Mental Floss

Brain Game: Safe at First

Sandy Wood — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:37:19 GMT

A hint for the answer of today's mentalfloss.com Brain Game Tuesday Test Time challenge? Okay... the two teams are long-time rivals in the same division. Good luck!

Name the TWO current Major League Baseball teams
whose geographic designations contain the EXACT
SAME number of letters as the team name.

EXAMPLE: The Colorado Rockies are NOT one, since
"Colorado" contains 8 letters and "Rockies" contains 7.

Here are the ANSWERS.

Can We Determine the Sex of a Dinosaur?

Mark Mancini — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:30:29 GMT

On August 12, 1990, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered was unearthed in the badlands of South Dakota by paleontologists Peter Larson and Susan Hendrickson. The animal was nicknamed “Sue” in honor of the latter scientist and, after a lengthy legal battle, her remains were purchased for the hefty sum of $8.4 million by the Chicago Field Museum. Today, she's easily become the world's most famous dinosaur. But what if “Sue” wasn't actually a female?

“We'd given the T. rex that name and always referred to it as 'she' or 'her',” said Larson, “But even at the site, people were asking me 'What if she's a male?' I'd say that we could always point to that Johnny Cash song 'A Boy Named Sue.'”

Country classics notwithstanding, can paleontologists accurately determine the sex of a long-dead dinosaur?

The short answer is yes ... and no.

While Sue's gender remains very much in question, comparatively recent research has shown that at least some dinosaur specimens may be sexed with reasonable certainty by modern scientists. The riddle's solution may very well lie in the bones of present-day dinos—also known as “birds."

Producing eggs is a very taxing process for expectant avian mothers, as the calcium in their shells is biologically expensive to build. When eggs start forming in the womb of a gravid bird, her body releases a heightened level of estrogen. This triggers the growth of what's known as “medullary bone” inside of her hollow leg and arm bones. The specialized medullary bone tissue provides much-needed calcium for the growing eggshells and lingers until their completion, at which point it disappears.

In 2005, paleontologists at North Carolina State University and Montana State University announced that they'd discovered medullary tissue within the limb bones of a T. rex specimen, suggesting that the animal was A) female and B) gravid at the time of its death.

The approach is hardly fool-proof: Only the bones of pregnant female dinosaurs would show any sign of medullary tissue, rendering the technique useless for deducing the sex of the vast majority of dinosaur skeletons. Nevertheless, the findings have excited a number of paleontologists, including one international team which sought to deduce the link between gender and this tell-tale tissue in a group of well-preserved fossilized birds this past February.

15 Weird Sample Dialogues from Old English Textbooks

Arika Okrent — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:19:09 GMT

These passages from old English textbooks aren't wrong—but they don't sound quite right, either.

5 Questions: Jimmy Hoffa

Kara Kovalchik — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:34:17 GMT

Morning Cup of Links: The Year's Best Yearbook Shenanigans

Miss Cellania — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:17:38 GMT

Introducing The Internet’s Class Of 2013 Yearbook MVPs. The best quotes, secret messages, pop culture references, and typos in yearbooks that went viral.
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22 Absolutely Essential Diagrams You Need For Camping. Memorize these and you'll have no need for room service at the Marriott.
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Jukebox superhero: 26 songs about Superman. What better evidence is there that he's the perfect guy?
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A British man tried to get into his locked New Zealand apartment by climbing through the balcony. Instead he fell from the 15th floor -and survived!
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Russia's White Sea is cold, full of life, and lit in an otherworldly green. Take a look from underneath the surface in a collection of fascinating photos.
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Nailed it: 33 pictures that make no sense. Or then again, maybe they do, in that they prove the world is full of things make no sense.
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Is this guy the worst airplane cargo handler in the world? Let's hope so, for the sake of packages everywhere.
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13 Gorgeous Mountain Retreats Around the World. If you can't go live there, you might as well dream.
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How would you like a robot cat? This model developed in Switzerland has all the right moves, but disturbingly, does not have a head.

The Late Movies: All About Lady Liberty

Erin McCarthy — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:00:59 GMT

On this day in 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor on the French steamer Isère. Here are a few historical reels about the statue, one commonly-asked question about when Lady Liberty took on her familiar hue, and a few of her iconic on-screen performances.

Circa 1898

Thomas Edison held the copyright on this short film, shot when the statue was 12 years old.

The Statue Gets a Cleaning

This video, shot in 1930, shows men bravely dangling off the statue’s crown to clean its face.

That Green Hue

Just when, exactly, did Lady Liberty make the transition from her original shiny copper to the iconic green she now sports?

An interview with the Keeper of the Flame

Charlie DiLeo, “Keeper of the Flame,” describes how he does this job (it involves a shoelace).

Taking a Walk in Ghostbusters 2

In this 1989 film, Lady Liberty is key in helping the Ghostbusters save the world.

The end of Planet of the Apes

The appearance of Lady Liberty in this film inspired Charlton Heston to scream “You maniacs!” Here’s how movie magicians created the iconic scene.

Losing her head in Cloverfield

In this creature-feature, an unknown monster rips off the Statue of Liberty’s head and tosses it into the heart of Manhattan. (Beware, NSFW language in this clip.)

Curious how they did it on a budget? Check out this video.

Getting a lift in Superman IV

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It's the Statue of Liberty being carried by Superman!

5 Actual Facts About the Science of Dreams

Maggie Ryan Sandford — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:42 GMT

We hope you'll sleep better knowing a little more about the science of dreams.

7 Animals That Are Better Color-Changers Than Chameleons

Mark Mancini — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:00:13 GMT

Chameleons are often described as the “quick-change artists” of the animal kingdom, rapidly altering the shade of their skins to blend into their environment. The animal kingdom is filled with amazing color-changers, several of whom dramatically outdo the chameleon clan in the skill of rapid-fire camouflage

The Missing Links: The $293 Million Nap

Colin Perkins — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:30:13 GMT

222,222,222.22

A German bank worker fell asleep on his keyboard and caused a $293 million banking error.

Time Is Money

This alarm clock will shred your cash if you don’t get up.

Navigating Menus

Glazed, grilled, spiced, crusted, creamy. Here’s a helpful guide to wading through menu buzzwords.

The Future Is Now: Sporting Edition

Hovercraft golf carts. 3D printing. Intelligent clothing. This isn’t a sporting event in a futuristic sci-fi movie. This stuff is happening now.

British Baseball Is Jolly Good

Even if you hate America’s national pastime, you’ll love it when it gets a British spin.

Rethinking Superman’s Priorities

He could probably use his time a little more wisely.

Told You So

These movies were offering up NSA warning signs years ago.

Super Badass Pocket Protectors

Jamie Spatola — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:26:26 GMT

Welcome to our new series Floss:Handmade, where we showcase creative products we've added to the mental_floss store and the people who make them.

14 Cakes Inspired By Scientific Concepts

Jill Harness — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:00:21 GMT

From geology to physics, we’ve got all sorts of scientifically-inspired confections to satisfy your educated sweet tooth.

The Periodic Table of The Muppets

Meg Boeni — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:00:15 GMT

Finally—a way to map out a family that includes a frog, a pig, a beatnik, an alien, three near-identical chickens, and a "whatever."

Google's Balloon-Powered Internet Project

Chris Higgins — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:41:17 GMT

Google is cooking up Project Loon, bringing internet access to rural areas using high-altitude balloons. And that altitude is super high -- the balloons float in the stratosphere, beaming a sort of cellular-style signal back to terrestrial antennas. Using solar power arrays, the balloons can drift up and down into existing air currents, allowing them to travel without side-to-side propulsion. Pretty neat!

The first large test of Project Loon happens this month in New Zealand. Let's see how it works in the video below. I, for one, welcome our stratospheric internet overlords.

A Brief History of 8 Epic Breakups

Jo Piazza — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:05:41 GMT

Inspired by her novel Love Rehab: A Novel in Twelve Steps, Jo Piazza assembled this list of real-life break-ups so heartbreaking, they went down in history.

Brain Game: Math Square #175

Sandy Wood — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:49:24 GMT

The mentalfloss.com Brain Game proudly presents Monday Math Square #175.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This puzzle was incorrect as originally posted, but has been updated since and is now solvable. My apologies!

Enjoy!

Place the digits 1 through 9 in the white blanks so that the mathematical equations work both across and down. Each digit 1 through 9 should appear only once in the main grid (the red square).

Here is the SOLUTION.

10 High-Profile TV Pilots That Didn’t Get Picked Up

Rudie Obias — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:00:19 GMT

Many pilots have a lot of star power behind them, either in front of or behind the camera. But just because a pilot has some clout to it doesn’t mean it will be picked up for an entire season run. Here are 10 high-profile TV pilots that didn’t make it to series.

How Can Bodies of Water Be Different Colors?

Will McGough — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:30:10 GMT

When I saw the Caribbean Sea in person for the first time, my eyes metaphorically popped out of my head. As a kid who grew up in South Jersey, I was used to the dirty, almost brown, kinda-sorta blue color of the coastal Atlantic Ocean. But this was different. Staring at that bright, vibrant, and seemingly crystal-clear water, I had many questions.

5 Questions: Bad to the Bone

Kara Kovalchik — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:20:36 GMT

Morning Cup of Links: Hobbit Recursion

Miss Cellania — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:00:21 GMT

See elves from the new Hobbit film watch LOTR fanfic vloggers react to the new Hobbit trailer. It gets even more meta when Kellie and Alex react to Peter Jackson's elf video.
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Why You Shouldn’t Mess With The Ocean. The deep, unexplored parts are dark and scary and you'll never have a chance to go there anyway.
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For example, there's the oarfish, which can grow to 56 feet long. Just watch it in a video.
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Did you hear about the time Bruce Lee hit Jackie Chan with a stick and gave him a black eye? It no doubt paid off for Chan in the long run.
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27 hidden gems in Disney movies. Characters and objects constantly show up in other films -if you look close enough.
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Divers are investigating a mysterious sighting at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Some think it may be the remains of a 17th-century ship commanded by the French explorer La Salle.
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Keeping cool under pressure is worth points, but it ain't easy. Watch the most nonsensical interviews from various beauty pageants.
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The Wedding Photos of 25 Musicians in Love. They didn't all last, but they all looked cool in their time.
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6 Superman movies that didn't get made. So many that they kept running into other projects that eventually were produced.
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7 Ways to Nap at Work. It's Monday, and you know you'll need a little break sometime.

Why Does Everything Taste Bad After You Brush Your Teeth?

Matt Soniak — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:10:00 GMT

If you have no idea why we're pondering that question today, go brush your teeth and chug some orange juice.

Last Week's Most Popular Stories

Jason English — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:18:22 GMT

In case you weren't obsessively refreshing mentalfloss.com all week, here's what you missed.

1. 12 Old Words that Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms, by Arika Okrent
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2. The 22 Most-Shared Facts from the Amazing Fact Generator, by Jason English
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3. 11 Geeky Bras, by Jill Harness
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4. 11 Products You Might Not Realize Were Made by Prisoners, by Lucas Reilly
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5. 11 Weird Books That Really Exist, by Roma Panganiban
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6. 8 Benefits of Being a Cat Owner, by Kathy Benjamin
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7. 18 Disney Movies That Were Never Made, by Stacy Conradt
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8. 10 Benefits of Being a Dog Owner, by Kathy Benjamin
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9. 11 Reasons Florida Is Stranger Than You Ever Knew, by Laura Steadham Smith
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10. Mostly Terrible Advice for Daughters from Dads of Yore, by Therese Oneill

World War I Centennial: Kaiser Hopes for 25 More Years of Peace

Erik Sass — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 20:00:50 GMT

“Twenty-five years of peace, Mr. Carnegie, and I hope there will be twenty-five more!” Thus Kaiser Wilhelm II greeted Andrew Carnegie, the world-famous industrialist and peace advocate, who had come to Berlin to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kaiser’s reign. Carnegie replied with evident sincerity: “Your majesty is the most powerful ally we have in that direction.”

New in the Store: NE-RD Bookends!

Jamie Spatola — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:22:50 GMT

Welcome to our new series Floss:Handmade, where we showcase creative products we've added to the mental_floss store and the people who make them.

Tammy, Bruce and Eric of Knob Creek Metal Arts are friends with a common background in industrial metal work. Armed with the requisite skills and a desire to be more imaginative in their work, they decided to dabble in the metalwork arts by opening up shop in the Knob Creek valley of rural Kentucky. It began as a hobby, but the friends soon found themselves artfully occupied full-time, creating wall art, garden signs, wine holders, key racks, bookends and other original metalwork.

Well, it seems that Bruce is kind of a book nerd and Eric was not afraid to remind him of that fact. The amiable derision turned to inspiration for these NE-RD bookends, which are perfect for supporting Bruce’s collection of science fiction.

“The nerd bookends are plasma cut from 14-gauge American steel," Bruce told us. "Each piece is then de-burred, sanded and cleaned. Then the parts are formed in a brake press and welded together. After a second round of grinding and cleaning the assemblies are finished in hammered black and cured. After curing they are wrapped in foam and boxed.”

We understood 12 or so of those 57 words but we definitely understand how cool these photos are that he shared with us of the NE-RD bookends being made:

And since we know a few book lovers with room on their shelves for these, we asked Tammy, Bruce and Eric if we could carry the NE-RD bookends in the mental_floss store. You can order yours right now!

How to Grow African Violets from Leaf Cuttings

Chris Higgins — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Thirteen years ago, I moved to Portland, Oregon. On my first day, after settling in at a motel in the hippie underbelly of the east side, I bought a mutant African Violet from space at a local whole-food grocery, plus some super-gross protein bars (the motel didn't have a fridge), and set about trying to find a job. That space-violet is still alive (pictured above), and in recent years I've made a hobby of growing African Violets. Turns out, it's extremely simple. You just need a good leaf or two from a plant you like, a couple of cheap plastic containers (used yogurt cups work fine), and a little patience. Then, baby, you've got yourself a ~~stew~~ new plant going.

Here's a pair of videos explaining the process, from YouTube African Violet enthusiast m3rma1d (her other videos have tons of interesting tips -- like how to set up watering wicks, separating crowns, etc.). If you need some nice African Violet leaves to start with, just go grab some from a friend, or check eBay for a thriving market. Happy planting! Oh yeah -- and make sure your new plants get plenty of light! A sunny window works fine for me, though the pros use grow lamps.

Trimming and Planting Leaves

I use this method, except I use a sharp kitchen utility knife and scissors. I also often skip the perlite, though it's a great idea if you've got it (keeps the soil loose). Note the shipping box here -- it's likely that m3rma1d got these leaves in the mail and is just potting 'em up fresh out of the box.

Another note: see how small the plastic pot is? That's really all you need. You can sometimes find these at the salsa bar in your local Mexican eatery.

Separating Babies

After the leaves have been sitting around for a few months, pip plants start at the root area. Sometimes a leaf will fail to send out babies, but if you start with two or three leaves in a pot, you'll be fine. Now, the trick is to separate these baby plants, keeping the strongest one. Behold:

Weekend Links: Knockoff Superheroes

Roma Panganiban — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:19:04 GMT

Manufacturing superhero toys can be a lucrative business venture, but marketing unconvincing bootleg action figures of “Specialman” and “Spiderbat” to save on licensing fees might not be so profitable after all. To their credit, the creators of the “Sense of Right Alliance” were pretty inventive in reimagining a superhero lineup that includes Shrek, King Kong, and the Blue Power Ranger.

“Vintage” fashion and filters make it hard to tell whether these photos are from Woodstock (1969) or Bonnaroo (2000s).

Supercells are the most rare and potentially the most severe type of thunderstorm, as well as the subject of this gorgeous thousand-frame time-lapse video of a Texas storm.

America’s 50 Worst Charities are ones to avoid when donating to causes, no matter how appealing their pitches.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan dropped an unsubtle ‘80s power-pop reference in a recent court decision. No statistics yet exist to measure how many people in the room were distracted by the song playing in their heads.

The audio team in charge of developing Facebook’s “sound profile”—that is, the distinctive tones of notification noises—deliberated for a while before settling on a chord that spells out F-A-C-E. Get it?

The recent news about the NSA’s unsavory surveillance has caused sales of George Orwell’s 1984 to jump by about 10,000 percent (yep, that’s the right number of zeroes), but this isn’t the first time the publishing business has gotten a boost from current events.

Before the Internet, there was the Mundaneum: a searchable index of the world’s books and periodicals comprised of 12 million 3”x5” index cards.