Eleven things I learned this week, 06

According to the Meth Project Foundation, one of the warning signs that you may have a problem with meth is that you are “using more meth than intended”. [The Meth Project]

A household with income under $13,000 spends, on average, $645 a year on lottery tickets, about 9 percent of all income. [NY Times]

The food service operation at the House of Representatives, under private control since the 80s, is significantly more popular than the federally run Senate food service operation. The Senate recently voted to privatize their service as well. [Washington Post]

After John Glenn ran for president in 1984, he struggled for more than 20 years to pay off his campaign debt of $3 million. [NY Times]

The Mars Phoenix Mission has cost $420,000,000 so far. That’s about $1/mile, about the same cost per mile as driving an SUV. Not bad, NASA! [Charisma 18]

A new form of nanopaper is stronger than cast iron and nearly as strong as structural steel. [New Scientist]

Organic milk often keeps longer than regular milk because a lot of the organic product is ultra pasteurized. [Scientific American]

MLB teams are losing road games at a rate not seen since the 1930s. According to an anonymous GM, the reason for the increased home field advantage is that last year’s ban on amphetamines is finally taking hold, leaving traveling players with one less option for feeling peppier after 5 hours on a plane through 3 timezones. [The Frontal Cortex]

The Japanese words for a person obsessed with Muji is Mujirer. [The Moment]

The number of condoms available for use, free of charge, this year at McMurdo base in Antarctica: almost 16,500.

News flash! Most bridesmaids don’t like their bridesmaid dresses. [The Onion
CNN]

(Check out all of the past installments of this feature here.)

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