Despite growing to 70 to 100 kilograms, giant pandas typically weigh 100 grams at birth, which is very very light compared to when they grow up. Human babies are much heavier, weighing 3.4 kg at birth on average. With this in mind, why are giant pandas born so tiny? This unusual size difference between adult and baby pandas had left scientists puzzled for years.
With a few exceptions among animals such as echidnas and kangaroos, no other mammal newborns are so tiny relative to their mothers. No one knows why, but a Duke University study of bones across 10 species of bears and other animals finds that some of the current theories don't hold up.
Scavenge for food, find water, heal yourself from injuries and sickness, craft weapons and materials, and look for a safe place: these are some of the usual mechanics of a survival game, which is pretty much like real life. In some games, you’ll have to protect yourself from zombies at night, while in others you have to try to stay alive while competing against other players. But what are some of the best survival games ever made? Popular Mechanics offers their list to us. Why don’t you check it out?
In the Ask Metafilter forum, hapaxes.legomenon told a story that cat owners can relate to in one way or another. The entire family got sick, and the litter box wasn't cleaned for a few days. When hapaxes.legomenon recovered somewhat and tended to the litter box, which is in the laundry room, a child's sock fell into the box at the beginning of the process.
Somehow, at this moment, the echoing cavern off her brain made an incredible leap of logic. I myself did not uncover this understanding for several days.
The problem is thus: she has associated sock-in-box with litter-box-gets-cleaned and, it being the third fact her brain possesses, will not let go of the notion no matter how untrue it is.
I clean it every day, but she keeps dragging socks and other small clothing items in there. She doesn't go on the material, just puts it on top of the litter, but it still gross. I've been washing everything but that doesn't seem super hygienic (the alternative seems both expensive and environmentally wasteful). With the litter box in the laundry room she has easy access to victims, but even when I've been diligent about not leaving out a single scrap of fabric in there, she'll drag something through the entire house to pursue her objectives. I have witnessed it, and was scared it was a mouse. It was another white toddler sock.
The question is, how to get a cat to un-learn this idea? Cat lovers know that some kitties collect things, often small items of clothing. They also develop weird habits. My white cat puts two hair elastics in the shared kibble pan, which annoys the other cats. It might be a territory thing, but I remove them and then all is well. Read the full story, the experiences of other Mefites, and suggestions on how to change the cat's mind.
In the latest installment of his True Facts series, Ze Frank tells us all we need to know about mudskippers. These are unusual fish, and not just because they are funny-looking. They did not evolve to walk on land, but they do it anyway. And that's just the beginning of their weirdness.
I believe that all of us have already met a selfish person at least once in our lives. It might be someone from work, or our classmate in school, or even someone we are close to. I also believe that all of us have experienced being the selfish person. But what is really going on in our minds when we think of being generous or selfish? Is there a difference between deciding whether to think about self or others? A recent study at RIKEN suggests that there might be a difference in processing whether to be generous or selfish.
A RIKEN team, led by Hiroyuki Nakahara of the Laboratory for Integrated Theoretical Neuroscience at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, discovered this when they examined 36 healthy volunteers aged between 20 and 32 years. Their aim was to find out which parts of the brain are activated when considering giving rewards to others.
Shown above is a patent illustration for a peculiarly masochistic device called the Mama Robot. The South Korean patent is held by 정인필. Check out what it's supposed to do.
The Mama Robot is creepy in many ways. As far as I can tell, it's a device that allows children to punish themselves when they know they've been naughty but their parents are away.
The child is able to decide how many lashes with a cane they deserve, and the Mama Robot will then deliver the punishment. As it does so, the prerecorded voice of the parent will admonish the child, but simultaneously the Mama Robot will weep "such that the sad feelings of the parent punishing are conveyed to the child."
Since patent illustrations are often simplistic and hard to date by just looking at them, you may get the idea that this is pretty old by its purpose. No, the patent was granted in 2017! You have to wonder what potential manufacturers think of the idea. Read more about the Robot Mama at Weird Universe.
Do you still remember your high school English? Challenge yourself by taking this quiz and see if you do better than most adults. The questions contain English Literature and Language lessons from the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams administered in most British territories.
Simon's Cat meets an annoying crow in this Christmas cartoon. The story is only two minutes long; the rest is an ad, with a short preview of an upcoming cartoon at the end.
The number to beat is 6.5 billion for the highest views on a YouTube music video from the 2010s. “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee has achieved certified video viral gold along with other leading artists like Ed Sheeran, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, Psy, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, and OneRepublic.
But if you’re looking for musical hits outside of this decade, YouTube has got you covered with their list of every top music video from the 1980s onwards.
Guns N' Roses reigns over both the '80s and '90s, thanks to "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "November Rain," both of which have garnered more than 1 billion views. Coming in at Nos. 2 and 3 on the '80s list are A-ha's still-infectious "Take on Me" and Cyndi Lauper's iconic "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," whileNirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and The Cranberries' gritty smash "Zombie" were the second and third most-watched of the '90s.
Stephen Shkuratoff from Alberta, Canada, may have a blind condition but that’s not stopping his deep love for dogs. A member of the online community, Dogspotting Society, where users can share heartwarming dog photos and stories, Shkuratoff posted this request on the Facebook page:
“I love being a member of this group!” … “I am blind and was hoping to ask for more dog descriptions. Personality traits are more helpful than colors. Like how soft the dog is, for example. Bonus as always for dogs full of kisses and snuggles. Thanks for making me feel included. Hope no one minds me asking for descriptions a lot recently.”
Over 2,000 responses came in from fellow dog owners and they sure did not disappoint. The visual descriptions are as endearing as they are thoughtful and help to inspire more appreciation for our loyal pet companions and other gifts we may take for granted.
“All these descriptions are so lovely and I am very thankful,” he said after reading through the overwhelming number of responses.
Many geek gifts consist of little more than tee shirts, posters and the like... but while those are great, they also aren't exactly sophisticated. If you're looking for a tasteful gift that still has a geeky edge, you won't want to miss this round up of classy gifts for the nerds in your life.
The list includes everything from original artwork to jewelry and from customized glassware to surprisingly naturalistic Minnie Mouse ears. Don't miss the full list here.
Ready for some fascinating FUNgi biology? These are stinkhorn mushrooms from the Phallaceae family of fungi. Aptly named for their foul-smelling stench and hornlike shape, stinkhorns are gasteroid fungi, meaning they create spores inside their bodies rather than outside like most other mushrooms. Flies are attracted to the stinkhorn’s malodorous and gelatinous spore-containing substance called the gleba, which they feast on then distribute all over the forest floor.
The stinkhorn mushroom can often be found in tropical areas.
Harry, a doctoral student in New Zealand, refers to his octopus as "evil." The octopus in question appears to share similar sentiments about his biologist. He says that, four months ago, he accidentally knocked over a pipe where she was hiding.
She can carry a grudge. The octopus sucks up water from a pump and spits it at Harry when he walks past. The video above is from one of her unsuccessful (but recorded) attempts. Harry has gotten thoroughly soaked.
Are we at the dawn of a new age? “The Age of A.I.” grapples with the reality behind that sentiment and the weight that the world of artificial intelligence bears on real life applications, from developing the latest technology to finding innovative solutions to global issues. The 8-part docuseries is a YouTube Originals production available for streaming this week on December 18.
A fully intact 1930s fresco painted by Frederick Olmsted Jr. was found beneath layers of paint on the plain white walls in the hallway of the venerable San Francisco Art Institute. It's one of a dozen murals painted over at the institute. https://t.co/BZnEelgkzMpic.twitter.com/5pQmX5bfRT
San Francisco Art Institute Facilities Manager Heather Hickman Holland noticed some unusual bumps in a wall at the school. She first thought they were cobwebs, but later realized they were outlines of faces! A little digging revealed that there are a half-dozen or so murals underneath the painted walls at the school, frescoes painted in the 1930s as a project of the Works Progress Administration.
The school received a city art grant to uncover small squares of paint on the walls, revealing hints of what may lie underneath. The school eventually received grants from the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation and the national Save America’s Treasures to finally remove the paint on the wall where Olmsted’s mural was believed to rest.
As architectural conservator Molly Lambert and her team began peeling away the paint, the faces of 1930s workers began to emerge from their long slumber. The nine figures were back at work cutting and moving slabs of marble, smoking cigarettes and polishing the newly cut pieces.
“Of course when you uncover something like this you’re not sure what the quality’s going to be,” Lambert said. “But this is fantastic.”
Once the bulk of the paint was removed, the work came down to a lot of delicate scraping to remove the final layers. Lambert estimated the fresco was covered over in some dozen layers of paint.
