Page 141 - Science Facts
Ernest Duchesne discovered penicillin 32 years before Alexander Fleming, but he was ignored because he was only 23!
Duchesne was a French physician who noted that certain moulds killed bacteria. This was 32 years before Alexander Fleming found the antibiotic properties in penicillin. Duchesne enrolled at the Military Health Service Schools of Lyons in 1894 and documented his findings in his thesis paper on the antagonisms between moulds and microbes.
He made his discovery by observing how Arab stable boys at the army hospital kept the saddles in a dark and damp room to encourage mould growth. They told Duchesne that the mould helped heal the saddle sores on the horses. Duchesne took the information and experimented on guinea pigs.
Due to his age, though, his research went unrecognized and he was unable to continue research himself, because of his army service. In 1949, five years after Fleming won the Nobel Peace Prize, Duchesne was posthumously honored as the original discoverer of penicillin.
Oil from oranges is flammable!
Orange oil is an essential oil made by the cells within the orange’s rind. It consists of more than 90% d-limonene and used in the place of pure d-limonene. Limonene is what gives oranges their familiar scent.
It is used in many household cleaners for fragrance and is also an environmentally friendly and effective solvent. Limonene, when one is exposed to it for long periods of time, can also be a skin irritant when exposure is of pure limonene. So, don’t strike any matches near your fruit bowls!
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Some awesome lists!
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There is a scientific study on why your headphones get tangled in your pocket.
What's worse, in over 3400 different trials, they found that the probability of a knot being formed in your pocket is incredibly high, and the knots will be formed within seconds! Check out the source for more info. There's a great deal of complex knott-math and scientific analysis that has gone into this.
Nutmeg can get you high!
Under certain circumstances, nutmeg can produce hallucinogenic effects much like the ones from Marijuana. The reason for this is that it contains a compound called myristicin. It's found in it's seeds, and large quantities of it provide deliriant effects and can cause hallucinations if consumed in excess.
So why isn't there an uproar and ban on the use of nutmeg? Well the reason is that it's a pretty unpleasant way to get high, so no one really does it. For starters, nutmeg doesn't particularly taste well by itself. Only a little bit is used for cooking. However, for drug use, large amounts of nutmeg are required. Also, it takes a long time to feel the effects of the drug and also doesn't wear off for a few days. So if you're thinking about it... don't do it
