{"id":74624,"date":"2024-07-29T08:51:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T01:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/?p=74624"},"modified":"2024-07-29T08:51:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T01:51:29","slug":"why-beds-are-raised-off-the-ground-14-other-cool-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/why-beds-are-raised-off-the-ground-14-other-cool-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Beds Are Raised Off the Ground + 14 Other Cool Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most banknotes are 25% linen and 75% cotton, which is why they have such a distinct look and feel. Back in the 19th century, money was made of parchment paper. That\u2019s why people could very easily counterfeit it, unlike now.\n\"\"\n

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The\u00a0Eiffel Tower\u00a0is\u00a0almost 6\u00a0inches taller during the summer. When you heat up\u00a0some substance, its particles start to\u00a0move more actively and take up\u00a0a\u00a0bigger volume. That\u2019s something they call thermal expansion. When the temperature lowers, the substance contracts again.\n

Such an\u00a0effect is\u00a0more prominent in\u00a0gases, but you can also track it\u00a0in\u00a0liquids and solids\u00a0\u2014 including iron. Because of\u00a0this, people build large structures, like bridges, using expansion joints. They allow a\u00a0structure some leeway to\u00a0expand and contract, and such changes don\u2019t cause any damage. Wow. I\u00a0have some pants like that.\n

Honey can last for thousands of\u00a0years without going bad. Bees land on\u00a0flowers to\u00a0collect sugary nectar. Then they transport it\u00a0back to\u00a0their hive and transfer it\u00a0to\u00a0other worker bees. These bees reduce the water content of\u00a0the nectar by\u00a0repeatedly drinking and regurgitating the liquid. Hmm. Bee Barf.\n

Special enzymes in\u00a0their stomachs break down the glucose in\u00a0the nectar, and it\u00a0becomes more acidic. Bees deposit this nectar in\u00a0the honeycomb and start fanning it\u00a0with their wings so\u00a0that the water evaporates more quickly. The honey is\u00a0now highly acidic and low in\u00a0water content, which keeps it\u00a0safe from spoiling. The bacteria that cause the rest of\u00a0the food to\u00a0go\u00a0off can\u2019t survive in\u00a0such conditions.\n\n

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A\u00a0long time ago, people didn\u2019t elevate their mattresses off the floor. This practice started in\u00a0Ancient Egypt and continued in\u00a0many other cultures. People realized it\u00a0was cold on\u00a0the floor, and they could warm their beds easier if\u00a0they were off the ground. Houses used to\u00a0be\u00a0more draughty. Cold air came in\u00a0from under the doors.\n

There was no\u00a0central heating, so\u00a0people had to\u00a0find other ways to\u00a0stay warm. Warm air tends to\u00a0rise. And if\u00a0you\u2019re positioned higher, you won\u2019t be\u00a0as\u00a0cold as\u00a0on\u00a0the floor. Also, this way, people could keep their beds clean more easily. In\u00a0simple homes, floors used to\u00a0be\u00a0way dirtier than today, and all that dirt usually migrated into beds.\n

Continuing now to\u00a0talk dirty, do\u00a0you think people are naturally clean and tidy? After all, our ancestors, who lived thousands of\u00a0years ago, already used latrines and were tidying their hair with combs. And they kept their homes and themselves clean. Our natural need for hygiene and cleanliness is\u00a0driven by\u00a0our sense of\u00a0disgust.\n

That\u2019s the very mechanism that helps our bodies stay safe and protects them from different infections. That\u2019s why we\u2019re more sensitive to\u00a0certain smells and things. But we\u00a0still have some pretty sloppy habits. For example, eating snacks over a\u00a0keyboard. Eww! I\u00a0certainly never do\u00a0that.\n\n

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But there are animals that are even neater than us, humans. For example, rattlesnakes like to keep their surroundings tidy. Some of them even use their muscular necks and triangular heads to sweep aside messy grass when they hunt.\n

Many animals like to clear their path when going after their future meal \u2014 reptiles too. Less vegetation increases their chances of catching food. Songbirds also prefer to keep it neat and get rid of uneaten food, eggshells, or other trash in their nests. This way, they also make their homes less visible to their enemies.\n

Meanwhile, out in space, shadows are darker on the Moon than on our planet. That\u2019s because the atmosphere on Earth scatters more sunlight. But if you could visit the Moon, you\u2019d observe shadows so dark you wouldn\u2019t be able to see where you were going.\n

Also, you\u2019d notice fresh footprints on the lunar surface. People haven\u2019t set foot there in a few decades, but the footprints look as if they were left just yesterday. Since there\u2019s no water or wind on the Moon, nothing can erase these footprints. So they can stay there in their original form for millions of years. So be careful where you step, huh?\n\"\"\n

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Earth\u2019s core contains enough gold to coat the entire planet. And if you decided to do this, the level of this precious metal would be knee-high. For thousands of years, people have been mining gold and platinum, together with a bunch of other precious minerals, from underneath our planet\u2019s surface. That\u2019s why we may have depleted some of the minerals in certain areas.\n

But Earth still has a huge number of such deposits, especially if you get closer to its core. That\u2019s because of countless meteorites that collided with our planet during the period of its formation. Those meteorites contained different minerals, including gold.\n

Back then, Earth was still in its molten state, which is why most of the gold \u2014 a heavy element \u2014 sank deep to its core. And the silicate mantle positioned over the core trapped really huge amounts of gold and some other minerals. Unfortunately, most of them are kinda out-of-reach now \u2014 since we talk about 1,800 miles below the surface and temperatures of thousands of degrees. Too hot, in other words.\n

Sure, if you were about to go to space, one of the first things you\u2019d think of would be your space suit. But do you know that it\u2019s possible to survive in space even if you aren\u2019t wearing any protection? Well, don\u2019t get your hopes up yet \u2014 you\u2019d last for no more than 15 seconds. That\u2019s how long it\u2019d take you to lose consciousness because oxygen will stop coming to your brain.\n

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In\u00a01965, one technician accidentally depressurized his suit inside a\u00a0vacuum chamber. He\u00a0lost consciousness after 12\u00a0to\u00a015\u00a0seconds.\u00a027\u00a0seconds later, his suit, luckily, got repressurized. The man later said that he\u00a0remembered the moisture on\u00a0his tongue starting to\u00a0boil. He\u00a0also lost his sense of\u00a0taste, and it\u00a0didn\u2019t come back until four days after the accident.\n

You can\u2019t hold your breath in\u00a0space either, so\u00a0that won\u2019t save you. Your lungs will rupture at\u00a0one point because the air inside will expand. The oxygen in\u00a0other parts of\u00a0your body will start to\u00a0expand too, which means you will balloon up\u00a0to\u00a0twice your regular size. Almost like Dudley Dursley\u2019s Aunt Marge from Harry Potter. Well not quite.\n

You won\u2019t explode only thanks to\u00a0your elastic skin\u00a0\u2014 it\u00a0will keep holding you together. And the liquids in\u00a0your body will start vaporizing pretty quickly too. Doesn\u2019t that sound pleasant? No!\n

The ocean has its iconic blue color thanks to\u00a0sunlight. When the sun shines, the water absorbs longer orange and red wavelengths of\u00a0light and reflects shorter, blue light waves. This is\u00a0only possible when there\u2019s a\u00a0huge amount of\u00a0water. So, the more water you have in\u00a0one place, the bluer it\u00a0becomes. That\u2019s why the water you pour in\u00a0your glass has nothing in\u00a0common with this beautiful ocean-blue color.\n\n

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The ocean performs many important functions. For one thing, it\u00a0produces\u00a050\u00a0to\u00a080\u00a0percent of\u00a0all the oxygen\u00a0on\u00a0our planet, which means it\u00a0keeps\u00a0us alive. But it\u00a0also helps the Internet to\u00a0function!\n

So, when you\u2019re laughing at\u00a0a\u00a0funny dog video or\u00a0binge-watching your favorite series\u00a0\u2014 yup, thank the ocean for that. The majority of\u00a0the cables that power the Internet\u00a0\u2014 and, therefore, allow people from all over the world to\u00a0use it\u00a0\u2014 run underwater. Those are \u201csubmarine communications cables\u201d\u00a0\u2014 miles and miles of\u00a0wiring crisscrossing the ocean floor.\n

There are special boats for putting all that in\u00a0place\u00a0\u2014 they\u2019re designed specifically for that purpose. To\u00a0make sure nothing damages the cables\u00a0\u2014 and your Internet\u00a0\u2014 people need to\u00a0put them on\u00a0relatively flat stretches of\u00a0the ocean floor. The cables also need to\u00a0be\u00a0away from old shipwrecks or\u00a0large ocean ecosystems. Some of\u00a0these cables have a\u00a0special coating that protects them from damage. This way, no\u00a0hungry sharks or\u00a0curious fish have a\u00a0chance to\u00a0munch on\u00a0the wiring.\n\n

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Trees talk. Well, not exactly like people\u00a0do, but they have their own way of\u00a0communication. Their roots are connected through an\u00a0underground network of\u00a0fungi. That network got the nickname \u201cthe wood wide web.\u201d Ha.\n

Thanks to\u00a0this network, trees can share resources with one another. That\u2019s how they \u201ctalk.\u201d They use these fungi to\u00a0transmit nutrients and water from one tree to\u00a0another. For example, there\u2019s a\u00a0mother tree or\u00a0another tree that\u2019s stronger and older than others in\u00a0the forest. Then it\u00a0shares some of\u00a0its nutrients and sugars with small trees growing nearby. Thanks, Mom.\n

Look at\u00a0all these insects flying around on\u00a0a\u00a0nice sunny day. Do\u00a0you think they get sunburned? Well, those that spend most of\u00a0their time in\u00a0the open don\u2019t. They have dark exoskeletons that contain melanin\u00a0\u2014 that\u2019s how they block\u00a0UV rays.\n

But insects that live underground and in the water or nocturnal creatures have paler and thinner skin. If they spend too much time outside during the day, they can indeed get sunburned or even worse. They could get eaten.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most banknotes are 25% linen and 75% cotton, which is why they have such a distinct look and feel. Back in the 19th century, money was made of parchment paper. That\u2019s why people could very easily counterfeit it, unlike now. The\u00a0Eiffel Tower\u00a0is\u00a0almost 6\u00a0inches taller during the summer. When you heat up\u00a0some substance, its particles start …\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":74626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74627,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74624\/revisions\/74627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}