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!
Learn to drive a Model T
from the OPB Article– “For a small handful of folks in Hood River, Oregon, Memorial Day means jumping in a car and jumping back in time 100 years… Each summer Hood River’s Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum puts on its Model T driving school. It’s a one-day experience, offered a half-dozen times from late spring to early fall. They open only 10 spots per session that often fill quickly with antique car aficionados from across the country. But the Model T driving school is just one program of a much larger museum of cars and planes, gathering together a community that is devoted to making history…”
A Portland Ferry? In 2022?
Portland may be getting a new addition to our transportation mix, possibly as soon as next year. Frog Ferry proposes to bring passenger ferry service from Vancouver to Portland at about 45 minutes per trip. Here a link to the Frog Ferry homepage, and here’s just a little of the coverage from Portland Business Journal, Clark County Today, and Willamette Week.
The mysterious exploding craters of Siberia
from the National Geographic Article– “Flying over the sweeping Siberian tundra, a Russian TV crew spotted a crater more than half a football field deep gouged from the frozen ground. Blocks of ice and dirt lay hundreds of feet away, flung from the deep scar on the surface. This is the latest in a series of such curious craters discovered in the Siberian Arctic, after the first was identified in 2014. Scientists believe they form from blasts of methane and carbon dioxide gas trapped within mounds of dirt and ice, but much remains uncertain…” More coverage here from Discover and BBC Future.
Maps to redraw your mind
“Maps are not the territory”, and we rely on them at our peril. They can show us things that just arent’t right; a prime example is the very common and very badly distorted Mercator Projection map of the globe. But they can also show us things in a new way and sharpen our view of the world instead, like these three map-related stories we found this month. The first is from GiveItLove, where 50 amazing maps show the US (and the world) in a new way. From migration lanes to land use to where our Canadian neighbors live, ALL of these maps will question what you thought you knew. “Salary needed to avoid an average home in your state” (below) is a standalone map-turned-meme that explains itself, as well as questioning our priorities as a society. Finally, take time to read the story behind the 6 maps of Alabama (also below), showing the connections between sediments laid down in the Cretaceous period and voting patterns today.
