Teens of Bay Area

Did you know that….

1. The Eiffel Tower can grow up to 15 centimeters taller during the summer. This is because its structure is mainly composed of iron, which has the property to expand from heat. This phenomenon is known as thermal expansion. 

2. The longest tennis match in history lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes and spanned over three days. The match was held at a tournament in Wimbledon in 2010, and it was played between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut, who are professional tennis players. Their match consisted of five sets with the total points adding up to 980. Isner ultimately won the match with the winning final set score of 70 – 68. 

3. According to eight studies with a total of 315 participants, laughter was found to reduce cortisol by 31.9% compared to control groups. High cortisol levels can cause symptoms such as weight gain, high blood pressure, muscle weakness, etc. Regulation of cortisol is important towards leading a healthier life.  Even just a single laughter session reduced the amount of cortisol by 36.7%. 

4. Intuitively, one would think that strawberries would fall under the category of “berries” — but by definition, they would be an aggregate fruit, not berries. Berries are defined to be fruits that come from flowers with only one ovary — strawberries, however, come from flowers with multiple ovaries. Strangely enough, following this, bananas would be classified as berries — and so would pumpkins, lemons, and watermelon.

5. Octopus has three hearts to accommodate for the molecular structure of the blue-colored blood  which is caused by a copper rich protein called haemocyanin that helps transport oxygen in the octopus’s body, which creates the bluish hue. However, this protein, compared to the haemoglobin in humans, is larger and is less effective in binding with oxygen. The octopus three heart system compensates for this flaw by having two branchial hearts which pushes deoxygenated blood out of the gills and one systemic heart which pumps blood throughout the entire body.