Comments on: 50 Weird Science Tidbits – 3

By: Kennytic Energy

Kennytic Energy — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:44:56 +0000

I’m so glad that food can be more valuable than jewelry, had no idea there was a measurement of hot…awesome.

By: Aileen

Aileen — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:36:43 +0000

Correction to the correction – the championship truffle in question seems to have begun rotting in a high end restaurant’s safe after it was displayed for awhile, has since been buried near where it was found.

By: wow

wow — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:52:50 +0000

That’s an emu.

By: Dak

Dak — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:21:26 +0000

The “people being killed by coconuts” thing is apocryphal.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020719.html

By: Aileen

Aileen — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:42:02 +0000

CORRECTION to #28 about the championship truffle…

Manfred J. Hattan at Fark informs that the truffle in question eventually beat valuation estimates and went for $330,000. Of course, gold has been going up too… §;o)

By: Aileen

Aileen — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:18:29 +0000

Hi, Benno. You said, “That isn’t an Ostridge, its an Emu.” Sorry, it came up in a search for ostriches. From a ranch in Texas, I think. I thought it was a chick. Do emus have bigger brains than ostriches?

By: Aileen

Aileen — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:50:55 +0000

Hi, Travis. From the Smithsonian:
“In 1945 engineer Percy Spencer was researching radar at the Raytheon company. He stopped for a minute in front of a magnetron, an electronic vacuum tube that generates high-frequency radio waves. Suddenly feeling a strange sensation, he noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket was melting.”

This information showed up in 7 sites on the first page of a search for “invention of microwave.” Percy told it himself, but I suppose he might have been lying. You’d have to take issue with the science history community, not with me.

And I thank you for the distinction on lightning as well, will edit to clarify that it’s the surface temperature.

By: Benno

Benno — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:49:15 +0000

That isn’t an Ostridge, its an Emu

By: travis

travis — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:48 +0000

Check your facts. First of all, the microwave being invented as a result of a melted chocolate bar is COMPLETELY FALSE. If the microwaves were intense enough to melt a chocolate bar in the person’s pocket, they would also cook his/her internal organs. This is a persistent myth, but clearly false, and this can be readily verified all over the ‘net. For a site with the word “science” in the domain, you should know better. Also, the fact about lightening being however many times hotter than the sun is very misleading as well. The core of the sun is a minimum of 25 MILLION degrees Fahrenheit. It is disappointing to come here expecting interesting facts, only to find more propagation of myths.

By: 50 Weird Science Tidbits - 2 by Science News Review

50 Weird Science Tidbits - 2 by Science News Review — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:49:37 +0000

[...] Part 3: 21-30 Part 4: 31-40 Part 5: 41-50 [...]