How much information does each sperm carry? How much sperm in an ejaculation? An Austrian Facebook page offers answers: each sperm carries DNA worth about 37.5 MB of data. If you assume that an ejaculation contains 200 - 300 million sperm that means that each ejaculation is a loss of 7153 TB to 10,729 TB. Have these factoids ready for your next cocktail party.
Here is a "natural" optical illusion I spotted on Reddit.com.
Check out this post on Reddit: "What would you say to your 15 year old self if you could phone him/her up right now? -but you can only talk to them for a total of 15 seconds." Well worth a read. It got me thinking, but I haven't come up with any worthy 15-second advice for my 15-year old self. Sure, I could advise on investment strategies, but that seems to demean the question. Nor would I want to deprive myself of unpleasant (or even dangerous) experiences that I know that I actually pulled through. To do so would be to deprive myself of significant learning experiences. Perhaps I would tell myself: Many of your biggest regrets will occur because you forgot to be self-critical and when, instead, you followed the crowd. This Reddit question reminded me of the following Nietzsche quote:
The greatest weight.-- What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: "This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence - even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust!" Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus?... Or how well disposed would you have to become to yourself and to life to crave nothing more fervently than this ultimate eternal confirmation and seal?--from Nietzsche's The Gay Science, s.341, Walter Kaufmann transl.
You'll never know where Jesus will next turn up. Here's a few more places where Jesus has been spotted. And there's lots more where that came from. He even shows up on potato chips. There's also a lot of other people's faces showing up in surprising places.
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are expecting their 20th child. Wikipedia features the family:
The Duggars raise their children using a buddy system, wherein an older sibling is assigned to a younger sibling and assists in their primary care. According to Michelle, "they help them with their little phonics lessons and games during the day and help them practice their music lessons. They will play with them or help them pick out the color of their outfit that day and just all of those types of things." In 2004, Michelle Duggar won the "Young Mother of the Year Award" in Arkansas, which is sponsored by American Mothers Incorporated.
In the meantime, Global Population Speak Out is asking concerned citizens to sign its pledge:I pledge to show I care about people and planet by taking part in the global discussion about population growth. I am joining the Population 7 Billion: It’s Time to Talk campaign. With world population set to surpass the 7 billion mark in October 2011, it’s time for a broader public discussion, especially about the importance of family planning and the role that educating girls and empowering women can play in creating a healthier and more sustainable world. As part of my pledge, I will start conversations with others and help spread the word.
