History with SnowBrains: How Bananas Led to the First Chairlift in the World The world’s first chairlift was built in Sun Valley, Idaho in the fall of 1936. The first two lifts were located on Sun Valley’s Dollar and Proctor mountains. The design of this new machine was patterned after conveyor belts which were used to load bananas on cargo ships in Central America. James Curran designed the first plans for the ski lift. He was a bridge engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Curran’s previous work making conveyor systems that ran at a continuos flow and loaded bananas on ships in Honduras inspired his design for a machine that could carry humans uphill and drop them off on top of a […] Brains The Brains | May 21, 2024 11 Comments
Brain Post: Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall? It was officially the first day of fall this week, which can only mean one thing; winter’s coming! And as the temperatures drop and the seasons change, we get to revel in the beauty of the fall colors. The mixtures of red, purple, orange and yellow are the result of processes that take place in the tree as the seasons […] Brains The Brains | September 22, 2022 2 Comments
Did You Know That 500,000,000 Gallons of Water Evaporate from Lake Tahoe Daily? | Here’s a List of Tahoe ‘Fun Facts’ Fun fact: the daily evaporation from Lake Tahoe is about half a billion gallons of water. This amount would meet the daily water needs of 5 million Americans, or enough to support the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. More facts about Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Basin (courtesy of Tahoe Environmental Research Center) Q. How deep is Lake […] Brains The Brains | August 4, 2022 2 Comments
USA Night Sky Calendar – August 2022 | Comet PanSTARRS Visible All Month, Moon Rising near Jupiter, and the Brightest Meteor Shower of the Year This is the monthly SnowBrains stargazing guide—something new we’re experimenting with in order to increase your awareness of all the fantastic things going on up above this off-season. The guide is meant to give you knowledge of the night sky and contribute to your experience when you’re camping out under the stars and just plain enjoying nature. We’ll be sharing […] The Brains | August 1, 2022 0 Comments
On July 8, 99% of the Earth’s Population will be in Sunlight Simultaneously Timeanddate.com originally published this article by Konstantin Bikos on July 4, 2022. Reprinted on EarthSky with permission. You might have seen this fascinating tidbit circulating the internet: For a moment each year, on July 8, 99% of the world’s population gets sunlight. Is it true? Konstantin Bikos, lead editor at Timeanddate.com, fact-checks this claim. Same moment of sunlight for 99% of the […] Brains The Brains | July 7, 2022 1 Comment
Daylight Saving Time… “How Is This Still a Thing?” [arve url="https://youtu.be/br0NW9ufUUw"] The Brains | March 15, 2021 219 Likes 2 Tweets 5 Comments
What is an “Atmospheric River”? The term “Atmospheric River” has been thrown around a lot lately and we should be talking about them. These are big events that drop huge amounts of rain and snow on West Coast States. Quick Atmospheric River (AR) Facts: On average, about 30-50% of annual precipitation in the West Coast States occurs in just a few AR events each year […] Brains The Brains | January 27, 2021 0 Comments
Brains Post: Climate Comparisons Between North America and Eurasia Here’s an artistic portrayal of similar climates found in North America and regions in Eurasia, courtesy of r/coolguides on reddit. The world is smaller than you think… Related: Comparing the True Size of Every Country Brains The Brains | October 5, 2020 0 Comments
COVID-19 Versus The Flu: Similarities/Differences Explained by a John Hopkin’s M.D. This article was reviewed by Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H., and originally appeared on hopkinsmedicine.org Influenza (the flu) and COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus that’s led to the current pandemic, are both infectious respiratory illnesses. Although the symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu can look similar, the two illnesses are caused by different viruses. Lisa Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H., senior […] Brains The Brains | August 4, 2020 1 Comment
Astronomical Event: Jupiter, Venus, And The Moon To Form A Smiley Face Next Month In times like these, the world needs reasons to smile. Luckily for us, the cosmos is about to lend a hand with that. On May 16, a crescent moon, beneath Venus & Jupiter, will form a smiley face in the sky. This spectacle is called conjunction and is quite rare. The last time this happened was 12 years ago in […] Brains The Brains | April 30, 2020 0 Comments
NASA: Hubble Space Telescope Captures Brilliant New Images of the Horsehead Nebula In this Hubble Space Telescope view, the Horsehead Nebula, a popular target for amateur astronomers, appears in infrared wavelengths. The nebula, shadowy in optical light, appears transparent and ethereal when seen in the infrared, represented here with visible shades. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that are […] Brains The Brains | April 18, 2020 0 Comments
VIDEO: Think Coronavirus Is Bad? | The “Black Plague” Killed 80 Million Humans Worldwide… “The Black Death [Black Plague] is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe’s population. In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 475 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century. It took 200 years for Europe’s population to recover to its previous level, and some regions (such as Florence) did not recover until the 19th century. Outbreaks of the plague […] Brains The Brains | April 11, 2020 0 Comments
The Hardest Hit Companies of the COVID-19 Economic Crisis : ‘BEACH’ Stocks The COVID-19 pandemic has spread to over 100 countries and governments everywhere are implementing strict travel restrictions. As a result, “Beach” stocks, companies in the entertainment and travel sectors, have seen a $332 billion market loss in the past month, Visual Capitalist reports. Beach stocks are companies involved with: Booking Entertainment & live events Airlines Cruises and Casinos Hotels & […] Brains The Brains | April 7, 2020 0 Comments
Brain Post: A Visual History of Pandemics Infectious diseases are as old as humankind. Pandemics are nothing new. This chart shows a visual representation of mankind’s pandemics, in order from deadliest to least deadly. Although new and still unfolding by the day, the COVID-19 pandemic we currently face is the third least deadly pandemic we’ve faced so far. We got this! Visual Capitalist wrote in a recent […] Brains The Brains | March 21, 2020 0 Comments
Brain Post: The Origin of the Word “Quarantine” The word quarantine is being thrown around a lot these days. Where does it come from? What’s its etymology? The history of the word quarantine is very cool and learning it’s original meaning will make you sound way smarter than all your friends while you’re all #SocialDistancing, so let’s go for it. “The very word quarantine is rooted in the […] Brains The Brains | March 15, 2020 0 Comments
NASA: Peru’s 22,000-Foot Cordillera Blanca From Space by NASA When an astronaut took this oblique photograph of a misty winter morning over western Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, snow-capped peaks cast long shadows over the valleys. The highest mountains in Peru are visible, including Huascarán, which soars 6,768 meters (22,204 feet) above sea level. The peaks have been eroded by glaciers into steep curving ridges—known as cirques. With over 700 glaciers, […] Brains The Brains | August 11, 2019 0 Comments
Is the Rise in Dating App Use to Blame for Record Number of STD Cases in California? More Californians were diagnosed with chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis in 2017 than ever before, marking the third year in a row that the state’s STD cases hit a record high, reports the LA Times. The trend is mirrored nationwide, where STDs have been rising for five years. Experts blame the increases on falling condom use, fewer public health clinics and […] Brains The Brains | February 14, 2019 0 Comments
Worms Frozen in Permafrost 42,000-Years Ago when Woolly Mammoths Roamed the Planet have been Brought Back to Life Worms frozen in permafrost for 42,000-years have sprung back to life, scientists say. Experts managed to revive the two roundworms after thawing the ice that had imprisoned them since the era of woolly mammoths. Currently the nematodes, both believed to be female, are the oldest living animals on the planet. The nematodes were coaxed back to life in a Petri […] Brains The Brains | July 30, 2018 0 Comments
Is there Life on Mars? Scientists Have Discovered Huge Lake Beneath South Pole of the Red Planet Scientists have uncovered ‘a stable body of liquid water’ on Mars, in what some are calling a “game changer” in the search for alien life. Reported in the journal Science, researchers led by Dr Roberto Orosei from the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in Rome say they have found a vast reservoir of water beneath the south pole of Mars. So […] Brains The Brains | July 26, 2018 0 Comments
Brain Post: Memorizing These 3 Statistics Will Help You Understand The World [arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=142&v=HQSQ16dntbc"] The Brains | June 27, 2018 20 Likes 4 Tweets 0 Comments
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