Strange BUT TRUE

• Water itself does not conduct electricity well, but the impurities found in water do.

• When Ethiopian emperor Menelik II didn’t feel well, he would eat a few pages of the Bible. While this curious habit didn’t do him any harm as long as his consumption was limited, in 1913, feeling particularly ill after a stroke, he ordered an entire Old Testament book of Kings to be fed to him, a page at a time, but died before he could complete it.

• Humans can live unprotected in space for about 30 seconds if they don’t hold their

breath.

• Two actors have died while playing Judas Iscariot in live productions of the biblical story by accidentally hanging themselves for real during his death scene.

• Ever find yourself getting a little sleepy during a virtual meeting? Contrary to popular belief, researchers have determined that the cause isn’t information overload, but mental underload and boredom. (Frankly, we’re not too surprised!)

• A 1999 study found that a single square kilometer (247 acres) of the Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tons of living plants.

• As editors around the globe already know, hearing grammatical errors can cause physical stress.

• Following a nationwide legal battle (and graceful concession from Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar in New Jersey), Taco Bell successfully ensured that the term “Taco Tuesday” can be used freely throughout all 50 states.

• If Earth’s history was condensed into a 24-hour span, life would have appeared at 4 a.m., land plants at 10:24 p.m., dinosaur extinction at 11:41 p.m., and human history would have begun at 11:58:43 p.m.

••• Thought for the Day: “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin