Doctors treating a Chinese woman who complained of feeling weak discovered she only had half a brain. The woman, 39, from Wuhan city, has lived a perfectly normal life and only came into hospital after she complained of feeling weak and stiff.

Zhang Linhong, director of Neural Rehabilitation Department at the local hospital, said: “On the MRI scans we were surprised to see that she only has grey matter on the right side. Our usual understanding is that the left brain controls language. But this patient has no problem communicating with people.”

The woman’s mother said her daughter lives a very normal life. “She graduated from high school with good marks. Her memory is very good. She remembers phone numbers and names immediately.”

 

That Is A Big Bug:

Scientists have found the fossilised claw of a 2.5-metre (8-foot) sea scorpion, a nightmarish creature living before the age of dinosaurs. The discovery of the 390-million-year-old specimen in a German quarry suggests prehistoric spiders, insects and crabs were much larger than previously thought, researchers at Bristol University said on Wednesday.

“This is an amazing discovery,” said university researcher Simon Braddy. “We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies but we never realised, until now, just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were.”

Just why prehistoric arthropods -- creatures with external skeletons and segmented bodies -- grew so large is unclear. Some scientists believe they may have become giants because of the higher levels of oxygen in the atmosphere in the past. Another theory is that they evolved in an “arms race” alongside their likely prey, the early armoured fish.

 

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Hooked On Facts:

There was no punctuation until the 15th century.

There is a species of clam that can grow up to four feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds.

More than 400,000 U.S. houses still lack indoor plumbing.

A hedgehog’s heart beats 300 times a minute on average.

An elephant’s tooth can weigh as much as 12 pounds.

 

Brought to you by HookedOnFacts.com

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Just Joking:

Installing Carpet:

A carpet layer had just finished installing carpet for a lady. He stepped out for a smoke, only to realize he’d lost his cigarettes.

In the middle of the room, under the carpet, was a bump.

‘’No sense pulling up the entire floor for one pack of smokes,’’ he said to himself. He proceeded to get out his hammer and flattened the hump.

As he was cleaning up, the lady came in. ‘’Here,’’ she said, handling him his pack of cigarettes. ‘’I found them in the hallway.’’

‘’Now,’’ she said, ‘’if only I could find my parakeet.’’

Did You Perform Any Good Deeds?

A fellow finds himself in front of the Pearly Gates. St. Peter explains that its not so easy to get in heaven. There are some criteria before entry is allowed. For example, was the man religious in life? Attend church? No? St. Peter told him that’s bad.

Was he generous? give money to the poor? Charities? No? St. Peter told him that that too was bad.

Did he do any good deeds? Help his neighbor? Anything? No? St. Peter was becoming concerned.

Exasperated, Peter says, “Look, everybody does something nice sometime. Work with me, I’m trying to help. Now think!”

The man says, “There was this old lady. I came out of a store and found her surrounded by a dozen Hell’s Angels. They had taken her purse and were shoving her around, taunting and abusing her.

I got so mad I threw my bags down, fought through the crowd, and got her purse back. I then helped her to her feet. I then went up to the biggest, baddest biker and told him how despicable, cowardly and mean he was and then spat in his face”.

“Wow”, said Peter, “That’s impressive. When did this happen”?

“Oh, about 10 minutes ago”, replied the man.

Did You See That?

Two guys are out hunting deer. The first guy says, “Did you see that?”
“No,” the second guy says.
“Well, a bald eagle just flew overhead,” the first guy says.
“Oh,” says the second guy.
A couple of minutes later, The first guy says, “Did you see that?”
“See what?” the second guy asks.
“Are you blind? There was a big, black bear walking on that hill, over there.”
“Oh.”
A few minutes later the first guy says: “Did you see that?”
By now, the second guy is getting aggravated, “YES, Of course I did!”
And the first guy says: “Then why did you step in it?”