Humans have sent some unusual things into the Earth’s orbit and beyond. An issue of Playboy, a corned beef sandwich, and Luke Skywalker’s light saber prop have all made the journey to space, and now Ars Technica UK reports that a meat-and-potato pie has become the first to leave the planet. To mark next week’s World Pie Eating Championship in Wigan, UK, a team of scientists launched the savory pastry into the upper stratosphere on December 15.
The British specialty was baked by the local shop Ultimate Purveyors before it was carried 29 miles above the Earth’s surface via weather balloon. A team of scientists with the group SentIntoSpace organized the launch. Then, they watched the live steam of its ascent from “mission control” (a.k.a. a nearby pub) and its descent back to Earth.
On December 20, pie-eating competitors will gather in Wigan to wolf down meat pies nearly 5 inches in diameter as quickly as possible. The current champion, Martin Appleton Clare, polished one pie off in a record-setting 22.53 seconds.
Though it was primarily done for fun, the mission did serve a tenuous scientific purpose. Tony Callaghan, the owner of the pub that served as mission control, told the Manchester Evening News:
“We are aware that scientists have been experimenting with plants on the International Space Station to see if their molecular structure changes, so we are experimenting with pies to see if the structure changes with space travel and allows the pie to be eaten quicker.”
The team was also interested to see if the friction upon re-entry would act as a valid cooking method.
When a mail truck in Wake Forest, North Carolina, caught on fire Tuesday morning, the postal carrier leapt into action and started unloading packages from the back as the flames spread from the engine to the rest of the truck. A passerby ran to help get the packages out. The Wake Forest Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire.
“If it wasn’t for her quick thinking to pull right over and remove the parcels, it could’ve been tough. Somebody did save Christmas. You give all the credit to that postal carrier,” said Wake Forest Fire Department Chief Ed Barrett.
Many of the dozens of packages, most of which were from Amazon, were saved.
In a statement, Amazon said, “We appreciate the efforts of all those involved and are grateful that everyone is safe. We will be donating to the local fire department and thank everyone for their quick efforts on this.”
The postal carrier, who was not identified, suffered no injuries.
2. QR CODES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
A new program is rolling out in Iruma, Japan, to help out the city’s many elderly residents. Senior citizens with dementia can get a small sticker with a QR code attached to a fingernail. The waterproof sticker lasts about two weeks. If a person with a sticker becomes lost, police can scan the code and be connected to a registry with information about the person, who will then be taken home. The service, provided free by a tech company, is another of many innovations to aid the elderly in Japan. The country is expecting 40 percent of its population to be senior citizens by 2060.
3. BUTT-DIAL LEADS TO ARREST
Two men in Danville, Kentucky, were arrested Saturday after one of them accidentally dialed 911. The emergency dispatch operator heard Robert Bourne and David Grigsby discussing places they might rob, including the local restaurant Brothers BBQ. Dispatch called Danville police chief Tony Gray, who just happened to be dining at Brothers BBQ at the time. Meanwhile, emergency services determined that the call was coming from the restaurant’s parking lot. Gray found the two men sitting in their vehicle. They were charged with disorderly conduct and having an open container of alcohol in the car.
The government of Alberta has issued a warning to those visiting Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, west of Calgary, about moose that have been coming to parking lots to lick salt off of cars. People are advised to use their car horns to frighten the moose away, not to push the animal away from their vehicle—and they should never get between a moose and her calf.
5. NEW LONGEST NON-STOP FLIGHT
Qantas airlines has announced a new flight beginning in 2018 that will break the record for the longest commercial non-stop flight in the world. Their new non-stop service between Perth and London will take 17.5 hours to complete the trip. That’s a distance of 8989 miles. While that may sound horrific to frequent flyers, it beats taking multiple flights with layovers for those who need to go from England to Australia.
I guess it’s all better than the travel times of the 1930s. Back in 1938 a trip from London to Brisbane, Australia (the longest on offer at the time) took 11 days and had over two dozen scheduled stops.
A man who walked into a bank in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and presented a robbery note to the teller left with several thousand dollars, but police were able to catch up with him. The man had taken a cab to and from the robbery—and he left a bag with his name on it, containing $2700, in the car. He also left behind the sweatshirt he had been wearing, as identified by the teller; his wallet, which contained his ID; and discharge papers from a rehab center, a piece of which had been torn off to write the note he gave to the teller. Police arrested 25-year-old Jamal Goodwin of Philadelphia, who was found with heroin, cocaine, and about $1000 on him.
Ready or not, the holidays are here, and from now until New Year’s your ears will be filled with the glorious “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” “Silent Night,” and “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” tunes. To see how the rest of the world pa-rum-pum-pum-pums, tune into one of these global holiday carols for a toe-tapping, enjoyable change of pace.
1. “PASKO NA NAMAN” // PHILIPPINES
This popular Filipino Christmas sing-a-long, translated as “It’s Christmas once again,” shares the same sentiment we all have this time of year: How the heck are we already back here?
“It’s Christmas again
How fast time flies
Christmases past
Seem just like yesterday”
2. “PŮJDEM SPOLU DO BETLÉMA” // CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech Republic’s holiday anthem—”Půjdem spolu do Betléma”—will have all the children up and dancing right from the beginning. The lyrics start out with a call to visit Bethlehem, before the narrator entirely shifts gears, ordering members of the band to get movin’ with their instruments.
“And you Johnny, let your pipe sound,
Dudli, tudli, dudli, da!
Start, oh, Jimmy, on your bagpipe,
Dudaj, dudaj, dudaj, da!
And you Nicol on the violin,
Hudli, tydli, hudli, da!
And you Lawrence, let your bass play,
Rumrum, rumrum, rumrum, da!”
3. “EN ETSI VALTAA LOISTOA” // FINLAND
As one of Finland’s most popular holiday songs, “En Etsi Valtaa Loistoa”—translated, “Give me no splendor, gold, or pomp”—reminds listeners that Christmas goes well beyond material desires. The song was composed by the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in 1904, and remains much more of a church-type hymn than lighthearted carol.
This Lithuanian carol will put the party back in your holidays. Translated as “Let’s go girls, let’s go guys,” this song is all about living the good life. It tells the age-old tale of strong workers, chasing dogs, drinking booze, and … drinking more booze. We’ll toast to that.
“Those of you who are quick to shew away the dogs
Those of you who are strong to carry the sacks
Those of you who are brave to ask for bread
The lassies are drinking sweet mead
The women are drinking beer
The men are drinking spirits.”
5. “BETHLEHEM’S STJÄRNA” // SWEDEN
Translated as “The Star of Bethlehem,” this popular Swedish carol is about—you guessed it—that oh-so-famous holiday star. The peaceful song paints a beautiful picture of Christmas night in Bethlehem, with nods to nature and the night sky along the way.
“Night (reigns) over the Land of Juda, and (likewise) over Zion.
At the western horizon, Orion is dying down.
The tired shepherd who sleeps; the peacefully slumbering child:
wake up to a wondrous chorus of voices,
(and) behold a gloriously bright star in the East.”
6. “LES ANGES DANS NOS CAMPAGNES” // FRANCE
We’ve all heard—and likely sung—”Angels We Have Heard On High,” but did you know this holiday playlist staple actually originated in France? There’s something mesmerizing (or shall we say glooorious) about this carol sung in French.
7. “AMEZALIWA” // EAST AFRICA
This beautiful African hymn, sung in Kiswahili, celebrates the birth of Jesus with an uplifting, traditional rhythm. While it originated in East Africa, choirs across the world perform this song around the holidays—tribal drum, kangas, and all.
8. “В лесу родилась ёлочка” // RUSSIA
“The Forest Raised a Christmas Tree” is an agnostic, popular Russian carol that explains how the forest helps its fir tree prepare for Christmas. The lyrics, focused entirely on this tree and its surrounding wilderness, will strike a particular chord with nature lovers who spend the majority of their holidays outdoors.
“The forest raised a Christmas tree,
”Twas silent and serene
In winter and in summer
It was slender and so green
…
Some sleigh bells rang throughout the woods,
The snow was crisp and clean,
A horsey brought a forester
To hew that tree so green.”
9. “O TANNENBAUM” // GERMANY
“O Tannenbaum,” which we now associate with “O Christmas Tree,” actually got its start in 1824 as a German folk song about the fir tree. As the Christmas tree tradition grew, “O Tannenbaum” became associated with the holiday season, and morphed from a lively tune into the Christmas carol Germans (and the rest of us) know and love today.
10. “MI BURRITO SABANERO” // VENEZUELA
Sure, “Feliz Navidad” may have the popular vote when it comes to Spanish-language Christmas carols, but “Mi Burrito Sabanero” gives the classic song a run for its money. While it’s not a Christmas song about a burrito (although we’d be down for that, too), “Mi Burrito Sabanero” wins for cute factor because it’s almost entirely about a donkey. Yes, a donkey—and this little donkey and its owner are on their way to Bethlehem. Can we join?
“With my little donkey I go singing,
my little donkey goes trotting
With my little donkey I go singing,
my little donkey goes trotting
If they see me, if they see me
I’m on my way to Bethlehem.”
11. “STICKY BEAK THE KIWI” // NEW ZEALAND
OK, if a donkey didn’t have enough cute factor for you, we’ll do you one better. “Sticky Beak the Kiwi” is a 1960s holiday carol highlighting how—when Santa arrives in New Zealand—this “bird from down under” will take charge of the sleigh. Oh and there’s mention of a platypus. And a kangaroo. And a wallaby. Yeah, Sticky Beak definitely takes the cake for cutest Christmas carol at the children’s holiday concert.
“Lots of toys for girls and boys load the Christmas sleigh
He will take the starlight trail along the Milky Way.
Hear the laughing children as they shout aloud with glee:
‘Sticky Beak, Sticky Beak, be sure to call on me.’
Now every little kiwi, and every kangaroo, too,
The wallaby, the weka, and the platypus and emu,
Have made themselves a Christmas tree with stars and shining bright,
So Sticky Beak will see the way to guide the sleigh tonight.”
Between the 2008 financial crisis and the recent Wells Fargo fiasco, consumers have grown distrustful of banks and are considering credit unions as an alternative place to park their cash. Just like banks, credit unions accept deposits and make loans—so how, exactly, are they different?
For one, they have a democratic history. The first credit unions were established as cooperatives, meaning the people who kept their cash in the credit union also helped manage it—and they still operate this way today. As such, you are treated as a member, not a customer, and have the right to vote on a board of directors. Typically, personal finance expert Tal Frank tells mental_floss, membership often means you can expect better service at a credit union than at a big bank.
“However, if comparing a credit union to a community bank or a small local bank, you will probably find that you get a high level of service at both,” Frank says. “The smaller guys try harder. They also have more of a personal connection with clients or members.”
Credit unions are also non-profit organizations. “So, unlike banks, they don’t have stockholders who expect to receive a quarterly dividend payment,” Timothy Wiedman, a retired associate professor of management and human resources at Doane University, tells mental_floss. “And without the need to pay stockholders, federally insured credit unions can benefit their members by keeping fees low.”
As Weidman says, because they’re non-profit, credit unions can use any excess earnings to offer customers lower rates and better financial products. “Most banks pay lousy rates of interest, have too many fees, charge too much for those fees, and charge too much interest when loaning money,” says Wiedman. “Virtually all federally insured credit unions beat most banks in nearly every one of those categories.”
But the fact that they’re community-focused cooperatives doesn’t mean credit unions are a free-for-all: They operate under certain rules set by an organization called the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). In addition to setting guidelines, the NCUA also insures your funds (just as the FDIC—Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—does your deposits at a bank).
Interested an opening an account? Credit unions are a bit more exclusive than banks. “In the olden days, one had to be an employee of a particular company or member of a certain group to join a credit union,” Frank says. “Over the years that distinction has eroded for many credit unions. Guidelines changed to include allowing membership for family, a specific occupation, or all those who live in a geographic area (even as large as an entire state). As an example, Delta Community Credit Union is the largest in Georgia. Although there are ‘membership eligibility’ guidelines, the guidelines are so broad that it is pretty much open to anyone.”
Many credit unions will expand their membership to people outside of an industry or area if you make a small charitable donation, too. The Pentagon Financial Credit Union, for example, is typically only open to military employees, but just about anyone can get a membership with a one-time $15 donation to Voices for America’s Troops or the National Military Family Association.
If you’re looking for a credit union, ASmarterChoice.org is a good place to start your search. You’ll need to vet the credit union carefully, as you would any other financial institution: Make sure they are indeed insured by the NCUA, and read member reviews on comparison sites like NerdWallet and Bankrate. If convenience is important to you, you’ll also want to check out their mobile and online banking options to make sure they fit your needs.
Radio has the power to let listeners eavesdrop on pop culture and news in far-flung locales or even subcultures close to home (see: Wicca Radio International in New Orleans). A new site aims to connect people across the world to radio signals that span the globe, allowing people to listen to radio stations in other countries, as The Verge reports.
Radio Garden is set up as a globe visualization, with green dots representing different stations you can tune into. Spin the globe and find stations playing Russian pop, Christmas music in Chicago, Spanish news, or metal in Québec.
The app also lets you explore historic radio clips and jingles—the kind that signal what the station is about. The “Stories” tab includes a smattering of interviews and educational programming. Some are about transnational radio, and others more generally talk about international exchange, like an Arabic lesson broadcast in Montreal and a storytelling program about borders from Milan.
These clips come from the past few years, dating back to 2014. There aren’t as many stories as there are live radio stations, so if you’re looking to get a taste of Buenos Aires or Nairobi, you’re better off searching the live stations. Happy listening!
