Light fuse and run: Whoosh! Ooh. Aah. If you’ve ever wondered just how fireworks light up the night sky, we’ve got the rundown on the inner workings of sparklers, aerial displays, firecrackers, Roman candles and sparklers.
Left unexplained is the science behind the explosive display that results each Fourth when Dad empties most of a can of lighter fluid onto a smoldering pile of charcoal briquets.
Off (Francis Scott) Key: Herald columnist Julie Muhlstein talks to a few of those who have stretched their vocal cords to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Everett AquaSox and Silvertips games and lets us in on the fact that the melody is based on an old drinking song.
That confirms our suspicion that our national anthem was chosen by a committee singing drunken karaoke at Ye Olde Hog and Thistle Publick House.
Just as useful: The research group iSuppli has taken apart a new iPhone 4 and priced out its component parts and determined that, in parts alone, each iPhone, with a full retail price of $599 and $699, costs Apple about $188 to make.
The Buzz can’t remember a mark-up like that since the days of the Defense Department’s $800 toilet seats.
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