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Willis Carrier is the man to thank if you’re cooling off in an air-conditioned space today. He was born in Angola, New York, and attended high school in Buffalo, where he would later work, he submitted the first drawings for a cooling unit in 1902.

Children and some laborers were already some time off in the summer when productivity was low because of heat and humidity. But, of course, many companies needed to keep on producing their goods.

Carrier, who got an engineering degree at Cornell and then returned to work as a research engineer at Buffalo Forge Company, was set upon the task.

But the primary goal wasn’t to give us all comfort during sweltering summers. In fact, according to the Willis Carrier website, the “young research engineer initialed a set of mechanical drawings designed to solve a production problem at the Sackett & Wilhelms Lithography and Printing Company in Brooklyn, New York.” Ironically, it was a problem with paper.

Also interesting is that Buffalo Forge was a supplier of forges, fans, and hot blast heaters. Creating cold air is the first challenge that needed addressing!

So why begin with paper? Why does paper need to be cool?

Well, it turns out it expands and contracts when heat and humidity are a problem – and that’s just not good when you need to print something.

Again, according to the website that now carries his life story:

“In the spring of 1902, consulting engineer Walter Timmis visited the Manhattan office of J. Irvine Lyle, the head of Buffalo Forge’s sales activities in New York. Timmis’ client, Sackett & Wilhelms, found that humidity at its Brooklyn plant wreaked havoc with the color register of its fine, multicolor printing. Ink, applied one color at a time, would misalign with the expansion and contraction of the paper stock. This caused poor quality, scrap waste and lost production days, Timmis said. Judge magazine happened to be one of the important clients whose production schedule was at risk. Timmis had some ideas about how to approach the problem but would need help. Was Buffalo Forge interested?”

Carrier was tasked with the problem because he already had a sterling reputation as a researcher and data collector, and this problem would need a lot of work.

But he did it. He was able to not only produce cool air but humidity as well by “replacing steam with cold water flowing through heating coils, balancing the temperature of the coil surface with the rate of air flow to pull the air temperature down to the desired dew point temperature.”

It wasn’t perfect, but it did the job. Carrier later started a company, and sold his updated creations to factories, and then to department stores and movie theaters in the 1920s.

The source down below is a comprehensive website on his invention and the impact it had on the world (just click through the dates on the left side of the page to follow the timeline to today).

When Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone, he made a historic phone call. We’re not sure what he was thinking at the time, but he got a bit cheeky when making his decision about who to call and what to say.

And it turns out the first iPhone call was a prank call to Starbucks.

The first iPhone call
On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to a crowd in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. He opened up Google Maps on the phone and located the nearest Starbucks.

On the other end was Ying Hang “Hannah” Zhang. “How may I help you?” she asked.

“Yes, I’d like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please,” Jobs replied.

It was a potentially momentous occasion, had the order been filled. But I think we all know that no Starbucks can make that many lattes at a moment’s notice.

And it turns out Jobs was just yanking her chain.

“No, just kidding. Wrong number. Goodbye!” he said as he hung up.

Technically, it was the second call
If you want to get technical, this was the first impromptu call on an iPhone. According to Fast Company (cited below): “His call to the Starbucks that day was the first real public phone call made from an iPhone in history. Sure, Jobs had held a conference chat earlier in his presentation with Apple executives Jony Ive and Phil Schiller–but that call was prearranged and heavily scripted, no different than the dozens if not hundreds of calls they would’ve made during rehearsals, or the likely thousands of calls performed while testing the device prior to its announcement.”

Funny enough, people who know this fact still call up their local Starbucks today and try to order 4000 lattes in honor of Jobs.

Have you ever heard that there was a new Moon only to look up at the sky and see no moon at all? Well, that’s because the Moon cycle is starting all over again.

Types of Moons
We obviously only have one Moon, but it goes through lots of phases. A “new” Moon is the opposite of a full Moon. During a full Moon, the sun is fully illuminating one side of the big ball. That’s what makes it glow so brightly in the night sky.

During the time when the Moon is “new,” we are seeing the side that is not illuminated by the sun. The Moon is still up there, but without the sun shining on it, we can’t see it in the night sky.

According to Farmer’s Almanac (cited below) “When the Moon is “new,” it’s located between the Earth and the Sun. In other words, the Moon is in line with the Sun, and the Sun and Earth are on opposite sides of the Moon. (Note that when the Moon is perfectly aligned in front of the Sun, it blocks out the Sun, giving us a solar eclipse.)”

Lunar cycles and the new Moon
The new Moon is the beginning of the lunar cycle. This lasts 29.5 days, and it’s the amount of time it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth.

The Moon cycle used to be used to measure months (each new moon signaled a new month).

Another fun fact: the new Moon always rises close to the time of sunrise.

And according to The Farmer’s Almanac:

“As the new Moon crosses the sky during the day, rising and setting around the same time as the Sun, it’s lost in the solar glare…The new Moon is also lit up from behind, showing us its dark side. It’s doubly invisible. New Moons generally can’t be seen with the naked eye.”

About a day (maybe two) after a new lunar cycle begins, you’ll be able to look up at the night sky and see a slim crescent off to the West after the sun sets. These crescent moons are often very bright.

The tale of NASA engineer Lonnie Johnson and the Super Soaker is one of intelligence, perseverance, and creativity. And who knew the iconic sibling-drencher was invented by accident?!

Lonnie Johnson’s story
Johnson was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1949 to parents who supported his ambitions to find out how things worked. Even as a kid, he played with rockets (and nearly burned down the house trying to make rocket fuel on the stove one day).

By the time he was in high school, he was trying to build his own robots. Despite going to a segregated school, he found ways to excel in the sciences and won a 1968 science fair for a robot created out of scrap metal. However, despite the attention that would have normally earned a young inventor, the University of Alabama showed no interest in admitting a Black student. So Johnson attended Tuskegee University, graduating in 1975 with a degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in nuclear engineering on an ROTC scholarship.

After university, Johnson joined the Air Force, and during his service he received his first patent for a “Digital Distance Measuring Instrument.” According to Biography.com (cited below): “Simply put, it was an early version of DVD-reading technology, an innovation he later called “’he big fish that got away’ because he did not pursue it further.”

Lonnie Johnson’s accidental invention of the Super Soaker
In 1979, Johnson was recruited by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In addition to his illustrious career in engineering (he was part of NASA’s Galileo mission that sent an unmanned spacecraft to Jupiter), he’ll likely be remembered for an invention that was largely an accident.

One day he was experimenting with new ideas for a refrigeration system that could use water instead of freon (which is hazardous). He happened to be in the bathroom at the time and hooked up a nozzle to the bathroom sink, accidentally shooting water across the room.

That’s when he realized it would make a great water gun toy. But it would be years before that toy would make it to shelves because Johnson rejoined the Air Force to help build B-52 stealth bombers in Nebraska.

The birth of the Super Soaker
At night, Johnson would work on his water gun, giving the first prototype to his 7-year-old daughter, Aneka. She quickly became the hit of the Air Force base with her new toy and Johnson knew it would do well in stores.

He was originally quoted $200K for the manufacturing of the first 1000 toys, which was more than he could afford. That meant he had to find a partner.

Biography.com explains that it was a company called Larami that helped Johnson launch the Super Soaker: “Larami put the first line of the gun, then known as the Power Drencher, on shelves in 1990. It was an instant hit, and after it was redesigned and rebranded Super Soaker the next year, sales went through the roof, with more than two million units sold in the summer of 1991.”

Одягайтеся тепліше: у Києві починає холоднішати У четвер, 27 жовтня, в Україні – класична метеорологічна осінь з характерною для неї погодою: дощ, хмари, та +12 градусів. “Так, ці чудові +12 і навіть +14, і навіть на півд....

Ten fun facts about Avicii

Fact 1
He has been nominated twice for a Grammy Award for his work on “Sunshine” with David Guetta in 2012 and in 2013 for his song “Levels”.

Fact 2
Avicii is a dance-genre DJ who ranked No. 6 on the Top 100 DJs list by DJ Magazine in 2011, No. 3 in 2012, and was ranked No. 3 again in 2013.

Fact 3
Avicii's influences include Tiësto, Daft Punk, Laidback Luke, Eric Prydz, and former Swedish House Mafia trio Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, and Axwell.

Fact 4
While his work is primarily electronic synthetic tracks, EMI released a vocal version of his track “Bromance”, titled “Seek Bromance”.

Fact 5
He additionally worked on projects with internationally-recognized DJs Tiësto and Sebastian Ingrosso.

Fact 6
In October 2010, Avicii signed with the European A&R team with EMI Music Publishing, one of the recording industry's “big four”.

Fact 7
Avicii's most notable song has been the single “Levels” which was released officially on Oct. 28, 2011. The song had already been a major hit in the electronic music world all through 2011, but after its official release it became a huge mainstream hit, greatly increasing Avicii's popularity.

Fact 8
He also remixed Nadia Ali's classic single “Rapture” for her album Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Onyx Edition.

Fact 9
The song “Levels” was written by Tim Bergling and contains a vocal sample from the 1962 gospel-inspired “Something's Got a Hold on Me” by Etta James.

Fact 10
On Sept. 26, 2012, Avicii made history by being the first DJ to headline world famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Ten fun facts about Joseph Fiennes

Fact 1
His full birth name is Joseph Alberic Iscariot Twisleton Wykeham Fiennes.

Fact 2
The majority of characters that this actor has portrayed are writers. He acted as William Shakespeare in the much acclaimed move, “Shakespeare in Love”.

Fact 3
Joseph has fraternal twin brother named Jacob Mark Fiennes.

Fact 4
In 1998 Joseph Fiennes played two characters in two different films where he played a man that cheated on the woman he was with. Both the women he “cheated” on went on to be nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award that year. They were Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Fact 5
In 1999 he was selected by People Magazine as one of the “50 Most Sexiest” stars in Hollywood.

Fact 6
Roman Polanski asked Fiennes to take the lead role in his Academy Award winning film “The Pianist”. Unfortunately he had to turn the role due to another commitment.

Fact 7
He is the ambassador of a charity called “The Prince’s Trust”. This is just one of the many charities which he is involved in. He is known for attempting to get his co-stars in films to join up with the charities he supports.

Fact 8
Joseph lost 21 pounds when preparing for his role in the 2005 film “The Great Raid”.

Fact 9
He turned down the lead role in the Francis Ford Coppola film “Youth Without Youth”.

Fact 10
Joseph Fiennes has publicly revealed that he suffers from dyslexia.

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