troposphere—to glean a reasonable estimate of its age. [See Radiocarbon Dating.]
• The diamond—one of the hardest substances on Earth—and graphite—one of the softest substances on Earth—are both 100% pure carbon.
Chocolate
• Raw and processed chocolate come from the beans of the Theobroma cacao tree. We call them cocoa “beans,” but they aren’t beans at all—they’re seeds from the tree. So technically speaking, chocolate is a fruit!
• Theobroma cacao is Latin for “food of the gods.”
• The average cocoa pod—which weighs about one pound (0.45 kg)—contains anywhere between 20 to 60 seeds.
• There’s documented use of cocoa as far back as around 1100 BC. However, we know that cocoa has been cultivated for at least three millennia in places such as Mexico, and Central and South America.
• Scientific research has shown that dark chocolate—which consists of a 60% cocoa minimum—is beneficial for the heart. Moderate dark chocolate consumption has also been shown to increase insulin.
• The antioxidants found in dark chocolate—called “flavonoids”—have been shown to increase “good” HDL cholesterol, lower “bad” LDL, and lower blood pressure.
• White chocolate is antioxidant/flavonoid-empty, as it contains no cocoa solids.
• Milk chocolate is also antioxidant/flavonoid empty because the cocoa solids content of commercially produced types ranges from 20–34%, depending upon the brand—not the required minimum of 60%.
Cholesterol
• A type of fat, cholesterol comes from just two sources: your body and food.
• Your liver and other cells in your body make about 75% of the body’s total blood cholesterol; the other 25% comes from the foods you eat.
• Food sources of cholesterol are only found in animal products, like butter, eggs, beef, pork, lamb, duck liver, and whole-milk dairy products.
• The word “cholesterol” comes from the Greek word chole—meaning “bile, gall”—and the Greek word stereos—meaning “solid, stiff.”
• Gallstones develop when bile contains too much cholesterol and not enough bile salts.
• For optimal health, the body needs a small amount of cholesterol to perform key functions, including producing hormones, vitamin D, and bile—an acid that helps your body digest fat.
• HDL is the “good” kind of cholesterol and stands for high-density lipoprotein. HDL is referred to as the good cholesterol because it helps remove artery-clogging cholesterol from the bloodstream.
• LDL, the “bad” kind of cholesterol, stands for low-density lipoprotein. If your bloodstream has too much of the cholesterol that’s packaged in your LDL, the surplus is dumped into your arteries, which is why LDL is referred to as the bar cholesterol. Over time, this may result in atherosclerosis—hardening of the arteries—which is the most common cause of heart disease.
• An HDL of 60 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter of blood) and higher provides some protection against heart disease. An LDL of less than 100 mg/dL is considered optimal.
• According to the latest research, having a total cholesterol level of less than 200 mg/dL is considered desirable, as statistically, this puts you at lower risk for coronary heart disease.
• Having a total cholesterol level of 240 mg/dL is considered high. A person with this level has more than twice the risk of coronary heart disease as someone whose cholesterol is below 200 mg/dL.
Colloidal Silver
(A Bad Case of the Blues)
• Silver—the lustrous metal we know and love—is not toxic. However, there is a form of silver called “colloidal silver” that consists of tiny silver particles suspended in liquid. If ingested, this is bad. Make that really bad.
• Despite a variety of medical claims on the Internet that colloidal silver is a “cure-all,” colloidal silver is neither safe nor effective for treating any disease or condition!
• Silver, no matter what the form, is NOT a nutritionally essential mineral. Thus, claims that you may suffer from a silver “deficiency” are entirely unfounded.
• In fact, ingesting silver or even being exposed to high levels for a long period of time may result in a condition called arygria, which causes a blue-gray discoloration of the skin, body tissues, and organs. This condition is typically not treatable nor is it reversible. In other words, your skin will be bluish … forever! (Although, being blue is not technically harmful.)
• As described by the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, “Argyria is a permanent effect, but it appears to be a cosmetic problem that may not be otherwise harmful to health.”
• The FDA and the Federal Trade Commission have taken action against a number of companies—including some companies that sell products over the Internet—for making false claims about the benefits of colloidal silver products.
• There are no oral silver-containing FDA-approved medications—neither prescription nor over-the-counter products. There are, however, safe and effective FDA-approved silver-containing topical preparations for external use, such as burn cream.
Comets
• Comets are essentially balls comprised of rock and ice. The number of comets in the solar system is believed to be in the trillions.
• Unlike asteroids, comets have “tails,” some of which can be millions of miles long.
• In the course of its elliptical orbit, a comet’s tail grows as it approaches the Sun.
• When a comet heats up, and thereby evaporates because of its proximity to the Sun, it produces the comet’s telltale jets of gas and dust to form the tail. The Sun illuminates this tail trail, which is what causes it to glow.
• Some comets make repeated visits, while others do not.
• Some of the more “famous” comets include Halley’s, Shoemaker-Levy, and Hale-Bopp.
• Hale-Bopp was one of the brightest comets ever seen from Earth.
Computers
• In 1823, Charles Babbage began constructing the mechanical “Difference Engine,” which is generally recognized as the first multipurpose or programmable computing device.
• For the 1890 census, the U.S. Census Bureau employed a mechanical computer using punch-card equipment for input that was invented by Herman Hollerith.
• In 1911, Hollerith’s
