Mildly interesting
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From https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/species/blue-morpho-butterfly/ The blue morpho butterfly’s wings are bright blue, edged with black. The blue morpho is among the largest butterflies in the world, with wings spanning from five to eight inches. Their vivid, iridescent blue coloring is a result of the microscopic scales on the backs of their wings, which reflect light.
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@mark said in Mildly interesting:
Can you freeze a hamster solid then bring it back it to life using microwaves?
Link to videoI am not sure that I want to watch this video… If it doesn’t have a happy ending, I don’t… And if it DOES have a happy ending, I still don’t think I want to know, LOL.
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@Catseye3 said in Mildly interesting:
From https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/species/blue-morpho-butterfly/ The blue morpho butterfly’s wings are bright blue, edged with black. The blue morpho is among the largest butterflies in the world, with wings spanning from five to eight inches. Their vivid, iridescent blue coloring is a result of the microscopic scales on the backs of their wings, which reflect light.
Where’s Cano?
@Aqua-Letifer should get that one, at least…
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For @Doctor-Phibes
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So there I was, eating Cheetos out of the bag and otherwise expanding my mind through valuable Internet insights when it occurred to me to wonder how Cheetos are made. Here's what Wired said:
"Making Cheetos: It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy.
"Gritty cornmeal stored in a silo is pumped about 100 yards through a pneumatic tube into a Cheetos manufacturing plant. (Frito-Lay has 14 fried-Cheeto plants in 11 states.) The cornmeal then enters a giant hopper , where it awaits its rapid transformation into one of America's most beloved snacks.
"Gobs of cornmeal are fed into an extruder , which rubs the meal between two metal plates. The friction melts the starch in the corn and causes the moisture to heat up. When it passes its boiling point, the meal "pops," creating the Cheetos shape. The craggy bits are then spit out of the extruder, flying 3 feet at high velocity before hitting a safety cage and dropping onto a conveyor belt.
"The Cheetos move through a piping-hot pan of vegetable oil, much like an amusement-park log flume. The oil not only imparts a fatty flavor but also fries the snack's moisture content down below 2 percent—a key to crunchiness. Once suitably cooked, the pieces go back on a conveyor belt
"The puffs hit a tumble drum, where strategically located nozzles spray a mixture of oil and powdered cheese onto the Cheetos from all sides. The cheese, which Frito-Lay buys pre-spiced in 50-pound sacks (the company won't say from whom), looks like the stuff used in boxed macaroni-and-cheese products.
The pieces are dropped onto a last conveyor belt, where any remaining moisture steams off as they cool to room temperature. The finished Cheetos are then moved toward the packaging area, to be bagged, boxed, and shipped.
"Every half hour, an in-house lab analyzes the chemical composition of samples pulled from the cooking line to verify that the Cheetos have the right density and nutritional content. Then, every four hours, a four-person panel convenes to inspect and taste the snacks, comparing them to perfect reference Cheetos sent from Frito-Lay headquarters."
There you have it. From now through the rest of your life, whenever somebody asks you if you know how Cheetos are made, there you'll be, reddy as Freddy with the whole story.
NNTTM.
For moar plus pix: https://www.wired.com/2010/05/process-cheetos/#:~:text=Gobs of cornmeal are fed,%2C" creating the Cheetos shape.
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Sorry, this looks dangerous...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_mounted_shooting
Mounted shooting requires competitors to use single-action revolvers, lever-action rifles chambered in pistol calibers, and side-by-side double-barreled shotguns. Single action semi-automatic firearms, also known as self-cocking firearms, are also allowed in special military cavalry and Wild Bunch events (named after the 1969 Western movie of the same name that used more modern firearms). In general, firearm designs and the modern replicas used in the sport are of the pre-1900 American West and Military eras.
Mounted shooting requires skill in both horsemanship and shooting that is measured in the form of competitive events and is one of the fastest-growing equestrian sports in the nation. The object of the sport is to shoot ten balloon targets while riding through a variety of challenging courses using specially loaded blank cartridges fired from Old West-style single-action revolvers. It is a high-speed, timed spectator sport in which the competitor who rides the fastest with the fewest missed targets wins.[9]
The typical event requires two single-action revolvers, each loaded with five BLANK cartridges. Ten targets are arranged in a horseback riding arena. When the competitor is given a go-signal, indicating the arena is clear of people and hazards, the rider guides his horse across a timer line and engages the ten targets. When all ten targets are engaged, the rider returns across the timer line and his score is determined and recorded. The raw time of the rider is computed and penalties are added for missed targets or failure to follow the specified course or procedure, or knocking over barrels or target stands.
Ah, blanks.
Still....