Orangutangents

Taken With a Pinch of Salt

I listen to the radio occasionally when I'm performing Dad's Taxi duties, and today whilst ferrying the kids around there was the joyous news that a 100 yr old woman had jumped out of a plane (attached to a bloke with a parachute), and had enjoyed herself so much she was planning to go swimming with sharks. It perhaps makes you wonder how she made it to 100, but good on her. 

There was also the news that apparently it's National Salt Awareness Week over here in the UK. Now I'm not sure if this is something other countries do, and quite frankly I'm sure I can summon the energy to get particularly excited about it, but something else I saw whilst trawling the depths of the internet prompted me to join in.

Were you aware that Penguins drank sea water. Makes sense if you think about it, but if we humans try it it tends to send us a little loopy. So assuming Penguins aren't clinically insane, how do they do it? Well, the answer is that they have a salt gland just behind the eyes, so any salt removed from the bloodstream is sneezed out.

Whether this means that at some point we'll end up in a restaurant with a penguin with a cold on the table instead of a salt shaker, who knows. 

'A little salt madam?' 

'Gesundheit Pingu, madam, your gazpacho is now perfectly seasoned.' 

Or perhaps we could grow giant penguins to look like waiters so they take your order and season your dish at the same time.

Marvellous. Oh, and watch your salt intake. You're not a penguin.