We Shouldn't Like Bitter Foods, But Yet...



Our tongues have several kinds of taste receptors, one of which detects bitterness in whatever it comes in contact with. In many species, this is an adaptive warning signal that something is not good to eat. That served our distant ancestors well, but modern humans are different. We actually seek out bitter foods like beer, coffee, chocolate, tea, and certain vegetables, and we even forget that these things are supposed to be bitter. How we got this way is combination of a number of factors, which MinuteFood explains.

Susu the Tiger in her New Home



Susu the Bengal tiger lived in a cage in Thailand her entire 15 years, where she was part of a circus act and posed for tourist photographs at the deplorable Phuket Zoo. Last year, Susu was rescued from the zoo by Wildlife Friends Foundation, along with ten other tigers and two bears after the zoo closed due to the COVID tourist slump. While Susu would never be able to survive in the wild, she now has a home at their Tiger Rescue Center, where she can roam 17 acres of wild grass and trees in her retirement, along with other rescued tigers.

Wishes



We love to mess with the concept of the genie granting wishes, but after so many people trying to game the system, they've caught on to the shenanigans. However if you are clever enough, you can still confuse them. This comic is from Randall Munroe at xkcd.

The Cat's Podcast



Consider the cat. What occupies his time? What does he think about as he goes about his ordinary day? Imagine your cat free associating with a buddy on a podcast. You can pretty much guess what kinds of things they would talk about, but it's still a hoot to hear Ryan George putting a voice to that kind of nonsense. (via Geeks Are Sexy

Miss Cellania's Links

A Bunch Of Movies That People Judged Were Going To Be Bad, But They Ended Up Loving Them Instead. There's your excuse to give them a try.

Drinking a Bottle of Water Past Its Expiration Date? Here's What to Know. (via Real Clear Science

Weighty In The Eighties: When Prog Rock Went Pop. Find a timeline of song links at Metafilter.

The Legendary Fishman of Liérganes. 

35 Trivia Tidbits About Beetlejuice for Its 35th Anniversary.

Two politicians in Finland have produced rap songs for their campaigns, and they're actually pretty good. One is in English, the other is translated from Swedish here. (via Fark)

An entire post dedicated to Gandalf with large breasts.

Brains also have supply chain issues – blood flows where it can, and neurons must make do with what they get. (via Damn Interesting)

1667: When Animal Blood was Transfused Into Humans. (via Nag on the Lake)

Blind Devotion



This short story about unconditional love might leave you a little verklempt. It’s part of the Jubilee Project (which has nothing to do with blindness). You can read about at the YouTube page. (via reddit)

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Camouflage Tech in the Oval Office



David Friedman of Ironic Sans ran down a mystery peeking out of pictures of Joe Biden in the Oval Office, the president's office in the White House's West Wing. What's the deal with a picture frame that has no picture in it? Friedman finds the answer, but then goes down the rabbit hole about presidents and the modern technology of the Oval Office. We won't find out anything really secret, but we find out some really neat tidbits about presidential history in this video.


Sneaky Zookeeper Save Cheetah Cub



On March 5, Monarto Safari Park in Australia welcomed a new baby cheetah. Seven-year-old Quella gave birth to a female cub. The problem was that cheetahs normally give birth to two cubs, and sometimes more. When a single cub is born, the mother is often unable to produce an adequate amount of milk to feed the cub. And that was the situation at the park. So this cub was abandoned by her mother, and had to be hand-fed every two hours.

But there was an ace in the hole. Quella's sister Qailee, also seven years old, was pregnant at the same time. Zookeepers hatched a plan to have Qailee foster the abandoned cub. This scheme had never been tried in an Australian zoo, but the US facility White Oak Conservation had succeeded at getting a cheetah to foster a cub, and they provided advice and encouragement. The cub waited a week for Qailee to give birth to two cubs, then the staff snuck the third cub into her den. And it worked! (via Zooborns)

Parent Power



This was the opening skit of the first regular episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie in 1989. Hugh Laurie is an irate parent confronting the school's headmaster, Stephen Fry, over what his son is being taught about sex. I don't understand how either one of them kept a straight face through the entire scene. This was 34 years ago, but this kind of thing is still happening today.

For those who can't see Facebook videos, here's a low-quality YouTube link.

Miss Cellania's Links

A Twitter thread of The Simpsons Recreating Historical Photographs.  (via Everlasting Blort)

The Bali Rice Crisis: Taking the Culture Out of Agriculture. 

25 Easy Snack Recipes to Satisfy All Your Munchies.

A strange mashup song you might like.

The Humbling Tyranny of the Photos Our Kids Take of Us. (via Kottke)

Anti-Obamacare Law Comes Back to Bite Republicans on Abortion.

Of Course Nicolas Cage Stayed In Character As Dracula On The Set Of Renfield Because He Is Nic Cage.

The Normalizing News of the Times. The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.

How the Fight for Birthright Citizenship Shaped the History of Asian American Families.

How Old Is She?



Wong Fu Productions shows us how difficult it can be to scope someone out, as a guy tries to figure out how old a woman is. Why didn’t he just ask her if she’s in school? That wouldn’t have hurt any feelings. As it is, we get way too much information about her. But there’s a twist: as he is scoping her out, she’s also trying to figure him out! (via Daily Picks and Flicks)

Tweet of the Day

(via Fark)

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Online Gym



This may sound silly, but with Zoom, the instructor can see whether students are participating in their homes. Princess went to a college that required every student to take a swimming class as one of their PE courses. Most take it as freshmen, but she was a transfer student and only attended the last two years. Swimming was put off in deference to her major, and she was set to graduate in August 2020. That became a problem when the school closed in March for the pandemic. It's super hard to take swimming online. She ultimately clepped out of it due to the fact that she knew how to swim, and had plenty of extracurricular physical activities like 5K runs and a dance club. (via Bad Newspaper)

Yeast Doughnuts vs. Cake Doughnuts



The difference between yeast doughnuts and cake doughnuts is pretty much the difference between bread and cake, in case you've ever wondered. Adam Ragusea followed Joe Seiber of Status Dough in Knoxville, Tennessee, as he makes both yeast doughnuts and cake doughnuts and explains how they are different at every step of the way.

Goat Squatter



Tanya Mould of Prince George, British Columbia, went away with her family for a week in Mexico for spring break. When they returned, they found a goat had been making himself at home in their workshop! When they lured the goat out, he returned again and again to the workshop, as if he owned it. They began to think they had a permanent resident, so they named the goat Gordo. Mould posted its picture on social media, but has not yet heard from anyone nearby who is missing a goat. (via Fark)

The Coolest Flag on Earth



Antarctica is a continent that has no countries. Many countries have settlements there, but the residents are rarely permanent at the science stations. But so many countries have planted a flag on Antarctica without taking ownership, and they all fly flags to show where they are from. So the people of Antarctica love flags, and have pretty much always wanted to have a flag for Antarctica itself. Believe it or not, the first flag specifically designed for Antarctica came about because of a video game! CGP Grey tells us how Antarctica got a flag in 1929, 1997, and in 2018. The 2018 flag, called the "True South" flag, is expected to be permanent. (via Laughing Squid)

Baby Clapping Before Birth



What is the sound of an unborn baby clapping? There isn’t any, unless mom and the doctor sing along. Jen Cardinal underwent an ultrasound at 14 weeks in which they could clearly see the baby clapping his/her hands. The singing went on during a replay, and they toggled the ultrasound to make the song work while Dad took a cellphone video. So it’s a remix, but certainly a neat one. Jen says there were three claps in all during the procedure. (via Viral Viral Videos

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Beats burning the castle down! (Thanks, WTM!)

Giant Robotic Parking Garage



Any time we see American cities from above, we are astonished at how much real estate is set aside for cars, both in streets and in parking lots. Sure, we have multi-story parking garages in places, but even they take up a lot of room because there has to be drivable roads to each floor and each space. Tokyo tackled that problem with mechanized garages that store your car in much less space, some of them underground, to boot! Those kinds of garages cost an awful lot to install, and pay off in nebulous benefits over a long period of time, which means they are probably out of the question for the US.

A Wild Deer Rescue



David Dunne https://viralhog.com/c/David_Dunne_1 of Tullamore, Ireland, and his son were in the woods back in January when they spotted a young male deer that had become trapped in a rope and metal fence. How long had he been there? Long enough to twist himself into a real knot, but not long enough to become too exhausted to struggle. Dunne knew that a panicked wild animal can be dangerous, but he took on the task of freeing the deer anyway. It was not easy, as the ropes were tightly wound around the antlers. And once they're gone, then what? Dunne could have been gored right there on the spot. He admits that he was kicked a few times, but it was all worth it when the deer ran away free. And his son caught it on video.


Good Enough



The dinosaur is me in the morning. The brain is me as it gets late in the evening. Nothing lowers your standards like an unfilled quota. This comic is from ADHD Dinos.

The Real Church Ladies of Burndale


The drama queens of high school and the real housewives crowd ain't got nothin' on the ladies of the church. That goes double when they've known each other since childhood. I know, because I am one of those church ladies. While the real drama is not quite as blatant as this skit from It's a Southern Thing, it's simmering beneath the surface, possibly over the course of many years. The good news is that for every drama queen, there are many others who stay silent and keep their egos in check for the greater purpose. Still, if someone were to launch a reality TV show about a church, this type of woman would bag the starring roles, because we love to watch epic dysfunctionality wherever it may arise. Bless their hearts.

Confessions of an Idiom



What happens when the elephant in the room confronts the skeleton in the closet? That’s far from the only turns of speech that go head-to-head in this sequence. Someone who is just learning English would be completely baffled! This award-winning video was made by Amanda Koh and Mollie Helms at Ringling College of Art + Design. (via Metafilter

Tweet of the Day

(via Fark)

A Trip to the Pet Shop



Kael Schoerlin has a  remote control car with a camera and  a transparent cargo bed and he's not afraid to use it. When he ran out of fish food, he sent the car to get it! The car doesn't have a speaker, but can communicate pretty well by opening its bed and tooting its horn. It also has a tiny "driver" wearing a cowboy hat that can nod when prompted. The employees at Petco were delighted to be visited by a toy buying food for a fish, and even more delighted when it responded to them, even in its own limited way.

The original video is at TikTok. See other adventures of the little blue car.

Mochi



Mochi is a munchkin cat bred in China and imported to the US. She developed ischemic dermatopathy which caused parts of her body to rot. Mochi lost her ears, her tail, and her right rear leg, and was sent to a shelter. Greg McDouglas, who describes himself as a dog person, fell in love with Mochi and he and his fiancee Natalia adopted her. It didn't matter to then that Mochi had missing parts and some lingering physical challenges. You can see more of Mochi at Instagram.

Immortality

The secret to immortality could be anything. Every time I show my kids something I recall from my childhood, I also wonder if my parents experienced memories of their own childhoods when they shared those little things with me. As Terry Pratchett once wrote, “No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away…” This comic is from Lunarbaboon, of course.

How High Can a Kia Jump?



Anoop Khatra caught this spectacular crash Thursday on the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Los Angeles. Notice how the tire came back a second time to get one last punch. The Kia Soul was certainly engineered to handle this kind of accident. We can see the curtain airbags deployed. And the driver was able to walk away. (via reddit)

Miss Cellania's Links

Get a Look Inside the Beverly Hills Witch's House.

If you should see a photo of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, it ain't her. I'm sure you are disappointed that something on the internet turned out not to be true. (via Strange Company)

MIT tested 1,000 Oreo cookies to crack the mystery of the best way to eat one. (via reddit)

Everything you think you know about homelessness is wrong. (via Nag on the Lake)

25 Weird Old-Timey Life Hacks. Some could even get you killed.

Why Are All Action Heroes Named Jack, James, or John? (via Metafilter)

Channel Drift: What Happened to all Those Cable Channels?

Why Did States Require Blood Tests for Marriage Licenses?

The Secret to Sizzling Fajitas Shouldn’t Shock Anyone. Don't let that put a fizzle on your sizzle, though.

Dancing at Rupp Arena



Peyton delights the crowd with his dancing at Kentucky’s Sweet Sixteen state high school basketball tournament in Lexington. Go Peyton!

Tweet of the Day

(via Everlasting Blort)

Where Alcoholic Drinks Got Their Names



When archaeologists discovered an 800-year-old winery in Georgia (the country, not the state), linguists weren't the least bit surprised. They had already traced the modern word "wine" back to the region and the era by reverse-engineering it, since it occurs in various forms in so many other languages Linguists are a clever bunch. Some of our terms for alcoholic beverages are indeed ancient, while the origins of others are just a matter of deciphering the historical record. PBS's Otherwords gives us a quick lesson in how alcoholic drinks got their names. I'll drink to that! (via Laughing Squid)

Agnodice, the Ancient Greek Doctor

 


Agnodice was a literary figure who may or may not have been based on a real person. She had to cross dress to get an education and to practice, but also filled a need for women patients who didn't want to expose themselves to strange men. The story of her trial seems so typical: women like this doctor, so let's try him for seduction. Oh, the doctor is a woman? Well, she must be innocent of seduction, but let's find another charge against her, like cross dressing.

Gaius Julius Hyginus most likely wrote the story as a springboard for a discussion of the propriety of a woman doctor vs. the need for women doctors, a valid debate at the time. That discussion devolved into whether Agnodice should be classified as a doctor or a midwife, which was silly anyway because there were no standards or licensing of either in ancient Greece, just a hierarchy of "importance" based on gender.

This comic is from Ryan North at Dinosaur Comics. (Thanks, WTM!)

Stereotypes



Not true, but everyone instantly knows which restroom is which. We've heard that joke enough. However, it probably won't make women want to return to this business again. (Thanks, WTM!)

The Never-Ending Property



One sure way to get people talking about a house listing is to make a music video about it. Realtor Claire Cossey did just that for a home in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, UK. As she walks through the house, she sings "The Never Ending Property," which is not literal, but a parody of the 1984 Limahl song "The Never Ending Story." Cossey, a former nightclub singer, has a pretty good voice, but the odd lyrics and the entire concept of a musical real estate ad made the video go viral.

As for the house itself, it has five bedrooms and more than 2700 interior square feet. But the ceiling and doorways could be a problem for anyone six feet tall. Is it worth £700,000? (via Metafilter)

Conversation with a Kitten



Why would you want to spend two minutes watching a guy saying meow and petting a kitten? Because Molly the Bengal kitten is so appealing, and quite talkative. This video is a lovely interlude in whatever you’re doing today. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)

Tweet of the Day

(via Fark)

Weird Innovations in Pizza



Pizza has been around for hundreds of years. First conceived in Naples, Italy, it was improved with tomato sauce and became an American staple food. The competition between pizza parlors and other providers has reached a fever pitch, leading to competition over the "next big thing" in pizza, whether it's a better recipe, faster delivery, reduced labor costs, or the most outrageous advertising gimmick. Weird History Food abandons trying to tell the complete history of pizza in order to bring us the most innovative and bizarre recent pizza schemes, all in the name of making us crave a hot and tasty slice of pizza. They weren't all successful, or even edible, but they do show some thinking outside the pizza box.    

A Tiny Pygmy Marmoset



The pygmy marmoset is the smallest monkey species in the world. Native to the rainforests of Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, they are small enough that an adult can fit in the palm of your hand. The Rare Species Conservatory Foundation took in a baby pygmy marmoset a few years ago who was rejected by her mother because she is deaf. She wouldn't have much of a chance on her own, but has found a permanent home and safety. Ninita gives us a glimpse into the tiny adorable life of a pygmy marmoset.

If you want to learn more about marmosets, or if you just want to watch these extremely cute monkeys living their best lives, Metafilter has a ton of links for you. Don't forget to play this song.

No Hope



Her pedantic behavior is not going to save her, but she just can't help herself. Many would say she deserves whatever fate is awaiting her. How many times have you seen a serious and interesting discussion on the internet completely derailed when someone uses the wrong version of there/their/they're? This comic is from Robot Vampire. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

How the Witness Protection Program Works



Witness protection is crucial for certain legal cases, when testifying against someone might endanger your life. So we have the federal Witness Security Program top make sure that doesn't happen, and that witnesses don't have to risk their lives to tell the truth. WITSEC has never lost a witness who complied with their rules. Half as Interesting goes through how the process works. And we find out that a My Blue Heaven situation actually happened at least once. The last minute of this video is an ad. (via Digg)

Teen Drivers in Their Natural Habitat



You say you never text while driving. You should still worry, because these teenagers are out there on the same roads you drive. While it happens to all age groups, teenagers are most likely to believe they are more competent than they really are. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety issued a report on teen drivers who crash due to distracted driving. This video is a sampling of some of those crashes, which are mostly due to cell phone use, and the horrible habit of texting while driving. The very first thing any new driver should learn is the importance of constant observation. Traffic is like a complicated mass dance, with most of the dancers at less-than-professional level. So you have to not only see where you are going, but where everyone else on the road is, front, back, and sides, plus where they are going and how fast. The ability to map that dance takes constant observation and a lot of practice.

The video analysis detailed in the report found that distracted driving contributes to four times as many accidents as indicated through police reports. And you can see that many of these accidents will never involve a police report, as there is often no other car involved. Of course, what intrigued me was how they got so much video of crashes that weren’t staged. The explanation is in the report:
Lytx, a company that has been collecting data using in-vehicle event recorders (IVERs) for over a decade, provided the crash data. Their DriveCam system collects video, audio and accelerometer data when a driver triggers the device by hard braking, fast cornering, or an impact that exceeds a certain g-force. Each video is 12-seconds long, and provides information on the 8 seconds before and 4 seconds after the trigger. The system has a wide range of applications—families use them to help young drivers as they begin to drive independently, while over 500 commercial and government fleets employ them for fleet management.

Crashes examined in this study involved drivers aged 16-19 who were participating in a teen driving program that involved the use of a DriveCam system. Ltyx made 6,842 videos of crashes that occurred between August 2007 and July 2013 available for review. In order to reduce this number and to eliminate minor curb strikes from the analysis, those crashes in which the vehicle sustained forces less than 1g were excluded. Crashes in which the DriveCam equipped vehicle was struck from behind were excluded. Additional videos were excluded for other reasons (e.g., animal strikes, video problems, or the driver not being a teen). A total of 1,691 moderate-to-severe crashes met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed for the current study.
Such a system seems like it might be a good idea for probationary drivers, maybe for a year or until they prove their competence. (via Viral Viral Videos)

Rollerman



Jean-Yves Blondeau invented a roller suit consisting of body protection and 32 wheels distributed over the body. He introduced it to the world in 1995, and custom-builds them for skating enthusiasts ever since. Yes, they are very expensive. You may have seen these suits in movies, variety shows, or the occasional public relations stunt. Now you can not only learn the story behind the suit, but watch the Rollerman show it off.Even at age 52, Blondeau takes the suit out buggyrollin. Make sure you watch at least until the night time version is shown. (via Nag on the Lake)

Sign at Work



Effort doesn't require effort? Who wants to take orders from someone who would come up with this? (via reddit)

Cat Meets New Baby



Cats, even cats who hate strangers, will instinctively make allowances for babies, whether they are kittens, puppies, humans, or other creatures. Nick Filippou gives us a compilation of clips showing how the family's cat Minnie reacted when their newborn daughter arrived. Minnie was curious but cautious, and quickly fell in love with the new family member. Filippou runs the website i iz cat and draws cartoons featuring Minnie and the rest of the family. (via Laughing Squid

March Madness



The divisions here are clear. Upper left, March ____. Lower left, Marches. Upper right, March of (the) ___. Lower right, ____ March. Who will reign supreme? This comic is from Randall Munroe at xkcd.

Big Shark



Twenty years after his debut film The Room, Tommy Wiseau has directed a second movie. He also stars in it. Big Shark is the story of three New Orleans firefighter who try to save the city from a big shark. Which you will see in the trailer, swimming down a road in the Big Easy. Big Shark, which has been in production since 2019, will be introduced theater by theater, beginning on April 2 in Portland, Oregon. Wiseau will personally introduce the film at subsequent theaters for an eight-month road tour. The plan is to tweak the movie before the “Official Final Cut Version” is released to theaters much later this year. (via Uproxx)

Miss Cellania's Links

Artificial intelligence is getting better, but it still can't figure out how humans eat spaghetti. More pictures here

40 Pictures of Cats with Human Babies. Squee!  

Beau gets a little charged up talking about what kids should learn in school.

Penny Lick: the deceptive, dirty ice cream ware.  (via Boing Boing)

In Congress, breaking unwritten rules that encouraged civility and enabled things to get done is becoming the new normal.

The Boy Who Was Kissed to Death.

The New Yorkers fighting to protect Chinatown. Plans to build a billion-dollar mega-jail threaten a neighborhood that's been a safe haven for Chinese immigrants since the 1870s. (via Digg)

Congratulations to the 2023 International Mollusc of the Year. Read about the Chilean abalone, plus the four other finalists. (via Metafilter)

The World's Largest Organism Is Slowly Being Eaten. (via Neatorama)

51 Astounding Animal Facts



A ferret played a crucial role in building our National Accelerator Laboratory. There’s a crab that comes with its own pompons. There are 11,000 species of bats. When hyenas laugh, it doesn’t mean anything funny. The difference between kangaroos and wallabies may surprise you. This week’s mental_floss List Show gives us a quick rundown of things you don’t really need to know about animals, but you’ll want to, because they are quite interesting. 


Tweet of the Day

(via Bored Panda)

Universal Movie Monsters



The recognizable looks of many classic horror characters came from Universal Studios. The movie studio began cranking out monster movies in 1931 with Dracula, which was a huge hit. Hoping to catch lightening in a bottle twice, Frankenstein followed. Universal had found its winning formula. Monster movies were inexpensive to film and the returns were phenomenal. They followed those successes with The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man. In the 1940s, Universal institutes the concept of the sequel and the crossover, further solidifying their monsters in the public's perception. Science fiction was melded into the genre in the 1950s. In this video, we get the chronological history of Universal Studios' monster movies and how they captured the world.    

Blind Kitten Brothers



Four-week-old littermates George and Hamilton had eye infections that were so bad their eyesights couldn't be saved. Nicole was supposed to be their foster mother, but couldn't bear to give up the two blind kittens. They've grown and adapted in amazing ways. They chirp to call each other and let their location be known. Otherwise, they act like normal cats, if your vision of a normal cat is one who is friendly, affectionate, and welcoming to strangers. These boys are now two years old and still thriving. You can see a lot more of George, Hamilton, and Nicole's foster kittens at Instagram.

The Arctic Balloon Expedition



In the 19th century, there was a race to be the first to reach the North Pole. That quest was finally accomplished by Robert Peary in 1909. That expedition followed many others that were unsuccessful. In 1897, S. A. Andrée had the bright idea to just fly to the North Pole using the only available air vehicle of the time, a balloon. What could possibly go wrong? The three-man Arctic balloon expedition set off from Svalbard in July of that year, determined to bring glory to Sweden by reaching the North Pole. They were not seen again until 1933.

Miss Cellania's Links

ChatGPT Tries Jokes, Fails Successfully.

Saber-Toothed Marsupial Predator Compensated for Its Teeth With Cow Eyes.

We’ve Got What It Takes to End Poverty in America. The hard part is the politics—and complacency—says author Matthew Desmond. (via Fark)
 
The adorable scamps of the Republican Circus. The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.

See the New Moonwalk Spacesuit Designed for NASA’s Artemis Program.

Gunned down and burned by the Nazis: the shocking true story of Bambi. (via Damn Interesting)

A Map of Places in the US with the Same Name. Find out if your town is the most famous of its name. (via Neatorama)

Something Extremely Goofy Happens When You Ask Google's Bard AI To Generate Images. It's not only incompetent, it lied about it. (via Fark)

Uptown Funk Treadmill Dance



Carson Dean has quite the skill -he can dance even when the floor is moving underneath him! Watch him get down to “Uptown Funk” without losing his balance even the slightest bit. Don’t believe me? Just watch! (via Viral Viral Videos)