Chocolate

(no subject)

I already knew about the rationing that went on in Britain during the Second World War. I remember Mum telling me that sweets were rationed until long after the War, until 1953.

Many other foodstuffs were rationed, and there were also restrictions on things like clothes, soap and paper.

I didn't realize that there was also a ban on the production of ice cream, from 1942 until 1945. During the war years, cinema-going was very popular - think of the escapism afford by some of the films of the day - but cinemas suffered financially when they couldn't provide ice cream to enhance the punters' viewing pleasure.

I can't imagine things like this - that we take utterly for granted - being restricted.

Can you? Can any member here remember what it was like?
Interesting

New mushroom discovered

Scientists have discovered a new species of mushroom in Borneo, and have named it after Spongebob Squarepants! I kid you not!

From the BBC news site:
The fungus, named Spongiforma squarepantsii by the researchers at San Francisco State University (SFSU), was found during an expedition to the forests of Borneo.

S. squarepantsii is shaped like a sea sponge and, say its discoverers, has a fruity or musty smell.


Fantastic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-…
Interesting

(no subject)

While browsing (Ok, work was boring...) I came across the story of the ghost ship, the Ourang Medan, among others...



"The story of the Ourang Medan begins in 1947, when two American ships received a distress call while navigating the Strait of Malacca, off the coast of Malaysia. The caller identified himself as a member of the crew of the Ourang Medan, a Dutch vessel, and supposedly claimed that the ship’s captain and crew were all dead or dying. The messages became jumbled and bizarre before trailing off and ending with the words: “I die.” The ships quickly raced to the scene to help. When they arrived, they found that the Ourang Medan was undamaged, but that the entire crew—even the ship’s dog— was dead, their bodies and faces locked in terrified poses and expressions, and many pointing at something that was not there. Before the rescuers could investigate further, the ship mysteriously caught on fire, and they had to evacuate. Soon after, the Ourang Medan is said to have exploded and then sank. While the details and the overall veracity of the Ourang Medan story are still widely debated, there have been a number of theories proposed about what might have caused the death of the crew. The most popular of these is that the ship was illegally transporting nitroglycerin or some kind of illegal nerve agent, which was not properly secured and seeped out into the air. Others, meanwhile, have claimed the ship was a victim of a UFO attack or some other kind of paranormal event."

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-ghos…

Of the 10 there, I'd only heard of the Flying Dutchman and the Mary Celest. Fascinating and creepy stuff!
Graduate

The Joy of Stats

Statistically, most swedish people have more than the average number of legs. Most have two legs a few have one or none, but no-one has three, so the average is 1.999... Therefore most swedish people have more than the average number of legs... Good, eh!
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blue sky
  • zeecha

GPS-imbedded info in pictures

I read this article today on Yahoo news (was originally in the NY Times), and thought it was interesting--what do you think? http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Web-… It's about information that will be embedded in the data on photos that people take with their smart phones/iPhones.

Following is the link to a story that was mentioned in the article:
http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/pubs/…

I thought it was pretty interesting. I had never really stopped to think about this...another way modern technology can tell a lot about you!
bugs people watching

American Independence Day Facts

In honor of the American Independence Day Holiday, I found the following article, with tons of fascinating (or not so, depending on who you are and how much you care), facts about the 4th of July!

The Truth About Independence Day

For those of my fellow Americans who celebrate, Happy 4th! I'm just happy that I don't have to hear the stupid noise and smell the smoke for days and days! I'm actually looking forward to fireworks here in Japan, though I'll miss most of the festivals when I'm in the states in August.

Happy Fireworks - and be safe!
Tsugaru

The Letter W

The previous post reminded me of something...

I had never been sure how to pronounce the letter W. I've heard many variations (deb-ah-yu, dub-el-yu, deb-el-yu, dub-ya), but I didn't know which, if any, are correct.

The answer is that it's both pronounced and spelled out like this: "double-u."

It seems so simple now, doesn't it? And, of course, it does look like two of the letter U's.