Now I Know: Learn Something New Every Day

Now I Know

How can we pick a site of the week that appears to be nothing but a newsletter? Well… first, we think it’s important to keep our brains exercised by making a point to learn at least one new thing every day. I think that learning is the key to thriving and keeping our minds young and open to new ideas. The fact is, the older you get, the harder it is to learn new things.

First, age plays havoc with our cognitive abilities, and secondly, by the time we reach old age, we’ve pretty much seen it all, so we tend to avoid situations and things we don’t understand or recognize and this reduces our chances of learning something new.

So today, regardless of your age, I’m offering each of you a chance to learn something new every day…well maybe not every single day, but most days. And all you have to do to get started is sign-up for a free newsletter. Actually, you don’t have to sign-up for a newsletter, but then you’d have to remember to visit our site of the week every day to see what new things you can learn. And you know after a couple of days you’re going to forget to visit and after a few weeks, you’ll forget the name of the site and so on. Probably like you’ve already forgotten this newsletter. It’s just human nature. Our aging brains can only handle as much as they used to so we remember the important stuff like eating, sleeping, and eating. But learning something new every day can help keep your mind younger and more pliable and nubile 🙂 It’s true, I tells ya!

How about a couple of samples to whet your appetites, eh?

These are from the “Now I Know” archives…

Why the Zebra Got Its Stripes

As animals go, zebras are amongst the coolest-looking. They’re horses, sure, but they come with a really great striped suit from head to hoof. Really, take a look — they’re glorious.

But like most non-human animals, zebras don’t really care about fashion. For them — and for basically every animal — what they look like is a function of evolution, not style. But the evolutionary purpose was, until recently, one of science’s biggest mysteries. As the BBC notes, “how and why zebras evolved to sport black and white stripes are questions that have tested scientists for over a century.” Continues the BBC, “scientists have put forward at least 18 reasons why, from camouflage or warning colors, to more creative explanations like unique markers that help to identify individuals like a human fingerprint.”

But the most likely answer is none of those…”

How about another?

The Cheeseburger on Ice

With more than 35,000 stores and 200,000 employees, McDonald’s is truly a global endeavor. There are few places that one can travel to and not be able to get a Big Mac or McNuggets, but Iceland is on that list. After the global economy took a tumble in 2008, the hamburger giant revisited some of its underperforming markets and decided Iceland probably wasn’t worth the ongoing investment. In October of 2009, facing steep competition from local favorite Hambórgarabúllan, McDonald’s announced that it would shutter its three franchises on the island nation, with no plans to ever reopen.

So if you’re in Iceland, you can’t get yourself a McDonald’s cheeseburger — unless, that is, that you’re also willing to become a real-life hamburglar…”

The snippets of articles above are available in the “Now I Know” archives. But I signed up for the newsletter so I can learn something new every day. Why? Because I like learning, and I love learning bizarre and arcane things. I’m quirky. Are you eager to learn too? Well even if you don’t want to sign up for the free “Now I Know” newsletter, you can still bookmark the site. You’ll find a treasure trove of interesting articles in the “Now I Know” archives.

So, don’t let your brain get old, keep it young, learn new stuff. Visit “Now I Know” right now and learn something new. It’s good for you, I tells ya!