The story on everyone’s radar today is the weather. Because it’s really, really cold out. Something called the “Polar Vortex” is sweeping through the US, and although it has a pretty cool name, it’s seriously cooling down most of the country.

You know nothing Jon Snow. Winter is already here.

There’s a complicated scientific explanation about the polar vortex, but essentially it means that the cold air that is usually at the North Pole slipped down to North America. Most of the midwest made it into the negatives this week, which is terrifying. Most areas are actually reaching near record-breaking temperatures. New York City fell down to five degrees, which is the coldest it has been in 118 years. Let’s put that into context, shall we? The oldest person in New York is thought to be Susannah Mushatt Jones, who is 114. This means that it hasn’t been this cold in New York for the entirety of her life.

Then there’s the midwest. Chicago is at -15 degrees. It’s -19 in Indianapolis, and with windchill experts say it will feel -50 or -60.

So we’re all left with a few options to get warm. There’s the classic curl up on the couch with a warm blanket strategy. A big cup of hot chocolate is also wonderful. Or anything hot, really — soup is good too. Or you could be like some of these people below who braved the bad weather and came up with some really inventive things to do in this type of deep freeze.

For example, this guy discovered that if you throw a pot of boiling water into the frigid Wisconsin air (-21 degrees, -51 windchill) it turns into this cool snow-steam hybrid thing. (Note! Don’t try this at home — especially if it’s windy, folks.)

If that’s not cool enough for you, try making frozen bubbles. A mother and daughter pair in Michigan, where it was -7 degrees (-25 windchill), tried it and it looked really awesome. The bubbles even became sort of solid and possible to pick up.

If you’re thirsty, you can create a homemade slurpee. Just leave a bottle of soda out in the cold for a few hours, then uncap it and there will be a chain reaction freeze. It will then instantly turn into a slurpee-like creation for your enjoyment. Just watch this tutorial:

If weird science in the freezing cold isn’t your thing, that’s fine too. Here’s an experiment you can do mostly indoors. It’s called banana hammer, and that’s really accurate, because it’s a way to turn your favorite fruit into a dangerous, rock solid hammer. You can even hammer nails with it, albeit very slowly.

These are all great tricks to do during this horrendous cold spell, but remember, stay warm! There have already been about 15 deaths linked to this cold wave, so make sure to wear gloves, hats, and other accessories when going outside. Also remember to google your local hypothermia hotline number to jot down in case you see any homeless people out this week!

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Tim Sackton via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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