Google Facts

WHY do coins feature notches on their ribs? Originally, the value of coins was equal to the amount of metal they contained. And crooks used to cut such money from the edges, misappropriating gold and silver. It was incredibly hard to catch them, since no one carried a scale, and it was unrealistic to determine this by eye. Strangely enough, the solution to this problem was suggested by the not infamous Sir Isaac Newton, who, it turns out, was also an employee of the British Royal Mint. He suggested making thin notches on the edges of the coins, which made the worn-out edges immediately visible. This procedure is still carried out today, although it was no longer necessary.

WHY do humans have 32 teeth? Geneticists have theorized that our ancestors originally had 44 teeth each. The reason was that they consumed mostly solid foods. Subsequently, due to the fact that the human diet has become dominated by soft foods, the size of the lower jaw decreased, and there was not enough space for molars. So they sometimes remain in their infancy, and sometimes they erupt incorrectly and break down quickly. Nowadays, we don't consume that much coarse food, and 20-22 teeth are enough to process it.

WHY is whiskey brown? ⠀ Most whiskies initially lack the noble reddish-brown hue which is admired as amber by whisky connoisseurs. Fully prepared drink is as transparent as vodka or moonshine. The color is added at the end of production by heating the oak casks so that a "red layer" forms on the wood from the inside, thanks to the wood sugars and caramelized tannins. These substances are absorbed by the whisky and give it a hint and taste of oak.

WHY is the navel concave or convex? In 90% of people the navel is sunken (hidden inward) and forms a dimple on the abdomen, while 10% of people have a convex navel (clearly visible from the outside). Congenital anomalies accompanied by a deformity of the umbilical zone are detected immediately after birth. In infants with a cutaneous umbilicus, the skin of the abdominal wall passes over the adjacent part of the umbilical cord. As a result, after the umbilical cord falls off, a noticeable bulge is formed. As the baby grows, the bulge sometimes retracts, the appearance of the belly button normalizes. However, some patients have a convex navel for the rest of their lives.

WHY do more people drown in fresh water than in salt one? If you inhale salt water, the high concentration of salt prevents the water from penetrating the lung tissue. When people drown in salt water, that's generally cause they can't get oxygen or expel carbon dioxide. Breathing in salt water creates a physical barrier between air and the lungs. Fresh water is more "diluted" with ions than the fluid inside the lung cells. Fresh water does not penetrate skin cells because keratin essentially makes them watertight, but water rushes into unprotected lung cells to try to equalize the concentration gradient on the cell membranes. This may cause serious tissue damage, so even if water is removed from the lungs, chances are you won't get better.

WHY do Asian carp jump out of the water? This behavior is caused by the sound of a motor. So, when they hear a yacht, boat or jet ski passing by, they jump out of the water in fear. They also wash their gills of silt and other dirt, but most likely they get rid of skin parasites, which they grow quite regularly.

WHY do cats wag their hind legs before pouncing on prey? According to Live Science, chances are that cats wag their butts before jumping and press their hind legs to the ground since it gives the pets extra friction (traction) to push them forward in a jump. When cats jump, they use the force of their hind legs to propel their body forward. If they slip on the ground, they risk injury. Likewise, their bodies can twist in the air and prevent them from landing properly. By checking the ground in advance, they can get into a better position to attack, ensuring greater hunting success.

WHY did Heineken produce bottles shaped like bricks? In 1960, Alfred Heineken, grandson of Heineken's founder, visited the Caribbean island of Curaçao and saw thousands of Heineken bottles lying around. Alfred grieved so much that he decided to produce bricks which would solve two problems: poor citizens could build their homes out of empty square bottles and the planet would become less polluted. Later they produced 100,000 bottles in the form of bricks, but due to the high cost of their production and customer dissatisfaction (square bottles are uncomfortable to hold in your hand) the plant ceased their production. Nobody knows how many houses were built with these bottles.

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WHY does a turtle's shell consist of hexagons? The cells of this shape make it the easiest to build up. Turtles are growing and their shell has to enlarge along with them, evenly over the whole area. That's why the turtle's shell is formed of individual plates, tightly fitted to each other like planks of parquetry, but retaining the ability to grow at the edges. If the plates could grow evenly in all directions, they would be shaped like circles. However, the circles could not fit tightly together, there would inevitably be gaps between them.