HOME |
RSS | 
Anemia is a serious problem in Cambodia, leading to birth defects and impaired brain development. Chris Charles, a graduate student at the University of Guelph in Canada, was trying to persuade villagers there to increase the amount of iron in their diet. A simple solution would be to stir chunks of iron inside cooking pots, but Charles encountered serious resistance to this idea. His solution, which gained broad acceptance, was to shape the iron like a local fish considered lucky:
“We designed it about 3 or 4 inches long, small enough to be stirred easily but large enough to provide up to about 75 per cent of the daily iron requirement,” said Charles. They found a local scrap metal worker who could make them for $1.50 each, and so far they have been reusing the fish roughly three years.
“We’re getting fantastic results; there seems to be a huge decrease in anemia and the village women say they feel good, no dizziness, fewer headaches. The iron fish is incredibly powerful.”
Link -via @MarilynTerrell | Photo: Christopher Charles
Pigs don’t sweat much, so they wallow in the mud to cool off their bodies. So how did the English language expression “sweating like a pig” develop? It’s actually a reference to pig iron, which is form of iron smelting:
When pig iron is originally created from iron ore, the smelter needs to heat the ore to extreme temperatures, and then move the liquid metal into the mold. Until the liquid cools, it can’t be safely moved, as the extremely hot metal is liable to spill, burning whatever it comes in contact with.
How does the smelter know when the metal is cool enough to transport? When the “pigs” “sweat.” As the metal cools, the air around it reaches the dew point, causing droplets to form on the metal’s surface.
Link | Photo via Flickr user The Pug Father used under Creative Commons license
The scaly-foot gastropod (Crysomallon squamiferum) is one badass deep sea snail. Not only does it live in the foot of black smokers at the Kairei hydrothermal vent field, with temperatures reaching 725 °F, it is also tough as nails (snails, nails, get it?)
Now, scientists have figured out why their exoskeleton is so tough: it’s got iron.
Crysomallon squamiferum was discovered back in 1999, over two miles below the central Indian Ocean, deep within hydrothermal vent fields. Fluids in these vents are high in sulfides and metals, which the snail incorporates into its shell. The gastropod’s shell has three layers: a highly calcified inner layer, a thick organic middle layer, and an outer layer that is fused with granular iron sulfide. It is unlike any other known natural or synthetically engineered armor.
Naturally, the military is interested in how to turn it into armor technology: Link – via collision detection
In Nuanquan, China there is a unique tradition dating back about 500 years to celebrate the Lantern Festival. Instead of using fireworks like any old place – or that the fact that fireworks were invented in China back in the 12th century – these folks celebrate it by using something a bit more dangerous and beautiful with molten iron which is then flung at a wall creating a cascade of sparks. What do they use for protection? Sheep skins and a hat…
**I highly recommend watching this clip by clicking on the High Quality button to really enjoy it!
via – Gizmodo
Melting chocolate bunnies has never been as disturbing or creepy. And don’t get me started on the music used for this video! The creepiest one is the hairdryer scene. Brrrrrrr! Created by the Danish Dutch filmmaker Sander Plug.
Sander Plug’s website – Link
*Correction – Sander Plug is Dutch not Danish! Thank you tripleX! 
