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The US Air Force's high-tech, unmanned X-37B spaceplane launched on March 5, 2011, entering low Earth orbit with the mission designation USA-226 and a set of tantalizingly vague mission parameters: to "demonstrate a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the United States Air Force." More »
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In 1856, seabird guano was an in-demand fertilizer, so the the United States Congress passed The Guano Islands Act. This legislation was a precursor to American imperialism, as it allowed citizens to claim bird-crap-covered islands in the USA's name. More »
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In his book Lost States, Michael Trinklein maps out the never-was states of Transylvania, Nickajack, and Jefferson. Check out his bizarro imaginary cartography. More »
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You can watch the American presidential debates and allow Barack Obama and John McCain to move you emotionally, or you can convert what they say into easily-analyzed data structures. C-SPAN's awesomely wonky graphic designers have created several easy ways for you to analyze as objectively as possible which candidate spoke the longest, interrupted the most, and used the word "taxes" more often. At left, you can see their word frequency chart, looking at which words were used most and when. We also have part of an elaborate chart showing which candidate grandstanded the most on various topics. More »
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U.S. President Bush has authorized construction companies to use $45 million in federal money to construct a maglev train between two amusement parks: Disneyland and Las Vegas. It will be the first levitating train in the U.S., zooming along at up to 300 mph, though the Bush Administration's choice of route is somewhat odd. A trainline on that exact route was canceled in 1997 due to lack of interest from riders. Maybe the levitation thing will get people interested again — they can fling themselves around in mad teacups at Disneyland in the morning, levitate to Vegas in the afternoon, and gamble their life savings away in the evening. I love the future. [AP via Slashdot] More »
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