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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:14:07 GMT -5
Ascariasis is the most common worm related infection found in humans.
Symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, and wheezing results from roundworm larvae infesting the lungs. The larvae then migrate to the intestines, where they grow to resemble foot long earthworms.
Ascariasis affects as many as 1.5 billion people worldwide, causing 60,000 deaths per year.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:14:40 GMT -5
The United States has 2.3 million people behind bars, making it the world leader in number and percentage of residents we incarcerate. China is a distant second.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:15:05 GMT -5
One in four mammals is now threatened with extinction from deforestation, hunting and climate change.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:15:30 GMT -5
A NASCAR fan once sent over a half a million e-mails to the Fox network for airing a baseball game instead of a scheduled race.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:15:54 GMT -5
Once lightning enters a structure, it may run through the electrical system, phone lines, plumbing, even TV and radio antennas and cables. It is also possible for lightning to pass through metal in concrete walls or flooring.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:16:26 GMT -5
More Americans choke on toothpicks than any other object. Toothpicks injure almost 9,000 people every year.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:16:59 GMT -5
Over 400,000 children go to the emergency room for bicycle related injuries each year. Children account for 70% of all bike injuries.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:17:29 GMT -5
The 250,000 pores that exist on the soles of the feet secrete almost 1/4 cup of sweat every day.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:18:01 GMT -5
A resurgent wild turkey population caused problems in Boston in 2008, chasing joggers and school children, often in large mobs of birds.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:18:25 GMT -5
Between two and three jockeys are killed each year - the same number of players who have died in professional baseball's entire history - making horse racing one of the most dangerous sports.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:19:08 GMT -5
At the 1997 execution of convicted murderer Pedro Medina in Florida, foot-high flames erupted from his head, causing the execution chamber to fill with smoke and gagging the two dozen witnesses in attendance. Electricity was shut off, but Medina's chest heaved until the flames subsided and he died.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:19:38 GMT -5
At 1,500 pounds and wielding two large, sharp horns, the cape buffalo is not an animal to cross. These unpredictable creatures will charge head-on when threatened, sometimes in groups, and can reach a top speed of 35 mph.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:20:07 GMT -5
When a body was mummified in Ancient Egypt, the brain was removed through the nostrils and other organs were stored in jars. Only the heart was left in the corpse.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:20:33 GMT -5
Seven percent of Americans believe that Elvis Presley is still alive, even though the singer died in 1977. Interestingly, the percentage is even higher (11%) among young people under age thirty, the group least likely to be Elvis fans.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:21:00 GMT -5
Africanized honey bees, better known as "killer bees," hail from South and Central America, and as of 2006, were established in the American South and Southwest. Killer bees are extremely aggressive and prone to potentially deadly attacks when disturbed.
Africanized bees have only been around since the 1950s, when Brazilian scientist Warwick E. Kerr bred a European bee with and African bee in hopes of propagating the positive qualities of the former with a tolerance for tropical climates. The bees swarmed accidentally during quarantine and have been successfully invading the Americas ever since.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:21:27 GMT -5
Killer bees are extremely territorial and have a propensity for mass stinging attacks on both humans and animals. Swarms can kill any number of humans from a few dozen people in Mexico to several hundred in Venezuela.
There is no physical way to determine the difference between an Africanized honey bee and the less harmful European bee - even a specialist must examine several bees together to differentiate them.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:21:49 GMT -5
The hippopotamus is a highly aggressive animal, and one of Africa's most deadly. Hippos will charge, trample, and gore victims with alarming ferocity. They have up-ended boats and canoes to feast on the victims inside, in spite of being herbivores.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:22:26 GMT -5
Holding your urine too long puts you at risk of death from hyponatremia, also called "water intoxication," the result of consuming more water than your body can regulate.
In 2007, a 28 year old woman died of hyponatremia during a "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest sponsored by a local radio station in Sacremento, California.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:22:55 GMT -5
Approximately 20% of all traumatic brain injuries to children and adolescents int he U.S. are caused in some way by sports and recreational activities. Most occur during bicycling, skateboarding, or skating.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:23:18 GMT -5
15% of cases that were later overturned by DNA evidence relied on informants or "snitches." Most snitch testimony is considered unreliable, since it is often offered in return for dropped charges and other deals.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:24:10 GMT -5
Injuries in equestrian sports are almost twenty times more common than injuries in motorcycling.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:24:36 GMT -5
Scholars estimate that up to 50 million people worldwide will soon be displaced due to serious weather-related environmental changes caused by climate change.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:24:59 GMT -5
The most abundant cash crop in the US currently is marijuana (according to studies in '06 and '09). Growers in California's Mendocino County earn about $1 billion in pot revenue each year.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:25:23 GMT -5
A polar bear can rip the head off a human with one swipe of it's paw.
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Post by dreamer on Dec 2, 2011 6:25:51 GMT -5
The starfish extends its stomach out through its mouth (turning it inside out) to grab hold of and consume its food.
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