Singaporeans worry as temperature drops to low twenties

I lived in Singapore in the late nineties and I still sometimes look at the Singaporean news.  The Straights Times has an article cautioning residents that the temperature has fallen into the low twenties Celsius.

According to NEA's website, the lowest temperature recorded in Singapore was 19.4 deg C on two days in 1934. Both days were in the month of January.

The Shrinking Reach of Malaria

The Economist has a post with a set of map showing how the area affected by malaria has been shrinking over time.  Interestingly, malaria was endemic in North America and Europe until the mid-20th century.

Martial Status by Age

Flowing data has a post with a chart showing marital status by age (of Americans).  It is interesting that most men die married while most women do not.

Fuel Surplus

The Pacific Standard has an article about the amount of oil in the world.

We human beings have consumed, over our entire history, about a trillion barrels of oil.

They continue with:

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there is still seven to eight times that much left in the ground. The oil that’s left is just more difficult, and therefore more expensive, to get to.

How Tall can a Lego Tower get?

The BBC has an article, though it was in many other places as well, about a study to determine the maximum possible height of a tower made of Lego bricks.  The short answer is 3.5 km but it is worth reading the article to see how they figured that out.

via The Brothers Brick

The Sun's Energy

According to this Google+ post, the sun produces enough energy in one second to power the world for 1 million years.

Follow up: A vaguely related article in the Economist has a graph showing the falling cost per Watt of solar panels.

NYC Criminals take day off

The Guardian reports that on Monday 26 November 2012 no one was murdered, stabbed or the victim of a violent crime in New York City.

New York police department chief spokesman Paul Browne said it was "first time in memory" that the city's police force had experienced such a peaceful 24 hours.
It comes at the end of year when the city is on target to have its lowest murder rate since 1960.

I lived in New York in 1991 and I remember my colleagues there mentioning that one big advantage of living in Toronto was that if you were murdered you were guaranteed to make the news.  In NYC at the time you would have to be murdered in a particularly gruesome way to get a mention.

The British have Invaded all but 22 Countries

According to this article in the Telegraph, the British have invaded all but 22 of the 190+ countries on Earth.  They do stretch things a bit far to come up with the numbers though.  They basically use present day countries and their current borders.  Then, if the British have ever invaded any place that is now within those boundaries, they count that country as having been invaded by Britain.  Canada for example has never been invaded by the UK but is counted since territories presently held by Canada have been.

I was also rather surprised that the British have never invaded Luxembourg.

via Kottke.org

Factoid: No one born since 1935 has walked on the moon

If you look at Wikipedia's list of Apollo astronauts you will notice that the youngest, Charles Duke, was born on October 3, 1935.

No one born since 1935 has ever walked on another world.  No Baby Boomers, no Gen-X.

998,001

According to kottke.org if you divide 1 by 998,001 you get:

0.000001002003004005006007008009010011012013014015016017018019020021022023024025...

The three digit numbers in the decimal continue until 999 though they skip 998.

Factoid: Higher Muslims Have to Wait Longer to Break Fast

The Associated Press reports that Muslims who live more than 80 storeys above the ground have to wait an extra two minutes before breaking their fast during Ramadan.

Factoid: US Army loses more troops to suicide than in Iraq and Afghanistan

Congress.org reports this astounding fact about US Army losses:

For the second year in a row, the U.S. military has lost more troops to suicide than it has to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 via kottke.org

Factoid: Great Pyramid was second tallest building until 1874

According to Wikipedia, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the second tallest building in the world until 1874.  It was the tallest until 1311 when Lincoln Cathedral was built.  The pyramid had been knocked out of the top three for a while but clawed its way back in in 1625 when the spire on St. Olaf's church in Tallinn burned down.

Factoid: Carrots used to be purple

The blog Today I Found Out has a post that explains that carrots were purple until the late 16th century.

Factoid: Studying in Multiple Places is Better

According to this article in the New York Times:

In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room. Later studies have confirmed the finding, for a variety of topics.

via lifehacker

Factoid: There are two ATMs in Antarctica

According to this article there are two Wells Fargo banking machines at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Interestingly they don't have to send new money to the continent as the cash just circulates around on the base.

via kottke.org

Factoid: Bomber Costs

According to this Danger Room post:

Every time the Air Force sends a B-1B bomber on a mission over Afghanistan, it spends costs $720,000 in fuel, repair, and other costs. And when the plane comes back, it has to spend 48 hours being repaired for every hour it was in the air.

Factoid: Deutsche Bank has 60,000 pieces of contemporary art

This article in the New York Times has an article about the amount of art owned by banks.

Deutsche Bank is believed to own the largest corporate collection in the world, with some 60,000 pieces of contemporary art. UBS owns 40,000 pieces, and JPMorgan Chase 30,000. Combined, that approaches the Museum of Modern Art’s trove.

Factoid: The Soviets weren't allowed to use the Panama Canal

The BBC has an article about a Soviet warship transiting the Panama Canal after a visit to Latin America. What caught my eye was this:

The 50-mile (80km) canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was shut to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Factoid: Leno has met all the Bonds

A minor claim to fame, Jay Leno has met all of the actors who have played James Bond. And according to the same article, he thinks they should be kinder to their cars.