Of Sharks and Men: Little Known Facts

The world is full of little known facts. We are an information-saturated society these days and yet many secrets remain hidden or just not widely known, even while contributing to the history of the world. Many people would consider these facts little more than useless trivia, but is that all there is to knowledge of them?

Speaking of trivia--where does that word come from? It comes from ancient Rome. As the Roman Empire and the city of Rome grew larger and more complicated, there were typically areas where three roads came together at one point. In order to help people navigate the direction they should go in based on what they wanted to do, a booth would be set up at this conjunction. It was called the trivium, meaning "three roads". However, the information posted there was so often out of date or inaccurate that people began mostly ignoring the useless stuff posted at a trivium. This useless stuff was referred to as, yes, "trivia".

But not all little known facts are mere trivia. Some could save your life. For instance: did you know that sharks are able to pick up on bright or sharply contrasting clothing much, much better than on monochromatic or dull clothing? This is some "trivia" to keep in mind the next time you're going swimming or surfing in the ocean. Speaking of sharks, their fossil records are found to be at least twice as old as those of the dinosaurs. These super-efficient eating machines were some of the first animal life ever to appear on the Earth. Makes you wonder about how accurate Darwinian evolutionary theory really is.

So, yes, do leave your brightly colored bikini at home if you're going to the seashore. Or, if you're going to the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, for which the skimpy female swimsuit beloved of men is so named. First modeled on July 11th, 1946 by Michelins Bernardini of Paris, the bikini swimsuit was invented because latex rubber was needed for tanks, jeeps, and other machines for World War II, and swimsuits that used less of it were called for.

But getting back to the sharks for a moment, it's a little known fact to most that they can sense more than just shiny or brightly colored objects. They also possess a sixth sense which enables them to pick up on the bioelectrical fields radiated by other creatures in the water. This very same sixth sense also lets them navigate via picking up on changes in the Earth's magnetic field. Are you beginning to feel a little hydrophobic yet?

Maybe the sharks should remain afraid of us, though. After all, we have the power of talk. And were you aware that loud chatter is up to 10 times more irritating and distracting than the nearby pounding of a jackhammer? As a matter of fact, too much exposure to loud and incessant chatter can not only keep someone totally stressed out, it can even set him down the road to insanity.

Does this mean that one of the world's most important little known facts is that drunkards and teenagers can be even more hazardous to your health than sharks?

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6272905

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