We occasionally drink Snapple tea. Not very often though so we use the small single serving containers. These containers have pieces of trivia on the inside of the caps that can be very interesting and sometimes so ridiculous one would think there is no way this is true. A few nights ago we ran across a couple of "bits of knowledge" that to us fell in the ridiculous category.
In the 1960s the U.S. Government tried to turn a cat into a spy.
We have owned cats and I am convinced they can be trained to do little more than eat, go to the bathroom, and sleep. Our government is always thinking however. Operation Acoustic Kitty was intended to surgically embed a transmitter, antennae and batteries in a cat who had been specially trained by the CIA. The intent was to have Acoustic Kitty sit near persons of interest and eavesdrop on the conversation.
After months of training and surgeries to outfit the cat, Acoustic Kitty was ready for its first mission. The intent was to have Acoustic Kitty sit near two men on a park bench so their conversation could be recorded. Acoustic Kitty was dispatched from the van housing the recording equipment and was on its way to the park bench. While attempting to get into position to listen to the conversation, Acoustic Kitty wandered into a street and was ran over by a taxi.
The operation costs an estimated $20 million dollars and the life of at least one cat. After the death of Acoustic Kitty, the project was terminated in 1967.
When the CIA Learned Cats Make Bad Spies
The CIA Experimented On Animals in the 1960s Too. Just Ask ‘Acoustic Kitty’
Peanut butter can be converted into diamonds.
Imagine, you have a few diamonds just sitting in your kitchen cabinets somewhere. Plus it's not just peanut butter but anything that is rich in carbon. Scientist Dan Frost of the Bayerisches Geoinstitut in Germany has been experimenting and making diamonds from various carbon rich materials, including peanut butter.
The formation of diamonds involves taking carbon and exposing it to intense pressure (280,000 to 1.3 million times atmospheric pressure) and intense heat (4000°F). Too bad we can't do this with a pressure cooker in our kitchens. Scientists tell us these are the conditions 500 miles beneath the surface of the earth where today's diamonds would be formed naturally. By studying the artificial formation of diamonds Frost is hoping to gain a better understanding of the conditions deep within the planet.
Frost hardly expects to get rich forming artificial diamonds. It would take weeks to make a rough diamond that could then be cut into a 1/4 carat diamond for jewelry. The research does have the potential for forming new compounds based on diamonds by adding other chemicals to the carbon being used that could be used in electronics or other applications currently utilizing small diamonds.
Frost has even been able to make diamonds from the CO2 in the atmosphere, literally making diamonds from thin air. I can just imagine liberals looking to use this technology as a new carbon sequestration program to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
How to make diamonds from scratch - with peanut butter
Scientist Creates Diamonds From Peanut Butter
There you have it, proof that what sounds ridiculous at first may actually be true.