12 Farm-Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a whole host of folks who were on your mind while walking around the mall in the aughts, like Michael J. Fox, Denzel Washington, Bono, Magic Johnson and Bill Nye the freaking Science Guy.

He also gave the award to Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney’s dad and, posthumously, Robert F. Kennedy.

The company sent a cease-and-desist to a Vermont artist who made a T-shirt design for a local kale farmer that said “Eat More Kale,” alleging that it was too close to “Eat Mor Chikin.” Vermont’s entire government rejected the legal claim, the artist was able to patent their slogan and now everyone in Vermont hates Chick-fil-A.

Sleep scientists looked at the brains of 85 participants who were asked to suppress unwanted memories. Half stayed awake all night before the study, and half had a good night’s sleep; the former had a harder time suppressing than the latter. The lead author said the results “highlight the critical role of sleep in maintaining control over both our memories and ongoing thoughts.”

Seventeen-year-old Luke Littler competed in the World Championship a year ago, and has won 10 titles and over $1 million since then.

A study that asked people to match a picture of a pet owner with a picture of their dog found that participants were able to do so successfully more often than would be predicted by random chance. This indicates that humans and their pets do have a tendency to look alike, either because owners subconsciously choose pets that look and act like them, or because the two parties tend to gravitate toward a visual equilibrium.

The City of Chicago has over 400 municipal buildings, and 70 percent of their power comes from a series of Illinois solar farms. They can claim to be 100 percent renewable, because the remaining 30 percent will be offset by the purchase of renewable energy credits.

Seeing that A.I.-generated garbage was doing numbers on its platforms, the company developed entire profiles and content calendars for completely made-up people. Most controversially, one that was self-described as a “proud Black queer momma” was developed by a team that had exactly zero Black people on it. There are reports that the company is now backtracking on their dumbest idea yet.

Economists are studying the long-term effects of the popularity of Wegovy, Zepbound and and other “miracle” weight-loss drugs. People taking the drugs are spending six to nine percent less on processed foods. Economists have predicted that airlines could save on fuel, and apparel companies stand to profit by selling more units using less material.

A study of post-Soviet nations found a correlation between high BMI among its politicians and corruption within its politics.

A bear-sized 608-pound bluefin tuna was sold at Tokyo’s fish market for $1.3 million. 

In 1999, a 613-pound Oma tuna was purchased for $3.1 million.