Last week's Curios covered saving the world with grasshopper tacos, the Mad Men stock market drop, and the fraudulent tongue map we learned in school.
Curio #734 | Truck drivers blow your horns!
Think your job is hard? Try driving a truck for a living. Drivers average up to 14 hours a day, with only 10 hours off between shifts. Despite laws restricting these types of hours, the rules are commonly broken; drivers fear losing their jobs or missing out on the most lucrative routes if they complain. Not to mention the chances of dying on the job are much higher than most professions. But some help for drivers may be on the way. A new...keep reading
Curio #733 | Mad Men caused mad investors
When Mad Men had its finale last May, what did smart investors do? Sell! A recent study found the stock market drops directly after popular TV shows come to an end. Gabriele Lepori, a UK economist studied 150 popular TV series finales. Her hypothesis was that people's emotional attachment to favorite shows is strong enough to...keep reading
Curio #732 | Ford's would-be assassins
There have been over 20 assassination attempts on US presidents. All were by men, except for two women who did so within 17 days of each other. Sara Jane Moore and Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme, both attempted to kill Gerald Ford in 1975. Ford was lucky to escape both. The first to make her attempt was Fromme, a 26-year-old Manson Family devotee. Fromme aimed a gun...keep reading
Curio #731 | Eat bugs, save planet
Wanna save the world? Add cricket tacos, grasshopper burgers, and mealworm chips to your diet. Insects are incredibly high in protein, inexpensive to raise, and much more environmentally sustainable than farming vertebrates for meat. At current rates or consumption, beef is expected to be an extreme luxury item by 2050. While some 2 billion people around the world eat bugs...keep reading
Curio #730 | Tongue reception misconception
Everybody knows the tongue has different zones for each taste. Except it actually doesn't. The grade school map showing the different taste areas on the tongue--"sweet" on the tip, "bitter" on the back, etc.--is a fraud. The theory behind the map originated when a Harvard Professor...keep reading
Curio #729 | Goodbye morning joe
Frequent readers will know I often write about coffee and its effects. Well, it appears we're consuming the black elixir all wrong. Scientists say drinking coffee first thing in the morning severely diminishes the caffeine's effects. Worse, it builds up a tolerance which further diminishes caffeine's effects down the road. This is because our bodies are...keep reading
Curio #728 | Bombs yes, shampoo no
This should make you feel safe. You know all the time we've spent waiting in long lines, taking out laptops, stuffing 4 oz. liquid containers into plastic baggies, and removing our shoes? It has been pretty much been for nothing. The US Department of Homeland Security has revealed....keep reading
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