Turns out that tardigrades, thanks to their having the molecular equivalent of cotton candy, can survive in outer space. In fact, they can survive just about anything, from being doused with hydrogen peroxide to being bombarded with X-rays, and even cosmic rays. These types of radiation and chemical exposures can create hydroxyl radicals (molecules composed of hydrogen and oxygen) that can greatly damage DNA.

Previous research indicated that a protein called Dsup, for damage suppressor, shields the tardigrade species Ramazzottius varieornatus from radiation. When added to human cells, the protein also protects against radiation. Now researchers have found out how.

Dsup surrounds nucleosomes — DNA wound around proteins called histones — “like a fluffy cloud of cotton candy,” molecular biologist James Kadonaga of the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla and colleagues report October 1 in eLife. That cloud keeps hydroxyl radicals away from DNA.

More details of this over at ScienceNews.

(Image Credit: Schokraie E, Warnken U, Hotz-Wagenblatt A, Grohme MA, Hengherr S, et al. (2012)/ Wikimedia Commons)

See also: Stress Tardigrade Squishy

Speed kills.

That is something that had to be etched in the minds of the Bugatti and Michelin engineers, as well as driver Andy Wallace, as they pushed a modified Chiron to 304.77 miles an hour.

As you would expect, driving a production car that fast involves more than just finding a straight path, strapping in and hoping for the best. Instead, it required adjustments to the car, the wheels and nerves of steel.

When you’re going that fast, the driver also has to make perhaps less-than-a-split-second decisions; he has to really pay attention to both the road and the car. Every micromovement matters.

Check more details over at Engadget.

(Video Credit: Top Gear/ YouTube)

I just found out that different states in America have their own railways, each having their own logos specific to them. In my country, we don't really have a lot of railways so there isn't much room for creating unique logos. I guess it's similar to different airlines having their own logos. In any case, here's a collection of railway logos in America at Reagan Ray.

(Image credit: Ankush Minda/Unsplash)

Shay Bradley passed away at his home in Dublin, Ireland, last week after a long illness. He recorded a message to be played at his funeral service, specifically at the graveside. Although it is quite touching, be aware that it contains NSFW language.

Your Dad is a legend. May he RIP

— Niall Collins (@Sloosh14) October 13, 2019

You know what they say... leave 'em laughing. -via reddit

Nightmare Before Christmas Oogie Boogie Santa Hat

What's this! What's this! There's Oogie Boogie Over There! Can it be, The Nightmare Before Christmas Oogie Boogie Santa Hat from the NeatoShop you see? 

Are you looking for the perfect accessory to take you from Fall to Winter? Behold the frightfully fun Nightmare Before Christmas Oogie Boogie Santa Hat from the NeatoShop. This is the perfect piece of headgear for those who want to take full control of all the holidays. From Halloween to Christmas, this season will be yours.  

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

Don't forget to stop by the store and check out a large selection of customizable bags and apparel. We spceciliaze in curvy and Big and Tall sizes. We carry baby 6 months all the way to adult 10 XL shirts. We know that fun, fabulous, and holiday loving people come in every size. 

In her Facebook post, Jessica D’Entremont shared how she keeps her kids still at night. She bought them glow in the dark pjs and tells them that they have to “lie really still under the light to ‘charge’ their pjs.”

Just look at how still her kids were!

Image Credit: Jessica D’Entremont / Facebook

For Halloweenheads like myself, it pays to be spooky all year long, but, of course, fall is an extra great time to show off your love of the strange and unusual. That's where the pins from Etsy seller Santos Demonios come in.

You can choose from really spooky designs, like the skull above, or opt for something a little more whimsical, though decidedly still monstrous, like this delightful Muppet monster.

You can read more about the pins and see a few more designs over at Rue The Day.

It’s hard to be a bike commuter amidst the busy roads. To make sure that you’ll surely get noticed by drivers and avoid accidents, you need a lot of work to do, like putting reflectors on your clothes, installing lights on your bike, and even putting on neon yellow vests.

Now, there’s a new accessory for bikers, which just became available recently on Wednesday. It is the Lumos Matrix helmets by Apple, which come in two colors, black and white, and costs $249.95 each.

The Lumos Matrix reimagines the function of helmets for today’s electric scooter and bike riders, co-founder and CEO Eu-wen Ding says.

“Design is really about solving human problems, but no one is really looking at [the commuters’] problems,” Ding says. “What the traditional guys are trying to solve is, ‘How can we make this super lightweight? How can we make this super aerodynamic?' We are asking different questions: ‘How can we make a helmet that has a lot of lights, that can be seen from far away, and that drivers can recognize?’”

[...]

Bikers can activate the lights with a simple touchpad that can be attached to their bike handlebars or an Apple Watch app that automatically detects hand signals. A mobile app allows users to adjust the lights’ brightness and flash frequency; it even offers users a new option to customize the animation displayed on the rear panel.

What are your thoughts on this one? Do you think the helmet’s price is just right, or is it overpriced?

(Video Credit: Lumos Helmet/ YouTube)

A hundred years ago, those suffering from juvenile diabetes only had one treatment for the disease: a restricted diet. So restricted that a child could starve to death- it was actually called the starvation diet. Both the disease and the treatment were eventually fatal. The breakthrough in treatment was quite sudden.

In 1922 scientists Frederick Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) and Charles Best (February 27, 1899 – March 31, 1978) arrived at a hospital ward for diabetic children, most of them comatose and dying from diabetic keto-acidosis. This is known as one of medicine’s most incredible moments. Imagine a room full of parents sitting at the bedside waiting for the inevitable death of their child.

The scientists went from bed to bed and injected the children with the new purified extract – insulin. As they began to inject the last comatose child, the first child injected began to awaken. Then one by one, all the children awoke from their diabetic comas. A room of death and gloom became a place of joy and hope.

Read some of the case studies of children brought back from death's door when insulin was made available to them, with pictures, at Flashbak. -via Nag on the Lake

Many of the menu items in Chinese restaurants in the USA are recipes that are rarely -if ever- seen in China, because they are the result of adaptations and totally invented dishes made to appeal to American tastes. Knowing that, you will be forgiven if you thought that the ubiquitous fortune cookies that are served with the bill are an American invention. That's not so. But you may be surprised to learn that they aren't from China, either. Baker Takeshi Matsuhisa tells us more.

Fortune cookies—that sweet treat served with a side of pithy wisdom—are such a staple in Chinese-American restaurants that many diners are surprised to learn they are not from China. Often described as an invention of immigrants in California, they can in fact be traced back to Japan, where bakers such as Matsuhisa still make the original version, known as tsujiura senbei or omikuji senbei. “These have been around since the Edo period,” Matsuhisa says.

Read the history of fortune cookies in both Japan and America at Atlas Obscura.

(Top image credit: Selena Hoy)

Amanojaku to Hesomagari explains that:

Before becoming an artist, I studied cognitive neuropsychology at graduate school . . . There are so many unknown animals in the world. And there are many animals that are hated unfairly, too. Through my work, I am trying to show people how charming they are.

He's definitely accomplishing that! And his bags certainly attention grabbing. You can see 33 other animal bags at Bored Panda, including a coelacanth, a flea, and a flying squirrel.

-via Design You Trust

Before self-driving cars become the main form of transportation, we need to find solutions to make roads safer for everyone from motorists to cyclists and pedestrians.

That is the aim of a research team comprised of professors from the University of Queensland, the University of British Columbia, and the Queensland University of Technology. With the help of video technology, deep learning, artificial intelligence, and advanced econometrics, they developed an algorithm and gathered data to predict crash risks.

“Using advanced video analytics technologies, we’re able to measure and detect interactions among road users that are reliable predictors of future crashes,” Professor Simon Washington said.

“We’ve already implemented this technology in 20 cities in eight countries around the world, resulting in improvements to a number of intersections,” Professor Washington said. "We've also partnered with the Department of Transport and Main Roads to roll out a pilot of the technology locally."

(Image credit: John Arano/Unsplash)

The excellent geekery blog Geek Tyrant introduced me to the work of Spoonman, a custom toy maker, with this Optimus Prime who transforms into an AT-AT. It's called "AT-ATIMUS."

I was initially going to just post about that transformer, but as I scrolled through Spoonman's Facebook gallery, I saw more and more amazing custom Transformers by him/her.

Here's a quiz that will separate the Europeans from everyone else! In this quiz, you'll be given an unlabeled map of Europe. Just type in names of cities in any of those countries. Once you get started, you'll be given a unique URL you can bookmark or copy and come back to. So far, I've named 42 cities in about ten minutes without looking any up. You may be surprised at how small a town the quiz will accept- it took Sochi, for example. If it starts to frustrate you, you can try the US version instead (where I named 150 in no time flat). -via Metafilter

In 2013, notable people in the computer science world assembled together to launch a new nonprofit called Code.org. Their goal: to get more computer science students into schools. 

People who have contributed a lot in the computer science world, like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, donated millions of dollars to the nonprofit group. According to Code.org’s last annual report, the nonprofit has spent over $91 million between 2013 and 2018, and of that amount, $6.9 million went for the advocacy of state legislation across the country.

As part of the organization’s mission to “make computer science count” in K-12 education, code.org takes credit for having influenced graduation policies in 42 states. Today, 47 states and the District of Columbia allow computer science classes to count in place of math classes like Algebra 2. Prior to the organization’s work, only a few states allowed computer science to count for math credit.

In addition, 29 states passed legislation allowing computer science to count in place of a science course.

The question is, is this good?

Find out more about this topic over at Ohio State News.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: geralt/ Pixabay)