer.
More details (Mirror)

7. Brussels sprouts are up to 20% bigger this year.
More details (Daily Mail)

8. The girl on the classic road sign "children going to or from school" is based on a school photo of its designer Margaret Calvert.
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9. Swedish fashion chain H&M has been using doctored photos of shop dummies - superimposed with real-life models' heads - as bikini bodies on its website.
More details (The Independent)

10. The world's oldest dog, who died this week, lived to the equivalent of about 125 years for a human.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Hugh Grant's middle name is Mungo.
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2. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls cries when he watches the Antiques Roadshow.
More details (Daily Mirror)

3. Facebook users average 3.74 degrees of separation.
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4. In the fifth and sixth decades of life, you are less likely to die over the coming year than at any other time in your life.
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5. The average shower lasts eight minutes and uses almost as much water and energy as the average bath. More details

6. The newly discovered Bulbophyllum nocturnum is the only orchid among 25,000 species that flowers at night. More details (Guardian)

7. Human spit is threatening Calcutta's landmark Howrah Bridge. More details

8. The average Briton says thank you up to 5,000 times a year.
More details (Daily Telegraph)

9. Desmond Llewelyn played Q - James Bond's gadget whizz - for 36 years. More details (The Sun)

10. The Christmas tree at St Pancras railway station in London is made from 600,000 Lego bricks. More details

10 things we didn't know last week

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. There is such a thing as "toast soup".
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2. Use of the word disgusted in English peaked in 1800.
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3. Until 1912, there was no set design for the Stars and Stripes.
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4. Salman Rushdie's first name is Ahmed.
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5. Many Afghans associate the number 39 with pimps.
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6. There is a steep hill in the UK called Steep Hill.
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7. There is no such thing as bullet-proof glass.
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8. The brains of people who regularly play computer games differ from those of infrequent gamers.
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9. The Duke of Wellington was so impressed by his French opponents' invention of the ambulance that he ordered his men not to fire on them.
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10. People can spot whether a complete stranger has a certain "social gene" in just 20 seconds.
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Eating canned soup 'poses a chemical risk'

Fresh soup contained only small traces of BPA

People who eat canned soup should be aware that a chemical used to line the tin can leach into the food and end up in the body, say scientists.

Tests on 75 volunteers revealed the compound bisphenol A (BPA) was readily ingested and detected in large amounts in the urine, the Journal of the American Medical Association reports.

Past studies have linked high BPA levels with adverse health effects.

In the EU the chemical is already banned from baby bottles.

But it is still used in cans as a coating to prevent rusting and keep the food fresh. Some soft drink cans and bottles also contain BPA.

Dr Jenny Carwile, lead author of the latest study at the Harvard School of Public Health, said: "We've known for a while that drinking beverages that have been stored in certain hard plastics can increase the amount of BPA in your body. This study suggests that canned foods may be an even greater concern, especially given their wide use."

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What is your word (or expression) of the year?

The lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) have come up with their Word of the Year. Actually, they haven't. They've come up with an expression - squeezed middle.

It was a term coined by Ed Miliband - not a person one instantly associates with wordsmithery - while in conversation with John Humphrys on the Today Programme. John, a man who takes a keen interest in the English language, asked what the Labour leader meant by squeezed middle. Mr Miliband gave a slightly faltering answer in which he mentioned something about the broad middle classes in this country who find themselves financially hard pressed.

READ MORE http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15854432