No, this alleged torture gadget did not exist. The widespread usage of the term "mediaeval" is a typical 18th-century fiction, fueled by conceptions of the Middle Ages as a generally uncivilised era of murder and mayhem. (They weren't awful, but they weren't great.)

Beluga whales are a very loud species that is highly sociable. Due to the avian-like noises that beluga whales produce, mariners and scientists have referred to them as "sea canaries" for a very long time.

If the Bible contains the earliest reference to the passport, the origin of the two French words 'passer' + 'port' meaning "to pass through a port" dates from the 15th century. It was also written as a compound word at the time, "passport." From the middle of the 15th century, the compound name "passport" was used to refer to the movement of people after it was first used to authorize the movement of goods. However, it is not certain that the term "port" referred solely to seaports, but rather to the gates of fortified cities.

Nepal is still very much alive and well! In the next ten million years, the Indo-Australian plate beneath Nepal is expected to travel 1,500 kilometers into Asia.

Mulan was originally conceived as a straight-to-video film called China Doll, about a poor, oppressed Chinese girl who is whisked away by a white guy to live a happier life in the West. When a writer discovered the Chinese poem "The Song of Fa Mu Lan," the studio decided to combine both projects and create Mulan. Knowing the film's slightly racist, tone-deaf origins, on the other hand, casts the film in a whole new light.

No one is totally sure why hypnic jerks occur but they are deemed to be perfectly healthy. However, they may be increased by anxiety, caffeine or physical activity close to bedtime. They’re more frequent in young people and decrease as we get older.

 

A common, but the lesser-known side effect of anxiety is anger. When we feel powerless over a situation, or our life is out of our control, expressing anger is a natural way to feel a sense of control.
It’s much easier to externalize the conflict rather than acknowledge the real issue and deal with it. Additionally, with chronic sufferers of anxiety, depression sometimes develops.

All asteroids are categorised into numerous classes based on their chemical makeup and albedo. In a nutshell, there are three basic categories of asteroids: metal, silicon, and carbon. Carbon asteroids have very black surfaces. About 75% and 17% of all known asteroids fall within the first two groups.

Well, it is in Spain, but not in the Iberian Peninsula. A fun fact about Spain is that the highest mountain in the country is Mount Teide (3718 meters). This mountain is situated in the Canary Islands and is an active volcano. As a consequence of its eruptions, the beaches of the island of Tenerife are of black sand instead of white.

Elephants are extremely clever and simple to teach, making them ideal for use as executioners and torturers. They may be taught to use enormous blades connected to their tusks to slowly destroy bones, crush skulls, twist off limbs, or even execute people. This manner of death was still used in various regions of Asia until the late nineteenth century.

Understand that bad breath, or halitosis, is caused by more than just the foods you eat; it can also reveal information about your gum health. When food particles become trapped between your teeth, they promote bacterial growth, resulting in bad breath. Bacteria will begin to spread between your teeth and gums during the early stages of gum disease, forming infected pockets that contribute to bad breath.

Honeycomb blinds are an excellent choice for people looking for energy-saving coverings for their homes. This is due to the pattern design and material that is designed to trap air. As a result, barriers are built to prevent maximum heat loss or gain.

Chia may be eaten by babies as early as six months old. Mix milled chia seeds into pureed fruits and other meals to provide your infant with high levels of omega-3s, which are essential for brain development. If a mother consumes chia before the age of six months, her kid will benefit – both during pregnancy and when the infant is nursed.

Who knew a high-ranking Norwegian officer could be found in the Edinburgh Zoo? Originally, King Penguin Sir Nils Olav served as the Norwegian Guard's mascot. He swiftly rose through the ranks, from Corporal in 1982 to Knighted in 2008, and Brigadier in 2016.

When perfumers try to derive the scent of a flower, many of its aspects are lost once it’s dried and pressed into oils. So perfumers try to add those characteristics back by adding notes which make it smell more realistic. One weird way that’s done in the case of white florals, is by using Indole. Derived from coal tar, this smells like camphor and mothballs when pure, and gives a fecal scent to enhance the intensity and depth of jasmine perfumes to make these fragrances smell more like the real flower.

The title of foggiest place in the world goes to the Grand Banks area of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. The area is where the cold Labrador Current from the north meets the much warmer Gulf Stream from the south. This mix of currents regularly causes fog to form, with over 200 days of fog per year.

If you happen to be in Key West, Florida, for the holidays, stop by the Bourbon St. Pub, where each new year is greeted by a massive shoe. Sushi, a local drag queen, climbs into an oversized piece of footwear and is (carefully) dropped from a balcony every December 31. Meanwhile, Eastover, North Carolina residents have taken to dropping 30-pound ceramic fleas on the last night of the year. In North Carolina, the town of Mount Olive (home of the Mt. Olive Pickle Company) holds a New Year's Eve "Pickle Drop," in which a giant pickle slides down a flagpole.

Did you know that the longest river in the world is located in Egypt? The Nile River cuts through Egypt and about 95 percent of the population of Egypt resides along the Nile River. With much of the country being occupied by desert, this fact about Egypt isn’t all that surprising. 90 percent of Egypt is made up of desert and the River Nile divides that desert.

The ancient Egyptians divided Egypt into two lands, the desert, and the Nile Valley. Contrary to what you would think, upper Egypt is located in the South and Lower Egypt is north. That is because the Nile flows north towards the Mediterranean Sea.

These include superstition relating to various numbers, reliance on Chinese medicine, and relatively low religious rates. Only 50% of the population is religious, most commonly following Buddhism and Taoism.
 

The liver is the second-biggest organ and the largest gland in the human body. For an adult human, it can weigh up to 1.3–1.6 kg and is reddish brown in colour. The liver removes the poisons or chemicals that the body excretes as bile in the form of stool or urine. The liver produces bile, which gives the stool its brown colour.

This interesting fact about cats is guaranteed to wow at your next dinner party. Did you know that originally it was thought that Egyptians domesticated the cat? But in 2004, French archaeologists discovered a 9,500-year-old cat grave in Cyprus. This makes this the oldest known pet cat and it predates Egyptian art about cats by over 4,000 years!

You wouldn't anticipate centipedes to be perfect mothers given how brutal they are. Though it may come as a surprise, some species are actually fiercely protective of their young. In order to shield their eggs from predators until they hatch, females of the aforementioned species will encircle them. Some mothers will stay with their babies until they are old enough to leave the nest on their own, and these mothers will also clean the eggs to stop them from growing fungi.

Spiders come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with their own distinct appearance and characteristics. There are currently over 35,000 different species of spider known. Some scientists, however, believe that there is much more to be discovered.

Teddy named Magellan T. Bear has become the first teddy to reach space when he boarded space shuttle discovery in 1995. The teddy bear was not just a bear but an education specialist on a mission. The teddy bear later flew around the world, visited the South Pole, and explored much more.