In the early 1800s, the Fugate family (better known as the “Blue” Fugates) lived in the hills of Kentucky… and many of them were blue.  Some of the family members possessed a hereditary genetic error called methemoglobinemia, which causes the blood to have reduced oxygen levels.  With lower oxygen levels, arterial blood that is typically red is instead brown.  In Caucasians, brown blood gives the skin a bluish hue.

I doubt the Fugates, though blue, even make it into the top 10 freakiest hereditary mutations to come out of the hills of Kentucky.

Synesthesia (in Greek, the joining of the senses) is a phenomenon in which activation of one sensory reaction involuntarily causes another.  I actually have this.  In my case, when I hear music, I often perceive a color as well.  I have iTunes playlists categorized by color.  There are various types of synesthesia, such as seeing letters or numbers as colors, some people can even taste sounds or colors. I also remember when I was a kid that certain street signs affected my mood.  But it could also be possible that my mom was dosing my juice boxes with LSD.

A team of astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have determined the color of the universe by averaging the spectral range of light in the universe.  The resulting color is a beigeish white.  The naming of the color was voted on by the astronomers, and those hilarious scientists chose “Cosmic Latte.”  Other suggestions were Cosmic Khaki, Primordial Clam Chowder, Skyvory, and Cosmic Cream.  I think they should have just called it “Pasty Astronomer’s Flesh.”