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You asked: What are hot dogs made out of? — Gabby, Houston, Texas Marshall Answered: If you visit a hot dog factory, there really isn’t anything mysterious in a hot dog. I went to the Sabrett hot dog factory, and they make their hot dogs out of beef, beef fat, salt, sorbitol (an artificial sweetner), [...]
I’ve been watching announcements about Wolfram|Alpha for a few weeks. It’s a computational knowledge engine that’s supposed to be launching next month. I signed up for early access to the site but have yet to receive my code, so most of the information I’ve read about it comes from the company’s Web site.
You asked: How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space? — Bill, Portland, Ore. Marshall Answered: Astronauts have two options. The astronauts on the moon missions, and astronauts sitting for the launch pad in the space shuttle, use diapers. They are a little gross, but they are also easy, fool-proof and lightweight. Once the [...]
Alcohol and babies don’t mix. If you are pregnant, you should not drink. You should never put alcohol in a bottle and hand it to a baby. And, if you are breastfeeding, you should not drink alcohol. Or you may get arrested: Mother Faces BWI Charge Grand Forks Police Department officers watched as an “extremely [...]
In case you didn’t hear the scuttlebutt, on Monday BusinessWeek reported that Verizon and Apple had entered talks regarding a potential partnership. The goal of this alliance? To develop two new gadgets for the market. According to the article, one of these devices is a cell phone device that many are now calling the “iPhone lite.” The second device is the rumored tablet people have been buzzing about for the last few weeks.
In India they are in the process of planning and building the world’s tallest statue at 500 feet tall: More info: Maitreya Project Maitreya Project’s 500ft / 152m bronze statue will be built at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The Maitreya Buddha statue and its throne building will provide the public with temples, exhibition [...]
What’s new for spring? You could open the pages of Vogue — or your favorite George Eliot novel. Victorian-era infectious diseases are back, ladies and gentlemen. This scoop comes courtesy of HowStuffWorks.com’s resident health editor, Katie Lambert.
Swine flu is getting the lion’s share of media attention, but as The Independent reports, the plucky traveler and resident Londoner should also beware of mumps, measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever and typhoid. These are the stats, per London shadow minister Justine Greening: In London in 2008, there were 393 cases of mumps, 252 cases of whooping cough, 501 cases of scarlet fever and 127 cases of typhoid fever. Mumps and scarlet fever cases have increased by more than 150 percent, while diagnoses of whooping cough have quadrupled.
Diseases like these spread quickly and savagely in Victorian England. And it’s no wonder. With cramped living quarters and poor sanitation, disease could be transmitted through water, food and from human contact. But in the 21st century, we have access to antibiotics and vaccines, as well as cleaner living environs. So what gives?
Gardener Who Aided ‘Great Escape’ Has Died
by Jane McGrath | April 29, 2009
If you’re a big fan of the movie “The Great Escape” like I am, you might know that it’s based on a true story. It took place at the German prisoner of war (POW) camp Stalag Luft III. The BBC reports today that Alex Lees, one of the last surviving POWs from the camp who aided the infamous escape, has just died. Lees was not one of the attempted escapees, but he played a pivotal role in preparing the escape tunnels. While the tunnels were being dug, the POWs needed a place to surreptitiously dump the sand. As a gardener, Lees was able to hide the sand in Red Cross boxes and then rake it into the top soil in the tomato garden.
After doing some research on the escape, I’ve found that the real story is even more fascinating than the Hollywood version.
Thousands of airplanes and ships have been lost in “The Bermuda Triangle”, including approximately 30 small airplanes every year. The “triangle” stretches from Miami to San Juan to Bermuda (over a million square miles): How the Bermuda Triangle Works The most famous disappearance was Flight 19 in the 1940s, and it put the Bermuda Triangle [...]
There’s this pesky problem we humans are facing called peak oil. The peak oil theory says that, since oil is a finite, nonrenewable resource (at least not renewable on any short enough timeline), and since we’ve learned to pull it from the Earth and burn it at an impressive rate, we’re eventually going to run out.
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