– Minks are blessed with exceptional fur. Sable fur is excellent, beautiful and soft. However, the mammals bearing the densest coats are sea otters. The typical sea otter’s coat can have a hair density of more than 500,000 hairs per square inch. Enhydra lutris are so well insulated that the species thrives in icy seas without a layer of blubber that most northern aquatic mammals need to survive. Sea otters are weasels.
– Back in 1849, a man named Robert Mallet began a serious scientific study of earthquakes. This pursuit led to his being labeled as “The Father of Seismology.” Mallett set off kegs of gunpowder and analyzed resulting shockwaves that traveled through Ireland’s nearby beach sands and distant rock formations. He even invented the word seismology. Shocking.
– NASA is set to launch a super telescope in October of 2018. Dubbed the James Webb Space Telescope (or simply The Webb), this $9 billion device is a result of more than 20 years spent on design and assembly. It will allow scientists to peer far, far way at areas more than a hundred times as expansive as the famous Hubble Telescope. Larger, more powerful telescopes are already in early developmental stages. I have a set of 8X binoculars. One lens cover is missing – lost somewhere on a mountain path near Divide, Colorado.
– Recent research involving people age 65 and up has revealed that individuals who own at least one dog average 22 minutes of daily exercise more than folks who are sans canine. Those daily minutes translate into thousands of extra steps. Thank you, nos amis canins.
– Occurrences caused by weather phenomena can be downright weird. In 1915 a tornado hit Great Bend, Kansas and left town with masses of various debris. Later that same day, the twister was about 200 miles from Great Bend when it dropped a personal check written in the Kansas settlement onto a street in Palmyra, Nebraska.
– I read of a “new” idea concerning low-tech cooling for those who were in a hot land, yet had no air conditioning. Fifty years ago, we had no idea our family were innovative pioneers when we placed an electric fan so that a breeze would flow over a large pan of water. Once or twice, we even had a block of ice to located in the path of the small zephyr. These hillbilly tricks were actually effective and pretty much made us the envy of our neighborhood. Well, exercise with your dog – and have great week.
James White is a retired mathematics teacher who enjoys sharing fascinating trivia. He can be reached at [email protected].
