(via Bits and Pieces)
Thursday, May 28, 2026
What If You Dropped a Bowling Ball Into the Mariana Trench?
The latest hypothetical question for the What If? series by Randall Munroe and Henry Reich asks how long it would take a bowling ball to fall from the ocean surface to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans, and the point called Challenger Deep is around 11,000 kilometers or 36,000 feet deep. A bowling ball would take quite a while to sink that far.
But wait- the real surprise here is that it might not sink at all. It might float! That depends on how heavy the ball is. Galileo told us that a hammer and a feather will drop at the same rate if you control for air resistance, like doing it on the moon or in a vacuum. Apparently, it doesn't work like that underwater, so we find out how objects of different weights fall in the ocean.
Brainstorm or Green Needle?
The question in the title sounds like we are going to name a new superhero. No, this is another audio illusion that might freak you out a bit. A toy says "brainstorm." Or maybe it says "green needle." You need to decide which one it is before you play the video. Then play it again, thinking about the other option. Keep your finger on the replay button (bottom left on the video), and you'll find that this toy says what you expect it to say, even if you change your mind between plays. Some people hear "green storm" or "brain needle," but that's because they chose to hear it. For some science behind the phenomena, and the actual answer to what this toy is saying, go to HuffPo. (via Geekologie)
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Happy Tooth and Old Mr. Tooth Decay
This 1952 TV ad for Colgate is about as cheaply produced as you could get. Pretty cheesy, too. (via Weird Universe)
Banana Synthesizer
I knew you could tuna fish, but how do you tune a banana? This is the kind of nonsense we expect from Weird Al Yankovic.
Why Judges and Linguists Can’t Stop Arguing About Words
Language is a funny thing. It changes over time, and the exact meaning of a word can drift to become more broad or more specific. That can spill over into a courtroom, when the exact wording of a law is debated. Does a more modern interpretation of those words change the intention of those who originally passed the law? And how do we determine exact meanings? By current dictionary, the generally-understood meaning at the time the law was written, or how the wording of the law is understood today? It depends on how you look at it, or even more importantly, who looks at it. Dr. Erica Brozovsky breaks down the legal battle over words. All I could think of while watching this is a quote: "It depends on what the definition of 'is' is."
Miss Cellania's Links
6 Musicians That You Didn't Know Were in the Military. Not all of them wanted to be.
250 to 250. We Are America.
The Let’s Have Better Mottoes Association. If you define "better" as "funny."
Unusual hotel rooms. (via Everlasting Blort)
This Jewish Community in the Caribbean Smuggled Gunpowder to the Patriots During the Revolution. A British Admiral Condemned the Island as a ‘Nest of Vipers.’
Akku Yadav: The Serial Rapist Who Was Killed by His Victims in an Indian Courtroom. Many, many victims.
The price America paid for its first big immigration crackdown. Before that, we didn't even have the concept of "illegal" immigrants.
A Blast from the Past (2008): Who Was Dr. Frankenstein?
You Bet Your Life Outtakes 1959-60
When anything can be a euphemism, everything is a euphemism in the hands of Groucho Marx on the set of You Bet Your Life.
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Part of Your World
The Shiki Theater Company is the biggest such company in Japan, and they have a longstanding relationship with Disney. Beginning in August they will stage the musical The Little Mermaid at the Maihama Amphitheater in Maihama, near Tokyo. Rina Tachibana stars as Ariel. She has a lovely voice (crucial for the plot, I know) and belts out "Part of Your World" that sounds very much like the movie version, except it's in Japanese. But how does she do it while floating through the water? And how do they make swimming underwater look so effortless and even realistic onstage (here's a rehearsal clip)? For that matter, how are they going to pull this off in an amphitheater? During the song, we also get glimpses of other scenes from The Little Mermaid. (via Kuriositas)
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