![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Shiny Things - April 11th, 2008
Apr. 11th, 2008
01:45 pm - Tetraphobia and the Fire Horse
You may be aware of triskaidekaphobia, but did you know that in some oriental cultures there are many people with tetraphobia? In those languages, the words for "four" and "death" sound very similar, or identical, and so the number four is avoided in the same way people avoid the number 13 in western cultures. (Wikipedia)
I'd never heard of this until recently. It was described in a fascinating article about superstition and its economic impact in the most recent email newsletter from Etre.
The same article also talked about the oriental superstition that women born in the year of the fire horse (1906, 1966) are unlucky, which I'd also never heard of. Such children were considered so unlucky that the Japanese birth rate dipped significantly in 1966. There's a little more about that on this site, and proabably way more than you want to know in this PDF.
If this sort of stuff is interesting to you, let me know, and I'll forward you the email.
06:35 pm - It's What's for Dinner
Scientists are getting closer and closer to producing vat-grown meats that were never part of an actual animal. I think this is a great idea, but I really have to wonder what it will taste like. I also wonder what PETA thinks (I don't care: I'm just curious).
| ← Previous day | (Calendar) | Next day → |