Wednesday has come and will be gone in a few hours.  To help you get over the hump, here are the stories we think will bring some joy to you today.  We look at vapor and dust magnified, octagon-shaped houses, Popular Science, and talk about cassette tapes. 

A lot is going on in the world these days.  This week, scientists announced that Doc Brown’s Mr. Fusion is possible.  Also reported was the first ever recorded sound on Mars; it was a wind storm.  And now, no two snowflakes are the same.  This is not a breakthrough; people have been saying that for years.  The Washington Post gets up close and personal with snowflakes to determine shapes and sizes. 

According to the story, not all snowflakes look as cool as the ones in the article.  Photographer Jason Persoff has been perfecting the photography of beautiful snowflakes over the last several years.  Something so symmetrical and intricate was created out of vapor and dust falling from the sky.  It is hard to find words to describe or explain it.

This is a ninety percent visual story, The NYT did a story on Octagonal Houses, and the pictures in this piece are worth the browse.  Think big fat lighthouse-shaped houses, and then try to figure out how you put rooms in them.  Many also have adjacent square buildings attached, but these homes' “roundhouse” feel is unique. 

The way things work around here, we find stories, dig into them a bit, and pull out something we think would interest you.  We also find stories we feel are stories but need help pulling out bits.  That’s the case with the story on Popular Science – The 100 most significant innovations of 2022.  First, you are not alone if you remember Popular Science as the nerd magazine from the 70s and 80s.  It’s still kicking, and the website says it’s been going on for 150 years, which is impressive.  Second, we have gone through parts of this list for weeks and have not come up with a highlight list for you.

Here’s what we will do: combine science and ask ChatGPT the same question to see what it comes up with.  If that’s interesting, we will give it to you; if not – we will select three random innovations, write a blurb about them and give them to you.  Big nerds have probably already read the list, medium nerds may not, and there is a link to the full article here.  Also note, when we say Nerd, we say it as GIGANTIC (punk) NERDS. 

Apple’s Car Crash Detection System: Another reason to buy a smart watch, we see healthcare as a significant growth market in the smartwatch space.  A cooler version of the Life Alert “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up” device.

Super Stay Vinyl Ink Longwear Liquid Lipcolor by Maybelline: A lipstick that genuinely lasts for hours – We have no useful information on this – but it should prove that the selections were random!

MotoE by Ducati: The hottest electric racing bike – We have riders in the office, this E-Bike looks rad – and according to the description on PopSci ­– it can go 171 mph.  At only 150 hp, we are weary of this one. 

The podcast All Punked Up had a Christmas episode this week, and we might highlight that later; another fascinating discussion hosts Tyler Winters and John Pearman had was about cassette tapes and how they make a comeback.  This subject we will require more information before pushing that one to you.  The idea of the cassette tape and a story about Danny Elfman is interesting.  Danny Elfman, who could be best known for his film scores and long relationship with Director Tim Burton, was also the lead singer of the 80s band Oingo Boingo. 

In high school in the 80s, it was the cassette tape era; Oingo Boingo’s 1983 album Good For Your Soul was in my 1982 Honda Civic Hatchback, and I played that tape so many times that it finally broke.  That’s the thing about cassette tapes, similar to albums; you were forced to listen to the album in the sequence the band put the tracks down.  Also, for you kids out there, both sides of the tape were used; when you reached the end of the first half, you ejected it, flipped it over, and put it back into your tape deck.  Based on this little conversation, I plan to listen to Good For Your Soul in order like in the old days. 

Consequence interviewed Danny Elfman, and they talked about the last year.  From scoring a Marvel movie to reprising his voice of Jack Skellington to singing with Phoebe Bridgers, the 69-year-old doesn’t seem to be slowing down.  I, for one, think that’s good for my soul.

-        Johnny Christian

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