50 Things We Know Now

Or, as the complete title says, 50 Things We Know Now (That We Didn't Know This Time Last Year) 2006 Edition.

Heads up, trivia buffs...

5. U.S. Protestant "megachurches" - defined as having a weekly attendance of at least 2,000 - doubled in five years to more than 1,200 and are among the nation's fastest-growing faith groups.

9. Scientists have discovered that certain brain chemicals in our tears are natural pain relievers.

25. Women gain weight when they move in with a boyfriend because their diet deteriorates, but men begin to eat more healthy food when they set up a home with a female partner. [No reports mentioned about same-sex partners. Is this where we get the term diesel dyke?]

38. Most of us have microscopic, wormlike mites named Demodex that live in our eyelashes and have claws and a mouth. [Probiotic Grace, anyone?]

50. Researchers from the University of Manchester managed to induce teeth growth in normal chickens - activating genes that have lain dormant for 80 million years.

...moving right along...