The RAF cake experiment...
"When Royal Air Force pilots discovered chocolate-coated marshmallow teacakes expanded at high altitudes, they became “the subject of some rather unscientific in-flight experiments” in the 1950s.
Air crews removed their silver foil packaging and perched them around the cabin for observation: The marshmallows swelled as pressure changed. Eventually, they became too big to eat in one bite.
Many noted that, despite the extreme physical effects, the expansion didn’t compromise the taste.
But the expanding teacakes’ fame was short-lived. After a period of marshmallow fever aboard the V-Bombers departing from Gaydon air base, an explosion put a stop to the fun.
During the summer of 1965, a captain and student pilot forgot they had placed unwrapped teacakes above their instrument panels. When the captain pulled an emergency depressurizing switch during a training mission, the treats erupted.
Shards of chocolate and marshmallow hit the windshield, flight controls, and the men’s uniforms. Shortly thereafter, the RAF put marshmallows on their no-fly list*."
ℹ️Dull Men Sharing
(*BTW the ban was lifted in 2025)
Announcing RimWorld - Odyssey!
Full announcement: https://t.co/J2xVYyih40
Build your own ship and travel across the planet. Explore fungal forests, volcanic fields, and frozen ruins. Raid bunkers, tame new creatures, and launch into orbit to scavenge tech from space wrecks.
I just received this baffling mail. It was only this letter, and the envelope had no organization name on it, just a return address in Milwaukee, WI. There's no concrete call to action here, just vague advocacy boilerplate, and only the barest mention of even an organization.
We shall measure stellar brightness logarithmically, and it will be called the "magnitude."
- Sir, will that logarithm be base 10, or based on Napier's constant?
Neither. It shall be of the base of the fifth root of one hundred.