Like buried treasure, 36 Chevy Corvettes sat in several garages for 25 years. They belonged to artist Peter Max, who had planned to use the vehicles for an art project that never came to fruition. In 2014, they were finally purchased by two families of auto aficionados with intentions of examining each car individually for its potential.  

As it turns out, the tale of how 36 Chevrolet Corvettes can go instantaneously from making TV headlines to disappearing in plain sight for a quarter-century isn't as nefarious as one might suspect. Back in 1988, long before VH1 dumped actual music for reality-based programming, the network figured it could tap into its then baby-boomer demographic and snag some ratings with a mega promotion based on the iconic Corvette. So the network enlisted a producer to gather 36 Vettes, one from each production year from 1953 to 1989 (the 1983 model year was skipped when production was halted to prepare for the launch of the '84 C4). The giveaway was a call-in affair that required contestants to enter by dialing a 900 number at the cost of $2 per call. By the time VH1 had milked this promotion for all it was worth, more than a million people had entered.

Max bought the whole collection from the contest winner, but never did anything with them. The story has been updated. Five years on, some of the cars have been completely restored, while others have been simply "spruced up." And you could get your hands on one, if you're lucky.

The owners of the collection, the Heller and Spindler families, formed the Corvette Heroes entity to raffle off the cars with proceeds going to the National Guard Educational Foundation (NGEF) and numerous additional charities that benefit veterans. Each entry is good for one car, and you cannot pick the car you wish to win; the deadline for entries is 12:00 p.m. Pacific time, April 30, 2020. The drawing will take place at an independent auditors' firm on or about 14 days later.

See more pictures of the Corvettes and enter the raffle at the Corvette heroes website. Tickets are $3 each, or less if you buy multiple tickets. You can also enter without a donation by instructions on the rules page. -via reddit

Kim Draper of Springfield, Illinois recently received a postcard in her mailbox. But there’s something unusual about this postcard: it was sent 26 years ago. The (super) late postcard started Draper on a hunt for its original sender and intended recipient, she told The State Journal Register.

The postcard, which was dated July 8, 1993 was addressed to a Leena and Muhammad Ali Kizilbash from their father. For a postcard that stayed in the mail system for around 26 years, Draper was amazed that it managed to retain its quality.  

Associated Press has picked up the story and added that the postcard will be reunited back to its original recipient:

With the help of social media, Draper learned that Kizilbash’s son, Mohammad Kizilbash, now lives in suburban Chicago. A reunion with the postcard is planned.

“I thought that was really gracious of her, she went out of her way to track us down,” Mohammad said. “I’m looking forward to getting this postcard. This is one to keep.”

image credit: Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via Associated Press

It all started with the University of Western Australia obstetrics and microbiology researcher Lisa Stinson, who stumbled upon a hilariously-titled research paper. She shared her findings online, saying , "I just found the world's best paper title". Stinson attached a screenshot of the research paper, which was titled, "Fantastic yeasts and where to find them: the hidden diversity of dimorphic fungal pathogens". 

Who knew that the formal, dry, serious, and jargon-heavy field of academic writing can bring forth such gems? Apparently, other scientists can as well! Following the footsteps of Stinson, other researchers and scientists share other well-crafted titles :

pic.twitter.com/osXNJvagYO

— Kim Madden (@KimMaddenPhD) July 9, 2019

Now that’s something to take note of for your next academic writing - maybe your reviewer would find it amusing as well!

(via Science Alert)

On June 26 in Guthrie, Oklahoma, police officers pulled over a car when they noticed that the car tags were expired. The driver caught was Stephen Jennings. The man’s passenger, Rachael Rivera, was charged with possession of a firearm after a former felony conviction. 

The police searched the car and got more than what they bargained for: 

"So now he's got a rattlesnake, a stolen vehicle, firearm and somebody under arrest," Guthrie Police Sgt. Anthony Gibbs told CNN affiliate KFOR.

Then they found one more thing: a canister of radioactive powdered uranium.

"When that happens, of course, we call in a company that deals with that specifically, and it's taken safely into possession," Gibbs said. "The uranium is the wild card in that situation.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

It has been a long-running debate on exactly where the different regions of the United States start and end. 

To address the issue, author Colin Woodward made a map showing that the United States can be divided into 11 distinct sub-nations. 

Woodard mapped out the regions in his 2012 book " American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America." 

[...]

"In order to have any productive conversation on these issues, you need to know where you come from," he said. "Once you know where you are coming from, it will help move the conversation forward."

Here are the 11 sub-nations according to Woodward:

1. Yankeedom
2. New Netherland
3. The Midlands
4. Tidewater
5. Greater Appalachia
6. Deep South
7. New France
8. El Norte
9. The Far West
10. The Left Coast
11. First Nation

Head over at Business Insider for the detailed description of this 11 sub-nations by Woodward.

Image: Colin Woodard

On Monday morning, a truck flipped over during a terrible crash on a busy freeway in Chicago. One man inside was able to climb out, but the other was trapped.

Almost immediately, other drivers stopped and rushed to his aid. Together, these men flipped the pickup truck over and pulled the crash victim, Orlando Hernandez, to safety. ABC News reports:

Tom Meyers was leaving his full-time job as a firefighter in Rosemont, Illinois, for his part-time firefighting job in Aurora Township when he drove past the scene.

"Anytime you see something like that happen, you always … have that urge to help," he told WLS. [...]

Meyers and others used the construction workers' tools to break the windshield and cut Hernandez's seat belt, WLS reported.

The group cheered once they realized Hernandez wasn't seriously injured.

-via Nick Short

Redditor emilou09 asked, "I’m cooking one meal from every state in the United States, what meal best represents your state?" It's an ongoing project for her that you can follow at Instagram, where she is so far only in the states that begin with A. The response has been overwhelming, with thousands of suggestions. But life's not fair: there are dozens of iconic dishes from Louisiana and all are correct, while no one seems to know what they eat in Connecticut. Meanwhile, I had to keep checking Wikipedia for food terms that are new to me.

Laulau (Hawaii)

In old Hawaii laulau was assembled by taking a few luau leaves and placing a few pieces of fish and pork in the center. In modern times, the dish uses taro leaves, salted butterfish, and either pork, beef, or chicken and is usually steamed on the stove. Laulau is a typical plate lunch dish and is usually served with a side of rice and macaroni salad.[1]

Jojos (Oregon)

Jojos are potato wedges fried in the same vat as chicken and usually eaten plain alongside fried chicken, coleslaw, and baked beans.[2]

Tri-tip (California)

The tri-tip is a triangular cut of beef from the bottom sirloin subprimal cut, consisting of the tensor fasciae latae muscle. Untrimmed, the tri-tip weighs around 5 pounds.[1]

Sometimes labeled "Santa Maria steak," the roast is quite popular in the Central Valley regions and the Central Coast of California.[10] Along with top sirloin, tri-tip is considered central to Santa Maria-style barbecue. In central California, the fat is left on the outside of the cut to enhance flavor when grilling, while butchers elsewhere trim the fat side for aesthetic purposes.

Runza (Nebraska)

A runza (also called a bierock, krautburger, fleischkuche, or kraut pirok) is a yeast dough bread pocket with a filling consisting of beef, cabbage or sauerkraut, onions, and seasonings.

Knoephla (North Dakota)

Traditional knoephla soup is a thick chicken and potato soup, almost to the point of being a stew. It is particularly common in the U.S. states of Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota, where there was significant settlement of German emigrants from the Russian Empire.

Mofongo (Puerto Rico)

Mofongo (Spanish pronunciation: [moˈfoŋɡo]) is a Puerto Rican dish with fried plantains as its main ingredient.[1] Plantains are picked green and fried, then mashed with salt, garlic, and oil in a wooden pilón (mortar and pestle).[2][3] The goal is to produce a tight ball of mashed plantains that will absorb the attending condiments and have either pork cracklings (Chicharrón) or bits of bacon inside. Most dressings and mixtures include broth, garlic, and olive oil. It is traditionally served with fried meat and chicken broth soup.[4] Particular flavors result from variations that include vegetables, chicken, shrimp, beef, or octopus packed inside or around the plantain orb.

Chislic (South Dakota)

Chislic (or sometimes chislick) is a traditional dish of cubed red meat most commonly localized to the state of South Dakota (United States). Traditionally made from mutton or lamb, but has also been associated with wild game, deer and venison mostly, and even cubed beef steak depending on preparation.

You may want to peruse the many responses at reddit, and in the discussion at Metafilter, but be aware that they will make you hungry at some point.

To be more specific, the research found some correlation between the type of people with whom we tend to hang out when we experience a certain type of mood. For example, they found that when we feel happy, we go out of our way to meet strangers. But when we feel sad, we turn to our friends and loved ones.

The study’s authors provide this portrait of what their results mean: If someone were especially unhappy at noon on a Saturday, that person would be almost two times more likely to see a friend that afternoon than if he or she were especially happy at noon.

Meanwhile, if that person were particularly happy, his or her odds of interacting with a stranger that afternoon would go up by 20 percent. Those interactions might then feed on each other, with strangers making the person uncomfortable and less happy and close friends cheering him or her up again—and make the person eager to spend time with more strangers.

These results, as the researchers mentioned, only show correlation and not causation which means that these events or patterns of behavior do not necessarily follow one after the other. So say, if a person were expecting to meet someone new, they might try to pump themselves up to prepare for the interaction.

-via Kottke

(Image credit: Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash)

Proof that Instagram influencers have ruined everything👇

My hopes & dreams were shattered when I found out the “water” at the Gates of Heaven is actually just a piece of glass under an iPhone 😭 pic.twitter.com/oiahI5VCIo

— Polina Marinova (@polina_marinova) July 4, 2019

The picture captured on Bali’s “Gates of Heaven” with a reflection of a clear body of water is truly a breathtaking photo. 

You might have seen the stunning picture of Bali’s “Gates of Heaven,” featuring the temple’s gates over a clear body of water reflecting the architecture’s details. 

The temple’s beautiful gate made it a popular location for social media pics, but that beautiful body of water pic is quite fake. There is actually no water around this stunning split gate. 

Twitter user @polina_marinova showed proof that the “water” is really just a piece of glass under a camera.

Image: @polina_marinova/ Twitter

Pima County Sheriff posted some photos on Facebook about a peculiar incidence of car versus cactus. Somehow, the driver of this car managed to impale his vehicle with a large saguaro cactus. As you can imagine, alcohol was involved.

On July 10, 2019, at approximately 9:20am, deputies responded to the area of 1st Avenue and Agave Place reference a vehicle that crossed the median, and struck a saguaro cactus. Once on scene they located the vehicle with a large section of cactus through the windshield. The driver, who appeared disoriented, sustained minor injuries, and was later detained after deputies observed possible signs and symptoms associated with impairment.

Image: Pima County Sheriff’s Department/ Facebook

For the ultimate in home security, you need a fortified offshore tower armed with muzzle-loading cannons.

This gun tower in Pembroke Dock, Wales, UK, was built in 1851 to protect the harbor from invasion. It was manned during World War I and II, when the UK was again under threat.

And now it's for sale! You can buy the fort and live in at as a home for a mere £70,000 ($87,000 USD). Here's the real estate listing.

It even comes with the original cannons! Really, the place has everything you could ask for in a residence. The Daily Mail reports:

The Grade II listed tower has substantial curved walls that are 13 metres high and up to 2.7 metres thick in some parts. [...]

It is accessed via a long walkway built on land owned by the Crown Estate, which would be leased for an annual 'peppercorn' rent, according to John Francis, the estate agent handling the sale.

A peppercorn rent is a nominal rent--usually consisting of a single peppercorn. I suggest trying to buy the walkway, then rigging it with demolition charges for emergency use.

-via Ace of Spades HQ

Sure, a skilled parent with time and proper sewing equipment on hand can adapt a costume to suit a child with special needs. But wouldn't it be nice if big retailers offered them for sale, ready to go? Now they do. Biz Women reports:

Target will offer four costumes this Halloween that cater to children with special needs, including covers that transform a wheelchair into a pirate ship or princess carriage and costumes without the tags and seams that can be problematic for children with sensory-processing disorders. [...]

In April, the company added adaptive pieces to its Pillowfort kids’ furniture collection that accommodate both the need for stimulation and for calming, per Fast Company, including a foam “crash pad,” a desk chair that rocks, a weighted blanket and bean bag chairs with waterproof covers.

In addition to the pirate and princess wheelchair-friendly costumes, the Halloween line includes a shark and a unicorn costume both with flat seams and no tags and detachable parts and hidden openings to accommodate dressing challenges.

-via TYWKIWDBI | Photo: Target

Animator Tibo Charroppin has a muse: his cat, Lizzy. Not only is Lizzy a good cat, she can step in for any movie star in any movie, or just improve a film with her presence. Lizzy has become a famous internet star known as OwlKitty.   

Aside from being “just really stinking cute,” Lizzy is a seamless star in these blockbusters thanks to Charroppin’s animation and video manipulation skills. With the help of a green screen and a knack for impeccable timing, Lizzy swats, pounces, and scratches her way into the center of everything. The videos are meant to make you laugh, which is why Charroppin began creating them in the first place. “We [he and Olivia, Lizzy’s mom] started this account,” he says, “wanting to make stupid videos for our friends and it really blew out of proportion.” But, there is a heartwarming, earnest point to all the fun. “We’re trying to show that shelter cats, adopted cats, foster cats,” Olivia explains, “that they all have this star power.”

Charroppin gives us a look behind the scenes of making these movies here. See a collection of the best OwlKitty movies, including Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, Rogue One, John Wick, The Matrix, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at My Modern Met. Keep up with all the Owlkitty videos, pics, and magazine covers at Instagram.  -via Everlasting Blort

Florence Parly, the French Defence Minister, announced on Monday that the French submarine Minerve has been found. 

The Minerve submarine had been missing for over 50 years ever since it disappeared along with 52 sailors aboard, near the port of Toulon, on the French south coast, in January 1968. Previous attempts to search for the submarine have been unsuccessful.

Ms Parly announced the new recovery effort earlier this year, following fresh requests from bereaved families to find their loved ones.

"We have just found the Minerva," Ms Parly tweeted (in French). "It's a success, a relief and a technical feat. I think of the families who have been waiting for this moment so long."

[...]

The missing submarine was found 45km (30 miles) from Toulon 2,370m (7,800ft) under the surface, AFP reports.

It was one in a string of a deadly disasters involving military submarines around the world during the 1960s.

(Image Credit: AFP)

A new study published on Monday in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer suggests that a germ-free childhood followed by infections later in life can trigger childhood leukemia. The paper found out that acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer, is caused by a two-step process.

The first step is a genetic mutation before birth that predisposes a child to the risk of developing this form of leukemia. The second step is exposure to certain infections later in childhood, after clean early childhoods that limited exposure to infections.

More specifically, children who grew up in cleaner households during their first year and interacted less with other children are more likely to develop acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the paper says.

[...]

… "The research strongly suggests that (this cancer) has a clear biological cause, and is triggered by a variety of infections in predisposed children whose immune systems have not been properly primed."

[...]

However, other experts warn that more specifics needs to be confirmed and emphasize that hygiene and safety are still crucial.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, known as ALL, is a form of blood cancer that is most often diagnosed in children ages zero to 4 years old, though older children and adults can also be diagnosed. It develops quickly, over days or weeks, building up in the blood and spreads to other parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, liver and nervous system. The main form of treatment is chemotherapy.

Find out more about this interesting study over at CNN.

(Image Credit: PublicDomainPictures/ Pixabay)