Episode 2
The One With Supercars
Montana Car Tax
In Montana, unlike other US States, there is no car tax to pay.
Many American luxury car buyers will purchase their $1 million supercar in Montana and have it imported to the US State where they live, to avoid around $100,000 in sales tax.
U.S. Flood Insurance
The US National Flood Insurance Programme underestimated the risks and associated costs of flooding and is now over $34 billion in debt.
Mekong River
An estimated 60 million people live along the banks of the Mekong River. To put it into context, that is almost the same population size as the United Kingdom.
UK Soap Tax
In 1835, the United Kingdom finally scrapped the Soap Tax. The tax was put on soaps because they believed that only the wealthy could afford to use soap as a luxury.
Fish Eggs
The European Space Agency is planning to send fish eggs to the Moon and try to hatch them. They have already placed the fish eggs in a machine to shake them hard to ensure they can survive rocket launches and moon landings.
Blueberries
99% of all wild blueberries in America come from Maine. Because of their abundance and national demand, they have a 'Blueberry Tax' in the state.
Wet Bulb
A 'Wet Bulb' is a temperature of 35'c/95'f, considered the temperature that humans can survive at before overheating occurs, regardless of water or shade.
Colonial Pipeline
The Colonial Pipeline is a 5,500-mile pipeline that runs from Houston to New York.
When it was discovered that it had leaked 1.2 million gallons of gasoline into a nature reserve, they investigated why the leak detection sensors had not notified them and found that the sensors were only able to detect 28% of leaks.
Miniature Camera
Scientists have built a working camera that can take pictures, even though the camera is only the size of a grain of salt.
Flatpack Furniture
Low-quality, flat-packed furniture is so popular in America because of how cheap it is, that for every 10 items of furniture bought, 8 items end up in the landfill.
Californian Fruit
In California, if you buy fresh fruit in the state, there is no tax to pay. However, if you buy the same fresh fruit from a vending machine in the state, you have to pay a 33% tax on it.
Magnetic Boots
In the movie Face Off, they use magnetic boots during one scene. These magnetic boots may look familiar to anyone that loves Mario because they are the same ones used in the Super Mario Bros movie.
Malaria Vaccines
At the end of 2021, there was only one single vaccine against Malaria. It was just 30% effective and a dose of the vaccine would lose all effectiveness after 3 years.
Hashtags
The hashtag symbol # is actually called an Octothorpe. Nobody knows exactly where it got the name from but one of the strongest suggestions is that the hashtag looks similar to a sheep pen used in farming villages in the UK. Octo (or eight) refers to the 8 lines coming away from the middle square, and Thorpe translates to Village.
4 Day Week
The 4-day working week is becoming more popular as time goes by.
In 2016, 13 in 10,000 jobs offered it.
By 2019, the number rose to 40 in 10,000 jobs
By 2021 it had risen to 60 in 10,000 jobs.
Ghost Kitchen
A Ghost Kitchen is a food delivery business that makes food in another business's kitchen so it can avoid paying business taxes.
Some kitchens can operate two or three different takeaways from one commercial kitchen.
Singapore
Singapore imports 90% of their food from other countries. When COVID-19 struck and food transport was dealt a blow, it caused a serious concern that people living in Singapore may end up running out of food if it couldn't be delivered from abroad.
Manga
In 2020 and because of lockdowns worldwide, sales of Manga suddenly shot up by 43%.
James Webb Telescope
In its first year of operation, the James Webb telescope had 40 different countries book a time to use it.
Oysters
A large Oyster can filter 50 gallons of seawater every day. To give that context, the average family bathtub is around 45 - 50 gallons.