A list of curious facts
One: The AI version of pets—see Spot—tend to be creepy rather than cute. Casio has now come up with a much fluffier—and cuddlier—iteration called Moflin:
Moflin looks like a large Guinea pig, without the mouth, or.. “a Porg from Star Wars, but horizontal.” It’s intended to be held and cuddled, bringing you the emotional connection you’d get with a pet, without the responsibility of looking after a living being.
The price tag: Roughly $400—and it comes with a subscription repair service including fur replacement (eeks)—which is probably cheaper than a decent vet. FYI, according to Casio, Moflin will also “develop its own unique personality as it gets attached to you.” In other words, it will learn to pee on your pillow—while you yell ‘bad dog!’. All the whining aside, it is kinda cute. (TechRadar)
Two: Did you know that your old laptop is a gold mine—like, literally. Everyone from Dell to the British Royal Mint is turning electric waste into gold. It is the most malleable metal—and the second-best conductor of electricity. All of which makes it perfect for circuit boards—be it in laptops or phones. The precious metal also offers an incentive to reclaim and recycle the 50 millions tonnes of electronics that is produced each year. The truly curious fact: 7% of the world's gold is currently sitting in disused electronics. Also this:
[Gold] usually comes from open pit mines, where miners blast rocks with dynamite, drill, crush the ore, and use chemicals to strip out tiny amounts of gold. A typical wedding ring may generate 20 tons of mine waste, which is sometimes dumped into rivers.
So if you must spend that kind of moolah, we recommend this outré Stella McCartney collection from the Royal Mint’s 886 line. (BBC News)
Three: Aww, it’s a winter wonderland on Mars—where “unusual frosty features” have turned its south pole white. Now, snowfall may not be surprising since temperatures drop to as low as -123°C. But the image below was taken in June—when it’s almost summertime on the Red Planet. Btw, all of this is dry ice—the solid version of CO2. (Gizmodo)
Bonus fact: The Dragon Butterfly is 100% a bonus treat. Just look at it: “It looks like a creation for Disney’s Fantasia that was bumped last-minute for those weird lady fish with the bedroom eyes.” You can appreciate its full glory in the lead image. But it’s even more gorgeous when it moves—as you can see below. (Australian Geographic)
