Snakes Have Second Sight 

With the popularity of the movie Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson, people may be asking themselves “Can snakes really keep watch on people in the dark?” Well, if they’re of the pit viper and boa varieties, the experts say yes.

According to snake expert Michael Grace, in an ABCNews article titled “How Snakes See Two Ways,” snakes can use their eyes to see, just like humans do. Plus they can use infrared sensors to conjure images based on the heat emitted by objects in the environment. Grace said snakes can switch back and forth in between these two ways of seeing and can also use them simultaneously.

Andreas B. Sichert, Paul Friedel and Leo van Hemmen, in an article in the Physical Review, said snakes have small cavities near their snouts known as pit organs. Snakes can localize heat sources by using their pit organs, which are sensitive to infrared radiation emitted by prey, such as rats and rabbits — and Samuel L. Jackson, the scientists said. However, they added that because the pit organs are not very deep and the pit apertures are wide, the snakes could not use them to track prey very well. However, in the close confines of a plane, the snakes could use this ability to track prey in the dark.

Just something you might want to know if you ever get on a plane filled with snakes. 
 
 

Days of Week Derived From Anglo-Saxons

According to the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, the days of the week were taken from the following Anglo-Saxon terms:

•  Sunnan daeg — day of the sun.

•  Monan daeg — day of the moon.

•  Tiwes daeg — day of Tiw, god of war.

•  Wodnes daeg — day of Woden, the chief diety.

•  Thorsdagr — day of Thor (this actually comes from Old Norse).

•  Frigedaeg — day of the goddess Frig, wife of Woden.

•  Saeterdaeg — day of Saturn, Roman god of agriculture.

 

 Rooster Contributes to First Cocktail

According to Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek in Mothers of Invention: From the Bra to the Bomb, Forgotten Women and Their Unforgettable Ideas, the story of how the cocktail got its name has so few variations that there’s little doubt the story is true. It goes like this:

During the Revolutionary War, Betsy Flanagan was a tavern keeper somewhere in New England. Her inn was frequented by rebel officers and soldiers who often sat around complaining about a local Tory who prospered greatly while they suffered.

One night, as a special treat, Betsy concocted a drink for her regular customers. In the drink she mixed rum and fruit juice. She decorated each glass with a feather that had been plucked from the enemy Tory’s rooster.

The crowd went wild and history, as they say, was made. The drinking and joking all mixed together until one young French officer called out in his enthusiasm: “Vive le coq’s tail!"