Thursday Things: Almost Halloween Edition
29 October 2020. Vol 2 No 44 By Dan McGirt. #64
Welcome to Thursday Things! Happy Almost Halloween! If you enjoy this edition, please click the heart icon in the heading or at the end of the post to let me know. You can also post a comment by clicking the dialog bubble next to the heart.
“I feel hollow inside.” Photo by David Menidrey on Unsplash
It’s almost Halloween. Let’s check in on the murder hornets, shall we?
Washington state crews destroy first US murder hornet nest
That’s great news! Murder hornets eliminated! Or at least one nest of them. Who knows how many more there are? How did our intrepid Murder Hornet Elimination Squad find the little devils?
"The state Agriculture Department had spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to Asian giant hornets..."
Say what? Who got that assignment? “Phil, take this dental floss.” “Uh, why, sir? Do I have something in my teeth?” “No, no. I need you use the floss tie tiny tracking devices onto these captive murder hornets. Good luck!”
And dig those funky anti-murder hornet suits! ‘Murder Hornet’ Scientists Suit Up For Extermination In Eye-Catching Protective Gear
Hornet Squad Assemble! Source: Washington State Department of Agriculture
If you need a last minute Halloween costume idea, here you go! And the best part is it protects you from both murder hornets and COVID-19!
Two tickets to Mars, please!
Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (USNC-Tech) has developed a concept for a new Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) engine and delivered it to NASA. Claimed to be safer and more reliable than previous NTP designs and with far greater efficiency than a chemical rocket, the concept could help realize the goal of using nuclear propulsion to revolutionize deep space travel, reducing Earth-Mars travel time to just three months
Of course, it’s only a “concept engine” and hasn’t been built, much less tested. So it may not work. But sooner or later we will build spacecraft engines much more powerful than the chemical rockets we’ve used thus far in the exploration (and eventual colonization) of space. So it’s worth keeping an eye on this. In case you’re wondering how it works:
To fuel the concept, UNSC-Tech uses a Fully Ceramic Micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel to power the engine's reactor. This fuel is based on High-Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU), which is derived from reprocessed civilian nuclear fuel and is enriched to between 5 and 20 percent – greater than that of civilian reactors and less than that of naval reactors. The fuel is then encapsulated into particles coated with zirconium carbide (ZrC).
Exactly what I would have suggested.
It’s not a sleeping pill, it’s a snoring pill. Or an anti-snoring pill. Science!
If you’re one of the many millions of Americans who snores — or suffer from sharing a space with a partner, parent or roommate who does — a new drug entering clinical trials in the United States could be a slumber saver.
A 2018 study based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that a once-a-night tablet which combines two non-sleep related drugs, effectively reduced snoring frequency for 20 research volunteers by 74% — from an average of 28.5 breathing interruptions per hour to just 7.5.
They better perfect this before we send a mission to Mars. No one wants to be stuck in a space capsule with a snorer for three months.
White Castle employees, meet Flippy the Robot The robots can make French fries now. Soon, they won’t need us at all.
Press release with all the details: Miso Robotics' Flippy ROAR Hits Global Commercial Availability to Spur Regrowth Amid Pandemic
French fry making robot is another great costume idea. Speaking of which…
A National Retail Federation released in September found that the popularity of animal costumes is on the rise among people planning to celebrate Halloween. Roughly 18% of the respondents said they planned to dress a pet in a costume, up from 17% the year before.
Yeah, pets love that.
“Come one step closer with that costume and you’ll be sliced and diced for Halloween.” Photo by Manja Vitolic on Unsplash
Thank you for reading Thursday Things. Have a safe, yet spooky Halloween! Again, please click the hearts, comment, and use the share feature to send this issue to a friend who might enjoy it. See you next Thursday!