Last week's Curios covered the cost of a Super Bowl ad, what happens to all of the food that gets confiscated at airports, and why swearing might be good for you.
Curio No. 927 | Hot hippos in Britain
2015 was the hottest year on record. The key being "on record." Scientists believe the Earth has been this hot before. Some cite the Medieval Warm Period--from 950 AD to 1250 AD--as the last time Earth was warmer than the present. But while it was hot and dry enough in some regions to destroy entire civilizations, the average temperatures then were still cooler than present. We have to go back 130,000 years to the Eemian Period to find a significantly warmer Earth. Back then "hot hippos" lived as far north as Britain... keep reading.
Curio No. 926 | Super audience Sunday
Super Bowl Sunday isn't just the biggest day for sports. It's also--by far--the biggest day for advertisers. Last year 114 million people watched the New England Patriots play the Seattle Seahawks, making it the most-watched broadcast in American TV history. And that estimate doesn't even account for large viewing groups at bars or private parties. With this Sunday's viewership predicted to break last year's record, the cost of a 30-second ad has soared to $5 million... keep reading.
Curio No. 925 | Coffee drinkers are energy wasters
Most of us try not to waste energy around the house. But if you drink coffee, use a laptop, or have a TV set top box, you're wasting energy all the time: heat energy. That's what caused two Copenhagen design students to develop Heat Harvest. It's a product that captures the heat from things like coffee cups and laptops then uses a thermoelectric generator to produce electricity which wirelessly charges devices... keep reading.
Curio No. 924 | Swearing like a (smart) sailor
I'll be damned! People who curse frequently are often assumed to be ignorant and lacking in vocabulary. But new research shows the exact opposite to be true. People who swear more tend to be more articulate, with a richer vocabulary. The study, published in Language Sciences, compared participants' general vocabulary with their knowledge of taboo words... keep reading.
Curio No. 923 | Postmarked with love in Nebraska
Valentine's Day is just two weeks away. That may seem like a lot of time to prepare, but not if you want to utilize the services of Valentine, Nebraska. The town with a population of 3,000 is in love with, um, love letters. Every year they receive tens of thousands in the weeks before Valentine's Day. That's because the post office postmarks them with the coveted Valentine Stamp and sends them on to their final destination. The tradition dates back to 1941... keep reading.
Curio No. 922 | What airports do with your contraband food
A surprisingly large amount of food gets confiscated by airport customs and border protection officers. The list of banned foods varies for almost every combination of origin and destination country--thanks to the complex world of tariffs, embargoes, and agricultural quarantines. At New York's JFK airport alone, between 400 to 600 pounds of food is confiscated every day from travelers entering the United States. So what happens to all the food? All food is destroyed. Common items include avocados, mangoes... keep reading.
Curio No. 921 | Stopping crime with giant eyeballs
Ever feel like someone is watching you, and it turns out you're right? Biologists call it gaze detection. It's been wired in human brains for millennia. Of course, knowing a predator is watching is the difference between life and death for virtually all animals. And while most humans don't have to deal with natural predators anymore, the vestigial instinct is still functioning. Brain scientists have documented a special brain region that fires when someone is staring directly at us--even from the very edge of our peripheral vision. Cleverly, law enforcement agencies have figured a way to use this human instinct to lower crime... keep reading.
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