Six Pack of Facts: Recent Episodes
Alex Skjong
Six Pack of Facts is a quick, informative, and fun podcast featuring two topics and — you guessed it — six facts about them every week. From the mysteries of cosmos to historical trips back in time to simple science that happens right in your own kitchen, you’ll learn tons of cool stuff in 10 minutes or less. Stay thirsty.
As Six Pack of Facts comes to an end (for now!), it's time to get a little cozy. It's time for some cookies and cocoa.
Thanks for listening!
Research Links
Cookies
Mashed — The Strange History Of The Oreo And Hydrox Cookie Rivalry
History — The Surprising Origins of the Fortune Cookie
PBS — The History of Gingerbread
The Spruce Eats — The History of Gingerbread
Cocoa
The Spruce Eats — An Abridged History of Hot Chocolate
Chocolate: Food of the Gods — Cornell University
Mentalfloss — 13 Things You Might Not Know About Hot Chocolate
The "dirty snowballs" of the sky have dazzled humans with their tails for centuries, and some of them have traveled quite a distance to put on the show.
Comets
The Planets — Comet Facts
Space.com — Halley’s Comet: Facts About the Most Famous Comet
Guiness World Records — Longest measured comet tail
Oort Cloud
NASA — Oort Cloud
Phys.org — What is the Oort Cloud?
In the final episode of our Spooky Suite, we're digging into 6 (...66) Halloween facts that are sure to scare the heck out of you. Or just mildly entertain you until the big night.
Happy Halloween!
Research Links
Smithsonian Magazine — The History of Trick-or-Treating Is Weirder Than You Thought
History — Samhain
National Retail Federation — Halloween
IMDB — Hocus Pocus Trivia
Good Housekeeping — 25 Fun and Scary Halloween Facts to Trick (or Treat) Your Friends
History — Halloween 2021
In the third episode of our Spooky Suite, we're getting sweet, savory, and (of course) a little spoooooky. 🎃
Research Links
Candy Corn
Better Homes & Gardens — The History of Candy Corn: A Halloween Favorite
Always a Treat — All About Candy Corn
Pumpkins
History — How Jack O’Lanterns Originated in Irish Myth
PBS — History of Pumpkins and Recipe Round-Up
Discover — Ancient Pumpkins Were Nothing Like the Fall Fruit We Know Today
In the second episode of our Spooky Suite, we're gazing upward at the sky to indulge in a bit of lunar delight. Let me hear you howl... 🌕
Research Links
Lunacy
NASA — Moon in Motion
The Washington Post — Dear Science: Does a full moon really change human behavior?
Scientific American — Lunacy and the Full Moon
Werewolves
History — Werewolf Legends
The Conversation — The Ancient Origins of Werewolves
Forbes — Here Is What Happens To Werewolves On The Moon, According To Geophysics
University of Pittsburgh — The Saga of the Volsungs
BBC — Who was Peter the Wild Boy?
Our Spooky Suite of Six Packs kicks off with a look into the arid sands of Egypt, the humid regions of ancient Peru and Chile, and the peaty bogs of Cheshire, England, followed by the bone-chilling afterlife revenge of the mummy's curse.
Research Links
Mummies
Smithsonian Magazine — What Have the World’s Oldest Mummies Kept Under Wraps?
Smithsonian — Egyptian Mummies
The Atlantic — Were the Mysterious Bog People Human Sacrifices?
The Mummy’s Curse
National Geographic — Curse of the Mummy
Live Science — What is the ancient Egyptian 'mummy's curse'?
Independent — Curse of Tutankhamun exposed: The archaeologists lived into their seventies
Can you survive the blitzkrieg?
Research Links
Chess
Chess.com — Chaturanga
Medium — What is an ELO Rating?
Wired — Did a Computer Bug Help Deep Blue Beat Kasparov?
Checkers
Checkershistory.com — The Checkered History of Checkers
That’s — Explainer: The Origin of 'Chinese Checkers'
CNN — Karate, Wonton, Chow Fun: The end of 'chop suey' fonts
New York Times — Marion Tinsley, 68, Unmatched As Checkers Champion, Is Dead
Get ready for a quick and acidic six pack of pickle facts.
Research Links
PBS — History in a Jar: The Story of Pickles
Pickle Science: How to Master the Preserving Power of Acids — SeriousEats
Historic UK — James ‘Paraffin’ Young
The Atlantic — The Mason Jar, Reborn
William Shakespeare: The Complete Works — The Tempest
Schedule a cleaning from your dentist now (or should you?) and get ready to go 'round and 'round and 'round.
Research Links
Cotton Candy
National Geographic — The Sticky-Sweet Story of Cotton Candy
Wordnik — A Brief History of Cotton Candy Names
Ferris Wheels
Smithsonian Magazine — The Brief History of the Ferris Wheel
The Press of Atlantic City — Look back: Atlantic City's almost famous 'Somers Wheel'
Mental Floss — 8 Amazing Ferris Wheels from Around the World
It's time to hunker down with your best natural armor and be amazed by these reptilian and mammalian champions.
Also, don't paint turtles!
Research Links
Turtles
Live Science — Turtle Facts
How Stuff Works — Can a Turtle Outgrow Its Shell?
Chattahoochee Nature Center — A Turtle’s Shell Is More Than Its Home
The Dodo — Meet Jonathan, The Oldest-Known Animal In The World
Guinness World Records — Introducing Jonathan, the world’s oldest animal on land at 187 years old
Armadillos
One Kind Planet — Armadillo
New York Times — Armadillos Can Transmit Leprosy to Humans, Federal Researchers Confirm
CDC — Hansen’s Disease
Treehugger — 13 Things You Didn't Know About Armadillos
One core is a molten, magnetic, churning hellzone. The other core is... not. But they're more similar than you might think?
Ok, not really. But it's still fun, right?
Research Links
Earth's Core
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/core/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/earth-magnetic-field-flip-north-south-poles-science
Cherries
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/82858/13-sweet-facts-about-cherries
https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/in-praise-of-luxardo-cherries-article
Guide to Cultivated Plants — A. T. G. Elzebroek
https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/cherry-tree-myth/
My mom always said I was a... fungi.
That's it. That's the show note.
Mushrooms
Modern Farmer — Truffle Hunting Has Gone to the Dogs
ACT Gov — Death Cap Mushroom
BBC — The Largest Living Thing on Earth is a Humungous Fungus
Mario
DK Oldies — Why Did Mario Eat Mushrooms?
MarioWiki — Mushrooms
GameRant — The Mushroom Man: 10 Weird Things You Didn't Know About Toad
We're going back to spaaaaaace to dig into two of the universe's most impressive heavyweights.
Research Links
Neutron Stars
https://www.space.com/22180-neutron-stars.html
https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/five-extreme-facts-about-neutron-stars
https://www.space.com/solar-system-fate-when-sun-dies
https://earthsky.org/space/video-sciencecast-neutron-star-pulsar-to-magnetar/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2tfllMPIfA
Black Holes
https://www.livescience.com/black-holes.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/11/03/ask-ethan-how-do-black-holes-actually-evaporate/?sh=31ecab624a1f
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pAnRKD4raY
BOOM! This episode is dog-friendly and I guarantee you'll finish it with every fingers intact.
Research Links
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/14-fun-facts-about-fireworks-180951957/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7XHc27R0fs
https://www.livescience.com/63468-fireworks-history.html
I've sold out to BIG ADVERTISING. ...not really, but this episode does have a ton of cool facts about stuff you've undoubtedly been manipulated by as a consumer. Fun!
Research Links
Logos
https://time.com/2904290/10-oldest-company-logos/https://creativemarket.com/blog/the-35-nike-logo-and-the-woman-who-designed-ithttps://www.mentalfloss.com/article/61633/histories-and-stories-behind-8-movie-studio-logos Jingleshttps://money.howstuffworks.com/commercial-jingle.html
https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-jingles-that-were-secretly-written-by-celebrities
It's time for an audio tropical getaway! Hang ten and ride the smooth waves of these pineapple and coconut facts.
Research Links
Pineapples
https://sciencemeetsfood.org/bromelain-in-pineapple/https://whatscookingamerica.net/Cake/pineapplecake.htmhttps://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/food/pineapples.htmlhttps://www.lovebigisland.com/quick-and-remarkable-facts-about-hawaii/pineapple/
Coconuts
https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/food/coconuts.htmlhttps://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/08/15/139638930/saved-by-the-coconut-water-parsing-coconut-waters-medical-claimshttps://www.discoverpuertorico.com/article/puerto-ricos-national-drink-pina-coladahttps://www.forbes.com/sites/chelseadavis/2019/07/10/this-is-where-the-pia-colada-was-born/?sh=2e00e0732957
Six facts up. Six facts down. It's a new of episode! A deliciously knowledge quenching flight of facts all about the upcoming summer solstice. Are you ready for summer (facts)?
Research Links
Almanac — Summer Solstice 2021: The First Day Of Summer
Mentalfloss — 15 Facts About the Summer Solstice
It’s time for a visit to the beach and trip back in time to the Middle Ages. Do you think knights wore their armor as sunscreen?
Research Links
Sand
Nature.com — What is Sand Made of? History.
Sand Atlas — Sand Types
HowStuffWorks — How Sand Dunes Work
NPR — Which Is Greater, The Number Of Sand Grains On Earth Or Stars In The Sky?
Castles
HowStuffWorks — How Castles Work
Exploring Castles — Castle Designs Through History: From Simple Mounds to Fairytale Majesty
Kiwico — The Science Behind: Sandcastle Building
This week, it’s all about fun in the sun. Throw your shades on the grab your board, we’re talking UV rays and tides.
Research Links
UV Rays
LiveScience — What Is Electromagnetic Radiation?
James Lincoln (YouTube) — Johann Ritter Ultraviolet Light Discovery
University of Iowa Health Care — What Is the Difference Between UVA and UVB Rays?
FDA —Ultraviolent (UV) Radiation
Hard Medical School — The Science Of Sunscreen
Tides
NOAA — Tides
NOAA — What Are Tides?
Sciencing — The Four Different Types of Tides
U.S. Harbors — Amazing Facts About the Tide
This week, it’s ecstasy and agony. We’re exploring the gamut of human emotion and digging into some hilarious and sad facts about crying and laughter.
Research Links
Crying
Cleveland Clinic — Why We Cry and What Tears Are Made Of
Mental Floss — 7 Teary Facts About the Science of Crying
The Cut — Why Do We Cry to Express Feeling Overwhelmed?
Laughing
NPR — Dozens Of Animals Laugh Too, Study Shows
Science Daily — Fake Laughter Doesn't Fool the Brain, Research Reveals
The Conversation — The Evolutionary Origins of Laughter Are Rooted More in Survival Than Enjoyment
I hope you’re prepared for your mouth to water because we’re digging into two foods — one sweet, the other tart, both delicious. It’s time for strawberries and rhubarb.
Research Links
Strawberries
The University of Vermont — History of the Strawberry
SF Gate — The Difference Between Everbearing and Day-Neutral Strawberries
LiveScience — Why Are Bananas Berries, but Strawberries Aren't?
Rhubarb
Atlas Obscura — How Alaska Became Home to Humongous Rhubarb
National Geographic — Does Rhubarb Deserve Its Killer Reputation?
Delicious history, luminous science, and smoke wishes to the gods.
Happy Birthday to Theo!
Research Links
Cake
How Stuff Works — How Cakes Work
Food Timline — FAQs: Cakes
Folklore Thursday — A Brief Tour of European Wedding Cake Traditions
Today’s Bride — The History of the Wedding Cake and Wedding Cake Topper
The Takeout — Candles, Wishes, and the History Behind our Birthday Cake Traditions
Candles
Candles.org — History
Candles.org — Candle Science
Sciencing — Candlepower Vs. Lumens
Under pressure? Go fly a kite.
Thanks to Beth J. for the topic request!
Research Links
Kites
Sports Fitness — The Most Interesting Guinness World Records For Kite Flying
American Kitefliers Association — History of Kites
Wikipedia — Kite Experiment
Pressure Systems
Live Science — Atmospheric Pressure: Definition & Facts
UCAR — The Highs and Lows of Air Pressure
NOAA — What Is Bombogenesis?
WIRED — June 11, 1644: The Barometer Gets Its First Practical Airing
From thousands of years to just minutes, the world is made up of organisms that stretch across all timespans.
Thanks to Ron S. for the topic suggestion!
Research Links
Long Lifespans
National Ocean Service — How Long Do Greenland Sharks Live?
LiveScience — What’s the Oldest Living Organism?
National Geographic — “Immortal” Jellyfish Swam World’s Oceans
Mayfly
Smithsonian Channel — This Swarm of Mayflies is Big Enough to Fool Weather Satellites
Wikipedia — Mayfly
Happy Earth Day! This week we’re turning back the clock… like, REALLY turning back the clock to discuss the birth of our humble-on-a-universal-scale-but-magnificent-nonetheless planet and the day that celebrates it. It’s time for the birth of the Earth and Earth Day.
Find a local Earth Day event!
Research Links
The Birth of the Earth
NASA — Solar System
Smithsonian Magazine — How Did Water Come to Earth?
Phys.org — How Was the Earth Formed?
Earth Day
Mental Floss — 10 Fascinating Facts About Earth Day
EarthDay.org — The History of Earth Day
Things were pretty different hundreds of millions of years ago, and although we haven’t quite mastered time travel yet, fossils give a glimpse into our prehistoric Earth. So, let’s look back at some incredible — and incredibly weird in some cases — extinct fauna and flora.
Research Links
Animals
All That’s Interesting — The Glyptodon Was A Prehistoric Armadillo So Big That Early Humans Used Its Shells For Shelters
Natural History Museum — What Was Megatherium?
Earth Archives — The Biggest Insect Ever Was a Huge "Dragonfly"
Smithsonian Magazine — Scientists Reveal What May Be the Largest Flying Bird Ever
BBC — Giant Sea Scorpion Claw Unearthed
National Geographic — Buzzsaw Jaw Helicoprion Was a Freaky Ratfish
Plants
Bernheim Arboretum and Natural Forest — Vanishing Acts: The Franklin Tree
The Environmentor — 7 Facts About Sigillaria, One Of The Weirdest Trees To Ever Live
Smithsonian Magazine — Long Before Trees Overtook the Land, Earth Was Covered by Giant Mushrooms
It's a treat for your ears this episode (another very springy one to boot). Let's talk the tweety tweets of bird songs and the thing that makes it all possible — sound.
Research Links
Bird Songs
The Cornell Lab — All About Bird Song
BBC — Tweet Top 10: Strangest Sounding Birds
The Conversation — Lyrebirds Mimicking Chainsaws: Fact or Lie?
ABC News — Lyrebird Legends Abound, but Not All the Stories Are True. Let's Sort Fact From Fiction
YouTube — Lyrebird: The Best Songbird Ever
YouTube — Lyrebird Mimics Construction Sounds
YouTube — World’s Weirdest Bird Sounds – Part Two
Sound
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders — How is Sound Measured?
Popular Science — Ranked: The Loudest Sounds Ever Measured
ThoughtCo. — Can a Planet Make a Sound in Space?
With spring springing soon, this episode is all about nature. The forecast is in, and it’s looking like… rain and tulips.
Research Links
Rain
NASA — Anatomy of a Raindrop
Smithsonian Magazine — What Makes Rain Smell So Good?
How Stuff Works — Does It Rain on Other Planets?
Tulips
History — The Real Story Behind the 17th-Century ‘Tulip Mania’ Financial Crash
Amsterdam Tulip Museum - Broken Tulips: The Beautiful Curse
YouTube — The History of the Tulip | Short Animation
Get ready to hit the court for some hoops and to have your minds blown by math — it’s March Madness and extreme numbers.
Research Links
March Madness
NCAA — March Madness History – The Ultimate Guide
Wikipedia — 1939 NCAA Basketball Championship Game
New York Daily News — The Triumph & Tragedy of the 1950 City College Grand Slam
NCAA — The Absurd Odds of a Perfect NCAA Bracket
Extreme Numbers
Essential Tuition — Googolplex - How big is big?
Vox — The Mind-Bendy Weirdness of the Number Zero, Explained
Stuff — Think of a Very, Very, Small Number…
Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the Irish holiday, let's dive into the stuff many a leprechaun has guarded and the nitrogenated wonder of the Emerald Isle. It’s time for gold and Guinness.
Source Links
Gold
Financial Times — Scientists Discover the Origins of Gold in Space
NASA — Gold Coating
History — Did Pirates Really Bury Their Treasure?
Guinness
Guinness — Archive Fact Sheet: The History of Guinness
Guinness — Six Steps to Pour the Perfect Pint of Guinness
How Stuff Works — Ridiculous History: How an Irish Beer Became the Authority on World Records
March 15 is right around the corner and you know what that means — the Ides are upon us! But is this date really cursed in some way? Let’s get into the infamous date and the title that helped make it so.
Research Links
The Ides of March
History — Beware the Ides of March. But Why?
Smithsonian Magazine — Top Ten Reasons to Beware the Ides of March
Psychology Today — Being Amused by Apophenia
Caesar
History — The Ides of March
Wikipedia — Caesar
History of the Caesar Salad
It's a hot one (or is it?) this week. The sometimes fiery, sometimes icy, sometimes destructive, sometimes life-bringing awe of volcanoes and one of their most infamous victims.
Research Links
Volcanoes
The Conversation — Comets or Volcanoes? Scientists Are Changing Their Minds About How the Earth’s Water Got Here
Space.com — Olympus Mons: Giant Mountain of Mars
Forbes — This Is The Wonderfully Weird Science Behind Ice Volcanoes
Pompeii
History.com — Pompeii
Smithsonian Magazine — Resurrecting Pompeii
Now here's a tricky-to-see episode! Welcome to the color-changing (and sometimes sticky) world of chameleons and camouflage.
Research Links:
Chameleons
Mentalfloss — 10 Colorful Facts About Chameleons
National Geographic — Chameleons’ Secret Hunting Weapon: Super-Sticky Mucus
National Geographic — New Chameleon Species May be World’s Smallest Reptile
Camouflage
National Geographic — Before and After: See Animals Change Their Coats for Winter
The Conversation — Motion Dazzle: Spotting the Patterns That Help Animals Outsmart Predators on the Run
Britannica — The Occurrence Of Mimicry Among Plants And Animals
It's a battle of red and yellow! A condiment thunderdome! A sauce showdown!
...you get the picture. It's time for ketchup and mustard.
Research Links:
Sources:History — The Surprisingly Ancient History of Ketchup
Mental Floss — From Inedible to Indispensable: When a Quack Doctor Touted Tomatoes as a Medical Cure-All
Let’s Talk Science — Why Is Ketchup So Hard to Pour?
Sources:Alimentarium — Mustard As a Condiment
A Measured Life — Hello Again! Plus The Science of Mustard
Mental Floss (YouTube) — Food History: Ketchup and Mustard
An arrow is nocked, and the aim is true. It's all about aRchery and the hearT on this lovely episode.
Research Links:
Archery
Untamed Science — Physics of Archery: The Science Explained
SmarterEveryDay (Youtube) — The Archer's Paradox in SLOW MOTION - Smarter Every Day 136
Time — Cherubic Cupid Is Everywhere on Valentine’s Day. Here’s Why That Famous Embodiment of Desire Is a Child
The Heart
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute — How the Heart Works
National Wildlife Federation — Amazing Animals Hearts
NC State — 10 Amazing Animal Heart Facts
Harvard — When Love and Science Double Date
It's all about pink, pink, pink, PINK this episode. Flamingos — both the natural and plastic kind — and the chewy joy of bubble gum.
Research Links:
Flamingos
Mentalfloss — 15 Fascinating Flamingo Facts
Cleveland Clinic — Can Eating Too Many Carrots Turn Your Skin Orange?
Livescience — Animal Sex: How Flamingos Do It
Britannica — Why Are Flamingos Pink?
Smithsonian Magazine — The Tacky History of the Pink Flamingo
Bubble Gum
ThoughtCo. — The Invention and History of Bubble Gum
Science World — Ever Wonder About Bubble Gum?
Food&Wine — How Gum and Baseball Cards Became Intertwined
It's time to get sweet and sticky.
Research Links
Sugar
Wikipedia — Sugar
Discover Magazine — 20 Things You Didn’t Know About… Sugar
Saveur — The Illustrated History of How Sugar Conquered the World
NASA — First Detection of Sugars in Meteorites Gives Clues to Origin of Life
Honey
Food52 — The History of Honey
Smithsonian Magazine — The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life
National Honey Board — Honey Color and Flavor
CNN — The Proven Health Benefits of Honey
If you've ever been to a sleepover, there's a good chance you've tried to summon Bloody Mary. And that means you're pretty familiar with both topics of this week's six pack.
Research Links
Mirrors
Washington Post — Dear Science: Why is everything backward in a mirror?
Live Science — Who Invented the Mirror?
Brown — The Rise of the Mirror as Commonplace
Psychology Today — Monsters in the Mirror: No Really, Literal Monsters
Bloody Mary
History — What Inspired Queen ‘Bloody’ Mary’s Gruesome Nickname?
History — 8 Things You Might Not Know About Mary I
Difford’s Guide — Bloody Mary Cocktails – How to Make & History
We're getting sticky and hairy this week. Sounds disgusting, but it's actually really interesting! ...and a little disgusting.
Thanks to Carla S. for the topic request.
Research Links
Tar Pits
University of California Museum of Paleontology — The La Brea Tar Pits
Science Buzz — Bubble, Bubble, Oil and… Bacteria!
La Brea Tar Pits — La Brea Tar Pits and Hancock Park
USA Today — The History of the Pitch Lake in Trinidad
Wikipedia — Pitch Lake
Woolly Mammoths
LiveScience — The Last Woolly Mammoths on Earth Dad Disastrous DNA
History — Were Humans Responsible for Killing Off the Woolly Mammoth?
Can We Bring Back Mammoths From Extinction? Probably Not — Here’s Why
Happy 2021! Let's celebrate with the first ever listener request. We're all about walls -- both Great and cosmic -- this week.
Thanks to Brooke V. for the request! Interested in hearing about a topic? Send an email to sixpackoffacts@gmail.com.
Research Links
Great Wall of China
History — Great Wall of China
Mentalfloss — 15 Colossal Facts About the Great Wall of China
Smithsonian Magazine — Sticky Rice Mortar, the View From Space, and More Fun Facts About China’s Great Wall
Galactic Walls
Swinburne Astronomy Online — Galactic Filaments
Goddard Space Flight Center — Sheets and Voids
Space.com — Here’s How Colossal Galaxy Clusters Reveal Dark Matter Secrets
ESA — What is the Universe Made Of?
Breakin' the what?! Breakin' the law!
This six pack runs a little longer than usual, but it's a holiday! Rules bend on holidays (or something like that).
Tick tock and pop pop — dive into the mind-numbing scale of time itself and the effervescent fun of champagne. Happy New Year!
Research Links
Time
Exactly What Is Time? — Units of Measurement
Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of Sao Paulo — When a Day Lasted Only 4 Hours
Space.com — Meet the Zeptosecond, the Shortest Unit of Time Ever Measured
Wikipedia — Cosmic Calendar
Champagne
History — Champagne: A Bubbly History
Wikipedia — Sabrage
NPR — Does Champagne Actually Get You Drunk Faster?
Stocking stuffer facts abound in this quick episode featuring mouthwatering and refreshing facts about chocolate and mint.
Research Links:
Chocolate
National Confectioners Associates — Fun Facts About Chocolate
Live Science — Chocolate Facts, Effects & History
Investopedia — The 4 Countries That Produce the Most Chocolate
Mint
Greek Legends and Myths — The Naiad Minthe in Greek Mythology
Eater — A Brief History of Mint, from Air Freshener to Breath Freshener
JSTOR Daily — Plant of the Month: Mint
Is it bright or is that just Alex's technicolored podcast coat?
Research Links:
Light
Cosmos — What Is Light?
Space.com — How Fast Does Light Travel? | The Speed of Light
Wikipedia — Bioluminescence
Health & Safety International — Miners Lamp History from Flame to ‘the Davy Lamp’ to Electric
Color
TED — What Is Color?
Smithsonian Magazine — The World Has Millions of Colors. Why Do We Only Name a Few?
Lit Hub — Color or Fruit? On the Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
Let it snow and roll those bones — it's a look at snowflakes and dice on this edition of Six Pack of Facts.
Research Links
Snowflakes:
Forbes — Ask Ethan: Could You Have Two Perfectly Identical Snowflakes?
NOAA — How Do Snowflakes Form? Get the Science Behind Snow
Snowcrystals.com (Caltech) — A Guide to Snowflakes
Mentalfloss — 15 Incredibly Cool Facts About Snow
Dice:
Popular Mechanics — How Do You Know if Dice Are Really Fair? Math.
Wired — The Mind-Boggling Challenge of Designing 120-Sided Dice
The Atlantic — The Shape of Ancient Dice Suggests Shifting Beliefs in Fate and Chance
We're taking hot and cold to their extremes in this episode. How cold can things really get? How hot can things really get? The answers are almost certainly colder and hotter than you can imagine.
Research Links:
Absolute Zero
Livescience — Kelvin Temperature Scale: Facts and History
Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — The Uncertainty Principle
SciShow — Absolute Zero: Absolute Awesome (YouTube)
NASA — Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background
ESA — Coldest Place in the Universe?
MIT News — MIT team achieves coldest temperature ever
Absolute Hot
PBS — Absolute Hot
It's Thanksgiving week, and that means a pair of delicious topics to inhale. From the tiny and tart berries to more gobbles than you can handle, cranberries and turkey is on the SPOF menu.
Research Links:
Cranberries
National Geographic — Cranberries, a Thanksgiving Staple, Were a Native American Superfood
American Phytopathological Society — Cranberries: The Most Intriguing Native North American Fruit
National Geographic — The U.S. cranberry harvest explained in four charts
Wisconsin Cranberries — About Cranberries
The New Yorker — The Great Cranberry Scare of 1959
Turkeys
Mentalfloss — 32 Facts About Turkeys to Gobble Right Up
Healthline — Color-Changing Turkey Wattles Inspire New Toxin and Germ Detector
National Audobon Society — Wild Fact About Wild Turkeys: They Come in a Cornucopia of Colors
The New York Times — Thanksgiving, the Julia Child Way
If you've spent any time cooking, the Maillard Reaction has almost certainly been your best friend more than a few times. And popcorn? Well, popcorn is just delightful. Duh.
Research Links:
The Maillard Reaction
Reactions (YouTube) — Why the Maillard Reaction Makes Everything Delicious
FDFchannel — The Maillard Reaction
Khymos — Speeding Up the Maillard Reaction
Popcorn
Wikipedia — Popcorn
Scientific American — Explore the “POP” in Popcorn
National Geographic — Ancient Popcorn Found—Made 2,000 Years Earlier Than Thought in Peru
It's the dawn of a new generation! ...of video games, at least. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S are officially here. What better time to look back at some fascinating facts and stories from the two gaming giants?
Research Links: PlayStationArsTechnica — The World’s Only Known Nintendo PlayStation Has Sold for $300,000
IGN — History of the PlayStation
The Verge — Japanese Ps4s Can Now Use The X Button To Select, But Why Couldn’t They Do That Already?
The Verge — Japanese PS4s can now use the X button to select, but why couldn’t they do that already?
Universe Today — Studying Black Holes Using a PlayStation 3
CNET — Sony folds up Folding@home PS3 project after 100M hours
PCMag — 20 Years Later: How Concerns About Weaponized Consoles Almost Sunk the PlayStation 2
XboxIGN — Xbox Creator Reveals Origin of Why Xbox Branding is Green - Podcast Unlocked
IGN — 3 Xbox Bosses Share Secrets of the Console's Past - Podcast Unlocked 201
Caves. They're dark. They're dank. They're full of interesting stuff.
Speleothems are the rock giants of these environments, and echolocation is what critters use to make sure they don't bonk into them. A perfect pair, don't you think?
Research Links:
SpeleothemsBritannica - Stalactite and Stalagmite
National Park Service - How Stalactites and Stalagmites Form
New York Times - How Stalagmites Get Their Shapes
EcholocationNational Park Service – Echolocation
Phys.org - Just like bats, humans can use echolocation
The Royal Society Publishing - Extremely high frequency sensitivity in a ‘simple’ ear
Incredible Bats (YouTube) - Bat Echolocation
Gizmodo - Moths Rub Their Genitals Together to Jam Bat Sonar
Halloween is upon us, and you know what that means...
It's time to get spoooooooky.
Vampires — at least how they’re portrayed in horror movies— are not real. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some real-world maladies that helped inspire and grow the myth of a bloodsucking night stalker.
Premature burials, on the other hand, were — and are — very real. And so, so terrifying. People have created some incredible devices in hopes of avoiding the fate… but that hasn’t stopped poor souls from being placed in the Earth a bit too early…
Research Links:
Vampires
National Geographic - The Blood Truth About Vampires
BBC - The Real-Life Diseases That Spread the Vampire Myth
Mayo Clinic - Porphyria
Wikipedia - Mercy Brown Vampire Incident
Premature BurialNew England Historical Society - When Fears of Premature Burial Stalked the Land
Mental Floss - 4 People Who Were Buried Alive (And How They Got Out)
Smithsonian Magazine - People Feared Being Buried Alive So Much They Invented These Special Safety Coffins
A tiny, tiny sea creature and the massive sphere of hellfire that heats and lights our planet might not seem like the likeliest of pairings, but the two actually have a bit more in common than you’d think.
Research Links:
Pistol ShrimpWired - Absurd Creature of the Week: The Feisty Shrimp That Kills…
Wikipedia - Alpheidae
Wikipedia - Cavitation
BBC - The World's Loudest Animal Might Surprise You
The SunSpace.com - Atmosphere of the Sun: Photosphere, Chromosphere & Corona
Nasa.gov - Layers of the Sun
Space.com - When Will the Sun Die?
Space.com - White Dwarfs: Compact Corpses of Stars
National Geographic - White Dwarfs
We all want to learn more about the world around us, but it’s not always that convenient to crack open the infinite wealth of knowledge available and dive right in.
Never fear... Six Pack of Facts is here for you!
Six Pack of Facts is a quick, informative, and fun podcast featuring two topics and — you guessed it — six awesome facts about them every week. From the mysteries of the cosmos to historical trips back in time to simple science that happens right in your own kitchen, you’ll learn tons of cool stuff in 10 minutes or less.
Six Pack of Facts — a weekly way to expand your brain six refreshing facts at a time.
Every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts.
Stay thirsty.