Category: People

Science advice from a 79 year-old convicted felon

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Science

I’m not sure if you fully understand how lucky the world is to have a courageous and intelligent leader, like President Donald Trump. Not only is he an amazing debater and casino owner, but he also understands how lawsuits work, as he has been able to explain what it’s like to go through the impeachment process. Twice. His legal mind is unparalleled in its knowledge of tax codes, bankruptcies, and indictments.

However, this blog post is not about singing the praises of Trump’s legal prowess, but rather, he is an untapped source of scientific information, wisdom, and knowledge. Yes, even though he has no scientific qualifications, Trump can converse with the masses and explain various scientific concepts and theories.

To celebrate his achievements in science communication, the staff of Some Geek Told Me have collected some of his wisest nuggets of scientific information. Sadly, the geeky editor of this well-respected blog has insisted on adding some extra information to Trump’s astute scientific statements. These unwanted literary additions will be indicated in italics. I’m sorry, but our editor enjoys putting in his two cents’ worth.

And with that, let us enjoy the scientific advice from a beloved politician and golfer (who is a 79-year-old convicted felon), President Donald Trump, from 2015 onwards. Let’s begin now.

In 2017, Trump heroically warned the public on the dangers of staring directly at the Sun during an eclipse without wearing solar eclipse glasses, by staring directly at the Sun during an eclipse without wearing solar eclipse glasses.
Credit: Teen Vogue

Windmills (Wind turbines)

“It is the worst form of energy, the most expensive form of energy, but windmills should not be allowed.”

  • The most expensive form of energy, in terms of cost per kilowatt, is coal power, with internal combustion engines and nuclear power more expensive than wind power (on land and offshore). Trump’s statement is false.

“[Wind turbines] are causing whales to die in numbers never seen before.”

  • There is no evidence or links to suggest that offshore wind turbines can be connected to or attributed to the deaths of large groups of whales. Trump’s statement is false.

“[Windfarms] kill the birds.”

  • Yes, it’s correct to say that wind turbines can result in bird deaths. Large blades spinning around at tremendous speeds will obviously be able to injure and/or kill birds, whether on land or offshore. In saying that, the rates of birds being killed by wind turbines are low, compared to other factors like birds flying into power lines, pesticides, and the loss of habitats, as well as wild and domestic cats.

“They say the noise [Wind turbines] causes cancer.”

  • I believe you would be hard-pressed to find any credible scientific or medical research that would link the noise generated by wind turbines to cancer rates in humans. Essentially, the noise of wind turbines does not cause cancer. Trump’s statement is false.

“[Wind turbines] start to rust and rot in eight years and, when they do, you can’t really turn them off, you can’t burn them. They won’t let you bury the propellers, the props, because there’s a certain type of fibre that doesn’t go well with the land.”

  • Just like the various car designs, every wind turbine design is different and built by different companies. However, 20-25 years is the average life span of a wind turbine. If properly maintained and in certain areas, a wind turbine could last more than 30 years. As for their waste, estimates show that 80-90% of their mass can be recycled. Trump’s statement is false.

Plastic straws

 “I don’t think that plastic [straw] is going to affect a shark as they’re eating, as they’re munching their way through the ocean.”

  • Trump’s claim that discarded plastic straws in the ocean will not affect sharks is false. Scientific evidence shows that marine wildlife like sharks, sea turtles and others do, in fact, consume single-use plastics, like straws.

COVID-19

“So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting.”

  • In 2020, when the world was going into lockdown over COVID-19, vaccines were still being developed. Trump’s suggestion of fighting the virus with light and heat was based on the evidence that a lot of viruses die when exposed to ultraviolet light on a surface. However, exposing a virus to ultraviolet light inside a human body would not kill the virus. Trump’s statement is false.

“Right. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds — it sounds interesting to me.”

  • Although it is awkward to understand his point, Trump is wondering if we should be treating COVID-19 with disinfectant, because it can kill viruses on surfaces, so why not on the human body? This statement is not so much false as it is just wrong and dangerous. Ingesting or injecting disinfectants to kill viruses will only end up poisoning and harming you, if not kill you. Please do not do this.

Magnets

“”Think of it, magnets. Now all I know about magnets is this. Give me a glass of water. Let me drop it on the magnets. That’s the end of the magnets.”

“They want to use magnets to lift up the elevators, I said magnets will not work. Give me a cup of water, throw it on the magnets, you totally short out the system. They said, ‘How did you know that?’ I said, ‘Because I know that.”

  • Both of these statements talk about how Trump believes that magnets do not work underwater. In reality, magnets can still work effectively underwater. This is because water is basically non-magnetic, so it does not interfere with a magnetic field. However, saltwater and heat, over a period of time, can weaken them. Inferring that a magnet can not work underwater is false.

Autism

“The meteoric rise in autism is among the most alarming public health developments in history. There’s never been anything like this. Just a few decades ago, 1 in 10,000 children had autism. So that’s not a long time. And I’ve always heard, you know, they say a few, but I think it’s a lot less time than that.”

  • Trump is correct that autism rates in the United States, but also the world in general, are rising. However, the main reasons for this are that technology has evolved, which means the assessment process is more refined, as well as experts having a far better understanding and recognition of the condition. Both of these factors will drive the rates up. Trump’s statement is misleading.

“It’s [the MMR vaccine] too much liquid, too many different things are going into that baby.”

  • There is no scientific research or medical evidence to suggest a link between vaccines, like the MMR vaccine, and autism. A child can not catch autism, nor can it be given through a vaccination. Evidence reveals that autism is hereditary, so it is passed on through families, like parent to child. Trump’s statement is false.

“First, effective immediately, the FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of a — well, let’s see how we say that acetaminophen — is that OK? Which is basically commonly known as Tylenol during pregnancy, can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.”

  • Acetaminophen is a painkiller that is known under brand names like Tylenol and Panadol. While it’s true that no medication is 100% safe, various health and medical organisations around the world have issued statements saying that acetaminophen is a safe option for pregnant women to take. There is no scientific research or medical evidence to suggest a link between acetaminophen and autism. Trump’s statement is false.

Coal

“[Coal] It’s cheap, incredibly efficient, high density and it’s almost indestructible.”

  • We have already established that coal is the most expensive form of energy, at a cost of per kilowatt; it is not cheap. As for the claim that coal is almost indestructible, you can mine and burn coal, in addition to breaking it with a hammer. Trump’s statement is false.

“There is a thing called clean coal. Coal will last for a thousand years in this country [United States of America].”

  • Coal production in the United States is becoming cleaner, but the answer is more complex than that. Coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels that humans use. When burnt, it releases carbon dioxide, which is a major greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Burning coal also creates health issues, such as lung disease, smog, acid rain, and respiratory illness, as well as neurological and developmental damage. Trump’s statement is false.
  • The United States has the largest coal reserves on the planet, estimated to be around 22% of the world’s share; however, that is finite. Overall, coal production in the United States has slowed, and estimates put the current coal reserve will last for only another 400 years, depending on whether production increases or decreases. Trump’s statement is false.

Climate Change

“This ‘climate change,’ it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion. All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success. If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.”

  • It’s becoming extremely difficult to be a politician and deny climate change now. Climate change is one, if not the biggest, threat to life on Earth. Our planet does have a natural climate change cycle, so it is a real process. However, mountains of data and evidence confirm that our current climate cycle is being accelerated by humans, caused by the large release of carbon dioxide. Trump’s statement is false.

“There is a cooling, and there’s a heating. I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming. Right . . . That wasn’t working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.”

  • Trump is referring to the fact that climate change used to be known as global warming; this is correct. However, the term has evolved to become “climate change” because the term “global warming” was not entirely accurate. If you hear the term global warming, you think of the entire planet heating up. Everywhere will be getting hotter because of the rising temperatures, thanks to the massive release of carbon dioxide through the use of fossil fuels. The reality is that generally, the hot areas will continue to get hotter, to extreme conditions. The opposite is also true, where the areas that are cold will continue to be colder, to the point of extreme weather. Climate change is a far better term to describe the effects of the planet’s rising temperature. Trump’s statement is misleading.

There is a lot more fantastic scientific advice from the world’s greatest leader (a man who was held liable for the sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll, as well as being named in the late convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein’s files), but I have run out of time.

Spoiler: if you are a follower of this vanity project, you would realise that I am not a supporter of Donald Trump or his policies. I don’t want The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, Fox News, or especially The Sun, stating that I endorse Trump. This is a piss-take because I advocate for accurate scientific communication, and not spreading false scientific misinformation or disinformation. Sorry, but not sorry; I am a geek, after all.

I will revisit more of Trump’s scientific claims, as well as looking at some other things he has said that are not entirely correct, concerning one of my other favourite topics. And with that, I am done. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. 

Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, be wary of cats that listen to you, and I’ll see you next week.

Take care and Slava Ukraini.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1959

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Music, People, Politics

The date was 16th June 2025, and it was a simpler time. We were watching the break-up of the world’s wealthiest person and the President of the United States of America; South Park Season 27 had not yet aired; New Zealand rugby supporters were happy; and the world had not yet discovered that the cause of autism was paracetamol and women were to blame.1

However, that date is also famous for being the last entry in one of the planet’s greatest literary feats, discussing the historical references in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.

The answer to your first question is no, James Gunn has not contacted me about being part of the DCU. The answer to your second question is yes, it’s back. After delays with other blog posts and events, the long-awaited musical and historical breakdown has returned, much like your persistent back pain.

Since no living person is perfect2, I have collected the previous entries of this wonderful endeavour and presented them to you, just in case you have missed any of them. They include:

We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Beginning 

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1948-1949.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1950

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1951

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1952

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1953

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1954

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1955

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1956

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1957

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1958

If you’ve studied the teachings of Sesame Street’s greatest mathematician, you would have realised that after looking at the sequence of numbers above you, it leads you to the conclusion that 1959 is the next year in the pattern. Thanks, Count.

I’m curious to learn if there’s any positive and uplifting information that we can gather from 1959. So, like many times before, strap yourselves in, because we are going back in time! Cool.

Credit: Ruby Lane

1959

Buddy Holly

Charles Holley was born in 1936 and became a singer, songwriter, and musician. His stage name was Buddy Holly, and along with his band, the Crickets, he gained fame in musical genres like country and western, and rock and roll.

In the late 50s, his musical career was soaring, with national and international tours, as well as television appearances. Sadly, Holly is not in this song because of his musical talents. Holly and his new band were on tour, but they were having issues with the bus. The schedule was tight, and some people have said that it was poorly planned.

On 3rd February 1959, a flight was chartered from Iowa to the next gig in North Dakota. The plane was a four-seater aircraft, and on board the flight were 22-year-old Holly, 17-year-old Ritchie Valens, 28-year-old Jiles Perry Richardson Jr (The Big Bopper), and the pilot, Roger Peterson, a 21-year-old.

Soon after take-off, and flying in terrible weather conditions, Peterson lost control of the aircraft and crashed, killing everybody instantly. This incident was known as The Day the Music Died, made famous by Don McLean’s 1971 song “American Pie“.

Some contemporary examples of musicians being killed in aircraft crashes include Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in a helicopter crash in 1990; John Denver died when his experimental plane crashed in 1997; and Aaliyah and her entourage were killed in a 2001 plane crash in the Bahamas. 

Buddy Holly backstage at the Prom Ballroom in St. Paul on Jan. 28, 1959. (Courtesy of Blue Days Productions)

Ben-Hur

Released in 1959, Ben-Hur was a film that was adapted from Lew Wallace’s book, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, but also a remake of the 1925 film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), or just Ben-Hur, in one of Heston’s most famous roles. Ben-Hur is a Jewish man living in Roman-occupied Judea, around the same time as Jesus Christ.

With a US$15 million budget, unheard of at the time, it earned US$146 million at the box office. By today’s standards, Ben-Hur’s earnings would be a disaster for the film studio, but for 1959, this film was a smash hit.

Like The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ben-Hur won several awards. This included winning 11 Academy Awards, which still holds the record, tied with Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), as well as three Golden Globe Awards.

Ben-Hur also raised the benchmark for various elements within the film industry, especially the size of sets, and the number of extras, animals, costumes, and other artists involved with the film; added with the legendary chariot race, places Ben-Hur as a Hollywood classic.

For examples of modern movies dominating awards, I covered this with The Bridge on the River Kwai entry. So instead of doing that, some better examples would be films quantifying their design numbers, such as Kingdom of Heaven (2005), which used around 30,000 extras, Stalingrad (2013) for the massive set designs, Marie Antoinette (2006) for the costume designs, and Alexander (2004) for using large numbers of horses and elephants.

Space monkey

For this entry, you can promote the advancement of science; however, the method is always up for debate. You can be for or against these particular scientific experiments, but regardless of your position, this historical reference requires acknowledgement and examination.

The space race between the Soviet Union and the United States of America had begun, and both nations were determined not to lose. To that end, we have “Space monkeys”, which is probably exactly what you think it is.

Space flight was still in its early stages, so they needed non-human organisms to be sent on flights to test the systems, but mainly to reduce the dangers to humans. These animals included fruit flies, mice, dogs, rabbits, frogs, and primates. The point is, a lot of these animals died being astronauts.

On 29th May 1959, NASA sent a rhesus macaque named Miss Able and a squirrel monkey called Miss Baker on a NASA JUPITER AM-18 mission. The monkeys successfully travelled a distance of 2,735 km, at a height of 579 km, with a top speed of 16,000 km/h.

Both monkeys survived the flight, making them the first two animals to be launched by NASA into space, survive and be recovered. Miss Able died four days later in post-flight surgery from an anaesthetic reaction, while Miss Baker lived until 1984.

In modern times, people still use animals in space experiments, but it’s mainly to assess how they cope and adapt to microgravity environments, rather than testing to see whether they survive space flights. Lately, these animals have included mice, fruit flies, spiders, and bobtail squids, as well as tardigrades, because they seem to be one of the resilient lifeforms ever found.

LIFE Magazine’s June 15, 1959. Cover featuring Miss Able and Miss Baker. Credit: Life Magazine
LIFE Magazine Cover b/w © Time Inc. 

Mafia

As you would expect, Mafia refers to organised crime, but there is more to it, because it’s not just one reference; it’s actually several. Since I’m a geek, I’m going to add some background to this, because it’s fun to learn about things!

In 1957, a meeting involving over 100 mobsters from the United States, Cuba, and Italy took place in Apalachin, New York, dubbed the Apalachin meeting. Topics to be discussed at the meeting included the takeover of recently murdered Albert Anastasia’s crime operations, but also gambling, loansharking, and narcotics trafficking within the United States.

The meeting was discovered by law enforcement agencies, which resulted in 60 mobsters being arrested, including the host of the meeting, Joseph “Joe the Barber” Barbara, and crime boss, Vito Genovese. This meeting forced law enforcement agencies to confront two things: the sheer scale of the organised crime network in the United States, and to admit to the public that the Cosa Nostra (The Sicilian Mafia) existed in the United States.

Fast forward to 1959, when some events occurred that were directly linked to the Apalachin meeting. The 1957 arrest of Vito Genovese, the boss of the Genovese crime family, led to his conviction in 1959 for drug trafficking, and he was sentenced to 15 years. Other 1959 convictions included Vincent Gigante (7 years), Joseph Valachi (15 years), and Paul Castellano (5 years).

These convictions changed the Mafia’s power structure, as well as empowering law enforcement agencies in their war against organised crime. Obviously, organised crime has never gone away, but some modern examples of assaults on their leadership have been the conviction of crime boss, John Gotti (1992); the Justice Department indicted 14 members of the Chicago Outfit, leading to convictions under the RICO Act (2005); and FBI agents arrested 127 mobsters in a single day, known as the Mob Bust (2011).

Vito Genovese, 1959. Credit: Phil Stanziola.

Hula hoops

This entry is quite straightforward. When Hula Hoops hit stores in the late 1950s, they were not an original creation. They had been used for thousands of years, in various forms across different societies, including using bamboo, rattan, willow, stiff grasses, and grapevines.

The new Hula Hoops were made of plastic tubing and were a colossal hit around the world. The trend drove sales of the toy to the heights of $100 million in the United States between 1958 and 1960.

For a 2025 equivalent, I would have to say Labubu. These elf-type monsters have conquered the world, with global sales in the first half of 2025 being over $670 million.

The Hula Hoop craze, Deerfield Illinois, 1959. Credit: Art Shay.

Castro

Love him or hate him, but there is no denying Fidel Castro’s influence on the 20th century. Castro was a Cuban lawyer, politician, and revolutionary, who was involved in the Revolución de Cuba (Cuban Revolution), which was an armed revolution against the Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista.

It began on 26th July 1953, and ended with Batista fleeing the country on 31st December 1958; though Castro’s forces (The 26th of July Movement or M-26-7) did not learn about this until the next day, when they started to take control of Cuba.

Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba on 17th February 1959 and served until 2nd December 1976, then became President of Cuba from 2nd December 1976 to 24th February 2008. Castro overhauled Cuba and transformed it into the first communist country in the Western Hemisphere, and ended up having a brutal regime, just like his enemy, Batista.

I’d like to add that Castro will return for the 1961 edition of this wonderful project. Be prepared for the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

A contemporary example of someone overthrowing an authoritarian government would be Ahmed al-Sharaa, when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December 2024, after 13 years of civil war.

Fidel Castro addresses a rally in 1959. Credit: Sovfoto/Universal Images Gro/REX / Shutterstock

Edsel is a no-go

This is an interesting entry because there are two points to discuss. To establish the background, Edsel refers to a brand of car created by Ford Motors, and it was named after Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, since Ford was the company’s founder.

The car was launched in 1958 and became a commercial failure. By 1959, sales for the car had dropped significantly, which included reasons such as low quality, being ugly, being vaunted too much, and being introduced during a recession. The car resulted in a loss of over $250 million for Ford Motors, so it was pulled from production in 1960.

The second point of this tale is the actual name. Edsel was a relatively common name for boys in the United States at the time. However, due to the failure of the Edsel car brand, many new parents became hesitant to name their baby boys after a name associated with a failed product. As a result, just as sales of the car declined, so did the popularity of the name Edsel.

Some 21st century examples of failed or failing car brands include the Lincoln Blackwood, Rover CityRover, Saturn Ion, Chrysler Crossfire, Aston Martin Cygnet, Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, BMW XM, Fisker Ocean, and the Tesla Cybertruck, to name but a few.

A 1958 Edsel convertible made by Ford. Credit: Underwood Archives / Getty Images

So for 1959, we covered a musician, a movie, two astronaut monkeys, mobsters being convicted, a toy, a revolutionary leader, and a failed car brand. 1959 was busy, and like many other years in this project, it can reflect 2025 as well. But look on the bright side, we get to enter the 1960s next time! Yay!

So that brings another blog post from yours truly to a close. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. My accounts on Twitter and Mastodon are still operating, where I post daily things concerning everything. Cool.

As a New Zealander, I would also like to apologise to the world on behalf of my country for my government’s inaction in recognising the State of Palestine. It’s not good enough, and I’m very sorry.

Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, stay away from Polonium-210, and I’ll see you next week for some science advice.

1 In New Zealand, Tylenol is known as the drug, Paracetamol.

2 Except for Chuck Norris, praise be his name.

Jim Shooter, Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, and 250

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics, Music, People

Hi everybody, how are we all feeling? This week’s lecture is bittersweet, which in reality, is nothing new for this writer who suffers from delusions of grandeur. The act of transferring information and knowledge through the written word does not come easily for me. There are moments where humour can be injected into the topic, and it feels natural.

There are times when a certain unofficial degree of levity is needed, and in most cases, finding the balance between the two can be challenging, depending on the topic.

This is my long-winded way of discussing the fact that I need to acknowledge the deaths of Jim Shooter, Ozzy Osbourne, and Hulk Hogan.

Image by keesluising from Pixabay

Firstly, let’s discuss James (Jim) Shooter. Shooter died on 30th June, 2025, aged 73 years, at his home in Nyack, New York. For those of you not in the know, Shooter was a comic book writer, publisher, editor, and occasional fill-in artist who worked for several companies, like Dark Horse, DC, and Marvel, having broken into the industry at the age of 13. He also went to establish Valiant, Defiant and Broadway Comics.

For me, Shooter wrote some legendary storylines for DC and Marvel, but also created popular characters like Archer & Armstrong, The Beyonder, Emerald Empress, Faith Herbert, The Fatal Five, Henry Peter Gyrich, Harbingers, Karate Kid, Mordru, Parasite, Ferro Lad, Rai, Shadow Lass, Tabitha Smith, Star Brand, and Titania, and many more. I also have a soft spot for his Aric of Dacia, aka X-O Manowar.

His characters and stories were bombastic, featuring aliens, superheroes from the future, supervillains, and everything in between. I can’t fully express my gratitude to people like Shooter, people who donate their lives and careers to a medium I love.

I valued and enjoyed his work, and like several other comic book creators who have passed away, Jim Shooter will live forever, inspiring the next generation of writers to dream of aliens and superpowers, as well as the human condition. UMC2 likes Parasite for some reason, so that’s a win!

Credit: DC Comics/Marvel/CBR

Next, we have the Prince of Darkness, John Osbourne, otherwise known as Ozzy Osbourne. Osbourne was famous for different reasons, like being a reality TV star, co-creating the music festival, Ozzfest; a businessman; and advocating for charities, which have all added to the aura of this multi-talented Englishman. He was also a media personality and songwriter.

However, the main reason Osbourne was an icon was that he was the singer for the heavy metal band, Black Sabbath. He was loved the world over, mainly because, in my humble opinion, he would always find a way to relate to people through his career, on and off the stage.

I loved his music, and for me, he was one of the first nonconformists that I listened to and admired. He had a lifestyle that many people envied, being a real OG rock star, but I always appreciated his amazement of this world, and the beautiful people who live in it, as well as his unique experiences and views. He was a real showman who gave electrifying performances.

Osbourne died on 22nd July, aged 76 years, at his home in Buckinghamshire. I can’t remember the first song I heard Osbourne sing, but War Pigs is one of my favourites. Whenever I listen to it now, it will have a greater meaning.

Let me tell you something, brother, because we have finally arrived at Hulk Hogan. Born Terry Bollea, Hogan died on 24th July in Clearwater, Florida. As you will be well aware, Hogan was arguably one of the most famous professional wrestlers of all time. Where and when I grew up, we couldn’t watch World Wrestling Federation (WWF). And even if we did, I’m very confident my parents wouldn’t have let me watch it.

In saying that, all of the kids at school, myself included, still knew who Hulk Hogan was: he was the heavyweight champion of the world. It wasn’t until I got older that I managed to watch matches. My favourite wrestler was the Ultimate Warrior, but there was nothing like Hulk Hogan ripping his t-shirt, brother. Hulkamania was everywhere!

Like Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Hulk Hogan taught me the art of trash-talking, especially how ridiculous and empowering it can be. UMC1, UMC2 and I trash-talk each other from time to time, and it’s so difficult to keep a straight face when a 7-year old is explaining to his father that nobody can defeat him, and that I’m going to experience pain like never before. Added to UMC1 pointing out that he will squash his opponents like grapes before power flexing, is too much for me.

Hogan provided me with entertainment that I never knew I wanted, but I badly needed. Growing up, that kind of outlet was outstanding, brother.

Credit: WWE/Getty Images

I am also aware that all three men have had their share of controversies, which have upset and offended some people, with actions in their careers, and retirements. Those comments and issues could be discussed on this blog, but not today. Today, I’m just glad these three larger-than-life figures have injected some entertainment and life into an odd and quirky boy living in the South Pacific. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Now, because you train, say your prayers, and take your vitamins, you would have noticed that the title for this rant was: Jim Shooter, Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, and 250. The first three parts of the title have been easy to identify, but what about 250?

Well, my dear and loyal readers, this blog post is my 250th. Yes, from my first blog post on 1st December 2020, I have now written 250 of the weirdest blog posts, this side of The New Zealand Sour Cream and Chives Preservation Society’s Swimming Carnival, or Beetroot Awareness Aotearoa’s baby matching game.

Let me tell you something, brother, those idiots are the worst. The Thing has the Yancy Street Gang, Daredevil has the Hand, and I have The New Zealand Sour Cream and Chives Preservation Society and Beetroot Awareness Aotearoa.

In the history of the universe, this achievement of writing 250 quasi-humorous blog posts is nothing, but to me, it’s everything. 250 blog posts of nonsense, utter nonsense. Maybe one day my writing will improve. Maybe.

Credit: Abode Stock

Thank you for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I have no idea what the future has in store for me or Some Geek Told Me, but here’s to another 250 oddly-written and semi-informative blog posts.

Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, laugh at Neo-Nazis, and I’ll see you next week for the 80th VJ Day Anniversary. Look after yourselves and your family.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1958

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Music, People, Politics

I was thinking the other day about our finite time on this beautiful planet. We try to use it by developing various skills and spending time with our loved ones. And then there is this project, which I don’t fully understand where it would fall.

Yes, dear reader, one of the worst ideas I have ever had has returned with a vendetta against logic and reason. Some Geek Told Me is proud to present the latest instalment of We Didn’t Start the Fire, where we examine the historical references of the song.

For the previous non-award-winning entries of the song, please see below to be stunned into submission!

 We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Beginning 

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1948-1949.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1950

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1951

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1952

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1953

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1954

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1955

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1956

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1957

In 1957, there were many shenanigans, so 1958 might be a nice change of pace. So strap yourself in, because we’re going back to 1958! Make it so!

Credit: Collinson & Cunninghame Ltd: Publisher

1958

Lebanon

Lebanon is a country that can be found in the region called the Middle East and has a deep and rich history, dating back to at least 5,000 BCE. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, with Cyprus just 240 km off the coast. Syria lies to the north and east of Lebanon, with Israel and the Golan Heights to the south. Lebanon has a population of approximately 5.84 million people, similar to New Zealand, which has a population of about 5.3 million. The capital city, Beirut, has an estimated population of 2.3 million.

1958 was the year of the Lebanon Crisis, where the country was thrown into political and religious turmoil. At the time, the President of Lebanon was Camille Chamoun, and he was in the sixth and final year of his term.

Some of the issues Lebanon were facing included tensions between Christians and Arab Muslims flaring up; Egypt and Syria had merged to create the United Arab Republic (UAR) and wanted Lebanon to join them; an armed rebellion had formed; along with Chamoun wanting to seek another term, which went against the Constitution of Lebanon.

The problem was brought to the attention of the United Nations Security Council, and one proposed solution involved United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower leading an intervention at the request of Chamoun. Under Operation Blue Bat, he sent 5,000 marines to secure the Port of Beirut and Beirut International Airport. This lasted from 15th July to 25th October 1958.

The legacy of the Lebanon Crisis was that Chamoun did not attain a new term, with Fouad Chehab becoming the President of Lebanon, and a national reconciliation government was formed. Sadly, Lebanon went on to suffer a civil war for 15 years, which killed an estimated 150,000 people, coupled with conflicts with Israel, the Syrian Civil War, the Arab Spring, the October Revolution, and a financial crisis, Lebanon is now identified as a failed state.

US Marines move into Lebanon 28 July 1958. Copyright Life Magazine
LIFE Magazine Cover b/w © Time Inc. 

Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle remains a famous French icon, over 130 years after his birth. Born in 1890, de Gaulle was a veteran of the First World War, and after the war ended, he stayed with the army. This led him to gain worldwide attention later on during the Second World War, after de Gaulle was promoted within the army and the government, to the point where he was in charge of the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany.

After the war, de Gaulle remained within the government in various roles until 1946. However, in 1958, Algeria was involved in an armed conflict to wrestle its independence from France.

Charles de Gaulle re-entered French politics during a crisis in the Fourth Republic, particularly regarding Algeria, during the 1958 election. He was appointed Prime Minister and granted special powers to address the Algerian Crisis, as many believed he was the only person capable of resolving it.

This led to de Gaulle drafting a new French Constitution, which established the Fifth Republic of France, where he was subsequently elected as the first President of the Fifth Republic. Although Algeria won its independence from France on 5th July 1962, de Gaulle remained President until 1969.

A contemporary equivalent for de Gaulle would be someone who was a war hero and then entered politics. History is filled with such people, however, I’ll go for George H.W. Bush, Bajram Begaj, Hashim Thaçi, Aslan Maskhadov, and Min Aung Hlaing, along with many others.

Charles de Gaulle gives a press conference, 1958. Photograph: Daniele Darolle/Sygma via Getty Images

California baseball

This is not the first time a baseball team has appeared as an entry on one of our lists. California baseball refers to the New York Giants, who had played in the National League, in MLB (Major League Baseball), since 1883. They were based in…wait for it…New York; Upper Manhattan to be precise.

One of their rivals was the Brooklyn Dodgers, who managed to grace the 1955 edition of We Didn’t Start the Fire. At the end of the 1957 season, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers left New York and moved to California. They transformed into the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, all ready for the 1958 season so they could continue their feud.

After moving to California, the Giants won the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. I’ve stated this before, but I’m not a baseball expert, so for a modern example of a baseball team relocating recently, I think the Oakland Athletics moving to Las Vegas, Nevada is a clear winner.

Giants first practice at Seal Stadium on April 15, 1958. Starting line up: Davenport, O’Connell, Mays, Cepeda, Sauer, Spencer, Thomas, Gomez. Starting Pitcher Ruben Gomez. Credit: Art Frisch.

Starkweather homicide

Alright, here’s a historical reference from 1958 that is still sending ripples through time. Between November 1957 and January 1958, Charles Starkweather killed 11 people and two dogs, accompanied by his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate. The victims’ ages ranged from 2-70 years old, with the 2-year-old being Betty Jean Bartlett, Fugate’s sister.

Starkweather killed his first victim on 30th November/1st December 1957, then went on to terrorise the US states of Nebraska and Wyoming. The Starkweather homicides gripped the American public, which had resulted in a large manhunt for the couple. They were finally captured by authorities near Douglas, Wyoming, on 29th January 1958.

After he was found guilty, Starkweather was executed by an electric chair on 25th June 1959, while Fugate was given life imprisonment, though she was released in 1976.

The Starkweather homicides have spawned many adaptations and variations across television, film, books, comics, music, and video games.

Starkweather has been characterised as both a serial killer and a spree killer. The term spree killer is often used interchangeably with rampage killer or shooter. If you’re looking for a modern equivalent in 2025, simply reading a newspaper or watching news videos will help you find the latest incidents of spree killings, no matter where you are in the world.

Casper Tribune-Herald on 30th January 1958, describes Starkweather’s capture. Credit: Casper Tribune-Herald

Children of Thalidomide

Children of Thalidomide refers to the Thalidomide scandal that swept the globe. Thalidomide was first introduced in 1957, under the name of Contergan, and it was a revolutionary new drug. It was marketed as an over-the-counter medication, that could help with tension, sleeping, anxiety, and morning sickness.

Health authorities around the world began to observe three troubling trends: an increase in infant deaths shortly after birth, a rise in miscarriages, and a growing number of babies born with deformities such as heart, arm, leg, eye, and urinary tract defects. A common factor associated with these alarming trends was the use of thalidomide by pregnant women. Approximately 300 million tablets of thalidomide were sold during this time.

By 1958, the Thalidomide scandal was in full effect across the planet. Soon, country by country were starting to stop the sale of thalidomide and introduced legalisation to ban the drug. It was later discovered that thalidomide caused birth defects by disrupting the development of blood vessels in the embryo.

The Thalidomide scandal prompted many countries to review their drug regulatory policies, resulting in enhanced monitoring of these regulations. The effects of this are still observed today with stronger drug regulations worldwide.

In the last 15 years, many drugs have been withdrawn because of safety concerns, which have included Ingenol mebutate gel, Lorcaserin, Ranitidine, Flupirtine, Tetrazepam, Drotrecogin alfa, Propoxyphene, Gemtuzumab ozogamicin, Ozogamicin, and Rosiglitazone, to name but a few.

Contergan tablets. Credit: WDR

So for 1958, we covered a country, a war hero-turned-politician, a baseball team, a spree killer, and a dangerous over-the-counter drug. One of the biggest points about the historical references for 1958, is how these events are still being echoed in 2025.

So that’s it for another week. The 1960s are just months away, but we need to face 1959 first, so hang in there. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. My accounts on Twitter and Mastodon, are still there, doing whatever the opposite of cool is.

This is a good time to remind my amazing audience that my mid-year break is coming up soon, where I take a well-deserved two-week holiday from running New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website. It’s hard work producing low-quality content.

Anyway, please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, swipe right on diplomacy, and I’ll see you next week.

Random things my wife is now into

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Social Media

It’s been a while since I’ve discussed my wife and her quirky traits, so I thought I would remedy that. For previous insightful entries about analysing her, please see here about her choices of books, TV shows, and movies.

To set the scene, I shared some ideas with her, but she considered my suggestions and proposed a topic that was far better than what I had originally come up with. Like anyone else, she often talks to me about various unusual topics that pique her interest, and these interests have evolved over the years.

This includes when I’m watching rugby or reading, she will start discussing some new or crazy topic. I love her, but the All Blacks would be playing, and she decides now is the best time to talk to me about her new interest in following Mongolian throat singing, or something to that effect.

I have compiled a collection of her new and random interests, along with the rationale behind each one, presented in her own words whenever possible. Additionally, my wife has noted that she has interests beyond just watching things; these are simply her latest random pursuits. She believes that this makes her pretty cool.

So, without further fanfare, let’s get started!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Watching snake eggs hatch:

I think its fascinating and the eggs are soft and just so un-egg like (Molinaro Snake Lab to be precise).

Watching restoration videos:

The rustier the better, I just like all the steps and processes involved. (Chip Channel Restorations and The Fabrick to be precise)

Manufacturing videos:

Like food factory stuff. It’s just great what people have come up with to make life easier and I find it exciting.

Prop making:

I like watching other people make stuff, while I’m making my own stuff. It’s great to understand their thought processes around problem-solving. It’s like you’re working with an arts and crafts buddy. (Rachel Maksy to be precise)

Bardcore music:

I have no explanation for this, I just like it because it’s cool. (Hildegard von Blingin’ to be precise)

British Football chants:

So hilarious, unexpectedly funny and just really creative.

Keith Richards memes:

Another illogical one because I’m not even a fan of his; they are just funny.

Comedy music artists:

Music + humour. What’s not to like? They tickle my brain. I really like Tom Cardy, Rhett and Link, and Flight of the Concords. Also ERB (Epic Rap Battles of History) has the bonus of learning stuff too.

That is just what’s happening with her in the first half of 2025. I’m anxious about what the remaining months of the year hold for her.

Do you enjoy any of these interests like my wife? Is she correct, and agree that she’s cool? As always, please let me know.

This blog is shorter this week, but I’ll make up for it next week because we’re going back to 1958. Yes, Billy Joel would likely be disappointed in me.

Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, and I’ll see you next week.

Also having two conservative billionaires having a very messy public break-up, at the beginning of Pride Month, via their own social media platforms, is catty, petty, and bitchy. I’m ashamed that I love it.

Peter David: Writing genius

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics, People

In this week’s blog, I want to discuss the death of another giant of the comics and entertainment industry, Peter David. He passed away on 20th May at NYU Langone Hospital, New York, at the age of 68.

Over the last week, many articles have been written by professionals about Peter, across various media. In saying that, I’m going to offer my humble tribute to a man I had never met.

Comic-book writer Peter David ‘PAD’ attends “Stan Lee’s World of Heroes” during Comic-Con International 2012 held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel on July 12, 2012 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Each time I reflect on someone who has influenced my life from afar and has passed away, I feel grateful for the various genres that exist, including comics, television shows, movies, and novels.

I love comic books, and as long-time followers and readers may know, I was captivated by them when I was a boy and have never recovered. Among the many reasons for my enduring passion, one of them was Peter David.

For those of you who have never heard of Peter, he was a proficient writer who had penned hundreds of comics, but also novels, videogames, and screenplays. He had worked for both DC and Marvel, but also added a large volume of work to the Star Trek canon through various mediums.

Peter David was always somebody who was in my sphere of knowledge, even though I didn’t know it. I can’t tell you the first comic I read that was written by Peter, but over time, I started recognising his name and work.

For me, his work on Supergirl, Aquaman, X-Factor, Spider-Man, and the Incredible Hulk, has become immortal, along with his status as a writer. From a comic book lover’s perspective, I enjoyed his stories because they included a collection of social issues, mixed with action.

Peter’s Incredible Hulk #420 may have been the first time that I can recall, reading about a character who was dying from AIDS in a comic book. It was relevant then, and it’s relevant now. It’s been my understanding that Peter’s life would bleed through onto the pages, helping to shape and guide characters.

Through his hard work, Peter also gave us The Maestro, a future evil version of the Hulk, who remains a key Marvel villain, and still a warning about ourselves when we allow our morality and compassion to be stripped away, to gain more power. I still have Hulk: Future Imperfect #1–2 and Incredible Hulk: The End #1; I probably always will.

I always liked his strong female characters, who rarely needed a man to save them, because they were always strong enough to save themselves, as well as other people. He also tried to champion people not just on the page, but also off it, with his views and dedication; especially about supporting creators and many other causes.

Over the last few years, I was deeply saddened to hear about his financial and medical issues. Even though he was living in another country, in reality, he might as well have been living on the Moon.

From Spider-Man 2099 to Talos, to Cyber, to Joe Fixit, to Random, to Fallen Angel, Peter’s characters are unique and beloved. I wish I had the opportunity to have met him, but the universe doesn’t work like that. So instead, I’d like to thank Peter for his amazing literacy work that helped expand the mind of a boy living in a small town, half a world away.

What’s your favourite Peter David story? As always please let me know.

Alright, that’s it for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m also on Twitter and Mastodon, where I bumble around in various echo chambers.

Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, and if you had a bet that PSG would win the UEFA Champions League Final, over Inter Milan, 5-0, then you’re a lot smarter than me. I’ll see you next week.

Who, what, and where are the elements named after?: Part 1

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Science

What’s a nice person like you, doing in a place like this? It’s not that bad, I think. In a totally unrelated matter, I attended a meeting with all of the administrative staff at Some Geek Told Me to discuss future ideas for blog posts.

The CEO came up with a few stupid ideas, the CFO mentioned a moronic suggestion, and the President of the company suggested a truly idiotic topic, though that’s pretty standard nowadays. However, whenever I need a dumb idea, the Vice President never disappoints me.

Because whatever the Vice President wants, the Vice President gets, so we are now going back to the Periodic Table. Yay! Our last venture into this elemental masterpiece was nearly four years ago, so if you missed it, check it out here before…I don’t have an answer to that statement.

Like me, I’m sure you’re a science fan, so how could you not love the Periodic Table? Created in 1869, by Russian chemist, Dmitri Mendeleev, the Periodic Table is the organisation of the known elements into a table, based on their physical properties, atomic number, atomic valence and their atomic mass.

One day I hope to understand it better, though at this rate, it might be the same time the All Blacks win the World Cup again.

So after reading this strange introduction, you would be forgiven if you’re wondering what is going on with today’s blog post. Other than neglecting my bed, we are going to start looking at where the names of the 118 elements have originated from, with the first part of this pointless exercise looking at real people.

Yes, 13 elements are directly named after real people, however, some different people are indirectly named after elements, but I will rant about them another day. I’m not going to present 13 elements in alphabetical order, as you would expect from this account, but rather in the order you would find them on the Periodic Table. So, without further fanfare, let’s turn the page and begin now.

Image by Daniel Madriz from Pixabay

Curium (Cm): Marie Curie and Pierre Curie

Curium is the 96th element on the Periodic Table, and it resides in the Actinoid group. It’s a synthetic element, which means it was created on purpose by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso in 1944, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkley), California, United States.

Curium was named after Marie and Pierre Curie, one of the most famous married couples in science. The Curies discovered polonium (Po), along with radium (Ra) and conducted years of research on radioactivity. In 1903, the Curies and Henri Becquerel shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Marie winning the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Pierre and Maria Curie in the laboratory, 1904. Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Einsteinium (Es): Albert Einstein

Einsteinium is the 99th element on the Periodic Table, and it hangs out just three spaces along from curium in the Actinoid group. Einsteinium is another synthetic element, and it was created in 1952, by Albert Ghiorso, Torbjørn Sikkeland, Almon E. Larsh, and Robert M. Latimer, at the University of California, Berkeley, United States.

Using your amazing detective skills, you would have figured out that Einsteinium was named after, arguably, the famous scientist of the 20th century, Albert Einstein.

I’ve stated this before, but Einstein was a theoretical physicist who researched and published work on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion and the Einstein relation, special relativity, the principle of mass-energy equivalence (E=mc2), statistical mechanics, general relativity, and many more outstanding contributions to science. Einstein also received a Nobel Prize in 1921 in Physics.

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) at home in Princeton, New Jersey, 1944. Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images

Fermium (Fm): Enrico Fermi

 Since Fermium is the 100th element on the Periodic Table, it sits right next to Einsteinium in the Actinoid group. As you can guess, Fermium is a synthetic element, and in 1952, it was discovered by Albert Ghiorso and other scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It was created in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952, code-named Ivy Mike.

Just like the previous two entries, Fermium was named after another 20th-century scientist, Enrico Fermi. He was a physicist, and among the various things he accomplished, Fermi helped construct the world’s first artificial nuclear reactor, as well as working on the Manhattan Project.

And just like the Curies and Einstein, he was also awarded a Nobel Prize, but this was in 1938 for Physics.

Physicist Enrico Fermi, now a professor at the Columbia University, shown August 10, 1945, began experimenting with uranium in Italy in the early 1930’s. His experiments and the knowledge derived from them assisted in the final perfection of the atomic bomb. (AP Photo)

Mendelevium (Md): Dmitri Mendeleev

You knew this was coming, didn’t you? Mendelevium is another synthetic element and is the 101st element on the Periodic Table. It was discovered by Stanley G. Thompson, Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg, Gregory Robert Choppin, and Bernard G. Harvey in 1955 at the University of California.

Mendelevium was named after…wait for it…Dmitri Mendeleev! Mendeleev was the architect of the modern Periodic Table, and he did this by organising the elements into a table, based on their physical properties, like atomic number, atomic valence and atomic mass.

One remarkable aspect of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table is that he organised the elements in a way that allowed him to predict the existence of undiscovered elements by leaving gaps for them. History shows that his predictions were accurate with the later discoveries of germanium, gallium, and scandium.

Original: Unknown author
Upload: Germansociety2014/Wikicommons

Nobelium (No): Alfred Nobel

As we march along the Actinoid group, we come across the 102nd element: Nobelium. Nobelium’s discovery seems to me, a bit odd. Scientists in Sweden announced the discovery of the element in 1957, but over the years, other sources have cited different years, such as 1958, 1963, and 1966, for the discovery. I don’t know who discovered nobelium first, because it may depend on who you talk to.

What isn’t up for debate is who nobelium was named after. Alfred Nobel was an inventor, engineer, businessman, and chemist who gave the world dynamite, gelignite, ballistite and the detonator, among other things. Nobel bequeathed his fortune to create a foundation to annually recognise people’s achievements for the benefit of humankind. Today, we know them as the Nobel Prizes.

Alfred Nobel. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Lawrencium (Lr): Ernest Lawrence

Lawrencium is the 103rd element of the Periodic Table, and like the others on this list, it’s another synthetic element. Similar to nobelium, lawrencium has been wrapped up in multiple claims of discovery. However, the earliest record of the discovery was in 1961, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, by Albert Ghiorso and a team of scientists.

Lawrencium was named after Ernest Lawrence, who was an accelerator physicist. He invented the cyclotron, which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939, as well as worked on the Manhattan Project. He was also the founder of two laboratories, which were named in his honour after his death: the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Ernest Lawrence is perhaps best known for the invention of the cyclotron. Credit: LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY

Rutherfordium (Rf): Ernest Rutherford

As a New Zealander, this synthetic element has a special place in our rugby-obsessed hearts. Rutherfordium is the 104th element on the Periodic Table, and it’s a transition metal. Like the two previous entries, Rutherfordium has some controversy around its discovery. Whether it was discovered in 1964 by the Soviets or 1969 by the Americans, Rutherfordium only has a half-life of about 48 minutes.

Rutherfordium is the only element named after a New Zealander; my man, Ernest Rutherford. In 1908, Rutherford received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into the disintegration of elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances. He is also known as “the father of nuclear physics”, for his experiments that proved that the atom is made up of empty space, except for a small positively charged centre.

Rutherford proposed the term “nucleus” to describe the dense, positively charged core of an atom, thus giving him the title of “splitting the atom”, and the New Zealand $100 note was never the same.

Lord Rutherford’s pioneering research on radioactivity and the atom cemented his place as one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. Credit: Bain News Service.

Seaborgium (Sg): Glenn T. Seaborg

It may sound like an alloy from Star Trek, but I promise you it’s not. The 106th element on the Periodic Table is seaborgium, and it’s yet another synthetic element. If I have this correct, both Soviet and American scientists discovered seaborgium, independently from each other in 1974, so its another controversy surrounding the discovery.

As for the naming of the element, that is simple. Seaborgium was named after the chemist, Glenn T. Seaborg. Seaborg helped to discover 10 elements, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium and the final one, element 106; which was eventually named seaborgium.

He also won various awards, including the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1951. Seaborg was responsible for adding the Actinoids strip on the Periodic Table. Cool.

Glenn T. Seaborg, 1968.
Courtesy of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission; photograph, Westcott

Bohrium (Bh): Niels Bohr

Sitting next to seaborgium in the transition metal group, we have the 107th element: Bohrium. There seems to be a trend happening because bohrium also has dual discoveries, with a Soviet team in 1976, as well as a German team in 1981.

People can argue about who discovered what element and when, but bohrium could have only been named after one person: Niels Bohr. Bohr was a Danish physicist, who also dabbled with philosophy. His contributions to science include atomic structure, nuclear fission, and quantum mechanics, but he also won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics.

The Niels Bohr Institute, at the University of Copenhagen is also named after him.

Niels Bohr, 1922. Credit: AB Lagrelius & Westpha

Meitnerium (Mt): Elise “Lise” Meitner

Meitnerium is the 109th element on the Periodic Table and another synthetic element. It was discovered by Gottfried Münzenber and Peter Armbruster at the GSI Heavy Ion Research Laboratory in Darmstadt, Germany in 1982.

There are only two elements on the Periodic Table named after real women, curium with Marie Curie, and the second is meitnerium, which was named after Lise Meitner. Meitner was a physicist who helped to discover the element protactinium, along with other discoveries like the Auger−Meitner effect and nuclear fission. She won the Max Planck Medal in 1949, the Enrico Fermi Award in 1966, and many other awards.

Credit: NY Times

Roentgenium (Rg): Wilhelm Röntgen

The 111th element is roentgenium, and it’s another transition metal. Just like meitnerium, roentgenium was created at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research Laboratory, by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg, but this time in 1994.

Roentgenium was named after the physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, sometimes spelt as Wilhelm Roentgen. Through his work, Röntgen detected a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays.

This radiation became known as X-ray or Röntgen radiation. This discovery meant that in 1901, he was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in Physics.

Photograph of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Copernicium (Cn): Nicolaus Copernicus

We are nearly at the end of the list, with only two to go! Copernicium is the 112th element and once again, was discovered at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. In 1996, a team led by Sigurd Hofmann and Victor Ninov worked for two weeks smashing lead with a beam of zinc ions, that were traveling at 30,000 km per second. The result of this experiment was the creation of a few atoms of copernicium.

If you’re a fan of space or astronomy, you may already know who I’m going to discuss. Copernicium was named after Nicolaus Copernicus, public enemy #1 for Flat Earthers. Copernicus was born in 1473 and achieved a lot in his life, which involved the fields of translation, medicine, economics, mathematics, laws, and diplomacy, but the main thing that he is still known for 500 years later, is his discoveries in astronomy.

Nicolaus Copernicus is often referred to as the father of modern astronomy due to his groundbreaking work, which demonstrated that not only is Earth a planet, but that other planets also orbit the Sun each year. In addition to this discovery, Copernicus explained that Earth rotates daily on its own axis. He also noted that very gradual changes in the direction of this axis are responsible for the precession of the equinoxes.

His model of the solar system is known as the Heliocentric system, which has the Sun at the centre, as opposed to the Geocentric model, which places the Earth at the centre.

Nicolaus Copernicus portrait from Town Hall in Toruń, 1580. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy

Oganesson (Og): Yuri Oganessian

We have spent some time hanging out with the Actinoids and transition metals, but now we need to drift to the right, to visit the Noble Gases. Oganesson is the 118th and latest element to be added to the Periodic Table. It was created by a joint team of Russian and American scientists in 2002, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia.

Oganesson has three cool things going for it. It has the highest atomic number and highest atomic mass of all known elements, it was only formally named as late as 2016, and it’s the second element to be named after a living person, with the first being seaborgium and Glenn T. Seaborg.

And so, for the final time today, Oganesson was named after Yuri Oganessian, a nuclear physicist. His research on superheavy elements led him to help in the discovery of bohrium, meitnerium, hassium, darmstadtium, roentgenium, and copernicium. Oganesson has also been awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal in 2017, and the Demidov Prize in 2019.

Credit: Joint Institute for Nuclear Research

With the other 105 elements on the Periodic Table, their names will hopefully be explained upon multiple entries on this popular and well-respected website.

So that’s it for another blog post and another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, avoid breaking the spacetime continuum whenever possible, and I’ll see you next week.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears, because I have some boring news for you

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Social Media

I’ve never dedicated an entire blog post to updating you with news before, at least about me. But, there’s a first time for everything, like trying Sour Cream and Chives for the first time. Your brain wants to shut down to stop feeling the vile taste.

Anyway, this blog post is slightly shorter, because of three main reasons. No, it’s not 20 questions, so I’ll tell you.

1.) I’m writing this before Easter because I will be busy over the weekend. Yes, I’m doing something at Easter, so the chances of me sitting down to work on New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website are slim. Not impossible, just slim, so I thought I would be prepared.

2.) As New Zealanders, we generally don’t boast about our achievements. This tendency stems from our history of being an isolated and pragmatic people. I’m not one to discuss my accomplishments or lack of. However, I feel compelled to share something significant that happened last weekend.

Long-time followers and subscribers of this wayward blog will know that I like running. To be honest, it’s somewhere between walking and jogging, but I pretend it’s running. Last weekend, I ran in one of my favourite half marathons, and something odd and wonderful happened.

2014 was the last time I ran a half marathon in under 2 hours. I’ve come close, dangerously close to that time, but that target has alluded me for over 10 years. In all honesty, I accepted the fact that I would probably never run another half marathon under 2 hours again. I thought my body had said, “To hell with that, we can’t do that anymore!”

By now, you can see where this is headed. For the first time since 2014, I ran a half marathon in under 2 hours. I know that in the grand scheme of things, it may not seem significant, but honestly, I thought I would never achieve this again. It’s surprising to realise I’m faster than I was in 2015, which feels almost unbelievable to me. In that sense, I feel proud of myself, which is a bizarre feeling.

It will sometime before that happens again. Maybe.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

3.) For us, we are well and truly into Autumn, with Winter popping its ugly head up now and then. And just like the inevitability of the seasons and an Australian Prime Minister changing, we all change. This brings me to the biggest update, I’m changing jobs. I resigned in February, and the 24th of April will be my last day.

I’ve been there for nine years, and in the field for 16 years, but I’m going to be working for myself. I’ll be in the same industry, just adjacent to what I had been doing, which is equally exciting and horrifying, given how New Zealand and the world are currently.

Over the last few weeks, my emotions have felt like they are on a rollercoaster, and with my last day arriving soon, I’m sorry to report those emotions will probably just intensify. No doubt I’ll shame Chuck Norris by shedding a tear by the end.

I have no idea if this will work out, or even if it’s a good idea, but if the world’s most famous 78-year-old convicted felon has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t take anything or anyone for granted. I’m trying to look at the world differently, but also to try and do things differently.

I’ll let you know how things went on for the last day, but also how the new job is working out. Oh, look at me being all hopeful and positive!

Ok, that’s it for today. I promise I’ll get back to writing pointless posts like doing a Thunderbolts* Movie Preview next week.

Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, go fly a paper airplane, and I’ll see you next week.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1957

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Movies, Music, People, Politics

As the tariffs continue, so do the days of our lives. In our daily routines, we can choose what we do, including dissecting a 36-year-old song, even though it has been analysed before.

Because you’re a clever person who likes to get at least 10 hours of sleep and loves eating Vegemite, you would have realised I’m talking about one of my dumbest ideas, explaining the historical references in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.

I started this pointless project in February 2024, and I’m still stuck in the 50s. I’ll probably retire before I finish it. For those unfortunate people who have missed out on the past entries, fear not, for I have the complete list.

 We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Beginning 

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1948-1949.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1950

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1951

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1952

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1953

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1954

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1955

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1956

After reflecting on the historical events of 1956, I’m ready to delve into 1957, which promises to be just as wild and challenging. Like before, get ready for an adventure because we are traveling back in time with our destination set for 1957. Let’s do this!

Credit: Burlington

1957

Little Rock

Little Rock is located in Arkansas, United States, and in 1957, it was a flashpoint for the Civil Rights Movement. It centred around nine African American students who were integrated into Little Rock Central High School. These students become known as The Little Rock Nine.

Through a ruling from the Supreme Court that declared that the laws that established segregated schools were unconstitutional, and the backing of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), the nine students were enrolled at Little Rock Central High School.

The school was racially segregated, so black students attending an all-white school did not go down well for everybody. Among several protests against the integration, Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the protesters, as well as to block the students from entering the school.

If you remember from the 1952 blog, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President of the United States of America, and this situation annoyed him. His response was to issue an executive order, which federalised the Arkansas National Guard. He ordered them to support the integration and along with the 101st Airborne Division, escorted and protected the students while at school. This drama was named The Little Rock Crisis.

As a non-American, it’s difficult to quantify a modern example of the Little Rock Crisis. My only answer is to point out the legacy that it brought to the public school system in the United States, by guiding the way in the desegregation of public schools.

The Little Rock Nine being escorted by the National Guard to Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas, 1957. Credit: Everett Collection

Pasternak

Boris Pasternak was a Russian poet, composer, literary translator, and novelist. He was born in Moscow, which was then part of the Russian Empire before it was transformed into the Soviet Union. He is included on this list because he wrote a small and uncomplicated book that you may have heard of: Doctor Zhivago.

Pasternak gave typed manuscripts to foreigners in 1956, knowing they wouldn’t be published in the USSR. The manuscripts were then smuggled to Milan, Italy. Doctor Zhivago was released in 1957, and I’m going to do an awful job at explaining this, but the novel focuses on wars, separation of families, love, and characters. So many characters, with just as many names.

The 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Pasternak for Doctor Zhivago, and it remains a masterpiece and beloved the world over for its themes. Over the years, the book has sold millions of copies and has been adapted for television, theatre, and film, with special mention to 1965’s Doctor Zhivago, where it was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won five.

Doctor Zhivago. London: Collins & Harvill, 1958. Credit: Raptis Rare Books

Mickey Mantle

We haven’t discussed baseball for some years now, but this entry will change that. Mickey Mantle was a professional baseball player who played primarily as a centre fielder for the New York Yankees, between 1951–1968.

Mantle earned many different baseball awards, championships, and trophies, but that’s not why he’s on the list. In 1957, Mantle made The Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Stars team. For those of you not up with the play, the All-Stars are players made up from teams in the American League and National League.

This fixture became an annual event on the MLB calendar. Now what made Mantle’s inclusion in the 1957 game special was that it was the sixth year in a row that Mantle had made the All-Stars team.

For a contemporary equivalent, you could go with Mike Trout, but the All-Stars also covered Major League Soccer (MLS-Football), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and National Hockey League (NHL), so you could take your pick from them as well.

Bill Skowron, Minnie Minoso, Nellie Fox, and Mickey Mantle at the 1957 All-Star game. Credit: Unknown

Kerouac 

This is quite rare, but we have a second book entry. On the Road was written by Jack Kerouac, and was released in September 1957. Kerouac based this book on his travels with his friends across the United States, and in some circles, it’s considered a memoir.

The book highlights the Counterculture generation, like the Beat movement, and was controversial with the characters’ carefree lifestyle, drugs, and travelling, along with the music. On the Road has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, with ongoing sales of around 100,000 copies annually. 

On the Road has gone on to influence and inspire many different entertainment creators like Hunter S. Thompson, David Bowie, Matty Healy, Jerry Garcia, and Van Morrison, but also Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan.

Front cover for the first edition of On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Credit: The Viking Press

Sputnik 

I wasn’t born in the 50s, so I can’t imagine the fear and tension that came with Sputnik. Launched on 4th October 1957 by the Soviet Union, Sputnik 1 was the world’s first artificial satellite. It was only 58 cm in diameter, and it carried a low-power radio transmitter that broadcasted a beeping noise at regular intervals, which could be heard by radio listeners around the world.

It achieved an Earth orbit with an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 940 km and a perigee (nearest point) of 230 km, along with circling the planet every 96 minutes. The satellite remained in orbit until 4th January 1958, when it fell back and burned in Earth’s atmosphere. It had travelled 70 million km around the planet before deorbiting. 

Known simply as Sputnik, this 83.6 kg device caused anxiety throughout the West, which marked the beginning of the space age between the United States and the Soviet Union. 

The legacy of Sputnik can be seen in various spacecraft and satellites launched by the USSR that bear its name, as well as in the thousands of satellites launched by other countries and companies. Just consider where NASA, ESA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic would be today without the influence of Sputnik.

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. Credit: The New York Times

Chou En-Lai

Chou En-Lai, also known as Zhou Enlai, served as the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until he died in 1976. He was also the country’s foreign minister, a position he held from 1949 to 1958, during which he travelled extensively.

In 1950, he signed a treaty that committed China and the Soviet Union to co-operate. Furthermore, he played a crucial role in facilitating Richard Nixon’s historic meeting with Mao Zedong in China in 1972.

In modern times, you could go in two different ways, either as a foreign minister or an intermediary. For the foreign minister angle, you could just promote your foreign minister, however, the intermediary is a lot easier. Think of Henry Kissinger and President Jimmy Carter for the Middle East, Alexander Haig for Argentina and the United Kingdom, and recently, Emmanuel Macron for Ukraine and Russia.

Zhou Enlai (Chou En-Lai), Premier of China. Official portrait, 1950s. Credit: anonymous, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Bridge on the River Kwai 

The Bridge on the River Kwai was a war film based on a book of the same name. Released in 1957, the film tells the story of Allied prisoners of war in Japanese-occupied Thailand, who are forced to build a bridge over the Kwai River, linking Thailand to Burma (Myanmar) for the Japanese, via a railway.

The film went on to earn US$30.6 million, against its US$2.8 million budget. It found universal acclaim, winning seven Oscars at the 1958 Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, and four British Academy Film Awards. The Bridge on the River Kwai has been described as not only the greatest war film ever made, but also one of the greatest films ever made.

I’ve been lucky enough to have seen it, and it’s phenomenal. Seriously, it’s one of those times when you should believe the hype about a film, it’s that good. Some modern films that swept the Academy Awards include Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), and La La Land (2016).

So for 1957, we covered an American desegregated high school, a Russian author, a baseball player, an American author, a Soviet satellite, the Chinese Premier, and a film. We’ve been working hard on this, so 1958 will be less chaotic. Maybe.

So that’s it for another week in this ridiculous project. Cool. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I have accounts on Twitter and Mastodon, where I try to sound clever, so follow me if that floats your boat.

Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, and enjoy your 90-day pause on Trump’s tariffs. I’ll see you next week, where I’m going to discuss some news that is equally part exciting and scary. Take care and Slava Ukraini!

Who wants a trade war with penguins?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, People, Politics

I’m going to start with an apology. Today’s blog post was supposed to be about We Didn’t Start the Fire’s 1957 historical references; as I spoke about this last week. Now, I’m very sorry to let the fans of this project down, because as I was writing the blog, something extraordinary happened, and I simply couldn’t ignore it.

So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to put a pin in the 1957’s historical references, and actually discuss a trade war. Due to our interconnected world, trade serves as a vital link among us. Surprisingly, it seems that the President of the United States is beginning a trade war with penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds.

Let’s analyse this carefully to determine its truthfulness, or if it is simply the mainstream media attempting to humiliate a 78-year-old convicted felon.

On 2nd April 2025 (local time), President Trump unveiled his hotly anticipated new tariff scheme, which was dubbed Liberation Day. Again, as you know, he declared a trade war against various countries and territories around the world, including my own.

I don’t have enough time to discuss how unusual it is that Russia, Belarus, and North Korea were omitted from the tariff list. My time is too valuable for that, as well as addressing the fact that these tariffs aren’t truly tariffs. Instead, they are based on a flawed formula meant to reflect the trade deficit between the United States and countries or territories.

No, I won’t mention those two things at all. I won’t even talk about how global markets are melting down, with at the time of writing, US$6.6 trillion was been wiped away. I would never stoop that low to discuss and mock those important matters.

And you can forget about me ever mentioning that the White House is now reframing the tariffs as sanctions. Nope, not by me, or on my account. There’s no way I would ever discuss that.

However, there is one tiny thing I would like to discuss. When the former McDonald’s employee and casino bankrupter revealed his list of countries and territories that he wanted to punish for not buying enough US-made items and goods, he included a rather strange entry: The Heard and McDonald Islands.

Credit: White House

The Heard and McDonald Islands are some of the most isolated places on the planet. They lie in the Southern Indian Ocean, about 3,850 km from Australia, where the islands are an Australian external territory. It’s roughly the same latitude as Madagascar, about two-thirds of the way from Antarctica and Madagascar.

The islands’ total land area is only 372 km2, with a coastline stretching 101.9 km. The Heard and McDonald Islands are home to two volcanoes and hundreds of thousands of fauna, such as penguins, elephant seals and seabirds.

But one of the strangest things about the Heard and McDonald Islands is the human population, which is zero. Yes, that’s correct, not a single person lives there. They are uninhabited by humans.

According to the data revealed by the White House, the Heard and McDonald Islands have a trade deficit of 10%, which has resulted in the world’s most famous 78-year-old convicted felon, slapping a 10% tariff on the islands.

Putting aside the suicidal nature of the financial and economic illiteracy of the tariffs, we have a problem. If we are to believe the White House’s data and figures, and why would we not, it means the Heard and McDonald Islands have a trade deficit with the United States.

From the United States perspective, the Heard and McDonald Islands are exporting more goods and services to the United States than they are importing from the United States, hence the trade deficit. But here’s the problem: if the Heard and McDonald Islands are uninhabited by humans, then who or what the fuck is trading with the Americans?

I hope you’re sitting down because the answer is penguins, elephants seals, and seabirds. I like to stay informed about world events, but I’ll be honest, I had no idea that a collection of penguins, elephants seals, and seabirds, living on islands near Antarctica, had not only mastered the ability to understand human language, finance, and commerce, but also have the means to conduct trade with humans. I feel really stupid and ignorant for not knowing this.

I have so many questions about this:

  • Do the different species of animals trade separately or collectively?
  • What do they trade? Is it eggs, feathers, shit, or something else?
  • If it’s shit, is penguin shit more valuable the elephant seal shit?
  • Do the penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds get along with each other, or are there different factions working against each other, whether it’s politically or financially?
  • How likely is a civil war to break out on the Heard and McDonald Islands, over the tariffs?
  • How do they communicate with the humans?
  • What do the penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds import from the United States?
  • Who are the American importers, and how are they surviving with the 10% tariff slapped on by the Heard and McDonald Islands?
  • What is the currency of the Heard and McDonald Islands?
  • Are Australian penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds, really taking jobs away from American humans, or American fauna?
  • Is this not the greatest example of evolutionary biology ever discovered?
  • How is this not the biggest news story in the history of the world; animals trading with humans?
  • Has anybody spoken to Sir David Attenborough about this? What are his thoughts?
  • Do the Heard and McDonald Islands only trade with the United States?
  • By starting a trade war with the Heard and McDonald Islands, does the White House hope to bring back more American jobs?
  • Does Elon Musk wish to export Teslas to the Heard and McDonald Islands?

The questions are endless because I’m just stunned at this revelation. This startling information is hard to understand and comprehend since it must be true and accurate. Otherwise, the US government would look like a group of people who wouldn’t be able to organise a party at a brewery. This would be one of the biggest displays of incompetence the US government have committed since Signalgate.

I mean, Trump, armed with his stable intellect, and his posse of loyal henchmen, could never make a mistake, right? Because that would be bigly. Nah, I bet every single penguin, elephant seal, and seabird on the Heard and McDonald Islands is woke.

And this ladies and gentlemen, is the world we live in. Welcome.

That’s another blog post for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me.

That’s three political blog posts in a row, so that’s enough for now. I’m going to finish We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1957, so we can discuss history, music, people, and politics…damn.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, tell Sir David Attenborough about tariffs on the Heard and McDonald Islands, and I’ll see you next week to continue We Didn’t Start the Fire.

Seriously, can someone please talk to Sir David Attenborough? His response would be amazing.