08 March 27: Origami
More news from space: Japanese scientists and origami masters, headed by Shinji Suzuki, are aiming to launch a paper airplane from space to see if it can make it back to Earth.
08 March 26: Boomerang
In an unprecedented experiment, Japanese astronaut Takao Doi has thrown a boomerang in space and confirmed it flies back.
08 March 25: Di
Princess Diana's funeral was viewed by an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world.
08 March 21: SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW, Inc.) has produced the internationally-recognized Music and Media Conference & Festival in Austin, TX since 1987.
08 March 18: Settlement
$1.7 billion: Estimated amount of the world's largest-ever divorce settlement, between financier Rupert Murdoch and his wife of 32 years, in 2000.
08 March 17: Bleaching
‘The linguistic community applies the term ‘semantic bleaching’ to refer to a word that through high frequency of usage has lost its original meaning or intent’ (e.g., ‘indie’).
08 March 16: PET
The first complete personal computer was the Commodore PET introduced in January 1977.
08 March 15: Caricatures
The front entrance of Toronto's Old City Hall is adorned with caricatures of late 19th century city councillors. Carver Arthur Tennison also included a stone carving of the building's architect, E.J. Lennox.
08 March 14: Laced
Four Danish prison guards have been treated for poisoning after eating a drug-laced cake baked by prisoners.
08 March 12: Peahens
A new 7-year study questions the notion that female peahens prefer a male peacock with a gorgeous train, reporting that females in a feral population of Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) showed no such preference.
08 March 11: Spit
Astronauts can’t spit after they brush their teeth, so they swallow the (edible) foam, spit and everything else.
08 March 10: Vikings
‘Vikings dressed with more finesse than we previously gave them credit for, a new study out of Sweden finds; vivid colours, flowing silk ribbons, and glittering bits of mirrors all contributed to their glamorous wardrobe. The men were particularly vain, while the women dressed quite provocatively.’
08 March 8: Bunny
Puck Bunny – ‘a female ice hockey fan, often one whose interest in the sport is primarily motivated by sexual attraction to the players.’
[Puck Bunny accessories are available on sites like this or this.]
[Puck Bunny accessories are available on sites like this or this.]
08 March 7: Gold
Lam Sai Wing, chairman of Hang Fung, has a 24-karat gold toilet in his Hong Kong jewellery shop.
08 March 6: Language
According to the Oxford dictionary, ‘eye language’ is ‘the process of communication by the expression of the eyes.’
08 March 5: Degree
Percentage of immigrants who arrived in Canada before 2001 with a university degree: 28; percentage of recent immigrants with a university degree: 51.
08 March 4: Kissing
‘A recent University at Albany, NY, study that looks at kissing showed men expect lip-locking to lead to sex about half the time; and women only about one-third of the time.’
08 March 3: Shui
‘A McDonald’s fast-food outlet near Los Angeles has been redesigned along the principles of feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of creating harmonious relationships, in part to reflect the population make-up of the Hacienda Heights community.’
08 March 2: Casanova
Legendary Italian lover Giacomo Casanova courted his romantic interests with a cup of chocolate instead of champagne.
08 March 1: Thermablade
A selection of professional hockey players from different NHL teams will soon be hitting the ice with new battery-powered, heated hockey skates designed to cut the ice with better speed, precision, and control. The Thermablade, a new product manufactured and sold out of Quebec, is made without a boot and is designed instead to be used to replace the blades of existing hockey skates. The invention of an Alberta native, Tory Weber’s idea that a warm blade would cut across ice better than a cold one has attracted a large number of investors, including Hockey Legend Wayne Gretzky and is expected to be officially accepted by the NHL after just two weeks of in-game testing.
Full story and pictures here.
Full story and pictures here.
08 February 28: Candies
In 2007, ‘sales of Halloween themed candies led the way with a 4.8% increase in chocolate Halloween themed candies and an 8.7% increase in non-chocolate themed candies. This trend, which started in 2005, shows retailers focused on packaging decorated with Halloween themes such as witches and goblins...’
08 February 27: Savage
In 1991, Dan Savage was living in Madison, Wisconsin, working as a manager at a local video store that specialized in independent film titles. There he befriended Tim Keck, co-founder of The Onion, who announced he was moving to Seattle to help start an alternative weekly newspaper, The Stranger. Savage ‘made the offhand comment that forever altered [his] life: ‘Make sure your paper has an advice column—everybody claims to hate 'em, but everybody seems to read 'em.’
08 February 26: Spice
As of February 2000, the Spice Girls had certified sales of 35 million albums and 18.2 million singles.
08 February 25: Blood
‘Polish taxmen are offering Poles the chance to pay their tax bills in blood ... Every donation to the local blood banks will allow Poles to write $60 off their tax bill.’
08 February 24: Marlies
The Toronto Marlies are a junior league feeder team for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Today they set a new attendance record of 8120.
08 February 23: Prime
Weekdays from noon to 2pm is the most popular time for people to watch TV shows online.
08 February 22: Queen
Since its original survey in 1793, Queen Street in Toronto has had many names. For its first sixty years, many sections were referred to as Lot Street, but in 1851 it was renamed for Queen Victoria.
08 February 21: Obama
The average speaking speed for politicians making presentations is 120-125 words a minute. This compares with 170-180 words a minute in regular conversation. Barack Obama speaks as few as 110 words a minute.
08 February 20: Libido
Feed your libido. ‘Pistachio nuts are really good because they contain an amino acid called arginine, and that's to help both genders to increase their genital circulation to help with sexual functioning.’
08 February 19: Goby
‘Subordinate goby fish stay slim so they won't be a threat to their superiors. That way, the underlings won't get evicted.’
08 February 18: Pool
For accurate shots in pool, find out which eye is your dominant eye. If your dominant eye is not over the stick, you’ll aim off-centre. More tips here.
08 February 17: Butter
The word butter comes from bou-tyron, which seems to mean ‘cowcheese’ in Greek.
08 February 16: Bigspy
Bigspy on Digg Labs displays upcoming stories on your computer screen as people digg them (bigger stories have more diggs).
08 February 15: -san
In Japanese, -san is a title of respect added to a name. It can be used with both male and female names, and with either surnames or given names. It can also be attached to the name of occupations and titles.
08 February 14: Formation
‘The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.’
08 February 12: Snot
Your nose and sinuses make about a quart of snot every day. Boogers are a sign that your nose is working the way it should!
08 February 11: EA
‘Electronic Arts (EA) received 93 out of 100 on the 2004 Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which measures how equitably employers treat their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees, consumers and investors.’
08 February 10: NoHo
‘Greenwich Village is an area from 14th Street to Houston Street in Manhattan. In the early decades of the 20th century the word got around that The Village was the place to live ‘the free life’ as it was then called. It is now home to Washington Square Park and NYU. NoHo is a newly designated historic district famous for its up-and-coming fashion designers and artists.’
08 February 9: Method
Method Home Cleaning Products are biodegradable, toxicity-free, not tested on animals – and in bottles designed by Karim Rashid.
08 February 8: Massage
Two of the greatest physiological changes produced by massage therapy are an increase in blood circulation and an increase in lymphatic fluid circulation.
08 February 7: Pentagon
‘More than 20 public information specialists are assigned as liaisons with the film and television industry. They review scripts and proposals, advise producers on military procedures, and decide how much assistance, if any, a film or TV show portraying the military should receive.’
08 February 6: Philanthropy
‘In a recent year, American corporations and their foundations gave more than $12 billion to a variety of causes. Although there is a common perception that corporate philanthropy provides the lion's share of donations, the actual percentage is very small. Of the $241 billion given in 2002, only 5.1 percent was from corporations. The largest amount of money given, 76.3 percent, was given by individuals.’
08 February 5: MS
‘In multiple sclerosis, the body mistakenly directs antibodies and white blood cells against proteins in the myelin sheath, a fatty substance that insulates nerve fibers in your brain and spinal cord. This results in inflammation and injury to the sheath and ultimately to the nerves that it surrounds. The result may be multiple areas of scarring (sclerosis). Eventually, this damage can slow or block the nerve signals that control muscle coordination, strength, sensation and vision.’
08 February 4: History
Sunday's Superbowl was the most-watched ever, with 97.5 million viewers in the United States, a total that is second only to the M-A-S-H finale audience. The final M-A-S-H episode, which drew 106 million viewers in 1983, is the only other show in American broadcast history watched by more people.
08 February 3: Consumption
Superbowl Sunday is the second-largest U.S. food consumption day, following Thanksgiving.
08 February 2: Bar-Lev
‘Amir Bar-Lev grew up in Berkeley and graduated from Brown University. In 2001 he made his directorial debut with Fighter, which followed two Holocaust survivors on their emotional return to a Czech labor camp. The film was named one of the top documentaries of the year by several leading publications. Bar-Lev’s second feature documentary – My Kid Could Paint That – focuses on the meteoric rise, fall and re-emergence of Marla Olmstead, a four-year-old abstract painter from Binghamton, New York.’
08 February 1: Coverage
‘With television news offering only minimal coverage of conflicts around the world, viewers increasingly turn to the intrepid documentarian to fill the gap.’
08 January 31: New Museum
New York's New Museum of Contemporary Art was conceived by architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese firm Sanaa as a series of mismatched galleries precariously stacked one atop the other.
08 January 30: Credit
New York offers a refundable tax credit equal to 15% of production costs for feature films, television pilots and TV movies/miniseries ... For location and other costs to be eligible, either 1) at least 75% of the location shooting days must be in New York, or 2) production spends at least $3 million on facility-related costs.
08 January 29: Green
Green-links.org is an online resource for the environmental community of New York.
08 January 28: Equation
‘The writers’ strike is not a factor in the film financing equation – yet. ‘The strike is having no effect on film slates,’ says one fund manager. ‘This is a TV production strike, not a motion picture strike, unless it goes another few months.’’
08 January 27: Grace
Sundance 2007 is where Weinstein Co. fought for the right to pay $4 million for worldwide rights to Grace is Gone, which went on to earn just $37,000 in its domestic release.
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