To be, or not to be

The name of the band was Was (Not Was), and when it came to Walk the Dinosaur, there was no question: that opening chant was infectious. It was a quirky tune with a Flintstones-like video and you just know even Fred would be belting out “boom, boom, acka, lacka, lacka, boom!”

Speaking of what was, or was not, have you ever found yourself wondering if you actually dreamt last night? How and when you wake impacts your dream recall, and even if you can’t remember your dreams, research suggests that you probably had some.

Hey now, hey now ;)

(Love nostalgia? Play today’s trivia below for a chance to win a $25 Amazon eGift Card!)

Automobiles and auto parts would be among the most impacted items should President Donald Trump move forward with the 25% tariffs he currently plans to impose on Canada and Mexico this Saturday.

The supply chain in the North American auto industry is incredibly interwoven between the continent’s three countries, making it a clear example of how tariffs—at least in this scenario—result in nobody winning.

10.3 million passenger vehicles were assembled in the United States last year. 70% of their parts were made in Canada or Mexico.

If President Trump is serious about repatriating the entirety of the American auto industry, tariffs could hypothetically incentivize automakers to bring their manufacturing operations back to the United States. However, in the immediate future, the sticker price of automobiles would rise by several thousand dollars, given that the duties paid on importing them would be passed along to the consumer.

On top of that, part of what keeps prices from being much higher is cheap labor costs in Mexico. If those factories were forced to relocate to the United States, labor costs would skyrocket, with the consumer once again paying the difference.

At some point in the not-too-distant future man will once again step foot on the Moon, this time as part of a series of missions to construct a base for astronauts to rendezvous before finally going to a little red planet called Mars.

Stepping foot on the Moon is one thing, but staying on it for more than a couple hours is another, and would require a few essentials, chief among them oxygen.

That’s why NASA and private company Sierra Space are hard at work experimenting with ways to generate it with the limited materials available on a rock with no atmosphere in the vacuum of space.

The science of extracting oxygen from a metal oxide is fairly straight forward—well, at least for experts in the field of manipulating the periodic table of elements. Luckily, there are plenty of those at NASA and Sierra Space, and they’ve been testing it on lunar regolith, the harsh and partly-metallic dust that blankets the lunar surface.

The hard part will be extraction under the conditions present on the Moon where gravity is one sixth that of Earth’s, among other differences.

“We’ve tested everything we can on Earth now,” says Brant White, a program manager at Sierra Space, a private company. “The next step is going to the moon.”

Medical Detection Dogs is a charity in the U.K. whose pups are trained to sniff out Parkinson’s disease, Addison’s disease, COVID, and certain heart conditions. The charity’s cocker spaniels, Labradors, and retrievers are on their way to being able to sniff bowel cancer, too.

These fluffy little heroes have successfully completed several tests in their cancer-sniffing training, being able to detect a tumour simply by sniffing a pot of urine.

“The charity has been investigating the odor of diseases for 15 years,” said Gemma Butlin, head of communications at the charity in Milton Keynes, U.K.

The dogs have been trained to sniff smaller and smaller samples of the scent they’re supposed to be looking for, and when they detect it, they make sure to let the world know.

“When they sniff the odor, they give us a signal such as sitting or standing to indicate the smell,” said Butlin. “If they identify a positive sample, which takes less than 10 seconds, they’ll get lots of treats, cuddles, and affection.”

They still need to pass several double blind tests over the next few months before their skills can be medically confirmed as reliable methods for cancer detection.

He’s known for being one of the world’s top chefs but Gordon Ramsay is also a huge F1 fan, and after the success of his collaboration with Ferrari at last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, F1 is coming back for seconds.

The F1 Garage will be featured as Ramsay’s Garage for several races throughout the upcoming season, with a Ramsay-made menu of locally-sourced goods presented at the Canadian, British, Italian, Mexican, Qatar, Las Vegas, Miami, Austin, and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

“My passion for F1 is well known but it’s the complexity and pace of the cars, and the talent of the many people building and controlling them, that appeals so much,” commented Ramsay.

“In many ways F1 is like a high performing professional kitchen, so this is the perfect partnership for us and our growing international restaurants group. We’re excited about what we can offer the F1 Garage guests, and we can’t wait to get to the starting line in Miami this May.”

The cult classic Lost Boys will celebrate its 39th anniversary next year with a little makeover worthy of the Emersons as it heads to Broadway in a musical adaptation.

The film’s influence in pop culture since its release can’t be overstated. It was the inspiration for Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and it continues to inspire and be referenced by films and TV shows to this day, not to mention the comic books, novels, and offshoot sequels.

Tony winner Michael Arden will be in the director’s seat, and James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, and Patrick Wilson have signed on as producers.

"Michael Arden is one of the most dynamic directors working today, and to have him reimagine an iconic film like The Lost Boys is thrilling, especially when we consider how it will come to life at the legendary Palace Theatre,” the producers said in a statement.

“David Hornsby and Chris Hoch have done a remarkable job of honoring this classic film and its beloved characters, creating something new and unique for the stage that will excite the die-hard fans of the movie as well as those being introduced to this timeless story for the first time."

From the VCR to CDs, we sure saw lots of new consumer technology pop up throughout the ’70s and ’80s.

Technophile or not, you lived through those decades so you should have no problem with today’s tech trivia! Plus, however you score, you’ll earn a shot at a $25 Amazon eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified tomorrow afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.