Archive for June, 2011
Let’s face it, as a useful guide, the MyPyramid food guidance system was a little iffy. Finally, the food gurus at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have launched something we can all sink our teeth into — and wrap our heads around.
More on this eye-catching icon after the jump …
Your Stuff to Blow Your Mind duo is back in HowStuffWorks’ Atlanta home base after attending the World Science Festival in New York City. We’ll be sharing all we learned in a series of forthcoming blog posts and podcasts, but here’s just a little something I came across when I fit in a trip to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Yes, what you’re seeing is essentially storm chasing as an art form.
The function of marriage in modern society is being closely reexamined now, as people wait longer to tie the knot, household gender dynamics tip toward more female breadwinners and a rising proportion of babies are born beyond the bounds of wedlock.
This marital shakeup has given rise to the “semimarriage,” writes Pamela Haag in her book “Marriage Confidential“.
A red-band trailer is a movie preview, typically available on the Internet, that’s intended only for mature audiences. Theaters generally won’t show them, but the only difference between the run-of-the-mill trailers we all see in the theater and the ones we giggle over online are the red screens that replace the green ones that general audiences see at the start of most trailers. Well, that … and the inclusion of many of the elements that likely gave that film its “R” rating in the first place.
On a Bahamian island called Big Major Spot, which is just a weird name in itself, pigs run free and also swim in the ocean. The beach is called Pig Beach (naturally), and wild pigs have roamed these sands for decades, frolicking in the frothy surf, according to Gadling.
Some of them are pink, which doesn’t hurt them in the cute department.
The fierce battle waged between the cat people and the dog people of the world kind of stuns me. I’m not a huge fan of most dogs (I like medium, fluffy and quiet, that’s it). And, having also “owned” cats, I have to say — I’m not a huge fan of them either. I only truly enjoy cats in one particular compartment of my life: on my computer screen doing adorable or nutty things like riding Roombas, sleeping in bizarre contortions and acting like ninjas. My cats do none of these things, and are routinely boring/bossy with few exceptions. But this is the illustrated saga of one of those exceptions. My cat Pilar loves to go on walks with me. Hit the jump to hear more …
Have you looked at the moon lately? It’s fascinating. And, if a certain Japanese construction firm has its way, it could also become the answer to Earth’s burgeoning energy crisis. Look, I know it might sound like I made this one up, but it’s true: The R&D group at Shimizu, one of Japan’s largest construction firms, [...]
Recent research from the University of Nottingham finds that “healthy tans” might not be such an oxymoron after all. That’s good news for fair-skinned folks like me who want some summertime tint without skin-damaging tanning beds or excessive sunbathing. A study conducted by Dr. Ian Stephen found that upping vegetable intake can improve color even better than by laying poolside.
I remember on a podcast published years back I mentioned that I hit a wall just about every afternoon, growing almost irresistibly tired by around 3:00 p.m. I posited that it was a crash after the effects of caffeine I’d drank in coffee all day wore off. But I remember a SYSK listener sent an email suggesting that it wasn’t a caffeine crash but was the result of a lack of oxygen or an overabundance of carbon dioxide around the office. I never looked into the suggestion, but I was reminded of it when I came across an article on The Local — “Sweden’s News in English” — that a rise in narcolepsy cases is being linked to the swine flu vaccine.
When I heard that a trailer for the American version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” had leaked, I couldn’t get online fast enough. I found Stieg Larsson’s book trilogy a little late, but I knocked out the first installment during a ridiculously long flight delay at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport last year. It did drag a bit in spots — I’m sure this is the only bestselling novel in history to open with a flower and a treatise on Swedish libel law — but once it got going, it really got going.
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Have a Coke and a Smile
- The Latest in Frugal Lodging: Camping in Somebody Else’s Backyard
- The Painted Beauties of Bucovina
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Space Music: DJ Food and ‘The Search Engine’
- Stuff to Blow Your Mind: Hug it Out
- Space Music: Jay-Z and Beyoncé to Film Music Video in Orbit
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
- Amazing Medical Conditions: Maple Syrup Urine Disorder
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
- Tips for Using Bluetooth in the Car
How-to Stuff
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
- How to Know When It’s Time for a New Pet
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 36: Now Available in 3-D
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 35: Let’s do brunch!
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 34: Play it again, Sam
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics

