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Page 1129 - Top Facts

Oranges are green, not orange when grown in a tropical climate!


An orange is not a naturally occurring fruit , but rather a crossbreed of the tangerine and the pomelo, which is a fruit also known as the Chinese grapefruit. The first oranges were created in southeast Asia, where they would have been green, rather than orange.

The reason why oranges are green in a tropical climate is because the weather rarely gets cold. Because of the lack of cool weather, the chlorophyll remains in the skin of the orange, keeping it green. When an orange is exposed to cool weather while still on the branch it turns to orange. And orange that is left on the tree can change between green and orange several times depending on the weather.

This change of colors also means it’s impossible to tell if an orange is ripe. Fortunately for us, you don’t have to pay attention to if an orange is ripe. It remains ripe for a long time, even if left on the branch until the next season. The reason all of our oranges are orange in the store is because oranges are generally grown in subtropical areas, which means that they are exposed to cold weather. Oranges were able to give their name to the color because, most oranges are actually orange and not green.

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Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho first gained media attention after he scored every goal in a 23-0 game at age 13.


Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, or Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian football (soccer) star who has twice won FIFA World Player of the Year. Ronaldinho was born in Porto Alegre as the son of a salesperson and shipyard worker. 

His father had also played football, but had died of a heart attack when Ronaldinho was eight. When Ronaldinho’s older brother signed with a football team, the family moved to a more wealthy area. It was short lived, though, as his brother ended his career after an injury.

 When Ronaldinho was only 8, he also began to show skills in football. When he was 13, and scored 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team. He was identified as a rising star at the 1997 U-17 World Championship, where he scored two goals from penalty kicks. 

From there, his fame rose to where he is today. If you remember when YouTube was brand new, you might recall that a 2005 Nike advertisement featuring Ronaldinho performing impressive feats with a soccer ball was the first YouTube video to break 1 million views. 

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Afghanistan’s Jewish population is 1.


Seventy years ago, there were still about 5,000 Jews in Afghanistan. In 1951, when they were allowed to emigrate, most of them moved to Israel and the United States. 

In the 1960’s, a large number of Afghan Jews left the country in search of a better life, but not due to religious persecution. By 1969, there were only around 300. 

After the Soviet invasion of 1979, many more left, and by 1996 there were only 10 Jews left in Afghanistan, most of them in Kabul. By 2004, the number had fallen to two: Zablon Simintov and Isaac Levy. 

Levy relied on charity to sustain his life, while Simentov ran a carpet and jewelry store. Both of them claimed to be in charge of the Kabul synagogue and the owner of its Torah, and both accused the other of theft. Their feud went on until Levy’s death in 2005. 

Throughout, they both spent time in Taliban jails. The Taliban even confiscated the disputed Torah. Their relationship was so rocky that it inspired a play called “The Last Two Jews of Kabul.” For 7 years, Simentov has remained the last Jew in Afghanistan. 

He is actively trying to recover the confiscated Torah, and claims the man who confiscated it is now in Guantanamo Bay. Though Simentov has a wife and two daughters in Israel, he says he has no intention of joining them there. Where did all the Afghan Jews go? More than 10,000 of them and those of their descent now live in Israel. In New York City, there are around 200 more families. 

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Some public toilets have blue lights to make it hard for heroin users to see their veins.



The use of blue lights in some public toilets is meant to make it more difficult to see the veins on the arm. The intention behind this is that by making it harder for junkies to see their veins, they won't be able to inject themselves, and therefore lowering the illegal drug problem. This can be counterproductive, though, because it results often in heroin users having worse results by missing their veins during injection. As it turns out, addicts who have a need to inject themselves will not let simple blue light stop them. The research paper at the source concludes that blue light doesn't really deter injection, but rather increases the use of riskier methods of injection.

Despite this, the method has been adopted by certain authorities, railway stations, hostels, and hotels. What's worse, blue lights introduce even more troubles than just for heroin addicts. They've reportedly made cleaning hazardous spills harder and increased the risk of trips and falls due to the lighting being poor. Essentially, all the blue lights end up doing is deterring heroin addicts from injecting in certain locations, or if they can't, they inject themselves in riskier ways. What defeats the whole idea, though, is that most new cell phones now have a flash light feature anyway. What do you think. Should public places use blue light to deter drug use?



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PSA: 160,000 kids miss school every day to avoid being bullied. Here's how you can take a stand and make your voice heard.


DoSomething.org and the film BULLY are teaming up to run the largest nationwide bullying census hosted exclusively by Facebook.

For the first time, young people across the country will have a chance to speak to the realities of bullying in their schools and identify ways improve the problems they face on a daily basis. Take the survey today for a chance to win up to $20,000 in scholarship money!

Take the survey here: www.DoSomething.org/bully

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