Antivenom

At dinner the other night at Ruth’s Chris, Xyon brought up the topic if we knew how snake antivenin was made. None of use knew, so he tells us how they milk the snakes venom out of their fangs and inject a small amount of it into a horse. Apparently the horse’s immune system is a lot better than humans and given their large body mass, it was easier for them to produce antivenom for snake poison. Apparently from that point on, they just extract the antivenom from these horses. Rather neat!

Random Crap:

Iguana’s stubborn erection to get the chop – Mozart, an iguana with an erection that has lasted for over a week, will have his penis amputated in the next couple of days. Veterinarians at Antwerp’s Aquatopia had sought to treat the animal’s problem, but decided removal was the only solution because of the risk of infection. The good news for Mozart and his mates is that male iguanas have two penises. *shivers* I guess having a backup penis is always a good thing.

I have no idea why anyone would still use RapidShare given that 1 download/hr and the 2 minute wait before your download would start. There was a thread on Digg that introduced me to MediaFire and this new service really neat! The one I’ve been using for awhile now is Files.to. It’s a nice way to share 1 file to a bunch of friends without wasting your own bandwidth. The only advantage I see MediaFire having over Files.to is the fact there is no file size limit. Tera and HJO3 both mentioned to me that there was a 100MB file size limit which I missed initially. However, as I responded to them, with a tool like WinRAR where I can break any file into chunks and with their simultaneous download feature, it’s become a non-problem. I’ll admit it’s a bit more hassle, but come on, it’s free. I forget if there was a wait for Files.to, but even if there was, it was rather short and I could have multiple downloads at fast speeds. MediaFire has the best of all worlds. They don’t have a file size limit, simultaneous downloads, and no wait time!

Microwave zaps germs on sponges, study finds – Two minutes in a microwave oven can sterilize most household sponges, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. A team of engineering researchers at the University of Florida found that two minutes of microwaving on full power killed or inactivated more than 99 percent of bacteria, viruses or parasites, as well as spores, on a kitchen sponge. 2 days later: Microwave experiments cause sponge disasters – They described how they soaked the sponges in wastewater and then zapped them. (Microwave zaps germs on sponges.) But several experimenters evidently left out the crucial step of wetting the sponge. “Just wanted you to know that your article on microwaving sponges and scrubbers aroused my interest. However, when I put my sponge/scrubber into the microwave, it caught fire, smoked up the house, ruined my microwave, and pissed me off,” one correspondent wrote in an e-mail to Reuters. Hahahaha. Unfortunately, I think Reuters/CNN is to be blamed here. If you read this article: Microwave ‘sterilisers’ warning (from The Consumerist), it clearly advises users to do the following (twice): The researchers said people should only try to microwave damp sponges. … He recommended microwaving damp not dry sponges to minimise the risk of fire and to only microwave non-metal scrubbing pads. However, in the condensed version posted on Reuters/CNN, there is no such advice posted anywhere.

Humvee Driving In Iraqi Traffic (from Derek) – This is a really cool video of a Humvee driving through Iraqi traffic. In order to avoid insurgent attacks they cant stop or slow down, even if that requires some improvised driving. As Derek says, this is the reason to own a Humvee.

Try a Free Sample of Gillette Fusion (from SD) – A new Walmart promotion allowing you to get free Gillette Fusion razor (with 5 blades). It also brought me back to StartSampling, a site I used to get a bunch of freebies from:

Samples Ordered

• Games for Windows Magazine 01/24/07 04:49 AM
• Swiffer Duster® Sample & Coupon 01/24/07 04:48 AM
• Herbal Essences Intensive Blends 03/13/03 03:36 AM
• $1 Off Lysol Products 11/15/02 06:56 PM
• Razor Defense™ by Neutrogena MEN 10/03/02 03:35 AM
• Musician Dana Mase: Free Album* 04/26/02 05:20 AM
• BIC® PLUS™ Shaver – Men’s 03/05/02 06:48 PM
• Nescafé Coffee 01/14/02 09:15 PM
• Fit Fruit and Vegetable Wash 04/18/01 12:19 PM
• Twizzlers Twists 10/06/00 04:34 PM
• 3D Movie Madness 09/22/00 05:29 PM
• Cranberry Horseradish Coupon 09/18/00 04:27 PM
• Sight Savers Lens Cleaners 09/03/00 11:14 PM
• Airheads Candy 08/17/00 12:33 AM
• Shout Wipes Stain Treater 07/17/00 05:27 PM
• LifeSavers Wint O Green 07/15/00 05:11 PM
• Slim Jim Snacks 06/21/00 07:02 PM

Boy’s screaming kills chickens, for crying out loud – Hundreds of chickens have been found dead in east China — and a court has ruled that the cause of death was the screaming of a four-year-old boy who in turn had been scared by a barking dog, state media reported on Wednesday. … A court ruled the boy’s screaming was “the only unexpected abnormal sound” and that 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear.

I was watching the latest episode of 24 and was like OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! Apparently Jack has more family! They first mentioned Jack’s father and I was like ooooh. Then they said he had a brother, and I was like OOOOOH. Then when they showed us who his brother was, I was like OH MY GOD! If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you MUST see it. Then they showed the brother’s wife and I was like is that who I think it is… no… is it really her? Apparently the actress playing the wife is the same actress that plays Nathan Petrelli’s wife from Heroes. Her name is Rena Sofer.

Japanese marine park captures rare shark on film – A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 meters (2,000 ft) or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week. … Frilled sharks, which feed on other sharks and sea creatures, are sometimes caught in the nets of trawlers but are rarely seen alive. Check out the the video. The shark is freaky!

Frozen Tidal Wave / Melting Glacier (from Digg) – really neat photos!

Durex Condom Ad (from Squiffy’s House of Fun) – Happy Father’s Day.