AstroNot Stranded | Zippy Charging | Dolphin Grin

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Does anyone have a cooler commute than the octopus riding a shark in this week’s Clickables?

—Steve 🐙 

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AstroNot Stranded

The longest delayed flight home is finally over. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore splashed down this week after 9 unplanned months aboard the ISS.

• Launched last June on Boeing’s Starliner

• Planned as a 12 day visit

• Return pod’s technical issues forced them to stay behind

The extended stay brings Suni and Butch’s total space time up to 608 and 464 days respectively. Bonus points for the pod of dolphins welcoming them in the Gulf of…uh, the big watery area east of Mexico 😅

“Seeee! We told you they weren’t stuck.” - NASA, probably

Zippy Charging

Cars now charge quicker than phones. BYD’s new EV battery gets 250 miles from 10 minutes of charging.

• BYD = largest EV manufacturer by volume

• 1k-volt, 500-kW charging system requires dedicated infrastructure

• Batteries remained stable after 1,000 test cycles

BYD will release the first fast-charging cars later this year, though the 4,000-charger network will only be available in China initially. Future expansions could bring charge times in-line with gas refueling. But does it come in USB-C?

It’s electric! (boogie woogie woogie)

Dolphin Grin

Dolphin smiles are contagious, literally. The slippery mammal’s “open mouth” gesture is used intentionally to signal play.

• Occurs almost exclusively in dolphin-dolphin play

• 89% of “smiles” happen within playmate’s field of view

• 33% of “smiles” are returned, suggesting intent (instead of at random)

Potentially evolved from playful biting, the dolphin grin is not technically the human definition of smiling. Future studies will look for other non-verbal communications during dolphin playtime. “Wink once if you’re the best dolphin ever!”

Say cheeeese

Why are you seeing this ad? I’ve learned that smiling at dolphins doesn’t actually generate income, surprisingly.

So I personally review all ads for potential value to you. Plus, checking them out helps support the cost of running casualSTEM 🤓 

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Unnatural Selection

Last week: “Are dwarf lemurs just hiding the fountain of youth?”

What if dwarf lemurs sleep so much because the fountain of youth is literally in your dreams??? 🤯 

st3v on site

Super (Hero) Charger

Testing BYD’s supercharger granted st3v super-robot powers of radiating positivity. Much better than that time he tested Campbell’s souper charger…

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