Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Welcome to our weekly edition of “Snippets and Soundbites”! If this little dose of all things weird isn't enough for you, be sure to check out our page 38 of the February issue for more!

• Have you filled out your 25 things and tagged all your friends? Well, everyone else in the world apparently is. The list that's taking over Facebook even became a story on Time's Web site, was covered by the New York Times, and reportedly, was the topic of a poll on CNN this week! Talk about random! Apparently, an estimated 5 million 25 Things about Me notes have appeared on Facebook in the last week. These kind of lists (or memes as they're called in the blogosphere) are the next generation of the chain letter, which used to come via the postal mail. (Ask your parents. They'll remember chain letters from childhood. Read more here.)

• President Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, got an unexpected day off this week because of 2 inches of snow and freezing rain that hit Washington, D.C. The president was apparently a little taken aback by the snow day. But the Obamas moved to Washington, D.C. from Chicago, where snow and ice are common occurrences, school is rarely canceled, and students play in the snow during recess. We admit it, Chicago. You're tough. Those of us in the South, not so much!

• USA Swimming has suspended Beijing gold medalist Michael Phelps for three months and revoked his training stipend, some of the continuing fallout after pictures of Phelps inhaling marijuana surfaced last week. He also lost a lucrative sponsorship deal with Kellogg Co. Phelps accepted the reprimand and officials say he is committed to earning back people's trust. Read more here.

• Officials have apparently tracked down the cause of a strange maple syrup smell that has plagued New York City several times in recent years. Yes, we said maple syrup. And—sorry, New Jersey, you get blamed for everything—they think the problem came from a facility processing fenugreek seeds. Fenugreek is a common ingredient in curry powders, and its extract is also used in artificial vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and maple flavorings. The mayor of NYC had enlisted environmental protection, health department and emergency management workers to uncover the cause for the mystery smell in early January. Read all about how they solved the mystery here.