On National Peanut Butter Day, a reminder that peanut butter is so versatile it can be turned into diamonds. It actually takes more time to explain why you can turn peanut butter into diamonds than to explain how. Plus: this weekend in McCall, Idaho, the Idaho State Snow Sculpting Championships are taking place.
On this day in 1948 of the mayor of Boston, James Curley, wrote to the president of MIT, asking that the school's top engineers find a way to get rid of the huge amounts of snow, maybe with flamethrowers. Seriously. Plus: in Chico, California, a much more calm event is getting underway, the the Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway.
Benjamin Franklin was a lot of things, but he always saw himself as a printer - and some of what he printed was currency for American colonies. Turns out he had some pretty creative ways to try to keep counterfeiters from copying his bills. Plus: New Orleans is hosting the Samantha Fish Cigar Box Guitar Festival this weekend.
Researchers in Switzerland say they’ve found a way to change the color of chocolate, and without adding any colors or dyes to it. Instead, they use a special imprint to give it a glowing, rainbow-y patina. Plus: the annual PeepsFest is getting underway, and they're going to do a ball drop for New Year's with a giant Peep!
This is a guitar that will literally help you nail a solo: maker and woodworker Tim Sway built a guitar out of reclaimed nails, which he calls the "Tetanuscaster." Plus: the It's A Wonderful Life Festival is in full swing in Jimmy Stewart's hometown of Indiana, PA!
Underwater photos are usually greenish or blueish and the brighter colors are washed out. An engineer and oceanographer has come up with an algorithm she calls Sea-thru that can bring those colors back into the image. Plus: the Las Vegas Pizza Festival is about to get underway.
Today in 1800 President John Adams moved into the White House, the first chief executive to live in what was then called the President’s Mansion. One of the house's most adorable stories - though possibly an apocryphal one - is the time in 1862 that Abraham Lincoln supposedly helped a couple elope. Plus: the New England WizardFest gets underway this weekend in Massachusetts. Mischief managed!
The Saharan silver ant can ran up to 108 of its own body lengths per second, making it the fastest ant in the world. But it lives in the desert, and running in sand usually slows us down. How the heck do they do it? Plus: in Banner Elk, North Carolina, the 42nd annual Woolly Worm Festival gets underway this weekend.
The small community of Casey, Illinois is home to the Big Things In A Small Town project, and this weekend someone will win a chance to sit in the world's largest rocking chair. Plus: tomorrow in Boulder City, Nevada, it’s the Wurst Festival. I’m not mocking the event, that's its name.
Richard "Dixie" Blandy called himself the greatest flagpole sitter of all time - they say he spent more time atop flagpoles than most flags.
