Botnik Studios is a collection of human (or so they tell us) comedians who use artificial intelligence to re-write famous stories, such as a new chapter from a Harry Potter novel and the script for a new Seinfeld episode. Their system predicts new text based on inputted text.

In this case, it's the collected scripts of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Botnik Studios has produced episode 279, which is titled, "Here's Looking at Q." Read the whole thing.

I hope--I pray--that the TNG actors meet to record a reading of this script. Someone will have to fill in for the computer voice, as Majel Barrett Roddenberry has passed away.

-via Geek Tyrant

At least, that's what a lot of people are seeing. The "Longhorns Patio" has a distinct shape, especially when it gives birth to the team onto the field.

Let's back up a bit for our non-Texan readers (my condolences on being non-Texan).

The Texas Longhorns are a football team based in Austin. I understand that there's a small school attached to it. Their stadium is being modified to include the above feature that looks like the logo of the Longhorns . . . and possibly something else.

There have been many jokes on Twitter.

I just hope that the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide doesn't get any ideas.

The Muppets have been part of the beloved TV show Sesame Street for 50 years now. Each Muppet has an unseen performer (or two) behind it who puts their heart and soul into giving a personality to an inanimate object. It's not an easy job, but hey, it's showbiz! The Muppeteers love their jobs, and spend years learning the ins and outs of the craft.   

1. Sesame Street puppeteers usually get started lending a (right) hand.

Though there’s no definitive set of directions for puppeteers to get to Sesame Street, a number of performers selected to work on the show begin as apprentices with one specific task: operating the right hand of characters alongside the veteran cast members. “A lot of performers will almost only do right hands for a very long time,” Ryan Dillon, the puppeteer behind Elmo, tells Mental Floss. “Some characters, like Cookie Monster, require two performers with two practical hands.”

Dillon started working on Sesame Street in 2005 at the age of 17. He performed as a right hand and as supporting characters for years before scoring the Elmo role in 2013. Throughout that training, he accompanied the main puppeteer, who uses their dominant (usually right) hand to control the mouth and the other to control the left hand. The newcomer will manipulate the right, a duty informally known as right handing. “It’s a great training ground,” Dillon says. “You’re working directly next to a performer with years of experience. You become one character together.”

5. Sesame Street puppeteers can spend their entire day crouched on the floor.

Being a Sesame Street puppeteer requires more than just having performing chops. On set, characters that may be at waist level with their human co-stars are operated by performers crouched below frame, often on wheeled boards called rollies. “The first day or two, your back and everything else is sore,” Dillon says. “It engages your whole body. Your arm is up in the air performing.” Some actors, Dillon says, have developed knee issues as a result of a career bent over. Fortunately, not every scene requires contortions. Some sets are built raised so performers can stand up straight. Other times, they’ll have to situate themselves horizontally. Scenes set on a stoop usually mean the performer is lying down behind the steps.

Read the rest of the 15 secrets from the Sesame Street puppeteers at Mental Floss.

This animation is billed as a parody trailer, but it's really an entire story set in the Frozen universe, minus the ending. Anna is jealous of Elsa's popularity, which leads to a sisterly spat, or rather, a war that goes off the rails. You might want to watch this before considering showing it to your children. The real Disney sequel, Frozen 2, opens next weekend. -via Geeks Are Sexy

Highschool students, Twitter user Tosshii and some classmates worked for two years on a cardboard replica of the RX-O Unicorn Gundam for their school’s cultural arts festival. The RX-O Unicorn Gundam is the titular mobile suit of the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn series. The intricate and well-detailed cardboard replica is a sight to see, and very near the illustrated fictional mech unit! See Tosshii’s tweets below as he proudly shares the creation!  

文化祭で2年近くかけて作ったダンボール製のユニコーンが多くの人に見てもらえて嬉しかった
頑張ったかいがあった pic.twitter.com/dCo6Gony1u

— トッシー (@szli8sDrLNTShtR) November 9, 2019

(via Kotaku)

image credit: Tosshii

I am a fan of recycling. After all, we only have one planet to live in (for now, at least) and need to take care of it for future generations. But there might be some misconceptions when it comes to recycling — myths that we might be believing. Take for example the belief that we can throw electronics into the recycling just like plastic, glass, and metals.

In the case of most electronics, that is completely untrue. Largely due to lithium ion batteries, the smartphones that end up in trash heaps thanks to poor recycling decisions often explode and catch on fire.

To be clear, these items can be recycled and reused, but they must go to a speciality facility that knows how to handle these materials, commonly known as "e-waste."

This is just one of the many myths in recycling that we might be subscribing to. Check out the others over at Popular Mechanics.

(Image Credit: Hans/ Pixabay)

A man who helped a koala badly burned by Australian wildfires has gone viral online. Footage of the good deed has been uploaded to Facebook by the Koala Hospital Port Macquarie. As of this writing, the post has received over 13,000 reactions.

In the video, a man identified as “Darrel” is caring for the injured animal at the Bellangry State Forest in New South Wales, Australia, the New York Post reported. The marsupial, which was nicknamed “Kate,” received some water from the kind Samaritan and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Darrel was praised for taking care of the koala and bringing her quickly to safety.

(Image Credit: Koala Hospital Port Macquarie / Facebook/ Geek.com)

Romanian photographer Virginia Lupu has befriended the mystical witches of Romania, women of the Roma minority who live in the suburbs of Bucharest, making a living through conducting rituals that help their clients find love, money, and punishment for their enemies. Not only has Lupu befriended them, she has captured them in intimate photographs. The photographs of the witches in their natural environment are part of a new series, “TinTinTin”, as CNN details: 

Lupu captured her subjects in cantatory action, adorned in traditional garb. The women's gowns range from flowing, virginal white garments to fire engine-red robes with floral patterns. In one image, the witches light candles on a plush, decorative area rug that features intertwining brown branches and leaves. Glittering skulls and a furry black object center their makeshift altar. In another photograph, the protagonists raise leafy greens above a body of water as the sun sets. Their hands are embellished with gold bracelets, thick rings and long candy apple-colored nails. Whatever spell they're casting, these women invoke craft and fashion to enhance their potency.

Lupu discovered a significant aesthetic element in the witches' rituals. She observed Minca using a different color palette for each type of spell. "Red for love, yellow for abundance and richness, white for blessing, and black for powerful black magic rituals," Lupu explained. The women's recipes and activities aren't centralized in any kind of book, but passed down from generation to generation.

image credit: Virginia Lupu via CNN

Luna Lovegood Spectrespecs

Attention muggles, wizards, and witches! Celebrate you inner nonconformist with the Luna Lovegood Spectrespecs from the NeatoShop. This delightful pair of spectacles will give you that dreamy, and possibly demented, multicolored owl look you are seeking. 

The Luna Lovegood Spectrespecs glasses pairs beautifully with the Luna Lovegood Spectrespecs Harry Potter Lightweight Scarf also available at the NeatoShop. Be quirky and brave by teaming both. 

We have to be embarrassingly honest. The Luna Lovegood Spectrespecs are not guaranteed to make wrackspurts visible to all wearers. You might need a keen wizarding eye to spot them.  

The holidays are coming the Luna Lovegood Spectrespecs from the NeatoShop make a magical stocking stuffer for any Harry Potter fan. Limited supplies. Get yours today. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Apparel & Accessories. New items arriving to the store all the time. 

Don't forget to stop by the NeatoShop to see our huge selection of customizable apparel and bags. We specialize in curvy and Big and Tall sizes. We carry baby 6 months all the way to 10 XL shirts. We know that fun, fabulous, and Harry Potter loving people come in every size. 

The legend of the Bloody Mary is one of those scary stories with a spirit that we’ve either tried to actually summon, or just plainly ignored as a scary urban legend, and nothing more. Whether you’ve tried actually summoning Bloody Mary in front of the mirror, or just laughed at the people trying to perform the bathroom ritual, the origins of the legend and that familiar summoning ritual might pique your interest. Watch as Buzzfeed Unsolved Network details the origins of the famed legend, along with the equally famed (and if not, more well known than the story itself) bathroom ritual.

Dia de Muertos, or the day of the dead, is a Mexican multi-day holiday where friends and family members gather to pray for and remember those who have died, and help support their spiritual journey. Dia de Muertos is not a sad holiday at all, but a time to celebrate because their loved ones that died have awakened to be with them again. Raymundo Medina takes this tradition and belief to a huge scale as he built a massive skeleton that seems to be rising up from the pavement of a street in Santa Cecilia Tlahuac, Mexico. The skeleton, built with papier-mâché and painted with starkly delineated black and white areas, appears to be smiling, proving that Dia de Muertos is not a sad holiday, but a time of celebration.

(via Colossal)

image credit: Felipe Esteban Paredes Padrón via Colossal

Photosynthesis is the process where plants accumulate energy from sunlight and use it to produce glucose from carbon dioxide and water. This process is the foundation of life here on our planet, as it provides the food, energy, and oxygen that sustain the plant, animal, and human life.

Now, scientists have solved the structure of one of the key components in photosynthesis. This discovery could lead to the aforementioned process being “redesigned” to bring about higher yields and meet urgent food security needs.

The study, led by the University of Sheffield and published today in the journal Nature, reveals the structure of cytochrome b6f -- the protein complex that significantly influences plant growth via photosynthesis.

[...]

Using a high-resolution structural model, the team found that the protein complex provides the electrical connection between the two light-powered chlorophyll-proteins (Photosystems I and II) found in the plant cell chloroplast that convert sunlight into chemical energy.

More details about the study over at Science Daily.

(Image Credit: hajninjah/ Pixabay)

It’s official: R2-D2 is the most capable robot in the Star Wars universe. He can be a German Observatory, a coffee press, a teapot, and many more things. Now, he has discovered yet another ability: he can apparently make popcorn.

This is an R2-D2 Popcorn Maker from Williams Sonoma. Simply put some corn kernels in and watch him pop them in no time. R2-D2’s head can also serve as a popcorn bowl.

(Image Credit: Laughing Squid)

Computers can now help doctors in diagnosing diseases and assist in monitoring a patient’s vital signs from hundreds of miles away, thanks to improvements in artificial intelligence technology.

Now, CU Boulder researchers are eyeing integrating machine learning into psychiatry through a speech-based mobile app that could tell a patient’s mental health status as good as (and maybe better) what a human is capable of doing.

“We are not in any way trying to replace clinicians,” says Peter Foltz, a research professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science and co-author of a new paper in Schizophrenia Bulletin that lays out the promise and potential pitfalls of AI in psychiatry. “But we do believe we can create tools that will allow them to better monitor their patients.”

Nearly one in five U.S. adults lives with a mental illness, many in remote areas where access to psychiatrists or psychologists is scarce. Others can’t afford to see a clinician frequently, don’t have time or can’t get in to see one.

More details about this over at Neuroscience News.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: GDJ/ Pixabay)

Dating apps such as Grindr and Tinder are now people’s instant method of dating, avoiding the traditional method of one-on-one meetups to find the right match. Using these dating apps save time and money (it’s a date, of course there’s money going to be spent), and they give their users more choices, more potential partners they can match with. With that being said, one of the claims apps and websites have is their ability to use data to filter through profiles for better matches with their personality tests, so that the applications can suggest potential partners to match with their users. But is romantic desire really predictable? Can an algorithm actually predict a romantic match? BBC has the details: 

The issue for scientists who might want to investigate their data, and journalists who want to fact-check their claims, is that the algorithms are the intellectual property of these companies, so they are not publicly available. Their entire business is based on developing smart match-making algorithms and keeping their formulas private.

Joel found that her algorithm could predict actor desire and partner desire, but not compatibility. Not even a little bit. It could only predict negative percentages of variance – which is like being accurate less than 0% of the time. This might sound like a bit of a head scratcher, but, Joel says that her algorithm would have been better off using mean results for every dater rather than offering a tailored response. “It was completely useless,” says Joel. “It really should have done better.”

“My take is that when two people actually meet they form a shared dynamic that is more than the sum of its parts and cannot be predicted a priori,” says Joel. “Their individual preferences do not make up the substance of what they find attractive. My rating of whether I found you funny after meeting you will predict whether I like you, but my desire for a funny person and your measure of whether you are funny do not because we might not agree on a sense of humour.”

Finding a way to make accurate predictions is not going to be straightforward.

image credit: wikimedia commons