12 Trivia Tidbits for Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Cocaine sharks and Snoop Dogg running a Olympic relay.
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J.D. Vance Is the First VP Candidate With a Beard in 75 Years
The last guy to try it was Thomas E. Dewey, who lost in 1944 and 1948.
Someone Got Caught Committing Bank Fraud Because of a Joke Company Name
An Arkansas man’s money laundering scheme was unearthed when a banker recognized the name “Howie Dewey Cheatham,” a misspelling of the classic Three Stooges’ fictional law offices of Dewey, Cheatham & Howe, and tipped off the FBI.
Speed Dating for Rabbits
Rabbit owners are entering into bunny speed dating events to let their pets choose their mates.
Brazilian Sharks Test Positive for Cocaine
Thirteen sharpnose sharks caught by Brazilian fishermen tested positive for cocaine. It’s not the first time the drug has been found in sea life, but the concentration is about 100 times more than previously recorded.
Thermochemical Butter
Savor, a start-up partially funded by Bill Gates, has made butter from CO2 instead of cow’s milk, making it far more sustainable than the real thing.
A New Plastic That Can Biodegrade on Command — And Also Glows in the Dark
Plastic made using a chemical called tert-butyl ester is capable of fully breaking down when exposed to heat or certain acids.
Goths Are Wiping Out Wild Bat Populations
Etsy, eBay and other online marketplaces have made a mint selling taxidermied bats, particularly an adorable orange species called the painted woolly bat. Often sold as spooky Halloween or goth decor, scientists are warning that the demand could start taking a toll on the bat’s wild population.
Florida Wants You to Stop Taking Selfies With Its Famous Depressed Black Bear
A bear spotted sitting on the ground in a way that sure looks like he’s rethinking his entire life has attracted motorists to seek him out on the side of a Florida highway for pictures. The local sheriff’s office has said he’s showing signs of “severe stress” and is “clearly not in the mood for pictures.”
Scientists Are Testing Salamander Limb Regrowth Therapy in Humans
Suppression of the inflammatory protein IL-11 appears to be crucial to helping salamanders (and other amphibians) regrow lost limbs. Mimicking that suppression in mice has led to a 25 percent longer lifespan, and that therapy is now in early clinical trials in humans.
Which Cities Extract the Most Money From Their Citizens Via Parking Tickets?
Washington, D.C. makes $98.27, San Francisco makes $98.80 and Baltimore makes $100.87 per person per year in parking tickets.
Snoop Dogg at the Olympics
Snoop is already signed up to be an NBC special correspondent, and it was just announced that he’ll carry the Olympic torch through the final stages of the relay to open the games.
There’s Oxygen at the Bottom of the Ocean, and No One Knows Why
Researchers found high levels of oxygen in samples from 2.5 miles underwater in 2013, but still haven’t been able to determine how it got there. Conventional wisdom says that only living things can make oxygen, by converting sunlight, which is nearly nonexistent that far down.