Hello there, Cerebral Adventurer,

What do frozen shellfish toxins, a police officer named Rob Banks (no kidding!), and a Japanese student who earned an ‘A’ on her essay despite turning in a blank page have in common?

Absolutely nothing. But, they’re all featured in this week’s Weekend Reads, of course!

Strap yourself in for another eclectic collection of interesting things we’ve come across noodling around online. 

As always, big love,
Chris & the 42courses team x 

• How a Japanese student achieved an ‘A’ grade on her essay despite turning in a blank page. The ultimate example of when the pupil becomes the master? 🥷

• Why do some landlocked countries still have navies? When you think government spending couldn’t get any more absurd...but there’s a catch.  

• A meteorologist named Sarah Blizzard, a police officer named Rob Banks, and a Belgian footballer named Mark de Man. These are real people, not made-up names, so what’s going on here? 🤔

• Is this the funniest letter of recommendation ever? Listen to the actor Chiwetel Ejiofor read a hilarious letter of recommendation, written by the president of Pendleton Tool & Die Company, about an unusual employee. Guaranteed mirth!

• Declassified: The CIA’s top-secret ‘Heart-Attack’ gun. The US government agency developed a gun that silently fired frozen shellfish toxin pellets up to 100 meters away, killing victims in minutes. 🔫

• 1949 - Arthur Miller won a Pulitzer Prize for his play "Death of a Salesman". ✍️

• 1969 - British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II leaves Southampton on its maiden voyage to New York. 🛳️

• 2008 - The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was released: "Iron Man," directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. 🦹‍♂️

• 2018 - New research shows plants "talk" to each other through their roots and the soil in a study on corn published in the journal "Plos One". 🪴

• 2019 - A drone delivers a kidney for transplant surgery in Baltimore, Maryland, for the first time. 🫘 

• 2020 - Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, the Icelandic actor who played Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane in Game of Thrones, sets a world deadlifting record by lifting 501kg! 🏋️