The astronaut who has spent the longest continuous time in space is Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov who was aboard the Mir space station for 437 days 18 hours from 9 Jan 1994 to 22 March 1995. Gennady Ivanovich Padalka holds the record for the most time spent in space overall at 879 days Continue Reading
Science
Tunguska: The Largest Impact Event in Recorded History
On the morning of 30 June 1908, a large explosion flattened 2,000 km2 of forest near the Stony Tunguska River in Eastern Siberia. There were no recorded human casualties. Fallen trees at Tunguska, 1927 In 1930, a scientific expedition, lead by Leonid Kulik, recorded the testimony of S Semenov: At breakfast time Continue Reading
S.P.A.M., SPAM, spam (and lobster thermidor)
SPAM luncheon meat was first produced in the Depression era in the United States (1937), by the Hormel Foods Corporation. It was named by Ken Daigneau who had won a contest (and $100). Ken was the brother of a Hormel Vice-President, but that may be entirely coincidental. Hormel insist that the Continue Reading
OMG, unfriended. WTF?
Although millennials seem to think they invented text-speak, having no concept of communication such as telegram or morse code, you might be surprised to learn that some of the words associated with social media were in use much earlier than you might expect. OMG In a letter from Admiral John Continue Reading
Pre-historic brain surgery
Skulls have been found that are at least 7000 years old showing evidence of trepanning, where holes are scraped or drilled into the skull, probably using flint tools. It may have been done to release “evil spirits” to escape but has also been used by civilisations such as the ancient Continue Reading
Why are months so weird?
Calendars throughout history have struggled to be logical and maintain synchronism between the lunar cycle (about 29.5 days) and the solar year (about 365.25 days). Most systems include a bodge factor or intercalary months or days to bring things back into line, with varying degrees of accuracy. Sumerian The ancient Continue Reading
The best known UFO conspiracy
On July 8 1947, the Roswell Daily Record newspaper reported that the US Air Force at Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) had captured a flying saucer. This was in response to a press release issued by the RAAF on that day: The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality Continue Reading
Epitaph: Sir Isaac Newton
Mathematician, astronomer and physicist, Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 to 20 March 1726/7), is buried in Westminster Abbey, London. The Latin inscription on the base of his monument is translated as: Here is buried Isaac Newton, Knight, who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical principles peculiarly his Continue Reading
Roman Teeth Whitening
The Romans used human urine as a mouthwash and teeth whitener. This may seem somewhat disgusting but it was effective. However, even in Roman times, it was not universally popular, as an extract from a poem by Roman poet Catullus, who was not fond of Egnatius, reads: Egnatius, because he Continue Reading
The First Computer Virus
In 1971, Bob Thomas at BBN Technologies created a self-replicating program, designed to infect servers on ARPANET, the precursor to the internet. Allegedly named after the Scooby Doo villain, the Creeper Virus infected the remote systems and displayed the message “I’m the creeper, catch me if you can!”. Ray Tomlinson, who also Continue Reading