Page 14 - Best of the Week

A saguaro cactus takes 75 years to grow its first arm!

The saguaro cactus, is easily the most famous type of cactus in the world. Everyone has heard about, or seen this desert symbol at some point or another. A little known fact about the cactus is that it takes 75 years until it grows it's first arm, however there are a few other things that people don't know about this cactus.

For example, over the span of it's lifetime, 175-200 years, the Saguaro Cactus can produce as many as 40 million seeds - however only a handful will actually live to adulthood. You can also tell if the needles on the cactus are old or not. The more red the roots of the needle, the younger it is in relation to the cactus!

There was once a cactus that set a few records - it was 300 years old, was over 12m tall, had 45 arms, and weighed around 13 tons!

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A railway company employs a cat as 'Super Station Master!'

Tama, a cat from Kinokawa, Wakayama, was initially just a stray cat like every other stray cat out and about in the streets of Japan. She was fending for survival, and lived near Kishi Station. Tama was fed by passengers that were passing through the train station, and even by the unofficial manager of the station, Toshiko Koyama. When the station was almost shut down in 2004, Koyama adopted Tama out of fear she would have no place to go if the station was demolished.

In 2007, Toshiko Koyama eventually became the official station manage, and in January of 2007, Tama was promoted to station master. Her job is to greet passengers, and she is the only female in a managerial position in the COMPANY. The positions comes with a station master's hat, and as her salary, the railway provides her with free cat food.

After an increase of over 1.1 billion Yen to the local economy because of all the publicity she was getting, Tama was promoted to Super Station Master and given her own office...a transformed ticket booth contianing a litter box.

Tama now has her own assistants, a building named after her, and even trains and tramcars depicting cartoon versions of her. Click the source to see this rags to riches cat story!

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Poor women who drank tea were viewed as or WORSE than irresponsible alcoholics in the early 19th century!

Poor women who drank tea were viewed as irresponsible as whisky drinkers in early 19th-century Ireland! Critics at the time declared that the practice of tea drinking was contributing to the stifling of Ireland’s economic growth, and was clearly presented as reckless and uncontrollable.

Women who drank tea wasted their time and money; it was said, drawing them away from their duty to care for their husbands and home. It was felt this traditionally female responsibility was vital in order to progress with the national economy!

There was also a myth of tea having drug-like qualities, because it was still a mysterious substance from China. People thought that tea became addictive over time. Moreover, tea was not as cheap as it was today, and was considered an irresponsible luxury for poor women to indulge in.

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A milk protein is used in the manufacturing of latex, which means most condoms are unsuitable for use by vegans!

Many people are concerned about condom materials because they have an allergy to latex. Considering that most condoms are made from latex, this concern makes sense. However, it turns out that those afflicted with latex allergies are not the only ones that should be questioning just what condoms are made of.

It turns out that some condoms are made with milk proteins, making them unsuitable for vegans. Vegans, unlike vegetarians, abstain from consuming not only meat but all animal products, including milk.

Many condom companies manufacture their condoms using casein, a milk protein. They may also use milk powder. Thankfully for those vegans who don’t want to give up their birth control, there are vegan-approved condoms. Glyde Condoms, Sir Richard’s Condoms, RFSU Condoms, Condomi Condoms and a number of others have all been confirmed by the Vegan Society to contain no animal products.

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