Entertainment in 1935. “The trouble is nowadays he refuses to be weighed at all so we don’t really know if he’s solid or hollow.”

[Video Link]

Ten Stone Baby, a British Pathe newsreel from 1935.

Despite the newsreel’s original title “Ten Stone Baby”, the boy Leslie Downes is actually 3-years-old. Seen with his parents in a kind of pen, Leslie is sat in an armchair. Somebody then dangles a bar of chocolate into the pen and he immediately sets to work at fetching it.

We also see Leslie playing with bricks.

Watch the father’s lips when his kid talks. I don’t know what is going on here, but Mediaite offers three explanations:

1. That the boy has a earphone in and his dad is telling what to say and, for some reason, thinks he’s a much better ventriloquist than he actually is.

2. That Hudson’s responses were all scripted and Hinckley can’t help but mouth his brilliant dialogue.

3. Hudson is actually some kind of AI-style android that is being controlled by its “father.”
Either way, this video is absolutely insane

A fourth possibility is that the dad is nervous about what his son is going to say, and he is echoing the kid’s replies, in a sort of Clever Hans kind way. Please offer up other possibilities in the comments.

Interview With Senate Candidate And 5 Year-Old Son From Ad Is Creepiest Thing Ever

Friday’s Coffee Break

Coffee Ring Stain Portrait by Hong Yi

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Breaking Good: how to synthesize Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) From N-Methylamphetamine (crystal meth)

Genius scientific paper* of the day: “A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine, by O. Hai and I. B. Hakkenshit.” (PDF).

A response by annoyed Sudafed users to the onerous demands by pharmacies for ID and tracking, due to the fact that this helpful and common over-the-counter drug can be used to manufacture crystal meth.

Snip from the paper:

A novel and straightforward synthesis of pseudoephidrine from
readily available N-methylamphetamine is presented. This
practical synthesis is expected to be a disruptive technology
replacing the need to find an open pharmacy.

Pseudoephedrine, active ingredient of Sudafed®, has long
been the most popular nasal decongestant in the United States
due to its effectiveness and relatively mild side effects [1]. In
recent years it has become increasingly difficult to obtain
psuedoephedine in many states because of its use as a
precursor for the illegal drug N-methylamphetamine (also
known under various names including crystal meth, meth, ice,
etc.)[1,2]. While in the past many stores were able to sell
pseudoephedrine, new laws in the United States have
restricted sales to pharmacies, with the medicine kept behind
the counter. The pharmacies require signatures and
examination of government issued ID in order to purchase
pseudoephedrine. Because the hours of availability of such
pharmacies are often limited, it would be of great interest to
have a simple synthesis of pseudoephedrine from reagents
which can be more readily procured.

A quick search of several neighborhoods of the United
States revealed that while pseudoephedrine is difficult to
obtain, N-methylamphetamine can be procured at almost any
time on short notice and in quantities sufficient for synthesis
of useful amounts of the desired material. Moreover,
according to government maintained statistics, Nmethylmphetamine is becoming an increasingly attractive
starting material for pseudoephedrine, as the availability of Nmethylmphetamine has remained high while prices have
dropped and purity has increased [2]. We present here a
convenient series of transformations using reagents which can
be found in most well stocked organic chemistry laboratories
to produce psuedoephedrine from N-methylamphetamine.

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