‘Bomb Cyclone’ and Atmospheric River Pummels U.S. West Coast

A major windstorm and an atmospheric river are set to unleash a “firehose” of precipitation from California to British Columbia

The U.S. is experiencing opposing weather extremes right now: The West Coast is being drenched by a “bomb cyclone” and an atmospheric river that is pulling in moisture from the tropics and spraying it out like a firehose. Meanwhile, much of the eastern half of the country (as well as the northern plains and some of the desert Southwest) are experiencing drought.

Though the moisture out West is somewhat welcome–especially snowfall, which supplies much of the region’s water as it melts out in spring and summer–it can also cause a lot of damage. The ground can’t quickly soak up torrential downpours, and the burn scars of fires are particularly impervious to water, raising the threat of flash floods and debris flows.

Meanwhile, too little rain has fallen over the eastern half of the country over the past couple of months, particularly in the Northeast. New York City is under a drought warning for the first time in more than two decades. Wildfires in New Jersey and New York have been burning much more frequently and more readily than is typical. I’ll have more on the drought situation in the coming days, so stay tuned. — Andrea Thompson

Humans invented alcohol before we invented the wheel.

Few inventions have shaped the course of history more than the wheel, which dates back to roughly 3500 BCE. That may seem ancient (and it is, by definition), but it’s positively fresh-faced compared to what was apparently a higher priority for our ancestors: alcohol, which is at least 9,000 years old. That knowledge comes to us from Qiaotou, China, where pottery containing alcohol residue was discovered in 2021. Also found at the site were two skeletons, suggesting it was a burial pit and that consumption of beer — in this case made from rice, tubers, and pearl barley — has long been a part of funerals.

Though alcohol comes in many forms, there’s only one kind that humans can consume safely: ethanol, which is present in every boozy beverage we drink. The other types include methanol and isopropyl, which are poisonous to humans even in small doses because they’re metabolized as toxins. Both have their uses, however: Isopropyl, the primary ingredient in rubbing alcohol, is widely used in cleaning products and disinfectants, while methanol is used in everything from fuel and antifreeze to plastic and construction materials.

William Tell Didn’t Shoot an Apple Off His Son’s Head

You probably know the legend of William Tell, or at least the gist of it. During the period of the Old Swiss Confederacy, Tell, a local farmer and renowned marksman, refused to acknowledge Austrian authority and was forced to shoot an arrow at an apple on his son’s head. In case he failed, he saved an arrow for the governor who had ordered him to do so. This, the story goes, inspired resistance to Austrian rule among the Swiss people.

There’s one problem: Many historians say Tell never existed in the first place.

The basic tale we’ve come to associate with Tell is common in European folklore, sometimes predating Tell himself. In several nearly identical versions, spare arrow and all, only the archer (and his oppressor) change; in some, the central figure is a German folk hero, a Danish chieftain, or English outlaw Adam Bell.

Even without that context, many consider the source dubious. The legend was first detailed around 1570, 250 years after it was supposed to have taken place. Later in the story, Tell is part of an oath of freedom and unity with leaders of three different areas. But other accounts of this event, which inspired Swiss Independence Day, say it took place several years earlier — without anybody named “William Tell” present.

However, thanks to works such as Friedrich Schiller’s 1804 play William Tell and the iconic “William Tell Overture” (from a French opera by the same name), Tell is still a household name throughout the world. Just maybe a fictional one.

Coffee Doesn’t Stunt Your Growth

A long time ago, studies suggested that coffee could cause osteoporosis, a condition that causes bones to lose density, so a myth developed that coffee could stunt your growth. Later studies showed no clear link between coffee drinking and osteoporosis — it’s just that people who drank more coffee tended to not drink as many calcium-rich beverages such as milk, and lack of calcium can contribute to osteoporosis. However, osteoporosis itself doesn’t tend to make people shorter (although it’s associated with bone fractures that can). Nevertheless, the old wives’ tale persisted. If you have growing left to do, just make sure to eat a balanced diet and get all your vitamins and minerals.

Nine cities have served as America’s capital.

From 1776 to 1800, the United States capital bounced around between nine different cities. This frequent relocation was due to a mix of safety concerns amid the American Revolutionary War and a lack of a bureaucratic infrastructure in one centralized place. Philadelphia served as the nation’s first capital (at the time, the capital was considered to be the city where Congress met and enacted legislation) after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. But due to safety concerns regarding a potential British attack on the city, Congress relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, on December 20, 1776, and the seat of government remained there for just over two months. 

Congress returned to Philadelphia in March 1777, but fled once again due to the British occupation of the city that September. Delegates retreated further into Pennsylvania, settling in Lancaster for a single day on September 27, 1777, and then moving to York. After the British army departed Philadelphia in June 1778, the capital returned to the city for roughly five years. But during the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 (an uprising of soldiers over unpaid wages), Congress vacated Philly in June and headed to Princeton, New Jersey. Future relocations took Congress into the Maryland State House in Annapolis, then to Trenton, New Jersey, followed by New York City. In July 1790, the Residence Act was signed into law, establishing Washington, D.C., as the nation’s official capital. It also reestablished Philadelphia as a temporary capital until the city of D.C. was further developed and the proposed Capitol building was complete. Congress returned to its original home for 10 years until November 1800, when the capital was finally moved to Washington, D.C., where it remains.

Around one in four people sneeze when they see a bright light.

Sunlight tends to be good for us. It helps our bodies create vitamin D and mood-lifting serotonin, and even syncs our circadian rhythms. However, some people experience an unexpected side effect after glancing into the sun: sneezing. As many as one in four people have the reaction, appropriately called ACHOO syndrome (short for autosomal dominant compelling helio-ophthalmic outburst). The sun isn’t the only thing to blame — the reaction can occur when moving from dark to light settings, after seeing bright lights, or even from witnessing a camera flash.

ACHOO syndrome — also called “photic sneeze reflex” or “sun sneezing” — isn’t an allergy. While researchers aren’t entirely sure why it happens, one theory is that it’s caused by a nervous system misfire involving the trigeminal nerve, which connects the eyes and nose with the brain. Within seconds of seeing bright light, the pupils of the eyes contract and stimulate this nerve, possibly causing the nose to accidentally sneeze. People who experience ACHOO syndrome may get a runny nose and watery eyes, too, though these symptoms tend to disappear within a few minutes. Sun sneezing also has a genetic component; children of parents who have the photic sneeze reflex have a 50% chance of experiencing the same phenomenon. 

Some people diagnosed with ACHOO syndrome also reflexively sneeze when undergoing anesthesia, though for the most part the condition is more of an annoyance than a health concern. While there’s no treatment for sun sneezing, it is possible to reduce occurrences of the involuntary reaction with a few handy accessories, like hats and sunglasses, which block sudden bursts of light.

A little boy comes home from school and tells his father,

”I got an F in math today.”

His father replies, ”What happened?”

The boy says, ”Well, my teacher asked me, ‘What’s 3 times 2’, and I said 6.’”

The father replies, ”Well, that’s correct.”

The boy says, ”I know. Then she asked me, ‘What’s 2 times 3.’”

The father then replies, ”What the fuck is the difference?”

The boys says, ”That’s what I said!”

While the role of first lady is traditionally filled by the president’s spouse, other family members have stepped in several times in U.S. history. Though there’s no constitutional requirement to have a first lady, it’s always been the tradition, and in cases where the president has been widowed or unmarried, someone else has always filled the role. The first instance was Martha Jefferson Randolph, the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson took office in 1801, he had been a widower for about 20 years, so Martha took on the first lady duties, which at the time largely entailed hosting social events. Future First Lady Dolley Madison also lent an unofficial hand during the Jefferson administration while her husband, James, was serving as secretary of state.

Another unique case was the presidency of Andrew Jackson, whose wife, Rachel Donelson Jackson, died just months before his 1829 inauguration. Jackson asked his niece Emily Donelson to be first lady, though she was later replaced by his daughter-in-law Sarah Yorke Jackson. This began a tradition of daughters-in-law acting as first ladies to widowed presidents, including Angelica Van Buren (to Martin Van Buren), Jane Harrison (to William Henry Harrison), and Priscilla Cooper Tyler (to John Tyler).

Later, from 1857 to 1861, Harriet Lane acted as first lady to her uncle James Buchanan, who was a lifelong bachelor. Widower Chester Arthur and then-bachelor Grover Cleveland, meanwhile, enlisted the help of their sisters Mary Arthur McElroy and Rose Cleveland, respectively. In the two most recent examples, presidents’ daughters filled the role for their widowed fathers. Mary McKee was first lady to Benjamin Harrison from 1892 to 1893, and Margaret Wilson served as Woodrow Wilson’s first lady from 1914 to 1915. Since then, the role has been exclusively held by the president’s spouse.

Hot and cold water make different sounds when poured.

Human ears have two main jobs: alerting us to noises in the world around us, and keeping our bodies balanced as we move throughout the day. However, researchers have found another small trick our ears can perform: determining the temperature of water. While they may look identical, hot and cold water make different sounds when poured. With a little help from our brains — which learn to recognize the contrasting tones over a lifetime of repeated exposure — most people can tell the difference between cold water poured from a pitcher or hot water transferred from a kettle, without even seeing the cup being filled.

Without the cues of visible boiling or a collection of ice crystals, liquid water tends to look the same regardless of its temperature. What humans can’t see is that temperature actually affects water’s viscosity (aka thickness), which produces different sounds that we can hear. At lower temperatures, water molecules are sluggish and create temporary bonds that thicken the liquid, producing a lower-frequency sound when poured. Conversely, heated water molecules are more energetic, making it harder for molecules to join together. Fewer bonds result in thinner water, which produces a noticeably higher-pitched sound when transferred into a cup. Researchers say bubbling also plays a role in water acoustics — hot liquids have more bubbles than cool liquids, which contribute to the higher tones we hear while pouring out a cup of coffee or tea.

Count Dracula was inspired by Vlad the Impaler of Transylvania.

ARTS & CULTURE

N either Dracula nor vampires are, strictly speaking, real — at least so far as we know — but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their basis in reality. While writing his endlessly influential novel Dracula, author Bram Stoker was inspired by Central European folklore in general and Vlad III in particular, whom history often remembers by a more colorful name: Vlad the Impaler. The son of Vlad Dracul, he’s believed to have been born in Transylvania, eventually became voivode (ruler) of Wallachia (a region of Romania south of Transylvania), and more than earned his nickname by impaling his enemies. Vlad Dracul took his name when he joined the Order of the Dragon, a secret cabal of Christian knights; “dracul” is Romanian for “dragon.” As fate would have it, “Dracula” means “son of Dracul.”

Stoker called Transylvania “one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe” in the book’s first chapter, an evocative description based on his research into the area and 19th-century travel literature (though the author never actually visited Romania’s spookiest region). Before falling in battle in 1476, Vlad III earned a reputation for brutality. Impalement was his favorite means of torturing and dispatching his enemies, but he was also known to decapitate, disembowel, and skin them; some claim he even dipped his bread in his victims’ blood while using their impaled bodies as morbid dinner guests. Whether such gory details are true may never be known, but it’s easy to see how he inspired one of the world’s most fearsome fictional characters.