Just like it says, Popcorn Shorts is about the kind of things we think are really interesting, but don’t really need a large article to explain them. From the sublime to the ridiculous, check in here for crunchy bits of info you’ll love to munch. By the way, much (but not all) of our delicious Popcorn comes from articles we’ve posted on our Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, please stop by and “Like” us and we’ll keep a fairly-constant-but-not-frequent-enough-to-be-annoying stream of these coming to your virtual door!
Kirk, Spock, and the stolen Buick
On February 27, Leonard Nimoy beamed up to the big starship in the sky. Tributes abounded, but one little-noticed anecdote caught our eye… the time Kirk stole Spock’s car. “During the time the original Star Trek was on the air, Leonard Nimoy did well enough to own a first-gen Buick Riviera, one of the most stylish cars around at the time. These first Rivieras were tailored and dramatic looking, and, unusually for a GM product, had a completely unique body not shared across the GM line. This was a very cool car in 1966, and as you can see by the pictures, he was quite proud of it…”
Farms of the Future
Our world is moving towards sustainability, but one of the things we’ll have to deal with on the way is the inherent unsustainability of cities. Fortunately, architects and farmers are already on it. “Flourishing green skyscrapers are sprouting up, both literally and conceptually, around the world. With the world’s population on target to grow by some 2.5 billion people by 2050, according to the United Nations, 80 percent of those people will reside in cities, which will challenge agriculturalists and designers alike to accommodate the increasing need for vertical epicenters.”
Fourth Anniversary of the Fukushima disaster
The March 2011 accident at Fukushima Daiichi followed a 45-foot-high tsunami that washed over the plant in the wake of a historically powerful earthquake off Japan’s east coast. Loss of electric power to the facility and all but one of 12 emergency diesel generators led to overheating nuclear fuel in three of the six reactors, meltdown of uranium fuel and ultimately the release of radioactivity into the environment. Fukushima was all over the news during the early, video-worthy parts, but it’s fallen away since then. 4 years later, it’s worth another look.
Archer splits arrow in air… for starters
There’s a viral video out there from a Danish archer named Lars Andersen, and it’s just amazing! He splits one arrow with another arrow. He shoots an incoming arrow OUT OF THE AIR. Get this… he jumps up, grabs an incoming arrow out of the air, then fires it at a target BEFORE HE HITS THE GROUND! Critics have pointed out some flaws in the historical basis for his techniques, and they’ve nit-picked some of the shots, but no one has tried to say it’s faked. You may not usually spend a lot of time watching archery videos, but treat yourself to this one. You’ve been missing out!
