You might let out a big sigh when you board your plane and you ended up sitting next to a screaming child, or a man taking off his shoes during the flight. But how would it feel to have a 70-pound pig setting next to you?

This is Hamlet the hog, a pot bellied pig owned by 31-year-old Megan Peabody, who’s based on the U.S Virgin Islands. Hamlet is classified as an emotional support animal, and so Peabody can bring him onboard the plane (at least in the United States) free of charge as aid for her air anxieties.

"His presence is calming because it is familiar to me," Peabody tells CNN Travel. "It distracts me from my surroundings when they make me anxious."

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are an increasingly hot topic in the United States, as more and more passengers arrive at the airport with an animal in tow, arguing that a furry friend will alleviate their aviation anxieties.

The phenomenon's prompted vigorous discussion on what constitutes an ESA, whether the system's being manipulated by pet owners keen to skip travel fees, what the impact is on air crew and fellow passengers, and whether ESAs on the plane do a disservice to those who genuinely need service animals on board.

More details over at CNN.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: Megan Peabody)

It didn’t take long for Jessica Zollman to gather a large number of followers on Instagram. Zollman was the fifth employee and the 95th user of the app in 2011, which put her on the ground floor on the tech giant a year after its launch.

A photographer by trade, Zollman, 34, soon found herself swimming in opportunities for commercial work. So she left Instagram in 2013 and joined a photo and advertising agency, where she became a roving photographer shooting on behalf of brands and endorsing products with the occasional #sponsored post.

As an influencer, she states that her newfound fame took her to a “beautiful, mysterious train, making a really, really impressive amount of money”. But this fame wouldn’t last long, and, four years later, she would find herself scrambling financially.

“Market saturation happened,” she says. “People started noticing how lucrative doing that kind of work was, and so there became this new goal of becoming the influencer.” Brands weren’t paying as much because people would work for less – or even for free. “I had to lower my day rate. I had to work twice as hard for twice as less,” she says.

The psychological impact of struggling for work, coupled with the surge of competition, was enough for Zollman to quit the influencer lifestyle and transition back to the polar opposite: a traditional nine-to-five job.

“I just had this moment where I was like: ‘Why am I so ashamed of the idea of having to get a job?’” she says. Relying on Instagram for creative validation and regular income had left her emotionally exhausted, and getting a steady job felt like the best thing for her mental health.

Zollman wasn’t alone in growing disillusioned by the industry’s “song and dance performance.” Experts state that it’s the evidence of change. It is a sort of fatigue that affects not only the influencers, but also brands and the consumers.

See more of this over at BBC.

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(Image Credit: Jessica Zollman)

The thought of making a LEGO model of Japan’s largest and most iconic castle, Himeji Castle, in itself is already remarkable enough. However, one man went beyond that when he made a pop-up LEGO model of the iconic castle!

Japanese YouTuber and LEGO master Talapz is known for his creation of beautiful LEGO models of Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto and Todai-ji in Nara. This time he’s level up his game by creating a giant pop-up book of the Himeji Castle in Hyogo which is one of the recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It took him 15 months to finish this impressive pop-up castle with its accurate details. Watch this video and discover the grandeur of the LEGO castle as it unfolds.

Monday was election day in Canada, and quite a few of the politicians who campaigned for office did so in multiple languages. This often includes rendering a name in Chinese characters for signs and literature. Journalist and Chinese translator Niko Bell gives us a deep dive into the complexities of a non-Chinese candidate selecting a Chinese name. Some try to make it sound like the candidate's name when spoken, some go with the meaning of the characters, and some try to combine the two methods. Some are more authentic than others, and some don't put much thought into it at all. Bell ranked thirteen such names and gives his reasons. For example:   

5. Jody Wilson-Raybould (Ind., Vancouver Granville) — “Wang Zhoudi” 王州迪

What makes a chosen Chinese name not only good but excellent? For Wilson-Raybould, the difference is a touch of boldness. Her Chinese given name, “Zhoudi”, is a practical transliteration of the English. But while her surname could have tried to vaguely mimic the initial sound of “Wilson-Raybould”, or even worse the whole thing, she instead chose the everyday, ubiquitous Chinese name “Wang,” meaning “King.” There is no way that “Wang” is the closest phonetic match to “Wilson,” and this deliberate step away from transliteration is refreshing and displays genuine thoughtfulness.  

Read the rest of the list at his website. While you won't come away with a deep understanding of Chinese names, you will get a glimpse into the importance of minute details in running an election campaign. -via Digg

Lately, your waifu has been pestering you about your long-term future together. She wants a ring, if for no other reason than to show it off to her friends.

You should give her what she wants by doing what this man in Japan did. He collected his fingernail clippings for a year. Then he ground them into a fine powder, baked the powder, then compressed the resulting glob into a black gemstone.

Good luck and may you have many blissful years together!

-via David Burge

The crafty Instagram user Sabine Timm does a lot of little gags like this. Fruits, toys, and other knickknacks come to life with googly eyes and just the right perspective. In this case, I suspect that the pepper is a masked robber who was shocked at what he found to steal in the wrong house.

-via Swiss Miss

Shoji Ushiyama is a Japanese artist from Hong Kong who lived in the UK before moving to Toronto to study industrial design. He recently posted a long list of observations on his Canadian experience at Twitter.

As an expat living in Canada, the more I live here, the more I'm convinced I'm actually stuck in some kind of cryptic horror nightmare country that's subtly and slowly eating away at me.

— 将司 (@Kavaeric) October 22, 2019

You want to move in. You ask someone about what the electricity bills are like. They ask you if you mean "hydro". You say you weren't talking about water, but electricity. They insist it's called "hydro". You accept this.

People praise the coffee shop. They joke about the coffee shop. They say the coffee shop is central to their collective identity. You mention that you have been to the coffee shop before, and you liked it. The people are horrified. You decide not to visit the coffee shop again.

Everyone says the other language everyone speaks is French. When you walk down the street, though, you notice all the signs are in Chinese. You ask them again. They still tell you it's French.

Someone invites you somewhere. You ask if it is far and inconvenient, but they assure you it is only a short trip away. They give you the address to check. You learn that it is very, very, very far, and ask them again. They insist, please, let me. It is closer than you think.

You speak to someone. They make a sound at the end. You nod your head and agree. You never disagree when they make the sound at the end.

Dude idk if you're finished yet, but this whole thread was more unsettling than most horror stories I've read in a while

— Autumn Taco (@its_tacotime) October 22, 2019

Oh, there's a lot more, which you may or may not relate to, depending on how well you know Canada and the experience of having to shift cultures. The more you read, the more it feels like a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. Check it out at Threadreader, or the original Twitter thread with replies.  -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Flickr user Alex Indigo)

MIT engineers were able to develop how the cornstarch-water mixture, a non-Newtonian fluid, can behave like a solid or liquid, depending on how fast it’s deformed. The mixture acts as a liquid when it’s swirled slowly. But it can behave as a rubbery solid, forming a glue-like string when deformed quickly.

It’s a phenomenon many preschoolers know well: When you mix cornstarch and water, weird things happen. Swish it gently in a bowl, and the mixture sloshes around like a liquid. Squeeze it, and it starts to feel like paste. Roll it between your hands, and it solidifies into a rubbery ball. Try to hold that ball in the palm of your hand, and it will dribble away as a liquid.

Most of us who have played with this stuff know it as “oobleck,” named after a sticky green goo in Dr. Seuss’ “Bartholomew and the Oobleck.” Scientists, on the other hand, refer to cornstarch and water as a “non-Newtonian fluid” — a material that appears thicker or thinner depending on how it is physically manipulated.

Using the mathematical model, MIT engineers were able to accurately simulated how oobleck turns from a liquid to a solid and back again, under different conditions.

“As long as you squish slowly, the grains will repel, keeping a layer of fluid between them, and just slide past each other, like a fluid,” Kamrin says. “But if you do anything too fast, you’ll overcome that little repulsion, the particles will touch, there will be friction, and it’ll act as a solid.”

Here’s a video of how the cornstarch-water mixture behaves when applied with various forces.

Image Credit: A. Baumgarten, K. Kamrin, and J. Bales

The picture above is from the morgue of the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Why does a hotel have a morgue? It's a sort-of museum, because this haunted hotel has quite a history.

Since its construction in 1886, the Crescent Hotel has served several purposes: luxury resort, conservatory for young women, junior college. But the strangest mark on its history came in 1937 when it got a new owner, Norman G. Baker. Baker was a millionaire inventor who decided to pose as a doctor (despite having no medical training) and turn the hotel into a hospital that could "cure" cancer. He was eventually found out and run out of town, although reports say that his spirit found its way back to the site—and found some otherworldly company, too. The now-operating Crescent Hotel is said to be haunted by at least eight ghosts, ranging from a five-year-old girl to a bearded man wearing Victorian clothing.

Other haunted places in America include an Alaskan brothel where men used dolls to select a woman, theaters where actors refuse to leave the stage after death, a clearing where nothing grows because the devil dances there, and even a huge forest in new Jersey.

The heavily forested Pine Barrens spans over one million acres and seven counties in New Jersey. The area thrived during the Colonial period, host to sawmills, paper mills, and other industries. People eventually abandoned the mills and surrounding villages when coal was discovered to the west in Pennsylvania, leaving behind ghost towns—and, some say, a few supernatural wanderers. The most popular Pine Barrens resident is without a doubt the Jersey Devil. According to legend, the creature was born in 1735 to Deborah Leeds (her thirteenth child) with leathery wings, a goat's head, and hooves. It flew up the Leeds' chimney and into the Barrens, where it has reportedly been killing livestock—and creeping out South Jersey residents—ever since.

There are so many places in the US where you can go for a haunted getaway that you're sure to find one within driving distance. Read the stories behind the 30 most haunted places in America at Conde Nast Traveler. -via Bits and Pieces

Elvis Presley had quite a few relationships with famous women in his life. Two of them may have had something to do with each other, or else it's just a coincidence that Elvis took a shine to two different women who both played a spooky character in black who hosted horror movies on TV. In 1956, Elvis ran into Maila Nurmi, who had already established herself as the Morticia Addams-like character Vampira. She sought him out behind the building after he was booed offstage in Las Vegas.

“He looked confusedly into the darkness,” she continues, “so I said, ‘I’m over here.’ We walked towards each other, sat down and talked. I told him that I was a performer and that what happened was absolutely awful. He said, ‘Every night before I go on, I talk to God and he always answers me. But tonight he didn’t answer. When them curtains opened and I saw all those white heads and them glasses, I knew why.’ I told him I admired his courage and they only did that because they’re sheep; one person booed and so then they all did. They’ve never, ever seen anything like you and it frightened them. But, Life Magazine are going to discover you and they will kiss your shoes.”

They were words of comfort, certainly, but also very valuable sincere bits of career advice. Elvis felt seen by Maila, and took an instant interest in her. “I know you’re getting old and all,” he told the 33-year-old, “but if you’d like to come back after the show, I’d be proud to take you back to my bungalow.”

While Nurmi denied dating Elvis, there are pictures of them holding hands. Years later, again in Las Vegas, Elvis was in a position to lend encouragement to another young performer named Cassandra Peterson. And they went on one date. Peterson later replaced Nurmi as the hostess of horror movies on KHJ-TV. She adopted the name Elvira, which sound suspiciously like an amalgamation of Elvis and Vampira. Read about Elvis and his mistresses of the dark at Messy Nessy Chic.  

7-year old João Vicente of Brazil wanted to skateboard, but cerebral palsy left him completely unable to do so.

That's when the Skate Anima project was born. CBS News explains how it makes skateboarding accessible for these children with severe physical limitations:

Physiotherapist Stevan Pinto and psychologist Daniel Paniagua started the Skate Anima project, with a mission of creating skateboard adaptations, so children with various types of disabilities can enjoy the sport, Patron said. "It is a very powerful and beautiful work. It is necessary," she said,

The company built a "walker" that fits around João so he can hold on while someone pushes him on a skateboard. This particular tool was designed by Ricardo Oliveira, who is not only a skateboarder, but a father. 

Oliveira's daughter also has a disability, and he invented the walker so she could enjoy skateboarding with him. He sold the design to Skate Anima, which then created one for João, his mother said.

-via Geekologie

That's one large black cat! But this is no ordinary house cat; it's a serval. A rare melanistic serval, with a recessive gene that makes him as black as any panther. British wildlife photographer George Turner was excited to see this serval on the Namiri Plains of Tanzania. He told the story at reddit.

Can't describe how mind blowing this was... and still is.

For context, even seeing a “normal” serval is tough. They’re shy, secretive cats that tend to live in tall grasses — the perfect combination for staying unnoticed.

Melanism in servals is rare. Super rare. Sightings across Africa can be counted on two hands, with each being incredibly brief cos well, you know, they’re a serval after all.

Three weeks ago, I heard rumours of a black serval in the remote eastern sector of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Fast-forward to last Monday and there I was, flying into the “endless plains” ready to try my luck.

Well, what followed will stay with me forever.

As a wildlife photographer, I’m well used to disappointment. There’s been countless assignments where weeks and weeks pass, with zero sightings of the main subject. With the black serval, I was fully prepared for the same.

How wrong I was.

I met my legendary guide, Tony of Asilia Africa, at the dirt airstrip. He was the first to spot the black serval (now named “Manja”) around a month ago now. He [Tony] is a ridiculously talented naturalist, able to pick out - and correctly identify - the tiniest birds at crazy distances. Just what I needed as this was, practically, needle in a haystack.

As we drove towards the eastern sector of the Serengeti (Namiri Plains), we were catching up and generally putting the world to rites, as two old friends do. Our plan was to reach camp, unpack, prep camera gear, then begin our search. In all honesty, we were barely even scanning the plains…. and then:

“Tony, please tell me that I’m not going insane here.”

The tops of a black shape moving through the long grasses. I pulled up the binos, fully expecting to see a termite mound/log/anything but a serval. It continued to move.

There it was, the black serval. Just 1 hour into the drive. We spent a couple hours - at distance - with him until the sun went down. We returned the following day, gone.

Just recounting the story now gives me goosebumps all over again. Truly one of the most special moments in my career.

For context, here is what a serval usually looks like. You can see more of Turner's wildlife photography at Instagram. -via reddit

In this Honest Trailer for the 1990 movie Total Recall, Screen Junkies indulges in some fanboy admiration for the Arnold Schwarzenegger flick, but they also notice how the movie owed a lot to previous movies, and in turn, inspired later movies. I suppose it also inspired the 2012 remake, but we don't even talk about that.

Two undecided voters, namely, 48-year-old John Zeitler, an attorney from an insurance company, and 36-year-old Hetal Jani, who is running a nonprofit focused on education and mentorship, wanted to know more about Andrew Yang’s “freedom dividend.” Yang is a first-time presidential candidate.

The voters, along with Morning Edition host Noel King, sat down with Yang at a Midtown Manhattan dumpling shop called Baodega as part of Off Script, a series of interviews with 2020 presidential candidates…

Yang, a tech entrepreneur and author, proposes that the government give every American adult $1,000 a month — a form of universal basic income, no strings attached. He says this income is necessary to address wide-scale job losses due to automation. It would help people have the resources to afford to look for work, care for a loved one, start a business or do nonprofit work.

"It's enough to be a game changer," Yang told the voters. "But it's not meant to be a full work replacement, and it's certainly not meant to solve every problem."

Listen to the audio over at NPR.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: A.J. Chavar for NPR)

San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico — in this town found in Michoacan state, the heartland of world production of the fruit which locals call “green gold,” small-scale avocado growers guard this treasure of theirs as they arm themselves with AR-15 rifles and take turns manning a vigilante checkpoint. They guard their “green gold” against thieves and drug cartel extortionists.

What’s with their avocados that make it so important? What makes this crop worth fighting for?

Find out the answers over at AP News.

(Image Credit: AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)