Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Do fish drink water?

I am currently reading a book called "Do fish drink water?, Puzzling and improbable questions and answers by Bill Mclain". This is a very interesting book and it touches on many subjects such as animal kingdom , clothing & apparels, history, geography, food, holidays, language and so on.

Here are some that I wanna share with you!

(Excerpts from the book)
Do fish drink water?
Although fish do drink water, their primary method of obtaining fresh water is through osmosis. The water seeps into their body through tiny holes in their skin.

Osmosis is simply the movement of a solution (such as salt and water) through a semi porous membrane (such as fish's skin) until the concentration of the solution becomes equal on both sides of the membrane.

When a fish lives in salt water, the ocean water contains more salt than does the liquid in the fish. Thus, osmosis draws water out of the fish and the fish needs continually to drink water to replenish the liquid being drawn out of its body.

When a fish lives in fresh water, the water has less salt than does the liquid in the fish and water is drawn through the fish's skin into its body. Therefore, freshwater fish do not need to drink water. However, they swallow some water when they open their mouths to eat.


What is the origin of the phrase "It's not over till the fat lady sings"?
In many operas, the final scene ends with an aria sung by a lady singer, so the opera isn't over until she completes her last song. For many years female opera singers tend to be large. Therefore, you could say that the opera isn't over until the fat lady is done singing. Today the expression means that you should never assume something is finished until you're sure. Sometimes, a situation that appears to be completed is only going through a temporary pause.

Some opera haters find it amusing that in a final operatic scene, the heroine is killed and with her dying breath belts out a lengthy solo that can be heard throughout the entire opera house.


Now you know...

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