Canned Scotch & Other Interesting Web Picks

Scotch—in a can??

Enough to curdle the blood of all Scotch aficionados, a Florida-based company is coming out with 12-ounces of Scotch for about $5 a pop. According to The New York Daily News, the Scotch is aged three years in Scotland (the minimum required for it to legally be called a Scotch) and consuming one can is enough to blackout a 160-pound man. 

It would be interesting to find this on a liquor store shelf in Wilton given the town's .

NYC is testing out a long-distance X-ray-like device to scan for guns

Do you feel lucky? No, probably not if you’re a guy with a gun in NYC and this incredible new technology works as intended. According to the Huffington Post, cops are testing out a device that functions similar to night vision goggles, but instead of detecting infrared radiation, this imaging technology uses terahertz—a wavelength that can effectively see through clothing by detecting natural human-emitted radiation. If an object—like a gun—blocks the body’s terahertz imaging, police would be able to detect the weapon through clothing from up to 16-feet away, according to the article.

Here in Wilton, we’ve most likely on the way.

A mineral that might pre-date Earth

This reads like the ominous beginning of a science fiction story: Deep in the mountains of Russia, scientists have discovered a mineral that is theorized to have been formed 4.5 billion years ago, during the creation of our solar system. The mineral is a quasicrystal, a type of mineral whose atomic properties “can be arranged in ways that are not commonly found in crystals, such as the shape of a 20-sided icosahedron with the symmetry of a soccer ball,” according to Physorg.com The quasicrystal has been manufactured in science labs and used in “surgical blades and durable coatings” but was thought to have been impossible to naturally form in nature.

Hundreds of free online courses and lectures

Feel like learning? Check out http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses for about 400 links to intellectual fodder from quantum physics to Virgil. Definitely some great stuff here.

Of course, if you prefer hands-on learning with a real-life teacher, don't forget to check out Wilton's Continuing Education program. Many classes begin in early Feb.