NASA Wants To “Touch The Sun”
NASA is set to reveal new details about an unprecedented mission to "touch the sun."
The agency will make an announcement live on NASA Television tomorrow morning. Solar Probe Plus will launch in the summer of 2018 to explore the sun's outer atmosphere. Scientists hope to learn more about how stars work and answer questions plaguing them for decades. This will be NASA's first mission to fly into the sun's atmosphere.Source: USA Today
“Star Wars” Lightsaber League Is Calling All Fans
A San Diego-based Star Wars Lightsaber league is growing.
The league is called the Underground Lightsaber Fighters of San Diego and members gather each month at Balboa Park. Participants say they are Sci-Fi enthusiasts who enjoy what they call simulated saber combat. When the fighters come together they must have their own protective gear and there are rankings like any other sport.
The creator of the group says nerds no longer have to stay in the basement. The group has a website that includes “rules of combat.” Source: KGTV
Today is National Mint Julep Day
May 30th is National Mint Julep Day! A mint Julep is a delicious cocktail, which is mostly popular during the summer. This drink is made with bourbon whiskey, mint, water, and sugar. A trick that many bartenders and Julep lovers use is to gently bruise the mint before adding the other ingredients. This enhances the herb’s distinctive flavor and scent. Traditionally, a mint julep is served in a silver or pewter cup filled with shaved ice.
According to many sources, the mint julep was introduced in the 1800’s by Kentucky Senator Henry Clay. As early as 1816, county fair champions in the South received silver julep cups as awards. Today, the mint julep is still associated with the South, and it is known as the official drink of the Kentucky Derby. Over the course of the two-day event, almost 120,000 mint juleps are served at Churchill Downs!
The Kentucky Derby may have passed, but that’s no reason to stop enjoying this unique drink. Make one of these cocktails to celebrate!
Should You Be Showering at Night?
We all have our specific shower routines - some of us do it at night while others do it in the morning. It just depends on our schedules and how we like to start or end our days, right? But could there be a right and wrong time to shower? According to researchers at the Center for Sleep Medicine at New York-Presbyterian, it might be best to shower at night.
Why? Turns out it’s better to cool down before you hit the sack. If you give yourself about an hour and a half post-shower, your body will cool down and tell your brain it’s time for sleep.
So unless you’re sleep sweating…maybe something to try?
Source: BuzzFeed
Help Fight Mosquitoes With These Plants
Summery weather is here and along with the lovely long warm days comes something we don’t love so much about the season - mosquitoes. Sure, you can coat yourself in sticky chemicals to ward them off, but who wants to do that? So here are some plants that can help keep you mosquito-bite-free while you enjoy your fun in the summer sun.
- Lavender - We think it smells fantastic, but bugs? Not so much. Look for the lavandin variety, it has a high concentration of camphor that keeps the critters away.
- Lemon balm - It smells lemony, but it’s more appealing than citronella. And the plant has high levels of citronellal, a compound bugs don’t like.
- Basil - It’s not just for cooking anymore! Having a pot of basil around is great because the plant emits a strong scent and you don’t even have to crush the leaves.
- Catnip - Your kitty will love it, and you will too when you learn that mosquitoes hate catnip.
- Mint - You can make a mojito with it and it’s good for your skin, too. Mint leaves can keep mosquitoes away, but if you do get one, the essential oils in it can soothe the bites.
Source: Woman’s Day
MIT Invents Shape-Shifting Pasta
Thanks to the brilliant minds at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), pasta that changes shapes is now a thing. Their Media Lab conceived the idea for their shape-shifting semolina as a way to help lower the cost of packaging and shipping pasta.
Right now, 67% if the volume of a pasta package is air because of the bulky shapes and sizes of some kinds of pasta, like macaroni. But with these new high-tech noodles, they start out flat and when they come into contact with water, transform into different twisty and curly shapes.
With flat pasta packages, companies could ship more product at a time. And the smaller packages would be more convenient when you’re trying to travel light, like on backpacking trips or in military rations. It’s been successful during testing at high-end restaurants, so we could see it on the shelves at the supermarket in the future.
Source: Foodbeast