Just Plain WEIRD #2
‘The Meeting of Two Worlds,’ a sculpture at L’Anse aux Meadows, commemorates the meeting of Vikings and Native Americans around the year 1000. D. Gordon E. Robertson/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA – Author Valerie Hansen Professor of History, Yale University 2020 Jun 11 – …
The archaeological site, now open to tourists, offers clues about the mysterious empire that built it and its more famous sister city of Petra in Jordan. Once a thriving international trade hub, the archeological site of Hegra (also known as Mada’in Saleh) has …
Cocoa Flavanols Found to Boost Brain Oxygenation and Cognition – By University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2020 Nov 24 – The brains of healthy adults recovered faster from a mild vascular challenge and performed better on complex tests if the participants consumed cocoa …
Authorities say they don’t know how or why the monolith was placed there. – By Leah Asmelash, CNN 2020 Nov 23 – What started as routine wildlife assistance took an extraterrestrial turn for Utah’s Department of Public Safety after officers stumbled upon a …
It’s not healthier for you. It doesn’t technically come from the Himalayas. But pink salt’s appeal has exploded nonetheless. Photo by Morinka / Shutterstock – By Amanda Mull, The Atlantic – For decades, I was under the impression that salt is white. Table …
A new study has demonstrated how a tractor beam containing trapped graphene microparticles could one day redirect lightning strikes. Anettphoto/Depositphoto – By Michael Irving 2020 Nov 12 – Lightning strikes are a major trigger for wildfires, including the record-breaking blazes that devastated Australia, California …
A two-layered material that mimics the animals’ sweat glands and insulating fur chills surfaces 400 percent longer than traditional methods. Camels stay cool through a combination of sweat and insulating fur. (Balint Meggyesi / Getty Images) – By Corryn Wetzel SmithsonianMag.Com 2020 Nov …
How superstition collided with public health concerns to create a modern monster. Vampires came when folk tradition filled the void of scientific knowledge. In this illustration, men gather at a gravesite to kill a purported vampire. (Leemage / Corbis via Getty Images) – …
Austria’s Peter Salzmann powers through the air in his 300-km/h, twin-impeller electric wingsuit. BMW View 9 Images – By Loz Blain 2020 Nov 08 – Wingsuit flying certainly captured folks’ attention when it first hit the mainstream around the turn of the millennium, sparking …
Children in the live audience of ‘Howdy Doody’ were seated in what was known as the peanut gallery. NBC Television via wikimedia.org – By Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis 2020 Nov 09 – “No comments from …
