Canis Majoris- A Star Bigger Than Tom Cruise

So you think the post about what you had for lunch at McDonalds is important enough for the world to care about do you? Or perhaps you think someone as famous as Tom Cruise really matters. Well lets put something into perspective shall we in terms of the universe.

When we boil it down we are just are not even a single atom on a speck of dust in the existence the Red Hypergiant star known as VY Canis Majoris in the constellation Canis Major which is 4,900 light years away. Or 28,812,000,000,000,000 miles away if you care to fly there.

Canis Majoris is almost 2 BILLION miles in diameter.  Just to put that into perspective a little our own sun which is the biggest object in our solar system is only 864,327 miles in diameter. I included a photo of what the sun would look like in comparison next to Canis Majoris

Now Canis Majoris was as compared to the largest thing on Earth it would be the height of Mt. Everest which is 6 miles tall and the Earth would be a mere golf ball next to it.  You could fit 7 QUADRILLION earths inside Canis Majoris. That is equivalent to the state of Texas covered in golf balls 22 inches deep.


How significant do you feel now?

RUN FOREST RUN!!!!

Todays FFF is dedicated to my friend Greg Hamblock who started his run across America today to raise money so 2 kids can go to private school.

So on the topic of running there is a tribe of 50,000 people called Rarámuri, or Tarahumara, in the Sierra Madre Mountains of NW Mexico who essentially do nothing but run. Rarámuri means "runner on foot" which is exactly what they do. And I mean they run EVERYWHERE. They run to communicate, they run to hunt, they run to travel, they run just for the fun of it.  They have races where some will run 200-300 miles in a single session and cover over 500 miles in a single week. They also do a relay race where they kick a wooden ball as they run from runner to runner which can last several days without a break.

If you want to help out please donate a couple bucks to Greg's cause.
http://www.indiegogo.com/perspiration4education

The Maltese (Falcon) Dog

So the Maltese dog has quickly become the most popular dog breed in America taking over commercials and dog parks everywhere. Understandable considering how adorable they are with their little tiny white Ewok looking selves.

But did you know that the Maltese dog breed actually has a trait only known to exist in the Maltese world? Their eyes have adapted over time to mainly see the ultraviolet light spectrum. It doesn't mean it can see in the dark and it doesn't mean that it can't see normal wave lengths. But what it does mean is that predominantly what it sees is just like those awesome trippy blacklight posters from your college days. So groooove on that hippy dog lovers

Satellite Time Travelers....

There are currently 31 GPS satellites in orbit around the earth helping us find our way to grandma's house, to the new trendy bar, and our very own home.  Most people don't realize that those satellites are actually traveling in time, well on a micro level. Time is relevant depending on the closer and farther you get away from a gravitational force. Those orbiting satellites are actually off by 3,000,000,000th of a second every single day do to their distance from the earth and need to be calibrated accordingly to make sure the time is constantly correct. If they weren't constantly reconfigured you would be 6 miles off from your grandmas house.

HEAVY SUNSHINE

Everyone knows Einsteins equation E=mc2 and that Energy= mass times speed of light squared.  Well it's hard to consider that that equation means that light has mass.  If you take into consideration the surface area of the earth being hit by sunlight and the energy of that light from the sun it means that there is 6 pounds of weight pushing on the earth at every single second.

SUPERevolvingMAN

The Superman hero that we are used to today is not the same Superman that first appeared in the comics in the 1930's. The original Superman was never able to fly. He just had the ability to leap over tall buildings as you may remember from the old saying. His powers started to evolve and eventually went from leaping tall buildings to being able to remain in air and eventually accelerate and fly around.  During the 70's and 80's his powers had peaked and writers found it difficult to find challenges for him so they started to diminish his powers.

CHUCK NORRIS... (Need I Say More?)

Chuck Norris is technically not an actor. Those are actually all documentaries of his life. He has also never worn a bullet proof vest because his chest hair repels bullets, water, and red wine stains.

Side note... He has also counted to infinity.... TWICE

372 BILLIIIIIION LEGO BLOCKS AND COUNTING

Legos... undoubtedly the coolest and most inventive toy on the planet. They were invented by a Danish company and called Lego after the Danish words "Leg Godt" which translates to "Play Well". Ironically when they named them Legos they didn't realize that it Lego also means "I Put Together" in Latin. Last year Lego produced 19 BILLION lego blocks. Each year they seem to produce two lego blocks for each one that already exists. Currently there are 62 blocks per person on earth which is enough for everyone to build their own own little Lego house. Or we could all join forces and build 10 towers that stretch to the moon.

Adele... The Tear Jerker

So Adele, and rightfully so, won 6 Grammys this past Sunday and cleaned house with songs that everyone can connect with on some level. But did you know there is a reason why her song "Someone Like You" is so hauntingly beautiful and people can't stop singing and listening to it.

When we listen to music our brains are always trying to predict the next notes and lyrics in a song. Her song "Someone Like You" has a classic example of APPOGGIATURA which in Italian means "To Lean." The term basically means that when you're hearing her sing the word in the chorus "YOU" she dips down and then comes right back up again. Our brains are expecting to hear a nice pleasant continuous note but instead quickly hear that unpleasant dip. It triggers an emotional response and lets the listener connect with her pain. Once she bounces back to the original note we are then brought back to a more pleasant melody we expected to hear.

Plus who hasn't been through a heart ache at least once in their life?

McDonalds, CrackDonalds, FactDonalds

Everyone knows that McDonald's makes a gazillion processed and chemically infused fast food and burgers all over the world. But those fat filled fries and burgers is NOT how the company makes its money. McDonald's corporation is technically a real estate company. Back in it's early stages they company was struggling turning a profit from the franchises and being able to cover the costs of keeping the doors open to its restaurants. Ray Kroc started the Franchise Realty Corp which purchases property and builds the franchise stores. The company then charges an upfront fee from each franchise owner to buy into the company (which it then uses to build more stores) and then charges each store the cost of the mortgage plus 40% (or 5% of all food sales for more successful stores) to each franchise store.

McDonald's as a corporation actually owns some of the most expensive real estate on the planet and combined owns more real estate than any other company on earth.

Deadly Explosive Gas!!!

If you were to be able to fart for 81 continuous months (6 years and 9 months) you would have produced enough methane gas, that if ignited, would produce explosive energy equal to an atomic bomb.

And Twiiiiiiinnnsss

So twins are pretty extraordinary as you might already know. But there's more to twins than you probably don't know.

To start off most people just know of fraternal and identical twins, but there are actually 7 types of twins including half-identical, mirror image, mixed chromosome, superfecundation, and superfetation twins. Twins aren't always born on the same date. One set of twins were born 85 days apart. It's possible for twins to have different fathers which is known as "heteropaternal superfecundation" where the mother releases two eggs that are fertilized by two different fathers. Identical twins have almost identical brainwave patterns tend to know what the other is thinking and feeling and even if separated at birth will tend to be identical in behavior still. Identical twins can also have different sexes, skin color, and other variations but will always have different fingerprints.

Dirty Dirty Dirty Money

Grab two $1 bills. Chances are that 1 of them has been shoved in the thong of a stripper at some point because 45% of all singles are used to tip a stripper at some point in their 22 month average lifespan (large bills like $50 & $100's can last up to 8 years). 97% of all singles contain trace amounts of cocaine.

The HASSEL-CRAB...

Scientists have recently discovered a new species of crab on the Southern Ocean floor of Antarctica. They have temporarily nicknamed the crab "The Hoff" because, unlike Yeti crab that have hairs along their claws where they cultivate bacteria which they eat, these crab have have long hairs all over their chest. Just like that sexy man beast David Hasselhoff.