We read about TikTok challenges in which everyone tries to outdo each other in something outrageous and often dangerous. But that's not really new, because children have been doing this kind of thing forever. I remember when kids were challenged, or rather dared, to chew on cinnamon toothpicks. In the 1990s, it was Warheads, the ultimate sour candy from a long line of newly-developed sour candies. How many could you eat before they burned a hole in your tongue? No one found out, because you have to give up before that happened. But were Warheads really as dangerous as they were rumored to be? Weird History Food explains how Warheads came about, what they were made of, and the controversies they sparked. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Friday, June 20, 2025
How Dangerous Are Warheads?
Summer Heat
It's all in how you look at it. But that doesn't make me feel any better. Enjoy your summer solstice. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
What if you funneled Niagara Falls through a straw?
A truly ridiculous scenario was submitted to the What If? series. What would happen if you tried to send all the water going over Niagara Falls through a straw? That's 50,000 to 100,000 cubic feet of water per second! They gamely explain why you can't do this, with some of the finer points of fluid dynamics, and how this attempt would trigger some bizarre effects.
Most of that went over my head, but I wondered how they knew that the flow was 50,000 to 100,000 cubic feet per second. It turns out that's the mandated minimum amount of water regulated by treaty. A lot more Niagara River water is diverted for power generation. The preservation of Niagara Falls is overseen by at least five different organizations- or else the falls could be dry a lot of the time. You can learn a lot from a stupid question.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine. Their affliction didn't have anything to do with being French or living in Maine, but it sure was weird.
When John Hughes Wrote an Unmade Jaws Movie. A National Lampoon shark movie just wasn’t meant to be.
A Great Dane named Juliana was awarded a medal during WWII. For peeing in the house. (Thanks, WTM!)
Dr. Demento Announces Retirement After 55-Year Radio Career. (via Metafilter)
A link-heavy update on the Trump administration's actions. You might want to bookmark it for exploring by section.
A new book of Edward Gorey’s drawings shows what’s lost when the artist’s sexuality is glossed over. (via Damn Interesting)
Thames Glass Made From Collected River Trash. Lulu Harrison makes treasures from local waste. (via Nag on the Lake)
Mad Max Junior
Remember the guy that turned his kids' Little Tykes Cozy Coupes into Mad Max-style vehicles? It turns out he works in the film industry. Ian Pfaff took his daughter Junior and his infant son Benji out to the desert and let them loose. A few specials effects later, they've recreated the apocalyptic world of the car chase movie Mad Max: Fury Road. Just like the movie, this is short on dialogue and heavy on mayhem. Uh-oh! (via Digg)
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Rural Hospitals
Our insurance system makes sure that health care is very expensive. There has to be a profit every step of the way, or the insurance companies would fold. This affects everything from the enormous cost of educating doctors to drugs to the heating bill at your local hospital. Hospitals collect money from private insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, and some amount from patients, often just a fraction of the bill. And as more public health insurance is shifted to the private sector, like Obamacare and Medicare Advantage, more money is shifted to profits. That's bad enough, but if the most reliable payees, Medicare and Medicaid, are cut, it affects the entire system. You may not care about these programs because you don't use them, but collectively, they keep your local hospital running... but that could easily change.
The Squirrels' Friend
Derrick Downey, Jr. loves the local squirrels, and knows them all by name. The final shot in this video shows us that they know and love him, too. See a lot more of Maxine, Hoodrat Raymond, Richard, Jumping Jack, Tore Up Terry, and the other squirrels at Instagram.
Who Has the Most Nukes, 1945-2025
According to the available statistics, there are 13,162 nuclear weapons in the world today. That's a lot, considering that we know from experience that the most you need to defeat an enemy is two. However, that experience comes from 80 years ago, back when no other country had the means to respond in kind. There have been times when the number of nuclear weapons was staggeringly large, peaking at more than 64,000 in 1986. What did we think we were going to do with all that?
Sasha Medin of Data Is Beautiful put together an animated timeline to show how many nuclear weapons existed in each year since they were developed. For a statistics video, this actually has some dramatic moments, like in the 1950s when the Soviet Union raced to build their nuclear arsenal. In the late '80s, both the US and the USSR began pulling back their numbers. In 1991, the Soviet Union suddenly disappears from the timeline, as Russia became the world's biggest nuclear power, with Ukraine and Kazakhstan just below the US. Ukraine and Kazakhstan gave up their nuclear weapons in 1994. In the 21st century, the US and Russia have achieved parity as they cut back, while other nations are building their arsenals up. (via Laughing Squid)
The New Sport of Snowboarding
In 1985, snowboarding was still fairly new at ski slopes in the U.S. Slope operators hated it, and they hated the people who did it. Watch a 1985 CBS news report on the phenomenon. We can assume that eventually, the slope operators saw which way the wind was blowing -or more accurately, where the money was coming from. And the snowboarders grew up a little. (via Digg)
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Frank Reynolds in Middle-Earth
You would have a hard time finding entertainment franchises as different as the sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Lord of the Rings. But that's exactly what makes this smashup so funny. Danny DeVito's character Frank Reynolds is rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. He frequently pulls a gun for the slimmest of reasons, or for no reason at all. Putting him in LOTR, among characters regarded for their loyalty, bravery, and honor is totally antithetical to the ethos of Tolkien's tales. YouTuber Your_Kryptonite7 edited Reynolds into Middle-Earth, using clips from both The Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit films. (via Cracked)
Arty Sign
I first saw "measles" when I saw it. But I guess it's supposed to be "mega sale." I like Nathan Pyle's interpretation better.
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