The vast majority of people (96 percent in the surveyed group) can detect the difference between hot and cold water based on the sound it makes when poured. The key is how the temperature affects the viscosity of the liquid: cold water splashing into a cup generates lower frequency sounds and hot water generates higher frequency sounds.

European Starlings were introduced to North America in the early 1890s by Eugene Schieffelin, a member of the American Acclimatization Society, who believed that every bird from Shakespeare’s plays should be introduced to North America; the 200 million plus starlings now residing in the United States are descended from the original 100 birds he released in two batches in New York City.