A list of curious things

One: According to popular legend, the British Empire was not founded by money-grubbing mercantilists, but conjured up by John Dee, Queen Elizabeth the First’s court magician. In one version of the tale, he summoned up a demon. In the other: He sacrificed the famous playwright Chrisopher Marlowe. And the exact spot is marked by a rather unremarkable stone circle in London. Big Think has the rest of the Da Vinci Code-worthy story. 

Two: Heinz ketchup has rolled out the oddest thing ever: “a ketchup bottle-shaped gadget that allows users to squeeze the most out of a condiment packet.” And it’s calling it the “biggest innovation in sauce since the packet itself.” And the website warns: “Do not click ‘purchase’ unless you are prepared to change everything about the way you sauce.” We can not stop laughing. 

Three: Rave Reviews used social media analysis to figure out the most hated brands ever. Their big finding: Sony is the ‘popular global brand’ that is the most hated in most countries. In India, the ‘winner’ is Vodafone. Check out the results over at Rave Reviews—and a bigger map (or tap to zoom).

Four: A 2006 New Yorker essay tells the story of how Shashikant Phadnis and his graduate school advisor Leslie Hough created a wildly popular condiment. The original is behind a paywall, but here’s the funniest part of the story according to Economic Times:

“Phadnis was working with his adviser, Leslie Hough, to develop new insecticides and had just added sulfuryl chloride, a highly toxic chemical, to a sugar solution. Hough asked him to test it, but Phadnis heard ‘taste’ and put a small amount on the tip of his tongue. Hough didn’t know whether to be more horrified at Phadnis’ mistake or surprised at the result—because the compound tasted extremely sweet. Phadnis had discovered a chemical 600 times sweeter than sugar. It’s now known as sucralose and under the brand name Splenda is the best selling artificial sweetener in America.”

Five: There’s something called a jumping spider—which can, well, jump (obviously) on its prey like a cat, has eight eyes, and often brilliant colours. Two big eyes in the center pick up detail and colour. A rear set looks backward and the foremost detect motion. No one knows exactly what the ones in the middle do. We quite enjoyed this older New York Times video on how this strange creature’s eyes work.