Make a list of 43 things I know very little about, & then learn at least 3 things about each of them

The Mongol raiders of the ancient far east wrote a chapter in the history of psychic powers. Alexander the Great consulted with prophetic oracles, and Nostradamus himself was a bit player in their writing of human destiny. United States Presidents have relied on the advice of astrologers, as well as other methods of divining the proper solutions to global problems. Spanish explorers to the New World found the inhabitants already possessed rituals and customs based on the history of psychic powers. Native Americans waged battles against one another as well as colonial invaders by making use of mystical talismans with roots in the history of psychic powers.

Catch butterflies when you’re little, and you’ll soon see your palms covered in a silver and sparkly powder.

When the fully-grown adult butterfly emerges from its pupa, its delicate wings are crinkled, wet, and uninflated. The butterfly hangs upside-down and pumps blood into the wings to inflate them. It must then wait for the wings to dry before it can fly. When the fragile wings fray or are torn, they do not repair themselves.

I found out why there is dust on their wings:

The dust on butterfly and moth wings are modified hairs called scales. The scales have at least 4 functions, not necessarily on the same butterfly species:

(1) They form patterns of bright colours, sometimes with hidden ultraviolet pattern, that are used as signals to the other sex in attraction for mating.
(2) The bright colours are used to advertise particular butterfly’s bad tastes to predators. This protects them from being eaten.
(3) The scales may form patterns that help the butterflies blend into their background and thus escape being eaten by birds or other animals by background resemblance.
(4) Dark colours formed by the scales can be used by butterflies to soak up warmth from the sun that allows their bodies to warm up to flight temperatures in cool seasons or cool environments. Remember: butterflies are cold-blooded.

Female yaks and their young congregate in large herds, while the males are more solitary or form much smaller groups. Yaks have a cleft or split hoof, which makes them agile over rocky or icy ground.

Yaks possess great lung capacity so they can absorb more oxygen. Their digestive system is also designed to keep them warm.

In winter a wild yak can survive temperatures as low as – 40 degrees (F).

Dried yak dung is used as fuel in the treeless Tibetan plateaus.

On June 7 1992, the first Russian president, B. N. Yeltsin issued the Decree on the Abolition of the State Monopoly on Vodka. As a result, the country was flooded with low quality, very often fake, and therefore, hazardous product. The effect of this widespread fake vodka was so apparent, and the budget losses so noticeable, that in a year, on June 11, 1993, the new presidential decree was issued. This time it was called «On the Re-establishment of the State Monopoly on Production, Storage, Wholesale and Retail of Alcoholic Products».

Making Vodka was a lot easier in Poland, as fewer official restrictions were imposed. Indeed, in 1546, King Jan Olbrecht issued a decree allowing every citizen the right to make Vodka. As a result many families distilled their own spirit, and as early as the sixteenth century there were forty-nine commercial distilleries in the town of Pozan alone.

Vodka-making and drinking became established at all levels of society in Poland over the next few centuries. Poznan continues to be a major center for the production of Vodka today.

In ancient China, there was a miraculous creature called the k’i-lin that radiated exquisite colours, had a voice like the tinkling of bells, and lived for a thousand years. Although the k’i-lin was like a dragon—it had fish scales which shimmered in every colour of the rainbow—it had a mane and cloven hooves as well.

One Western legend also speaks of a beautiful young woman named Elly being found by a unicorn, who cried its tears for her and healed the wounds of her heart.

German-speaking peoples have long been strong believers in unicorns. During the Middle Ages their churches and palaces were filled with images of the creature, known to them as Einhorn. In German Marian mysticism (the cult of the adoration of the Virgin), the name given to the mother of God was Maria unicornis (Mary of the unicorn).

Today, sea turtles are protected as an endangered species. Only farm-raised freshwater turtles, as well as some limited species of wild freshwater turtles, can be used for soup or other recipes. New Orleans’ restaurants serve legal turtle meat such as soft-shell turtle or snapping turtle.

19th-century American cookbooks advised homemakers that for the best turtle soup one should choose a turtle about 10 pounds in weight, as a smaller one would not have enough fat, and a bigger one would have too strong a flavour.

I would never try turtle soup, or ‘mock turtle’ soup. Not just because I’m vegan… it just sounds repulsive.

This sea began to develop 20-30 million years ago when the plates of East Africa and Arabia stretched-out until they broke apart. The Red Sea is a geologically recent opening and one of the youngest oceanic zones on earth.

Approximately 40 % of the Red Sea is quite shallow (less than 100 m) whereas about 25 % of the Red Sea is less than 50 m deep.

The sea is the habitat of over 1000 invertebrate species and 200 soft and hard corals. The sea occupies a part of the Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea is the world´s most northern tropical sea.

Laser tattoo removal began in earnest in the late 80s, when the development of “pulsed” lasers made it plausible to perform medical procedures using lasers. The first procedures were performed using the Q-switched ruby laser. The ruby laser is more difficult to use on individuals with darker skin types, but it is still used today.

Laser itself is not a term but an abbreviation for Light Amplified by Stimulated Emission of Radiation—a process discovered at the labs at Bell Gardens in 1958.

Colors like black are rather easy to remove, while turquoise still remains the most difficult color to remove from the human skin. That’s why it is extremely important to see a Dermasurgeon with all the lasers necessary to complete the removal. A separate laser wavelength is necessary to remove black, red, green and pastel colors. Some clinics only have one or two of the lasers leaving you with a half-treated tattoo.

Aluminum heel and toe taps did not appear until after 1910.

The dance known as the Black Bottom started in New Orleans and later worked its way to New York. Some say the Black Bottom was introduced by blues singer, Alberta Hunter, however—it has been reported that the Black Bottom was derived from “The Echo,” an earlier dance.

The Black Bottom was formally introduced by Perry Bradford in Nashville, Tennessee in 1919 when he wrote the song “The Black Bottom Dance.” Bradford’s sheet music had the music as well as the dance instructions printed on them. In 1926, the stage play “Dinah” featured the Black Bottom and almost overnight the dance became as popular as the Charleston.

The Black bottom was basically a solo challenge dance, predominately danced on the “Off Beat.” It is thought to be the rhythmic prototype for modern tap dance phrasing. The dance featured the slapping of the backside while hopping forward and backward, stamping the feet, and gyrations of the torso while making arm movements to music with an occasional Heel-Toe scoop.

The Guiness World Book Records holder lists Roy Castle on January 14, 1973 – at 1,440 Taps Per Minute (24 per second).

Sungazing, in it’s simplest form, is the belief that you can get all your nutrients from the sun. Just getting the sunlight will give you all of your daily vitamins and minerals. There is a small, but devoted following to this theory.

Sungazers claim their eyes are capable of converting sunlight into energy for their bodies. They claim the methodology is similar to photosynthesis.

Most people consider this practice bullshit, repeating that direct eye contact with the sun causes blindness and eye vision problems.