“This map shows the most commonly spoken language in every US state, excluding English and Spanish”, by Andy Kiersz and Ivan De Luce, Business Insider (1/18/20)
The sun looks like caramel corn
A new telescope built to study the Sun has released its first images. They show the surface of the Sun in the most exquisite detail we’ve ever seen – revealing convection granules the size of Texas, and tiny magnetic features – the roots of fields that extend far into space. via sciencealert.com
Romans were known to create tombs…
Romans were known to create tombs for their dogs and gave them epitaphs to remember them by. One such inscription read, “I am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home with my own hands 15 years ago.”
A futurama episode contains…
A Futurama episode contains a real-life mathematical theorem which was specifically made for that episode, making it the first known theorem to be created for the sole purpose of entertainment in a TV show.
In 1938 a 12 year old boy found….
In 1938 a 12 year old boy found a strange rock, took it home and showed his dad who saw nothing special, then used it as a door stop for 9 years, it was later gound to be a sapphire worth 9.6 million dollars today.
An Australian restaurant…
An Australian restaurant called Pablo’s Escoburgers came under fire for their burger called “The Patron,” a double patty with candied bacon topped with a line of white powder (garlic flour) and a rolled up fake $100 bank note. They announced that people were “lining up for a taste.”
Toxic Chemicals Have Been Found in the Tap Water of Dozens of U.S. Cities
Miami is a top destination for tourists, but consuming their tap water could leave you with long-lasting effects well after your vacation is over.
The home of the Heat is just one of 43 U.S. cities—including Philadelphia and New Orleans—that has toxic “forever chemicals” in their drinking water, according to a new report.
The list of cities with water contaminated with “forever chemicals” pic.twitter.com/8hIO5h9DgQ
— Keek (@worldofkeek) January 26, 2020
Products such as firefighting foam and Teflon contain the PFOAs and PFOS chemicals that are contaminating water across the country. Polluted water has been linked in some cases to cancer and lower fertility and even served as inspiration for the 2019 movie Dark Waters, although much more research needs to be done into long-term harms.
Sydney Evans, Environmental Working Group study co-author, told BuzzFeed News that the research group was surprised to see chemical contamination in such a variety of cities. Out of the 44 cities tested for contaminants, only Meridian, Mississippi, passed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the citizens of Meridian get their water from the deep depths of a 600-foot well.
U.S. drinking water is widely contaminated with toxic "forever chemicals" called PFAS, says a report from @EWG.
The chemicals were found in 43 samples of 44 sites across the U.S.
Some of the highest levels were found in areas like Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/R1AeLsRjCV
— AJ+ (@ajplus) January 22, 2020
While earlier studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the EWG had not shown a serious water contamination issue, Evans and her team tested for 30 different PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals in order to discover more information about the breadth of the contamination.
The EPA sets a safety limit of 70 parts-per-trillion limit on the two main chemicals, though some individual states have implemented stricter standards. Unfortunately, many states were found to have water with high concentrations of chemicals, including North Carolina and Iowa.
The contamination of U.S. drinking water with man-made "forever chemicals" is far worse than previously estimated pic.twitter.com/lS35I3ihLR
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 22, 2020
“To date, EPA has developed methods to reliably detect 29 PFAS chemicals in drinking water,” an agency spokesperson stated in an e-mail to Buzzfeed News. “Aggressively addressing PFAS will continue to be an EPA priority in 2020 and we will provide additional information on our upcoming actions as it becomes available.”
So while staying hydrated is critical, filtered water may be a better bet depending on where you live.
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19 Toys You’ll Remember if You Grew up in the Glorious ’80s
The ’80s were great for many reasons: music, cool movies, ridiculous hairstyles and parachute pants, the list goes on and on.
You know what else was really cool from that decade?
THE TOYS!
We had all kinds of awesome gadgets and toys to play with. Let’s get all nostalgic and take a look at some of the best toys the ’80s had to offer.
1. Remember Popples?
2. My Buddy and Kid Sister.
3. Fisher Price Medical Kit.
4. Fisher Price Music Box Teaching Clock
5. Monchhichis were a big hit in Japan before coming to the U.S.
6. Tree Tots Tree House.
7. Sit ‘n Spin.
8. Fisher Price Stove.
9. I definitely had the See ‘N Say Farmer.
10. Wuzzles even briefly had their own TV show!
11. The classic Big Wheels.
12. Fisher Price Gas Pump.
13. Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine.
14. Micky Mouse Talking Telephone.
15. Fisher Price Cash Register.
16. Sesame Street Poppin’ Pals.
17. Care Bears were HUGE.
18. Little People Play House.
19. Fisher Price Record Player.
Wow, that sure was a trip down memory lane!
Did you own any of these awesome toys from the 1980s?
Tell us all about it in the comments!
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These Cute Three-Legged Pets Are Living Their Best Lives
Don’t listen to people who say that a dog or a cat that has a limb removed can’t live a great life full of love and happiness.
And here are some great examples.
Let’s meet these little guys and gals!
1. Luna out in the woods.
2. Bear looks comfortable.
3. A very happy Cassidy.
4. Peggles enjoying the sunshine.
5. Cash the Greyhound.
6. Willy sitting shotgun.
7. Chicken frolicking in the snow.
8. Hey, it’s Trip!
9. Brandi is a very good girl.
10. Let’s me Suni the cat!
Very cute, if I do say so myself.
Do you have a pet that had to have a leg removed? Or maybe some other kind of major surgery, but they’re still kicking ass and taking names?
Share a pic and a story with us in the comments!
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What Is a Pooh, and Why Is Winnie One?
Winnie the Pooh is, in fact, a bear. He lives in the woods, he eats honey, he loves to sleep, he looks like a bear…all of the signs are there.
So why, then, is he referred to as “the pooh?” And what exactly IS a pooh, anyway?
I have to confess that I never really thought too much about it until someone asked me that question, and then, well, I just had to know the answer.
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To find it we have to travel way back in time to the 1920s when A.A. Milne first published his stories about the Hundred-Acre Wood
When the stories were very first written, Winnie wasn’t Winnie at all – in the original drafts he was Edward Bear. Then, on a visit to the London Zoo, Milne encountered a very friendly black bear who had been named after Winnipeg, Canada.
And thus, Winnie came into being.
But what is Pooh?
Well, Pooh referred originally to a swan.
In the book When We Were Very Young, Milne included a poem explaining how Christopher Robin would feed the swan in the mornings – a swan called “Pooh,” which is “a very fine name for a swan, because if you call him and he doesn’t come (which is a thing swans are good at), then you can pretend that you were just saying ‘Pooh!’ to show him how little you wanted him.”
Then the swan character was shown the door and Edward was renamed; Winnie the Pooh was born.
If that doesn’t satisfy you, A.A. Milne wrote in the first chapter of the first Winnie the Pooh book, “But his arms were so stiff …they stayed up straight into the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think – but I am not sure – that that is why he is always called Pooh.”
So there’s that too.
The reasoning, of course, doesn’t matter all that much because the name stuck. Winnie the Pooh – or just Pooh – became an icon for children all over the world, and the rest, as they say, is history.
He even has his own holiday (Winnie the Pooh Day is January 18th, if you care to celebrate).
However he came by his name, and however you came to find him, there’s almost no chance you don’t love him – and I would never “pooh”a Winnie the Pooh date with my kids.
Or myself, to be honest.
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