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【No. 0299】Croissant

Oct 13, 2015 10:03
Although I like croissants, I didn't know the meaning of it.

Croissant is the word borrowed from French, and means crescent moon.

However, most croissants that are sold in Japanese bakeries have triangle shapes.

The appearance is similar to bread rolls, and it doesn't have crescent shapes.

Crescent shape croissants seem to use butter, while triangle shape croissants seem to use margarine.

I don't know whether I can call triangle shape croissants croissant or I can't.
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【No. 0297】Chameleon

Oct 11, 2015 13:55
Chameleons are often thought as they can change their colors depending on the sceneries.

However, actually chameleons change their color depending on their feelings, lights, temperatures.

Also, they change their bodies to bright colors during fighting, but if they lose the fight, their bodies will become jet black.

By the way, they change their bodies to fancy colors, and do enigmatic dance as a courtship behavior.

This dance is very charming and funny, so please check it if you have time.
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【No. 0296】Men Like Right Side

Oct 10, 2015 15:19
Men (especially right-handed men) tend to choose the right side when they stand with women, because of the feeling "I want to protect her."

Also, many of men aren't cautious in right sides of their bodies, and they seem easy to accept the opponents who told to them from their right sides.

In Italy, an experiment that women asked men for one cigarette was conducted.

As a result, men who were told from their right sides accepted the requests twice as often as men who were told from their left sides.
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【No. 0295】The Difference Between Dolphins and Whales

Oct 9, 2015 12:46
Both dolphins and whales are classified as infraorder Cetacea, Odontocetes, and there are no biological differences.

The difference between dolphins and whales is just their length of bodies.

Dolphins are small ones of Odontocetes, and whales are large ones of Odontocetes and all of other Cetacea.

The border of them is often defined as three to five meters.

By the way, the largest specie is: blue whale in Cetacea (also in all animals), sperm whale in Odontocetes, killer whale in dolphins.
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【No. 0294】Furorida

Oct 8, 2015 10:20
Today, I will introduce a youth slang "furorida."

Recently, Japanese young people seem to use the word "furorida," when they are exchanging messages among friends.

Although the pronunciations of "furorida" and "Florida" are the same in Japan, "furorida" is totally different from Florida of the US.

This is the abbreviated word of "I'm going to take a bath（ふろ：furo）, so I exit（りだつ：ridatsu） from this conversation."

Since the amount of such youth slang continues to increase, it's hard to remember.
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【No. 0293】Cassini Division

Oct 7, 2015 16:44
Today, I thought a conversation of a couple who likes Saturn.

This is a silly conversation.

Man "If I were the A ring of Saturn, you would be the most likely to be the B ring."

Woman "Yes, I also think so. We has kept a certain distance, it's so close, yet seemed so far away, like the Cassini Division(width of 4,800 km)."

Man "I think It's about time you come to the A ring, we should close the gap, like the Encke Gap(width of 325 km). So Pan (which is the satellite orbiting within the Encke gap, and it implies their child.) will be born between us."

Woman "I want to make the gap contract, until the Keeler Gap(width of 42 km)."

Man "Please do not overshoot and reach the F ring. It seems very hard to fill the Roche Division(width of 3,000 km), haha."
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【No. 0291】Banana is similar to a human?

Oct 5, 2015 15:45
The human genome is composed of about 3.1 billion base pairs, and it contains about 22 thousand genes.

Actually, human genes and monkey genes are the 99 percent same.

Human genes and sea urchin genes are the 70 percent same.

Human genes and drosophila genes are the 60 percent same.

And, human genes and banana genes are the 50 percent same.

If you should replace half of your genes, you could transform yourself to any living matters.
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【No. 0290】Sleepiness after a Meal

Oct 4, 2015 14:27
Have you ever felt sleepy after your meal?

It is considered that this symptom is caused by a brain hormone "orexin."

Humans secrete orexin when hungry, then they get the urge to eat something, and the wakefulness is promoted.

However, when the belly is full, the secretion amount of orexin will decrease, and it will make us feel sleepy.

Therefore, you can keep wakefulness by skipping your meals, but don't do that because it brings more harm than good.

In order to increase the amount of orexin, and keep wakefulness, you should taste and enjoy your meals slowly over time.
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【No. 0289】Ice Cream Preservation Method

Oct 3, 2015 13:59
I like ice cream, and I often eat it in summer.

However, if you put ice cream into freezer for a long time, it may be too hard.

Furthermore, ice cream may oxidized and lose taste by touching air, and smells of other hood may move to the ice cream.

In order to prevent them, and preserve ice cream while keeping its taste, it is recommended to pack using ziploc bags or plastic containers.
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【No. 0288】Darashinai (Scruffy)

Oct 2, 2015 12:26
Today, I'd like to introduce a Japanese term "darashi-nai."

"Darashi-nai" means something like "scruffy" or "sloppy."

However, no Japanese can explain what is "darashi."

Actually, "darashi" has no meaning, and "darashi-nai" is an anagram of "shidara-nai."

"Shidara" is derived from "Zidaraku(means sloppy)," and "nai" emphasize "shidara."

The reason why "shidaranai" became "darashinai" is thought that initial dullness could give a bad impression, or it's similar to the Japanese imitative word "daradara(means lazy)."
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【No. 0286】Dehay's Axiom

Sep 30, 2015 14:44
Some people put simple jobs off, and try to complete complex jobs.

Because they think there will be time to these simple jobs later.

However, in most cases, completing simple jobs ahead seems to be more productive.

This psychological law is called Dehay's Axiom.

Actually, I eat all foods that I don't like first, then eat favorite foods.

This also might be Dehay's Axiom.
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【No. 0285】Chronostasis

Sep 29, 2015 13:26
Have you ever felt a second hand of a clock seems to have stopped more than one second when you suddenly see the clock?

This phenomenon is called 'chronostasis.'

When your eyes move rapidly (called saccade), your sense of time will be slightly extended, so the false sense that the second hand has stopped will occur.

The reason is thought that your brain try to fill the gap of viewpoints.

Chronostasis is caused by not only visual, but also auditory stimuli.
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【No. 0284】Super Blood Moon

Sep 28, 2015 15:07
Today, you can see a "Supermoon," that is the closest moon to Earth.

The brightness will increase by 30%, and the size will increase by 14% compared to a normal moon.

Furthermore, in the West or Africa, a "Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)" will also be seen at the same time.

It is the first time in 33 years that both the Supermoon and the Total Lunar Eclipse (Super Blood Moon) can be seen simultaneously.
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【No. 0282】Aquarium Plants

Sep 26, 2015 11:55
Recently, aquarium plants seem to become popular.

There is no fish in the aquarium, and only aquatic plants are the objects of appreciation.

All you have to do is to exchange the water, and there is no need to supply power and prepare food, so anyone can start this aquarium easily.

Furthermore, not only this is beautiful as an interior, but also it can keep the humidity of your room.

Some put fish in the aquarium, in order to in order to maintain the growing environment of aquatic plants in good condition.
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【No. 0281】Fart in Space

Sep 25, 2015 17:01
Humans release an average 0.5-1.5 liters fart a day from their bodies.

This is a common physiological phenomenon.

However, you must never fart in space.

If you fart on the planet, the gas will mix with air and diffuse, so the smell will disappear soon.

But in the case of space, the gas will be a lump, drift, and smell dreadful.

Furthermore, since the fart is combustible gas, it is possible that the spacecraft explosion will be caused by your fart.

Therefore, all astronauts have been prohibited to fart except toilet.
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【No. 0280】Water Flea

Sep 24, 2015 11:05
A water flea is an about 2-mm plankton, that is live in water.

Today, I'd like to introduce bits of knowledge about the water flea.

When water fleas feel fear for their physical safety, they will sharpen their head.

However, the behavior takes about one day, and it has little benefit.

It's surreal.

By the way, water fleas have 8000 more genes than people.
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【No. 0279】Someiyoshino

Sep 23, 2015 13:22
Many Japanese like cherry trees, especially Someiyoshino.

Because all flowers bloom and fall at once, and it looks beautiful.

It is also said that about 80% of Japanese cherry trees is Someiyoshino.

However, in fact the Someiyoshino is an artificial cherry tree, that is a hybrid of Prunus speciosa(Oshimazakura) and Prunus pendula(Edohigan).

And, since it was born in Somei Village and sold as a Yoshino cherry tree, it's called Someiyoshino.

If you will come to Japan in Spring, please enjoy Someiyoshino.
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【No. 0278】Differences between Butterflies and Moths

Sep 22, 2015 12:57
Many people have a good image of butterflies, and have a bad image of moths.

This might be because butterflies tend to fly during daytime, while moths tend to fly during night.

However, both butterflies and moths belong to Lepidoptera, and there is no biological difference between the two.

It is really difficult to classify butterflies and moths from their characteristics of look and organs.

Therefore, in Germany, France, Indonesia, and many other countries, people don't distinguish butterflies and moths, and both are represented by one word.
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【No. 0277】Open the Kanji

Sep 21, 2015 18:11
We use Kanji characters when writing Japanese sentences.

However, if we convert Hiragana into Kanji as possible, it may be difficult to read.

Therefore, it is said that some Kanji should be written in Hiragana on purpose.

Like this, to write words or phrases that can be written in Kanji in Hiragana, is called "open the kanji（漢字をひらく）."

For example, in the following cases, it will be better by opening the kanji.

「～して下さい（～してください）」
「～して頂く（～していただく）」
「～し易い（～しやすい）」
「～の様な（～のような）」
「何故か（なぜか）」
「丁度（ちょうど）」
「物（もの）」
「事（こと）」
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【No. 0276】Shinjuku Station

Sep 20, 2015 12:01
Today, I'd like to introduce Shinjuku Station, which is one of the largest stations in Japan.

Shinjuku Station is placed in Tokyo, and it is the terminal station of five railway companies.

This station is really large, an average of 3.5 million people get on and off a day here(Guinness World Records).

The exit from the station is more than 30, so it's a kind of maze to me.

If you search for "新宿駅（Shinhuku Station）" on Google Image Search, very complex maps will come out.

By the way, an RPG app "新宿ダンジョン(Shinhuku dungeon)", which explore Shinjuku Station, was released in Japan.