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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:40:50 GMT -5
Lightning is a leading cause of weather-related injury and even death in the United States.
Even when a thunderstorm is ten miles away and skies are blue overhead, lightning can strike, which most people do not realize and which puts them at risk.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:41:30 GMT -5
According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimates, 1.5 million patients suffer each year because of mistakes made with medicine they are given in hospitals.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:42:02 GMT -5
Patients who endure errors in treatment while in hospital care typically face a one in four chance of death from the mistake.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:42:35 GMT -5
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:43:10 GMT -5
People who live in big cities make more ear wax.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:43:48 GMT -5
The chronic stress of a high-pressure job has been shown to double the risk of a heart attack.
Chronic stress may also result in alcoholism, hypertension, and severe depression. It can cause joints to ache and hair to fall out. It can even stop a woman's regular monthly cycle.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:44:15 GMT -5
Bacteria can grow and divide every twenty minutes, turning one bacterial cell into 16 million in just eight hours.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:44:46 GMT -5
Belly button lint is made up of clothing fibers, dead skin, and more.
You should keep your navel clean and dry to prevent infection from candida, a type of fungus.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:45:17 GMT -5
Up to 8 percent of American adults suffer from toenail fungus.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:45:47 GMT -5
Researchers in Germany have discovered that, if exposed to an unpleasant smell, sleepers will have bad dreams.
When exposed to the pleasant smells of roses, the opposite occurred and their dreams were subsequently positive.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:46:18 GMT -5
Sixty percent of sports-related injuries occur during practice.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:46:50 GMT -5
In severe cases, caffeine overdose can result in death from convulsions or an irregular heartbeat.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:47:40 GMT -5
The United States has 2.3 million people behind bars, making it the world leader in the number and percentage of residents we incarcerate. China is a distant second.
(The number mentioned above is from 2008.)
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:48:08 GMT -5
Lightning strikes the Earth more than 5,000 times every minute.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:48:42 GMT -5
Heat waves are one of the most lethal types of weather phenomena, claiming an average of 1,000 lives in America's fifteen largest cities each year. Heat is especially deadly for senior citizens, who are often too frail or afraid to leave their homes.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:49:15 GMT -5
The world's longest snake, the reticulated python, can reach almost forty feet in length.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:49:48 GMT -5
A giraffe has twelve inch hooves and legs that can kick in all four directions with incredible power. Giraffe kicks have been known to decapitate lions.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:50:21 GMT -5
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew marijuana (hemp) on their plantations.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:50:47 GMT -5
An adult tiger can kill it's prey with a single bite, and can eat large amounts of food - up to 180 pounds - in just a few days,
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:51:20 GMT -5
By the Civil War's end in 1865, victorious Union general Ulysses S. Grant owned four slaves, whom he refused to free. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had freed his slaves in the late 1840s.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:51:52 GMT -5
Army ants are a half-inch in length and notorious for dismantling any living thing in their path, regardless of it's size, thanks to massive, machete-like jaws that are half the size of their own bodies.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:52:21 GMT -5
It has no bite, but the common housefly is one of the world's most deadly insects, thanks to the long list of diseases that it carries and spreads, typhoid, cholera, gangrene, tuberculosis, small pox, plague, diphtheria, dysentery and more.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:53:01 GMT -5
Every time your heart beats, it pumps a quarter of your blood to the head. Brain cells then process 20% of the oxygen and food your blood contains.
Conditions that disrupt circulation, such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke appear to increase the chances of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:53:48 GMT -5
In 1919, a large tank of molasses burst in Boston's North End, causing a deadly wave of molasses to flow thought he streets at an estimated 35 mph, killing 21 people and injuring 150 more.
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Post by dreamer on Nov 30, 2011 5:54:28 GMT -5
NFL players in prestigious and popular roles as scorers - running backs, quarterbacks, wide receivers - appear to be overrepresented in domestic violence and sexual assaults committed against women.
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