Sideswipe: July 13: Eyesore into art

In 1959, a cement mixer rolled off a road in northeastern Oklahoma. The owners retrieved the truck, but the mixer held tons of concrete and was too heavy to move. Plans to bury it on the spot were eventually abandoned, and the disused mixer lay for decades on the side of a road ... until, in 2008 a couple decided to celebrate their fifth anniversary by finally attending to the matter — they disguised it as a space capsule.

Where shark fear began

It wasn't the movie "Jaws" in 1975 the kicked off a generation of children afraid to go in the water; the modern fear of sharks started much earlier — during World War II. Local newspapers transfixed civilians and servicemen alike with frequent stories of bombed ships and aircraft in the open ocean. Journalists consistently described imperilled servicemen who were rescued or dying in "shark-infested waters", magnifying a growing cultural anxiety of ubiquitous monsters lurking and poised to kill. This from Damn Interesting: "The naval officer and marine scientist H David Baldridge reported that fear of sharks was a leading cause of poor morale among servicemen in the Pacific theatre. General George Kenney enthusiastically supported the adoption of the P-38 fighter plane in the Pacific because its twin engines and long range diminished the chances of a single-engine aircraft failure or an empty fuel tank: "You look down from the cockpit and you can see schools of sharks swimming around. They never look healthy to a man flying over them."

Tech could save your life…

A 59-year-old woman's smartwatch correctly recognised a tachycardia, alerting her to seek help. She was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and treated, reducing her chances of suffering a severe stroke. In 2017 the FDA approved the use of this technology to be used for medical purposes.

Forbidden places

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located on the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen in Norway. The 1200sq m space houses more than 1 million seed samples native to places around the world. The vault acts as a sort of back-up drive of the world's crops, preserving specimens in a safe place in case a disaster ever wipes them out in their natural environment. The facility is built to protect its contents from unwanted visitors along with everything else. It's deep enough underground and high enough above sea level to withstand earthquakes, ocean rise, and nuclear attacks.

Your pet's past life

This toll hotline from 1992 which, by answering a few basic questions, promised to reveal what historical person your pet was the reincarnation of. What a delightful theological view on the transmigration of souls.