FOUR SURPRISING FACTS OF THE DAY!

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Happy admiring the gorgeous full moon, as well as chomping down your moon cake!

I had a rough night last night, so today I wasn’t going to feel surprise at anything I see anymore. Well my nonchalance obviously did not last long, thanks to these awesome facts that I’ve decided to share with you guys! Be prepared to have your mind blown with these wonderful facts! Let’s check it out!

Have you ever wondered why do crackers have holes? Well, turns out the holes are there for a reason, and not for decoration purpose. Without these holes, crackers would not be able to bake properly. These holes will allow steam to escape during cooking. If you have notice, regular biscuits that we bake normally would rise a little, but these crackers will remain flat thanks to these holes. The holes positioning and numbers are depends on the size of the crackers. Let’s say the positioning of the holes are too close, the crackers will be too dry and hard. If they are too far apart, then the crackers will rise a bit and form bubbles which are quite unpleasant.

Ah-ha! Million dollar question! Have you ever thought why milk is white?  Well here’s why! Milk contains 87% water and 13% of various protein as well as fat. One of the major properties among these proteins is called casein, four types of which will make up 80% of the protein. The casein protein somehow suspended uniformly throughout the milk. White objects in nature appear such when there is some level of light diffusion going on and no parts of the visible spectrum gets reflected off the object any more than any other part of that area of the light spectrum. These casein proteins and some of the fats in the milk scatter and deflect light uniformly throughout the visual spectrum. This results in the milk being fairly opaque and appearing white to our eyes.

I am a huge fan of spicy food! So this fact serves me well. Why peppers taste hot? The heat sensation in the chili peppers is caused by capsaicin, which happens to be colorless, odorless, oily chemical that can be found in peppers. Capsaicin binds with certain sensory neurons which then trick your body into thinking that it is being burned or at least experiencing excessive amounts of heat in the area that the capsaicin comes in contact with, even though there’s no actual burning is taking place.

The fourth and final fact of the day is quite similar to the previous fact. Have you ever tasted mint, and have wondered why mint tastes cold? The thing here is, a chemical in mint, namely menthol tricks the brain into thinking that the area that has been applied by menthol is cold, even though it’s just the same. To be exact, menthol binds with cold-sensitive receptors in your skin; these receptors contain things called “ion channels”. The menthol makes these much more sensitive than normal and thus tricks your brain into thinking you are feeling a cold sensation. When in reality, everything else is exactly at the same temperature as before!