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2020/08/30

Neatorama

Neatorama

The Fascinating Story of Kool-Aid

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 05:40 PM PDT

Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in 1927. That's the short version, but the story of how and why he did it and what happened to his product over the years is much more involved. Perkins was the son of a grocer, and he grew up selling, promoting, improving, and even inventing new products. If he saw a problem, he was impelled to fix it.   

Before it was developed by Perkins in 1927, Kool-Aid was preceded by a fruit-based liquid called Fruit Smack. It was a liquid concentrate available in a few different flavors. Corked and sold in four ounce glass bottles, the product tended to leak or break during transit. Despite Perkins' intentions of enabling families to use the concentrate to make pitchers of the beverage for a very low cost, he was confronted with a bit of a supply chain problem. Fruit Smack was a hit with the Perkins' customers, but its fragility created the need for something more economical, easier to transport and preferably in powdered form.

See, if there had been plastic packaging 100 years ago, we might have never enjoyed a glass of Kool-Aid. Kool-Aid started out with six flavors, and grew to 74 flavors -although they were never all available at the same time. Read everything you need to know about Kool-Aid at Tedium.

(Image credit: Flickr user clotho98)

Put Peanut Butter on Your Head to Calm Your Dog During Nail Trimming

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:05 PM PDT

This is really clever and I'll probably try it myself the next time my dog needs her nails trimmed.

Odile, a mastiff in Maldegem, Belgium, gets anxious during nail trimming. So a friend wrapped her head in plastic wrap, then applied a thick coating of peanut butter to the plastic. Odile was so distracted by the tasty treat that she barely noticed the work on her nails.

-via Born in Space

Forensics on Trial: America’s First Blood Test Expert

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:05 PM PDT

Ora Lee was a young woman who worked in a match factory in Ohio. In 1908, she discovered she was pregnant, and begged her boyfriend Guy Rasor to marry her. Rasor purchased a marriage license, but the next day, Ora Lee was found dead, shot through the head and dumped on the side of the road. Rasor was arrested, but the only evidence linking him to the crime were some bloodstains on his coat. He said it was pig's blood. Could anyone prove otherwise? Immunologist Paul Uhlenhuth had developed a technique for distinguishing human from animal blood, but that was in Germany, and the research wasn't well known in the US. However, Professor of Medical Jurisprudence Dr. John Spenzer of Ohio Wesleyan University's medical school had studied in Germany. Spenzer was contacted about the case. After conducting several tests of the blood, he proceeded with Uhlenhuth's "precipitin reaction."

Precipitin tests rely on an unusual property in blood serum that "repels" any foreign substances. When a foreign body like a protein is introduced, the antibodies in the blood form a cloud of precipitated substance. Immunologists were interested because antigens—proteins that produce antibodies—would lead to better vaccines and blood typing. For Spenzer, how and when (and if) the reaction occurred would allow him to determine what sort of animal the blood came from. The original procedure involved a great deal of effort, however, and a strong stomach, because the chemist must first prepare the antibody serum in a process that reads more like witch-doctoring than scientific method.

Warning: the 1908 test described involves animal cruelty. The results were introduced into the murder trial of Guy Rasor, and it is anyone's guess whether the jury understood any of it. But the Orc Lee case introduced blood expertise into American crime investigation, and you can read the entire story at Crime Reads. -via Damn Interesting

(Unrelated image credit: SpicyMilkBoy)

Basically A Tom Scott Video

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:05 PM PDT



We've been posting videos from Tom Scott for twelve years now. Personally, my favorite is still this one. They have become so familiar that Matt Colbo made one, too. While the information about the subject is perfectly useless, his impression is amazing. -via Laughing Squid

Meanwhile, the real Tom is overdue for a haircut.

Bored Ravens Straying from the Tower of London

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:05 PM PDT



The Tower of London has been home to ravens for hundreds of years. Legend has it that if the ravens ever vacate the tower, the kingdom will fall. Accounts of the origin of the legend vary. It was just last year that we posted about ravenmaster Chris Skaife successfully breeding a new raven in the tower. But this is 2020.  

Summer visitor numbers would usually exceed 15,000 but because of the coronavirus pandemic, they have fallen to fewer than 800 a day. As a result, the birds are restless for more company.

With a lack of regular tourists, the birds have been venturing away, according to those who work there.

Christopher Skaife, a raven master, told the Sun: "If the ravens were to leave, the tower would crumble to dust. The tower is only the tower when the people are here.

Is this an ominous omen or just a sign of the times? Why not both? Read more about the ravens at the Guardian. -via Strange Company

Surprising Facts About Your Body

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 10:11 AM PDT

When the song "Your Body Is A Wonderland" was created, the composer John Mayer probably did not think about the body in a scientific way. But the body really is a wonderland in its own way. It is full of wonders that will surprise you and weird you out.

Cracked.com compiles 22 of these amazing body trivias. See them over at the site.

(Image Credit: Cracked.com)

Lightning Answers Back To Man

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 10:10 AM PDT

When this groom said to his wife that "2020 has not been the best year", he wasn't expecting Mother Nature herself to react to his statement, as if to ask, "what did you just say!?"

(Image Credit: u/about6140ninjas/ Reddit)

Africa Now Free of Polio

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 10:10 AM PDT

With over 95 percent of the population vaccinated against the dreaded disease, the Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) has finally declared the continent free of wild polio last August 25. It is a historic day for the region, indeed.

Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is caused by the poliovirus and spreads through person-to-person transmission via contact with fecal matter and, less commonly, droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person. It largely affects children under the age of 5. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "1 in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5 percent to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilized."
[...]
According to the WHO, global wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99 percent since 1988, when the World Health Assembly decided to eradicate the disease worldwide. Two of the three strains are now completely eradicated. Wild polio type 1 now remains only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"This is a momentous milestone for Africa. Now future generations of African children can live free of wild polio," added Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "This historic achievement was only possible thanks to the leadership and commitment of governments, communities, global polio eradication partners and philanthropists. I pay special tribute to the frontline health workers and vaccinators, some of whom lost their lives, for this noble cause."

Now this is good news!

(Image Credit: CDC/ Wikimedia Commons)

Bunnies Relax In Hammocks Made Out Of Recycled Masks

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 10:10 AM PDT

It seems that surgical masks can not only be used to keep dangerous particles away from your mouth and nose, as they could also be used as hammocks for baby bunnies.

A man in Ottawa, Canada recycled his used surgical masks into adorable little hammocks for the rabbit babies living at his home. The tiny, fluffy bunnies happily relaxed inside the safety of the dual layers while hanging out in mid-air.

Creative!

Via Laughing Squid

(Image Credit: ViralHog/ YouTube/ Laughing Squid)

How To Make Dorayaki

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 10:10 AM PDT

If you've watched Doraemon when you were a kid, then you probably are familiar with the dorayaki (known as "yummy buns" in the English dub), a pancake-like pastry with red bean paste filling.

YouTuber Nino's Home shows us how to make this Japanese pastry in this video.

Yum!

(Image Credit: Ocdp/ Wikimedia Commons)

Kid Sounds Just Like a Police Siren

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 06:36 AM PDT

After Dog Dies, It Confirms To Its Owner That It Has Made It To Doggy Heaven

Posted: 29 Aug 2020 06:36 AM PDT

A 14-year old Parson Russell Terrier, "Sunny", suffered a seizure at her lovely and nurturing home on June 20, and heartbreakingly died in her owner's arms.
She was just the happiest little dog in her youth, one of the most playful, smart, obedient, and loving dogs you could ever have the pleasure of being around.
Sunny was restricted to many health problems in her last year on earth, but she stayed strong, lived on and continued to put a reassuring smile on her owner's face. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with diabetes last year, a devastating blow to her family. But what made matters even more heart-wrecking is the troubling news received from their veterinarian: "Sunny has only 12–15 months left to live".
Although Sunny lived a full and happy life, it was just hard for the family to accept that their little Sunny would die in about a year. Lucy, 19(Sunny's sister and part owner) had enjoyed the presence of Sunny since she was 11 years old: playing Frisbee and hide and go seek; taking long jolly walks in the park and face smooching every single loving chance that she got.
The family had to inject Sunny with insulin for about 13 months; Sunny's health started to get even worse at this point, and it showed.

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