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- StumbleUpon. European History Interactive Map - StumbleUpon. Danteworlds - StumbleUpon. Someone told me that if there are 20 people in a room, theres a 50/50 chance that two of them will have the same birthday. How can that be?& This phenomenon actually has a name -- it is called the birthday paradox, and it turns out it is useful in several different areas (for example, cryptography and hashing algorithms).

You can try it yourself -- the next time you are at a gathering of 20 or 30 people, ask everyone for their birth date. It is likely that two people in the group will have the same birthday. It always surprises people! The reason this is so surprising is because we are used to comparing our particular birthdays with others. For example, if you meet someone randomly and ask him what his birthday is, the chance of the two of you having the same birthday is only 1/365 (0.27%). When you put 20 people in a room, however, the thing that changes is the fact that each of the 20 people is now asking each of the other 19 people about their birthdays. If you want to calculate the exact probability, one way to look at it is like this. 364/365 × 363/365 × … 365-20+1/365 = Chances of no collisions. Human World - StumbleUpon. Human World The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth.

When Albert Einstein died, his final words died with him. The nurse at his side didn't understand German. St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish. The lance ceased to be an official battle weapon in the British Army in 1927. St. Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could afford a proper burial when they died. Some very Orthodox Jew refuse to speak Hebrew, believing it to be a language reserved only for the Prophets. A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I. Born 4 January 1838, General Tom Thumb's growth slowed at the age of 6 months, at 5 years he was signed to the circus by P.T.

Because they had no proper rubbish disposal system, the streets of ancient Mesopotamia became literally knee-deep in rubbish. The Toltecs, Seventh-century native Mexicans, went into battle with wooden swords so as not to kill their enemies. List of common misconceptions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - StumbleUpon. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This incomplete list is not intended to be exhaustive. This list corrects erroneous beliefs that are currently widely held about notable topics. Each misconception and the corresponding facts have been discussed in published literature.

Note that each entry is formatted as a correction; the misconceptions themselves are implied rather than stated. Arts and culture Food and cooking Roll-style Western sushi. Searing meat does not "seal in" moisture, and in fact may actually cause meat to lose moisture. Legislation and crime Literature The Harry Potter books, though they have broken children's book publishing records, have not led to an increase in reading among children or adults, nor slowed the ongoing overall decline in book purchases by Americans, and children who did read the Harry Potter books were not more likely to go on to read more outside of the fantasy and mystery genres.[21][22][23][24] Music Religion Hebrew Bible Buddhism Christianity Islam Sports. Philosophy 132, 001|Spring 2010|UC Berkeley - Download free content from UC... - StumbleUpon. Earthbag Construction - StumbleUpon.

EarthBag Homes - you're standing on the building materials... earthbag home Long sandbags are filled on-site and arranged in layers or as compressed coils. Stabilizers such as cement, lime, or sodium carbonate may be added to an ideal mix of 70% sand, 30% clay. Straw may also be added. The earthbags are then plastered over with adobe. Arquitectura en Equilibrio (Architecture in Balance) flickr.com earthbag home Plastic bags recycled into plastic bags -- if plastic does not break down for a thousand years, this building is sure to last several lifetimes. Earthbag construction Foundations differ as per site. Earthbag construction The time consuming part, filling the bags. Earthbag construction Testing the strength of an arch. Earthbag home Project Seres, Guatemala. projectseres.org, flickr.com earthbag home CalEarth -- Emergency Shelter Village, Hesperia, California. Earthbag home Cal Earth -- Emergency Shelters.

Earthbag home CalEarth let the layers show. Resources: Lessons: More Pictures: Brain.png from myconfinedspace.com. BrainPOP - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies,... Animated Exercise Examples - TheTrainingStationInc.com&- Exercises - StumbleUpon. Philosophy since the Enlightenment, by Roger Jones. Stuff You Missed in History Class - Download free podcast episodes by...

5 Ways To Hack Your Brain Into Awesomeness. Much of the brain is still mysterious to modern science, possibly because modern science itself is using brains to analyze it. There are probably secrets the brain simply doesn't want us to know. But by no means should that stop us from tinkering around in there, using somewhat questionable and possibly dangerous techniques to make our brains do what we want.

We can't vouch for any of these, either their effectiveness or safety. All we can say is that they sound awesome, since apparently you can make your brain... #5. Think You Got a Good Night's Sleep (After Only Two Hours of Actual Sleep) So you just picked up the night shift at your local McDonald's, you have class every morning at 8am and you have no idea how you're going to make it through the day without looking like a guy straight out of Dawn of the Dead, minus the blood... hopefully. "SLEEEEEEEEEP... uh... Holy Shit! We're pretty sure Kramer did this once on Seinfeld. The best way to start it off is to just jump right in. . #4. . #3. Solipsism. Solipsism ( i/ˈsɒlɨpsɪzəm/; from Latin solus, meaning "alone", and ipse, meaning "self")[1] is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist.

As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist. Varieties[edit] There are varying degrees of solipsism that parallel the varying degrees of serious skepticism.

[edit] Epistemological solipsism[edit] Epistemological solipsism is the variety of idealism according to which only the directly accessible mental contents of the solipsistic philosopher can be known. Methodological solipsism[edit] Methodological solipsism may be a sort of weak agnostic (meaning "missing knowledge") solipsism. Main points[edit] See also: Solipsism: Relation to other ideas (below) History[edit] Physics 20b: Introduction to Cosmology - Spring 2010 - Download free content... Amazing Sight in the South Pacific | Ash, Ocean, Island,... A yacht was traveling in the south Pacific when the crew came across a weird sight.

Look at these photos and try to imagine the thrill of experiencing this phenomenon. NO!!!! This is not a beach; it is volcanic stones floating on the water. then this was spotted, ash & steam rising from the ocean.. And, while WE were watching... A plume of black ash...HUGE CLOUD. A brand new island formed... Can you imagine the thrill of being the first & only people to see a new island being created where there was nothing before? WARLORD TRAINS CHIMPS TO HUNT HIS ENEMIES WITH MACHETES - VBS STAFF | VBS.TV... Text While You Walk with Road SMS. Find Free Kindle Books - Fevered Mutterings.

Disclaimer: this post is about free, legal Kindle books, of which there are shedloads (seriously, scroll downwards). It’s not sponsored by Amazon or anyone else. And if you’re reading, you probably have a Kindle. But if you were thinking of buying a Kindle for the first time, click through using the banner below – it won’t cost you anything, and this humble, pathetically modest writer gets a tiny amount of cash to help keep his silver champagne bucket full and his Ferrari well-tuned. Ta. How to fill your Kindle with oodles of stuff, legally and for free. Don’t get me started on how I fell for my Kindle in 7 minutes. Thing is…as nice as it is tracking down an e-copy of a book you suddenly find you can’t live without, it costs money. Better than the best school ever, I’m sure you’ll agree.

So here’s what I do. These are the sites I’ve used to find free Kindle books. And yes, I’m after your suggestions. (click screenshots to go to their websites) More. Hold onto your hat. “What? Apple? Update: Ten Amazing Things You Can Do With Coconut Oil - Health - GOOD. If you've read No More Dirty Looks, or our blog, you know my co-author Alexandra and I are fond of oils, and coconut oil in particular because it’s an amazing and cost-saving multitasker that has lots of qualities to recommend it. It’s a rich moisturizer, it’s cheap, it’s versatile, it’s antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial, has a decent amount of antioxidants, and it smells like baked goods. What’s not to love? Well, some stuff. You can get it at any good health food store in the cooking oil section, just be sure to spend the extra buck or two to get raw, organic, virgin coconut oil.

Now, without further ado: Here are the 10 specific things I’ve tried it for, with honest assessments of how that worked for me: 1. For cooking at high heat. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. What am I missing? The Sakawa Boys - Motherboard | VBS.TV. While Nigeria’s 401 scammers may have written the book on West African internet fraud, their shtick looks like Compuserve compared to what’s going on in Ghana. Unsatisfied with the meager winnings from emailing thousands of random Westerners in hopes of convincing one poor sap they’re the treasurer of the Ivory Coast, Ghana’s scammers decided to stack the odds in their favor the old-fashioned way—witchcraft. Taking a page from cyberpunk, traditional West African Juju priests adapted their services to the needs of the information age and started leading down-on-their-luck internet scammers through strange and costly rituals designed to increase their powers of persuasion and make their emails irresistible to greedy Americans.

And so “Sakawa” was born. Now not only is Sakawa Ghana’s most popular youth activity and one of its biggest underground economies, it’s a full-blown national phenomenon. —Watch more at Motherboard.tv. Skinner on Campus. Green, Healthy, &Safe Product Ratings &Reviews | GoodGuide. Swick & 12 Of The Most Iconic Photographs Ever Taken. Timothy H. O’Sullivan – Battle of Gettysburg This photograph has become synonymous with The Battle of Gettysburg, which was the most bloody battle of the American Civil War. Photographer Timothy H. O’Sullivan documented and recorded the battlefield, and this picture became a sensation. For many, this was their first chance to see, first hand, the true extent of the Civil War.

However, it was not until 40 years after the battle that the pictures were mass produced, as photo-engraving had not been established. The picture shows dead confederate soldiers on the battlefield, and has earned its place in history as an iconic photograph. Lawrence Beitler – Lynching Lawrence Beitler took this iconic photograph on August 7, 1930, showing the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith.

Joe Rosenthal – Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is an historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. Alberto Korda – Che Guevara Moon Landing Richard Drew – The Falling Man. 6 Insane Coincidences You Wont Believe Actually Happened. America's Freak Luck During the Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway may be remembered as one of the most spectacular naval battles in history and one of the huge turning points in the Pacific theater, but it started out as a pure clusterfuck for the Americans.

Despite going into battle with most of Japan's game plan in their pocket thanks to American codebreakers/Bothan spies, the U.S. Navy had little to show for it in the early hours of June 4, 1942. Just about every aircraft that took on the Japanese that day was destroyed, and all without delivering any serious damage. Where it Gets Weird: There was one squadron of American dive bombers lead by Lieutenant Commander C. His squadron started dropping like flies until, in an act of sheer luck that would make even J.K. Where it Gets Even Weirder: This winning of the lottery twice in the same day dealt the Japanese Navy's first defeat in almost 300 years, and a lopsided victory for the Americans that the Imperials never recovered from.

Voices of History - Old Time Radio Shows - OTR. Earth View. 10 Strange Things About The Universe. Space The universe can be a very strange place. While groundbreaking ideas such as quantum theory, relativity and even the Earth going around the Sun might be commonly accepted now, science still continues to show that the universe contains things you might find it difficult to believe, and even more difficult to get your head around. Theoretically, the lowest temperature that can be achieved is absolute zero, exactly ? 273.15°C, where the motion of all particles stops completely. One of the properties of a negative-energy vacuum is that light actually travels faster in it than it does in a normal vacuum, something that may one day allow people to travel faster than the speed of light in a kind of negative-energy vacuum bubble.

One prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity is that when a large object moves, it drags the space-time around it, causing nearby objects to be pulled along as well. Relativity of Simultaneity This is similar to arranging tiles evenly on a floor. Amazing Fact Generator. Jem Melts Rock Using Sunshine - Bang Goes The Theory - Series 3, Episode 5... Mimic Octopus. Mistaken Identity. In 1903, a prisoner named Will West arrived at Leavenworth. The record clerk took the photographs above and, thinking he remembered West, asked whether he had been there before.

West said no. The clerk took some measurements, went to the file, and produced this record, bearing the name William West: Amazed, the prisoner said, “That’s my picture, but I don’t know where you got it, for I know I have never been here before.” Incredibly, this was true. The case became a strong argument in favor of the new science of fingerprinting. EMPIRE17.swf from mapsofwar.com. About. Top 10 Civilizations That Mysteriously Disappeared | Top 10 Lists | TopTenz.net - StumbleUpon. Throughout our history, most civilizations have either met a slow demise or were wiped out by natural disasters or invasion. But there are a few societies whose disappearance has scholars truly stumped: 10. The Olmec One of the first Mesoamerican societies, the Olmec inhabited the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico.

The first signs of the Olmec are around 1400 BC in the city of San Lorenzo, the main Olmec settlement which was supported by two other centers, Tenochtitlan and Potrero Nuevo. Where did they go? Around 400 BC the eastern half of the Olmec’s lands was depopulated- possibly due to environmental changes. 9. The Nabateans were a Semitic culture that inhabited parts of Jordan, Canaan and Arabia from around the sixth century BC. During the fourth century AD, the Nabateans abandoned Petra and no one really knows why. 8. The Aksumite Empire began in the first century AD in what is now Ethiopia and is believed to be the home of the Queen of Sheba. 7.The Mycenaeans 6. 4. 1. Less Packaging Gives Kellogg’s Environmental Policy Snap, Crackle, Pop &... THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in...