Things I learned lately - 7 Mar

• In ancient texts, there is no mention at all of the colour blue. Not in Homer's Odyssey, the Koran, not in other Greek, Icelandic, Chinese, the ancient Hebrew version of the Bible, Hindu, nothing.
• New York City is the only subway service that operates 24 hours a day, on all lines.
• The most effective method of motivation in the workplace revolves around autonomy (the urge to direct our own lives), mastery (the desire to get better at something that matters) and purpose (the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves).
• The most effective work environment (to date) is known as ROWE (results oriented work environment). It doesn't matter how you work, or where, or when, as long as the tasks are getting done.
• An overwhelming amount of peer-reviewed tests prove that incentives actually lead to poorer performance, except when the work is purely mechanical.
• The word 'crisp' starts at the back of your mouth and ends in the front.
• The word 'bride' comes from an old proto-germanic word meaning 'to cook'.
• In Finland, speeding fines are calculated as a percentage of the offender's income.
• Fist bumps transfer only 1/10 the bacteria that handshakes do.
• Norwegians pay half the tax in November so they have more money for Christmas.
• Avocados are basically poisonous to all pets.
• Astronauts aboard the ISS can see about 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets per day.