Pants Used To Be A Bad Word In England

Although seldom found in print, swear words or taboo words were undoubtedly
uttered just as profusely in the streets as they are now. In polite or mixed
company, of course, euphemisms were used, especially by women and children. Many connotations of words used today remain curiously unchanged from the nineteenth century to the twentieth. In cases where no definition appears, the reader can use his or her imagination and extrapolate from current usage.

For example the he word pants was not spoken of aloud in polite circles, especially during the
first half of the century. Acceptable alternatives: inexpressibles,
unmentionables, nether garments, and sit-down-upons.

Source: Authentic Campainer Website

This Is The Tallest Man Ever

Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940) is the tallest person in history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. Wadlow is sometimes known as the Alton Giant or Giant of Illinois because he was born and grew up in Alton, Illinois.

Wadlow reached 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72 m) in height and weighed 439 lb (199 kg) at his death at age 22. His great size and his continued growth in adulthood were due to hyperplasia of his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone. He showed no indication of an end to his growth even at the time of his death.

Smart Bed: The Bed That Can Make Itself

The simple act of making a bed is, for most of us, the first chore of each day.

Now the relentless march of technology threatens to bring to an end even this most straightforward of domestic tasks.

Spanish firm OHEA has unveiled its Smart Bed, an electronic bed that makes itself.

In just 50 seconds two mechanical arms, one on each side and each equipped with a roller, carry the blanket back to the head of the bed.

As it approaches, the pillows are lifted on two shelves allowing the blanket to neatly slot in underneath.

They are then lowered and the bed looks neat and is completely made.

What is more, the owner does not even have to remember to turn the device on.

A switch at the foot of the bed provides manual and automatic settings.

Flipped to automatic, the bed can sense when somebody has just got up and starts making itself three seconds later.

A built-in safety device ensures that it cannot operate when there is a person lying on the mattress.

Furniture maker OHEA has not yet set a price or release date for the Smart Bed, although it is listed as 'coming soon'.

While a seemingly ideal device for those who hate making their bed every morning, the Smart Bed appears less-than-perfect for those who like to fluff and turnover their pillows.

Source: Daily Mail

 

Water Flow Can Be Used To Cut Metal

A waterjet is a tool used in machine shops to cut metal parts with a (very) high-pressure stream of water. As amazing as it sounds, if you get water flowing fast enough it can actually cut metal.

Think of a waterjet as something with about 30 times the pressure of the power washer wand at your local car wash. Power washing at car washes is an everyday example of a dirt film being "cut" off the body, wheels and tires of an automobile.

The key to cutting metal with water is to keep the spray coherent. Waterjets are able to cut because the spray is channeled through a very narrow jeweled nozzle at a very high pressure to keep the spray coherent. Unlike metal cutters, a waterjet never gets dull and it cannot overheat.

Low pressure waterjets were first used for mining gold in California in 1852. Steam and hot water jets were used in the early 1900s for cleaning. High pressure waterjets were used for mining in the 1960s, and about 10 years ago industry began using waterjets for cutting. Abrasive water jets (abrasivejets) were first used in industry in about 1980.

In the past, only one piece of metal could be cut at a time with a saw or other metal cutting mechanical process. It was time intensive and expensive. Computer-controlled waterjet and abrasivejet cutting are used today in industry to cut many soft and hard materials. The plain water-abrasive mixture leaves the nozzle at more than 900 mph. The latest machines can cut to within two thousandths of an inch, and have jet speeds around Mach 3.

Waterjets can cut:

• Marble
• Granite
• Stone
• Metal
• Plastic
• Wood
• Stainless steel

A water jet can cut a "sandwich" of different materials up to four inches thick. This odorless, dust-free and relatively heat-free process can also cut something as thin as five thousandths of an inch.

The tiny jet stream permits the first cut to also be the final finished surface. This single cutting process saves material costs and machining costs. For example, the engineer merely gives a gear drawing to the cutting shop via a diskette or e-mail and gets the finished gear back.

Waterjets cut softer materials, while abrasive jets are used for harder materials. The actual cutting is often done under water to reduce splash and noise. Faster feed rates are used to prevent the jet from cutting all the way through.

The water pressure is typically between 20,000 and 55,000 pounds per square inch (PSI). The water is forced through a 0.010" to 0.015" in diameter orifice (hole) in a jewel.

A waterjet can remove the bark from a tree at a distance of 40 feet if one alters the chemistry of plain water by adding SUPER-WATER®, available from Berkeley Chemical Research. The SUPER-WATER® is a soluble polymeric chemical that acts like a series of molecular spinal columns or concrete reinforcement bars that tie the individual water molecules together in a more structured way to form a coherent jet. Imagine the potential for cutting down roadside weeds.

Source: HowStuffWorks

This Fridge Opens Only If You Smile

This fridge opens only if you smile!

Noting that smiling improves the quality of life, Japanese scientists has developed a new gadget that facilitates smile.

In fact, this refrigerator is equipped with a camera that can detect not only faces, but also smiles, and it will not open until you show it your most beautiful smile.

Even though I’m not sure that forced smile facing a fridge is the best effect on quality of life, in any case it works.

 

Most NorthAmerican Choke On Toothpicks

A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans.

A Man Who Donated Blood Over 1000 Times

James Harrison, OAM, also known as the Man with the golden arm, is a blood plasma donor from Australia. His over 1000 donations throughout his lifetime have saved over two million unborn babies from Rhesus disease.

James Harrison was born in 1936. At the age of 13, he underwent a major chest surgery to extract a lung with metastasised pneumonia, and required 12 litres of blood. After surgery, he was in the hospital for three months. Realising the blood had saved his life, he made a pledge to start donating blood as soon as he turned eighteen, the then required age.

Mr. Harrison started donating in 1954 and after the first few donations it was discovered that his blood contained an abnormally strong and persistent antibody called Rh_o(D) Immune Globulin. Rh_o(D) IG is given to Rh(D) negative mothers of unknown or Rh(D) positive babies during and after pregnancy which prevents her from creating antibodies to the blood of a Rh(D) positive child. This antigen sensitization and subsequent incompatibility phenomenon is called Rhesus disease, a form of the hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN).

Through the donations of his plasma, Mr. Harrison helped prevent thousands of born and unborn children from dying of HDN. This uniqueness was considered so important, that his life was insured for one million dollars after this discovery and the following research based on his donations created the commercial Anti-D immune globulin commonly known as RhoGAM. His blood plasma derivatives has since been given as treatment to one in ten pregnant women whose blood is not compatible with that of their children.

As blood plasma, in contrast to blood, can be donated as often as every 2–3 weeks, he was able to reach his 1000th donation in May 2011. This results in an average of one donation every three weeks during 57 years. Commenting his then record number:

I could say it's the only record that I hope is broken, because if they do, they have donated a thousand donations.

—James Harrison.

His donations were estimated to have helped to save over 2.4 million babies with pregnant women being treated with his antibodies, including his own daughter Tracey.

Harrison has received an Order of Australia medal (OAM). He was nominated for Australian of the Year, though he did not win. In 2011, he was nominated in the New South Wales Local Hero division of the Australian of the Year awards.