Brain Junk

Col. William H Jackson had a favorite tree. So, somewhere around 1832, Colonel Jackson gave the white oak tree to itself (and the city of Athens, GA played along). As of this broadcast, that tree’s offspring still grows on the same spot. We have so many questions.

image by Felix Wong https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

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Help us lean into the New Year with the many Scottish traditions surrounding Hogmanay! There are wee drams of whiskey and balls of fire and cleaning out the house to get ready for the coming year. Raise a glass with us in the hopes of a better 2021.

Show Notes:

Hogmanay Wiki

Visit Scotland: Hogmanay

Trip Savvy: Hogmanay

Comrie Flambeaux

 

Awesome Stonehaven Fireballs!:

 

Biggar Bonfire

Photo Credit: Geograph UK, via the Creative Commons License.

The Loony Dook

Photo Credit: Geograph UK, via the Creative Commons License.

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Happy almost New Year! Amy and Trace got together to socially distance snack. We try some dried mushrooms, chips, a surprise snack, and some candy. We had a fantastic time getting back together in person!

All the snacks!







Happy New Year!!!

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Tired of cold feet and longs nights huddled under not quite warm enough blankets? Maybe you need a box bed. Originating in medieval times, making a bed walled in on all sides made for a cozy night’s sleep.

And sorry again for Zoom remote sound quality. Thanks for being so understanding!

Show Notes:

The double-decker-box-bed below can be found on A Strange and Wonderful Collection along with many other awesome examples!

Apartment Therapy-Box Beds

bellac.com – Box Beds

Image credit: A Strange and Wonderful Collection

 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

There are only approximately 400,000 elephants left in the world. Frustrated and saddened by this stark statistic, Dr. Lucy King set out to find a way to make elephants less of a threat to people and crops. Her ingenious solution does just that AND saves elephant's lives too.

Show Notes:

African anti-elephant beehive fence. image: Elephantsandbees.com

Dr. Lucy King Ted Talk

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Ramesses II (Also known as Ramses or Rameses) became Pharaoh at the age of 14, had more children than any other Egyptian ruler, and reigned during the golden age of Egypt. But of course his history isn’t exactly what we’re talking about on this episode.

Show Notes:

NatGeo Mummy Passport

NatGeo Weird Passports

Ripleys: Mummy Passport

Ancient Origins Mummy Passport

A mock up for the only mummy with a passport. Ramesses II ( Public Domain ) on an example of an Egyptian Passport Bio Page. ( Public Domain )

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When we tried to start recording, the neighbors revved up their engines and insisted on mowing their lawns--so we had all the wacky background noise!

For Thanksgiving we got together to taste test Brach's Turkey Dinner flavored candy corn. It was an outdoor, socially distanced adventure that we just had to share with you. It's like an episode of Chopped where they tried to make candy corn into a savory dish.

image: from the Brach's website

Trace's chickens and her husband, Chas, make a guest appearance! (We gave him a Turkey candy corn and he hated it)

The candy corn flavors were weird, but we had so much fun.

In order from left to right: Turkey, Cranberry, Green Bean, Ginger Carrot, Stuffing,
Sweet Potato Pie

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On July 6th, 1930 Fred Newton dipped a toe into the Mississippi river and explained to reporters that he planned to swim from Minneapolis to New Orleans. Along the way he encountered floating rafts of manure and other hazards. It wasn't an adventure for the faint of heart.

Show Notes:

Smithsonian Magazine - Fred Newton Swims the Mississippi

Washington Post-Swimming Down the Mississippi for Dear Life

Fred Newton

Image Courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine

Map courtesy Wikimedia Commons

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In 1532 the Spanish found out what everyone in South America already knew--potatoes are amazing. But when they brought them back to Europe the reception wasn't so great. No one was impressed by a food harvested out of the dirt.

When famine hit Prussia in 1774, King Frederick the Great had a plan to get his starving people to eat the dreaded potato.

Check out his grave in Germany and leave a potato.

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A word on sound quality: We’re still recording remotely. Just pretend Amy is on the moon, reporting from her own personal lunar module.

Besides the lander modules left by each mission, there’s a lot of unexpected junk and treasures left behind by America’s six trips to the moon.

Show Notes:

Check out a hammer vs feather drop experiment done on the moon. Commander David Scott did the demo during the Apollo 15 moon walk. Experiment at 0:23.

 

Family photo left on the moon by
astronaut Charlie Duke.
image: NASA





The Apollo 15 mission left behind a lunar rover. Too bad the batteries will be long dead by the time another mission lands on the moon. image: NASA





In our era of special effects, these moon photos look so ordinary. This is Neil Armstrong. Reflected in his helmet is Buzz Aldrin taking his picture. That flag, the rover, it’s tracks and their footprints are still there. image: NASA

RMG.co.UK Things left on the moon.
NASA Hammer Feather Drop with article

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