This month’s amazing facts reveal the power of human saliva and M&Ms in space! Not only that, there are sections on Halloween, the Romans and space!
Halloween
Halloween photos usually depict a full moon. but a full moon occurring on Halloween occurs only five or six times every century. On average, you get a Halloween full moon every 19 years, with the last occurrence in 2020.
Trick-or-treating dates back to the Samhain festival (which started over 2,000 years ago). People would prepare banquet tables with food left out to placate unwelcome spirits and then perform antics in exchange for food and drink. By the 19th century, trick-or-treaters started dancing, singing and telling jokes on doorsteps for their treat, a tradition known as “mumming”.
Although Halloween is now the accepted spelling, the correct way is actually “Hallowe’en”. Halloween derives from All Hallows’ Eve, which is why the correct spelling has an apostrophe in it.
German confectioner Hans Riegel invented gummy bears in 1922. The dancing bears, which you could often see at festivals and fairs, were the inspiration for the original gummies, known as “Gummibärchen”. Haribo, the company Riegel founded, remains one of the largest gummy producers in the world.
Sweets and Space
M&Ms were the first sweets to go to space. In 1981, NASA chose them as part of the astronauts’ space food supply due to their ability to withstand the rigours of space travel and their ease of consumption in a zero-gravity environment.
Astronauts can grow up to two inches taller in space because of microgravity, which elongates their spines.
Space begins at 62 miles above sea level with a zone known as the Kármán line, named after Theodore von Kármán, a Hungarian-American physicist.
As of the launch of Soyuz MS-26 on 11th September 2024, there have been 390 human spaceflight launches.
September, October, November and December are named after Roman numbers 7 to 10 and were originally the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th months of the Roman year. Before July and August were renamed after Roman rulers, they were called Quintilis and Sextilis, meaning fifth and sixth.
A view of the universe
The Romans and Their Roads
The City of Bath has two UNESCO inscriptions: one for its hot springs, Roman archaeology, Georgian buildings and natural landscape setting, and another for being one of the great spa towns of Europe.
The Romans built 55,000 miles of road during their occupation of Great Britain!
The UK has a network of about 262,300 miles (422,100 km) of roads. This includes 2,330 miles of motorway, 29,600 miles of trunk A-roads, and 213,810 miles of minor roads.
The Ridgeway, in Southern England, is the UK’s oldest road, dating back over 5,000 years. It may not be the first Tarmac road, which was built in 1902 in Nottingham, but the Ridgeway is the oldest ever road in the UK.
The A1, also known as the Great North Road, is the longest numbered road in the United Kingdom, at 410 miles (660 km). It connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.
Human Saliva and Giant Mushrooms
Human saliva contains a painkiller called opiorphin, which is six times more powerful than morphine.
Animals avoid power lines because they see ultraviolet flashes invisible to humans. Power lines emit UV light due to a buildup of ionized gas, which then suddenly dissipates and emits flashes of UV light. The flashes are random and occur at insulators and along the cables. Animals avoid power lines by several kilometres, disrupting their migration and grazing. This can affect the growth, viability, and genetic variability of animal populations, for example, reindeer herds and herders.
Before trees were common, giant mushrooms covered the Earth. These organisms were a type of fungus that lived from 420 to 350 million years ago. They had tree-like trunks that were up to 24 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Archaeologists have discovered fossils of these prototaxites all around the world. These fungi formed a mutually beneficial relationship with plants and tree roots. They produced and received warning signals and protected plants in soils with high metal concentrations.
Ribs can grow back as long as the perichondrium membrane is intact. Scientists believe these are the only bones in mammals that can do so.
We hope you enjoyed reading about The Power of Human Saliva and M&Ms in Space! Catch up with more of our Amazing Facts series by clicking here.
