What I Learned This Week - 6/27/14

1.  Whenever one of my kids state there are only eight planets, a little part of me uncontrollably twitches.
2. Slate has compiled and visualized data on something that affects us all: eventually being not alive. It’s frightening and mesmerizing. (http://slate.me/1nLtbWa)
3. It may come as little comfort to my arachnophobic friends that spiders are basically guitarists. Spiders tune each strand of their web to a specific frequency, letting them know where and what is in their webs. 
4. If you believe there are three phases of water - liquid, solid, and gas - you'd be wrong. There are at least 5 distinct phases of liquid water and 15 distinct phases of ice that scientists know about. I like the “no man’s land” phase.
5. There are actually people who believe that the NSA created thunderstorms to cover up “Space Battles”
6. The US Military now has x-ray guns giving any soldier the opportunity to experience Superman’s x-ray vision at any time.
7. My kids, friends and I can spend way too much time in a candy store basically, “doing nothing.”
8. Apparently “farm to table” is yuppie-speak for “the way restaurants used to be.”
9. Sometimes you have to hang yourself in order to learn the really hard lessons.
10. The wetsuit is my favorite part of swimming.
11. When you start reviewing the age of your kids and how much time until they are in college you start to feel really old.