How do clams reproduce?

Search: oysters bivalves procreate



Why: On reddit, Oyster eggs:

Answer: Bivalves (clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, scallops, etc.) reproduce by external fertilization!

Marine bivalves reproduce by releasing prodigious numbers of eggs and sperm into the water, where external fertilization occurs. The fertilized eggs then float in the surface plankton.



Within 48 hours after fertilization, the embryo develops into a minute, planktonic, trochophore larvae. This stage is followed by another larval form, the veliger, which settles to the seabed and transforms into an adult.



In freshwater bivalves, the eggs are retained in the gill chambers of the female, where they undergo fertilization and develop into a peculiar larval form, the glochidium.



Upon its release, the larva attaches to passing fish, and lives as an ectoparasite for several weeks before settling.

Oyster eggs are commonly sold as food for coral in saltwater aquariums.



Source: Science



The More You Know: But how do pearls form? First, anatomy:

Then (from HowStuffWorks):

As the oyster grows in size, its shell must also grow. The mantle is an organ that produces the oyster's shell, using minerals from the oyster's food. The material created by the mantle is called nacre. Nacre lines the inside of the shell.

­The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritate­s the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The man­tle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a pearl.

So a pearl is a foreign substance covered with layers of nacre. Most pearls that we see in jewelry stores are nicely rounded objects, which are the most valuable ones. Not all pearls turn out so well. Some pearls form in an uneven shape -- these are called baroque pearls. Pearls, as you've probably noticed, come in a variety of various colors, including white, black, gray, red, blue and green.

So basically, pearls are cysts that the oysters make to protect themselves from foreign objects. Some farmers even irritate their oysters on purpose to create "cultured pearls"!

Fun fact: Oysters are among the only frutti di mare that I don't eat.

What are "jumelles" in French?

Search: jumelles, jumelle



Why: On reddit, Ulric Collette Splits Portraits to Show Facial Similarities in Family Members:

PORTRAITS GÉNÉTIQUES

Mère / Fille: Francine, 56 ans & Catherine, 23 ans

Soeur / Frère: Karine, XX ans & Dany, 25 ans

Père / Fils: Denis, 53 ans & William, 28 ans

Jumelles: Laurence & Christine, 20 ans

And so forth. (There are more.)



Answer: "Binoculars"!



What?



Oh wait, also "twins"!



Apparently only a specific set of twins.

Source: Google Translate



The More You Know: And a video:

Portrait génétique from Ulric Collette.

What offensive thing did Tommy Hilfiger allegedly say on Oprah?

Search: tommy hilfiger oprah



Why: On reddit, Abercrombie asks 'Jersey Shore' cast not to wear their brand, and in the comments:

oswyn, Yesterday 09:01 PM

Poor A&F is worried about the brand image because the wrong people are wearing it. Some may find this funny because the Jersey shore group seems easy to ridicule. But if A&F said the same thing to another group for example African Americans I think we'd be rightfully appalled. Can anyone remember the backlash against Tommy Hillfiger because of what he allegedly said on Oprah? It should be the same here.

I can not remember that.



Answer: Nothing! Here was a forward that yourmomsilliteratefriend@aol.com sent you in 1996:

Tommy Hilfiger on Oprah



Hello, please read.... and pass on if you haven't already! Everyone needs to see this.



God for Oprah!!!! I'm sure many of you watched the recent taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show where her guest was Tommy Hilfiger. On the show, she asked him if the statements about race he was accused of saying were true. Statements, like"...if I had known African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish and Asians would buy my clothes, I would not have made them so nice. I wish these people would *NOT* buy my clothes, as they are made for upper class white people."



His answer to Oprah was a simple "YES". Where after she immediately asked him to leave her show. My suggestion? Don't buy your next shirt or Perfume from Tommy Hilfiger. Let's give him what he asked for. Let's not buy His clothes, let's put him in a financial state where he himself will NOT be able to afford the ridiculous prices he puts on his clothes.



BOYCOTT PLEASE...., & SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE YOU KNOW



Nothing empowers people quite like their own survival!

The rumor stemmed from a fake interview in a Filipino tabloid. Also, Oprah never even met Tommy Hilfiger until 11 years after the alleged kicking-off incident, in May 2007.

She kind of looked like an alien.



Source: Snopes



The More You Know: Anyhoo, CNN says that Abercrombie stock has fallen 9% since they dissed "Jersey Shore," which I guess means they had a lot more orange fistpumping investors than they thought. But I'm not surprised.

Where is the Aral Sea?

Search: aral sea



Why: On reddit, TIL That the disappearing of the Aral Sea has left behind a desert filled with shipwrecks:

Muynak is a city in northern Karakalpakstan in western Uzbekistan. Home to only a few thousand residents at most, Muynak's population has been declining precipitously since the 1980s due to the recession of the Aral Sea.

But I am American and t.f. haven't looked at a world map since AP History in 12th grade.



Answer: Over here!

Source: Google Maps



The More You Know: From that page:

The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth-largest saline body of water, it has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s, after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet Union irrigation projects. By 2004, the sea had shrunk to 25% of its original surface area, and a nearly fivefold increase in salinity had killed most of its natural flora and fauna. By 2007 it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into three separate lakes, two of which are too salty to support fish. The once prosperous fishing industry has been virtually destroyed, and former fishing towns along the original shores have become ship graveyards. With this collapse has come unemployment and economic hardship.

Did Elizabeth and Philip marry before or after she became Queen?

Search: queen elizabeth



Why: I just saw this darling thing on reddit, After all these years, they still look at each other the same way:

Answer: They were married first! In sequence:

• 1921 (June 10th) - Philip is born in Corfu, Greece (he is 90)
• 1926 (April 21) - Elizabeth is born (she is 85)
• 1934 - They meet for the first time
• 1937 - They meet for the second time
• 1939 (July) - They meet for the third time and begin to exchange letters (she is 13)
• 1947 (Nov. 20) - They marry

• 1952 (Feb. 6) - Elizabeth's father George VI dies; Elizabeth (25) is proclaimed queen regnant throughout her realms
• 1953 (June 2) - Elizabeth is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, and Pakistan, and Head of the Commonwealth.

Elizabeth wore a gown commissioned from Norman Hartnell, which was embroidered with floral emblems for countries of the Commonwealth: English Tudor rose, Scots thistle, Welsh leek, Irish shamrock, Australian wattle, Canadian maple leaf, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute.

Source: Wikipedia



The More You Know: Here is what Wikipedia says about the day George VI died:

In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father.

The thing is that I'm 99% sure I stayed in that hotel at some point in 2000. There was a watering hole right outside where elephants came, and they put hot water bottles in the beds at night. There is a picture somewhere in the universe of a monkey reaching in through our window (it was kind of slatted) and taking a Tic Tac out of my hand. I will hunt it down when I go home in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

Anyway, also, this is interesting, I think:

With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed likely that the royal house would bear her husband's name. Lord Mountbatten thought it would be the House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's last name on marriage; however, Queen Mary and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill favoured the retention of the House of Windsor, and so Windsor it remained. The Duke complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." In 1960, after the death of Queen Mary and the resignation of Churchill, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.