Astronomers Were Baffled by a Mystery Signal For 17 Years. The Culprit? A Staff Microwave

It’s 2019 and people are finally starting to admit that aliens are probably in our midst. “People” meaning, for example, The New York Times. But scientists and laypeople have been observing unexplainable phenomena for practically forever. Or in one case, practically unexplainable phenomena that turned out to be…definitely not aliens at all. Instead, the weirdness was coming from a way less exciting source: a microwave oven.

Astronomers at a famous Australian telescope called “The Dish” received strange signals from an unknown source for 17 years. 17 years! The signals would always come in once or twice each year. Known as perytons, they were detected “within five kilometers” of the observatory.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

When the scientists first detected the signals in 1998, they assumed they were coming from the atmosphere, possibly from lightning strikes.

But then, in 2015, they installed a new receiver to monitor the interference. It detected strong signals at 2.4 GHz – the signature of a microwave oven.

Yep, that 17-year-old mystery turned out to originate from the staff kitchen.

Upon further study, the astronomers discovered that the microwave generates interference only if the door is opened after it’s been set to heat. The signals were rare, because they only happened when the telescope was pointed right at the microwave oven while a staff member happened to open the door halfway through eating up their lunch.

So, yeah. Not the most exciting discovery, but a pretty unforgettable story.

Dr. Emily Petroff is the astronomer who finally figured out the source of the perytons.

“Didn’t swear, but definitely wasn’t quiet when the data came through,” she tweeted.

It should be noted that Dr. Petroff and the other astronomers weren’t really searching for aliens, but that’s the conclusion many people might jump to upon mention of “mysterious signals.”

It seems the lab has made some improvements to their microwaving technology since then:

Aliens… Hot pockets… Same thing.

The post Astronomers Were Baffled by a Mystery Signal For 17 Years. The Culprit? A Staff Microwave appeared first on UberFacts.

Someone Just Designed a Stamp That Lets You Legally Replace Andrew Jackson With Harriet Tubman on $20 Bills

The $20 bill has been the subject of quite a lot of controversy lately. President Andrew Jackson’s visage has graced the bill ever since 1928, but in 2016, plans were announced to replace him on the bill with an image of abolitionist hero Harriet Tubman.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin recently announced, however, that the plans for the 2020 rollout of the Tubman bill would be delayed at least 8 years due to concerns about counterfeiting.

And people are not happy about it.

And, of course, The Onion weighed in on the issue with this brilliant headline.

But then the story took an unexpected turn.

An artist named Dano Wall took it upon himself to create a stamp that replaces Jackson’s face on the $20 bill with Tubman’s likeness.

As you can see, the Tubman stamp perfectly fits over the image of Jackson. Wall is calling the use of the Tubman stamp an act of “civil disobedience.”

Wall said,

“I was inspired by the news that Harriet Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, and subsequently saddened by the news that the Trump administration was walking back that plan. So I created a stamp to convert Jacksons into Tubmans myself. I have been stamping $20 bills and entering them into circulation for the last year, and gifting stamps to friends to do the same.”

Wall added, “My goal is to get 5,000 stamps out there. If there are 5,000 people consistently stamping currency, we could get a significant percent of circulating $20 bills (with the Tubman) stamp, at which point it would be impossible to ignore.”

The artist also said he’s been careful to avoid any legal issues: “The basic gist of it is you can’t render a bill illegible. You can’t cover any text or numbers or anything on it to serve as an advertisement. … Anything outside of that — if the bill is still fit for circulation is fine. You can write on it and mark in any way.”

The stamps that Wall designed are currently sold out on Etsy ,but it looks like there are a bunch of other options as well (take a look at THIS PAGE). And I’m sure Wall will have more back up soon!

The post Someone Just Designed a Stamp That Lets You Legally Replace Andrew Jackson With Harriet Tubman on $20 Bills appeared first on UberFacts.

This Ex-Navy SEAL’s 5-Minute Morning Routine Will Get You Mentally Pumped for the Day

As a former Navy SEAL and CIA contractor, Shawn Ryan knows a thing or two about mental toughness and preparation – whether it’s for a day at the office or a life-or-death scenario. Today, he has his own company called Vigilance Elite, which provides training to law enforcement, civilians, and even Hollywood action stars.

Ryan has a morning workout routine that gets him physically and mentally excited to embrace the day. He does pyramid training for at least 5 minutes each morning to give himself the energy he needs.

Pyramid training is a workout where you follow consecutive repetitions of a specific exercise. The goal is to work your way up and improve on each set to build strength over time. Ryan says, “Too many people try to chase after that one big win and fail to realize that it takes several small wins to get there.”

Here are the 4 steps you should follow, according to Ryan.

Step 1

Pick an exercise that will work your core and your back, legs, and chest. Some options are squats, squat jumps, pull-ups, or box jumps. Pick a workout that works for you and challenges your body and your mind.

Step 2

Set a timer for 5 minutes and start with the lowest number of reps. If you’re a beginner, 10 might be a good number of reps to start with. It’s important to feel comfortable at first and to build and improve your strength.

Step 3

Gradually increase the number of reps you do in that 5-minute time frame. Move up to 15, then 20, 25, and so on.

View this post on Instagram

I second guess that last #boxjumps

A post shared by Delaney (@delaney.sosa) on

Step 4

Record your results every day on your phone or in a notebook. It’s important not to be too hard on yourself if you don’t improve on your reps as quickly as you’d like, but remember the goal is to improve over time.

That’s it! Nice and simple, and it only takes 5 minutes each day! Good luck!

The post This Ex-Navy SEAL’s 5-Minute Morning Routine Will Get You Mentally Pumped for the Day appeared first on UberFacts.

“Grumpy Cat” May Be Gone, But The Internet Has Found a Worthy Successor

A few weeks ago, the internet was saddened to learn that “Grumpy Cat” (real name Tardar Sauce) passed away. I think we can all agree that she’ll be greatly missed.

View this post on Instagram

Some days are grumpier than others…

A post shared by Grumpy Cat (@realgrumpycat) on

We all know Grumpy Cat can never really be replaced, but this guy sure is gonna do his darndest. A 6-year-old Persian cat from Austin, Texas, named Louis is being called “the New Grumpy Cat,” and I think you’ll see why.

Let’s give him a shot, okay?!?! Here are 15 pics of Louis in all his glory.

A worthy successor, I believe. I think you will, too.

1. See what I’m talkin’ about?

2. I will allow the occasional pet

3. Goes where he pleases

4. Dressed up…and still grumpy

5. Pouting

6. Wide-eyed

7. Do not disturb me

8. A little less grumpy

9. I don’t know if he’s down with that haircut

10. Close up

11. Louis in action

12. Don’t even think about it

13. The Boss

14. No more photos

15. Back off

Keep up with Louis on Instagram so you can follow all of his adventures!

The post “Grumpy Cat” May Be Gone, But The Internet Has Found a Worthy Successor appeared first on UberFacts.

Gwen Stefani’s brother Eric…

Gwen Stefani’s brother Eric was originally the keyboardist for No Doubt but left to become an animator for The Simpsons. He was able to put No Doubt into the background of the Lollapalloza episode when they were still pretty much an unknown band.

Word quarantine comes…

Word quarantine comes from an Italian variant ‘quaranta giorni’, meaning forty days, the period that all ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death plague epidemic.

During the time of the Great…

During the time of the Great Depression, a banker convinced struggling families in Quincy, Florida to buy Coca-Cola shares which traded at $19. Later, the town became the single richest town per capita in the US with at least 67 millionaires.

One evening, while rushing…

One evening, while rushing for dinner after a long day at the lab, Constantin Fahlberg, a chemist at Johns Hopkins, forgot to wash his hands that had traces of benzoic sulfimide. This compound made his dinner taste sweet, and that’s how he discovered the artificial sweetener Saccharin.