Just Plain WEIRD #2
Take a peek at the mysterious black briefcase that has accompanied every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy. From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the nuclear “Football.” (Jamie Chung) – By Michael Dobbs Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe 2014 Oct – It …
The TIGER looks pretty zippy on a smooth piece of road, but when the legs come out it can get over, around or through just about anything. Hyundai View 7 Images – By Loz Blain 2021 Feb 09 – Hyundai dropped a lot of …
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri speaks at a press conference on Monday, February 8, about the attempted hacking of the city of Oldsmar’s water treatment system. – By Amir Vera, Jamiel Lynch and Christina Carrega, CNN Updated 2021 Feb 08 – A hacker …
Ida Wood, who lived for decades as a recluse in a New York City hotel, would have taken her secrets to the grave—if her sister hadn’t gotten there first. Herald Square circa 1907, when Ida Wood first moved into the Herald Square Hotel. …
Adding capsaicin, the chemical responsible for making chile peppers spicy, improved the efficiency of solar cells in experiments. A group of perovskite solar cells that have been treated with capsaicin. (Jin Yang) – By Alex Fox SmithsonianMag.Com 2021 Feb 02 – New research …
PETA alleged last year that its investigators found young monkeys were chained and trained to pick coconuts at multiple farms in Thailand. Following appeals from PETA and two PETA Asia undercover investigations into the use of captive monkeys, who are kept chained and …
The ugly message “Murder the media,” etched into a door of the Capitol by an angry mob of violent Trump supporters January 6, reflects the deep lack of trust in American journalism stoked by a demagogic President and his enablers over the last …
Scientists have developed materials that can propel themselves, such as this self-jumping polymer shell. Yongjin Kim, UMass Amherst – By Nick Lavars 2021 Feb 01 – Inspired by the way plants like Venus flytraps can snap closed and reset themselves, scientists have developed new …
Permafrost is thawing across the Arctic, releasing microbes and organic materials that have been trapped in the frozen ground for thousands of years. NOAA via Wikimedia Commons – Authors: Jessie Creamean, Research Scientist, Colorado State University – Thomas Hill, Research Scientist, Colorado State …
Deicing salts keep winter roads passable but do a lot of harm in the process. Gregory Rec/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images – By Monika Bleszynski, Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor, University of Denver 2021 Jan 29 – Many people associate a …
