I blame Ben for wasting big chunks of my time today. At least I didn't see his post last night and went to bed before him, otherwise I would have been up late too!
It's Wikipedia's Unusual Articles collection.
Several articles caught my fancy. There was Acetylseryltyrosylserylisol...serine, which I typed once when I was typing up "Dodger's Death" (which I'll need to find and post sometime). It's supposed to be the longest word in the english language, but when I learned about proteins at uni, all my illusions were shattered, when I realised it was just the name of a protein, and you could write out any protein this way.
Then there was the Photic sneeze reflex, the medical condition by which people exposed to bright light involuntarily sneeze. I once was walking back from lunch with someone at work, and they said they hated walking past a particular building (it was painted white and was right next the footpath) because it always made them sneeze. And I'm going "wtf?", how on earth could walking past a building make you sneeze. I thought perhaps there were weeds growing in the carpark nearby that he was allergic to or something. Then I read this article and I was like "wow" .. heh
There's an article that further confirms Dave's notion that clowns are evil, a whole article dedicated to badger badger badger, and one on the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge in 1940.
Now really must get back to deciding what to do about the fish tanks..
Dave2
Yes, clowns ARE evil! BAD CLOWNS!!
Ben
I blame me for wasting big-chunks of my time as well!
:D
I wish I had of went to bed before me as well! :)
Ben
Hehe, and I love the article about badger^3.
"Santa Santa Santa, Presents Presents!"
:D
Yvonne Kirk
badger badger badger oh no not again!
Martin
Your friend's reaction is that of a "compulsive" photic sneezer. There are various degrees to this reflex - most just use it to resolve a stuck sneeze, but in its more extreme form certain forms of bright light - especially coming from certain angles - will automatically set off the reaction. Sun shining off a wet roadway or off snow will do it for me. But you re right, it's pretty uncommon.
See our Photic sneezing resources
http://www.photic-sneezing.fr.st/