Facts

Monday, July 26, 2010

Chocolate is a Poison to Dogs

(Source: Dog Topics)


What makes chocolate toxic, anyway?
Chocolate is made from the fruit (beans) of the cacao tree. Theobromine, a component of chocolate, is the toxic compound in chocolate. It is a naturally occurring stimulant found in the cocoa bean, theobromine increases urination and affects the central nervous system as well as heart muscle. While amounts vary by type of chocolate, it's the theobromine that is poisonous to dogs. (Caffeine is also present in chocolate, but in much smaller amounts than Theobromine.) Both Theobromine and Caffeine are members of a drug class called Methylxanines.

Theobromine and caffeine effects on the body:

Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulant
Cardiovascular stimulant
Increase blood pressure (mild)
Nausea and vomiting
Are some chocolates more toxic than others?
Yes. Unsweetened (baker's) chocolate contains 8-10 times the amount of Theobromine as milk chocolate. Semi-sweet chocolate falls roughly in between the two for Theobromine content. White chocolate contains Theobromine, but in such small amounts that Theobromine poisoning is unlikely. Caffeine is present in chocolate, but less than Theobromine.


Why isn't chocolate toxic to humans?
Humans can break down and excrete Theobromine much more efficiently than dogs. The half life of Theobromine in the dog is long; approximately 17.5 hours.

How Much Chocolate Is Deadly?

White chocolate: 200 ounces per pound of body weight. It takes 250 pounds of white chocolate to cause signs of poisoning in a 20-pound dog, 125 pounds for a 10-pound dog.

Milk chocolate: 1 ounce per pound of body weight. Approximately one pound of milk chocolate is poisonous to a 20-pound dog; one-half pound for a 10-pound dog. The average chocolate bar contains 2 to 3 ounces of milk chocolate. It would take 2-3 candy bars to poison a 10 pound dog. Semi-sweet chocolate has a similar toxic level.

Sweet cocoa: 0.3 ounces per pound of body weight. One-third of a pound of sweet cocoa is toxic to a 20-pound dog; 1/6 pound for a 10-pound dog.

Baking chocolate: 0.1 ounce per pound body weight. Two one-ounce squares of bakers' chocolate is toxic to a 20-pound dog; one ounce for a 10-pound dog.

(Source: About.comDog Owner's Digest)
(Suggested by Alex Swee)
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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

How many water bottles and cellphones are thrown away each day?

The Clean Air Council reports that Americans throw away 2.5 million bottles every hour or 60 million bottles every day. With 70 million bottles used in the United States each day, only 17 percent are recycled. Imagine what the statistics will be like for the whole world, since that includes only the Americans!

Source:(Clean Air Council: Waste Facts and FiguresWaste Management World: Down the Drain)


426000 cellphones are decommissioned each day in the United States alone.

Artist Chris Jordan illustrates the number of cellphones below.

All 426,000 cell phones:




Actual Size:


(Source: Gizmodo)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

This is how much the Chinese bet during the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Chinese soccer fans spent up to 500 billion yuan on online gambling during the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany which is roughly 2 percent of China's GDP.




That is more than what Bill Gates' (around US$52 billion) has!!


(Source: China.org.cn

Monday, July 5, 2010

A US Dollar Bill

  • An individual dollar bill is also less formally known as a a bone.  
  • 97% of all paper money contains traces of cocaine
  • The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing says the average life of a $100 bill in circulation is 60 months (5 years) whereas the average life of a $1 bill in circulation is 21 months before it is replaced due to wear. 
(Source: Lending Club; Wikipedia - US$1, US$100)

Sunday, July 4, 2010

NINTENDO : The Past and The Present

After more than two and a half decades, let's see the improvement on the quality of the graphics for both Mario and Donkey Kong.

(Source: Wikipedia)



                              THEN (1985)                               NOW


                                THEN(1981)                              NOW

(Source for Mario and Donkey Kong's picture: Yahoo! Games)

Friday, July 2, 2010

Without the ozone layer...

Without this shield, we'd be sunburned within 5 minutes of exposure, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.



Thursday, July 1, 2010

Hidden Facts from the Toy Story 3

Here are some of the hidden facts from Toy Story 3.


Sid, the bully from the first movie who wears a skull T-shirt, appears as a garbage man in the new film wearing the same skull T-shirt. (I noticed that!!)




"A113," the number of a classroom at CalTech where many Pixar animators studied, shows up as an Easter egg in every Pixar film. In the "Toy Story" series, it's the license plate on Andy's mother's car.


A calendar from Pizza Planet is clearly seen. Pizza Planet has appeared in every Pixar film except "The Incredibles.


 There's a postcard on Andy's dresser addressed from the featured characters from last year's "Up," Carl and Ellie Fredrickson.


(Facts from Yahoo Movies)