Last week's Curios covered the world's largest ball bit, astronauts wacky pre-launch traditions, and Target's top-notch forensic services laboratory (yes, we're referring to the retail giant).
Curio #790 | The un-dark side of the moon
Last month NASA released an animated GIF of the moon passing in front of Earth. It looks like a badly faked video, but the photos are real, taken from from a spacecraft a million miles from Earth. What's really cool is that the photos provide Earth-bound viewers with a perspective of the lunar surface we never see. Pink Floyd fans know it as the "dark side of the moon." Except it isn't dark at all. It gets sunlight every day...keep reading
Curio #789 | Roanoke found?
In 1587, an Englishman named John White brought more than 100 settlers from England to Roanoke Island, off the coast of what's now North Carolina. That same year John White left the island to get additional supplies in England. When he returned three years later, all of the settlers had disappeared. The fate of these colonists has been one of the greatest mysteries in America's history. But now two independent teams of archaeologists are claiming to have found...keep reading
Curio #788 | A shady idea
California--home to Curious World Headquarters--is in the midst of an historic drought. So people listen when somebody has an idea to save 300 million gallons of clean water annually. Which explains why Los Angeles is turning its reservoirs into the world's largest ball pits. 96 million "shade balls" to be exact...keep reading
Curio #787 | The pet jet set
JFK Airport in New York City is the busiest in the world... for four-legged creatures. 70,000 animals pass through the airport every year. Housing, feeding and cleaning up after all those animals requires a lot of space and personnel. That's why JFK is opening a new $48 million terminal just for pets and livestock called the ARK. The crown-jewel will be a 20,000 s.f. dog "resort," complete with...keep reading
Curio #786 | Who says no white after Labor Day?
Happy Labor Day! If you're an etiquette expert, you're aware this is the last day of the year you're supposed to wear white. Traditionally, wearing white after Labor Day has been a major fashion faux pas. Wearing white during the hot summer months makes sense since it keeps you cooler than other colors. But historians have long debated why...keep reading
Curio #785 | Space luck
Astronauts are some of Earth's most scientifically rational minds. But you wouldn't know it from their pre-launch traditions and rituals. Many of these traditions date back to the earliest trips to space by the Americans and Russians. Which explains why Russian astronauts pee on the rear right tire of a bus in public before blasting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The rituals actually start two weeks before launch, when astronauts...keep reading
Curio #784 | On Target
You can find pretty much everything at a Target store. Clothes, groceries, toys, electronics, furniture, you name it. You can also find criminals there. Most people don't know that the retailer with 1,700 stores across the US also has a top-notch forensic services laboratory. Since opening its doors in 1962, Target found itself constantly investigating...keep reading
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