China executes more than 1,000 people every year and they showed it on national TV until 2008.

China executes more than 1,000 people every year and they showed it on national TV until 2008.

What's more interesting is that those who are executed mostly aren't murderers. In past cases, political prisoners, rapists, drug dealers, and traffickers have been executed.

Even though these are cruel crimes, people from all over the world think it's unnecessary for a death penalty for these crimes. What's more disturbing is that they still use the old-fashioned method of execution by shooting into the head! 

Also, China showed the execution on national TV until 2008 when they hosted the Summer Olympics and got much criticism from countries and organizations. 

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Cats instinctually imitate the hiss of snakes.

Cats instinctually imitate the hiss of snakes.

It has been suggested that cats actually began hissing after hearing snakes hiss. This behavior may actually originate from imitating snakes. Your cat might really be a copy cat! Because snakes can be so deadly, other animals know to pay attention and shy away from its characteristic hiss. 

The hiss is a warning to other animals or people to stay away, whether it comes from a snake or an unhappy cat. A cat’s hissing is often a result of fear. The introduction of another animal into the home, for example, another cat or a dog, is a common reason for a cat to hiss. Anything or anyone a cat doesn’t know scares it and so it hisses as a defense mechanism. So what can you do for your nervous cat? 

Mostly, a cat needs to be given the room to get comfortable and adjust to the smell of a new person or animal. It especially helps to let your cat smell something the new visitor has touched, so that they can get used to the new smell. That way the smell will be more familiar and less threatening to the cat. For more information on why cats hiss visit the source.

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A man was dismissed from the US Air Force for asking "How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?"

A man was dismissed from the US Air Force for asking "How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?"

 

His name was Major Harold Hering, and asked the question on the subject of the two man rule. The two man rule is a mechanism for high levels of security where two people are required for a certain function or authorization. 

It’s used commonly in nuclear launch scenarios to ensure that one person’s misbehavior or misconduct cannot cause disastrous results. The two man rule is used in the US Air Force to manage the launch of nuclear weapons and prevent a single individual from launching. 

Hering’s statement that landed him in hot water came from the issue of the credibility of the person giving the order to launch. Harold Hering was posing his question to point out that there are no safeguards to verify the person issuing the order (in that case the president) is actually sane enough to be doing so. 

Unfortunately, the military higher ups didn’t think very highly of his comment, and dismissed him. Do you think he had a valid claim?

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There is a genetic mutation that causes a person to have two rows of eyelashes.

There is a genetic mutation that causes a person to have two rows of eyelashes.

The reason for this was a genetic mutation. Having double rows of eyelashes is usually the result of a mutation at the FOXC2 gene, a gene that influences kinds of tissue development in embryos. 

Though having extra eyelashes was certainly helpful to Elizabeth Taylor’s appearance and career (as she too had this mutation), it carries another problem. 

Lymphedema-distichiasis syndrome, caused by the mutation, is a hereditary disease that can cause disorders of the lymphatic system. This actually contributed to Elizabeth Taylor’s death last year, which was due to heart problems. 

The extra eyelashes also aren’t always a good thing. Often, they can grow inward, and if you’ve ever had an ingrown hair, you know one of the last places you’d want one is the eye. They could also grow in the wrong direction and damage the cornea. So with the added risk of heart problems, perhaps the aesthetic value isn’t worth the envy. 

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East Asians have smaller eyes due to a genetic mutation that happened centuries ago!

East Asians have smaller eyes due to a genetic mutation that happened centuries ago!

Not all Asians have “smaller” eyes. This mainly applies to East Asians. Their eyes aren’t technically smaller, either. They simply have an extra patch of skin called an epithelial fold above their eyes.

That fold allows them to protect their eyes against extreme cold and fierce winds that occur in Tibet. Average annual snowfall is 18 inches and the land is severely dry 9 months out of the year.

The epithelial fold is simply the way they adapted to their environment. Tibet is where the ancestors of many East Asians lived for tens of thousands of years before migrating to warmer places. The epithelial fold, however, is part of the DNA now and so continues to be a trademark of East Asians.

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Texting while driving on the highway takes your eyes off the road for the length of a football field

Texting while driving on the highway takes your eyes off the road for the length of a football field

Car crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in this country, and texting and driving is one of the biggest causes of a crash. Join DoSomething.org's Thumb Wars campaign to educate your friends about the danger of texting and driving. 

Teens sign up at www.DoSomething.org/thumbwars to receive two pairs of thumb socks. They then share them with a friend or family member they know who texts and drives. They snap a pic and send it to DoSomething.org. 

Sign up online at www.DoSomething.org/thumbwars and you'll be eligible to win a $2,000 scholarship!  

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Platypuses don’t have stomachs.

Platypuses don’t have stomachs.

As you may know, the platypus and the echidna are kind of the oddballs in the mammal family. They are the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving live birth. 

The platypus is also thought of by some as one of the strangest animals in the animal kingdom due its duck bill, beaver tail, otter feet, and capacity to inject venom into threatening animals. 

The platypus genome is actually pretty fascinating. When platypus DNA was compared to the DNA of other mammals, it turns out certain genes were actually missing. These genes were for protein cutting enzymes called proteases, which are made only in the stomach. 

Even more interesting was how these genes were actually present, but disabled by virus-like pieces of DNA. Several other stomach related genes are also missing from platypus DNA. 

So what’s so strange about that? Just about every vertebrate has a stomach, but the platypus has actually lost its stomach over the years. The stomach for the platypus is a useless tube connecting the esophagus to the intestines. This means that over the years, the platypus has actually evolved out of its stomach. 

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A teen is facing 38 years in prison for changing his grades.

A teen is facing 38 years in prison for changing his grades.

Two high school seniors, Omar Khan and Tanvir Singh broke into their high school, Tesoro High School, in order to change their grades. Omar Khan who is being charged with 69 felonies could get up to 38 years in prison, while Singh with many fewer counts could get up to 3 years of prison time.

Khan is a repeat offender, and is being charged for altering and stealing public records, computer fraud, burglary, identify theft and receiving stolen property and conspiracy.  Singh was unfortunate to get caught on a try with Khan.

Khan allegedly hacked into the school system and repeatedly changed his grades. He got caught after he asked for a transcript. Teachers knew him as an average student, so they became suspicious when he suddenly had all As. 

In the process Singh was also caught. He asked Khan's help in stealing a copy of a test that he hadn't studied for. He hadn't done the readings necessary and he decided to steal the test the night before. 

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Two brothers were killed within exactly 1 year of each other, in almost the same situations.

Two brothers were killed within exactly 1 year of each other, in almost the same situations.

This tragic coincidence occurred in 1975. Seventeen year old Erskine Lawrence Ebbin was struck and killed by a taxi while driving a moped. This was exactly 1 year after his 17 year old brother was killed by the same taxi, holding the same passenger, driving the same moped, at the same intersection. 

This terrible quirk of fate earned the 17 year old a place on newspapers from both sides of the Atlantic. It is a crushing reminder of exactly how small our world is, of how even death seems to be losing its creativity. 

It seems like coincidences are actually pretty common on the road, for more see here

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During WW1, a German naval officer led his landing party on a 11000 km escape back to Germany after watching his ship sink in the Indian Ocean.

During WW1, a German naval officer led his landing party on a 11000 km escape back to Germany after watching his ship sink in the Indian Ocean.

Von Mucke was the Executive Officer and First Lieutenant of the German Light Cruiser SMS Emden of the Imperial German Navy. The ship was very successfully as a commerce raider in the Indian Ocean on the autumn of 1914. 

On November, the ship’s captain dispatched Mucke to lead a 53 man landing party onto Direction Island to destroy wireless stations and the shore facilities. British wireless operators however, spotted the ship’s smoke on the horizon and responded by dispatching a wireless message stating that an unknown ship was approaching. 

The alert was heard, and the ship was encountered and defeated. Mucke and his landing party witnessed the demise from just 17 miles away and felt their hope sink along with their beloved ship. 

Over the next 6 monthes, Mucke led his command on one of the longest escapes ever recorded, over 11 000 km by land and sea, and lost only a total of 4 men; which seems tragic but was quite an accomplishment at the time. 

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Vancouver is the most densely populated area in North America.

Vancouver is the most densely populated area in North America.

 

You might think it’s some place like New York, but actually Vancouver has a population of just under 3 million. The weird thing is that it’s only Canada’s third largest city, behind Montreal and Toronto. 

It also has the warmest climate in Canada. Vancouver is divided into several self-governed municipalities, with the Vancouver city itself only having about half a million residents. The “3 million” number is applied to “Greater Vancouver,” the general term for the municipalities collectively. 35% of Vancouver’s population is also foreign born, which is the highest figure in the world. 

That means the city is even more multicultural than New York (though if the recent article on Little Italy is any indication, that might not be such an impressive feat). Another cool thing about Vancouver is that it’s often called Hollywood North (along with Toronto) because it is the third largest film production center in North America. 

That’s due to the cheapness of filming there, the year round mild climate, and the wide variety of locales in a relatively small area. 

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Ever wondered what the difference between a hobo, a bum, and a tramp are? Read on!

Ever wondered what the difference between a hobo, a bum, and a tramp are? Read on!

Today, the words are generally irrelevant by their original definitions and the homeless are typically just called homeless people or hobos. Today, we typically use “bum” to refer to a lazy, jobless person who lives at home, and use “tramp” as a denigrating term for a woman. 

The overarching term for these is “vagabond,” which we seldom hear at all now. By the proper definitions, though, a hobo is a worker with no home who goes from place to place looking for work. Hobos were typically the homeless people that would try to catch rides on trains. A bum, unlike a hobo, is a vagabond who rarely looks for work, or has very little worth ethic. 

A tramp is similar to a bum, but only works when forced to. Another interesting fact about hobos is the “Hobo code.” If you’ve seen Mad Men, you likely know about it already. 

During the Great Depression, hobos developed a code to mark homes or establishments one of many ways to tell other hobos if they should leave, should request work, could get free medical aid, etc. You can check out the Hobo code here: 

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A German fighter pilot saved an Allied military pilot.

A German fighter pilot saved an Allied military pilot.

A year later, they were friends. Charles Brown was an American military pilot with the United States Army Air Corps who was stationed in Great Britain to bomb targets in Nazi Germany while Franz Stigler was a veteran fighter pilot with a record of 28 kills. 

Upon dropping bombs one day in 1943, Brown’s plane was ambushed by 8 German planes and an anti-aircraft fire. His plane and crew both sustained heavy damages, and soon enough Brown just blacked out. 

He awoke to the news that when Brown’s crippled plane was found by Franz Stigler, he could have pulverized it in a matter of seconds. But upon seeing the crew members trying to help their wounds, Stigler refused to fire and escorted the bomber to safety. 

They parted ways after the next year, and then reunited again, becoming fast friends and making television appearance together. It’s nice to know that even a war can’t always tear apart the basic goodness of people. 

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