Yep, gone are the days where you have to trawl through dozens of books or seek out an expert if you have a question regarding an obscure topic that you need answering. Today, the internet has a correct answer for… well, pretty much anything you might ask it. 

If you’re a regular reader on our site, you’ll perhaps have come across articles that seek to explain certain oddities in the world around us. Take, for example, what it means if you see a giant star on the side of a barn, or what it might mean if you see a man with one painted fingernail. How about if you spot square waves forming on the surface of the ocean close to shore? 

We’ve tried to answer all these questions and more. Which is why when we came across a mysterious picture online showing trees with their trunks painted white, we decided to do a little digging. Now, there seems to be a lot going on in the world of trees. Last month we explained the possible reason behind bent trees that you might see in the forest, while paint splashed upon the bark of a tree seems to adhere to a color code that can tell you things about the tree, including its health and future.

Trees might have an orange dot painted on them if they’re to be cut down soon, while purple markings on a tree might reportedly indicate that the tree stands on private land. But what about trees that are painted white? 

Well, we’ll admit to not having a clue what this meant before we did some reading up on the subject (thanks, internet). As per reports, trees are actually painted white in winter to protect them from getting sunburned! 

No, we’re not joking, it’s not just deathly pale middle-aged men who need to be wary of the sun’s rays as they lie outside the shade on a tropical beach with their headphones in. Trees do too, apparently. Now, given that the overwhelming majority of trees are outside, they’re naturally subject to temperature changes. The sun can heat up a tree’s bark during the day, causing it to grow. 

When the temperature drops at night, however, the bark can cool down and rapidly shrink. Such changes can end up splitting the bark, in turn damaging the tree’s trunk.

And this is where the aforementioned white paint comes in. When a layer is applied to a tree, it helps to reflect the sun’s rays, thus preventing the trunk from getting too hot during in the day. Who knew? Not us! Had you heard of this process before? Let us know in the comments.
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But Jo Ann Ussery made her own unique house long before it was cool. 

She bought a decommissioned Boeing 727 and transformed it into a lavish mansion. 

(video of the plane can be found below) 

One-of-a-kind housing 

In 1993, Ussery’s home in Benoit, Mississippi was destroyed, marking the beginning of her journey.

Her husband had recently passed away, so she and her two kids needed a place to live but had very little money. 

She had hoped that getting a trailer would solve all of her issues, but she soon discovered that she couldn’t afford a house that was big enough to accommodate her family of three. 

Ussery’s brother-in-law, Bob, is an air traffic controller and proposed that they try living on an airplane. Ussery was receptive to the concept, so he went to examine a Boeing 727 that was about to be broken up for parts. 

She fell in love at first sight, and the price, including shipping, was only $2,000. Ussery gave her Boeing 727 the moniker “Little Trump” after learning that Donald Trump also had a private Boeing 727. 

She jumped right into her expensive and time-consuming home improvements. Major refurbishment She put in less than $30,000 (around $60,000 in today’s money) on the makeover. She needed to make sure it stayed put in its current location while she worked on the inside. Ussery made use of the lake that was already present on her property by parking the plane such that the nose pointed out over the water. 

Because of this particular reason, a substantial amount of concrete was used to secure the tail. She then started demolishing the nearly 1,500 square foot interior. 

The plane measures 138 feet in length and has 76 windows. The windows did not open, as is standard on commercial planes, but that was not a problem on the Ussery because the plane was equipped with air conditioning. 

She upgraded the insulation and laid new flooring as well. What exactly from the original 727 has been preserved? Having only one airplane lavatory and the overhead bins to store your belongings is a brilliant answer to the problem of limited space. 

Interior features Ussery was able to move on to the finer touches and extra comforts after the major renovations were finished. There were three bedrooms, a living area, a kitchen, and even a laundry room in the updated plane. It also had an oven and a phone in addition to the washer and dryer. What Ussery did with the cockpit looking out over the lake was unquestionably the best improvement. She renovated it into a master bathroom fit for a king, complete with a soaking tub. She planned the room’s layout so that its occupants would feel as though they were floating in midair. Most notably, Ussery did all the remodeling work by herself. 

Between 1995 until 1999, she called her converted jet home before deciding to open it to the world as a museum. It was being transported a short distance when it tragically fell off the carriage and was destroyed. It’s a good thing we have these breathtaking snapshots below:

Paul Callahan, an 82-year-old widower from across the street, was eager to lend the new homeowners a hand with any home improvement projects. Soon, he became a permanent fixture in their lives. “The kids run up to him like that’s their grandfather,” Sharaine, the children’s mother, told USA Today. “Paul is definitely a family member. He’s no longer considered a neighbor.” 

Not only does Paul drop by to help out with the kids on a near-daily basis, he’s also welcome at every gathering and celebration. He says he’s glad that he reached out and got to know his neighbors. 

“If you don’t take a chance, you may miss a friend,” Paul said. 

Watch the video below to get a glimpse into this adorably family dynamic!

A moonbow (also known as a moon rainbow or lunar rainbow) is a rainbow produced by moonlight instead of direct sunlight. Apart from the light source, its formation is no different from that of a solar rainbow: it is created by light being reflected in water droplets in the air caused by rain or a waterfall, for example. They are always positioned on the opposite side of the sky from the Moon relative to the observer. 

Mentioned at least since Aristotle’s Meteorology (circa 350 BC), moonbows are much fainter than daytime rainbows, since the surface of the Moon reflects a smaller amount of light. For this reason, it is much more difficult for the human eye to discern colors in a moonbow, as the light tends to be too dim to activate the color receptors in our eyes. As a result, we usually see moonbows to be white - but their colors do appear in long exposure photographs.

Lunar rainbow over Kihei, Maui, Hawaii, US. Image credit: Arne-kaiser 

Moonbows are best viewed at and around full moon, when the Moon is at or nearest to its brightest phase and is not obscured by clouds. For moonbows to to appear, the Moon must be low in the sky (at an elevation of less than 42 degrees, preferably lower) and the night sky must be very dark. But since the sky is not completely dark on a rising/setting full moon, moonbows can only be observed two to three hours before sunrise, or two to three hours after sunset. And, of course, there must be water droplets (e.g. from rain or spray) in the sky - opposite the Moon. 

This set of requirements makes moonbows much rarer than solar rainbows – they actually occur less than 10 percent as often as normal rainbows. Sometimes moonbows can also be observed during full moonrise during the winter months, when the sky is darker and rain falls at extreme latitudes. The definition of the colors is subject to the size of moisture drops present in the air: the smaller they are the less vivid the colors will be. Apart from rain, moonbows can also be induced by spray, fog or mist. In the USA, such bows may be seen around various waterfalls including Niagara Falls, New York, Yosemite National Park, California, or Cumberland Falls, near Corbin, Kentucky. Victoria Falls - on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe is also widely known for spray moonbows.

How to spot a moonbow? 

As noted above, moonbows are only visible for about 3 days around full moon, when viewed against a dark sky near the end of evening twilight, or before sunrise. In middle latitudes, the best time for moonbows is summer full moons, when the Moon spends more time low in the sky. In other seasons, moonbows may last only an hour. 

In showery weather, always look for a pale moonbow when the Moon is low and bright. You probably won’t see much colors, but if you mount a camera on a tripod, you can capture the colors easily.