12 Farm-Fresh Trivia Tidbits for Tuesday, March 25, 2025
The bad news is that those two astronauts who got stuck in space for nine months aren’t getting paid overtime. The good news is they probably make more than you anyway.
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You May Still Have Memories From Childhood Locked Away Somewhere in Your Brain
The conventional wisdom is that babies’ brains are too underdeveloped to actually record memories, but a recent study involving MRI scans shows that babies likely are recording concrete memories. The issue is that it becomes harder to locate or unlock them as we age.
How Did Iguanas Get All the Way to Fiji?
Most iguanas live in North America, with the exception of the Fijian iguana. Researchers believe a huge chunk of dirt, trees and plants floated off into the ocean millions of years ago, and the iguanas who happened to be on board survived the months-long, 5,000-mile journey.
Segway Is Still Selling Products, But Maybe They Shouldn’t Be
The OG Segway PT that shocked and then disappointed the world officially went out of production in 2020, but the company has continued selling contraptions. The Max G30LP KickScooter, for example, 220,000 of which were just recalled because their folding mechanisms can break mid-ride, and at least 20 people have been injured that way.
The Expansion of the Universe May Reverse After All
It’s generally thought that dark energy will keep the universe expanding, resulting in the heat death of the universe. But a new study of 15 million galaxies over three years indicates that the force of dark energy is weakening, making it more likely that everything will one day start moving back together in until there’s kind of a reverse-Big Bang.
The Trump Administration’s $400 Million Ransom on Columbia University Is More Significant Than It Seems
Trump threatened to withhold $400 million in federal funding to the university unless and until they make major culture war concessions, but it may (shockingly) also be a case of petty retribution. The New York Times pointed out that in the 1990s, Trump tried to get Columbia to throw exactly $400 million at him for some real estate he owned, and was pretty miffed when they refused.
The Price Tag on the American Dream
A study on the costs of things considered integral parts of the American dream --- buying a house, going on vacations, raising kids and retiring --- found that you need $4.4 million to pull it off.
ChatGPT Creates a Closed Loop of Emotional Instability in Your Brain
A joint study between MIT and OpenAI found a connection between increased use of ChatGPT and a combination of loneliness and emotional dependence on A.I.
We May Be Killing Oysters With Light Pollution
Oysters have light-sensing cells on their skin, and it takes less light than is emitted by a full moon to disturb their sleep cycles. This may create widespread harmful effects for entire species.
The Old Twitter Logo Sold for $34,000
The 12-foot-tall bird that used to be perched on Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco was sold at auction for $34,375 (although the auction house was expecting $40,000).
You Can Purchase a Letter From a Teenage Titanic Victim
Sixteen-year-old Thomas Cupper Mudd wrote a letter home to his mother three days before the ship hit the iceberg, and it’s about to go up for auction. His message paints a picture of unwavering trust in the Titanic in the face of natural disaster: “We have been having very rough weather, but the ship is so steady you would hardly know it was moving.”
Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams Won’t Get Overtime, But They Did Get a Per Diem
NASA doesn’t offer overtime pay for getting stuck on the International Space Station for nine months, so the two astronauts will only be paid for 40 hours per week (about $152,258 per year), plus $5 per day for expenses (a bonus of $1,430).
The Guy Who Invented Pirate’s Booty Went Full Megalomaniac (On the Smallest Scale Imaginable)
Robert Ehrlich entered the race for mayor of the small village of Sea Cliff, Long Island less than a week before the election as a write-in candidate. He received 62 votes, and lost to the incumbent mayor by over 1,000. Despite this, he marched into village hall, declared himself the winner and “fired” everyone who worked there.
