April 2017 – Page 12

The Creators of This is Spinal Tap Still Haven’t Been Paid. It’s lawsuit time in a 33-year-old case of Hollywood accounting.
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Why Poverty Is Like a Disease. The effects can last for generations.
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In April of 1945, Swedish Jew Norbert Masur met with Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler as a representative of the World Jewish Congress. Himmler spent the time rationalizing his actions and covering his tracks. [PDF]
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Does Iceland Really Have the Best Hot Dogs in the World? Here are opinions from two correspondents who tried them.
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Disposable lighters come in all colors, but the white ones are bad luck. How did this superstition ever come about?
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DoggoLingo is the internet language about dogs. Even if you’ve never heard of it, you recognize it when you read it.
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No one understands health insurance. That’s a problem.
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19 Fictional Characters Whose Names You Don’t Know. But you will after you read this!

April 24, 2017 – 5:00am

April 24, 2017

Take a Virtual Tour of Atlantium, Australia’s Smallest ‘Country’

Kirstin Fawcett

filed under: travel, video, weird

Image credit:

Getty Images

Australia is home to kangaroos, the Great Barrier Reef, and—surprisingly—the world’s greatest number of micronations. For the uninitiated, a micronation is a tiny, unrecognized “country” that claims sovereignty from its homeland. Around 100 micronations exist around the globe, and 35 of them are located Down Under.

In the documentary below, director Craig Rasmus gives viewers a virtual tour Australia’s smallest “country,” Atlantium. Founded in 1981 by “ruler” George Cruickshank—who christened himself “Imperial Majesty George II”—the 200-acre micronation overlooks the Lachlan River Valley in New South Wales. In addition to its own flag, monetary system, and national anthem, Atlantium has 3000 “citizens” worldwide (most of whom declared residency by filling out a form online).

Watch below to learn more about how Atlantium is a micronation unlike any other in Australia—or for that matter, the world.

April 24, 2017 – 3:00am

April 24, 2017

What’s the Beer Capital of the United States?

Shaunacy Ferro

filed under: alcohol, design

Image credit:

iStock

The craft beer business is booming. In the U.S., there are 5300 small breweries, and according to some industry leaders, this is the “greatest time in history to be a beer drinker in America.” But where is the best place to find a microbrew?

On the data visualization site The Pudding, Russell Goldenberg breaks down the geography of U.S. craft beer production and consumption to show you just why Santa Rosa, California might be the best place for beer in America. His visualizations—spotted by FlowingData—are based on data from RateBeer and designed to weigh both the quantity of breweries within the area and user ratings of those beers.

Using his interactive infographic, you can adjust the ratings—the number of breweries, the size of your radius, and the weighting of quantity versus quality—to see which cities fare best. (If you’re just looking at quantity, Denver comes out on top.)

Russell Goldenberg/The Pudding

To understand how booming the business of craft beer is, check out this infographic, which graphs how many new breweries have opened in each state per capita between 1997 and 2016. While a fair amount of new breweries opened in cities in ’97, there were none with more than one per 100,000 people. That’s substantially less than have been startiing up more recently in places with reputations as craft meccas, like Colorado, Oregon, and California (which, thanks to its giant population, actually has a really low new-brewery-per-capita ratio).

See all the beerfographics on The Pudding.

[h/t FlowingData]

April 24, 2017 – 1:00am

April 23, 2017

Watching ‘Mocha Diffusion’ Pottery Get Made Is Hypnotic

Mental Floss Studios

filed under: video

5389864557001

Kevin Kowalski uses wet clay and pigment-laced acid to create gorgeously unpredictable designs on pottery. You can find more of his work on Etsy.

April 23, 2017 – 1:00pm

April 23, 2017

How to Destroy the Non-Paper £5 Note

Chris Higgins

filed under: money, video

Image credit:

Getty Images

In September 2016, the Bank of England issued a new fiver (£5 note) made from a polymer. The new note replaces paper bills, and is designed to be vastly more sturdy. It’s nearly impossible to tear. So how can we destroy one of these things? With science!

In the video below, the intrepid Brits of Periodic Videos subject the new fiver to a series of tortures. The most straightforward method is freezing the note with liquid nitrogen, then shattering it with a hammer. Beyond that simple method, things get a bit crazy with fuming nitric acid that’s “gone a bit brown.” Enjoy:

As professor Poliakoff says in the video above, it’s legal to destroy these notes—but illegal to scribble on the Queen’s face.

(If you enjoyed that video, there’s 15 minutes of raw footage showing outtakes.)

April 23, 2017 – 12:00pm

April 23, 2017

The Star-Nosed Mole Is Almost Too Weird

Kate Horowitz

filed under: animal behavior, Animals, science

Image credit:

Didier Descouens via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

The more we learn about the star-nosed mole, the stranger this animal gets—and that’s saying something. We learned just a little bit more this week, as mole expert Kenneth Catania presented his latest findings at the 2017 Experimental Biology Meeting in Chicago.

The neuroscientist has been obsessed with the lumpy, hamster-sized creatures since his days as a research assistant at the National Zoo.

Kenneth Catania

“Obviously they are among the weirdest looking creatures on the planet,” he said in a statement. “But when I began trying to understand the star, the mole’s brain organization, and its behavior—that’s when things got really surprising.”

In 2011, for example, Catania realized that the moles have developed a technique for smelling underwater. They aim their strange snoots at fish or other prey, then start blowing bubbles. The bubbles bounce off the hapless prey and are instantly snorted back up by the mole, who reads the scent of the captured air.

The mole’s “star” is an extraordinary organ unlike anything else in the animal kingdom. It’s a cluster of prehensile tentacles packed with more than 100,000 sensory receptors. (A human fingertip, one of the most sensitive parts of our body, has about 3000.)

The star’s receptors are unbelievably responsive, Catania said—“so sensitive that we have not been able to determine the lowest threshold for activating neurons.”

This super sensitivity gives blind moles a huge advantage over their prey. It only takes 8 thousandths of a second for them to identify something they’ve touched, which means they can spot and gobble up a juicy worm before the worm even realizes what’s happening. No mammal eats faster.

The root of the star’s dazzling capacity is a tiny section called the touch fovea, which functions almost exactly like our eyes. As the mole turns its attention to an object, the touch fovea moves over it and focuses, as your gaze might rest and zoom in on a plate of cookies.

“These parallels suggest there are common strategies by which evolution ‘builds’ high-resolution sensory systems,” Catania said, “whether they are based on sight or on touch.”

Weird? You bet. But to those like Catania who know them best, they’re “truly amazing animals.”

April 23, 2017 – 11:31am

April 23, 2017

This Week’s Best Amazon Deals You Can Still Get

Smart Shopping Team

filed under: shopping

Image credit:

amazon

Every day we share some amazing Amazon deals we’ve turned up. These items were the ones that were the most popular with our readers this week, and they’re still available.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers (including Amazon) and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Good luck deal hunting!

April 23, 2017 – 11:00am

April 23, 2017

Watch a Rare Drone Video of a Blue Whale Feeding

Kirstin Fawcett

filed under: Animals, News, science, video

Image credit:

iStock

Blue whales are picky eaters. It’s not because they’re finicky about flavors; it’s the meal’s size that matters. The ocean giants eschew small, concentrated groups of krill, opting instead to chow down on massive patches of the small crustaceans. Scientists explain this behavior by theorizing that lunging for food requires whales to exert large amounts of energy, forcing them to be discerning about which floating feasts are worth the effort.

In the video below, which was spotted by Mashable, you can observe a hungry blue whale pursuing its meal. Oregon State University scientists—who filmed the aerial scene in New Zealand using a drone camera—say it illustrates the feeding hypothesis.

“Modeling studies of blue whales ‘lunge-feeding’ theorize that they will not put energy into feeding on low-reward prey patches,” marine ecologist Leigh Torres explains in a press release. “Our footage shows this theory in action. We can see the whale making choices, which is really extraordinary because aerial observations of blue whales feeding on krill are rare.”

Watch the blue whale speed toward the krill patch, slow down, open its mouth wide, and gulp down its dinner:

[h/t Mashable]

April 23, 2017 – 6:00am

April 23, 2017

A Brief History of Soyuz 1, 50 Years Later

Chris Higgins

filed under: History, space

Image credit:

Getty Images

On April 23, 1967, the Soviet space program launched its first-ever Soyuz spacecraft with a person in it. The flight was plagued with technical problems and ended in tragedy. But 50 years later, we’re still using descendants of the Soyuz to ferry people and supplies to and from space, most notably the International Space Station. The Soyuz rocket is, by far, the most used and most reliable space launch system humans have ever built. Unfortunately the first Soyuz pilot didn’t survive.

Soyuz 1’s pilot was cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, a Soviet test pilot and engineer who had previous experience in space. His voyage on the mission made him the first Soviet cosmonaut to make a second trip into space. He also became the first person to die on a space mission.

The tragedy of Soyuz 1 started with political pressure. Soviet leaders apparently wanted to celebrate Lenin’s April 22 birthday with the Soyuz launch. They were also keen to beat the Americans to the moon, and the Soyuz program was akin to NASA’s Apollo—aimed at an eventual lunar landing. Apollo was suffering, as the Apollo 1 crew had died that January on the ground in a terrible fire. If the Soviets could get Soyuz running, it would be a massive leap. Despite many technical setbacks on the ground, Soviet leaders pushed for Soyuz 1 to launch.

While cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (the first human in orbit) was listed as Komarov’s backup pilot, there was no way Soviet leaders would allow a national treasure to risk his life in space again. So in a practical sense, either Komarov launched or the mission would be scrubbed. He launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome just after midnight UTC (just after 3:30am Moscow time).

The problems started early. One of the Soyuz craft’s two solar panels failed to deploy, leaving the vessel power-starved. The craft’s automatic stabilization system was blocked by the failed solar panel, leaving Komarov trying to manually control the orientation of the craft. It didn’t work well.

Meanwhile, a secret second Soyuz mission was preparing to launch, carrying three cosmonauts. Mission planners wanted the two craft to meet in space and dock via an EVA. But storms at Baikonur caused mission control to call off the second flight. By Komarov’s 13th orbit, directors on the ground decided to end the Soyuz 1 mission early and bring Komarov home.

Komarov tried to descend on his 17th orbit, but the attitude control system fouled up his angle, forcing him to remain in orbit. By his 19th orbit—really his last chance, with dwindling battery power—Komarov reentered the Earth’s atmosphere, relying in large part on manual attitude control. He made it work, entering on a viable trajectory. The first (“drogue”) parachute deployed, slowing his descent a bit … but the primary parachute failed to deploy. Komarov manually activated a backup parachute, which tangled with the drogue. With nearly nothing to slow its fall, the Soyuz capsule hit the Earth, killing Komarov instantly.

Komarov’s name was included on a commemorative plaque left on the Moon during the 1971 Apollo 15 landing. The plaque honored 14 astronauts and cosmonauts (including the Apollo 1 crew) who died in the pursuit of space.

The tragedy of Soyuz 1 was a huge setback for the Soviet space program, but it wasn’t the end of the Soyuz missions. Design flaws were uncovered and fixed, and eventually the Soviet space program had a reliable launch and recovery system. We still use it today. For a look at the modern Soyuz launch system, check out this ESA video:

April 23, 2017 – 4:00am

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