Tidbit #24 - April 19, 2011

Another great from Feldman's Imponderables series:

Question: Why is $ the sign for the US dollar?


Answer: I remember looking up Feldman's book online and finding this and thinking that I had to show this to everyone at the blog, but I can't seem to find it now, so I can't remember exactly the citation except the very condensed answer, so sorry about that: short tidbit!

The $ sign is thought to be a twist on the sign for the Spanish Peso.

Tidbit #15 - April 10, 2011

Lots of you have probably heard of David Feldman's puzzling series of books called "Imponderables," all with different titles. As a reminder, I have not utilized any of his imponderables.. Until now. I'm using one of his most famous questions, and summarizing it in my own words:

Question: How does Aspirin find a headache?


Answer: I looked it up, and I found someone on uh.edu who found his book and typed up Mr. Feldman's answer:

Try that aspirin question: I always thought aspirin just entered the blood and reduced pain wherever the blood went. Aspirin does enter the blood, but then it acts selectively on pain and inflammation. Not 'til the 1970s did pharmacologists figure out how it did that. Aspirin attacks a certain fatty acid that serves as an early warning system by increasing the sensitivity of pain receptors. Aspirin turns those painful warning bells off.

And, as always, my condensed summary:

When you take Aspirin, the pill dissolves into the blood and attacks a fatty acid that causes pain receptors to tell the body something's wrong, shutting it down.