OMG Facts *official tumblr*

May 18

The oldest dog in history is still alive today and will turn 30 this year!

A terrier-cross in Louisiana called Max holds the record for being the world’s oldest known living dog. Born in August 1983, Max has been a part of Janelle Derouen’s family ever since.

Max has also enjoyed fine health into his older years. As of a few years ago, he only had mild arthritis and some cataracts. The owner says that he never spoiled the dog, and never even fed him any food from their table.

Using the rule of thumb for translating dog years into human years; in August, he will have lived for 210 human years. Here’s to hoping he gets to live many more years.

(Source)

Wanna look buff and muscular? Use hemorrhoid cream!

Do not use as directed, I guess. Bodybuilders have a special secret for looking extra buff when they need to: Hemorrhoid cream. The cream draws water from the skin, which in turn reduces puffiness and swelling. This makes it an ideal topical solution for thinning your skin, and making it cling more tightly to your muscles, making them look more defined.

You can use the cream for other things like: Reducing dark under eye circles, lessen your blemish welling, reducing wrinkles and even treating cold sores! Just remember that if you’re using this cream anywhere near your mouth, make sure you don’t accidentally ingest any of it.

(Source)

Lysol was once advertised as a feminine hygiene product and birth control.

To be clear, unlike products such as Viagra and Kleenex, which were made for one purpose and were discovered to be highly useful for another, Lysol was always a disinfectant.

Never was it specifically made as birth control, yet from the 1920’s until the 1960’s, it was largely marketed for reasons other than cleaning doorknobs or tables like we use it for today.

Advertising suggested that Lysol should be used for feminine hygiene, and that it was a highly effective birth control product due it’s supposed ability to kill sperm. Of course, this wasn’t quite an era where one could say anything false for forty years without someone finding out, so Lysol invented European doctors to give credibility to their claims.

What’s shocking is that products like Lysol were the leading contraceptives until 1960, when oral contraceptives were introduced. So did Lysol work? Nope. A study showed that 250 out of 507 women using the disinfectant got pregnant, which was about the same as those using no birth control at all.

What’s worse, Lysol usage as contraceptive could cause severe inflammation, burning, and even death, in several cases.

(Source)

‘Sonic Hedgehog’ is a protein that helps mammals develop. Its inhibitor is called Robotnikinin!

Sonic Hedgehog is one of three proteins in the mammalian signaling pathway family called hedgehog. This particular pathway is shaped like the animal, and that’s where it got it’s name.

All three proteins were discovered in 1995, and while the other two were named after actual species of hedgehogs, scientists decided to name this particular protein after the Sega character.

Sonic Hedgehog has critical roles in the development of mammalian brains. However, a potential inhibitor has been found, and dubbed Robotnikinin, a play on the name of Dr. Robotnik, Sonic’s nemesis.

Some people criticize the naming as being frivolous and a little inappropriate when people have to be told that their child has a serious illness because they have a mutated sonic hedgehog. What do you think?

(Source)

60% of the US Military branches have Starship Troopers on their reading list!

Starship Troopers, is an incredibly popular science fiction novel, and it’s legacy has stretched into the depths of modern militaries. Over fifty years after it was first publicized, Starship Troopers can be found on the reading lists of the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy, and the United States Air Force. It is the first science fiction novel recommended on three out of five military branches.

Some of the policies that the military has adopted straight from the book, is the idea that the military should be an all volunteer, high tech strike force. When the book was publicized, military forces were almost all conscripted, and Starship Troopers changed that.

In fact, the book is so influential on the United States military that in 2002, a marine General described the future of marine corps uniforms and equipment as “needing to emulate the Mobile Infantry”, the soldiers from the novel!

(Source)

May 17

Astronomers have recently discovered 18 planets the size of Jupiter!

Astronomers added 18 planets to their list of massive planets revolving massive stars, increasing the known number of planets like this by 50%. This 2011 discovery is a huge milestone for researchers trying to figure out how planets form and grow in alien solar systems.

The massive planet haul came only a few months after another team of researchers found 50 planets, including one rocky one that could be a good candidate for life. For the alien enthusiasts out there, you should know that the number of known planets is now well over 700 and rapidly climbing.

The discovery of these planets are a result of astronomers and researchers observing ‘retired’ stars. These stars are much more massive than our sun, and our on the declining part of their lives.

For the full story, read the source.

(Source)

Google Maps helped a kidnapped boy find his home 23 years later!

Luo Gang was just 5 when he abducted from the Fuijan province in China 23 years ago, and taken almost 1000 miles away. During his absence, he says he forced himself to re-live the life he spent in his old home so he wouldn’t forget.

However, being only 5 when he was taken away, he didn’t remember much. In fact, the only thing he remembered about his hometown were 2 bridges. He drew a map of what he remembered and posted it to a website called “Bring Lost Babies Home.”

People there helped him narrow down his search to a town that looked familiar to him. However, he used Google Maps to confirm his suspicions: That was his old hometown. He was finally reunited with his birth family, 23 years after he was taken from them.

(Source)

Baked potatoes in foil can be deadly!

If you bake a potato in aluminum foil and you leave it at room temperature, you can create an environment ripe for a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, which causes the deadly disease known as botulism.

The reason for this is that C. Botulinum can easily contaminate potatoes and other crop that comes in contact with the soil. Usually, cooking kills the spores, but a foil-wrapped potato holds in moisture, and sometimes prevents the temperature from being high enough to kill all of them.

(Source)

Nestle tried to sue Ethiopia for $6 million!

Nestlé is a business that makes some of the most recognized chocolate around the world. Kit-Kat’s, Smarties, Coffee Crisps, all of the delicious chocolate that is frequently given to kids on Halloween. Well, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for this extremely popular company after a lawsuit they had filed against the Ethiopian government was released to the public.

Nestlé claims that the Ethiopian government in the 1970’s had withheld assets from them, causing the company to lose around $6 million. However, Nestlé later withdrew from this lawsuit after they received 40,000 letters of people expressing their anger for the company.

Ethiopia, for those of you that don’t know, is one of the poorest countries in the world where it’s citizens, on average, make $2 a day. The country has also been experiencing a drought for over 20 years as a result of poor levels of rainfall. Yeesh Nestlé, talk about kicking someone while they’re down.

(Source)

The 1/4 audio plug (like the one on headphones) was created even before plug sockets!

The plug you use to hook up your headphones to your phone or computer is a piece of living history. Originally used as a telephone switchboard connector, it was invented in 1878, and has been in use ever since.

This invention was created in 1878 making it even older than plug sockets, the first of which was invented in 1883! Making this one of the oldest and yet modern invention of our times. Some inventions come and go, but as for the ¼ audio plugs it seems that it is here to stay.

(Source)