head-smashed-in

Hot Chili News!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Tue, 23 May 2017 13:33:00 +0000

Grub Street brings news of another record hot chili pepper, called Dragon's Breath, meant only for local anesthesia. (As if!)

According to the BBC, Smith says his chili can’t be eaten; instead, it’s meant only for use as a topical anesthetic. The oil, which is just oozing capsaicin, numbs the skin so much that a person will essentially feel nothing. He wants it to be used in developing countries where normal anesthetics are too costly.
[...]
...Naturally, he’s done what anybody would do who never wants people eating this pepper: immediately sent in paperwork to get it recognized by Guinness as the world’s hottest chili.

Dragon's Breath sports a Scoville rating of 2.48 million, scorching the nearest competitor by almost 300,000 units.

KC is Engaged!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 04:14:00 +0000

In case the news hasn't reached the outer reaches - New years day dawned with the news that KC has become engaged to BG. Congrats!

Rise of the Planet of the Cows?

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 17:55:00 +0000

Item: The Guardian: Slaughterhouse five: cows escape from Idaho meat plant

The first bovine broke out on Friday after jumping a six-foot fence, wandering the town of Pocatello before being shot by local police.

Five adult cows set for slaughter have escaped from a small meat processing plant in Idaho over the last week, according to the Idaho State Journal.

The first breakout happened on Friday, when a cow jumped a six-foot fence on the Anderson Custom Pack slaughterhouse property. The animal wandered the town of Pocatello before it was shot by local police.

Widespread media coverage of that escape led to a second breakout on Sunday when, farmers claim, someone intentionally released more bovines. Then, four cows broke loose from the plant after ranchers claim a gate was intentionally left open. Farmers at Anderson told the Idaho State Journal they have received “hate mail” from animal rights groups since coverage of the cow escape.

As of Wednesday morning, business co-owner Jesse Anderson had shot one of the cows that went missing on Sunday, and another was recaptured. Two remain on the loose, but local authorities say there have been no cow sightings.

A media relations specialist from the Pocatello police department, who answered the phone Wednesday but did not give her name, refused to comment on the incidents.

“We did what we had to do for the safety of the public, and unfortunately it has taken a very ugly turn for our department,” she said before hanging up.

Spring has arrived at Dunkin' Donuts!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:15:00 +0000

Dunkin Donuts to debut a Peeps doughnut in spring colors for Easter

The New York Daily News has *both* sides of the story.

Some people love it!

"Spring has sprung in my mouth," said one tester. "The soft marshmallow peep juxtaposed with the crunchy doughnut texture is nice.”

While others are disappointed.

"It is just a doughnut with a Peep on it," said another grizzled Taste Kitchen veteran. "It thought maybe it'd be filled with Peep or marshmallow."

Click through to the article, which has some juicy peeps donuts on view.

h/t WL

And the IgNobel goes to!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 05:33:00 +0000

Dung Beatles! The Guardian has the story...

Ig Nobel prize for discovery that dung beetles navigate by the stars

The 2013 Ig Nobels also recognised work on opera-loving mice, walking on water, and predicting when cows will sit down

Stargazing dung beetles, mice that survive for longer after heart surgery when they listen to opera, and whether or not you could walk on water on other planets – all of them are serious scientific questions that researchers sweated over for years. On Thursday, their hard work was honoured with possibly one of the most sought-after nods from their scientific peers: an Ig Nobel prize.

This is the 23rd year of the awards – a spoof of the even more prestigious Nobel prizes, which will be announced next month. The 10 prizes, organised by the humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research and awarded at Harvard University, honour achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think".

The joint astronomy and biology prize went to Eric Warrant's team at the University of Lund for their discovery that dung beetles navigate using the stars.

The researchers had been studying the beetles' ability to roll their balls of dung in straight lines by using the moon as a guide – they use the pattern of polarised light around the moon as a kind of celestial compass.

"One night, however, the night was moonless yet we noticed the beetles could still orient in straight lines," said Warrant. "At first we were shocked and worried that our previous experiments using the moon were wrong. But then looking up we saw the broad stripe of light that is the Milky Way and realised they might be using this as a compass cue. This, it turns out, was the case."

Warrant said other nocturnal navigators such as birds and moths may also use the Milky Way as a compass.

[...]

The probability prize was awarded to animal scientists at Scotland's Rural College for making two related discoveries. "First, that the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely that cow will soon stand up," read their citation. "And second, that once a cow stands up, you cannot easily predict how soon that cow will lie down again."

Bert Tolkamp said he and his colleagues were running several research programmes aimed at improving animal health and welfare. In their award-winning research, they fitted sensors on cows' legs that recorded how long they spent standing up or lying down.

Happy Bastille Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 04:57:00 +0000

That is all.... Though it is early.

AZ has a new job. In LONDON.

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 04:01:00 +0000

Word of the Day: Pompitous.

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sat, 04 May 2013 04:08:00 +0000

Only Wikipedia knows what it means, and it's not tellin'.

Word of the day: लोत्र

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:26:00 +0000

Sanskrit: लोत्र ("booty") Via the Wictionary entry for the Latin: Lucrum, via Merriam-Webster: Lucre.

Dung beetles guided by Milky Way

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 03:24:00 +0000

Who knew?

Word of the Day: Taffeta

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 03:46:00 +0000

The word is Persian in origin, and means "twisted woven."

That is all.

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 07:07:00 +0000

Neddie Jingo has returned!

That is all, for now.

Oh no, they've learned how to text!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 05:12:00 +0000

Who knows what they'll do next!

Swiss Cows Send Texts to Announce They’re in Heat

ZOLLIKOFEN, Switzerland — When Christian Oesch was a boy on his family’s hog farm, cellphones were a thing of the future. Now, Mr. Oesch tends a herd of dairy cattle and carries a smartphone wherever he goes. Occasionally he gets an SMS from one of his cows.

That is because Mr. Oesch, 60, who cares for a herd of 44 Red Holstein and Jersey dairy cows, is helping to test a device that implants sensors in cows to let farmers know when they are in heat. When that is the case, the device sends an SMS to the farmer’s phone. The Swiss do not settle for half measures: the SMS can be in any one of Switzerland’s three main languages — German, French and Italian — plus English or Spanish.

If there is anything to be learned from this project, which will bring the devices to market early next year, it is that Heidi’s world of goats — or cows — placidly grazing in Alpine meadows is gradually becoming the stuff of storybooks.

So much for the new job!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:52:00 +0000

The funding has been withdrawn, have a nice day!

Oh, and By The Way

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:55:00 +0000

RA starts his new gig in Chelmsford on Monday October 1st.

Congrats, RA, September has turned out swimingly for you, no?

RA has a new neice.

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:52:00 +0000

Violet Olivia was born on September 9th. That makes 9 nieces and nephews. Woo!

CDO

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:00:00 +0000

VS has had a girl!

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:49:00 +0000

The rumors were true! Voici!

IK was born May 19th, 19:05 EDT, 6 lbs 13.1 oz

Congratulations to the proud parents! (That includes you, NT!)

She is a beauty, but seems rather restrained in this image. No doubt, that will change soon enough!

Rocket Cow

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Those were the days...

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:00:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:08:00 +0000

Whatever will they do?

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:25:00 +0000

Uncertain future for Japan’s cat cafes

By Agence France-Presse

For the young women whiling away their evenings with a cappuccino in hand and a cat on their lap, Tokyo’s “neko cafes” are the ideal place to unwind and soothe their stresses.

“After a long day at work, I just want to stroke cats and relax,” said saleswoman Akiko Harada.

“I love cats, but I can’t have one at home because I live in a small apartment. I started coming here because I really missed having fun with cats and touching them.”

John Cleese on Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:01:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:45:00 +0000

Rumor: VS is expecting a girl!

In with the old, out with the new

noreply@blogger.com (Smashed) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:43:00 +0000

From today's Globe:

New England Confectionery Co. thought it could make its old-fashioned wafer appeal to a modern, health-conscious consumer by coloring and flavoring it with all natural ingredients such as cabbage and beets.

Instead, sales of Necco Wafers fell 35 percent.

“There were stacks and stacks of letters and e-mails that said, ‘Why did you do this? You ruined it,’ ’’ recalled Steve Ornell, Necco’s vice president of sales.

Less than two years after going all natural, the Revere company has gone back to its original recipe in hopes of recouping lost sales and loyal fans of the 164-year-old candy. The chalky, sugary candy that comes in eight colors is once again made of artificial dyes and flavors.