H2B ( Hard to Believe) WATER, ANIMALS - A house fly lives only 14 days.

Factoids - Meaning - an item of unreliable information that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact (or)

a brief or trivial item of news or information.

WATER -

World Water Day is celebrated on March, 22nd every year.

Between 6 and 9 million people die annually of thirst.

Seventy percent of the water used worldwide is used for agriculture.

Australia is the continent with the least rainfall, apart from Antarctica.

ANIMALS -

African elephants only have four teeth to chew their food with.

There are about one billion cattle in the world of which 200 million are in India.

A house fly lives only 14 days.

A dog was the first in space and a sheep, a duck and a rooster the first to fly in a hot air balloon.

The oldest breed of dog is the Saluki.

The bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird in the world.

An ostrich can run up to 70 km/h (43mph).

An annoyed camel will spit at a person.

75% of wild birds die before they are 6 months old.

The pig is rated the fourth most intelligent animal. In the old days, sea captains kept pigs on board because they believed, should they be shipwrecked, pigs always swam toward the nearest shore.

Pigs are often thought to be dirty, but actually keep themselves cleaner than most pets. They are seen laying in mud because they do not have sweat glands and constantly need water or mud to cool off.

Pork is big business: it is the world's most widely-eaten meat. It therefor is rather apt that pigs are responsible for the naming of one of the world's leading financial centres. To stop free-roaming pigs rampaging through their grain fields, Manhattan Island residents built a long wall on the northern edge of what is now Lower Manhattan. The street that came to board the wall was named... Wall Street.

Domestication of pigs took place in China around 7500 BC. China still is the largest producer of pigs.

In Denmark, there are twice as many pigs as people.

Dinosaurs did not eat grass: there weren't any at that time.

The South American giant anteater eats more than 30,000 ants a day.

It is impossible to out-swim a shark - sharks reach speeds of 70 km/h (44 mph). Humans can run about 35 km/h (21 mph).

The sailfish is the fastest swimmer, reaching 109 km/h (68 mph).

The slowest fish is the Sea Horse, which moves along at about 0.016 km/h (0.01 mph).

Dolphins can reach 60 km/h (37 mph).

The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car.

The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant.

The scales of a crocodile are made of ceratin, the same substance that hooves and fingernails are made of.

A crocodile's tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth and cannot move it.

A snail has two pairs of tentacles on its head. One pair is longer than the other and houses the eyes. The shorter pair is used for smelling and feeling its way around.

Animals also are either right-handed or left-handed. Polar bears are left-handed - and so is Kermit the Frog.

GENERAL-

Earth is not round; it is slightly pear-shaped.

On average, people move house every 7 years.

English Edification Enrichment (12)

What is the meaning and origin of the expression "once in a blue moon"? When something happens "once in a blue moon" it happens very rarely. Here are a few examples, * My brother George lives in Russia. I see him once in a blue moon. * We have visitors once in a blue moon. * How often does Tendulkar come to office? Once in a blue moon. There are several explanations as to the origin of this expression. According to scientists, whenever a volcano erupts, the sulphur and dust particles that are thrown up into the atmosphere often cause the moon to appear blue for some time. When the volcano on Krakatoa (an island between Java and Sumatra) exploded in 1883, rocks were hurled thirty miles high into the air and dust from the volcano fell nearly three thousands miles away. After this eruption the moon looked blue for several days. Luckily for us, volcanoes don't erupt every day, so a blue moon continues to be a rare phenomenon. Another explanation offered by scholar...

Growth & Development

I've noticed that the more sternly I speak to my kids — for example, after they've run into the street without looking — the more distraught they get. How can I make sure they understand the seriousness of certain situations without making them feel worse? As the saying goes, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." When your child's safety is at risk — whether he's run into the street, reached for an open flame, or gotten dangerously close to a pool — yelling, screaming, or crying out is a perfectly normal (and necessary!) response. After all, at that moment, you would do anything possible to get your child's attention and get him out of harm's way. After an episode like this, it's natural for kids to cry — and for you to want to apologize. But the truth is, your kids are likely crying in response to the fear and urgency in your voice, not because you've been "too stern." At times like these, it's OK to comfort them without...

English Edification Enrichment (17)

What is the difference between "plump" and "fat"? When an individual is plump or fat, he is overweight. The word "fat" has a negative connotation associated with it. When you say that someone is "fat", what you are implying is that he is overweight and doesn't present a pleasant sight. It is considered impolite to call someone fat to his face. The word "plump", on the other hand, is normally used to indicate approval. When you say that someone is plump, what you are implying is that the individual is overweight in a pleasant sort of way. In other words, you approve of the soft rounded body that the individual has! The individual though overweight is not unpleasant to look at. In the 60s and 70s many of our movie heroines were plump. Thanks & Regards.

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