12 Trivia Tidbits for Wednesday, June 5, 2024
The Worst Known Lightning Strike in Colorado’s History
A rancher and his 34 cows were the tragic victims of a deadly lightning strike. A coroner in the area said lightning deaths aren’t super uncommon, but it usually takes down something like one horse at a time.
MrBeast Is Number One
Despite historic levels of press and memes, MrBeast has never been the most-subscribed channel on YouTube. He finally passed his archrival, T-Series, at 269 million subscribers.
The 1,600-Year-Old Iron Pillar That Won’t Rust
The six-ton Iron Pillar of Delhi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that baffled scientists until the 21st century. Experts at the Indian Institute of Technology found that the ancient iron contains 1 percent phosphorous (which is relatively a lot) and no sulfur or magnesium, components that cause modern iron to rust.
The Mushroom That Might Cure the Microplastic Epidemic
Scientists have discovered a fungus, Parengyodontium album, that can break down polyethylene that has been exposed to UV light. They found it hanging out in the ocean, and are optimistic that similarly capable fungi are yet to be discovered deeper down there.
Why Do We Feel Acceleration, and Not Speed?
Living creatures detect force, not necessarily speed. When a car starts moving, you feel the force applied to your body by the seat of the car, and you feel the force applied to your body when it comes to a sudden stop. But when you’re cruising at a consistent rate (i.e., 0 acceleration, 0 force being applied), it feels the same as sitting still.
One Dude Is Memeing His Way to Billionaire Status
Keith Gill, or “Roaring Kitty” on Reddit, is seen as a GameStop stock wizard, but he’s been largely dormant since the initial craze died down. He posted about the stock twice in the last few weeks, causing the price to skyrocket again out of nowhere. Experts believe his net worth is around $700 million at the moment, as a direct result.
The NYSE Glitched and Wiped Out Berkshire Hathaway
On Monday morning, a bizarre glitch at the New York Stock Exchange reported that the value of the load-bearing holding company chaired by Warren Buffett had dropped by 99 percent. They had to call a time-out on the economy for a second so they could fix the issue.
You Can Stop Looking: Australia’s First Giga-Goose Skull Has Been Found
The Genyornis newtoni was a huge, flightless, duck-like bird driven extinct by humans about 45,000 years ago. We did such a good job of cleaning our plate, a fully intact skull was only recently found after a century of looking.
You’d Have to Work Two Centuries to Make What Your CEO Makes in a Year
An AP survey found that half of CEOs make 196 times their median worker’s salary. Additionally, CEO compensation packages increased by 12 percent year-over-year, while workers’ increased by just 4 percent.
A Guy Uncovered a $5 Million Power Tool Theft Ring With Apple AirTags
A Virginia man had some of his tools stolen, so to catch the culprit, he hid some AirTags in a few of his remaining tools. When those were predictably yoinked, he tipped off police, who found 15,000 stolen construction tools.
A Bunch of Car Companies Got Caught Cheating
Toyota, Honda and Mazda all got caught skimping on various certification tests this year. It’s okay though, they’ve all said they're very very sorry and have “paused” production on a few of their lines until this all blows over.
Elon Musk Fulfilled His Promise to Deal With Rampant NSFW Content
...by declaring that it’s no longer a problem. He’s decided to let porn bots roam free on X as long as they label their content.