Even while studying at school, many of you, dear readers, probably learned that such words as biology, psychology, theology came from the corresponding Greek words, one of which logos means a word or doctrine (biology is the doctrine of life).
By analogy, each person can name any doctrine invented by him. So, for example, the science of ratings in this case will be called ratingology. There are no less strange officially recognized sciences that are devoted to the study of unusual things - we will talk about them today. So here is the list the most unusual sciences in the world.
1. OOLOGY
Do you like the smell of sulfur? Are you concerned about your cholesterol levels? Then you can safely become an oologist. Oology is the branch of ornithology that deals with the study of the eggs of animals, especially birds. You may be surprised, but many people in the world collect eggs, and some collections are so extensive that they deserve to be displayed in museums.
To become an oologist, you must first become an ornithologist. The profession will be in demand in museums and zoos.
2. THANATOLOGY
Thanatology is the science of death, a branch of medicine that studies the process, dynamics and causes of dying. Most notable studies in this area belong to the University of Wisconsin in the USA. Thanatologists, in addition to directly death and dying, can also study cemeteries and tombstones.
3. POMOLOGY
In third place, science is not so gloomy and, to some extent, even life-affirming. Pomology is a branch of agronomy that studies various varieties of fruit and berry plants. Agree, it is much more pleasant to breed a new variety of berries and fruit trees than to study tombstones.
Future pomologists often begin their studies as ordinary gardeners, then their knowledge deepens and expands.
4. Narratology
Narratology is the science of storytelling. It is the narratologist who can say what exactly captivated you in your favorite book. The work is sometimes studied down to every metaphor. Narratologists are masters literary analysis- here they reach heights inaccessible to the ordinary person.
5. ESCHATALOGY
Eschatology is a religious doctrine about the end of the world, the fate of people, the afterlife and the transition of the Universe to a new qualitative state.
This branch of theology deals with finding out what happens to a person after death. If you catch yourself thinking about the end of the world or your own destiny after death, then eschatology will help you find answers to many questions.
6. DENDROCHRONOLOGY
Dendrochronology is a science devoted to the study of the growth rings of wood with the aim of subsequent dating of archaeological finds and antiquities.
It turns out that trees, like human bodies, can carry signs of past trauma or stress. Dendrochronology studies tree rings to find out what events happened to a tree during its existence. Such events may include, for example, a lightning strike or a forest fire.
7. VEXILLOLOGY
Vexillology is a historical discipline that studies flags, banners, standards, pennants. The science is quite interesting and fascinating - vexillology allows you to learn new facts about the history of the creation and use of the flags of various states.
8. CAMPANOLOGY
Campanology is the study of bells. The notorious hunchback Quasimodo of Victor Hugo would have been surprised to hear this name, although he was directly related to the bells. So why does this science exist? In fact, not everything is so simple with the bell ringing. Bells are very different: they can be made of various materials and weigh from a few kilograms to a ton. You need to ring the bells in such a way that the desired effect is created in a certain way, and not every person is capable of this.
Campanologists often start their careers as bell ringers. Some go on to become teachers bell ringing to pass on their knowledge to the next generation.
9. KREMLINOLOGY
Kremlinology, as the name implies, is a science that studies Soviet or Russian politics. It is not surprising that such a science has appeared. Our country is the largest and richest natural resources, therefore, carried out by the USSR, and now by Russia, external and domestic politics will always be closely studied and analyzed.
The mentality of Russians and Europeans is significantly different, and in many ways we are opposite to each other. This is probably why it took a whole science to find explanations for certain decisions of our leadership.
10. GERONTOLOGY
Gerontology is a branch of medicine that studies the phenomena of aging in living organisms. Gerontology also includes the study of diseases of the elderly, the hygiene of older people and their psychological and behavioral characteristics.
Among domestic scientists, a significant contribution to the development of science was made by I. I. Mechnikov and n. M. Amosov. There is a section of gerontology - social gerontology, which deals with the demographic and socio-economic problems of aging.
Science is special kind cognitive activity a person aimed at obtaining, substantiating and systematizing objective knowledge about the world, man, society and cognition itself, on the basis of which a person transforms reality.
Here are some of the most interesting and surprising facts about science.
American physicist and computer scientist Douglas Hofstadter, discussing the difficulties in planning and estimating the execution time of complex tasks, formulated the recursive principle, now known as Hofstadter's law: "Any business always takes longer than expected, even if you take into account Hofstadter's law."
In 2009, researchers at the University of Montreal attempted to conduct a study on the impact of pornography viewing on the sex life of men in their 20s and 30s. Within its framework, 20 men were interviewed. However, the goal was not achieved, as scientists could not find a single man who had never seen porn to make comparisons.
Physicists Ralph Alfer and Georgy Gamov before the publication of a work on primary nucleosynthesis - formation chemical elements during the Big Bang - they invited Hans Bethe as co-authors only to have their names form a beautiful combination of the first three letters of the Greek alphabet. For brevity, the scientific community calls this article “??? paper". Some calculations for the work were made on a computer by Ralph Herman, who was offered to change his surname to Delter and also get on the list of authors, but he refused.
By the beginning of World War II, the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing, founded by Nikolai Vavilov, had the largest collection of seeds in the world from more than one hundred thousand plant samples. During the siege of Leningrad, the staff of the Institute heroically preserved the collection in the absence of electricity and interruptions in heating. Only in the winter of 1941-1942, five Virovtsy died of starvation, refusing to consider stocks of cereals and potatoes as food. And in the summer, employees managed to sow the necessary samples under artillery fire. Rats got into some of the boxes, and there were cases of theft through broken windows, but in general, for the collection, these losses turned out to be insignificant.
Among the followers of various denominations, there are many adherents of theistic evolutionism. This concept recognizes the scientific view of the origin of the Universe, the origin of life on Earth and evolution, but declares God to be the driving force of these processes. Inconsistencies in religious texts (for example, the creation of the world by God in 6 days), theistic evolutionists explain that, in the light of the indisputable evidence of modern scientific theories religious texts should not be interpreted literally, but allegorically. Of all denominations, theistic evolutionism received the most consistent and official support from the Catholic Church: back in the mid-20th century, Pope Pius XII stated that evolution should be considered a serious hypothesis, and in 1996 John Paul II said that this is more than a hypothesis, and that between there is no contradiction between the theory of evolution and the doctrine of faith.
There are many scientists among Catholics who made discoveries that directly contradicted religious dogma. Moreover, they were not just believers, but also served as priests. The most famous such person is Nicolaus Copernicus, he served as a canon in the diocese of Warmia and became famous for his theory of the heliocentric system of the universe. The Catholic Church subsequently banned his teaching and censored his writings. Another example from the 20th century is the Belgian Georges Lemaitre, who received the rank of abbot and worked at many universities. He became the author of the theory of the expanding universe independently of the Soviet mathematician Fridman, and subsequently his reasoning formed the basis of the Big Bang theory.
In 1927, Thomas Parnell, a professor at the Australian University of Queensland, set up an experiment to demonstrate to students the liquid properties of bituminous tar - a substance that is solid in its normal state. After heating the resin, he poured it into a stoppered glass funnel and closed the top, and three years later he cut off the bottom of the funnel, allowing droplets to form. The first drop fell in 1938, the next ones fell at about the same interval - a total of 9 drops have been recorded to date. This experience is considered the longest continuous laboratory experiment in history.
American scientists on a computer model proved the theoretical possibility of the exodus of Jews from Egypt. As described in the book of Exodus, Moses led his people to the place where the sea waters. Computer calculations have shown that in one place in the Nile Delta, a passage with walls of water on the sides can form if the wind blows in a certain direction at a speed of 100 km / h for 12 hours.
There is a widespread legend that the idea of periodic table chemical elements came to Mendeleev in a dream. Once he was asked if this was so, to which the scientist replied: “I’ve been thinking about it for maybe twenty years, and you think: I sat and suddenly ... it’s ready.”
In terms of iron content - 2.7 mg per 100 grams - spinach is not a champion among vegetables. However, for a long time it was believed that spinach is exceptionally rich in iron. This misconception was born in the late 19th century from two sources. One American researcher came up with a figure of 2.9 mg, but forgot to put a comma, and in the published study it was 29 mg. Regardless of him, a scientist from Switzerland announced an even higher figure - 35 mg, but he received such a result based on the analysis of dry spinach. The mistake was revealed only half a century later.
Psychology is sometimes called "the science of sophomores and white rats" because many experiments are done on these two categories. Most research psychologists work in universities, so it is easiest for them to attract students for research.
AT Nazi Germany The acceptance of the Nobel Prize was banned after the 1935 Peace Prize was awarded to the opponent of National Socialism, Karl von Ossietzky. German physicists Max von Laue and James Frank entrusted the custody of their gold medals to Niels Bohr. When the Germans occupied Copenhagen in 1940, the chemist de Hevesy dissolved these medals in aqua regia. After the end of the war, de Hevesy extracted the gold hidden in aqua regia and gave it to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. They made new medals and re-handed them to von Laue and Frank.
Since the 1990s, there have been frequent calls on websites and mailing lists to ban the use of dihydrogen monoxide. They list the numerous dangers that this substance causes: it is the main component of acid rain, accelerates the corrosion of metals, can cause a short circuit, etc. Despite the danger, the substance is actively used as an industrial solvent, an additive to food products, on the nuclear power plants, and enterprises dump it in huge quantities into rivers and seas. This joke - after all, dihydrogen monoxide is nothing but water - should teach critical perception of information. In 2007, a New Zealand MP bought it. He received a similar letter from a voter and forwarded it to the government, demanding that the dangerous chemical be banned.
In a hoard buried about a thousand years ago by the Vikings on the Swedish island of Gotland, lenses of a complex aspherical shape made of rock crystal were found. René Descartes calculated this form of lenses only in the 17th century, but was never able to make them.
In 1963, Tanzanian schoolboy Erasto Mpemba discovered that hot water freezes faster in the freezer than a cold one. In honor of him, this phenomenon was named the Mpemba effect. Until now, scientists have not been able to accurately explain the cause of the phenomenon, and the experiment is not always successful: it requires certain conditions.
There is an opinion that Alfred Nobel did not include mathematics in the list of disciplines of his prize due to the fact that his wife cheated on him with a mathematician. In fact, Nobel never married. The real reason for ignoring mathematics by Nobel is unknown, but there are several suggestions. For example, at that time there was already a prize in mathematics from the Swedish king. Another is that mathematicians do not make important inventions for mankind, since this science is purely theoretical.
Nine-banded armadillos are of great interest to science because they usually give birth to 4 identical twins. Due to their complete identity, a group of four armadillos is an excellent subject for medical, genetic, psychological and other studies that require a homogeneous composition of the test subjects.
The James Randi Educational Foundation is dedicated to hoax and psychic research and guarantees a million dollar prize to anyone who can demonstrate supernatural abilities under the conditions of a correctly designed experiment. Since 1996, no applicant has been able to win the award.
The process of knowing the world, exploring new horizons and penetrating the very essence of the most complex natural phenomena impossible without trial and error. Science must be mistaken and wrong, because that's how things work. The whole point is to refute what we think we know well enough. If we can't find evidence to the contrary, then so be it. And if we can, then ahead of us is waiting for a whole new world! Here are 25 examples of the most common misconceptions of the scientific world of past centuries and even years. But 25 misconceptions are just a drop in the ocean, and the most popular misconceptions and interesting facts are on the website https://factum-info.net/. Perhaps today there is something that you unquestioningly believe in, and tomorrow this stereotype will be included in a new list of errors and hoaxes.
25. The four humors of the human body
Ancient doctors and scientists believed that the human body consists of 4 fluids - phlegm, yellow bile, black bile and blood. If the body did not produce a healthy ratio of these vital juices, the person became ill. For the same reason, until the end of the 19th century, the method of treatment with bloodletting was considered the most effective way to bring the balance of fluids back to normal. Then the golden age of microbiology began, and medicine was able to take a different path, saving new lives thanks to scientific breakthroughs.
But why humor? In ancient medical theories, the fundamental human fluids were called humors (an ancient Greek word that translates as humor). It was believed that each type of humor or humor corresponds to a certain temperament. Probably, this is where the ambiguous meaning of the words "bile" and "ulcer" appeared in the Russian language.
24. Miasm Theory
In the science of past centuries, there was a theory that the cause of most diseases is miasma (harmful substances and decay products that come from the soil and Wastewater straight into the air). Until the advent of extensive research in microbiology in the late 19th century, the miasma theory was the most common explanation for almost all ailments, including typhoid fever, malaria, and cholera.
In the process of developing this theory, science has generated a number of extremely curious medical solutions and devices. During the Middle Ages, doctors sometimes prescribed bad smell treatments (such as inhalation of intestinal gases) to their patients. Apparently, they believed that if unpleasant odors can cause illness, then they can also overcome it.
23. Earth is the center of the universe
Thanks to Nicolaus Copernicus, today we know that our Earth is not the center of the universe. In the 16th century, the geocentric system of the world, according to which all the stars revolved around our planet, was replaced by the heliocentric and then by the following modern cosmological models of the Universe. And that's not all ... Modern scientists know much more than astronomers of past centuries, and we have Newest technologies allowing you to look far beyond the horizons of the conceivable. But what more people learns about space, the more new questions appear!
22. Phlogiston
For the first time this term appeared in the middle of the 17th century, and the German chemist and physician Johann Joachim Becher became its author. The pundit suggested that this element is an ultra-fine matter or fiery substance contained in flammable substances and released from them during combustion. In addition, in the 17th century, people believed that we breathe not in order to receive oxygen, but in order to exhale this very phlogiston from the body and not burn alive.
21. Neanderthals and homo sapiens did not mate with each other
For a long time, geneticists believed that modern people are exclusively descendants of the Homo sapiens species, and Neanderthal DNA has sunk into oblivion. However, in 2010, scientists managed to sequence (determine the sequence of amino acids and nucleotides) the genes of Neanderthals. At the same time, it was discovered that about 4% of people living outside of Africa are partly descendants of those same Neanderthals, and traces of the DNA of this extinct species were found in their blood. It seems that our ancestors still communicated with Neanderthals much more closely ...
20. Genetic differences between human races
In fact, there is no genetic difference between the human races. Recent studies carried out already in the 21st century have even shown that there can be much more differences between African peoples than in general between some Europeans and blacks.
19. Pluto is a planet
At first, Pluto was not considered a planet, then it was nevertheless ranked as this type of celestial bodies, calling it the 9th planet. solar system. This was until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union updated and expanded cosmological terminology, and Pluto was demoted again, but this time to the rank of a dwarf or minor planet numbered 134340. A number of scientists continue to insist that this heavenly body- a classic planet, so there is every chance that he will be returned to his former status again. For those not in the know, the main difference is dwarf planets from the classical ones lies in the ability of the studied astronomical object to clear its orbit from cosmic debris, dust or planetesimals.
18. Ulcers appear due to stress and anxiety.
Wrong. An ulcer appears as a result of the vital activity of a special bacterium, and the researchers who proved this received in 2005 Nobel Prize. One of the scientists involved in the experiments deliberately ingested these microorganisms to prove their connection with inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes.
17. The earth is flat
For many centuries this statement was considered a dogma and an ordinary fact. But if you think that those days are over, you are mistaken. For example, the Flat Earth Society still promotes the idea flat earth, and assures people that all satellite images are fakes. Members of this organization deny the generally accepted scientific facts and believe in conspiracy theories. Society is convinced that the Sun, Moon and other stars revolve above the surface of our flat planet, that gravity does not exist, that South Pole neither, but Antarctica is the Earth's ice belt.
16. Phrenology
This pseudoscience says that inner world, character and sometimes even the fate of a person depend on the physical appearance. Followers of phrenology believe that the most important information about a person's mental properties can be obtained by measuring the parameters of the skull and analyzing its structure.
15. "Indestructible" laws of Newtonian physics
Since 1900, when at the meeting of the German Physical Society Max Planck published his historic paper "On the theory of the distribution of radiation energy in the normal spectrum", quantum mechanics completely changed our understanding of the world. On the quantum level there are such processes that are difficult to understand and explain with the help of classical mechanics and the three famous laws of Isaac Newton ...
14. California Island
One of the sunniest states in the US, California was once considered a full-fledged island. No wonder there is an expression "California is an island in itself." This metaphorical phrase was once used quite literally. This was the case until the end of the 18th century, when during scientific expeditions cartographers finally realized that this piece of land is a real continental coast and an indivisible part of North America.
13. Telegony
Telegony is the false science that offspring can inherit the genes of their mother's sexual partners, with whom she entered into an intimate relationship before their father. This teaching was especially popular among the Nazis. They believed that an Aryan woman who had at least one sexual encounter with a non-Aryan man was no longer capable of producing a full-blooded Aryan.
12. Irrational numbers
Pythagoras and his followers were almost religiously obsessed with numbers. One of their key doctrines was that all existing numbers can be expressed as a ratio of integers. That is why when the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Hippas noticed that Square root out of 2 was irrational, this shocked the Pythagoreans. Moreover, there is a version that pundits were so much amazed and offended that they even drowned Hippasus in the sea.
11 Hollow Earth Theory
If you've ever read Jules Verne's sci-fi novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, or even watched the movie based on it, you already know what this theory is all about. Until almost the end of the 19th century, some scientists still believed that our planet was hollow and subject to internal exploration. These scientists believed that the size of the void is not much smaller than the size of the Earth itself. The most daring fantasies said that inside our planet there is a second atmospheric layer, internal water bodies, their own life forms living on the inner surface of the planet, and in the center of this sphere a small star hovers in airless space.
10 Raising Lambs
The ancient Greeks were a people who were ahead of their time and other nations in many ways. They practiced the sciences, made mathematical discoveries and built architectural masterpieces. But with all this, the Greeks believed that lambs could be raised on trees. This crazy theory was inspired by the stories of Indian pilgrims and merchants, who recalled trees on which “wool grew”. The belief that sheep and rams could be raised like plants continued well into the 17th century.
9. Time is constant
So it was thought before the discoveries of Albert Einstein. When he proved that only light was permanent, the public did not immediately believe it and even considered him a madman for a while. Today, however, NASA pilots have to set their watches in a special way, because time passes differently depending on the distance at which spaceships are from the source of gravity, and from the speed of movement. The difference is felt even on Earth. For example, at sea level, the clock ticks faster than on the roof of the famous Empire State Building (Empire State Building, 443 meters).
8. The more complex organisms, the more genes
Previously, scientists thought that humans had about 100,000 genes. by the most amazing discovery, made during the research of the Human Genome Project (Human Genome Project, HGP, an international research project), was that we have only about 20,000 genes. It will sound especially incredible that over 30,000 genes have been found in some tiny mosses!
7 Water Is Only Found On Earth
This thesis also turned out to be a fallacy. More recently, the NASA space agency reported that Europa, natural satellite Jupiter, there are more water reserves than on our entire planet.
6 Monkeys Are The Smartest Animals On Earth, Except Humans
For a long time, it was generally accepted in the scientific community that since primates (monkeys) are mammals closest to humans in terms of body structure and origin, they are also incredibly smart. However, recent studies have shown that there are birds in nature that are smarter than even the smartest monkeys. Do not underestimate the birds ...
5. The death of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun
In 2006, archaeologists unearthed evidence that Tutankhamun died due to an accident with his chariot. However, already in 2014, historians reported that the real cause of his death was the consequences of incest, hereditary diseases characteristic of incest.
4 Neanderthals Were Stupid
It used to be thought that Neanderthals died out because Homo sapiens were smarter. New evidence contradicts this theory. According to new data from researchers, Neanderthals could be even smarter than our ancestors. But why then did they disappear from the face of the Earth? There is still no answer to this question...
The most optimistic version says that the Neanderthals did not actually die out, but simply dissolved among the tribes of Homo sapiens, integrated into our society and assimilated with our ancestors, as evidenced by traces of their DNA in our blood.
3. The rate of expansion of the universe
According to the most famous cosmological model In the 20th century, due to gravity, the expansion of our universe is gradually slowing down. However, in the 1990s, new data showed that the expansion of the universe was, in fact, accelerating.
2 Dinosaurs Had Normal Skin
Everything we know about appearance dinosaurs is based partly on conjecture, partly on the analysis of their descendants, and in some cases on fossilized prints. Previously, there was a theory that the body of these extinct animals was covered with skin or scales, but now the version of feathered dinosaurs is becoming increasingly popular in the scientific community.
1. Alchemy
Sir Isaac Newton was a great scientist and made a huge contribution to physics. But this did not stop him from believing in alchemy, which is now considered a pseudoscience based on myths. Until the end of his days, Newton believed that one day he would be able to turn ordinary metal into gold. Do not rush to laugh, because it is thanks to alchemy that we have modern chemistry.
XXI Century - amazing time when scientists almost every day make new discoveries about things that seem to be known to everyone. This review contains very curious scientific facts that were discovered quite recently and therefore are still unknown to many.
1. Phytoplankton 
Scientific fact about phytoplankton.
At least half of the Earth's oxygen is produced by the ocean, not by trees. Miniature aquatic plants called phytoplankton live near the surface of the water, drift with currents, and generally do everything normal plants do – i.e. produce oxygen as a by-product of carbon dioxide processing.
2. Bacteria in the brain 
Scientific fact about bacteria in the brain.
Microbiologists from the University of Idaho claim that the human body has about ten times more bacteria than ordinary cells. However, this is good news as the vast majority of these bacteria are beneficial.
3. Plague, smallpox and HIV 
Scientific fact about plague, smallpox and HIV.
10% of Europeans are immune to the HIV virus as a result of a genetic mutation. Scientists believe that this mutation is the result of all outbreaks of plague in the Middle Ages. That is, since the ancestors modern people survived the Black Death and smallpox, today a number of people are immune to HIV. Genetics is a strange thing.
4. Alpha pinene 
Scientific fact about alpha-pinene.
Pine oils actually contain an anti-inflammatory compound called alpha-pinene. It has already been used to treat bronchial conditions such as asthma. Currently, the possibility of their mass use against a number of inflammatory diseases is being studied.
5. Computer games 
Scientific fact about the benefits of computer games.
It turns out that computer games (in "moderate" amounts) are actually useful. They improve memory and multitasking skills, can help people with dyslexia, increase coordination and reduce stress.
6. Own reality 
A scientific fact about one's own reality.
People actually avoid information that threatens their happiness and worldview. They surround themselves with things they like and actually create their own reality.
7. Peacock-eyes 
Scientific fact about peacock eyes.
The peacock-eye "Saturnia moon" does not have a mouth. After these insects emerge from the cocoon, they have 7 days during which they mate and then starve to death.
8. Coffee and cocaine 
Scientific fact about coffee and cocaine.
Coffee is the most widely used recreational drug, known to mankind. In fact, it is a stimulant, just like cocaine. When someone says that he cannot live without a cup of coffee in the morning and is irritable without this drink, he is not joking. These are symptoms of addiction.
9. Leucine enkephalin 
Scientific fact about enkephalin leucine.
When a person cries in frustration, the tears that are released contain a hormone that is a natural pain reliever. The body produces this hormone (called leucine enkephalin) when it is under stress. So if someone feels like they need to sit down and cry, their body is just trying to calm itself down.
10. Biological immortality 
Scientific fact about biological immortality.
There are animals and plants that are considered "biologically immortal". Even though they actually die, this is only due to injury or illness, not age. two vivid examples of this are jellyfish and lobsters.
11. The smell of cut grass 
Scientific fact about the smell of cut grass.
The smell of cut grass is actually a distress signal. In fact, this scent signals that the herb is screaming in pain.
12. Honey in sealed jars 
Scientific fact about honey in sealed jars.
Honey in sealed jars does not rot or spoil. It can actually be edible after lying for thousands of years. For example, in Egyptian tombs were found in jars with still edible honey inside.
13. Sunflowers and radiation 
Scientific fact about sunflowers and radiation.
Sunflowers are sometimes used for clearing radioactive waste and radioactive soil. Sunflowers actually absorb radioactive isotopes as they grow and literally suck the radiation out of the soil. The flowers and stems of sunflowers then become radioactive.
14. Frog Pregnancy Test 
Scientific fact about the frog pregnancy test.
Up until the 1960s, doctors determined if a woman was pregnant by injecting her urine into a female frog. If the frog laid eggs on the same day (due to hormones in the pregnant woman's urine), then the "test" was considered positive. And before frogs, rabbits or mice were used, but they had to be killed and dismembered to see if the hormones had any effect on the animal.
15. Earthquakes 
Scientific fact about earthquakes.
Hundreds of earthquakes occur every day around the world. Their magnitude is simply so low (2 or less) that people often don't notice them. Also, most of them take place in the middle of the ocean.
You can't argue with the fact. But there are many delusions in the world, there are great amount facts about the simplest and seemingly well-studied things, phenomena and events that seem unreal to us. It is these unknowns and Interesting Facts we offer in this collection.
one. " hellish organ»
In 1741, the outstanding Russian designer Andrei Konstantinovich Nartov (1680-1756) created the most rapid-fire gun. They called it the "Infernal Organ", the design was a system of 44 small mortars mounted on a rotating carriage. While one part of the mortar fired a volley, the rest were loaded, then the wheel turned and a new volley followed.
Such guns were used by Pugachev's detachments, therefore, the rapid-fire system was also called the "Pugachev gun" in a different way.
2. royal tattoo
In 1844, dignitaries were preparing the body of King Charles XIV Johan of Sweden for burial. And they were amazed to see the tattoo "Death to Kings" on the body.
Here it must be recalled that the founder of the Bernadotte dynasty, which still rules in Sweden today, was born in the family of a Bearn lawyer in the city of Pau in Gascony. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte started military career to improve the material condition in the royal infantry regiment. Excellent military ability and most expensive - experience - allowed him to quickly advance after the French Revolution. During the reign of Napoleon, General Bernadotte was given command of a corps, and in 1804 he became marshal of the Empire.
After the news of Bernadotte's humane treatment of the Swedish prisoners captured in Grass, his popularity in the country grows incredibly. At this time, the childless King Charles XIII rules in Sweden. In fact, the power belonged to the aristocrats because of the dementia of the king. Therefore, Bernadotte was elected heir to the Swedish throne.
In 1818, after the death of Charles XIII, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascended the throne under the name of Charles XIV Johan.
3. Why chamomile?
Chamomile became so called only a little over 200 years ago. This name came from Polish, and is a distorted Latin word romana, that is, "Roman". The Poles called this flower back in mid-sixteenth century "color novels". "Chamomile" became a diminutive form and was first used under that name in recipes. late XVIII century of the Russian agronomist A. G. Bolotov.
In Latin, chamomile is called Matricaria, which translates as "uterine grass", since the plant was then most a popular remedy for women's diseases. This name was used for the first time by the Swedish physician and botanist Albrecht von Haller, but in Pliny the Elder's Natural History, chamomile appears under the name Chamaemellon.
4. Arab-Israeli conflict
Interesting that there are 60 Muslim countries in the world and only 1 Jewish. Main city country - Jerusalem - was the Jewish capital for more than 3,000 years. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was founded here by the crusaders in 1099. In 1187, the city was captured by Salah ad-Dinin, and Acre was the last to fall in 1291. Since 1260, Palestine passes into the possession of the Mamluk dynasty. But at the same time, the city was never used by them as a capital, Islamic leaders did not visit it at all.
An interesting fact is that Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran, but in the Jewish Tanakh it is mentioned 700 times. And it is in the direction of Jerusalem that Jews pray, and Muslims turn to Mecca.
If in 1854 Jews made up more than 60% of the population in Jerusalem, then in 1922 they were forbidden to settle in more than 77% of the Palestinian territory.
5. toilet finger
Bats are cute and intimidating at the same time, everyone perceives these nocturnal hunters differently. Everyone knows that in mice, the fingers of the upper limbs have transformed into a kind of frame, on which membrane-wings are stretched. But at the same time, the thumb with a strong claw, which mice use when climbing, remained. This finger has other uses as well.
It’s interesting, if mice usually hang upside down in a free position, then how does the disposal of waste products occur? The simplest procedure is not so easy to implement. And this is where the same thumb, which is called the “toilet”, is used. The mouse simply clings to the surface with these fingers, turns over and performs all the necessary actions without dirtying its fluffy fur.
6. Nutritional supplements
Natural food is virtually disappearing from our tables. Even seemingly unprocessed vegetables and fruits can contain many different elements that are unusual for them, which got into the product as a result of treatments, fertilizers, etc. What can we say about all kinds of semi-finished products and other "victims" of the processing industry. An interesting fact is that even formally harmless additives are not recommended for children to use.
All nutritional supplements have a specific label. So food colorings encode numbers from E100 to E182. To increase the shelf life, preservatives are used (E200 - E299). Antioxidants have a similar effect, which protect products from spoilage by slowing down oxidation processes (E300 - E399). Stabilizers (E400 - E499) and emulsifiers (E500 - E599) are used to give products a presentation. Another method of improving the attractiveness of a product is the addition of flavors and flavor enhancers coded with numbers from E600 to E699.
