Black Market THC May Be Causing the Alarming Surge in Vape-Related Lung Illnesses

People being mad about Italian food online (and in my home) is one of my favorite forms of content. It’s a righteous anger, a pure anger, an anger I (usually) have to experience vicariously through my Italian-American boyfriend. But even I, a person who orders pineapple on her pizza, am slightly scandalized by The Kitchn’s Ranch Cacio e Pepe, as written by Megan Splawn.

Not that I’m above putting ranch seasoning on things. I most certainly am not. But the bellezza of cacio e pepe is that those two ingredients—freshly ground pepper and Pecorino or parm—get to shine, unobscured. Ranch, as a flavor, is an eclipser. To be fair, this dish does seem to have been created for “two kids who loathe black pepper,” so eclipsing and obscuring is exactly what it is meant to do here.

But semantics aside, I still had to know if cheesy ranch noods were something that needed to be in my life, so I made them according to Megan Splawn’s instructions:

Here’s how I make my ranch cacio e pepe at home: While the pasta is boiling, melt a nice knob of butter in a large skillet. Add 2 teaspoons of homemade ranch seasoning or a tablespoon of the packet and let the spices cook for 1 minute before adding the reserved pasta water (scant 1/2 cup) to simmer. Add the noodles, toss to coat, and follow with the Parmesan.

“A nice knob” isn’t a standardized measurement, but I know one when I see it. I ended up using three tablespoons of butter, and a tablespoon of Hidden Valley, because Hidden Valley is the platonic ideal of ranch seasoning, and one of the only reasons anyone would make their own ranch would be to avoid MSG, and I am not about that life.

The resulting noodles were fine. They tasted like ranch, but I kind of wish I had used the cheap powdered parm, as the nuances of the fancy cheese I used were hard to detect. If you like ranch, this is great news. But if you were told you would be having cacio e pepe, and you were served this, you might be disappointed or—if you are Italian—so angry that you tweet about it. This is a hack for convincing children to eat noodles, but a wack cacio e pepe recipe.

 are the textiles produced? So using organic cottons and linens and textiles that do less harm to the planet and also to the people producing them, that’s been my place to start first.

“We can’t just keep taking from the planet and exploiting people for own purposes and for the purposes of making more and more products.”

I think—actually, not I think—I know also producing locally has a huge impact 

Betty White Predates Sliced Bread

The 97-year-old actress Betty White was born in 1922, but commercially-available sliced bread didn’t hit shelves until 1928. And for more shocking celebrity ages, check out Here’s How Old These 100 Iconic Celebrities Would Be If They Were Alive In 2019.

Green Bay, Washington, Is Known as the “Toilet Paper Capital of the World”

That’s because the first “splinter-free” toilet paper was produced there in the early 1900s. The product came from the Northern Paper Mills of Green Bay and each pack had 1,000 sheets of 4-by 10-inch paper. By 1920, the mill was the world’s largest producer of bath tissue.

New Hampshire Drinks the Most Alcohol of Any State

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that New Hampshire residents drank 4.76 gallons of alcohol per capita in 2016, more than any other state. For comparison, the national average was 2.35 gallons per capita that year.

U.S. Paper Money Contains Hundreds of Species of Microorganisms

A study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that the most abundant microorganisms were ones that cause acne, as well as plenty of harmless bacteria. They also found vaginal bacteria, microbes from mouths, DNA from pets and viruses.

More Than 95 Percent of Passengers Involved in Plane Crashes Survive

Are you one of the many people with a fear of flying? Well, put your fears (mostly) to rest. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, 95 percent of passengers involved in aviation accidents actually survive. Taking a look at accidents between 1983 and 2000 involving more than 53,000 passengers, the board found that 51,207 people made it out alive. Those are some good odds!

Arizona’s Meteor Crater Is Actually Named After a Post Office

Many people have said Arizona’s Meteor Crater was misnamed and should instead be called “Meteorite Crater.” However, the site did not actually get its name from the space object that created it. Instead, the crater was actually named after the closest nearby post office, which was named Meteor.

Early Pacemakers Had Wall Plugs

According to Images in Paediatric Cardiology, pacemakers in the 1950s required patients to be hooked up to wall sockets. Yes, we’ve come a long way.

The Killer’s “Mr. Brightside” Lyrics Repeat Because of Procrastination

The first and second verse of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” are exactly the same because the lead singer, Brandon Flowers, procrastinated and didn’t feel like writing more lyrics. The singer told Rolling Stone that he wrote the lyrics at the end of his first serious relationship. When he met his guitarist, Dave Keuning, the pair was tasked with recording a demo of the song, and since Flowers hadn’t written another verse, he just simply sang the first one again. 

Your Left Lung Is Smaller than Your Right Lung

While your lungs get bigger as you grow from a child into an adult, your right lung will always be larger than your left lung. According to the Lung Institute, in human beings, the left lung is smaller so that it leaves enough room for your heart, which is located next to your lung on the left side of your body.

Sharks Can Grow Thousands of Teeth

As if you needed more of a reason to fear the deep blue sea… sharks can grow up to 30,000 teeth over their lifetime.

No Two Tigers Have the Same Stripes

In the same way that no two humans have the same fingerprints, no two tigers have the same stripes. Each tiger has its own pattern that scientists and researchers can use to distinguish one individual animal from another.

Roses Can Grow Taller Than People

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the tallest rose bush, grown in California, was 18 feet, 8 inches tall.

Nearly One-Third of Alaska Lies Within the Arctic Circle

Located on the tip of North America’s extreme northwest, Alaska is a unique state for a number of reasons—including the fact that nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the arctic circle. That’s why about half of the state is covered with tundra, which is the kind of vast treeless plains that are common in the frozen North.

Cows Get Excited When They Problem Solve

Research published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science revealed that heifers had increased heart rates and moved more after solving a problem, indicating excitement.

The Scientific Name for a “Brain Freeze” is Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia

When you eat or drink something cold and immediately feel a sharp pain in your forehead, it’s commonly referred to as a “brain freeze.” However, there’s also a scientific name for this intensely unpleasant common experience. So the next time you get a sudden headache due to the fact that you ate your ice cream too fast, you can tell the people around you that you’re suffering from sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.

Steve Jobs’ Last Words Were Awe-Inspired

According to his sister, the last words Steve Jobs spoke were “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.”

Spiders Can Regrow Their Legs

Spiders often amputate their legs as a means of escaping predators. Luckily, they can usually grow them back.

A 3,500-Year-Old Tablet May Contain the World’s Oldest “Yo Mama” Joke

As much as human culture evolves, it also stays the same. A perfect example of this is the fact that an ancient tablet found in Iraq contains the world’s oldest known “yo mama” joke.

Dating back 3,500 years and believed to be written by a Babylonian student, archaeologists determined that the text roughly translates to: “…of your mother is by the one who has intercourse with her. What/who is it? [No answer].” While it might not seem funny to us today (or really make much sense), perhaps this was hilarious thousands of years ago.

A Blue Whale’s Heart is More Than Five Feet Long

It’s also four-feet wide and can weigh upwards of 400 pounds!

You Can Die From Laughter

Chrysippus of Soli, a Greek philosopher, is rumored to have died while laughing at a donkey eating figs. So, it is possible!

In an Average Grocery Store, One-Quarter of All the Products Contain Ingredients That Come from Corn

Corn on the cob may be a staple of summer menus, but corn itself is such a staple of American food that one-quarter of all products found in an average grocery store contain ingredients that originally come from corn, according to journalist Michael Pollan’s 2006 book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. French fries and chicken nuggets wouldn’t be crispy without corn fiber—and even soft drinks contain corn syrup.

One Year on Uranus Is 84 Years on Earth

It takes Earth around 365 days to complete a trip around the sun, which is why a year on our planet lasts for that many days. However, over on Uranus, which is a lot of farther away from our star and follows a wider path around it, a single orbit takes 84 years. That means one year on Uranus lasts for nearly a century on Earth.

Cockroaches Can Survive Decapitation

That rumor about cockroaches being the sole survivors at the end of the world might not be so far off. They can often stay alive even after their heads have been cut off!

Two of John Tyler’s Grandsons Are Still Alive

Although President John Tyler was born more in 1790, two of his grandsons were still alive as of 2018.

The World’s Largest Teddy Bear Collection Numbers More Than 8,000

South Dakota resident Jackie Miley has 8,026 teddy bearsliving with her. That’s one for every nine people living in her native Rapid City.

Béla Lugosi Was Buried in His Dracula Costume

When actor Béla Lugosi, famous for his portrayal of Count Dracula, died in 1956, he was buried in his vampire costume.

Owls Have Three Sets of Eyelids

One is used when blinking, another for sleeping, and a third, called the nictitating membrane, is to clean the surface of the eye.

Queen Elizabeth Was a Mechanic

Near the end of World War II, Queen Elizabeth worked as a truck mechanic. According to History.com, the woman then known as Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor donned a pair of coveralls and trained in London as a mechanic and military truck driver. She’s the only female member of the royal family to have entered the armed forces and is the only living head of state who served in World War II.

The Largest Collection of Comic Books Is Nearly 102,000 Strong

If you’re an avid comic book fan, there’s no doubt that you’ll be impressed by the collection that Bob Bretall of Mission Viejo, California, has managed to put together. In 2015, he nabbed the world record for the largest comic book collection with 101,822 unique items.

Canada Has a Completely Indoor Town

Fermont, Canada, is so cold in the winter, it’s built so that residents never have to go outside during the seven months when temperatures dip below freezing. Homes, restaurants, supermarkets, stores, schools, a health center, bars, and a hotel are all contained in a series of interconnected structures.

Theres Is a Global Drone Racing League for Elite Drone Pilots

Flying drones has become a popular pastime for anyone who likes remote control gadgets or aerial photography. But some have taken the high-flying hobby up a notch. The Drone Racing League is a global organization for competitors who build custom machines that race while reaching speeds upward of 90 miles per hour. The league’s CEO and founder, Nicholas Horbaczewski, told Forbes, “It allows you to really focus on the innovation of technology, and gives a platform to test and refine it.”

Robert Downey, Jr. Used to Be Mr. Peanut’s Voice

When the Planters mascot got a makeover in 2010, Iron Man himself, Robert Downey, Jr., was behind his voice.

It’s Impossible to Hum While Holding Your Nose

Go ahead and hum whatever tune pops into your head. Now, hold your nose and try to hum that same tune. Notice anything? While you still might be able to push out an awkward sound, it’s no longer humming. That’s because when you’re humming, you’re actually making the same sound as a prolonged M consonant, which is done by moving air through your nasal passages. In fact, when you hum, you should feel a little buzzing in your nose. But when you close your mouth to hum and hold your nose at the same time, the air has no way to escape and the humming sound isn’t created.

Ostriches Can Outrun Horses

Ostriches’ elastic tendons mean they have to exert less energy to run than your average animal does. According to research published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, this low energy expenditure means they could outrun many animals capable of running long distances, like horses.

The First 3D Film Was Shown in 1922

The first 3D film, called The Power of Love, had its premiere at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel Theater on September 27, 1922.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Considered Building Their Stadium Over a River

Pittsburgh sports fans may be familiar with PNC Park, home to the Pittsburgh Pirates. But even those who follow baseball may not have known that the Pennsylvania city once had plans for a “Jetsons-style stadium” that would have been positioned over the Monongahela River. The design from 1958 featured a large futuristic stadium building as well as a hotel and parking area that would’ve spanned a wide bridge-like structure located where the Smithfield Street Bridge stands today.

There’s a Flower Shop in the White House

There’s a flower shop in the basement of the White House, where flowers are stored for arrangements throughout the building.

The Bigger Your Brain, the Longer You Yawn

Andrew Gallup, a psychologist and professor at the State University of New York, Oneonta, compiled a list of animals—elephants, cats, gorillas, sheep, camels, and walruses—and told his students to go online and find as many videos of these creatures yawning as possible, according to a report by The Atlantic.

The students gathered enough evidence to show that the size of an animal’s brains (not to the overall size of the animal itself or the size of its mouth) seemed to be directly related to the length of its yawn. So basically, if an animal yawns for a long time, you can safely assume it has a “heavy” brain.

Waffle House Informs FEMA Decisions

Although it’s not an official metric, the Federal Emergency Management Agency gets information from Waffle Houseabout their closings and limited menus to determine the severity of storms.

“Albert Einstein” Is an Anagram for “Ten Elite Brains”

It seems incredibly appropriate that the name of genius Albert Einstein is an anagram—meaning it uses the exact same letters—as the phrase “ten elite brains.” It’s also an anagram of “elite brain nest.”

Oysters Can Change Sexes

Oysters that were initially male can become female over time. That’s because, in oysters, sex is determined partly by environment.

A Grizzly-Polar Bear Hybrid Is Either Called a “Grolar Bear” or “Pizzly Bear”

There are grizzly bears and there are polar bears, and when the two come together to make a little bear baby, it’s called either a “grolar bear” (the offspring of a male grizzly and a female polar bear) or a “pizzly bear” (the offspring of a male polar bear and a female grizzly). Generally, the animals have a shape that resembles a grizzly with a lighter color that’s inherited from the polar bear.

Cell Phones Are Illegal in One West Virginia Town

In Green Bank, West Virginia, no wireless signals are allowed, because they could interfere with the operation of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s radio telescope.

In Michigan, You’re Never Further than Six Miles from a Body of Water

No matter where you are in the state, you’ll never be more than six miles from a body of water. On top of that, you’ll also be within 85 miles of one of the Great Lakes.

A Flock of Ravens Is Called an “Unkindness” or a “Conspiracy”

If you ever spot a flock of ravens hanging out together, what you’re seeing is called an “unkindness” or a “conspiracy.” Hmm, suspicious, indeed.

Divers Found the Remains of a 27,000-Year-Old Giant Sloth Stuck in a Sinkhole

In 2014, while divers in central Belize were looking for Mayan artifacts in a deep sinkhole, they came across something a lotolder—the remains of a giant sloth that got stuck and died a staggering 27,000 years ago. To be precise, it was a humerus, femur, and a tooth that they found, which helped them determine the animal’s age.

Pizza Hut Used to Buy More Kale Than Anyone in the U.S.

Back when Pizza Hut had salad bars, the chain was the largest purchaser of kale in the United States. However, that kale wasn’t making it into salad: It was just used to spruce up the look of the salad bar. My, how times have changed.

Turkeys Sing

If you play music for a turkey, it might just sing along with it. You can have a listen here.

The Winner of the North American Wife Carrying Championship Gets Their Spouse’s Weight in Beer

If you’re the big winner of the North American Wife Carrying Championship—which literally involves carrying your significant other through a lengthy obstacle course as fast as you can without dropping them—you’ll be awarded with your spouse’s weight in beer and five times her weight in cash.

In order to figure out how much that is, the wife gets up on a seesaw and cases of beer are placed on the other side until the two sides even out. The winner can also choose to compete at the World Championship held annually in Finland where the activity originated.