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Those that do not receive any candy drown their sorrows on April 14th, mourning being forever alone. This day is referred to as Black Day and singles go to eat black noodles at a restaurant. These noodles represent the woe of singleness. 

Other countries have their own Valentines traditions. In Norfolk, UK, Jack Valentine leaves sweets for children on Valentine’s Day. In other countries such as Denmark and Norway, Valentine’s Day is less celebrated and more of a copy of the American version of Valentine’s Day. 

In Latin America, the day is expanded to include love for friends, and so friends are added to the gift-giving and kind thoughts. Traditions vary widely. Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day or do you think it’s just a commercialized holiday? 

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Another interesting fact about Khan, is that many of his lines are taken from books such as Moby Dick and King Lear. Khan’s final words are from the monologue of the last words of Captain Ahab from Moby Dick.

As a physical gesture to the use of literature in the script, several books that are considered classic literature are included in the movie. These include: The Inferno by Dante, Paradise Lost by Milton, and the Bible. While the first Star Trek film was not well received by fans, Star Trek II was well-liked. It is credited with creating interest again in the Star Trek phenomenon. Any trekkies out there? Which was your favorite movie? 

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Van der Vorst had been paralyzed since the age of 13. Before the accident that restored her ability to walk, van der Vorst was training to be a part of the 2012 Paralympics in London. Because she can now walk, she can no longer compete in the Paralympics as she had been training for, a career she misses. 

Able-bodied, van der Vorst has worked hard to relearn how to ride a traditional bike. She has joined the Rabobank cycling team and is working hard to catch up to the other athletes on the team. It’s her goal to compete in the 2016 Olympics. 

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Other classifications for mints include hard mints, soft mints, scotch mints, and mint imperials. Hard mints are what people generally think of when they think of mints: a hard mint used for freshening your breath, including brands like Altoids and Tic Tacs. Soft mints are made with a lot of butter so that they melt in your mouth.

Scotch mints are generally found in the United Kingdom and are round and have a hard shell, but a softer inside. Mint imperials are like scotch mints, except there inside is more crumbly than soft. Mint is also generally considered good for digestion. For this reason, it is not uncommon, nor a bad idea to drink mint tea after eating. 

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One of their tactics to avoid becoming lunch is to give the female a back rub. The massaging motions of the spider are officially called mate binding. Basically, the male massages the female, so that she’ll allow him to mate with her, without killing him before he gets the chance. The male spider releases silk over the back of the female as he massages her. 

Even with the efforts to calm the female, the male still has a high chance of being eaten. In a study, 40% of the female spiders were not calmed, and many of that number ate the male. The same study also suggested that it was the feeling of the massage that soothed the female, and not the smell of the silk as some scientists suggested.

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Every myth results from some truth, and what is true is that Superman references play a large role in the Seinfeld shows. This, however, results solely from Seinfeld’s love of Superman and not the deliberate inclusion of Superman in every episode. Superman also gets an added appearance as a magnet and figurine in Jerry’s apartment, though these were not added until the 4th and 5th season, and the apartment itself does not feature in every episode. 

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Conrad was a fairly prolific writer, contributing his works to the fields of novels, novellas, short stories, and essays. Though somewhat influenced by romanticism, his work tends more towards modernist literature. He is particularly known for his anti-heroes. 

Interestingly, though his writings are in English, Conrad did not always speak English fluently and always spoke with a Polish accent. Many of Conrad’s books have been made into movies including Victory, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, An Outcast of the Islands, The Rover, The Shadow Line, The Duel, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Almayer’s Folly.

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lovegivesmehope:

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The behavioral change is dramatic. When the plants were around non-relatives, they were in fiercer competition to extend their roots and gobble up as much water and nutrients as they could, leaving out the other plants. When they were next to their siblings, they tried to form shallower roots and had more intertwined leaves. 

The behavior is not exclusive to mustard plants. It was also observed in the sea rocket, a common plant that grows near seashores. They tested the theory growing a plant called Arabidopsis thaliana, in two different settings. One had chemicals from sibling plants, whereas others had unrelated plants. Their findings concluded the same results as the one for the mustard seeds.

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Researchers found a gene called Mc1r which controlled the coat color. The same gene is responsible for controlling hair color in other present day mammals as well. For example, low activity of the gene causes red hair in humans. 

Some scientists looked at the genetic makeup of the mammoths, and their research suggests that they had similar variation in colors as humans do in their hair! They found that, just like humans, most were dark brown or black. However, there were also blond or ginger mammoths!

The reason why all Mammoths look orange or brown when they’re dug out? The scientists say it’s probably an artificial effect that comes from the burial, or from the pigment in their hair leaching out throughout the years. 

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Underneath Cinderella Castle there is a bunker called the Disney Operational Command Center. It houses the staff charged with organizing every last bit of the park and making sure that guests are never frustrated with their experience at Disney. 

They monitor every queue in the park. They know when a ride is starting to fill up and they can send a message to the operators to deploy additional cars to handle the larger capacity. If an area is too full, they’ll send a mini-parade on the way to lead people to areas that are less full. They’ll also send in-costume characters to lines that are long in order to entertain guests. 

A surprising stat? In recent years, the average Magic Kingdom visitor is only able to go on 9 rides. Even with all the techniques that the new center has employed, they were only able to raise that average to 10. Have you ever noticed these kinds of crowd-management techniques at Disney rides? Tell us in the comments!

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Japanese Honeybees, however, are not so helpless either. Scientists have observed an interesting technique they use to kill the hornets. If the honeybees manage to surround the hornet, they’ll form a bee ball. 

The honeybees’ stingers can’t penetrate the hornet’s shell. Instead, they vibrate their muscles which causes the temperature inside this bee ball to reach 116F (47C), which is enough to heat the hornet to death!

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A few years later, the product was introduced. The judge had contracted with a computer salesman to develop the technology. 6 years later, in 1983, the device started testing in New Mexico. The early success led to the adoption in Florida a couple of years later. The success of both of these tests led to national adoption.

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thats-so-true:

How you act during fire drills

How you will run if there’s a real fire

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The reason for this is that the Sun is actually opaque at the center. Light doesn’t bleed through that easily, and in fact, NASA compares it to ‘slightly better than light travelling through a rock.’ What happens is light comes out and goes a short distance, then is absorbed and re-emitted. When it gets re-emitted, it goes off in a random direction. This randomness makes it so that it takes light thousands of years before it reaches the outside, and finally Earth.

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For example, a wandering mind helps the brain unfocus from repetitive, menial tasks. For example, driving down an empty highway, or jobs where the only requirement is to push a button at a certain time. There’s also an ‘incubation effect,’ that happens when the mind wanders. For example, if you’re doing your homework and you can’t think of how to answer a question; your get distracted and your mind wanders, your brain still processes the information and may come up with the answer later. 

It’s not all good, of course. If your mind wanders while you’re reading a book, you’ll probably not get any information from it. If you let yourself daydream too much on a highway, you’ll get into an accident. However, their studies found that for creative tasks, people need their mind to wander; however, they also need to have enough awareness to catch the creative ideas before they leave the mind.

thats-so-true:

When you’re watching a horror movie with a friend, you look like

But on the inside you look like

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