Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in FYI.
Nix v. Hedden
The tomato, is it a fruit or is it a vegetable? Those of us that are logically minded would say fruit because by definition fruits are the products that bloom from a plant. Whereas vegetables are the other parts of the plant; root, stem, leaf, etc. Those of us that are practically minded would say vegetable because culinarily speaking tomatoes have more of a savory taste and are used most commonly in a side dish or main course. The truth of the matter is that both parties are correct.
By Emma Barfield5 years ago in FYI
Burn The House Down. Top Story - March 2021.
“Really the only sure solution is to burn your house down and start over.” This was what my vet offered the day she handed back my cat with the proclamation: “Yep, he has fleas all right.” She saw my obvious distress. Already overwhelmed, here was another thing to deal with. I almost cried. I don’t think I actually cried. I might have. As much as I love my children and love how much they love their cats, I will admit that I did not anticipate the trials of feline ownership. Trapped is how I felt. Helpless to rid ourselves of either the fleas or the cats. “Once you have them, you pretty much have them forever. Until you move or burn the house down.” My vet is practical and very matter of fact. She is pragmatic and I initially accepted her prognosis as gospel. Driving home my shoulders slumped. “We can never have friends over ever again.” I mumbled to myself. “We have fleas.” “Damn Cats! Why did I ever get cats for my kids? And now I can’t just get rid of their cats.” Like a mouse on a sticky trap trying desperately to wrestle myself free, I felt like the world’s dumbest parent. There must be a solution. People have cats. I know tons of people with cats and other pets. Surely they don’t just live with fleas for their whole lives. By the time I got home I was ready to armor up!
By Maria Calderoni5 years ago in FYI
DNA is not a Blueprint
Education is hard. Unfortunately it’s often necessary to simplify a concept for people to understand it when they’re first learning about it. Educators want children to learn concepts about how biological systems work, but some concepts are too complicated to explain in an accurate way. DNA is one of those topics. Sadly, as students learn, their simplified understanding of the topic is rarely corrected.
By Daniel Goldman5 years ago in FYI
Real Cures No One Talks About
Your day is going fine when you start to feel just a little tickle in your throat. You ignore it and go on with your day. Later you feel extra tired, just dragging and wonder where your usual energy has gone. The tickle in your throat gets worse and you find yourself clearing and clearing when you need to speak. Then your ears feel a bit plugged....
By Maria Calderoni5 years ago in FYI
Wasted what?
As I was running through the internet one day, I came across some very interesting articles. And then I noticed that we were having a contest for some weird unknown facts that are actually facts. So the one I found quite interesting, is from Guinness. According to this article Guinness waste almost 163,000 pints of beer in facial hair every year. Now we all know that Guinness Irish Stout is an all-time favorite for our Irish friends, and we also know how our Irish friends love to grow that facial hair. Of course, there are quite a few men around the world that like to grow facial hair so that is not a fun fact. No the fun fact here is that Guinness, had an actual research study commissioned and they found is that an estimated 162,719 pints of Irish Stout go to waste every year. The study also said it was via the mustaches. So those pesky little mustaches, that men have upon their faces, are in fact drinking themselves a good old Irish Stout Guinness. The fascial hair actually traps 0.56 mm of Guinness in their mustache or beard. They even went so far as to count how that got into the average beard or mustache with each sip. They estimated that it takes about 10 sips to finish a pint. They took the average estimate of 92,370 Guinness consumers in the UK that has facial hair. And that’s only the UK. If they consume on average 180 pints each year, the total cost of Guinness wasted annually is $536,000. I found this absolutely astonishing and also why would you do a study like that? But apparently, at Guinness, they really want to know where their Irish Stout is going. I myself am not a fan of the Irish Stout. but I thought it was very interesting that a company would go so far as to see where their extra beer might be going. So looking at that math again we have 92,370 Guinness consumers with ten sips per pint, with 0.56 mm milliliters getting trapped in their mustaches and each sip which equals 162,719 pints of Irish Stout that go to waste every year costing Guinness $536,000 a year. It was cute they said the moral of the story was shave and save. I found this on a website called, best life and the website is bestlifeonline.com.
By April Hoisington5 years ago in FYI
Paranormal Activity?
One of my favorite things that exist in this great big orb of a planet that we call home is the concept of the paranormal. It’s such a large umbrella term that fits so much underneath it. Ghosts, demons, monsters, creatures of lore, aliens, and even places fall within the realm of the paranormal. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a bit of a paranormal junkie. I’ve seen a lot of the shows going into various paranormal places. Usually to do with hauntings or the like, and they go for so many different approaches. They’ll check for magnetic fields that shouldn’t be there. They’ll look for abnormally hot or cold spots. Anything out of the ordinary.
By Cody Dunnington5 years ago in FYI
Been There, Done That
When 2020 rolled around, I realized that I was living in my ninth decade. Born in the 40s, I was one of the early baby boomers, part of the legion of post-war newborns. I don’t remember much of the 40s, because I was too young, but I remember clearly the succeeding decades. Let me take you on a trip down memory lane and share some history as I remember it.
By Ken Fendley5 years ago in FYI
Trivia Benefits of Winter & Snow
It’s time to change our attitude about the cold season. “Hmmm…”, you say. “This article must be talking about recreational activities only available in winter… sledding, skiing, ice skating, building a snowman or a snow fort, forming snow angels, and letting the kids paint a snow picture with a spray bottle full of food-coloring and water." Nope! You already know about the enjoyment of winter recreation. For a moment, quit grumbling about the icy roads and school closures and consider some seldom-known winter snow benefits for plants, animals, and humans:
By Karla Bowen Herman5 years ago in FYI
Vibrational Conversations with My Plant
Vibrational Conversations With My Plant In the ancient world it was well known that everything on our planet was alive and a manifestation of Divine Consciousness which also meant that it possessed some form of intelligence and consciousness. This applied to the mineral, plant, animal world, the world of man and woman and a multitude of other forms. The focus of this paper will be in the world of plants. There has been a great amount of research conducted in this present day and time that show and prove that this knowledge of the ancient world was right and exact. The research shows that plants have the ability to react, respond, and sense the world around them. As a child my grandmothers use to always give me plants and seeds to grow. She use to always say how she talked to her plants and to this day if you go to her house it is one of the only ones on the block with an abundance of green and thriving plant life and flowers on the porch and in front of it. I have always been fascinated by this and decided to see it for myself with my own plant which I will discuss in this paper along with some examples of the research that has been conducted that shows the many abilities of plants. I will show how when you in tune to the vibration of a plant remarkable results and things happen.
By Devin McKenney5 years ago in FYI
The Oxford Electric Bell
The Oxford Electric Bell is a relatively obscure fact, but one of the most fascinating. I came across this fact on YouTube one day and have been telling everyone about it ever since. The Oxford Electric Bell was created by Watkins & Hill, a London based manufacturing firm in 1825. During this time "Dry Pile" was invented and is the first form of modern day batteries. Giuseppe Zamboni was the inventor of the dry piles, which had metal disk with different chemicals such as silver or zinc layered between. It is interesting to note that Zamboni as a priest and psychist and it seems the Catholic church did some ground breaking research with their educated priests at the time. It is thought that the Oxford Electric Bell is made with Zamboni plies. They know some of the components that make up the battery, that they can see from the outside. It is known that the batteries are coated in molten Sulphur for insulation. There is no absolute evidence that Zamboni plies are contained within, it is only the most popular theory. It is unknown if the Oxford Bell has ever been x-rayed or examined in another way, so scientists can figure out what is the exact makeup of the battery. The Bell itself played an important role in distinguishing between two different theories of electrical action. The theory of contact tension, which has since become obsolete and the theory of chemical action. I'm not sure what this battery proved, but it seems weird that if an energy source can last so long modern manufacturers don't use it.
By Shawna McCord Bennett5 years ago in FYI
