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40 Random Bits of Science and Tech Trivia to Make You the Belle of the Ball at Space Camp

November 02, 2024

Neanderthals were the original tech bros.

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40

The First Instant Replay

The first instant replay 1963 CRACKED.COM The technology was ready just in time for the big Army-Navy game... at John F. Kennedy Stadium! — Source

39

John Landis

The morphing technology used in John Landis's $4 million epic was totally cutting-edge stuff at the time, which could probably be done fairly well on an iPhone these days. Plus, a cameo from Macaulay goddamn Culkin. CRACKED — Source

38

Japanese Graveyards

Gravesite Tech HIGH-TECH JAPANESE GRAVEYARDS Japan's declining birth rates, shrinking space, and high cemetery costs have led to the development of high-tech graveyards, where people's cremated remains are stored in lockers and represented by LED-lit Buddha statues. CRACKED — 2banne/Atlas Obscura
Vice

37

The Comverse Heist

Evil Things Huge Companies Have Done - Kobi Alexander, the former CEO of Comverse Technology, was caught swindling $138 million from investors in 2006 — Source: 7 Wanted Criminals Who Made Mocking Police Into an Art Form

36

Poseable Plastic Fossils

Become a poseable plastic fossil. An artist developed the technology necessary to pump various organs full of polymers. — The 6 Coolest Things You Can Do With Your Dead Body

35

MIT’s Pirate Certificate

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a pirate certificate. MASSACHVSETTS INSTITVTE OF TECHNOLOGY CRACKED COM This honor is achieved by students who complete the archery, sailing, fencing, and pistol or rifle shooting courses. The department frequently holds pirate in- duction days. — Source

34

Phantom Vibration Syndrome

THERE IS AN OFFICIAL NAME FOR WHEN YOU THINK YOU FEEL YOUR PHONE VIBRATING IN YOUR POCKET. SAMSUNG CRACKED COM Phantom Vibration Syndrome is the name for when someone thinks their phone is vibrating, but it isn't. The name might be new, but these kinds of phantom twitches happen regularly, it's only now that we have a device that is always with us to blame them on. — Source: NPR

33

The Beautiful Game

GAME-RUINING INNOVATIONS GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY ORT SPORT SPORT FIFA only started using goal-line technology in 2014, after some resistance, even though it eliminates human error in determining if a goal was scored. Turns out, for some people, referee fallibility was part of what made the game so emotional and unpredictable. CRACKED — alphaspirit.it/Shutterstock
PBS

32

Astronaut Ice Cream

FREEZE DRYING TECHNOLOGY During planning for the Apollo missions, NASA developed freeze drying which allows food to maintain nutrients with less weigh — Source: Spinoff

31

Firefighting Equipment

FIREFIGHTING EQUIPMENT SUIUGNTI The technology and material made for spacesuits have been used for firefighters' suits. CRACKED COM — Source: USA Today

30

Invisible Braces

INVISIBLE BRACES Polycrystalline alumina was originally made for heat-seeking missile technology, but NASA helped to apply it to smile technology. — Source: Mental Floss

29

Colossal Bioscience

The CIA is investing in technology to resurrect the Wooly Mammoth. CRACKED.COM Colossal Biosciences, which aims to return the beasts to the tundra once again, has investors like Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Paris Hilton, Winklevoss Capital, and yes, the Cen- tral Intelligence Agency. — The Intercept / Wikipedia

28

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire's interactive SUBURBS video For their 2010 song We Used to Wait, fans could plunk in their address on thewildernessdowntown.com and see Google Maps images of their house in the video for a personalized experience. CRACKED — Source

27

Walmart

Wal-Mart loses around $3 Billion a year to theft. WAL MART SUGACTION GUARANTEER GRACKED.COM In 2015, $3 billion dollars lost due to theft constitut- ed only 1% of Wal-Mart's $300 billion revenue. They use image recognition technology to reduce theft in self-checkouts using AI technology. — Query Sprout

26

Anno Domini 2000

An 1889 novel predicted parts of 2000 surprisingly accurately. Hnn nno Domini 2000 Written by Julius Vogel, a former New Zealand prime minister, Anno Domini 2000 features instant communication technology, widespread travel in aluminum air cruisers, and great changes to the environment as a result of industrial technology. NOW YOU — Source: NZHistory

25

Safety Coffins

Gravesite Tech SAFETY COFFINS TO THE RESCUE In 18th and 19th century Europe, fear of premature burial led to the invention of the safety coffin, with over 30 different designs patented in Germany in the second half of the 19th century. These included mechanisms for allowing the dead to communicate with people above ground, such as ropes which, when pulled, would ring a bell. K AI CRACKED — Franz Vester
The Australian Museum

24

USS Yorktown

CRACKED Despite the navy's Smart Ship technology, the USS Yorktown ran into some issues when software glitches caused system failures. The very information technology that was supposed to make ships like the Yorktown more efficient ended up making them vulnerable to things like database overflow errors. — GCN / USS Yorktown Foundation

23

Artificial Limbs

ARTIFICIALLIMBS NASA'S shock absorbtion and robotic technology are used to develop prostheses. CRACKED COM — Source: NASA

22

Heterosexuality

The original meaning of heterosexuality was a desire for kinky, straight sex. Patta memorogy ing technology science piled technology. materials, knocked produce techniques body needs: goods technology Science and tech. any meth. tools method. particular technology and techniques process. indus- to research American) develop fusion officer sions In the 1901 Dorland's Medical Dictionary, the definition was just this: abnormal or perverted appetite toward the opposite sex. CRACKED.COM — Source: BBC

21

Neanderthal Intelligence

NEANDERTHALS WERE NOT DIM-WITTED. They were capable of complex thought, communication, and sophisticated technology. And they bred with modern humans. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

European Magpies

European magpies passed a scientific test that proves when animals are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. CRACKED.COM The magpie ex- periment proves the birds have high cognitive abilities. — Source

19

Henrietta Lacks

CRACKED UNETHICALLY HARVESTING HENRIETTA LACKS' CELLS ENABLED LIFE-SAVING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES Lacks' cervical cancer cells, known as HeLa, were harvested without her consent and have since been used to make many scientific advancements, such as polio and COVID-19 vaccines, cancer research, and sequencing the human genome. — National Institutes of Health/Wiki Commons,
Lacks Foundation
Johns Hopkins Medicine

18

The Jeff Daniels Spider

A newly discovered tarantula-killing worm was named after Jeff Daniels The parasite Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi (named for Daniels' role in Arachnophobia) was discovered after a wholesale tarantula breeder was worried about an infection affecting his tarantulas. CRACKED.COM — Source: CNN

17

Hermit Crabs

Discarded tires are killing hermit crabs Tires that end up on the ocean floor become traps for hermit crabs, without a way for them to get out. CRACKED.COM — Source: CNN

16

Caterpillar Juice

Butterflies eat live catepillars CRACKED.COM Recently seen for the first time, cannibalistic milkweed butterflies have been spotted clawing and then slurping up the juices of caterpillars. — Source: ScienceFocus

15

Cat Bellies

Cats usually don't have spots on their belly because the right cells don't reproduce enough. The cells responsible for the different-colored pigment migrate to the belly, but they don't make enough copies of themselves to cover a large area. NOW YOU KNOW — Source: Reuters

14

Feminine Brand Names

Source: Science Daily

13

Sherlock Holmes

The scientific career of Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes is taken from a real scientist. Apparently, Moriarty- -who presents himself as an accomplished — Source: 5 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Are Based On Real People

12

Chips

CRACKEDCOMT CHIPS TRICK YOUR BRAIN SO YOU CAN KEEP EATING WITHOUT FEELING FULL. The brain fights overeating by making each bite of the same food succe

11

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson's daughter was So surrounded by the scientific mindset that she used the scientific method to test iF the tooth Fairy was real. Sh

10

Pants Fabric

A study shows a connection between pants fabric and sex drive. The study was conducted by Ahmed Shafik and examined the sex drives of mice when wearin

9

Blue Eyes

CRACKED.COM Blue-eyed people are likelier to become alcoholics. Genetics is a mess. If you have genes for blue eyes, it's likely that you also have genes for a higher alcohol tolerance, which can lead to drinking too much. The effect is small, but study after study keeps showing the same thing. — Source

8

Golf’s Water Usage

CRACKED LET'S STUDY THIS FOR 5 YEARS AND NEVER TELL ANYONE WHAT WE FOUND, SAY UTAH LEGISLATORS. Utah legislators said that if the public knew how much water golf courses and driving ranges used, people might draw the wrong conclusions. So they suggested doing a 5-year study to look into it - and they won't release the findings. — SL Tribune / Golf

7

Canine Jealousy

A SCIENTIFIC STUDY SHOWED THAT DOGS CAN FEEL JEALOUS. Studies involving other emotions have had inconclusive results. CRACKED.COM — Source: 21 Dog Facts That Are Pleasant As Hell

6

Neanderthal Nutrition

People are not that nutritious, according to a study on cannibalism. GRACKED.COM While our ancient an- cestors did practice cannibalism, eating other humans just couldn't compare with taking down a mam- moth, apparently. — National Geographic

5

Management Training

According to a nationwide study by Career Builder, 58% of managers involved in the study said that they did not receive any management training prior to becoming managers. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

The Netherlands’ COVID Party

The Netherlands organized a massive party to study COVID. Amsterdam's largest music arena opened for 1,300 people, so researchers could study how they behaved. That way, the government would have data to guide its decisions on reopening safely. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Guardian

3

Money and Happiness

ACCORDING TO A STUDY PEOPLE WHO PRIORITIZE HAVING TIME OVER MAKING MORE MONEY AReHAPPIERS However, the study didn't include participants living at pov — Source: EurekAlert!

2

The Power of the Middle Initial

CRACKEDGO COM Want people to think you're smarter? Use your middle initial. A study in the European Journalof Social Psychology found that individuals

1

Universal Basic Income

A BIG STUDY FOUND UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME DOESN'T MAKE PEOPLE WORK LESS. A Finnish study gave 2,000 unemployed people €560 a month for two years (even if they got a job), and compared how they did with how people on unemployment did. The people on UBI had better mental health, confidence, and finances, and weren't less likely to look for work. CRACKED.COM — Source

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