"When I was about 12 or 13 I went with my family to (the only) posh Japanese restaurant in our little city," writes Gabriele Kembuan on Quora.com. "I thought the small white thing on the platter was an appetiser of some sort, like a mini roll cake covered in coconut shavings. I grabbed it with my chopsticks and started to eat it. It was a hot hand towel, though, and my brother burst into a very loud non-stop laughter."
Tinkering with the starter's gun
The realisation that the gun used to start an Olympic race gave an advantage to the athlete in the lane nearest it led to loudspeakers being put in each lane. This is significant in the likes of the 4x100m relay, where starters are staggered round the first turn of track. "Scientists have calculated the sound of the gun in such a race will reach the outermost runner 0.150sec after the innermost runner. This is a big deal in sprinting - amounting to a metre or more at the finish line. Furthermore, the sound of the gun is louder when it arrives at the closer runners' ears. Scientists at the University of Alberta have found that a louder signal is more likely to lead to a startle response in runners, lowering their reaction time by up to 0.018sec." (Via elitefeet.com)
...and the lame shall walk
It's (not) a miracle! News nostalgia from May 1984: Jan Lavric was wheeled forward in a wheelchair to receive a blessing from Pope John Paul II. Blessing received, he was wheeled back, at which point he promptly stood up, folded the chair, and carried it away. "It must be a miracle," someone in the crowd gasped. Lavric later explained that it was no miracle. He was fully able-bodied. He had sat down in the wheelchair because it was the only seat left in the audience chamber, and he had been too embarrassed to say anything when a Swiss Guard unexpectedly wheeled him forward.
