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【No. 0342】Trivia about the One Yen Coin

Nov 25, 2015 20:42
Today, I will introduce the 1 yen coin, which has the lowest value among current coins in Japan.

The 1 yen coin is made of pure aluminum, and has been issued since 1955.

The weight is 1 g, the thickness is 1 mm, and the value is 1 yen, though the cost to mint a 1 yen coin is around 2 yen.

Also, I think Japanese people prefer to adjust their change using 1 yen coins when shopping.

If the number of change coins increases because of the lack of a 1 yen coin, it's a little frustrating.
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【No. 0341】Danger of Pajamas

Nov 24, 2015 14:21
According to the mattress manufacturer Ergoflex, men use their pajamas for an average of 13 days, and women use pajamas for an average of 17 days, without washing them.

I also don't wash pajamas for about one week.

However, even if your pajamas don't smell, there seems to be a lot of skin cells and bacteria.

They are usually harmless when they are on your skins or in your intestines, but they could cause an cystitis or an infection from your cuts.

In addition, if you wash your pajamas that have not been washed more than two weeks, bacteria on your pajamas could be transferred to your other clothes.

A professional man are recommending that people who take a shower before sleeping wash their pajamas at least once a week, and people who take a shower in the morning wash their pajamas once a three days.
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【No. 0340】Preliminary Review of Doctoral Degrees

Nov 23, 2015 16:34
Today, a preliminary review of my doctoral degrees was held.

I performed my presentation of my study for 30 minutes in English, then answered to questions for next 30 minutes.

It was quite tough.

In particular in the question-and-answer session, although I understood reviewer's questions, I couldn't answer smoothly.

The final examination will be held in January.

Now I'm thinking about attending to English conversation schools until the exam.
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【No. 0339】10000 words

Nov 22, 2015 14:25
Lately, I have learned 40-60 English words everyday using an online learning site of my university.

And yesterday, the number of words that I learned finally reached 10000.

There remains only other 2000 words.

However, as the number increases, the difficulty also increases, so now the learning takes a lot of time and is a little painful to me.

Today, I try to make a sentence using some words that I learned a little while ago so as not to forget them.

"The dingy and abominable bureaucrat spat out hackneyed epithets in a circumspect way."

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【No. 0338】Silver Ratio

Nov 21, 2015 14:00
I think you have heard the word "golden ratio."

This ratio,which is represented by about 1:1.618, is the most stable and beautiful ratio, and it is present everywhere in the world.

However, Japanese tend to prefer the silver ratio (1:√2) rather than the golden ratio.

In Japan, the silver ratio is used in many things from ancient buildings to familiar notes.

Most popular anime characters in Japan, such as Doraemon or Totoro, are also have the silver ratio.

Besides, there is also the bronze ratio (around 1:2.303), but ratio this seems to be rarely used.
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【No. 0337】Snot and Booger

Nov 20, 2015 13:43
Today's topic is a little dirty.

I'm sorry in advance.

Human beings secrete about 946 ml of snot (technically known as nasal mucus) per day.

The snot has a function to sweep away foreign substances in your nose and to release heat to the outside.

And, when the snot dried around the entrance of you nose, it becomes booger (technically known as dried nasal mucus).

By the way, you could have a runny nose if you cried, but the liquid is actually your tears that got through your nose.
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【No. 0336】Knot Theory

Nov 19, 2015 14:20
Have you ever experienced that your earphone code imperceptibly made a knot?

In knot theory, it is mentioned that a string that was put in a container would be knotted with a high probability if the string had a enough length.

However, I feel that it become extremely high probability in the case of earphone codes.

As the reasons, it have been thought like the following:

・When the winding direction and the unwinding direction were different, the cord would become kinked and entangled.

・Since the earphone part is heavier than the cord part, it easy to flounce and tangle.
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【No. 0335】Recursion

Nov 18, 2015 11:10
When searching for something on Google, if the input contains typos or expressions that are not common, you will see the phrase "Did you mean: ○○."

However, only the word recursion is different.

Although you enter the word correctly, "Did you mean: recursion" will be displayed.

Also, even if you click the link, the same phrase "Did you mean: recursion" will appear again.

"Recursion" is a word that means a reference to itself, and it is often used in programming.

That is, we are able to experience the recursion by searching for recursion on Google.
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【No. 0334】10K Day

Nov 17, 2015 13:09
Have you ever thought about the 10 thousandth day from your birthday?

The day, which you might call 10K day, will come after 4 months and 16 days from when you become 27 years old.

In my case, the day had imperceptibly passed.

I think there are not many people who are aware of this day (at least in Japan).

Therefore, if you hold a surprise birthday party for your lovers or friends, it will be surely a smashing success.

I think it will be also a great success to celebrate the 10 thousandth day from your marriage
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【No. 0333】A Little Cool Usage of "こと(koto)"

Nov 16, 2015 13:12
Today, I will introduce a Japanese expression that I think is a little cool.

An example sentence is shown below:

「こと日本においては少子高齢化が問題となっている（In Japan in particular, the falling birth rate and the aging population have become a big problem.）」

The "こと（which is written as '殊' in kanji）" in this example means something like "in particular," and it emphasizes following words.

Actually, "特に (tokuni）" is often used in conversations as the meaning of "in particular", but I think it's cool if someone use "こと" or "殊に(kotoni)."
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【No. 0332】Ruby and Sapphire

Nov 15, 2015 14:40
Although I'm not conversant with jewelry, I know ruby and sapphire.Basically, rubies are red, and sapphires are blue.

However, I didn't know the fact that both rubies and sapphires are made of the same ore called 'corundum.'

Corundums have the highest hardness next to diamonds, and their colors change depending on impurities (metal ions).

When chromium is contained as an impurity, the corundum will become red, and the jewel is called ruby.

Also, other corundums that are not changed to red are called sapphires.

Therefore, there are sapphires that the color is yellow, orange, green or pink.
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【No. 0331】Buying a Dolce Gusto Manufactured by Nescafe

Nov 14, 2015 14:36
Today, my associate and I bought a Dolce Gusto that readily makes coffee manufactured by Nescafe.

By setting a capsule and touching a button, we can brew a variety of drinks such as coffee, cafe au lait, or cappuccino.

After buying the Dolce Gusto, we immediately placed it in our laboratory, and I tried drinking coffee and cappuccino.

Although I don't have a thorough knowledge of coffee, I felt they were mild and delicious.

In the days ahead, I will be looking forward to drinking a cup of coffee after lunch.
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【No. 0330】Foliage Plants in Banks

Nov 13, 2015 12:10
There usually are foliage plants in Japanese banks.

In addition, almost all of the plants is 170 cm in height, and this figure is corresponding to the average height of Japanese men.

The reason for this is because you can measure the height of robbers when a bank robbery happens.

Besides, there are also some anti-crime measures, for example, there are no toilets in banks.
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【No. 0329】Belly Button Trivia

Nov 12, 2015 10:39
Today, I'd like to introduce a useless trivia.

Heights of humans' navels are different in men and women.

Man's navel is located at the top of his pelvis, while woman's navel is located at higher than the top of her pelvis.

That is to say, you can distinguish between men and women from the heights of their navel.

However, I don't know whether such an opportunity comes or not.

By the way, in human skins, the navel is a only part that don't sweat.
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【No. 0328】Habituation

Nov 11, 2015 11:20
Last month, I wrote something like "if you continue to do something for three weeks, it will become a habit."

However, the time required for habituation seems to depend on what you do.

For example, habits such as reading or writing a journal requires about one month.

Habits such as getting up early, muscle training, or quitting smoking requires about three months.

Mental habits such as logical thinking or plus thinking requires about six months.
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【No. 0327】Ring Alert

Nov 10, 2015 09:16
I had set alarm on my phone for early this morning.

And this morning, as soon as the alarm rang, I stopped the sound by pressing the power button.

However, after the sound stopped, I thought "hmm? Was the sound the ring alert?," and I got into a flurry.

Then, I immediately called someone back from the list of received calls, but the person at the other end of the line seemed to be confused..

I was still only half awake, and dreaming.

The ring alert and the alarm sound were just the same, and there was no calling.

I was a little embarrassed.
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【No. 0326】Bought an Electronic Notebook

Nov 9, 2015 10:53
Yesterday, I bought a gadget "Boogie Board Sync" created by KINGJIM.

This is a simple electronic notebook, and you can save what you wrote with one touch of a button.

Immediately I used it, then I found that it was a little difficult to read what I wrote on account of the contrast, but it was not a big problem.

However, after a short time, I noticed that the drawing color changed to dark blue on regions far from the center (especially on the upper part).

Since the background color of the board is black, the dark blue color is really hard to read.

Now, I'm making an inquiry to the company to see whether this is a specification or not.
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【No. 0325】Etymology of Kanpeki (完璧)

Nov 8, 2015 11:19
Today, I'd like to introduce a mistakable Japanese word '完璧 (kanpeki).'

'完璧' means perfect, and Japanese people often use this word.

However, the kanji '璧' is easily mistaken for '壁.'

'璧' means "beautiful gem," but this kanji is rarely used other than '完璧.'

On the other hand, '壁' means wall, and this is often used.

Since the ethmology of '完璧' is "bring back a gem(璧) in perfect condition(完)," it is very important to use the kanji '璧.'

When you write '完璧' in handwriting, please be careful.
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【No. 0324】The 4-7-8 Breathing Technique

Nov 7, 2015 11:53
I often take long to fall asleep.

When I searched for ways to get a good sleep quickly, I found "the 4-7-8 breathing technique."

This breathing technique, which was proposed in Harvard University, has a relaxing effect, and put you to sleep comfortably.

The specific method is: inhale through your nose for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, and exhale through your mouth for eight seconds.

Not only can this technique put you to sleep, but it seems to have also a effect to increase your concentration.
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【No. 0323】Spatial Ability

Nov 6, 2015 11:17
Spatial ability is the ability to recognize three-dimensional information such as shapes, positions and angles of objects.

This ability can not only be applied to sports or work, but is also used when you back up your car to a parking or you read a map.

In addition, it is said that people who have excellent spatial ability can understand the entire scope of things and see through the true nature of things.

If you want to enhance the spatial ability, you should play catch with someone or draw pictures.