That Tiny Pocket on your Blue Jeans …
… is for your pocket watch. Well, maybe not yours, but the cowboys who made blue jeans famous in the 1800s were plumb grateful for it. Typically, watches were carried on chains and worn in waistcoats, but hard field labor made that a lot less practical. Outdoors, the “watch pocket” on any pair of jeans did just the trick—even after watches moved to the wrist. “This extra pouch has served many functions, evident in its many titles,” the Levi Strauss website reminds us: “frontier pocket, coin pocket, match pocket, and ticket pocket, to name a few.”
Home Burglaries Are More Likely to Occur During the Day
We usually think of home burglaries occurring in the cover of night, but in fact, homes are more likely to be subject to burglary while the sun is out. According to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, burglaries were 6 percent more likely to occur between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (when residents were at work or running errands) than at night.
Keep Spiders Away
A Messy Home Might Help Stoke Creativity
In areas where you get creative—your home office, workshop, or kitchen—researchers have found that clutter can enhance creativity. In several experiments, subjects were asked to complete creative tasks—complete a puzzle, take a “Remote Associates Test,” and create a drawing—in a cluttered room and a pristine one. Those in the messy room completed the puzzle fastest, scored highest on the Remote Associates Test, and earned the best marks from the drawing-judging panel.
Last-Ditch Patching Fix
Most Toilets Flush in E Flat
Sharp-eared bathroom users may have noticed that the distinctive sound of a toilet flushing corresponds with the E Flat note.
Refrigerators
Jonathan Rees in his book Refrigerator says that GE only got into the refrigerator business to help boost its electrical utilities division. Many electric companies were offering discounts to customers who got fridges because the fridges need a constant source of electricity.
If you think all of your refrigerator is one consistent temperature, think again—depending on the model, the amount of chill in the fridge can vary widely. For example, a study conducted by CNET found temperatures could range in French-door models from 32.8º to as high as 50.7º Fahrenheit.
We Don’t Know Exactly How Microwaves Heat Food
You’d think we’d have figured this out before almost every household bought one, but there is some disagreement over how exactly microwave ovens heat food. While the general belief is that particles in the food (especially water) absorb energy from the waves through a process called dielectric heating, some scientists maintain that it is due to other interactions between the particles that cause the increase in temperature.
Showers Use Less Water Than Baths
Filling a tub turns out to be more wasteful approach than a quick power shower. A typical bathtub holds 42 gallons of water, a low-flow shower just uses about two gallons of water a minute. So a 10-minute shower will just use about 20 gallons, compared to the (at least) more than 30 gallons to fill a tub most of the way.
Spaghetti Strainer
The hole in a spaghetti strainer actually serves two purposes. Besides allowing water to fall out the bottom when you go into scoop out some noodles, the little hole is a measuring tool you can use prior to cooking the noodles. The hole measures out one full serving of noodles.
Peanuts aren’t technically nuts
They’re legumes. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” That means walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios aren’t nuts either. They’re seeds
Keeping a Refrigerator Full Doesn’t Use Less Energy
If you’re trying to save some money on your electricity bill, picking up some extra groceries is not going to do it. While the myth persists that a full fridge uses less energy, according to researcher Jacob Talbot of the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, “A full refrigerator doesn’t decrease energy use.” Instead, he suggests focusing on checking the seals on the door to prevent leaks and keeping the unit between 36º and 38º Fahrenheit.
Shoes Were Once Seen as Ways to Fend Off Evil Spirits
Europeans once stashed their shoes in walls, chimneys and under floors in an effort to fend off evil spirits. It wasn’t because they smelled bad—the shoes were seen to possess magical charms that served as protection. So many shoes were found in old buildings that the Northampton Museum and Art in the United Kingdom has created a Concealed Shoe Index to track these discoveries, tracking about 1,900 concealed shoes so far.
