FAQ Knowledge: Why is Sausage In A Bread Roll Called A Hot Dog? ~ Bloggerin Info

Q: Why is a sausage in a bread roll called a hot dog?
A: The name is a reference to dachshunds --- called "sausage dogs" because of their long bodies and short legs. Long sausages caught on in the United States in the nineteenth century. The term "hot dog" was popularised by cartoonist Tad Dorgan in the early 1900s when he sketched vendors selling the sausages from hot-water tanks.

Q: Mercury is a liquid metal. How is it mined?
A: As mercury --- the only metal that is liquid at room temperature -- is also highly posionous, mining it in its liquid state would be extremely hazardous. Fortunately, it's found in the earth's crust in the form of solid mineral ore --- most commonly cinnabar, a soft reddish-brown deposit.

To extract the metal, the ore is heated, realeasing mercury vapour that is passed through a series of tubes to condense it into the silvery-white liquid found in thermometers.

Q: Why don't sleeping birds fall off their perches?
A: Sleeping birds stay upright on their perches thanks to the flexor tendon that runs down the back of their legs and under their feet, explains Garry Cross, professor of animal health at University of Sydney's Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. When a bird lands on a perch, its legs bend, causing the tendon to automatically tighten and flex the toes, thus closing the claws firmly round the perch. The sleeping bird's weight forces knobby projections on the tendon to lock into a ridged sheath surrounding one section of it, preventing the tendon from sliding. As soon as the bird wakes and straightens its legs to leave the perch, the tendon relaxes and the grip is released.

Q: Is it true that you wouldn't feel the pain immediately if a shark bit off your leg?
A: Survivors of shark attacks talk of having felt a powerful tug of sharp blow, rather than the excruciating pain you'd expect. This is probably because under conditions of extreme stress, such as serious injury, brain signals tell the body to produce pain-killers and mood elevators called endorphins and enkephalins, similar in chemical structure to morphine. The speed and shock of an attack can trigger production of enough these chemicals to delay the pain.

Q: Why are politicians' advisers called 'spin doctors'?
A: The term was first used in The New York Times in 1984 during US President Ronald Reagan's campaign for re-election.

"Spin" is a sporting metaphor for the twist given to a ball by a baseball pitcher, which can be compared to the slant put on information presented by politicians or their advisers.

"Doctor" is used in the figurative sense to mean someone who mends or patches up --- or more sinisterly, tampers or falsifies.

Q: Why can't you tickle yourself?
A: The human brain can tell which sensation are caused by our own actions, and gives them low priority. That way, it can be more receptive to stimuli from outside sources that may be more urgent, such as the pain of burning your hand, or the sound of a crying child.

Being tickled by someone else can reduce you to a squirming jelly, but when you try to tickle yourself a message called the corollary discharge is sent round the brain, which anticipates your actions and dulls the sensation.

A recent study conducted at the Institute of Neurology in London, using a magnetic resonance imaging scanner to map brain activity, suggests that the cerebellum -- the part of the brain that controls movement -- is involved in processing the corollary discharge.