30 random trivia facts that might one day come in handy

People with blue eyes tend to have a higher tolerance for alcohol and can drink more before they begin to feel the effects, according to a Georgia State University study. The flip side of this bit of random trivia? It also means that blue-eyed people are more likely to become dependent on alcohol. Researchers discovered a significant link between the genes that determine eye colour and the genes that impact addictive habits. (Although, of course, you should drink responsibly no matter what colour your eyes are.)

Does drinking red wine protect you from heart disease? Read on to find out.

Doritos chips are flammable and can start a fire if you’re in need of kindling. The oil and seasoning on the chips, especially the spicy varieties, can actually produce a reasonably long-lasting fire, according to Lifehacker.

Paul Rudd blew people’s minds in 2019 when he split an apple in half in a Netflix video. But others were quick to point out that this was not a show of superhuman strength; it’s actually very possible with a little bit of practice. Lifehacker recommends pressing the muscular base of both thumbs into the divot at the top of the apple (you can cut off the stem to make that easier; it’s not cheating). Then squeeze the apple top to bottom and pull your hands apart, almost like you’re opening a book. Smaller, crunchier apples work best.

Well, three, technically: your nose and your ears. Once you’ve stopped growing as an adolescent, the number of cells in most parts of your body remain fixed, meaning you don’t grow anymore. The cells themselves can still increase and decrease in size, meaning your overall body size can increase or decrease, but only cells in your nose and ears continue to duplicate.

Do you suffer from tinnitus? Don’t miss these effective cures to try.

Move over, Pop Rocks! There’s a type of Life Saver that will emit light-up ‘sparks’ as you eat them. (It’s those white ones you’ve probably seen in a public-place candy basket.) There’s some perplexing, complicated science involved, but thanks to the electron-expelling nature of the crystalline sugars in Wint-O-Green Life Savers,  they’ll glow in the dark. When the electrons meet nitrogen in the air, the nitrogen molecules light up. (Technically, all hard candies made with crystalline sugars emit a slight visible light when they crack.) But since Wint-O-Green Life Savers contain oil of wintergreen, which has fluorescent properties, that visible light is much more, well, visible.

Have you ever travelled internationally and noticed that signs still have English instructions on them, and many people seem to know some basic English? That’s because a full two billion people around the world speak English as a second language, according to the New Yorker. That’s approximately six (slightly more than 5.7) times the number of native speakers (which is around 350 million people). Which seems pretty impressive, especially considering how English is so confusing.

Find out which are most misused word in the English language.

You have a greater chance of dying on your birthday than you do on any other day. The size of that chance varies depending on age, but it averages out to about 13 per cent. Several famous people passed away on their own birthdays, including William Shakespeare, actress Ingrid Bergman, and The Feminine Mystique author Betty Friedan. Studies have revealed that your risk of heart attack and stroke increases on the day you were born by about 22 and 19 per cent, respectively.

The technical name for the noise your stomach makes when it growls is a ‘borborygmus’. It occurs when gas moves around in your intestines, so saying that your stomach is rumbling is a bit of a misnomer.

Studies have revealed that dogs’ brains have voice-sensitive areas very similar to those of humans, in terms of both location and activity. In a University of Lincoln study, researchers found that dogs were able to correctly pair a sound conveying a certain emotion with a photo of a human depicting that emotion. The dogs had not seen or heard the humans in the photos before the experiment, suggesting that canines have an instinctive ability to differentiate between complex emotions. This is most likely because humans have been domesticating dogs and their ancestors for thousands of years, forging a relationship that’s unique among the animal kingdom.

These cute photos of wet dogs will make you smile. Check them out.

Storing sour cream or cottage cheese upside down can help them last longer. This is because keeping them upside down creates a vacuum in the container, slowing the growth of the bacteria that causes them to spoil.