Tidbits of Grand Forks - November 17, 2022

IN THE BEGINNING

• About 43 million people across the U.S. maintain vegetable gardens. The top veggie grown is tomatoes, followed by cucumber, pepper, beans, carrots, squash, and onions.

• The average American eats 92 lbs of vegetables each year.

• A fruit is the fertilized ovary of a flower: tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, cukes, beans, peas, peppers, and corn are fruits. A vegetable is any part of a plant that is edible that is not a fruit: flowers (cauliflower, broccoli); stems (asparagus); tubers (potatoes); bulbs (onions); and roots (carrots). Herbs are plants with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, medicine, or perfume, but not used as a main ingredient.

• An asparagus bed will yield asparagus for 20 to 30 years. Male asparagus is bigger, tastier, and up to four times more productive than female asparagus. Asparagus also comes in white and purple varieties. White asparagus is green asparagus which is buried and not exposed to light. Asparagus contains asparagusic acid, which is transformed in the digestive tract to compounds rich in sulfurous compounds including methanethiol which is the same chemical odorant found in skunk spray.

comes in dead last on the list of the National Gardening Association’s most popular home-grown garden vegetables? Name any vegetable consistently on the list of America’s least favorite veggies. What is the most-produced vegetable worldwide? What vegetable is never cooked, but always eaten raw?

What vegetable was once used as hair dye?

What vegetable was the first to be grown in space, in 1996 aboard the space shuttle Columbia?

Which vegetable has the most beta carotene?

Which vegetable contains the most carbohydrates? Is an avacado a fruit or a vegetable?

cause it looks like the Greek letter B.

• Beets are red because of pigments called betalains, which also cause the red color of cactus flowers, rhubarb, and chard. Some people cannot metabolize betalains, which is expelled through the urine, turning it pink.

• Carrots contain pigments called carotenoids, including beta carotene. Not only do these pigment give carrots their orange color, but they also act as the precursors to vitamin A. In the digestive tract, enzymes snip carotenoids in half, and the result is two molecules of vitamin A. A lack of vitamin A results in night blindness, and a prolonged deficiency can result in permanent blindness.

• Beta carotene is often added to things to improve the coloring. When added to milk, it makes it look creamier. Margarine is often colored with beta carotene as well. If you eat too many carrots over a short period of time, the beta carotene can turn your skin orangish.

• Americans eat about 12 lbs of carrots per year per person.

• Celery gets its name from the Latin “celer” meaning swift and quick, as in “celerity” and “acceleration.” It was thought to have fast-acting medicinal value.

• An average stalk of celery has 10 calories, but the commonly held belief that it takes more calories to digest it is not in fact true.

• About half of all corn produced in the U.S. is used as livestock feed. Another 15% is exported, and around 25% is used to make ethanol. Only 1% is eaten as regular corn by humans. The rest is made into corn syrup, cornstarch, corn oil, and cornmeal. Corn originally meant “kernel” as in “peppercorn” and “corned beef.” In England corn referred to wheat, in Scotland it meant oats, and in the Bible it probably referred to barley.

Joe Martin Owner

Name the Hockey Hall of Famer who holds the NHL record for goals (561) and points (1,374) by a player born in the United States.

Which Canadian MLB team’s pitcher threw the first no-hitter in Canada in 1972 vs. the N.Y. Mets?

Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, Mike Glennon and Erik Kramer all played quarterback for what college team?

What boxer famously said that he should be a postage stamp because that was the only way he’d ever get licked?

Which NASCAR driver was the first to win more than $10 million?

Which NASCAR driver is known for doing backflips?

VEGETABLES (continued):

• Corn provides 20% of world’s total food energy. If humans disappeared, corn would too. Today’s highly modified corn cobs are so densely packed that the seeds cannot disperse enough on their own to allow enough kernels to sprout, grow, and thrive.

• As a corn kernel dries out, the soft starch begins to shrink as it dehydrates, forming a dimple. This dried seed corn is known as “dent corn.”

• Individual grains of corn pollen can travel half a mile in less than a minute.

• It was thought that sleeping on a bed of cucumbers would ease a fever resulting in the phrase “cool as a cucumber.”

• Samuel Johnson stated that, “A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.” Food historian Waverley Root says of cucumbers that they are “as close to neutrality as a vegetable can get without ceas-

More than half of the cucumbers grown in the U.S. are used for pickles.

• Americans consume 9 lbs of pickles each year per capita.

• Lettuce has about 8 calories per cup.

• California produces 70% of America’s lettuce.

• “Romaine” lettuce comes from “Roman” since it’s thought to have originated in Italy.

• The more sunlight a lettuce leaf receives, the darker green it becomes, and the greater amount of beta-carotene it contains. Inner leaves remain pale and are therefore less nutritious.

• Americans eat about 30 lbs of lettuce per year per person.

VEGETABLES (continued):

• Only about 15% of watermelons sold in U.S. markets are seeded. In many countries, watermelon seeds are roasted and eaten.

• Once you pick a watermelon it will never get any sweeter than the moment it is separated from its vine.

• The red in watermelon comes from a carotenoid called lycopene, the same thing that makes tomatoes red and grapefruit pink. Ounce for ounce, watermelon contains 40% more lycopene than tomatoes.

• Eating a cooked tomato yields higher amounts of lycopene than eating raw tomatoes because lycopene is hard to digest and absorb unless it’s been heated.

• The Latin word “radix” means “root” resulting in the word “radish.” “Raphanus” is Greek meaning “appearing rapidly” and is where the genus name for radishes came from. Radishes can go from seed to crop in three to four weeks. Horseradish and wasabi are in the radish family, and their tangy bite is caused from intermingling of enzymes when cell walls are broken by biting, chewing, or cutting. It’s meant to repel insects and animals.

• Scallions are named for the city of Ascalon, a port city in Palestine (now called Ashkelon) where they were cultivated widely.

• Hot peppers grown in cool climate are milder than hot peppers grown in warm climates. Generally, the deeper the color – orange, yellow, and red –the hotter the pepper. Peppers are generally a good source of vitamin C, with a typical bell pepper containing six times as much vitamin C as an orange, but the hotter the pepper, the less vitamin C it contains. No matter how hot the pepper is supposed to be, however, they will all be completely bland as infant peppers on the vine. The hotness doesn’t set in until the fruit is about a month old.

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by Lucie Winbourne

You've no doubt heard of shattering a glass with your voice, but how about singing at a pitch so low only an elephant can hear it? That feat belongs to Tim Storms, who possesses a 10-octave vocal range and holds the Guinness World Record for lowest note produced by a human and widest vocal range.

• In some parts of the world, tarantulas have "pet" frogs, which they protect from predators.

• At the Harvard-Yale annual college football matchup in 2004, Yale students played quite the trick on their opponents by dressing as Harvard pep squad members and handing out crimson and gold placards to the crowd. While told their cards would spell out "Go Harvard" when raised, the actual message read "We Suck."

• Two of the most common paint colors at Walt Disney World are "Go Away Green" and "Blending Blue." Their curious monikers attest to the fact that Disney Imagineers created them to make your eyes ignore them.

• The first known dental filling dates to the Neolithic period and was made of beeswax.

• You don't need a body to play video games -- just a mind! Lab-grown human and mouse brain cells inhabiting a petri dish became sentient enough to learn how to play Pong.

• Billy Joel's song "Only the Good Die Young" was banned by some radio stations for being "antiCatholic." Joel hardly minded, however, as the resulting publicity made the tune so popular that he wrote to the president of Seton Hall College in New Jersey (the first entity to forbid it) requesting a ban on his next record as well. ***

Thought for the Day: "People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year." -- Peter Drucker

Financial Solutions for the Military

It's always amazing what thieves think they can get away with, especially when the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General starts looking their way. Here are two instances where the thieves really should have known better.

When the Covid pandemic assistance money was handed out to businesses for economic disaster in 2020, two people figured that would be an excellent way to grab funds for their nonprofit religious organizations. One was an Orthodox Christian monk and the other was an attorney. After multiple fraudulent applications, they eventually made off with $3.5 million. One-third of the money was used for a property they were turning into a monastic complex, complete with chapel, brewery and beer garden, not to mention an audio system and antique furniture.

The monk, who'd taken a vow of poverty, additionally purchased a $40,000 Swiss watch. Those who reviewed and approved the applications should have been clued in by the name of the monastic property: Shrine of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Patron of Sailors, Brewers & Repentant Thieves. At this writing, the pair has been released on a comparatively tiny $10,000 bond after arraignment.

A Texas woman didn't nab as much cash, but the circumstances are still despicable. The woman and her husband claimed VA and SSA disability money because they said that the veteran had an active duty injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. They'd been given an adapted home by a nonprofit group, a specially equipped vehicle and money. A thumbs-up to the local news, however, for their investigation after being sent a video of the veteran walking around the neighborhood and playing basketball.

The veteran died in federal custody while awaiting trial, but his spouse was found guilty of mail fraud, wire fraud, healthcare fraud, theft of government funds and more. At sentencing she faces 20 years for each wire and mail fraud charge, 10 years on each health care fraud charge and theft of funds and five years for each false statement related to a health care matter.

by Freddy Groves

Gordon Smith, Owner Petersburg, ND

by Jeff Pickering

COMETS ASTEROIDS METEORS

• The difference between asteroids and comets goes back to the way they were first formed. Although they were ‘born’ at the same time, they formed under different circumstances.

• The solar system started out as a rotating cloud of gas and dust. At the center, the Sun formed through gravitational collapse, which released heat. At the center of this dusty gaseous nebula, the region was hot and dense, while the outer regions were cooler. Asteroids formed near the center where only rock and metal could remain solid. Comets formed at the outer reaches which was cold enough for water and gases to freeze. Comets, therefore, are “dirty snowballs” found at the outer reaches of the solar system, in the Kuiper Belt (named for astronomer Gerard Kuiper who postulated its existence) and the Oort Cloud (named for Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, ditto).

• Most asteroids are lumps of rock which circulate in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The total mass of all the asteroids in the solar system combined would actually be less than that of the Moon.

• The word “asteroid” means “star-like.” In disaster movies, it’s always an asteroid that’s going to ruin Earth. An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.

• The Rosetta spacecraft, carrying the Philae lander, rendezvoused with a comet called 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014. 67P indicates that this was the 67th periodic comet discovered. Churyumov and Gerasimenko are the names of the discoverers. The Philae lander landed on the comet almost 11 years after leaving Earth. It analyzed more than 35,000 escaping dust grains and found 45% of them to be carbon-based molecules like proteins, carbohydrates — organic matter which could help in the search for alien life. The remaining 55% of the dust is formed of inorganic minerals, mostly silicates.

• Halley’s comet is known for reappearing every 76 years (it was last here in 1986, and will be back again in 2061). Many comets have a much longer orbit period, but some are shorter. Encke’s comet comes around every 3.3 years (catch it in October 2023).

• Whenever asteroids or comets slam into each other or slam into planets or moons, debris is released, and this is where meteors come from. Meteors are generally no bigger than 3 feet wide, and often are merely a speck of dust. They are simply bits and pieces of comets and asteroids.

• When comets pass close to the Sun, the icy materials start to melt off, leaving behind a long tail. The word comet originates with the Greek word meaning “long hair.”

• Meteor showers originate with the passing of a comet, when Earth passes through the debris field left in its wake. The Perseids each August and the Leonids in November are caused by the debris coming off comet Swift-Tuttle. The Orionids in October come off of Halley’s Comet.

• Meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites are names for space rocks at different stages. The ones floating around in space are meteoroids. The ones that enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up are called meteors. The ones that don’t burn up entirely and instead crash into the surface of the Earth are called meteorites. Most of the meteors which we call “shooting stars” are merely the size of a small pebble.

• The “-ite” ending is often used in the names of rocks and minerals, such as anthracite. That’s a good way to remember that meteorites are the ones that make it to Earth’s surface as rocks.

• NASA’s Johnson Space Center has a collection of meteorites that acts as a sort of meteorite library. Studying them provides clues to how our solar system was formed.

by Matilda Charles

Two important product recalls

Several disturbing items have been in the news lately. Have you heard about these product recalls?

CPAP machines: Two dozen different CPAP machines have been recalled. The list includes Bilevel PAP, BiPAP or BPAP machines, as well as the CPAP. The reason is a bit frightening. Black foam pieces can come loose and be breathed in or swallowed.

While the recall was issued quite a long time ago, the Food and Drug Administration just updated that information with this alert: If you now have one of the repaired or replaced machines (due to the previous recall), testing is currently being done to ensure that the repair foam used is OK.

The reason for the concern and the current testing: There have been deaths, far too many deaths, from the breakdown of the foam used in the machines.

To learn more about this, go online to: https://tinyurl. com/hvy73j36.

You can also call the Philips company at 877-907-7508.

The recall says not to stop using the machine until you talk to your doctor, whether you have an original machine or one that was repaired or is a replacement.

Bedrails on portable beds: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (and several companies) issued a warning for thousands of portable bedrails, the ones that attach to the sides of beds to keep someone from falling out. The problems are so serious that deaths were reported when people became wedged between the mattress and the rail.

These bedrails were made under various names. Your best bet is to call the Consumer Product Safety Commission and ask about bedrail recalls to be sure you learn about all possible brands. Contact them at 800-638-2772.

For more information, go to the FDA website (fda.gov) and put "Safety Concerns about Bed Rails" in the search box.

For overall recall information, keep an eye on this government site: www.cpsc.gov/recalls.

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On Nov. 20, 1967, San Jose State College students demonstrate against Dow Chemical, the maker of napalm. Napalm was an acronym derived from naphthetic and palmic acids, whose salts were used to make the jellied gasoline -- napalm -- used in flame-throwers and bombs.

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• On Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in American history. In just 272 words, Lincoln reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War.

• On Nov. 21, 1877, Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a way to record and play back sound. He used a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder to play back a song he had recorded, "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

• On Nov. 24, 1932, the FBI crime lab officially opens in Washington, D.C. The single room lab, chosen because it had a sink, had scant equipment and was used primarily as a public relations tool.

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On Nov. 23, 1972, secret peace talks resume in Paris between Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, the North Vietnamese representative. The talks deadlocked weeks later, leading President Richard Nixon to order the massive "Christmas bombing" campaign to break the impasse.

On Nov. 25, 1986, Attorney General Edwin Meese reveals that proceeds from arms sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua. President Ronald Reagan accepted the resignation of his national security adviser, Vice Admiral John Poindexter, and fired Lt. Col. Oliver North, a Poindexter aide.

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On Nov. 22, 2002, the James Bond movie "Die Another Day," starring Pierce Brosnan as the fictional British secret-service agent 007, opens in theaters. Its debut came almost exactly 40 years after the first Bond movie, "Dr. No," was released.

• Molybdenum is a metal which normally is found mixed in with other minerals. It has the 6th highest melting point of any element, which is why 80% of the world’s production is used in steel alloys.

• In 1979, the Phelps Dodge corporation of the U.S. bought a molybdenum mine in a remote coastal region of British Columbia, Canada, about 500 miles north of Vancouver, and two hours away from the nearest neighboring town. Anticipating a mining boom, the company proceeded to build an entire town from scratch, fit to house an estimated 1,200 people which would include the mine workers, their families, and all the support personnel needed to keep the little town flourishing since it was so far away from any other piece of civilization. The new city was called Kitsault, a corruption of the local native phrase meaning, “way up in there” perhaps referring to the remote nature of the location.

• The corporation went all-out in creating the newly minted city, spending an estimated $50 million in 1980 and 1981. There was of course a grocery store, a restaurant, bank, theater, post office, school, hospital, and pub. But then there was so much more: a curling rink, shopping mall, swimming pool, gym, community center, and bowling alley. And there were around 100 lovely new homes with winding roads and stylish street lights.

• Then, disaster struck. There was a recession. The introduction of molybdenum by-products into the market reduced the value of molybdenum. The market crashed. There was no longer any profit to be made from molybdenum.

• Only 18 months after the mine opened with the newly-built fully functional city at its gates, the town was completely evacuated. It became a ghost town. The last of the residents left on Oct. 31, 1983.

• The company, hoping for resurgence in the value of molybdenum, hired caretakers to keep everything from falling apart. But the mine never re-opened and the people never returned.

• Luckily, a millionaire decided the town was worth saving. In 2004, he bought the entire town for $5.7 million and hired a team of caretakers to prevent the city from falling into decay. Roofs are repaired; streets are cleared; homes and businesses and buildings are kept in tip-top shape. Lawns are mowed and trees are trimmed. Everything is kept as a kind of 1980s time capsule.

• There are still menus in the restaurant, toys in the day care, books in the library. There are ash trays on the tables in the pub. Shopping carts are neatly lined up in the completely empty grocery store. Many of the residents left their possessions behind, because it’s hard to get a moving van in a location that remote.

• However, the mine was not part of the purchase. A different mining company bought that, but failed in its attempt to turn a profit.

• The owner of Kitsault says that one day he may turn the town into a spiritual retreat, or perhaps a science center. There has been talk about turning it into a hub on a natural gas pipeline. Perhaps it will turn into a doomsday retreat.

• Today, for a fee, you can tour the town, if you’re willing to travel that far on bad roads to get there. You can even spend the night, wandering through the abandoned buildings on vacant roads. One of the abandoned homes has been transformed into a museum showcasing the short life of the community.

• But don’t show up without a reservation or an invitation. The gates to Kitsault are locked.

Quiz Answers

Turnips Lima beans, okra, brussels sprout, and mushrooms Corn

Cucumbers Beets Potato Sweet potato Chickpeas Fruit

Sports Answers

The Clemson Tigers Mike Modano Montreal Expos (Bill Stoneman) N.C. State Wolfpack.