Palm Trees of Canada

image via FGnation

Palm trees. For as long as Earth has been inhabited, they have been associated with tropical paradise. When you see a palm tree, warm weather abounds, t-shirts are optional, and a beach or retirement home is never far away. So it's obvious that you won't find any palms much farther north than Alabama and South Carolina right?

Wrong.

Aircraft Carriers with Bouncy Flight Decks

image via AWDNews, Amazon

The late 1940s were an exciting time for aircraft. With the advent of jet engines, all sorts of advancements were being developed for warfare. But the prize for the weirdest idea of all has to go to the British, who pioneered what is known as the "flexible" flight deck.

Or rather, they covered an aircraft carrier in rubber and tried to land aircraft by bouncing them.

The Most Perfect US Map Ever

image via 17Apart

Located in elementary schools around the United States, maps have been as much a staple of the classroom as apples on teachers desks. But aside from most probably still listing the Soviet Union as a nation, there isn't much to be improved upon right? It's a map, draw some lines, slap some labels, and you're done right?

Wrong. Just ask David Imus who has created what is considered one of the best maps of the United States ever. And he did it all by himself meticulously over the course of two years.

The Science Behind Avatar

image via WallConvert

The 2009 film Avatar by certified film-god James Cameron was released to fantastic reviews and went on to become the highest grossing film of all time. In it, a paralyzed marine is assigned to deal with diplomatic efforts via an alien body to move the native Na'avi from their home tree so that RDA, the mining company, can mine out unobtanium from underneath it because . . . you know what, whatever. Most people didn't pay attention to the plot because they were so stunned by the beautiful visuals and realistic portrayal of the future.

And that's probably because more thought went into the science behind the film than you think.

The Dude Who Barrel-Rolled an Airliner

image via Wikipedia

I've previously written about how one moronic airline pilot accidentally caused an airliner to nearly complete a barrel roll. What I haven't written about is the pilot who actually performed a barrel roll in an airliner. Twice.

And unlike the previous post, this pilot did it entirely on purpose.

Ruptured Space Suit? No Problem.

image via Wikipedia

If there has been anything that Hollywood has taught us, it's that a ruptured space suit is very bad news for anyone inside of it. The unfortunate person usually spends their last few seconds frantically waving in desperation before dying, except in the 2015 film The Martian.

Matt Damon survives being impaled in a space suit, and the explanation is a cheesy "my blood clogged the hole and I survived" throwaway line. Utterly ridiculous, until you realize its totally happened in real life. Well, except for the whole "while on Mars" thing.

Nuclear-Powered Bombers

image via Wikipedia

In the 1950s, nuclear power was all the rage.  It was seen as the future of everything, from nuclear powered cars and submarines to atomic golf balls. Seriously.

image via TrendHunter

"Save all those hours of looking for golf balls by eliminating them from your life entirely!"

Naturally the military was all over the atomic age, and one good idea that popped into their head was nuclear powered bomber aircraft. Because why not have the aircraft designed to deliver nuclear bombs be powered by the same destructive force?

That Time Drunk Scientists Made a Major Discovery

image via Gigaom

The National Institute for Materials Science in Japan was working on a science experiment that involved dipping a compound into various combinations of heated water and ethanol to see if its superconductivity was improved. It's important, complex science that among other things could lead to shit like hover cars.

So it's amazing that despite the complexity, perhaps their biggest discovery only occurred after someone decided to crack open the booze and hold an office party.

Pizza Hut Delivers to Outer Space

image via Whim

Delivering a pizza is a normal procedure for any pizza chain. Domino's delivers more than a million pizzas daily, to all corners of the globe. But to Pizza Hut “the globe” was just another limitation that needed to be broken in the name of delivering tasty food.

So in 2001 they went ahead and delivered one to motherfuckin' space.

Hijacking a Drone for Under $1000

image via Wikipedia

The US Department of Homeland Security was skeptical when it received a notice from Todd Humphreys at the University of Texas in Austin warning them about the threat of hijacked drones possibly being used as missiles. When Humphreys pressed the issue, the DHS dared him to go ahead and try to hijack a drone for less than $1000.

Imagine their surprise when he did.

The Stealth Fighter Downed with Vintage Radar

image via Wikipedia

In 1999, the United States found itself at war with Yugoslavia. Leading the campaign was the venerable F-117 stealth fighter, famous for proving it's worth with zero losses during the Gulf War despite flying through absurd amounts of anti-aircraft fire.