modern Santa was created by Coca Cola

Santa Clause, that we know today with the red and white clothing, was created by Coca Cola in the early 1930s. Santa Claus was created as part of ad campaigns during Christmas, where Santa appears in many ads drinking Coca Cola.

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hot water freezes faster than temperate water

Hot boiling water freezes faster when compared to temperate water. Scientists don't know the reason, but they have two suggestions that might explain this phenomena. The first proposal is that hot water circulate faster than normal water, so all particles will freeze at the same time. In temperate water, the upper layer freezes first, which insulate the lower layers, thus; decreasing the freezing rate. The second suggestion is that hot water will evaporate, and so lose energy at higher rate than temperate water, and so freezing faster. Scientists still don't know if these theories are true, or if there is another theory.

many towers, hotels and hospitals have no 13th floor or room

Many elevators used in towers don't have a 13th floor. This is because many people believe that 13 is an unlucky number, and most people don't want to live on that floor. The solution was either name the 13th floor as 14th floor and so on, or as many towers do they make it a mechanical floor where all the equipment like air conditions and pumps are located. This is also common in hotels and hospitals where many don't have the room "13". When numbering the rooms, they skip 13 and the next room after 12 is called 14 and so on.

pigeons were trained by US Coast Guard for search and rescue missions

The USCG used to train pigeons to spot life jackets in the sea to help with the search and rescue. The project was called "Project Sea Hunt". They concluded that they were 93% accurate to spot the life jackets whereas humans were 38% accurate. This is because pigeons have better vision than human do, along with UV vision and better light detection combined with a 340 degree of view. Eventually, the project was ended and unfortunately pigeons never saved any lives because of budget cuts.

laser printers write an invisible codes on every page they print

As a way to track down counterfeits, laser printers print invisible marking containing information about the printer on every page. Manufacturers hope that this might help catch counterfeiters by tracing back which printer was used. Although this might look difficult because there are hundreds of printer manufacturers, but the important part is the printer engine, which is manufactures by few companies such as Toshiba and Canon. Dutch police has been successful to track many counterfeiters using this feature, other authorities has recently started using it in their investigations. 

lions do hunt after all

There is a common misconception that the king of the jungle does not hunt. Lions spend their time in bushier areas while lionesses spend most of their time in open areas, that's why it was difficult to track lions. Researchers found that lions do actually hunt, but not as common as lioness do. The reason why lions don't hunt is that they spend most of their time marking and protecting their territory to make sure everyone in the pride is safe, while lionesses go hunt to feed the cups. 

most mammals urinate for 21 seconds

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers recently found that most mammals urinate around 20 to 40 seconds, with a mean time of 21 seconds. They studied the bladder and urethra sizes and pressure and found a ratio between them that is almost similar in all mammals resulting in the same amount of time to empty the bladder. There are exceptions, most of which are small animals that earth gravity does not effect their urine stream. The researchers hope that this discovery might help vets diagnose urinary problems in animals.

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