What is Nordic Walking?

Have you see the sticks that are also called 'poles' used by skiers? Well, if you use such poles while walking on any other surface apart from snow is called 'Nordic' walking.

This exercise is considered very good when compared to normal walking because you apply pressure with your arms on the poles you are carrying and this burns more calories. Other benefits include increase in overall body strength and fluidity in the joints.

What is important is the height of the poles which should be about 2/3 of the height of the user. Real Nordic Walking Poles utilize special Nordic Walking Straps - kind of like a fingerless glove, allowing power transmission through the strap and eliminating the need to uncomfortably grip the poles.

These Nordic walking poles come with removable rubber tips for better grip on hard surface and and hardened metal tips for trails, the beach, snow and ice. Most poles are made from lightweight aluminum, carbon fiber, or composite materials.

Image courtesy: Exel

Your favorite books reveal who you are.

If dating sites such as http://www.alikewise.com/ found out that couples react positively if they find similar literary tastes, I would say it is a very late discovery to be implemented in match making sites.

How much late? They are late by a minimum of 25 years!
Yes it was then I found out my man when his mother showed me his hidden chest of drawers in which he had kept the books he treasured most and did not want to share with every casual onlooker.

Alikewise.com, users' can include in their profiles, their favourite books. This is definitely an effective strategy to find like minded individuals.

Stunning facts about fruits.

Calling stunning or amazing, the fact is it is worth knowing about, at least for academic interest.

This blogs is always looking for rare facts about people, animals, birds, places and plants. Two days before, I stumbled on to a blog funky-facts.blogspot.com that published similar blog posts that include weird facts about people, animals, earth and more.

I clicked on the title, "amazing fruit facts' and saw a video clip for about 3 minutes. At the end of it, I am richer by interesting knowledge about different fruits that are not known to many.

Here is a sample for you:
Do you know that the pappaya fruit contains a mineral called Papain that is considered as a natural meat tenderizer?

Here it is, the video clip about amazing facts about fruit.

Download:

FLVMP43GP

Do you know red tide?

Don't be afraid of this sea tide. It is neither blood nor any oil slick.

What you see is called Red Tide. The red color is because of a single cell algae.

The red-tide is mostly harmless though it is said to be fatal to fishes and mammals including human beings.

Red tides occur due to what is termed as algal blooms which means when the microscopic plankton becomes too abundant even for the ocean to bear, they get washed away on the sea shore.


However, there has never any death of a man due to red tide.

What a color combination! It is a beautiful sight-eh?

Do you know that mud clears pores?

We generally think mud will close fine pores. But do you know that mud is used medically to clear clogged pores?

It is truly amazing to know such strange facts. In Kerla, India, mud bath is often the best treatment for people suffering from Arthritis. In rural Tamilnadu, plying in a pond of mud is test for strength and stamina.

Look at some of the images of mud game in Switzerland's music festival.
http://www.thisblogrules.com/2009/07/dirty-fun-at-mud-festival.html

This plant eats animals’ poo.

And all along, it was believed that the plant eats small animals.
Still, it is bizarre-right? Avegetation that traps small animals’ poo!

Look at the trap set up the plant called ‘Pitcher Plant’. This pitcher plant also known as Giant Pitcher is found in Borneo.

The pitcher uses tasty nectar to attract tree shrews, then ensures its pitcher is big enough to collect the feeding mammal's droppings.

Pitcher plants have elaborate structures which entice creatures such as ants or spiders into a precarious position, from which they fall into a fluid-filled trap, where they drown and are ingested.

Source:

Boxing Day in Canada means...

Though Boxing Day owes its origin to the good old U.K., different countries have different meanings.

The day after Christmas is the Boxing Day for the Americans and Aussies.

The Canadian holiday Boxing Day is when the servants were given boxes which had money hidden inside them from their employers.

The Kiwi Boxing day is when you put your old toys into the boxes your new Christmas presents came in and then you take them to an orphanage.

I wonder what the Americans, Australians and the English men do on Boxing Day!

Chewing gum stops onion tears.

There are probably more tips to stop shedding tears while chopping onion than any other kitchen tips.

Ever since onion was discovered, people took it in their stride when their eyes got irritation while cutting onions.

Of late, I have been reading various useful tips to avoid onion tears and here is the latest one, a bit weird too.

"Chew on gum while cutting onion to avoid producing tears."

Any idea?

Do you know Lapis Lazuli?

Lapis Lazuli-A tongue twister-eh? At the first sight of this word, I thought is a Nepali language.

This dark blue semiprecious stone is high prized because of its rarity. I was surprised to read that the home for this beautiful stone is Afghanistan and its antiquity goes back to 6500 years!

Look at this trivia! It involves the legendary Cleopatra!

The blue pigment derived from Lapis Lazuli may have been used as eye shadow by Cleopatra.

Image via

Amitab Bacchan, the Emperor.

I stumbled on to news item about giant penguins that lived 65 million years ago.

CNN reports that this big bird is the real thing, its recently discovered fossils providing researchers with several scientific oddities. Not only are the birds extra large by modern standards, they thrived in one of the warmest periods in the past 65 million years.

Why this sudden interest in Penguin?
I came to know that Indian film start Amitab Bacchan gave to voice to the famous film on Penguin titled, "The Emperor".

Do you know man-eating wolf-like animals?

It is awesome and most bizarre. These man-eating wolf-like animals are called Beast of Gévaudan. The name is derived from the fact that these man eaters roamed in the Margeride Mountains and more particularly in the former province of Gévaudan.

Oh, you don't know where is the Margeride Mountains-right? It is located in the south-central France.

These man eaters that looked like wolf are said to have huge teeth and long nails. They were covered in red fur. And man, they smelled very bad!

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Silky facts.

Not many people are aware of the fact that it is only Chinese that made the first silk from silk worms. It was as early as 5000 years ago. But we Indians still believe that we only made the silk first.

I think, somehow Indians too learnt to make silk from silk worm 3000 years ago. I give below some pictures of silk being made from silk worm cocoons.


It takes around 30,000 silkworms to produce 12 pounds of raw silk.

Silk worms are fed only mulberry leaves.































































An umbrella made of silk fabric:











Courtesy

Do you know Paleo Eskimo?

Recently I watched an ad for a mobile phone that featured Eskimos.

Greenland was home to a number of Paleo-Eskimo cultures in prehistory, the latest of which disappeared around the year 200 AD. Hereafter, the island seems to have been uninhabited for some eight centuries.

I think I was in my 5th standard when I first studied about Eskimos and their amazing huts. From that time onwards, I wanted meet an Eskimo in person but that is impossible in this hot Madras.

So, I was fascinated to watch Eskimos on the television advertisement but are they real or just made up?

Whatever it may be, I enjoyed the advertisement.

Do you know Paleo Eskimo?

Do you know weeping fig?

Very interesting piece of information here.

Weeping fig that is also known as Benjamin plant is one of the most poisonous plants in the world. Its leaves when touched will cause itching on your skin. Invariably, you will have to contact your doctor because, you will be alarmed at the inflammation on your skin.

Surprisingly, this is grown as house plant in pots and tubs. This is mainly grown in warm climate ares. This ficus can't stand cold.

What a plant!

Do you know Brown Bear?

We all know black bear and white polar bear. But have you heard of Brown Bear? Where can they be seen?

They can be seen in plenty at Katmai National Park, at he base of Alaskan mountains. It is one of the brown bear viewing areas in the world.

There is a place called "Brooks Falls" there where these brown bears come to feed sockeye salmon. As usual, viewers are requested not to disturb the wild animals and they are allowed to view the brown bear from a viewing platform only.

These bears weigh up to 700 KG and they also eat vegetation though their favorite dish is fish and especially Salmon.



































Images are taken from Google Images.

Best syringe for insulin injections.

Needles that are called as syringes in the medical world came into vogue as early as 13^th century but the fine syringes that we use to pierce the skin with minimum discomfort were developed by Charles Gabriel Pravaz and Alexander Wood in 1853.

The world’s largest syringe manufacturers are located in Britain and the world’s largest medical supplies dealer is AllegroMedical.com. They are probably the oldest online dealer of life enhancing products.

They later diversified their range of products to Exercise & Fitness Equipment, Nutritional Dietary Supplements, Maternity/Baby Supplies and Outdoor Gear.

Allegromedical.com offers extraordinary search facility of their products. You can search for products by brand name as well by category. Another unique feature of their search engine is you can use it to search for products by body condition.

It is a big website with over 55,000 medical, health and nutrition products. My husband buys syringes from them for his insulin shots.

Do you know Shakuntala Devi?

Shakuntala Devi, the prodigal mathematician is believed to be a reincarnation of Ramanujam though both had different skills in mathematics.

While Ramanujam saw mathematical relationships as expressed in equations and identities; Shakuntala Devi iss a genius in mental mathematics.

S. Devi is also a calendar calculator. If you give her a date in the past, she will tell you the day of that date in a few seconds. Remarkable!.

Do you know that Shakuntala Devi never attended school? In fact she never got training formally in math.

Do you know that her father was a lion tamer in a circus?

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Do you know Aquas del Amor?

El Dorado Royale - Riviera Maya, Mexico

“Aquas del Amor” means outdoor, ceiling-free showers.

If there is still some romance left in you, you might have imagined taking shower with your spouse beneath nothing but star filled sky.

For that, you should plan a cancun family vacations and at El Dorado Royale Resort in Riviera Maya. Yes, I mean a family vacation that should expose your children to heavenly luxuries that only the ancient Moghul Kings indulged in.

El Dorado Royale Resort developed by Karisma Hotels is no ordinary beach resort set in amidst crowded buildings. It is set on over a mile of unspoiled beach in 450 acres of tropical rainforest where whims are predicted and solutions ready to indulge and pamper.

While you let your children enjoy scuba diving or snorkeling, you can experience milk baths and aromatic massages in the dedicated spa.

For reservations, call Pamela Johnston 212-629-8445 or email her at pamela@pjinc.net

Do you know US Anthem has 3 verses?

How many of the US citizens know that their country's anthem has three verses? I read that everyone knows only the first one. Is it true?

I know only this much:
* The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America.
* The lyrics come from a poem written in 1814
* It was written by a 35-year-old amateur poet named Francis Scott Key.

I want to know the details. I searched the web but could not find what I was looking for. I need to know the answers immediately for a specific purpose.

Antone to help me please?

Your garden tells you the time.

Do you know that your garden can tell you the time of the day?

This reminds me of a technique that my husband taught me to know the approximate time of the day. (yes, not the night). By using a ruling scale against the sun cast shadows, he will, guess the approximate time.

Now, regarding the garden as your clock, it was discovered by a genius naturalist from Sweden, Carolus Linnaeus ( looks a bit a Roman-right?) He observed that some plants' flowers open and close at a particular time of the day.

This called as photoperiodism by contemporary scientists.

Carolus noticed one early morning in 1749. that a wild flower called hawk's beard opened its flower at 6.30 AM while a similar flower that also belong to family called hawkbit opened at 7.00 AM.

He then painfully cataloged 41 different species of flowers and recorded their flowering time. This flower clock revealed that Uppasla flower bloomed at 3.00 AM regularly and the ice plant at 11.00 AM only. (very lazy!)

Carolus Linnaeus must have been unpopular among Swedish watch makers!
Ice Plant image by Google.