A list of curious facts
One: The world of design is apparently “awash in Big Bow energy.” This includes bows in your hair (yawn):
Bows on your face—hmm, interesting:
Bows have even invaded interior decor—like this stool called Ribbon Pouf which sells for as much as $25,000—see: lead image. But here’s the really crazy bit: People are actually paying way more for the exact same thing—if you put a bow on it! Examples dug up by The Cut:
Miu Miu sells a $650 white cotton T-shirt; the price for almost the same shirt with a black bow around the neck is $950. In August, New York designer Sandy Liang and Baggu introduced a series of nylon handbags with a pair of thin black bows affixed; retailing for $62, they are $18 more than the same bow-free Baggu bag. After selling out on the day of release, the bow bags soon appeared on resale platforms for $180, $350, even $400.
To rephrase Beyonce: you shoulda put a bow on it. Architectural Digest has more on bows in the world of decor.
Two: Did you know that there are actually eight continents in the world? Except one of them is underwater—and is called Zealandia. It spans across 4.9 million sq km and is around six times the size of Madagascar. But all we can see of it are what we today call New Zealand:
Zealandia’s history is quite closely tied to the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which broke up hundreds of millions of years ago. Zealandia followed suit—roughly 80 million years ago, according to the latest theory. But unlike neighboring Australia or much of Antarctica, Zealandia largely sunk, leaving only a small portion of what many geologists believe should still be dubbed the eighth continent.
What’s cool is that scientists have finally mapped every last bit of a continent—that wasn’t even discovered until 2017! FYI: It’s the upside down triangle you see to the right of Australia in the satellite image below:
Popular Mechanics has more on the mapping of Zealandia while BBC Future has a more interesting deep dive into its history.
Bonus fact: A separate group of researchers have released a study that claims the planet will truly be hot as hell 250 million years from now. The reason: those moving continents—which amble at the pace of 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) per year. One group of experts predicts the Americas, Africa, and Eurasia will squeeze out the Atlantic Ocean—and clump together along the equator in one giant mush—ie super continent—called Pangea Ultima.
It will not sink into the ocean—but will instead be boiling hot. Temperatures will jump by 11°C—to put that in perspective, scientists don’t think most humans will make it if the global temperature jumps by 2°C. You really wanna live forever? FYI: below is a map of what Pangea Ultima would look like. The Conversation lays out all the theories about what the planet will look like way in the future. (The Atlantic)
Three: If you have any plans to visit Times Square, let us be the first to inform you about a 420-pound robocop that will be patrolling the area. The NYPD has unleashed a 5-foot-2-inch robot called K5 that has a giant camera for a face. Think of it as a very fancy patrol cop—but less well-paid and without benefits. But its job is surveillance not intervention. Privacy advocates are furious, but we’re personally more worried about poor K5—whose models have suffered great citizen abuse:
The K5 has been in some sticky situations in other cities. One was toppled and slathered in barbecue sauce in San Francisco, while another was beaten by an intoxicated man in Mountain View, California, according to news reports. Another robot fell into a pool of water outside an office building in Washington, D.C.
Gothamist and Vice have more deets. You can check out K5—who mostly looks like a chubby R2D2—enjoying a photo op with the NYC mayor below. FYI: We are more worried about NYPD’s Digidog called Spot.
