12 Trivia Tidbits for Monday, July 15, 2024

Scientists don’t really know what causes migraines, but recent neurological studies on mice have yielded new patterns. A brief pause in brain activity affects spinal fluid behavior, which may cause the brain to throw up a general alarm.

It’s unclear if laws will ever be passed to keep Congress from insider trading, but there are tools available to track and mimic their trades. People have made programs to follow individual lawmaker investments, finding that in aggregate they outperform the S&P 500 and the Dow.

The project was based on blood samples from 20 people who were promised anonymity. Thirty-four years after it launched, we now know that 70 percent of the DNA they studied came from one dude.

Samsung just dropped the first smart ring, capable of tracking biometric data from your finger. It’s off to a stronger start than Humane’s idiotic, huge, overhyped A.I. pin that crashed and burned this spring.

Last week, Cypress Hill performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, just as The Simpsons predicted back in the 1996 episode “Homerpalooza.”

A few grocery stores in Oklahoma, Alabama and Texas recently installed vending machines that allow customers to pick up shotgun, rifle and handgun ammo in two minutes or less, 24/7.

Cena holds the record for most wishes granted for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, at 650 as of 2022.

Nike’s Adapt self-tying sneakers came with a mobile app that allowed users to adjust all the bells and whistles, from lights to tightness of the laces. They announced that they’re going to remove the app from app stores, but that the app “should” continue to function if you already have it installed.

NASCAR just unveiled a $1.5 million prototype of its first electric car, which hit the streets in a road race in Chicago.

South Korean researchers have developed a pink goo that they believe will make lab-grown meat finally smell and taste like the real deal.

Scientists have long wondered how new mothers maintain their bone density despite a drop in estrogen, which is normally responsible for that. They’ve pinpointed a hormone that’s only produced in breastfeeding mothers, called CCN3, that handles the bone stuff while estrogen is on a break. They’ve given it to mice of all genders and ages, and found it improves bone density across the board.

NASA researchers just exited a 3D-printed Mars habitat replica after 378 days of farming, spacewalks and precious little contact with the outside world. Sounds nice, man.