Neatorama

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• What Ever Happened to the Little Vietnamese Girl in the Photo?
• Fire 101
• Forget Homeschooling ... "Unschool" Your Kids!
• Woman Got Stolen Car Back "Pimped Out"
• The Original Names of Celebrities
• Cupcake Cannon
• The Madness of Messerschmidt
• Raptor Hoodie

What Ever Happened to the Little Vietnamese Girl in the Photo? Posted: 03 May 2010 05:39 AM PDT This famous photo by Nick Ut of the Associated Press was shot on June 8, 1972, after South Vietnamese forces used napalm on an area where they suspected Communist forces were hiding. The little girl in the center, Kim Phúc, and the terror that she expressed in photo came to symbolize the war in the eyes of many Americans. Kim Phúc was badly burned and suffered permanent nerve damage. She tried to study medicine when she grew up, but was forced drop out in order to become a propaganda tool of the Vietnamese government. Later, she was able to begin medical studies in Cuba. While traveling back from Cuba in 1992, her plane stopped in Canada to refuel. Kim and her husband used the opportunity to defect, and they became Canadian citizens in 1997. In the years since she’s escaped, Kim Phúc has spoken to thousands of US veterans, established a foundation to help children hurt by war, and served as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace. In the links, you can read a biography of her and read or hear her life in her own words, courtesy of NPR. Biography and Personal Narrative via Ace of Spades HQ | Images: AP and CBC, respectively

Fire 101 Posted: 03 May 2010 03:31 AM PDT Burning question: Did you ever wonder how fire works? We did. Here’s what we found out. HOT TOPIC The scientific definition of fire is “a rapid, persistent chemical reaction that releases heat and light, especially the exothermic combination of a combustible substance with oxygen.” That chemical reaction is called oxidation, which happens when oxygen atoms in the atmosphere combine with atoms “borrowed” from other elements, in this case, from fuel. (Another form of oxidation: rust- it;s just a lot slower.) For fire to occur, three ingredients must be present: *An oxidizing agent. Can come from a pure oxygen source (like a welding tank) or, more commonly, the air. All that’s needed is an atmosphere of at least 16 percent oxygen; normal air is about 21 percent. *Fuel. Can be anything from a solid (wood, plastic, or wax), to a liquid (gasoline or alcohol), or a gas (propane). *A heat or ignition source. Could be lightning, friction (as when striking a match), focused light, or a chemical reaction. YOU’RE FIRED For oxidation to take place, the fuel must be heated to a certain temperature, known as the ignition temperature. It’s different for different substances: paper’s ignition temperature, for example, is 451°F. When a fuel reaches it’s ignition temperature, a chemical reaction occurs that begins to decompose it into flammable gases known as volatiles. Some solids, like wood, go directly from solid to gas, while others, like wax, go from solid to liquid and then to gas. This depends on the chemical makeup of the fuel. In either case, the volatiles then violently interact with the oxygen in the atmosphere-that’s called combustion. Using a candle as an example, when you apply a burning match (the ignition source) to the wax on the wick (the fuel), the wax will heat to a certain temperature (the ignition temperature). It will begin to evaporate and release gases (the volatiles), which then react with the oxygen in the air (combustion). Result: fire. The heat from the fire will then cause the wax to keep melting and moving back down the wick, evaporating, igniting, and burning away. Because the fire then produces its own heat-a necessary ingredient-it’s called a persistent chemical reaction. EXTINGUISHED You already know how to put out a candle-but do you know why it goes out? When you blow out a candle, the wax has cooled below its ignition temperature. If it didn’t go out, you didn’t lower the temperature enough-or for long enough. Try pressing the wick between your thumb and finger. The fire will go out because you removed the fuel source by stopping the wax from climbing the wick. Or put a glass over the candle, taking away the oxygen. With larger fires, it’s usually difficult to take away the fuel, so fire extinguishers work by eliminating either the oxygen, the heat, or both. Water extinguishers work by cooling the fuel; dry powder extinguishers work by smothering the fire, thereby taking away the oxygen; foam extinguishers both smother and cool the fuel; and carbon dioxide extinguishers displace the oxygen in the air while simultaneously cooling it. MORE FACTS *Spontaneous combustion occurs when a fuel reaches its ignition temperature without the aid of an outside ignition source.This can happen because some substances naturally react with oxygen in the air, but most often it’s from spontaneous heating, a slow buildup of heat. A cause of many house fires is the spontaneous heating of oily rags. If there is insufficient ventilation-like in the back of a garage-the heat can build up enough for fire to occur. *Hot fact: You can’t have fire without oxygen, right? Wrong. All that’s necessary is an oxidizing agent, meaning an element that easily takes electrons from other atoms. Oxygen is the most common agent, which is why the reaction is called “oxidation”. Fluorine, however, is the strongest known oxidizer-much stronger than oxygen. Used in the production of atomic bombs and rocket fuel, fluorine can cause substances like steel or glass to instantly burst into flame. And those flames are virtually impossible to put out. (Image credits: Flicker users Kuzeytac and ViaMoi) _________________________ The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Fast-Acting Long-Lasting Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you’ll love the Bathroom Reader Institute’s books – go ahead and check ‘em out!

Forget Homeschooling ... "Unschool" Your Kids! Posted: 03 May 2010 12:36 AM PDT Forget "homeschooling" – that idea is so passé. Here comes "unschooling": The Biegler children live as though school doesn’t exist. They’re at home all day, but they’re not being homeschooled. They’re being "unschooled." There are no textbooks, no tests and no formal education at all in their world. What’s more, that hands-off approach extends to other areas of the children’s lives: They make their own decisions, and don’t have chores or rules. Christine Yablonski and Phil Biegler of Westford, Mass., are self-described "radical unschoolers." They allow their teen daughter and son to decide what they want to learn, and when they want to learn it. "They key there is that you’ve got to trust your kids to … find their own interests," Yablonski told "Good Morning America." Yablonski described unschooling as "living your life as if the school system didn’t exist." Juju Chang of Good Morning America has more on this unusual approach to educamacation: Link

Woman Got Stolen Car Back "Pimped Out" Posted: 03 May 2010 12:34 AM PDT Usually when your car got stolen, you don’t get it back – or if you did, you’d get it back in pieces. But that’s not what happened to Brooklyn schoolteacher Amanda Pogany. She got her stolen car back 3 years later and it was all "pimped out": Amanda Pogany’s once-humble white 1996 Honda Accord was returned to her drag-race ready, with a brand-new V-8 engine, tinted windows, oversized tires with special hubcaps – and custom valve stem caps shaped like bullet casings. "When I first saw under the hood I thought it looked like, you know in the movie ‘Grease?’ Like the ‘Grease Lightning’ car," said Pogany, 31, who lives in Prospect Heights. The eighth-grade teacher was shocked when she picked up her long-lost vehicle in the Red Hook impound lot this month. The previous "owner" souped up the Accord, putting in a manual transmission and leather interior and hanging a Dominican flag and a giant wooden cross from the rearview mirror. "I’m Jewish," Pogany said, "and I don’t even know how to drive a stick shift!" Link (Photo: Denver for News)

The Original Names of Celebrities Posted: 02 May 2010 10:19 PM PDT Cary Grant was originally Archibald Leach and Elvis Costello was originally Declan MacManus, but both changed their names for obvious reasons. Michael Keaton was originally Michael Douglas and was forced to change his name since the latter was already a popular actor. Of course, tons of celebrities change their names, but here’s fifteen interesting stories (including one about a comedian born ‘Albert Einstein’) of celebrities who have changed their names for one reason or another. Funny, I always thought Whoopi Goldberg’s original name was Yahoo Rosenblatt. We have to agree: Caryn Johnson just isn't as catchy as Whoopi Goldberg. The actress decided to give up her birth name when she started acting, and instead chose to go by her nickname, "Whoopee Cushion" (we'll let you imagine how she got that name). Her mother convinced her to change her last name to something more conventional, and suggested Goldberg. Link – via mentalfloss From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by nmiller.

Cupcake Cannon Posted: 02 May 2010 05:35 PM PDT (YouTube Link) Why would anyone want to get hit the face with a cupcake fired out of a 120 psi cannon? Wrong question. The correct question is: why wouldn’t everyone want to get hit the face with a cupcake fired out of a 120 psi cannon? The above video is a viral advertisement for Johnny Cupcakes. The cannon was built by Kamp Grizzly, a marketing studio in Portland, Oregon. Link via Gizmodo

The Madness of Messerschmidt Posted: 02 May 2010 10:54 AM PDT Franz Xaver Messerschmidt was labelled mad in his own century and by the time he died in 1783 he had produced sixty four remarkable busts of himself which reflected his state of mind and his attempt to alleviate his perplexing ailments.  They still manage to look more contemporary than a lot of twenty first century art – perhaps madness can be liberating after all. His situation came to a head in 1774 when he applied for the position of leading professor at the Academy (where he had been a teacher since the late 1760s). Far from getting the promotion he expected and desired he was barred from teaching altogether. The Chancellor of State, Count Kaunitz felt compelled to write a letter to the Empress explaining why this had happened. Messerschmidt's state of mind was referred to as a 'confusion in the head' in this letter. Link From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

Raptor Hoodie Posted: 02 May 2010 06:49 AM PDT What fun! Animate the raptor on your shirt with your sleeves! These shirts come in frog, alligator, and other styles for both children and adults from Mouth Man. And here’s some unexpected trivia: the Mouth Man shirt company was founded by bass player Ross Valory, founding and current member of the band Journey. Link (warning: autoplay music video) -via reddit

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