Most laugh tracks for TV were recorded in the 1950s, which means many of the people you hear laughing are dead!

In the early days of TV, comedies were shot in front of live studio audiences and were performed as short plays. I the 1940s and 50s that began to change and closed sets were used. This gave the director the ability for multiple takes and different shots and angles.

However, it inhibited the instant feedback of the live audience. TV executives feared that without the prompting of audience laughter, the home viewer would cease to react, as well. Thus, the laugh track or canned laughter was created to prompt the viewers at home.

With time, as we all know, the uproarious laughter was greatly abused. In the 1970s, the studio audience came back with the multi-camera format. The real laughter and reactions helped writers make better jokes and sitcoms became more popular.

Although annoying, at its height, the laugh track was quite sophisticated. It was a special blend and mix of all types of laughter to create the illusion of a real audience.

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The man who discovered Pluto is currently on his way there!

More specifically, his ashes are flying towards the dwarf (former) planet. Clyde Tombaugh’s ashes are traveling within the New Horizons spacecraft on a goal to pass Pluto by 2015!

The container Tombaugh’s ashes are in inscribes what would have been on the man’s tombstone including his discovery of Pluto and his family. So next time you look up at the sky, squint hard and see if you can find New Horizons and the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh!  

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You can see every Google logo made by clicking “I’m Feeling Lucky” without a search term!

What was that one Google logo from March of 2003? Now, you can find out easily! By clicking “I’m Feeling Lucky” without typing into the search bar, you are immediately taken to a page with all of the Google logos ever created.

Thanks to this Easter egg, you can see logo remixes such as “Lebanon Independence Day” or “Les Paul’s 96th Birthday”! What’s your favorite Google logo? Tell us in the comments!  

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A family in Colorado lost their cat in 2007 and it was found 5 years later in New York!

That's over 1800 miles away. The cat had a microchip implanted when it was a kitten, so when an animal shelter in New York had it checked, they were able to contact the family, who couldn't believe they had found their cat after such a long time!

The cat was in such good health that the animal shelter thinks that it hadn't been living out on the streets for too long. The cat even made New York's mayor Bloomberg comment, who said that the cat showing up in New York just shows that everyone wants to move there.

The animal shelter said that this underscores the importance of identifying your animals with things like microchips. Do you have any pets with this sort of technology? Tell us in the comments!

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Recycling plastic actually SAVES energy vs. incinerating!

Some of the most common complaints or reasons that people give for not recycling is that it's too costly and that it's more trouble than it's worth.

Contrary to this belief, a study found that it takes less energy to recycle plastic than it does to incinerate it. This means that not only is recycling plastic good for the environment, it can also be cheaper.

Want to learn more about recycling? DoSomething.org is running an information campaign along with Nestlé Water on recycling. They're even offering prizes for something as simple as sharing facts on Facebook. Check it out here

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