Choir

(via Fark)

Should All Locks Have Keys?

You protect your physical world with locks -on your car, your home, and your workplace. But the digital world is different. There’s a lot to think about here. In the physical world, there are workarounds for emergencies. My husband once broke in a door to rescue a resident who’d had a stroke. Police with warrants can break physical locks. And of course, burglars can break through physical locks if it’s worth the risk to them. But how would one get around a digital lock in an emergency? And then there’s the question of who gets to decide what an “emergency” is, because a loose definition would threaten normal privacy. CGP Grey lays out the conundrum that the digital world, those who use it, and government authorities are wrestling with now. Oh yeah, there’s a footnote video, too. (via reddit)

Tweet of the Day

🎬 Finding a Foot Long Crystal!

👤 /u/Acrobatic_Energy_750
📂 /r/Damnthatsinteresting
🔗 https://t.co/TD8MKx6kh8 pic.twitter.com/M18VDJSZKZ

— Viral Reddit Videos (@ViralRedditVids) April 15, 2024

Evidence

(via Bad Newspaper)

Rats Who Enable

Don Caron performs his parody of "Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. The target in the new lyrics is never named. Can you figure out who it is? (via Fark)

Paralegal

(via reddit)

The New Electric Atlas

We've grown to known and love Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot over the years, so much that we think if him (and his dog Spot) as everyday robots that have outgrown the wow" factor and have become part of the family. So of course, they are retiring him and have a replacement that is all electric.Yes, our friend Atlas has plenty of electronics, but his strength and movement relies on hydraulics. The new fully electric Atlas is smaller, has more refined movements, and can articulate its limbs at 360 degrees. The upshot is that while the new Atlas may more resemble a human shape at first glance, watching it move gives us the creeps, as if it were a demon-possessed little girl in a movie.  

Boston Dynamics owes a lot to the original hydraulic Atlas, and have posted a tribute video for its retirement. The first half is a blooper reel, and the second half shows what Atlas can really do.



(via Born in Space)

Remote Control

(via Gary Jackson)

Where We Got Cannabis

Archaeologists have found cannabis remains in a 2,500-year-old grave, indicating it was used at the funeral. And you thought "putting the 'fun' in funeral" was just a mortuary joke. But seriously, folks, researching the origins of cannabis is difficult because it's been deliberately cultivated for so long that any cannabis growing wild is feral instead of truly wild, and documenting historic samples is iffy because of its illegal status in many places. Scientists were having a hard time even charting out its taxonomy until gene sequencing came along. What we do know is that the plant developed its amazing chemicals to deter enemies, but the cannabis plant had no idea that humans would come along and find those chemicals attractive.

Date, Time

(via Fark)

Ninja Kittens

(via Nag on the Lake)

Tweet of the Day

After Moisant was later killed in a plane crash, Fifi went into mourning. pic.twitter.com/qU57PBZHbZ

— Undine (@HorribleSanity) April 13, 2024

Whew!

(via Bad Newspaper)

Boars

(via reddit)

I’m A Genetic Engineer. I’m Also a Fish.

Vertical gene transfer is the method of passing along DNA that we are familiar with, when two parents produce offspring that have a combination of their genes. But that's not the only way that organisms can gain new genes. Horizontal gene transfer is not as common, but it can lead to a lot of changes in a species. This is when bacteria, fungi, plants, animals, or any species incorporate genes from a different species into their genomes. Yeah, it's complicated, but nature is weird. If the new genes prove to be beneficial in some way, the species will keep these new alien genes until they are their own. That means that it goes on a lot more than we realize because only a small percentage of these natural gene transfers will be beneficial.

Condoms

(via Dorkly)

An ABBA Passover

Passover begins on the evening of April 22 (Monday) and will run through sunset on April 30. No, it doesn't always coincide with Easter. As they do every year, the Jewish a cappella group Six13 has unveiled another pop music parody for the holiday. This year their nine voices bring us "Matza Mia! An ABBA Passover." They've put new lyrics to four classic songs from the Swedish vocal group ABBA. They've also posted a song sheet if you want to use the new lyrics at your Seder or school program.

Miss Cellania's Links

Disney Parks Will Offer a Weird Lineup of Star Wars Food Beginning May 4. There's also an additional lineup of food items that will only be available from May 4 until June 2, a period they call the Season of the Force. (via Gizmodo)

Three Genocides. Before the Holocaust, Germany had plenty of experience in Namibia. (via Metafilter) 

The Ars guide to time travel in the movies. (via Nag on the Lake)

Charlemagne "had about 20 children who went on to establish Europe’s royal houses, and nearly all Europeans today can trace their lineages back to Charlemagne." I don't see how, since most of them were sent to nunneries or monasteries, willingly or not.

AI Artist Combines Star Wars Imagery with the Creative Spirit of Burning Man.

Here's Why School Buses Haven’t Changed Much Since 1939. School buses look nearly the same as they did almost 100 years ago despite cars totally changing, but that's not a bad thing. (via Boing Boing) 

Would you donate a kidney for $50,000? (via Fark)

The 25 Saltiest Fast-Food Orders in America. Keep in mind that some are combo orders, and some have more sodium because they are just extra large dishes, but all have more sodium than is necessary or healthy.    

The 18th-Century Baron Who Lent His Name to Munchausen Syndrome.

Margaret

(via Buzzfeed)

The Secret of C-3PO

Poor C-3PO. He is a victim of circumstance, being pulled from one end of the galaxy to the other. He’s been torn apart and reassembled over and over. He’s been put in harm’s way too many times, through no fault of his own. And still he retains a civil tone of voice. Mixmaster Zapatou (Luc Bergeron) highlights the plight of C-3PO to the tune of “Mr. Roboto” in this sequence that uses clips from all the Star Wars films so far. (via Geeks Are Sexy)