The solar powered plane Solar Impulse has landed in Hawaii, finishing a flight of 7,200 km – a world record for longest manned, unfuelled solar-powered flight.
The trip took 118 hours. The one snag? A full bladder for 117 ½ hours.
*Though Toronto in 2013 attempted (and failed) to pass a bylaw to curb supermarket plastic bag usage with a mandatory five cent charge per-bag, Hawaii meanwhile has outright banned plastic bags. It’s the first US State to do so. Well, at least there’s Magnum P.I. and Hawaii 5-0, and you can never take that away from us.
*On the topic of forcing things away by government fiat…
After twenty five years, Russia wants to check to see if it was legal for the USSR to grant independence to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Maybe they should be checking to see if it was legal for the Communist Empire to occupy Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the first place?
*Speaking of “occupation”…
Forbes just reported that within Gaza and the West Bank, nearly four out of ten startups have women CEOs – whereas in some of the West that number is ten per cent lower. So, not all is bad news coming out of that region. One recent invention led by a female CEO is the sleek BoldKnot, a mobile device power pack that charges twice as fast as usual ones.
*On the topic of not quite operating at full capacity, Hollywood actor Jim Carrey revealed himself to be an anti-vaxxer.
In light of California Gov. Jerry Brown’s recently signed bill requiring parents of children attending schools to be vaccinated, Carrey – who apparently moonlights as a virologist1 – spewed all kinds of ridiculous tweets:
“California Gov. says yes to poisoning more children with mercury and aluminum in mandatory vaccines,” he wrote. “This corporate fascist must be stopped.” Fascism? Try Latvia under the Communists.
*Well, from knucklehead to knuckleball… University of Toronto engineering students are working on a baseball-throwing machine that can shoot consistent knuckleballs. A knuckleball is thrown by tight fingertips; a slower ball and half-spin tilt speed makes it vulnerable to air and wind, making for an unpredictable pitch. Still won’t make the Jays win, though.
1 – Not.
The word of the day is: Zoochore. It means “a plant dispersed by animals.”
