In places across the South, it is customary to paint a porch ceiling blue. This tradition began in the Low Country of South Carolina, and is frequently seen in Beaufort and Charleston. It's a pretty color, but there's a reason people incorporated blue in their homes- as protection from evil spirits.    

This “haint blue,” first derived from the dye produced on Lowcountry indigo plantations, was originally used by enslaved Africans, and later by the Gullah Geechee, to combat “haints” and “boo hags”—evil spirits who escaped their human forms at night to paralyze, injure, ride (the way a person might ride a horse), or even kill innocent victims. The color was said to trick haints into believing that they’ve stumbled into water (which they cannot cross) or sky (which will lead them farther from the victims they seek). Blue glass bottles were also hung in trees to trap the malevolent marauders.

While “haint blue” has taken on a life of its own outside the Gullah Geechee tradition—it’s currently sold by major paint companies like Sherwin-Williams, and marketed to well-to-do Southerners as a pretty color for a proper porch ceiling—the significance of the color to the descendents of the Lowcountry’s enslaved people still remains.

Indigo was grown in South Carolina by enslaved workers before the Revolutionary War. It was a lucrative trade, but not for those who brought the skill to raise and extract the dye, along with their spiritual beliefs, with them when they were taken from West Africa. While artificial dyes are used almost exclusively now, the Gullah Geechee community is seeking to bring back the indigo plant along with the history behind it. Read about haint blue and the people who produced it at Atlas Obscura.

There have been cases where completely fictional species have been given taxonomic names in scientific journals. These articles are often presented as humor, such as Haggis scoticus vulgaris, but there have been cases where an article on a nonexistent species was submitted to reveal the lack of rigorous peer-review in publishing. This was the case with a flea named Ctenophthalmus nepalensis. Despite the many weird names given to new species, there are rules in taxonomy. In 1975, Peter Scott and Robert Rines published an article in the journal Nature that described the species Nessiteras rhombopteryx. We know the animal as the Loch Ness Monster. The research was based on photographs and the ability of the environment to sustain such a creature, which is not that unusual in science.   

But let’s return to the question of whether Nessiteras rhombopteryx is nomenclaturally available, which remains unanswered. Is it a valid name, according to the zoological nomenclature rules? Description, diagnosis, name, publication — check, check, check, check. The discussion is therefore focused instead on whether Nessiteras rhombopteryx names a hypothetical concept, in which case it wouldn’t fall under the purview of zoological nomenclature. Many people would surely assert that Nessie is a creature of myth and legend, lacking a biological manifestation in Loch Ness or anyplace else on Earth, which would therefore indicate a hypothetical concept. However, an important tenet of taxonomy is that, first and foremost, what is published is valid. Based on the publication, there’s no doubt that both Scott and Rines are thoroughly convinced that Nessie exists. In other words, the description of Nessiteras rhombopteryx was not published explicitly for a hypothetical concept, and it’s doubtful that the opinion held by many, if not most, scientists—that is, that Nessie is not real—could be reason enough to strike the name from the list of animal species in Great Britain. So there’s a lot to suggest that Nessiteras rhombopteryx can be accepted as a real, earnest, and, yes, valid name.

Scientific names have also been given to the yeti (Dinanthropoides nivalis), Sasquatch (Gigantopithecus canadensis), and frogs squashed on a highway (Rana magnaocularis). Read about the business of naming species that don't exist at the MIT Press reader.  -via Damn Interesting

A script that just might be the original story planned for the ninth episode of the Skywalker saga has been leaked. The script, allegedly written by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, appears to be an intriguing tale. The A.V. Club tells us more:

According to the breakdown, which originates on YouTube, Trevorrow’s Episode IX was titled Duel Of The Fates (actually a very good title!) and his last draft was written in December 2016, about a week before the passing of Carrie Fisher. Though certain plot points could have changed during production or through reshoots, Trevorrow and Connolly’s story seems far more compelling than The Rise Of Skywalker. In their version, Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico is given a much larger role and spends a good portion of the film with Finn, C-3PO, and R2-D2 on a mission to light a beacon on Coruscant that will draw allies to assist the Resistance in their final battle against the First Order. Meanwhile, Rey, Poe, and Chewbacca head to a distant planet to find answers that may help Rey figure out what to do about this whole (gestures wildly) situation.

A big difference from The Rise of Skywalker is that, in this version, both Palpatine and Darth Vader appear, but as recordings, not resurrected characters. The most fascinating part is that Kylo Ren is literally haunted by the ghost of Luke Skywalker. While Disney has not responded, a second source has verified the script. You can listen to a breakdown of the script in a 2-hour video by Robert Meyer Burnett, or you can read the plot points from the video kindly listed by redditor Lollifroll. Or you can just read the highlights at the A.V. Club.

Lawrenceville, Georgia — Everyone wants a festive feast on Christmas Day, and this burglar was no exception. Unfortunately for him, Taco Bell was closed on Christmas Day, but he’s not going to let that hinder his desire to eat. So he broke in, used the fryers to make food, and then napped.

Police have asked for the public’s help in identifying the man who broke into the restaurant, prepared food and fell asleep early Christmas morning.

At around 12:15 a.m. on Dec. 25, a man approached a Taco Bell in unincorporated Lawrenceville and entered through the drive-thru window. Surveillance video showed him using the fryers to make himself a meal. After eating, he proceeded to take a nap on the restaurant floor.

Before he left about three hours later, the said man stole a laptop and a tablet, according to investigators.

(Image Credit: Taco Bell/ Wikimedia Commons)

A young girl’s backseat prank has prompted a huge police response, and the authorities did not find it funny. The South Sacramento California Highway Patrol narrates on their Facebook post:

At approximately 5:02 pm, our officers received a call of a vehicle traveling on southbound SR-99 at Dillard Road with a female juvenile in the back seat holding up a piece of paper asking for help. Two of our motor officers responded as well as a K-9 unit from CHP – Valley Division and located the vehicle on SR-99 at 8 Mile Road in Stockton. A high risk enforcement stop was made on the vehicle with the assistance of CHP – Stockton personnel and the vehicle immediately yielded to the right shoulder of the freeway.

It turns out, however, that “the juvenile had made it all up and thought it was a fun thing to do”. The mother was unaware of what her daughter was doing, as she was driving. The mother and child were allowed to leave the scene as it was determined that there was no foul play. The South Sacramento CHP reminds that at all times, parents need to be aware of what their children are doing in the back seat.

Six CHP units were assigned to this call instead of responding to legitimate calls or patrolling their beats because of this hoax.

(Image Credit: CHP - South Sacramento/ Facebook)

I called for more coffee pods in my Shanghai hotel room and this is how they came to me: pic.twitter.com/zqc9OLpXHA

— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) November 20, 2019

Five years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged for a “robot revolution”.

Analysts say that the goal was to boost automation and give China an edge in global manufacturing in the years to come. Now, Chinese factories are being flooded with robots, and these machines now also appear in public settings, such as in hotels. Anna Fifield, the bureau chief of The Washington Post Beijing, found this out firsthand during her reporting trip to Shanghai.

While checking into a local hotel, she said, she noticed a slender trash-can-shaped robot in the lobby, its cylindrical body plastered with a tiny human-ish face. The hotel’s receptionist told Fifield that if she needed anything, she could request a robot delivery.

The next morning, after asking for more coffee pods, she opened her hotel room door and, to her amusement, found herself face-to-face with the delivery bot.

“When the robot arrived at my hotel door, it called my room phone and told me, in Chinese and English, that it was at my door,” Fifield wrote after being reached by email. “Then when I went out there, it was waiting and was easy to use. It said in Chinese: ‘You are the cutest person in the whole universe. Do you want to take a selfie with me? Let’s say ‘eggplant’ together.’ (eggplant in Chinese is “qiezi” which sounds like ‘cheese.’)”

Hotels from the U.S, Japan, and South Korea, have already deployed their respective service robots. While some look forward to this development, there are others who are skeptical about it, like the InterContinental Los Angeles Century City general manager Steve Choe.

“With robots, you don’t get personalized service,” Choe said. “Those are the touches people still want.”

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Anna Fifield/ Twitter)

インターホン鳴ったから出てみたら高圧的なおばさん二人が「お宅のベランダに子供の目に良くないものが干してあるからやめて欲しい」とのお叱りを受けた
まぁ言うまでもなくBDUの事だろう
迷彩服を見ただけで本当に子供に悪い作用があるのだろうか…
仕方ないから部屋干しに切り替えるが pic.twitter.com/ReYlERBTzk

— 宮下さんと他宮下99人 (@miyasitaaa) January 5, 2020

Twitter user @miyasitaaa is a fan of sabage — “survival games.” He regularly takes photos of himself in his Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) and carrying Airsoft rifles. His neighbors, unfortunately, were not.

[In Japan, survival games] are only tangentially related to video games. Instead they’re real life re-enactments of war zones where players split into teams and shoot each other with Airsoft rifles. You know, for fun!

One day, his doorbell rang. When he went to answer it, he was met with a pair of extremely intense women, who scolded him for “hanging something out to dry on the balcony that would be harmful to children if they saw it.” They told the Airsoft-loving guy to stop.

While they didn’t specify what that something is, @miyasitaaa stated that “it had to be [his] BDU.”

He also helpfully included a shot of the women in question, as well as the offending garment nestled guiltily among his other clothes.

It’s true that anti-war sentiment is very strong in Japan, with figures such as Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki taking strong pacifistic stances. Insisting that the uniform itself is inappropriate for children seems misdirected at best, though, especially considering that army-inspired styles are a common fixture in fashion.

I personally think that the women were overreacting. But what are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: @miyasitaaa/ Twitter)

We love playing in the snow. And so do pandas.

Check out the full video of pandas wrestling over at CNN.

Very cute!

(Image Credit: CNN)

We know that our beloved pets age faster than us, but what factors do we have to consider when we try to calculate their real age?

The widely held belief regarding dog age is that a year in a dog’s life is equivalent to seven years in human life. This comes from dividing the human life expectancy of around 77 by the canine life expectancy of 11. 

Things are not so simple, however, according to this new study. Why so? When we look at some basic developmental milestones, the reason will become much clearer.

For example, most dog breeds reach sexual maturity between the ages of six and 12 months – the upper end of that range corresponding, by the traditional conversion, to a human age of seven. And at the other end of the spectrum, although unusual, some dogs have been known to live for over 20 years. Under the “factor-of-seven” conversion rule, this would equate to an unfathomable 140 human-equivalent years.

To make matters more complicated, dogs’ life expectancy depends significantly on the breed. Smaller dogs tend to live significantly longer, suggesting that they age more slowly than bigger dogs.

More details about this over at BBC.

(Image Credit: Vizslafotozas/ Pixabay)

This man was branded “sad” and “disgusting” after he was caught watching a game on his phone at a wedding.

The unnamed man from the US could be seen quietly watching the Minnesota Vikings defeated by the San Francisco 49ers over the weekend - while the groom and his mother shared a dance during the reception.

The short video was shared on Reddit, and he was criticized by wedding shamers.

Some people, however, pointed out that they would be doing the same thing, and there’s no issue to what the guest did. They argued that the wedding reception is not as important as the ceremony and it could drag on for hours.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Reddit/ D5R/ DailyMail)

This diner in Colorado, called Tom’s Diner, charges $0.38 for every stupid question you will ask. The price for every dumb question previously was $0.48, so I guess we’re lucky for the 10-cent price reduction.

‘Stupid Questions’ is even listed as a side dish on the menu, and it has been for twenty years, so you can’t say they didn’t warn you!

I wonder how much money the diner makes from stupid questions.

(Image Credit: Reddit/ FunnyOrDie)

Just days after the owner of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park battled encroaching wildfires to save the animals who live there, the facility welcomed Scottish reporter Debi Edward and showed the world that Aussies have not lost their sense of humor. The animal handlers convinced her she needed to wear a protective suit in order to handle a vicious drop bear. Edward fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Just wait until they travel to Scotland- she'll be glad to introduce them to the wild haggis. Video contains NSFW language.  -via Boing Boing

Sometime in late 2018, a man named Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer went down into the basement of a medical history museum in Berlin. The aforementioned place was filled with lots of old medical specimens, and each human organ had its own storage room. The man went to the room for lungs. Among the 400 or 500 jarred specimens that have been collected through the decades, Sébastien and his colleagues ended up finding one particular lung. Preserved chemically in formalin, the lung held the key in further understanding the origin of measles. The said lung belonged to a girl who died of pneumonia after a measles infection in 1912.

Now more than a century after her death, the team led by Calvignac-Spencer, a virologist at the Robert Koch Institute, has managed to sequence the measles virus in the girl’s lungs. It is by far the oldest measles genome ever assembled. And by comparing that 1912 measles virus to more modern strains and to related animal viruses, the team pushed back the earliest likely date that measles could have emerged in humans to 400 b.c., 1,500 years earlier than estimated with previous genetic evidence. (A preprint of the paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, is available on bioRxiv.)

More details about this story over at The Atlantic.

(Image Credit: Düx etal / bioRxiv)

The world’s oceans hit record high temperatures last year as the rate of global warming continues to accelerate, according to researchers. According to them, over the last 25 years, the heat introduced to the Earth’s oceans is equal to the energy produced by 3.6 billion atomic bombs. Yikes!

Climate change has fuelled rapid rises in global surface air temperature since the 1950s, with 2016 the hottest year on record.

A new study mapping the impact of warming on the oceans found waters in 2019 were at their hottest in recorded human history – increasing by 0.075C above the 1981-2010 average.

[...]

To have increased to the level it has, the ocean will have absorbed 228,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (228 sextillion) joules of energy.

More details about this over at Independent.

(Image Credit: qimono/ Pixabay)

Randa Haddadin, an artist in Dubai, doesn't always use a paper sketchbook. Her legs will do just as well. On her Instagram page, you can see her flowing, ethereal line drawings of women and cityscapes.