Author | Lightnews

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 16h

The statue below can be seen in the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. A second statue, depicting Annie and her two brothers, stands dockside in Cobh, Ireland, their point of departure.

Photo: statueofliberty. org

The statue of Annie Moore found in the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. She is depicted wearing lace-up boots, heavy skirt and jacket, and a wide-brimmed hat. She has a travel bag in her right hand and her left hand is reaching up to hold her hat in place.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 16h

Annie and her two younger brothers had spent 12 days in steerage along with 145 other passengers. They were processed at Ellis Island on January 1, 1891, which was also her 15th birthday. (Most sources agree on this, although Wikipedia gives her birthday as April 24.)

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 16h

The first immigrant to arrive at Ellis island was a 15-year-old girl named Annie Moore from County Cork, Ireland.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 1d

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belly can
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week,
But I’m damned if I see how the hell he can.

Photo credit: roadsendnaturalist. com

A white pelican standing in water just up to its belly. The bird has its mouth open, showing the large pouch that is part of its lower beak.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 1d

A pelican's pouch can, in fact, hold more than its belly can! The pouch can hold around three gallons of water (and fish); roughly three times what can fit in its stomach.

Dixon Lanier Merritt is usually credited with the well-known limerick, although he reportedly said he didn't originate it.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 2d

When a whole word is inserted rather than a sound, (e.g. abso-freaking-lutely, un-freaking-believable, etc.) it is known as "tmesis."

A still from The Simpsons showing Homer standing in a music store holding a saxophone that still has a price tag attached. Homer is gazing at the sax with a smile on his face, no doubt because he is buying the instrument for his daughter, Lisa, and is imagining how happy she will be to get it.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 2d

An "infix" is a linguistic sound inserted in the middle of another word. (Similar to how a prefix is added to the beginning of a word, or a suffix is added to the end.)

One example of an infix is what is known as the Homeric infix, named for Homer Simpson: saxo-ma-phone, edu-ma-cation, etc.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 3d

Autry's signature song was "Back in the Saddle Again," but he also debuted the Christmas standards "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "Frosty the Snowman.

Gene Autry pictured from the waist up, playing a guitar. He is wearing a dark, western-style jacket and a white wide-brimmed hat. He has a white neckerchief knotted around his neck. He is looking out of the frame just a bit to his left with a hint of a smile on his face.

Gene Autry's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His name is printed in large gold letters inside the star itself, just above a circular image of the laughing and crying masks commonly used in the performing arts. A plaque below the star reads: Gene Autry The only individual honored with a star in all five categories of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Radio • Motion Pictures • Recording • Television • Live Performance.

Black and white photo of Gene Autry and his horse Champion standing on a mountain top with a valley and other mountains behind them in the distance.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 3d

Gene Autry, known as the Singing Cowboy, is the only person to be awarded stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in all five categories: film, television, music, radio, and live performance.

He appeared in 93 movies and hosted the Gene Autry Show on television, along with his horse, Champion.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 4d

"Ostreida Oyster Vodka captures the spirit of the ocean—notes of salty seacoast and savory minerality with a subtle hint of bivalve bouquet on the nose mix sublimely with our spirits’ signature buttery texture."

An unopened bottle of Ostreida vodka lying on a table with a green, patterned tablecloth. Next to the bottle is a wooden cutting board with 5 or 6 oysters on it along with an oyster knife.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 4d

Ostreida is a vodka made from oysters by The Industrious Spirit Company in Providence Rhode Island. They distill the vodka "with just-hauled-from-the-sea oysters in the actual still."

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 5d

A day in any given location on Earth lasts 24 hours – but any given date exists for 48 hours somewhere on Earth.

The only time that every place on Earth has the same date is midnight at the International Date Line.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 6d

Phineas and Ferb are shaped like a P and an F.

Cartoon characters Phineas and Ferb with the letters P and F, respectively, superimposed over their faces to show that their outlines do, in fact, somewhat resemble those letters.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 7d

AC Current – Alternating Current Current
CAD Design – Computer Aided Design Design
CNN Network – Cable News Network network
SAT Test – Scholastic Aptitude Test Test
VIN Number – Vehicle Identification Number Number

RAS Syndrome itself is an example, as well: Redundant Acronym Syndrome Syndrome

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 7d

PIN Number – Personal Identification Number Number
ATM Machine – Automated Teller Machine Machine
UPC Code – Universal Product Code Code
DC Comics – Detective Comics Comics
HIV Virus – Human Immunodeficiency Virus Virus

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 7d

RAS Syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome) is the redundant addition of one of the words of an acronym to describe the acronym.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 8d

It took him seven years to develop a working model but he ended up with a machine that could shave the ice, collect the shavings, and add a fresh layer of water in about 15 minutes, a job that previously had taken a crew of five workers an hour and a half.

Frank Zamboni standing in next to his "Model A" Zamboni machine on what appears to be a frozen lake. A very large, wide brush sticks out from the front of the Jeep like a snow plow.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 8d

There really was a guy named Zamboni.

Frank Zamboni owned a skating rink in Paramount, CA, in 1940. He built the first mechanical ice cleaner from spare parts and a surplus WWII jeep.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 9d

Seersucker cloth, often used in summer suits, got its name from the Persian words "shir" and "shakar" which translate to “milk and sugar,” referring to the alternating textures of the cloth.

A man wearing a suit made from seersucker cloth with alternating white and light blue stripes. Beneath the jacket the man is wearing a light blue shirt, open at the neck, with no tie. The outfit is completed by a dark blue and white patterned folded cloth just peeking out of the breast pocket, and a small, pink flower in the lapel.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 10d

The connection was so strong, that when he got into politics following his military career, political cartoonists often portrayed him as simply a boot with a head.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 10d

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in the early 19th century, liked wearing high, leather riding boots so much that people began calling them Wellington boots.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 11d

Victims have reported that the pain is almost unbearable.

The effects typically subside within a few days, but the hairs can remain in the skin for up to a year, releasing additional toxin when the area is touched or exposed to water.

Photo credit: nathab. com

Closeup of several leaves of a gympie-gympie plant. The leaves are a brilliant green color and have a fairly rough embossed surface. Some if the stinging hairs can be seen on the leaves' surface.

Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 11d

The stem, branches, leaves, and even the fruits are all covered in stinging hairs that can become embedded in the skin when touched. The hairs inject a potent toxin that produces an immediate, intense stinging sensation, which then intensifies even more over the next 30 minutes or so.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 11d

The gympy-gympie (Dendrocnide moroides), a shrub native to Australia and Malaysia, has the most painful sting of any plant.

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Schrödinger's bat @euderma44.bsky.social · 12d

The largest species of isopod (the group that includes woodlice, pillbugs, sowbugs, roly-polies, etc.), Bathynomus giganteus, can reach a length of 8-14 inches. It is found in the deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Photo credit: noaa. gov (top); news. yahoo. com (in tray)

A giant isopod walking on the ocean floor. It resembles a large pillbug (sowbug, woodlouse, etc.) but appears to be around 8-10 inches long.

A dead giant isopod lying on its back in a white plastic laboratory tray. The creature's multiple legs can be seen and a scientist wearing blue latex gloves is touching them