Last week's Curios covered the citizenship of "sky babies," the Golden Gate Bridge's accidental color, and the future of sun protection in a pill.
Curio #720 | 100 years, 100 books, 0 readers
I'm not sure if this is a time capsule or performance art, but it's cool. Katie Paterson, a Norwegian artist, has created "The Future Library." Last year she planted a forest of 1,000 trees in Norway that will be cut down in 99 years. The trees will be made into paper, and on the paper will be printed an anthology of 100 books. Which books? Books that, up until that point, have never been read by anybody except...keep reading
Curio #719 | Miracle time-saving pill
Whew! The future of sunscreen may not be hippo sweat after all. A new discovery means we could take a pill for sun protection in the near future. Humans skin contains melanin to protect it, but not enough to prevent damage by the UV radiation from the sun. So we have to slather on sunscreen instead. Other animals, including many fish, produce...keep reading
Curio #718 | NYPD color of the day
New York City has nearly 8.5 million residents. To protect and serve all those people, the NYPD has the largest police force in the country--over 35,000 officers! But not all of them wear uniforms. Thousands operate undercover, trying to blend in, look criminal, or even spend years infiltrating criminal organizations. Which can lead to some pretty dangerous situations. So in the 1970s, the NYPD...keep reading
Curio #717 | Just one (leap) second
Enjoy your extra second. Tonight, on June 30th, time will stand still at midnight for exactly one second! Known as a leap second, the hour before midnight will be 3,601 seconds instead of 3,600 seconds long. Why? To bring our clocks and timing devices in line with...keep reading
Curio #716 | Fly-by babies
We've all heard the stories of a woman going into labor on an airplane and causing an emergency landing. But in some cases the landing is too late. Which means another "sky baby" is born. In most cases, the mother giving birth is flying over her own country. But if not, this leads to a complicated question of the new baby's citizenship. Almost every country...keep reading
Curio #715 | Mac and cheese IP
Kraft Foods sells over one million boxes of mac 'n cheese every day! But maintaining their consumer base isn't easy, since their customers (kids) are constantly outgrowing their product. Kraft has to keep attracting new generations of mac and cheese lovers. One of the ways they do that is by creating ...keep reading
Curio #714 | The golden gate almost wasn't golden
When the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, its bright "international orange" color was pretty radical. It was also an accident. Most bridges at the time were usually unpainted metal or painted gray. When the plans for the Golden Gate were approved, it was expected to follow suit. Since it was easily the longest-span bridge of its time, it required a special steel alloy certain to rust in the San Francisco fog. Meaning it needed a good paint job. So as the bridge neared completion in 1935 the color became a topic of debate....keep reading
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