The Fake Stat

Everything I Learned from Nemo is Wrong

I think that maybe, Finding Nemo is not based on a true story. Today I learned that if the mother clownfish dies, the father clownfish does not become overly protective of the baby clownfish, not allowing it to so to school. In fact, the truth is so much not like that at all.

I learned that clownfish live in groups with one female, one male, and a couple non-reproducing others - presumably cousins who can't find a job. If the mother clownfish dies, the male clownfish becomes a female clownfish and one of  the non-reproducing fish become the male clownfish.

Seriously! I can barely comprehend the situation. I'm a bit concerned now nothing in Nemo was true.

Great movie though...

Biggest Diamond Ever

I just read about the biggest diamond ever. It is a white dwarf star with a crystallized carbon (aka diamond) center. How cool is that! It's called BPM 37093 (very romantic). Since it's really far away, I'll have to settle for the biggest diamond on Earth, the 546-carat Golden Jubilee...

Night Sky Navigation

I learned how to find north using the stars. I found a website called the Night Sky that has a night sky tutorial that I thought was kind of cool (in my usual geeky way).

I've always known where the Big Dipper was and my boyfriend shown me Orion a long time ago, but I always thought that  the North Star was in the Big Dipper (wrong) and had no idea how to use it to find north. Now I do.

I also learned where Cassiopeia is and how to find it and where the belt is that the planets move through our sky on. Kinda cool. If it ever stops raining here, I'm going to test out my new skills...

Hardest Yoga Class Ever

My sister and I decided that taking a yoga class right before skating would stretch us out and help on the ice. So we went to the Yoga / Stretch class at 24 Hour Fitness. I, mistakingly, thought that the gym yoga class would be kind of basic (just like I like it) and not too advanced.  Not!

There was a lot of advanced standing on one leg balancing poses. I swear we did a sequence of a dozen moves while standing only on one leg for about 10 minutes. Then repeated it on the other side so that both legs would shake uncontrollably.

The last pose was Extended Side Angle to Bird of Paradise Yoga Pose, which I refer to as the Bird of WTF, My Body Can't Do That pose. It starts in a lunge with the right knee bent. Put you upper right arm on the inside of your right leg. Reach your left arm around you back and bring your right arm around and under your right leg. Grasp hands.

I was thinking, there's no way I can do that, and then I found out that this circus contortion isn't even the final pose!

Now move you left leg closer to the right, shift your weight to the left leg and stand up, while continuing to hold the right leg with your still clasped hands. Now straighten and bend your right let.

Repeat on other side.

I found this video that shows what it was supposed to look like. I think I might have been close.

Click here for more on "Advanced Yoga Poses, Positions, and Techniques : How to Yoga Instructions"

I'm going to hurt tomorrow...

Maternal Weirdness

Here's something to think about for Mother's Day. Every woman is born with all of the eggs she will ever have. That means that the egg that made you was formed when your mother was in your grandmother. How weird is that.

Gay Sheep

I don't know where I'll use this little bit of knowledge, so it's going here. It seems that 8% of male sheep prefer rams over ewes during mating. It makes you wonder if the propensity of human / sheep sex pairings in rural areas, has more to do with sexually frustrated ewes than with lack of rural women. It's just a theory...

The Last Thing I Learned in 2006

Most the things I learn daily and find fascinating and feel the need to share are lost on my boyfriend. He doesn't find most of my new knowledge usable in the real world. But for once I had something he was kind of amazed by. Here it is:

Icefish live with no red blood cells. They literally have ice water in their veins. On top of that, they make an enzyme that acts as antifreeze so they can live near Antarctica. Pretty fascinating isn't it.

What I Learned Today

I think it's important to keep learning. Keeps your brain sharp and important stuff like that. Since my boyfriend does not find most of the things I learn each day nearly as fascinating as I do, I'm going to blog about them here.

I was watching a Discovery channel show about Navy pilots last night and I learned that the "F" in F/A-18 stands for fighter and the "A" stands for attack. The "B" in B-52 stands for bomber - I figured that one out myself. I'm smart like that, picking up patterns and such.

I learned that when a 757 has too few passengers, we all have to move around so "the plane can fly". I also learned that this rule does not apply to first class, because they were not moved to the back of the plane like the rest of us.

I learned that the "Reduced Salt Area" signs in Maine do not have anything to do with your diet and it's ok to eat McDonald fries while passing through these areas.

So those are the things that will keep me mentally sharp as I get older.  I'm hoping for a little pharmacological help as well, because those little tidbits aren't going to help much...