Several months ago, the Handel and Haydn Society performed Mozart's Requiem at Symphony Hall in Boston. It was a beautiful performance and there are those moments when music just has such a profound impact on someone that they can't help but express what they feel about it.

It was then that Ronan Mattin, a 9-year-old boy, exclaimed "Wow!" with such enthusiasm to show how much awe he felt. Listen to the audio of the concert here and read more about the story of Ronan here.

(Image credit: Sam Brewer)

Genie Milgrom fled Cuba for the United States with her parents when she was a young child. Her ancestors came from Spain hundreds of years ago via Portugal, Colombia, and Costa Rica. Milgrom was raised Roman Catholic, but converted to Judaism in her 30s. A few years ago, she found a stash of recipes in her attic, which turned out to be family recipes from several generations of women, and revealed how food can carry the stories of our heritage.

As a girl, Milgrom didn’t think to question the idiosyncratic customs her mother and grandmothers practiced in the kitchen.

Recipes didn’t mix milk and meat, eggs were always cracked into a separate bowl and inspected for blood before use, and rice and leafy green vegetables were washed carefully and checked for insects. Curiously, some recipes called for potato or corn starch instead of wheat flour. And perhaps most unusually, Milgrom was instructed by her Spanish-born grandmother that when preparing a large batch of dough, one had to always pull off a small piece, wrap it in foil, and throw it the back of the oven to burn.

“She told me it was for good luck,” Milgrom, 64, told The Times of Israel during a recent interview at a Jerusalem hotel.

See, Milgrom's ancestors were Crypto-Jews, meaning that they pretended to convert to Catholicism to avoid death under the Spanish Inquisition. Over many generations and immigration to new countries, Catholic beliefs took over, but Jewish dietary laws survived in the family recipes. One was even designed to make a sweet dessert resemble pork chops to throw off religious policing! Milgrom has written both fiction and non-fiction books about discovering her heritage, and now she has a cookbook of those rediscovered family recipes, tested and adapted for modern kosher kitchens, called Recipes of My 15 Grandmothers. Read the short version of Milgrom's story and how the cookbook came about at the Times of Israel. The article includes a recipe for Rosh Hashanah dark fruit cake. Learn more about the history of Crypto-Jews or Converso Jews with links posted at Metafilter.

(Image courtesy of Genie Milgrom)

It’s a jumbo size model of the green Jedi, and it’s bigger and more LEGO-ish than ever! Your past LEGO minifigs of Yoda don’t stand a chance from this one.

This is the LEGO set number 752255, which lets you build a 16” (41 cm) tall sculpture of the green Jedi out of 1771 bricks.

… [It] includes lots of neat details, like a posable head and eyebrows, as well as fingers and toes that move. Naturally, he’s got his iconic green lightsaber in hand, and is ready to do battle with the Dark Side of the Force.

The set also includes a fact plaque about Yoda, a display stand, and a Yoda minifigure, dressed in the same garb as the jumbo model you just built. The set will retail for $99.99, and will be available on October 4, 2019 from LEGO.com and LEGO retail stores.

Are you looking forward to buy this one?

(Image Credit: Technabob)

Constitution Lakes Park in Atlanta, Georgia, has a creep factor that other public parks lack: Doll's Head Trail, which is lined with, you guessed it, dozens of disembodied doll's heads and other discarded items. Once the site of a brick works, the area has been taken over by Nature. In 2003 Dekalb County purchased the 50-hectare site so the public could enjoy nature in the city. Many of the doll's heads are artfully displayed with other trash, which merely increases the fear factor.

Being a teetotaler, someone who chose to abstain from alcohol, does not guarantee that a person won’t have the kind of liver disease that heavy drinkers may suffer from. But why is that the case? One strange medical case may be able to get us closer to understanding what happens.

The patient, a 27-year-old man in China, was suffering from a form of liver inflammation called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and had a rather strange history of becoming drunk without actually... drinking.

To get a high blood alcohol reading of somewhere around 400 milligrams per decilitre, most of us would need to down at least a dozen shots of hard liquor.

Not this guy. The subject of this case study only needed a good supply of fruit juice and a few plates of carbs.

Find out more about this guy over at ScienceAlert.

(Image Credit: rawpixel/ Pixabay)

Robert Gotzfried has been looking for bowling alleys and Kegelbahnen throughout Southern Germany as these places have started to see fewer people frequenting them, and so have slowly fallen into disuse. But from his photographs one can see how wonderfully vibrant and colorful these places can be. Check out his series "Bowling Alleys" on his website and more of his other projects on Instagram. -via Fubiz

(Image credit: Robert Gotzfried)

Some of the most powerful machine-learning systems that we have today come in the form of recommendation algorithms, due to their ability to shape the information that we consume. One of the most influential recommendation algorithms of today is YouTube’s, a video sharing website estimated to be second only to its owner, Google, when it comes to web traffic. Seventy percent of the videos that users watch is fed to them through recommendations.

In recent years, this influence has come under heavy scrutiny. Because the algorithm is optimized for getting people to engage with videos, it tends to offer choices that reinforce what someone already likes or believes, which can create an addictive experience that shuts out other views. This also often rewards the most extreme and controversial videos, which studies have shown can quickly push people into deep rabbit holes of content and lead to political radicalization.

YouTube has publicly stated that they are working to address these issues. However, a new paper seem to tell a different story, and this paper came from none other than Google itself.

It proposes an update to the platform’s algorithm that is meant to recommend even more targeted content to users in the interest of increasing engagement.

More of this over at Technology Review.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: USA-Reiseblogger/ Pixabay)

Tyler Ivanoff is a schoolteacher in Shishmaref, Alaska. In August, he was picking berries and gathering driftwood at the shore when he found a bottle that was sealed up, and had paper inside. It was plugged up pretty well, but he managed to open it and found a letter written in Russian. Ivanoff went online to get translation help.  

“Heartfelt greetings!” began the letter, dated June 20, 1969.

The sender, Capt. Anatoliy Botsanenko, explained he was from the Far Eastern fishing vessel, the Sulak, and provided an address in the then-Soviet city of Vladivostok for a response — perhaps one day.

“I wish you good health, long life, and happy sailing,” concluded Botsanenko’s letter.

The message had traveled 1200 miles, but more surprisingly, it survived for fifty years in the ocean. The next thing to do, of course, was to harness the power of the internet to find Botsanenko. Read how that turned out at Public Radio International.  -via Damn Interesting

(Image courtesy of Tyler Ivanoff)

As we slide into October, you'll soon be hearing ghost stories more often. In these stories, as well as in books and movies, the ghosts are usually wearing clothes. Why do spirits of the deceased need to wear anything? Both skeptics and believers give their reasons, from the ghosts not wanting to offend people to making sure they are recognized. But ghosts didn't always wear clothes! There have been stories off and on through history about naked ghosts. Really.

A tale that circulated in London between the 15-18th Centuries, concerned the fate of five condemned men. In 1447 the men were said to have been sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered – a particularly grisly fate. Once hanged, the five were cut down from the hanging tree and stripped in preparation for the gruesome denuemont of their punishment. Their clothing was distributed to the gaping crowds. An added twist in the tale lends poignancy to their fate by claiming that a pardon arrived just too late to save them from their deaths.

Railing at the injustice and humiliation of their execution, the unhappy spirits were said to have risen up from their corporeal bodies in a misty vapour. The ghosts accosted the crowd demanding their clothes be returned and then fled. The tale persisted for around three hundred years, with occasional reports of five ghostly naked men importuning startled strangers apparently still seeking the return of their clothing – and presumably their dignity.[2]

Otherwise, ghosts have appeared in tales wearing sheets or shrouds, nightclothes, all black or all white clothing, or everyday garb they wore in life, depending on the era in which the story originated. It seems that ghosts follow fashion! Read a timeline of what ghosts wear, and the sometimes bizarre explanations behind their choices at the Haunted Palace. -via Strange Company

What color makes you feel envy? What color makes you feel anger? The answers here depend on which country you are from, according to a new study. When the researchers were given data on how a person associated colors with emotions, 80% of the time, they were able to accurately predict where that person came from.

The scientists surveyed 711 people from China, Germany, Greece, and the United Kingdom. Volunteers read the word for 12 colors, such as “green” and “turquoise.” They then indicated which of 20 emotions the colors brought to mind, and how strongly the color was tied to the feeling.

Across the board, the colors that inspired the most emotion were red, black, and pink, whereas brown and purple had weaker associations. Black was associated with sadness across all countries, for example, and red with positive emotions like love and pleasure, along with negative feelings such as anger and hate, the researchers report today in Royal Society Open Science.

Check out more details of this literally colorful study over at Science.

(Image Credit: geralt/ Pixabay)

13 years ago, Alex, the founder of Neatorama, blogged about an unusual luxury toilet sold by the French furnishings company Herbeau. A mounted ceramic plaque tells the tale of King Dagobert I (r. 629-639), one of the Kings of the Franks of the Merovingian Dynasty.

Dagobert is the central character in the French children's song Le Bon Roi Dagobert. In it, Saint Eligius (Eloy), one of his ministers of government, warns him against foolish actions, such as wearing his pants inside out. The toilet has a music box that plays this song whenever the lid is opened.

Once you have tended to affairs of state, you may flush. This rings a bell "thus letting everyone know that all is well in the kingdom."

Ebay member Elaine Chernov became the proud owner of one "because the people at the popular card game Cards Against Humanity sent it to me as a joke." She has kept it crated.

So, good news everyone! Even though at least 13 years have passed since this gem of a commode entered the market, you can still get one! Although it originally sold for $14,000, you can have it from Chernov for a mere $6,300!

-via Super Punch

What makes Andrew's Jeep so scary is that it's driven from the right side, so it really looks like Pennywise is driving on the left! With animated movements and recordings of the monster's voice, you might think that it will run you down.

Andrew Johnson of Louisville, Kentucky, makes many Jeeps like this. He takes them to events and gets a lot of favorable responses, especially from Pennywise's favorite victims. He explained to WLKY News:

Lots of kids really, really like it. I go to schools and festivals. It's a lot of fun.

-via Geek Tyrant

This microphotograph shows a cross-section of a blade of grass, and the structures inside. Some of those structures are vascular bundles, and they're showing their little smiley faces! Maybe they are happy because they have water. In a discussion at StackExchange, those who know say this is one of the species of grass that has adapted to live in dry areas, such as a desert, and the blade curls up to protect the side that absorbs water. A commenter named Always Confused tells us more about the grass.

The 2 sides of the leaf develop into different structure. The adaxial ("upper") surface, which in its underneath contain the the soft, green tissue, and the abaxial ("bottom") surface which contains more sclerotic tissue.

Normally, when dry-period runs, the leaf remains rolled in an way, so that soft side stay inwards , concave manner, closed, protected from evaporation. The outer, convex abaxial-face acts as a shield.

When rains come; the leaf work in a manner of bimetallic-strip. The inner (adaxial) surface absorbs water and expands (the "hinge cells" help it); and the inner-face become open. Then the inner-face work as a water-absorption tissue.

When dry-period come-again, the leaves enter their original state.

Another post identifies the species as Ammophila arenaria, or marram grass, used to stabilize sand dunes on the coasts. The color is not true. The specimen was stained to make the structures show up better, which happily highlights the pareidolia. -via reddit

The SeaBubble is a potentially new form of electric transportation, and the newest hope to beating the Parisian traffic. Known as a “flying taxi”, the SeaBubble resembles a vehicle straight out of a science fiction film, being oblong, glassy, and having the ability to glide across water without making a sound. This wonder vehicle can reach 20 miles per hour, as The Washington Post details: 

Known as a “flying taxi,” the boat can reach 20 miles per hour as it rises nearly 30 inches above the water using wing-like structures known as “hydrofoils” that are designed to reduce drag. Inside, the vehicle holds up to four passengers, who face one another as if riding in a London taxi, according to Le Parisien, whose reporter snagged a ride inside the futuristic vehicle.

Designers say the taxi — which has been tested up and down the river Seine in the heart of Paris — can be hailed using a smartphone app and could be available for rides as early as next year, pending final licensing.

image credit: Francois Mori/AP via The Washington Post

Most barber shops have the iconic and well-remembered rotating red, white, and blue poles outside. The reality and origin behind those tricolored poles are redder than the red on the poles. Barbers, in medieval times, did more than just cutting hair. They were known as barber-surgeons, where besides hair-cutting, they also performed minor surgery, pulled teeth, and amputated limbs. 

But it’s not the minor surgeries they performed that made the barber poles of today blue, red, and white, it’s the bloodletting that made these poles like that. Barbers performed bloodletting when Pope Alexander II ordered monks and priests to stop performing the service, as Reader’s Digest detailed: 

At the time, people thought having too much blood in a certain area could cause diseases like fevers or the plague, and letting some out would make them healthy. During the treatment, barber-surgeons would give patients poles to hold, the original barber poles. Grasping the staff made their veins pop out a bit, making them easier to find while the barbers went all Sweeney Todd.

Even back then, people knew there was a limit to bloodletting, so barbers would stop the bleeding with a white cloth. They’d then tie those towels to the poles and hang them outside their shops, according to History. Some towels stayed blood-stained even after they were washed, so it was common to see a pole with white and red swirling around in the breeze.

These days, barbers leave the medical treatment to doctors, but their poles are a nod to their bloody past. 

image credit: via wikimedia commons