Apparently I have long eyelashes. I've been told that by a few people. All women interestingly enough, probably because they spend much more time on them than men and would notice that sort of thing. I had actually never noticed this or thought about it until I had heard this a couple times. From my own everyday observations it seems like eyelashes always stay at a set length and I don't notice them grow. Obviously they do grow, so I was curious about the differences between eyelashes and other hair.
Apparently eyelashes are very sensitive and are used for protecting the eye from debris and insects that might get too close to the eye. Things that do come too close and brush against the eyelashes can cause the eyelid to reflexively close. They take about six to eight weeks to completely regrow if they're plucked or fall out naturally. Eyelash and eyebrow hairs grow in cycles which is different from hair on other parts of the body. This is why they never seem to increase much in length and don't continually grow longer like the hair on the scalp.
Women often use cosmetics to enhance the look or length (or both) of eyelashes. Mascara, eyelash extensions and eyelash curlers are all foreign concepts to me but are commonly used. They may be jealous of Stuart Muller who apparently has an eyelash that is 6.99cm long! Maybe a little bit excessive and I think it's only a single eyelash...
Monday, December 31, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Bees, Wasps and the like
Somewhat recently I was randomly stung by a bee. I've been stung a couple times before but this one was quite strange. I had just finished some golfing and we had been driving for a few minutes with the windows down when I felt a sharp prick on my neck. Somehow I had brought along an unhappy guest and he had been biding his time before he decided to sting me! I quickly swatted it away and it died shortly after but it had me thinking about the differences between our stinging (usually non) friends.
Most people have probably heard that bees can only sting you once before dying and I found that apparently this is true. Wasps on the other hand often are able to sting multiple times. The insects that are commonly known as hornets and yellow jackets actually fall under the category of wasps. I learned that there are actually several categories and many different species of wasps.
In general the way to tell the difference between a bee and a wasp is that bees are often hairy (though some aren't) whereas wasps are mostly hairless. Wasps also usually have more elongated bodies. Bees collect pollen from flowers and have a diet of nectar and pollen. Yellow jackets are the ones that tend to be the most annoying to humans as they'll show up around people eating food outside and around garbage.
Some other random facts I learned. Only females can sting because apparently the stinger is "a modified egg laying apparatus". Some wasps primarily feed on other insects. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs in/on other insects, killing the host as the offspring develop.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Traffic Light Meanings
The other day I was driving and came upon a flashing yellow light which I had never actually seen before. I had a memory of it being in my new driver's manual but since I hadn't had to use that knowledge it had slipped from my memory. I slowed down and "proceeded with caution" which when I looked it up later was apparently what I was supposed to do. While looking it up I started reading the Wikipedia page on traffic light signalling and found out a lot of things I didn't know.
The first most general thing I learned is that traffic lights across the world can be very different! I haven't done any driving outside of North America so it was interesting to read about the quirks of different traffic light schemes. There are various ways to indicate turning, different circumstances where flashing lights are used and a few ways to indicate a changing light. If it interests you I'd recommend just reading through the Wikipedia page, but I'll list some of the things I found interesting.
Flashing green lights mean different things in different places which can be dangerous in some situations. In parts of Canada a flashing green light, also called an advanced green, means that you have permission to make a left turn and that the opposing traffic has a red light. In BC however it means that the traffic light is pedestrian controlled and other than that is the same as a normal green light! For people driving in BC from other parts of Canada this could definitely cause some confusion. In some parts of China flashing green means "reduce speed now".
Apparently in Tianjin, China they have a horizontal bar traffic light system. The bar is green, yellow or red and shrinks to indicate the time remaining for that colour. A disadvantage of this system is that color blind people will have trouble differentiating between the colours, although apparently people who are colour blind are not allowed to have a license in China!
One other thing that I wasn't aware of was what's called the "yellow trap". It occurs when a driver is waiting at a green light for a left turn and the light facing them turns yellow but the opposing light remains green. The driver may expect that the oncoming traffic will be stopping shortly and begin to make a left turn possibly resulting in an accident. I actually didn't know that some lights in opposite directions weren't timed to switch to yellow and then red at the same time. From the article, "Some of this stems from difficulties programming older traffic signal control software to prevent the yellow trap, but much stems from traffic engineers or technicians not understanding the yellow trap hazard, or believing it is not a serious problem."
The first most general thing I learned is that traffic lights across the world can be very different! I haven't done any driving outside of North America so it was interesting to read about the quirks of different traffic light schemes. There are various ways to indicate turning, different circumstances where flashing lights are used and a few ways to indicate a changing light. If it interests you I'd recommend just reading through the Wikipedia page, but I'll list some of the things I found interesting.
Flashing green lights mean different things in different places which can be dangerous in some situations. In parts of Canada a flashing green light, also called an advanced green, means that you have permission to make a left turn and that the opposing traffic has a red light. In BC however it means that the traffic light is pedestrian controlled and other than that is the same as a normal green light! For people driving in BC from other parts of Canada this could definitely cause some confusion. In some parts of China flashing green means "reduce speed now".
Apparently in Tianjin, China they have a horizontal bar traffic light system. The bar is green, yellow or red and shrinks to indicate the time remaining for that colour. A disadvantage of this system is that color blind people will have trouble differentiating between the colours, although apparently people who are colour blind are not allowed to have a license in China!
One other thing that I wasn't aware of was what's called the "yellow trap". It occurs when a driver is waiting at a green light for a left turn and the light facing them turns yellow but the opposing light remains green. The driver may expect that the oncoming traffic will be stopping shortly and begin to make a left turn possibly resulting in an accident. I actually didn't know that some lights in opposite directions weren't timed to switch to yellow and then red at the same time. From the article, "Some of this stems from difficulties programming older traffic signal control software to prevent the yellow trap, but much stems from traffic engineers or technicians not understanding the yellow trap hazard, or believing it is not a serious problem."
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Apostrophes and Years
I had never really paid much attention to it before, but I've noticed that sometimes people will write 1600's or 1970's and include an apostrophe while other times it would be omitted (1970s). Thinking about it logically it doesn't really make sense to have an apostrophe since it usually denotes possession. In the sentence "The 1970's were a great decade.", neither the year 1970 nor the decade is owning anything. Interestingly the Chrome spellchecker is flagging the 1970s as an error and the version with an apostrophe as ok. Changing the setting between US English and British English doesn't seem to make a difference.
After doing some reading it appears that the answer is not completely straightforward. It seems that in general it's a matter of style. So if you decide to use an apostrophe then be consistent and use it all the time. The same goes for if you decide not to. It also seems that the apostrophe may be more prevalent in American English than British English. I found some mentions that there is a convention to use an apostrophe for plural acronyms and words that don't have a natural plural, though I'm not completely convinced of this.
It seems like there could be some ambiguity with using an apostrophe. For example "1970's hottest month was July." In this case the individual year 1970 does own a hottest month, and this does not refer to the decade. I suppose you would be able to figure it out from the context though. Overall the message seems to be do what feels right and stick to your choice.
After doing some reading it appears that the answer is not completely straightforward. It seems that in general it's a matter of style. So if you decide to use an apostrophe then be consistent and use it all the time. The same goes for if you decide not to. It also seems that the apostrophe may be more prevalent in American English than British English. I found some mentions that there is a convention to use an apostrophe for plural acronyms and words that don't have a natural plural, though I'm not completely convinced of this.
It seems like there could be some ambiguity with using an apostrophe. For example "1970's hottest month was July." In this case the individual year 1970 does own a hottest month, and this does not refer to the decade. I suppose you would be able to figure it out from the context though. Overall the message seems to be do what feels right and stick to your choice.
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