DYK #21: View from space

How many times have you read a post stating "Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from  the moon with the naked eye". Received this as a part of 'amazing facts' e-mail from you friends?

Continue reading after the jump to find out the truth!

DYK #20: World of Words

Letters in Hawaiian

1. There are between 6000 and 7000 languages are spoken in the world 
2. Most of the world’s languages are spoken in Asia and Africa. 
3. Many languages in Africa include a “click” sound that is pronounced at the same time as other sounds. You must learn these languages in childhood to do it properly. 
4. The non-European languages most widely used on European territory are Arabic, Chinese and Hindi, each with its own writing system. 
5. The Germanic family of languages includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, German, Dutch, English and Yiddish, among others. 
1. The Romance languages include Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian, among others. 
2. The Germanic family of languages includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, German, Dutch, English and Yiddish, among others. 
3. The Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and others.

DYK #19: Tears in space

There is a myth floated by several facts-sites that astronauts cannot cry in space. This is not true (at least completely). There is some odd behavior due to no/low gravity in space.

Tears run down your face because of gravity, but they don't need gravity to form. When the tears get big enough they simply break free of the eye and float around.

Frank Culbertson, the ISS commander who was in space during the 9/11 attacks, wrote, on learning that a friend of him was captain of flight 77 which was crashed into the Pentagon:

"What a terrible loss," Culbertson writes, "but I'm sure Chic was fighting bravely to the end. And tears don't flow the same in space..."

Source: CNN

This also applies for sweat. There are several movies which depict odd behavior of liquids in space.

References:

1. http://www.badastronomy.com/mad/1998/cry_astronaut.html
2. http://edition.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/10/15/attacks.culbertson/
3. http://history.nasa.gov/ap15fj/08day3_leak_hilltop.htm

DYK #18: Jainism Practice of Paryushan

Paryushan is one of the two most important festivals for the Jains, the other being Diwali. The duration of Paryusana is for 8 or 10 days.

The date for the Paryushana festival is thus Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi for both Svetambars and Digambars. Because of computational and other differences, there can be some minor differences among various subsects.

During Paryushan following practices are generally observed:

1. Fasting:
1. Total fast where nothing but boiled water is consumed (To make sure there are no insects or microscopic organisms)
2. Ekasna, where food is taken only once during the whole day.
3. Eating by day, i.e: between sunrise and sunset. This is a practice followed since early times where there was no light, and it was hard to see and insect on the food.

DYK #17: Animal ID

DYK #16: An apple a day?

Studies have shown that sugary juices can help keep humans awake. The fructose in apple provides the boost to the body. Energy drinks generally work with a combination of caffeine (commonly found in coffees) and easy-absorb sugars.

Verification:
http://www.reference.com/motif/food_and_drinks/do-apples-wake-you-up-better-than-coffee