Fast Facts In The Blink of An Eye The human body is truly fascinating and the eyes are among its most interesting and critical parts. The more that’s learned about them, the more it becomes obvious how awesome they are. ▶▶ Human eyes begin to develop two weeks after conception. ▶▶ Each eye has six muscles. ▶▶ Eighty per cent of our memories are determined by what we see. ▶▶ Eyes are the second-most complex organ after the brain. ▶▶ All humans originally had brown eyes, with blue eyes being a mutation some 6,000 years ago. ▶▶ The average blink lasts for about 1/10 of a second. ▶▶ Blinking occurs about 12 times per minute. ▶▶ Of all of the muscles in the human body, those that control the eyes are the most active. ▶▶ Eyes function like a camera, capturing light and sending data back to the brain. ▶▶ We have two eyeballs in order to give depth and perception. ▶▶ The eye can function at 100% at any given time without needing rest. ▶▶ Eyes are able to process 36,000 pieces of information in a single hour. ▶▶ Only 1/6 of the eyeball is exposed. ▶▶ In an average lifetime, eyes will see 24 million different images. Answers to Outside the Box Puzzles from page 64 1. Long in the tooth 2. Dump truck 3. Headlights 4. Splitting the vote 5. Last but not least 6. Gross income CSA MEMBERSHIP Early Renewal Winners 5-Year Membership I Boga and D Hussaini, Vancouver, BC G and C Abry, Oxford Mills, ON J and A Lapinsky, Stoney Creek, ON L Ashton and C Eriksen, Victoria, BC $250 Petro Canada Gift Card A and R Pelletier, Timmins, ON D and B Baker, Wasaga Beach, ON A and L Hartl, Langley, BC E and C Yorke, Halifax, NS L and J Starkes, Lumsden, SK Congratulations as well to Mike and Marg Connolly who won a Fit Bit courtesy of Group Services Insurance Brokers at this year’s Snowbird Lifestyle Presentations! Believe It or Not The world is rife with bizarre tales, astounding claims and just plain weird stuff. Here are a few examples to entertain your brain. ▶▶ Halloween jack-o’-lantern faces were originally carved in turnips. The Irish brought the tradition to North America and switched from turnips to pumpkins. ▶▶ The Leaning Tower of Pisa was actually never straight. The foundation started sinking when construction of the second floor began. ▶▶ Winston Churchill famously loved cigars and smoked about 10 per day. ▶▶ Goldfish can’t close their eyes because they have no eyelids. ▶▶ It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year’s supply of footballs. ▶▶ The bagpipe was originally made from the whole skin of a dead sheep. ▶▶ In ancient Rome, urine was used to whiten teeth. ▶▶ The most southern ATM in the world is located in Antarctica, 840 miles from the South Pole. ▶▶ There is enough water in Lake Superior to flood an area the size of North and South America under a foot of water. ▶▶ Undertaker bees remove dead ones from the hive and carry them 50 feet away. ▶▶ A bat can eat 3,000 insects in a single night. ▶▶ A flea can jump up to 200 times its own height, which is equal to a person jumping New York’s Empire State Building. ▶▶ Hippos can run faster than humans. The Big Chill There’s a misperception in various parts of the world that Canada is but a cold, snow-covered wilderness in which the people are nice and say “eh” a lot. If the country’s image is to be forever linked to snow, let’s look at some random data about the white stuff which we either love, hate or from which we escape to the south. ▶▶ About 12% of the Earth’s land surface is blanketed in permanent snow and ice. ▶▶ The majority of snowflakes have six sides. ▶▶ The average snowflake falls at a speed of 3.1 mph. ▶▶ Nova Scotia holds the record for the most snow angels ever made simultaneously in multiple locations. ▶▶ Snow is translucent, not white. ▶▶ It’s estimated that about half of the world’s population has never seen snow close-up. ▶▶ The shape of a snowflake is determined by the path that it takes through the clouds. ▶▶ Nearly 80% of the world’s fresh-water supply comes from snow and ice. ▶▶ Watermelon snow, mostly found in the Canadian Rockies, is snow with a reddish-coloured algae growing on it. ▶▶ Chionophobia is a fear of snow. ▶▶ The first snow machine was patented in 1949. 66 | www.snowbirds.org
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