Old laws, weird facts and shit....

[ashley]

Just came across a site that states that

It is legal to kill Scotsman inside the walls of the ancient city of York providing he is holding a bow and arrow

Do you think if someone actually killed one..the judge would be forced to let them go?


Also,

Apparently sharks are IMMUNE to everything and they can't get ill, not even cancer.

Cows can walk up, but not down stairs.




Post your weird facts!

[alfie]

bit of an urban myth, the laws still stand but they're superceded by other more recent ones so you'd still get done

there's another one about you being allowed to kill a welshman within the city walls of chester with a crossbow, that elliot from hollyoaks better watch his back

[shane]

Apparently sharks are IMMUNE to everything and they can't get ill, not even cancer.

good to know.

*smokes cigs while sitting on the microwave*

[3rdeye]

Just came across a site that states that

It is legal to kill Scotsman inside the walls of the ancient city of York providing he is holding a bow and arrow

Apparently that is acceptable as long as it's not a Sunday .... A couple more:

All English Men over 14 are meant to carry out 2 hours (or so) of longbow practice a week supervised by the local clergy

It is illegal for a Member of Parliament to enter the House of Commons wearing a full suit of armour

[slim]

Apparently sharks are IMMUNE to everything and they can't get ill, not even cancer.

If that was true we would be thieving antibodies off sharks all the time for all sorts of infections and diseases. Am fairly certain that isn't true.

Although horseshoe crab blood is used in researching bacterial disease due to their weird immune system

[shane]

Sharks are a unique fish species. The skeleton of the shark is made of cartilage, which is much lighter and more flexible than bone. Most species of shark are found only in saltwater. This is because sharks have a high concentration of urea and trim ethylamine acid that allows them to be in balance with seawater. Because of this, most sharks cannot survive in fresh water. There are a few exceptions to this, such as the bull shark. These few sharks are able to alter their kidney functions allowing them to survive in both salt and fresh water areas. Sharks have extremely strong jaws, and their teeth are actually embedded in the flesh of their mouths, not the jaw itself. These fierce predators attack on a whim, but recent research has found that these feared creatures may actually hold the cure for certain cancers. There has been an extract that has been made from the cartilage of a shark that has been proven to shrink and reduce tumors.

Sharks are blessed with a very simple immune system, which allows them to fight infection and disease far better than humans. The immune system of sharks is being researched and studies to determine why it is that sharks appear to be immune to most diseases. It is not true that they are immune to all, but they do have an amazing immune that fights it off in a manner that surpasses the human ability to ward off infection and disease. The major difference between the immune system of a shark and a human is that sharks have two accessory immunological structures that humans do not possess. They are the epigonal organ and the Leydig's organ. The epigonal organ is located beneath the kidneys, and the Leydig's organ in within the esophagus. These organs are only found in sharks, making these sea creatures even more unique. Studies have concluded that the epigonal organ is where T-cells are differentiated, playing a huge role in the immune system of the shark.

[slim]

Sharks are a unique fish species. The skeleton of the shark is made of cartilage, which is much lighter and more flexible than bone. Most species of shark are found only in saltwater. This is because sharks have a high concentration of urea and trim ethylamine acid that allows them to be in balance with seawater. Because of this, most sharks cannot survive in fresh water. There are a few exceptions to this, such as the bull shark. These few sharks are able to alter their kidney functions allowing them to survive in both salt and fresh water areas. Sharks have extremely strong jaws, and their teeth are actually embedded in the flesh of their mouths, not the jaw itself. These fierce predators attack on a whim, but recent research has found that these feared creatures may actually hold the cure for certain cancers. There has been an extract that has been made from the cartilage of a shark that has been proven to shrink and reduce tumors.

Sharks are blessed with a very simple immune system, which allows them to fight infection and disease far better than humans. The immune system of sharks is being researched and studies to determine why it is that sharks appear to be immune to most diseases. It is not true that they are immune to all, but they do have an amazing immune that fights it off in a manner that surpasses the human ability to ward off infection and disease. The major difference between the immune system of a shark and a human is that sharks have two accessory immunological structures that humans do not possess. They are the epigonal organ and the Leydig's organ. The epigonal organ is located beneath the kidneys, and the Leydig's organ in within the esophagus. These organs are only found in sharks, making these sea creatures even more unique. Studies have concluded that the epigonal organ is where T-cells are differentiated, playing a huge role in the immune system of the shark.

And that is why i am not a marine biologist, info is nice, what's the source though?

[shane]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... tml?cat=68

[shane]

double post.

double your pleasure, double your fun.

[Pistonsbeneath]

thanks for that shane..interesting

[shane]

still looking through it though.

as always, the other side of the story:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 082202.htm

ScienceDaily (Dec. 3, 2004) — The rising popularity of shark cartilage extract as an anti-cancer treatment is a triumph of marketing and pseudoscience over reason, with a tragic fallout for both sharks and humans, according to a Johns Hopkins biologist writing in the Dec. 1 issue of Cancer Research.
See also:
Health & Medicine

"Since shark cartilage has been promoted as a cancer cure, not only has there has been a measurable decline in shark populations, but cancer patients also have been diverted from proven, effective treatments," said Gary K. Ostrander, a research professor in the departments of Biology and Comparative Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University.

In the paper, titled "Shark Cartilage, Cancer and the Growing Threat of Pseudoscience," Ostrander writes, "Crude shark cartilage is marketed as a cancer cure on the premise that sharks don't get cancer. That's not true, and the fact that people believe it is an illustration of just how harmful the public's irrationality can be."

In fact, Ostrander's paper details more than 40 examples of tumors in sharks and related species, dating back to the mid-1800s.

In the paper, Ostrander and a team of researchers from the Registry of Tumors in Lower Animals not only dissect what they call the "fallacious arguments" that have successfully convinced desperate cancer patients to purchase and ingest crude shark cartilage extract, but they also sound a "wake-up call" for society to become more scientifically literate and, thus, less vulnerable to skillfully mass-marketed illogical claims.

"People read on the Internet or hear on television that taking crude shark cartilage extract can cure them of cancer, and they believe it without demanding to see the science behind the claims," Ostrander said. "This shows how the electronic media has increased the potential harm of pseudoscience, turning what would otherwise be quaint cultural curiosities into potential serious societal and ecological problems. The only way to combat this is to ensure that government leaders and media professionals receive adequate scientific training based on reason, and that they also develop critical thinking skills."

Ostrander traces the popularity of crude shark cartilage as a cancer treatment and preventive measure to I. William Lane's 1992 book titled "Sharks Don't Get Cancer," which was further publicized by the CBS News program "60 Minutes" in 1993. Though Lane acknowledges in the book that sharks do, in fact, get cancer, he bases his advocacy of crude cartilage extracts on what Ostrander calls "overextensions" of some early experiments in which the substance seemed to inhibit tumor formation and the growth of new blood vessels that supply nutrients and oxygen to malignancies.

"The fact is that it is possible that highly purified components of cartilage, including from sharks, may hold some benefit for treatment of human cancers," Ostrander said. "The key will be to isolate these compounds and design a way to deliver them to the site of the tumor. Lane and others ignore these existing barriers and suggest that consuming crude cartilage extracts by mouth or rectum could be curative of all cancers – an approach for which there is no scientific basis. It is worth noting that despite more than a decade of evaluation of shark cartilage, not a single controlled clinical study has established that it works as an anti-cancer agent."

The National Cancer Institute funded a portion of this work.

[slim]

Thanks for that again shane, i was just looking for papers to back the claims up, thought it was a bit fishy (oh christ no... not going to delete it though) that there weren't any references on the website.

The guy has a point too, don't believe everything you read, i think critical thinking should be compulsory in schools actually, i only know of a few colleges who offer it at all, and it's such a useful skill.

[psyolopher]

Thanks for that again shane, i was just looking for papers to back the claims up, thought it was a bit fishy (oh christ no... not going to delete it though) that there weren't any references on the website.

The guy has a point too, don't believe everything you read, i think critical thinking should be compulsory in schools actually, i only know of a few colleges who offer it at all, and it's such a useful skill.

Would be a pain in the ass to teach those kids then wouldnt it?

[deamonds]

thanks shane, good read

[kins83]

Big Up Shane, that's some good stuff. Nice to see that you've posted 'both sides of the story', not enough of that here imo.

[ashley]

It is illegal to die in the houses of Parliament.

[kamala]

male cats have barbs on their penis'.

[enki's perfect clone]

Sharp, the electronics company started out by making pencils

[kidlogic]

Sharp, the electronics company started out by making pencils

Nintendo started making playing cards.

and thank you, that name never made any sense until now.

[tuck]

The underside of a horse's hoof is called a frog.