Saturday, April 01, 2017

Things I learned lately - 1 April


  • Gum as we know it really dates back to the Maya, who chewed dried sapodilla latex, called chicle. This came to Staten Island with exiled Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna in 1869. He tried peddling chicle as a replacement for rubber tires, but local businessman Thomas Adams realized it had potential to be more fun. He invented the Chiclet.
  • 68% of polled Monopoly players admitted that they've never read the rules. 30% have made up some of their own rules. For example, that rule about collected tax goes to whoever lands on Free Parking? Made up
  • When you land on an unclaimed property in Monopoly, if you pass on buying it, it's supposed to go up for auction to the highest bidder. You can enter the bidding too. That's a real rule!
  • Being on the 'Go to Jail' tile in Monopoly does NOT stop you from earning rent or bidding on property. In fact, being in jail is the safest place to be, because for 2 turns, you'll never risk landing on someone else's property.
  • If you land on someone else's property, you don't have to pay any rent to the owner, if the owner doesn't ask for their rent before the next player rolls the dice. Booyah!
  • Amazon's Prime Air program is on trial in the UK. Drones delivering packages with up to the second updates on your phone. 
  • Kevin Kumala, from Indonesia, has created a bag that looks like plastic, but is made from cassava starch. It is 100% biodegradable and even edible. He proved it by dissolving the material in water and drinking it. This could get big.
  • Nestle has made a scientific breakthrough that has the potential to reduce sugar in its candy products by up to 40%. Using only natural ingredients, researchers had found a way to structure sugar differently, so that less sugar can be used in chocolate with no difference to taste. Nestle will begin to use the faster-dissolving sugar across a range of its confectionery products from 2018.
  • Most famous band from Alabama: Alabama; Kansas: Kansas.

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