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Straw Bale Houses / The power of banding together
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The little pig who built his house out of straw may not have been so unwise after all. Straw has fantastic insulating qualities and is one of the least expensive building materials you can find.
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| (Published: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Esperanto / Artificial language for the masses
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In the late 1800s, a Russian ophthalmologist invented an artificial language that was intended to be culturally neutral and thereby help to unite the world. Its success should be self-evident.
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| (Published: Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Geodesic Domes / Building outside the box
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The best-known invention of R. Buckminster Fuller is a strong, lightweight structure that encloses the largest possible volume with the smallest surface area.
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| (Published: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Performative Verbs / Doing as you say
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Some verbs have the peculiar property that you can perform their action just by saying them, enabling you to literally do as you say.
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| (Published: Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Ice Hotels / In-refrigerator rooms
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In Sweden, Greenland, Québec, and even Alaska, tourists flock each winter to hotels built entirely out of ice, and pay big bucks to sleep in unheated rooms on hard beds covered with animal pelts.
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| (Published: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Spoonerisms / Sixing up mounds
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An professor at Oxford University around the beginning of the 20th century is remembered not for his keen intellect but for his frequent verbal blunders.
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| (Published: Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Origin of the Trophy Cup / Handing it to the winner
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Winners of sporting events and other competitions often receive a trophy in the shape of a cup. But why a cup? What does that have to do with victory? It may have more to do with an early Methodist ritual.
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| (Published: Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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The Invention of the Wheel / The best thing until sliced bread
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The wheel, as everyone knows, was invented thousands of years ago to make it easier to move heavy things. But everyone may be wrong: it turns out the wheel may have been invented for much different reasons.
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| (Published: Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Wine Color Taste Tests / Questioning common sense(s)
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Even experts sometimes mistake red wines for white and white for red in blind taste tests when both wines are served at the same temperature. Is our perception of taste linked to color?
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| (Published: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Hymir's Cauldron / Thor's goblet-throwing prize
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An Icelandic myth tells the story of Thor's encounter with the hard-headed giant Hymir, and illustrates the lengths some people (or gods) will go to for a good supply of mead.
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| (Published: Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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The Great Cork Debate / Thinking outside the bottle
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The best way to seal a bottle of wine is a matter of debate, more because of aesthetics than function. Corks have the historical edge, but plastic stoppers and even screw caps are making inroads.
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| (Published: Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Bhutanese Archery / Shooting game
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The national sport of Bhutan is not merely a matter of hitting a target with an arrow. In fact, mischief and spectacle play a much larger role than accuracy.
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| (Published: Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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English Female Social Titles / Miss-ing the point
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English has an odd set of titles for referring to women: Miss, Mrs., and Ms., all of which have a somewhat dubious pedigree, and none of which is parallel to the term "mister."
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| (Published: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Teatro La Fenice / The phoenix of Venice
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A legendary opera house in Venice, whose name translates as 'the phoenix,' lived up to the moniker by burning down and being rebuilt twice.
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| (Published: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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The Dalahäst / Symbol of Sweden
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The red horse that serves as a decorative motif on lots of IKEA items is actually a cultural icon in Sweden with a long and storied history.
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| (Published: Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Micronations / Starting your own country
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It sounds like a dream come true: starting a tiny country of your own. Quite a few people have tried, but the results have been less than spectacular. The biggest trick: getting other countries to recognize your new nation.
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| (Published: Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Churchill, Manitoba / Polar bear capital of the world
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A tiny town in northern Manitoba is accessible only by rail or air, but it still manages to draw more tourists each year than it can handle. The big draw? Polar bears, which you can observe from the comfort of a huge, heated Tundra Buggy.
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| (Published: Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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The Swedish Ship Götheborg / Rebuilding history
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A Swedish trading ship that sank in 1745 was recently rebuilt and has once again sailed to China. Although the new ship makes some concessions to modern shipbuilding requirements, it remains true to the spirit of the original.
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| (Published: Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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The Golden Spruce / Tragic fall of a legendary tree
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A highly unusual Sitka Spruce tree in British Columbia had golden needles and a conical shape, and was revered by nearby indigenous people. It was cut down by a logger-turned-environmentalist in a bizarre twist of illogic.
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| (Published: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Doble Steam Cars / The steam engine's last stand
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How'd you like a car with great gas mileage, superb handling, almost zero emissions, and a whisper-quiet engine? Go back about 80 years and get a super-expensive Doble steam car.
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| (Published: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Aquanomy / The quest for the best bottled water
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The latest trend in bottled water is the art (or science) of choosing just the right kind of water to pair with your food (based on mineral content, bubbles, pH, and so on). One Paris restaurant serves over 80 varieties of bottled water.
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| (Published: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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The Marree Man / Mystery artwork in the desert
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The world's largest piece of artwork is a geoglyph created anonymously in 1998 in the Australian desert. Impressive as it is, it has upset the locals, and will apparently be left to fade into oblivion.
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| (Published: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Gross National Happiness / Bhutan's bottom line
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Most countries measure their economic growth using GDP (gross domestic product) or GNP (gross national product). Bhutan instead measures its gross national happiness, or at least claims to.
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| (Published: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Lichtenberg Figures / Artificial lightning fossils
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An 18th-century German physicist found a way to capture the shape of a lightning discharge, and the discovery formed the basis of today's photocopiers and laser printers. It also makes for some nifty high-tech art.
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| (Published: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Saint-Pierre & Miquelon / France’s North American territory
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You can go to France without leaving North America! A little-known group of islands off the coast of Newfoundland is French territory. It may be just a one-hour ferry ride, but be sure to pack your passport and some Euros.
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| (Published: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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E Clampus Vitus / Brotherhood of the absurd
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The world's strangest fraternal society achieved popularity by poking fun at the likes of the Masons, wearing goofy outfits, and drinking a lot. But they also manage to do real historical research and charitable work.
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| (Published: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0700) |
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Beurre Salé / The savory treat from Brittany
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An old specialty from the Brittany region of France, this type of salted butter may give your cardiologist a fit, but its history is as rich as its taste.
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| (Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0800) |
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Ischigualasto / Triassic Park in Argentina
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A park in northwestern Argentina earned the nickname Valley of the Moon for its stark landscape and weird rock formations, but its real claim to fame is an extensive cache of rare fossils that help to show the origins of both dinosaurs and mammals.
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| (Published: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0800) |
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Quantized Time / Split-second thinking
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Is there such a thing as an instant of time, a moment so short that it cannot be subdivided any further, or is time continuous? Some scientific theories say yes, some say no, and other say probably, but it doesn't make any practical difference.
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| (Published: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0800) |
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Hubbert's Peak / The controversial theory of Peak Oil
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A theory proposed in the 1950s says that the world's production of oil has already peaked and is heading toward a rapid decline. Is it truth, fiction, or merely optimism?
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| (Published: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:01 -0800) |
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| ( Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/InterestingThingOfTheDay ) |
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