12 Farm-Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Tuesday, October 8, 2024
A cheating goat and a diva beaver. What a week it’s been already.
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A Houseplant That Can Generate Electricity and Air
Engineers have created an artificial plant whose leaves ramp up the natural abilities to produce oxygen and create power via photosynthesis. The aim is to generate enough electricity to reliably charge a cell phone.
Keanu Reeves’ Professional Racing Debut Didn’t Go Great
Reeves raced in the GR Cup Series at Minneapolis Motor Speedway, making it as high as 21st place, but ultimately finishing 31st after spinning out into the grass.
The World’s Oldest Treasure Hunt Is Over
In 1993, two artsy French weirdos hid a golden, diamond-encrusted owl statuette somewhere in France. After 31 years, someone finally solved the 11 riddles printed in a book called Sur la trace de la chouette d’or, and found the owl.
The First Quarterback to Throw Two Interceptions in the Same Game on Different Days
Congratulations to Dak Prescott, who threw an interception in the second quarter of a Dallas Cowboys’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, then again in the fourth quarter, after midnight.
An Ingredient in Cheetos Turns Mice Translucent
Scientists have been able to use the yellow food dye tartrazine to turn mice’s skin invisible so they can take a peep at their internal organs.
Can ‘Biodesign’ Save the Planet From Fast Fashion?
Lifestyle brand Normal Phenomena of Life is harnessing bacteria to make clothes and household items less carbon- and water-dependent. They sell jackets that are dyed using specialized bacteria, and lamps made out of “bioconcrete” from limestone-producing bacteria.
Music Can Help Plants Grow (Via Fungus)
Scientists have found that monotonous noise can help the fungus Trichoderma harzianum thrive. Farmers use that particular fungus to promote soil health and protect plants from dangerous microorganisms.
American Obesity May Have Peaked
The adult obesity rate dropped by two percent between 2020 and 2023, after decades of steady increase. Ozempic and other wildly effective weight loss drugs are behind this statistical miracle.
But American Lethargy Remains on the Rise
Between 2003 and 2022, the average amount of time that Americans spent hanging out inside their homes rose by an hour and 39 minutes per day.
A Second Asteroid Has Struck the Earth
Researchers have found that about two million years after the Big One killed the dinosaurs, a smaller one struck off the coast of West Africa, leaving a relatively dinky five-mile-wide crater, but causing a 2,000-foot-tall tsunami.
Boston’s Diva Beaver
Nibi the beaver was found at one week old on the side of a road, and since there were no other rescued beavers in the area, she’s grown up being pampered by humans in a domestic setting. By law, she needs to be released into the wild, but the Massachusetts governor issued an emergency permit so that she could be kept as a pet after being convinced she’d swiftly die in the wild.
Local Goat Cheats in Half Marathon
A goat hopped a fence and started running along with competitors at Conception Bay South’s first annual half marathon. Its owner tracked her down after three miles, but the goat had already begun going viral, so she drove it to the finish line, where it received a medal.