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.
The Solar Car is ALMOST here
(from the WaPo article)- “Solar-powered cars have a long, distinguished history of failing. In 2023, Dutch start-up Lightyear went bankrupt, and Germany’s Sono Motors gave up. Aptera itself shut down in 2011, after burning through tens of millions of dollars from investors, before being resurrected in 2019 by its founders, Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony… If Aptera delivers on its promise to sell its first vehicle by the end of the year, the $40,000 Launch Edition,the company says it will be the most energy-efficient vehicle on the road, achieving the equivalent of about 340 miles per gallon…”
Parachuting Gophers Saved Mt. St. Helens
(from PopMech)- “It would probably be pretty alarming to learn that, in the early 1980s, scientists decided to drop off a bunch of gophers at the site of a volcanic eruption… It starts with the eruption of Mount St. Helens in May of 1980. It was the most destructive volcanic event in American history, claiming 57 lives and causing staggering ecological damage. Faced with a devastation that would take the local environment a substantial amount of time to recover from, scientists were open to unorthodox ideas that might speed the process along. So they did what any reasonable person would decide to do and tossed a couple of gophers at the issue…”
Move to Japan. Buy a house with land. For under $30,000.
An “Akiya” is not an architectural style, it literally translates as “abandoned house”. As Japan deals with low population, declining birth rates, and rural depopulation, akiyas are becoming a problem they need to solve. The solution could be YOU, and at a shocking low price. If you’ve ever thought about being a Japanese ex-pat then check out “Akiya, Machiya, Kominka: Understanding Traditional Japanese Property Types”, flip through Akiyahopper (the site that caught our eye) or Akiya Japan to dream a little, and end with “Read This Before Buying an Akiya: What Nobody Tells You” for the warnings you’ll definitely need. Umaku iku to iine!
It’s Spider Season in Oregon… Again.
(from the Spokesman article)- “At some point in the next few weeks, an Oregonian will walk into a bathroom, flip on the light and discover the floor has grown legs. Eight of them. Long, hairy and moving fast enough to turn a routine bathroom visit into an emergency household meeting. It’s giant house spider season again – that magical stretch of late summer when adult males abandon their dark corners and begin crawling through Oregon homes in search of females. They are not hunting you. They are not plotting a takeover. They are looking for love and, unfortunately, your bathroom is apparently on the way…”
