Why Chopsticks Are Connected And 15 More Hidden Features of Everyday Things

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00:00Okay, I know it's kind of cold to the touch, especially on a freezing winter's day,

00:04but did you know that brass doorknobs actually serve a purpose apart from looking classy and

00:08shiny? Since it's a copper alloy, brass has antimicrobial properties. That means it can

00:14help get rid of harmful germs and bacteria, sometimes in up to two hours. In high-traffic

00:19areas, that's all the more useful, but since brass is much costlier than other metals like

00:24nickel and steel, you barely see these types of doorknobs anymore nowadays. Speaking of lovely

00:30multi-purpose items, most screwdrivers have a tiny little secret of their own. They can sometimes

00:35be slid through a wrench so that they can be used to create more torque when twisting,

00:40not to mention the uses when it comes to bolts in hard-to-reach places.

00:44There's a reason why buttons on women's shirts are for the left-handed, and it has nothing to do

00:49with fashion. This practice dates back to the times when chambermaids were helping ladies dress

00:54themselves, and it was easier for them to perform their job with this orientation. Having the buttons

01:00placed as such indicated a sign of wealth, so it's easy to imagine why the practice carried on,

01:06even though most people dress themselves nowadays. Next time you receive a package in your mail,

01:12take a look at your box cutter. If it features some diagonal lines on the blade, you're in for a

01:17little design perk. Turns out that these are blades that snap off. Continuously cutting cardboard can

01:23dull the sharp edge of the blade. To help prevent the need to buy a brand new box cutter, the top

01:28segment along the next line can be broken off to reach a new sharp edge. To do this, check out the

01:34small hole at the base of the tool, sometimes called the blade snapper. The people that first came up

01:40with this brilliant invention were engineers inspired by the way chocolate bars are segmented.

01:45Hold on a minute, don't throw away the cardboard package just yet. Most likely, you'll have some

01:50silica gel packets somewhere at the bottom of the box. Since this gel is basically a drying tool,

01:56it gathers up the moisture out of its environment, so you can store these packets for further occasions.

02:01Whether you'll need to dry out your phone or some other electrical object, you can place them in a

02:06container next to the silica gel to reduce the damage. You don't have to be a mechanic to know when

02:12a standard car tire needs replacing, since they come equipped with a neat indicator. Take a closer

02:17look, and you'll see that treads within the tire are a bunch of rubber notches. When the treads are

02:23evened out with the perpendicular bars, it's a sign you need to book an appointment with your local car

02:28service. Since most likely, the tires have lost most of their traction and may not be safe for driving

02:34any longer. The upper corners of a car windshield feature textured black dots melted into the glass

02:40edges. This neat add-on isn't there for design purposes. It's called frit glazing, which means

02:47that a special type of ceramic paint is added to the window for protecting its sealant from UV rays.

02:53It also conceals and creates a coarser surface for the adhesive used to set the window in place.

02:59Whenever you're up for a drive, check out if there's a small tab under your car's rearview mirror.

03:07Bet you didn't know it's there to help switch the mirror from daytime to nighttime views.

03:12It uses a prismatic glass technology to blur the reflection and reduce the glare of headlights

03:18behind you in traffic. People came up with these manually tilted mirrors in the 1930s,

03:23but they became standard somewhere in the 1970s.

03:26While you're in the car, check out the headrests, as you most likely don't know that they carry a

03:32little disguised purpose. Of course, they're adjustable to accommodate passengers of any

03:37height so that they get the proper support for their heads and necks. The hidden feature is that

03:42they are detachable and come with two very solid metal bars. Should you ever find yourself stuck in

03:48a car and need to make a fast getaway? These bars come in handy to crack out the car windows.

03:54So you're out for a drive and you're suddenly out of gas. What I'm about to describe sounds more

04:00like a meme than an actual situation bound to happen. But what if you're in such a hurry that

04:05you accidentally drive off with the gas nozzle still in the tank? Well, the nozzles have been

04:10designed to prevent any hazards from happening, rest assured. They feature a breakaway device that

04:16will allow the hose to separate when taken out with enough force.

04:19Initially designed in the early 20th century to be worn exclusively by basketball players,

04:26sneakers soon became one of those fashion fundamentals, similar to jeans and leather

04:30jackets. If you take a closer look at them, you'll see they have two extra holes on the side,

04:35similar to the shoelace holes. They're manufactured as such, not only to provide extra ventilation,

04:41but to allow people to get extra creative with their laces when wearing the shoes.

04:45Admit it, you've always thought that chopsticks are merged at the end for the sole purpose of

04:50keeping them together until you're ready to dig into your meal. That may or may not be the whole

04:55truth. Under a more detailed inspection, the wooden tools feature a square-shaped end.

05:01Chopsticks manufactured like this date back to an old Japanese traditional design,

05:06which can help with breaking the ends easily. The separated end can then be used as a resting block

05:12for the chopsticks to keep it more sanitized in hopes it can be used again, since they won't be

05:17touching the table or any other surface. Women's bikes have a special design which,

05:22surprisingly, has a historical and fashionable purpose. The lower frame is for the most part

05:28meant to make up for the generally shorter height of ladies, compared to that of the average gentleman.

05:33While that is the case for handlebars and saddles, the overall frame is lower for an additional

05:38purpose. Way back when women wore long skirts and dresses all day, every day they needed to make

05:44sure their outfits wouldn't get caught in the frame. That's how we came up with a lower-framed bicycle,

05:50perfectly made for women and their needs at the time. The fact that toothpastes are multicolored

05:57is not just a nice perk to make dental hygiene more fun. There's a secret meaning related to each of

06:02the colors, which dates back to the 1970s. In those days, people grew more and more interested

06:08in their oral health care, and as such, they were looking for products which could do more than merely

06:14clean their teeth. One company was the pioneer in that regard, adding mouthwash to its toothpaste,

06:20meaning the blue strip. They later added on the red strip, meant to feature ingredients which

06:26helped with gum care. Speaking of toothpaste, check the cap next time you open a new tube.

06:31You may be in for a little surprise. There's a pointed cone shape inside the cap, so you can

06:37puncture the seal of the toothpaste without cutting yourself or ruining your manicure. Not to mention,

06:42it's more hygienic since you won't be able to transfer germs or other bacteria into the product itself.

06:48On the subject of bathroom countertop items, toothbrushes come with a neat add-on hidden in the

06:54bristle patterns. Apart from making the toothbrush look cooler, they also do come with a practical

06:59purpose. Most toothbrushes come with a pattern of blue bristles intertwined with white ones.

07:05The blue dye is meant to fade out, signaling the time when you need to replace your toothbrush.

07:11Dentists say that toothbrushes should be replaced every three to four months,

07:15but it does serve as a great reminder in case you forget. Still love playing with LEGO?

07:20Don't judge. Hey, it's a great hobby for all ages. Notice there's a hole on top of the LEGO heads?

07:26Behold, you're looking at a safety feature that the people at LEGO designed to prevent choking

07:31hazards. The most dangerous issue should a person swallow any of these pieces is the blocking of

07:37the airways. Designing a hole inside the LEGO head helps the air to flow freely through the piece

07:43until it can be removed safely. We're now used to all sorts of modern light bulbs, some tubular,

07:50some shaped like diamonds, and some even twisted altogether. Historically, light bulbs were round

07:56and the initial shape served a purpose in itself. It was mainly connected to the fact that glass bulbs

08:02were hand-blown, which gave them the round shape to begin with. The hidden practical reason was that

08:07the light bulb filament needed to be at the same distance from every surface of the glass sphere.

08:12The easiest way to achieve this was to make the glass in the shape of a globe.

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