Building and Standards Commission, Grapeland TX

08/27/2026

Woah

08/27/2026

She melted on screen, but in real life, she was anything but wicked. 🧹

Before Margaret Hamilton ever cackled her way into movie history, she was a kindergarten teacher. She had studied at Wheelock College in Boston and taught young children for years before turning to acting.

Her performance as the Wicked Witch was so terrifying that children would run from her in the street. But off-screen, she was known as a warm, gentle woman who adored children. She spent much of her later life advocating for causes that mattered to her: children's welfare, animal rights, and public education. She even appeared in public service announcements urging families to spay and neuter their pets.

The woman who scared millions of kids spent her life trying to make the world a better place for them. 🧡📚

06/24/2026

06/24/2026

Inky was a common New Zealand octopus living at the National Aquarium in Napier. One night, he managed to slip through a small gap at the top of his tank. He then slid across the floor and into a nearby drainpipe that measured about 50 meters long.

The pipe led from the aquarium to the open sea. Inky followed it all the way to freedom. Aquarium staff discovered his escape the next morning and found his trail of wet marks across the floor. He has never been recaptured.

The staff were not overly concerned. Octopuses are known for their intelligence and curiosity. Inky had likely been planning his escape for some time, observing the tank's layout and waiting for the right moment. He returned to the ocean, where he belonged.

A clever octopus who found a way back to the sea. An escape that made headlines around the world. 🐙🌊🤫

06/24/2026

Mexican chemical engineer Sandra Pascoe Ortiz and her team developed a promising experimental alternative to some traditional plastics, a biodegradable material made mainly from nopal-cactus juice combined with other ingredients.

Some conventional plastic products can persist in the environment for hundreds of years. Her cactus-based bioplastic reportedly breaks down in one to two weeks in water, about 15 days in compost, or two to three months at soil level. The material uses renewable plant resources and has been described by researchers as non-toxic and edible, although no formal food-safety approval was located.

06/24/2026

04/25/2026

Thailand closed Maya Bay for 3.5 years to allow the coral reef to recover, and the results have been remarkable. In June 2018, the famous turquoise cove on Phi Phi Leh Island, made famous by the 2000 movie The Beach, was closed after years of mass tourism caused significant damage to the reef. At its peak, up to 7,000 visitors per day arrived by speedboat, causing the live coral cover to drop from around 70% to just 8%. Originally meant to last four months, the closure was extended to 3.5 years. During this time, marine biologists transplanted more than 5,000 coral colonies, and blacktip reef sharks returned to the bay for the first time in years. Maya Bay reopened on January 1, 2022, with strict visitor limits, including a cap of 300 people per time slot and no anchoring of boats. Swimming is restricted to a controlled area, and the bay closes annually from August to September for ecosystem restoration.