Nature never ceases to amaze me. No matter how much I learn I don’t have to look very far to find out it stuff I never would have dreamed.

For instance, in school we were taught that the heart is the strongest muscle in the body, but seems as if that’s not right, your tongue is strongest.

Speaking of tongues, crocodiles can’t stick theirs out; I don’t know about alligators.

Echoes are like shadows, everything has one, right? Wrong! Duck quacks don’t echo, but no one knows why.

Come summer when you’re scratching away at those pesky mosquito bites, just remember, it really is a bite, because mosquitoes have teeth.

Summer also brings butterflies for your viewing pleasure. Butterflies love the nectar, but did you know they taste with their feet?

While we’re on the subject of feet, whether you have two or four you can jump—as long as you aren’t an elephant. Elephants are the only animal that can’t jump.

One final human fact that you can verify yourself the next time you have a cold—it’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

See you tomorrow for a look at how insanely smart hiring creates stars and boosts retention.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_fox/358204689/

Do you sometimes get the feeling that the folks who populate our legislatures, no matter the party, either sit on their brains or just don’t bother bring them to work?

I often hear people wishing that someone of intelligence would run; someone of substance like those that their parents or grandparents talk about.

Apparently our politicians have been sitting or forgetting for a lot longer than people realize, so the good old days may not be all that great.

Of course, people break the law all the time—and sometimes that’s a good thing.

In 1760 Philadelphia passed a law making it illegal to put pretzels in bags. I wonder if they sold them in boxes…

Baseball took a major hit in Oklahoma, where it is illegal to the ball over the fence or out of a ballpark. If still enforced I wonder if it would cut down on steroid use…

Driving has generated many laws since autos were invented and here are some of my favorites.

California law prohibits a woman from driving a car while dressed in a housecoat. I wonder what kind of dress was banned for men…

California may sound sexist and petty, but lawmakers in Tennessee and New York obviously have absolutely no faith in their constituents. What makes me so sure?

Tennessee has a statute making it illegal to drive a car while sleeping.

And if that isn’t silly enough, in New York it’s against the law for a blind person to drive a car. I wonder if they can legally drive other types of transportation…

A real favorite dates back to 1930 when the great state of Virginia passed a law that prohibits corrupt practices or bribery by any person other than political candidates. I wonder when that law was extended to the rest of the citizens…

But it is California that takes the cake California, where dirty dancing was (probably) invented, has a statute dating back to 1925 that makes it illegal to wiggle while dancing. I wonder if that extends to walking and other forms of locomotion…

One caveat, it’s possible that some of these laws have been repealed and others could be urban legends, but as far as know they are real.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biscuitsmlp/3044867827/

A few weeks ago I read an article in Business Week about corporations using security surveillance to check on people taking sick days. It was a list of high profile absences that I wanted to share with you and that gave me the idea for Oddball Facts as an occasional alternative to Quotable Quotes.

Of course, sometimes employees are at work when they aren’t; in other words, the body is present, but the mind is absent, which can have dire results.

Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, radio operators, Titanic: The duo were tasked with handling radio messages for the ship’s 2,220-plus passengers. Unfortunately, they didn’t heed significant iceberg warnings.

Typically, inexcusable absences focus on line workers who call in sick when they aren’t; most people assume that it’s more prevalent in lower levels and mostly on unimportant days, but that isn’t always the case.

There’s a commercial running these days for a cold remedy that features quarterback Drew Brees; the take away is that some people can’t miss a day’s work. But consider another sports figure that didn’t see it that way.

Manny Ramirez, MLB superstar: Playing for the Red Sox in 2003, he was out sick during a series against the Yankees. Though not sick enough to stop him from socializing with the Pinstripes’ Enrique Wilson at the Boston Ritz-Carlton bar.

Remember Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned? He didn’t have anything on this CEO.

Jimmy Cayne, former CEO, Bear Stearns: The Bridge Grand Master famously departed for a tournament as his firm—and its nearly $400 billion in assets—flirted with bankruptcy and sent Wall Street into chaos.

Many companies allow employees to work from home, even management on occasion, but how long would Wall Street tolerate the president of a troubled company who worked a third of the time from home, let alone a vacation home? Not long, you say? It didn’t seem to bother them when it was the President of the United States.

George W. Bush, former President, brush-clearing enthusiast: During two terms, Bush spent 487 days at Camp David and 490 at his Crawford ranch. One-third of his Presidency was thus spent “working from home.”

Flickr image credit: D Sharon Pruitt