Accidental Discoveries

Part of today's lunch table discussion encompassed "accidental discoveries" - we were puzzling about how certain things ever got discovered. Like, for example, maple syrup. Who on earth ever figured out that you could stick a spout into a tree, extract the sap, then boil it till it was this sweet substance that was good to eat? Or who would figure that poppy seeds could be a drug? That sort of thing.

So while waiting for a process to finish running, I took a look online to see what sorts of accidental discoveries there are out there. Found some interesting stuff, of course!

http://listverse.com/miscellaneous/top-10-accidental-discoveries/
Listverse in and of itself is fascinating to those of us who like lists. Of course, the "Top 10" designation is purely subjective.

Toll House cookies were discovered by accident? Really? Now THAT'S the kind of accident I wouldn't mind having.

This list leaves off a couple of really important things, like Silly Putty and Vulcanized rubber. Ice cream cones.

Some of the items weren't so much mistakes as they were simply people using the materials they had on hand to substitute for something else and found that it was simply better in some way. (See the ice cream cones example!)

There are so many examples out there, mostly in the area of science or food. It's amazing!

So, panda news. Looks like Mei Xiang isn't going to have a cub this year. The folks at the National Zoo are speculating that she actually might have lost a fetus in an early stage that was reabsorbed into the uterine lining. I guess it's not uncommon in mammals, but it still makes me sad. :-( Guess Tai Shan is still an only child!