Trivia

Drinkers know they’ll sometimes feel the kick of a stiff drink right away, and other times hardly feel it at all. Researchers now report stress speeds passage of chemicals from blood to brain. Alcohol and other drugs make a quicker trip in times of tension.

If an ostrich puts its head in the sand - and it does sometimes - it’s searching for food.

Q. Why is midday - 12 o’clock - called “noon”?

A. Fasting among Christians centuries ago permitted a snack at the ninth hour after sunrise - a time called “Nones.” It usually occurred around 3 p.m. But the hungry devout fudged, bringing it ever earlier. In the 12th century, it stabilized at midday and became “noon.”

If there’s a town around your place with about 80,000 people in it, you can compare it to ancient Knossos on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Biggest city on earth at its peak.

Six miles an hour is a fairly typical speed for a polar bear out for a 100-mile swim.

“Man’s work” and “woman’s work” may well be a pattern of the past, but it certainly got an early start. Scholars say the chores of the hunters and gatherers were pretty much divided up by gender. As you may surmise: Men hunted. Women gathered.