 |
| Everything you always wanted to know about... |
| loo paper! |
Did you know...in the
late 1700s, women discreetly hid a small portion of tissue in a fan, dubbed
"Madame’s Double Utility Fan".
A sample was found in a 1785 house. It contained a compartment in the handle
which held about 150 sheets of bath tissue, cut to conform to the fan’s
shape.
Well, I never knew that!!
See Charmin's US site for
more amazing
facts!! |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Well, I never knew
that!
|
|
Odd and Interesting Facts
|
| |
Global warming
|
|
| |
Global warming is here to stay - and it means a new ice age in Britain is not
that far away - global warming melts the ice caps which cools down the gulf
stream. If the Gulf Stream cools down then it won't come as far north and
Britain will get colder. We are on the same latitude as the snowy wastes of
Canada - it only the Gulf Stream which ensures our relatively balmy pastoral
climate.
You can work out how much you add to global warming on a daily basis at the
Carbon Calculator and see who
doesn't believe in global warming and why on the Greenpeace
sceptics
page and also if you check out Weather
Action where they believe it's the sun's action and not global warming
which is making a difference to our weather.
You can make a difference to the rainforests with a simple
click.
And, coming back closer to home, become 'carbon neutral' in the UK with
Forest Futures
See also the Floodline
website
|
|
| |
Laughing Gas
is no laughing matter.
(Yes, it's the gas and air used in childbirth)
|
|
| |
Nitrous oxide, NO2, is the laughing gas associated with dental surgery, writes
Evening Standard Science Correspondent Geraint Smith.
It is a clear, colourless, oxidising liquefied gas with a slightly sweet odour.
It is stable and inert at room temperature and the most frequent use is as an
anaesthetic.
It is also used as a food processing propellant - in some foamed
"cream-from-a-can" for example. In the chemical industry its uses
include a role in making the sub-stance that inflates airbags, and in drag
racing to boost engine horsepower.
When used as an anaesthetic, the gas is always blended with oxygen. Pure
nitrous oxide causes asphyxiation resulting ultimately in respiratory arrest as
it both breaks down the central nervous system, and deprives the person
breathing it of oxygen.
The gas is produced by breaking down ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), a common
ingredient used in fertilisers and explosives.
It starts acting as an anaesthetic when inhaled at concentrations of about
10per cent. At higher concentrations, approaching 100per cent, the effects of
NO2 poisoning include a "high", a sense of wellbeing that has led to
abuse (in the United States many states make possession an offence).
It leads to loss of balance, loss of awareness of any stimuli, including loud
noises, and speech, sharp mental deterioration and eventual lapse into
unconsciousness.
The main effect is depression of the central nervous system, including the
brain, stem and spinal cord, which eventually stops involuntary actions
including breathing, partly because of the effect of the gas itself, but also
because of oxygen deprivation.
A person rendered unconscious by nitrous oxide is likely to stop breathing
within a few seconds. All it takes is a series of breaths without oxygen in
between. If a person remains conscious and stops breathing the nitrous oxide,
full recovery is likely within minutes. However, someone who continues to
inhale the pure gas after losing consciousness will almost certainly die.
The gas works by absorption through the lungs and rapid distribution throughout
the body. The gas absorbs oxygen present in the body and this in turn results
in a sudden, chronic deficiency of vitamin B12 - the symptoms of which are a
reduction in the number of red blood cells, and degeneration of the nerves.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
