Popcorn Shorts- Cool stuff that’s too small for a big article
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 necessarily 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!
Jefferson Smith lets Tom Dwyer plead with the Senate
February 5, 2020, was a dark day for democracy as Donald Trump was acquitted in his impeachment, but the State of the Union speech the night before was just as dark. Horrified, Tom Dwyer stayed up late into the night writing an open-letter Tidbits to the Republican Senators, begging them to reconsider their vote at the last minute. We sent a copy to Portland and XRAY-FM’s own Jefferson Smith (who was guest hosting the Thom Hartmann show during Impeachment Week) and were blown away when he read it on-air. Here’s a link; check it out at the 1:36:00 mark. Also, if you aren’t a fan already, check out XRAY.FM to hear Jefferson Smith, Thom Hartmann, and some of the smartest local-Portland radio you’ll catch anywhere! (And we apologize that the only vote we seemed able to change was Mitt Romney’s… though he’d never admit it.)
Learn the dance moves that are SCIENTIFICALLY irresistable
We asked our North American Facebook staff, and the response was universal: none of them can dance. Fortunately, science can come to their rescue! Recent studies probed exactly what type of dance moves the opposite sex finds attractive. Boring! But it gets better… the researchers glued reflectors to the subjects’ clothes, made them listen to German dance music, and created digital avatars of their movements. You’ll find good and bad moves to attract men and women; 4 avatars in all. Enjoy! And please, please, PLEASE ask Ken for a demo the next time you’re in the shop!
Plastic eating bacteria discovered… IN PORTLAND!
The world produces almost 300 million TONS of plastic every year, and most of it isn’t recycled. Plastic, from micro-beads in the oceans to non-biodegradeable mountains of it in landfills, is a problem we’ll have to deal with. In 2018, Morgan Vague of Reed College here in Portland took a huge step to a solution. She isolated not one, but THREE strains of plastic-eating bacteria, one of which was brand new to science! And being Portland, there’s a twist… Morgan has a great story to tell about having to sneak her bio-samples back through the TSA. This story from Willamette Week tells you about the TSA, this story from Science Times goes a little deeper into the bacteria.
The magical Finnish forests of Ossi Saarinen
Sometimes it’s just nice to relax with nature, and if we can’t actually take you to the forests of Finland we can at least give you a look. Ossi Saarinen is a wildlife photographer in Finland, specializing in the forests and wildlife of the country. We ran across these 41 stunning examples of his work and had to share them with you. From surreal landscapes to adorable little animals too cute to be believed, each photograph will keep you mesmerized. Enjoy!
