Category: fun facts
fun facts
Yale’s 367-year-old water bond still pays interest.
“A 1648 Dutch water bond housed at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library is unique among the tens of thousands of manuscripts that reside there. … It still pays annual interest more than 367 years after it was issued.” | learn […]
fun facts
Troll Research Station: how to operate an airport in Antarctica.
“Before 2005, getting personnel to the Norwegian Polar Institute’s Troll Research Station (AT27/QAT) in Antarctica involved a weeks-long boat ride followed by a 250 kilometer trek over snow, ice, and rock. But in 2005, the research station opened its 3000 […]
fun facts
Gutta percha, the hardened latex of the Palaquium gutta tree.
“Gutta percha was introduced to Europe in 1842 by Dr. William Montgomerie, a surgeon serving with the British army in the East Indies who had come across the substance in Singapore, where it was being used to make handles for […]
fun facts
The evolution of trust.
“Why, even in peacetime, do friends become enemies? And why, even in wartime, do enemies become friends?” A game theory demonstration. | learn more
fun facts
The myth of the treasure fox.
A lesson in emergent AI behavior. “Among Skyrim players, you’ll occasionally see this tip: if you see a wild fox, follow it and you’ll be led to treasure. Sometime shortly after shipping, we saw this going around online, and an […]
fun facts
Death metal Irish baron rewilds his estate
“The cattle and sheep are long gone, so too are the lawns and many of the crops. In their place is a riot of shrubs, flowers and trees, along with insects and creatures that call this fledgling wilderness their home.” | learn […]
fun facts
What happens to low income housing when you build market rate housing?
“Constructing a new market-rate building that houses 100 people ultimately leads 45 to 70 people to move out of below-median income neighborhoods, with most of the effect occurring within three years. These results suggest that the migration ripple effects of […]
fun facts
The Netherland’s billion dollar sea wall
“The Dutch government has revolutionized sea water management for hundreds of years from the first implemented dike to the massive windmill pumps, and then to the current immense dams that keep the sea at bay. Even to this day, the […]
fun facts
These people who work from home have a secret: they have two jobs.
“When the pandemic freed employees from having to report to the office, some saw an opportunity to double their salary on the sly. Why be good at one job, they thought, when they could be mediocre at two?” | learn more