Monday, April 15, 2013

Monday Links: Informal Segregation in Georgia, The Devil's Kimchee, and Star Trek Set Gags

This article on a high school in Macon, Georgia shocked me. Apparently, Wilcox County High School still has a "whites-only" prom, in addition to an integrated prom. They can get away with this, apparently, because the prom nights are arranged by the community and not the school itself. Nonetheless, it's frightening to see the vestiges of segregation persist today, and the school's failure to condemn the segregated prom amounts to tacit approval. This is an injustice the district should not condone.

On another subject entirely, I recently learned of another frightening matter: FOOF. Also known as Dioxygen Difluoride, or "the Devil's Kimchee," it's apparently the worst thing you can create with a pressure cooker. Also, even chemists don't want to work with the stuff, as the xkcd article will also tell you. Why is that? Probably because when it heats up above 90 kelvins (-180° C, -300 °F), it starts setting things on fire. What things? Everything. And I have every reason to suspect that Michael Bay is made of the stuff.

Lastly, Phil Plait brings up an interesting sight gag in an old Star Trek: Voyager episode. It's subtle by design, and a lot of production designers and workers on set add in hidden jokes such as these. Animators used to hide incredibly naughty jokes in their work (such as this NSFW example from The Rescuers) until VHS and DVD introduced concerned parents to the frame step button. The rest, of course, is history.

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