{"id":39065,"date":"2015-02-07T03:18:16","date_gmt":"2015-02-07T11:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=39065"},"modified":"2015-02-07T03:19:31","modified_gmt":"2015-02-07T11:19:31","slug":"weekly-wrap-volume-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/weekly-wrap-volume-74\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Wrap Volume 74"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here<\/a>.<\/div>\n

\"Arabian-Came\"<\/a>The Bizarre Mating Practices of the Arabian Camel<\/a><\/p>\n

Some people are into feet, others like dressing up in furry costumes, and a rare few will even get scatological (See: Mozart\u2019s Much Less Family Friendly Works<\/a>). But when it comes to weird sexual practices, it would be difficult to top the mating rituals of the one-humped camel. Also known as the Arabian camel and dromedary, Camelus dromedarius<\/em> is found throughout the hot, dry deserts of the Middle East and Africa (with a large wild population still roaming about in Australia as well). Unlike their two-humped… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"NES-Zapper-e1293541125895\"<\/a>How the Gun on the Original Duck Hunt Game Worked<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever played Duck Hunt or any of the other NES games that used the NES Zapper gun, you probably at one point or another wondered how the game actually knows where on the TV you are aiming the gun when you pulled the trigger. It turns out, the method for accomplishing this is incredibly simple, as is the gun itself. This gun primarily just consists of a button (the trigger) and a photodiode (light sensor).\u00a0 When you pull… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"albert-2\"<\/a>A Space Race for the Dogs\u2026 and Monkeys and Fruit Flies<\/a><\/p>\n

The first Earthlings sent into space were brave, calm under pressure, and heroic. They were also not human and many of them were furry. Yes, before Apollo 13, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Yuri Gagarin, humans sent fruit flies, monkeys, and dogs into space to determine if living beings could survive the trip. These tests helped prove that, given a certain amount of precautions and protections, humans could endure space flight. Here is the little told story of these mostly cute and cuddly astronauts. The V-2 rocket developed by the… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"valentines-day-candy\"<\/a>The Origin of Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a><\/p>\n

While not thought to be directly related to modern Valentine\u2019s Day traditions, the beginnings of celebrating love (of a sort) in February date back to the Romans. The feast of Lupercalia was a pagan fertility and health festival, observed from February 13th through the 15th, that was celebrated at least as far back as 44 BCE (the year Julius Caesar was assassinated). Some historians believe it goes back even further, though with possibly a different name. Connected to the Roman god Lupercus, (the equivalent to the Greek god Pan), the festival was originally supposed to be about shepherds and bringing health and fertility to their sheep and cows. When it became more ingrained into Roman culture, it additionally celebrated Lupa (also another possible reason it is named what it is), the she-wolf…(more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Turnspit_Dog\"<\/a>The Curious Tale of Turnspit Dogs<\/a><\/p>\n

Considering how most dogs in the Western world these days are treated as a member of the family, it\u2019s often easy to forget that the vast majority of our furry friends up until very recently were bred for a specific purpose. Perhaps no dog was bred for a more specific purpose than the now extinct, turnspit. The turnspit was so named because it was literally bred just to run for hours on a tiny wheel that turned a spit. No, really, that was all it did. You see, a few hundred years ago the generally preferred method for cooking a large piece of meat evenly was to put it on a spit and rotate it until it was fully cooked. Cooking meat thoroughly on a spit takes anywhere between… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/span> Quick Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n