What I Learned This Week - 10/10/14

1.  433 days until Star Wars Episode VII is in theaters.
2. The deforestation problem could be easily solved if someone would just invent a tree with a wi-fi signal.
3. Before the invention of the lightbulb, people slept an average of 10 hours every night. I’d like to see a revise statistic based on Netflix.
4. “Draft Beer” flavored Jelly Belly jelly beans are a thing.
5. Bad, hilarious things happen when you mistype “bass trumpet” into Google search. FYI, the “B” is very important.
6. The U.S. government has held the patent on Ebola since 2010…..yes, I read that twice too.
7. Germany only has one nun, Sister Doris Engelhard age 65, who is an active brew master.
8. Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined.
9. Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1836.
10. Alabama is the only state to have an alcoholic beverage as its official drink: Conecuh Ridge Whiskey.
11. Bear wrestling is a Class-B felony in Alabama. In fact, the state legal code has an entire section that outlines different forms of “unlawful bear exploitation.”
12. The word “Connecticut” is an anglicized spelling of the Algonquian word “quinnitukqut,” roughly meaning “at the long tidal river.”
13. The PEZ Candy Company is based in Orange, Connecticut. The little blocks of sweetness—whose name comes from shortening the letters in the German word “pfefferminz,” or “peppermint”—were first invented in Vienna, Austria, in 1927 and were initially marketed along with their distinctive dispensers as an alternative to smoking.
14. The highest point in the contiguous U.S., 14,494-foot Mt. Whitney (~60 ft taller than Colorado's highest point Mt. Elbert), is only 76 miles from the lowest point in the contiguous U.S., Death Valley - both places reside in California.
15. As was evident by watching a traveler pass through airport security - some people dye their armpit hair.  
16. Day-glo blue armpit hair is not as attractive as you'd imagine.
17. There is a finally an app for translating Klingon  - named "boQwI'.
18. Delaware has the lowest average altitude of any state; it’s only 60 feet above sea level. I would have guessed that distinction would have gone to Florida.
19. According to my daughters, it’s an insult to refer to someone as number 67 on the periodic table of elements…apparently you can just call someone a ”67”. 
20. Identical twins do not have identical fingerprints.
21. Lucasfilm has a trademark of 234 seconds of Darth Vader’s breathing sound with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
22. Best response by my oldest when posed with the question, “Why are all your clothes on the floor?” – Her response, “gravity”. 
23. Quadcopter racing is a thing. A pretty awesome thing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwL0t5kPf6E#t=249).