If you've ever had a small fly annoy you in the shower, you've met Clogmia albipunctata. It's a species of drain fly bigger than a fruit fly and smaller than a house fly. You might have wondered where that fly came from, and that would be your drain.
Redditor daisy_bare took the cover off a basement drain and found a writhing mass of drain fly larvae. Before the mass was identified, suggestions included welding the cover back on and burning the house down. While the fly stage of Clogmia albipunctata is generally harmless and several people described the insect as "cute," you really don't want flies in your home. The adult flies are rather waterproof and don't live long, but their main purpose is to lay eggs in your drains, where the larvae can live off the gunk that lines your pipes. The ways to get rid of eggs or larvae in the drains are to 1. pour boiling water down the drain, 2. pour baking soda and vinegar into the drain (that can be dramatic), 3. use a drain cleaning product, or 4. scrub your drains or, if all else fails, call a professional to clean them.
Outside of your home, drain flies are quite useful in treating sewage. I am tickled with the taxonomic name, and had to go check the genus Clogmia to see if there is a species named Clogmia pipe. Alas, there is no such bug.
(Image credit: Jerzystrzelecki)
Have you ever wondered how in the world audio artists like Bill McClintock and DJ Cummerbund make those marvelous song mashups out of very different songs from different genres? The secret is the chord progression. If two songs have the same chord progression, the melody can be transferred from one to another. Oh, they might be played in slightly different keys or have a different tempo, but those can be manipulated by computer, and if they are close enough to start with no one will notice. Besides, most songs are in the simpler keys anyway.
Pianist David Bennett illustrates how this is done by swapping the music and lyrics of disparate songs that have the same chord progression. Even if you don't know anything about music theory and don't care about chord progressions, you'll enjoy a video in which Michael Jackson sings over a U2 melody, and Celine Dion croons over a Phil Collins tune. The previous video he mentions is here. There's a 30-second ad at 5:35.
Americans in the early-to-mid 20th century developed a taste for salad that was actually dessert. It wasn't their fault that the manufacturers of Cool Whip, marshmallows, Jell-O, and pudding mix came up with recipes that they labeled as "salad," giving us an excuse to indulge in highly-processed fat and sugar, and who doesn't love that? People today continue to enjoy these bizarre recipes at family gatherings like Thanksgiving and Christmas, because Grandma, or Great-Grandma, always made her signature sweet salad. And since it's "salad," people eat them with the main entree, even if it's just crushed candy bars glued together with whipped topping.
Neatorama readers know about Watergate salad, but have you ever eaten pretzel salad, ambrosia salad, Snickers salad, or frog-eye salad*? They are all regional favorites that you might want to try for some truly decadent occasion, unless your family has its own sweet salad tradition, although you might want to make the kids eat their dinner first. Read about all of them at Atlas Obscura.
*Note: frog-eye salad has nothing in common with frog pizza.
(Image credit: Marshall Astor)
As the saying goes, frog pizza is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. The Independent reports that this is an option at some Pizza Hut restaurants in China. The thick crust pizza is topped with a bed of parsley, serving as the frog's grassy home. The whole bullfrog is fried and served below two halves of a hard boiled egg which are decorated with black olives so that they resemble eyeballs.
It is unfortunate that this culinary masterpiece is available only in China. As an American, I fear that we are slipping behind China in pizza technology.
-via Dave Barry
Every year, Babycenter reveals the top names for new babies in the preceding year. How they do this is a bit of a mystery, since the definitive list from the Social Security Administration won't be available until well into the new year. The top 10 baby names (girls on the left, boys on the right) for 2024 are:
1 Olivia Noah
2 Amelia Liam
3 Emma Oliver
4 Sophia Elijah
5 Charlotte Mateo
6 Isabella Lucas
7 Ava Levi
8 Mia Ezra
9 Ellie Asher
10 Luna Leo
It may appear that the list is the same as its been for the past five or ten years, but there are some changes to the top ten, as Mental Floss explains. They also point out that Luna, number ten for girls, is also the most popular name for dogs and cats. If you are looking for a name that's not so common, but still popular, you might want to check out the full list of the top 100 names for both boys and girls at Babycenter. You might be pleased to see that John is still there at #48, and while Mary is not in the top 100, Maria is holding on at #85.
Television, before it was fractured into a million channels, was a great language leveler. In elementary school, I noticed that my classmates who did not have TVs couldn't shake their hillbilly accent, while those who watched television learned to code switch at an early age, and speak like Hollywood actors when they wanted. Today, we have TV shows from around the world, so that children pick up words and accents from shows like Bluey and Peppa Pig. Dora the Explorer introduced millions of American children to Spanish. And TV is a boost to anyone learning a second language. Dr. Erica Brozovsky (previously at Neatorama) explains what is happening when children listen to the language of television.
But more TV doesn't necessarily mean better language learning in children. Too much television actually hinders their learning, when it cuts into the time they speak with the adults around them. At the end, we find that Dr. Brozovsky is just as cute without the red lipstick.
The Los Angeles Times published an account of a dragon attacking a Southern Pacific Railroad train crossing the Colorado Desert on its way to Los Angeles on January 17, 1882. The dragon resembled a snake with wings, about 30 feet long. The train clipped the dragon's tail when they collided, enraging the monster. The dragon then grabbed the train and shook it, breaking several windows, and then flew away. The newspaper talked to the engineer and fireman aboard the train as well as several passengers for their report. The story was reprinted back east, and caused quite a stir. However, it was only one of many dragon sightings in the late 19th century as people flooded into the western US and saw things they'd never seen before. These dragons were described as snakes or alligators with wings, which only sometimes had feathers. They were all said to be enormous.
The dragon sightings, or at least their documentation, died out as the West was settled, communication improved, and newspapers became somewhat concerned about credibility and fact-checking. But the legends of those sightings live on. Read the accounts of 12 dragon sightings in the Old West at ThunderbirdPhoto.com. -via Strange Company
(Image: The Illustrated Police News, March 18, 1882)
Elle Cordova is a musician and comedian who specializes in one-woman sketches in which she personifies different objects. In the past, we've seen her conversation among different fonts. Most recently, she brings together the Holy Grail, Excalibur, and the Ark of the Covenant.
The three holy relics interview an applicant to join their crew. It's a modern object of desire and veneration common in households yet surprisingly elusive at times. Watch the elders ask insightful questions of the newcomer, testing her commitment to the lifestyle of a legendary artifact.
At the end of the sketch, the trio consider other applicants for the position.
-via Laughing Squid
Hoyte van Hoytema, the cinematographer behind Her, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer, brings to us this long-form narrative commercial for Volvo's XC90 SUV.
The point is, of course, to sell us cars. The hook for the ad is buried deep into the soul of every parent who has ever seen his or her child in life-threatening situation. It's a common if not normal experience and one that never leaves your mind completely.
Hence the genius of van Hoytema's commercial. It taps into both the delight and fear that begins with first learning that you're having a baby and ends . . . somehow, depending on about a million everyday decisions.
-via Normie MacDonald
A levitating frog, a necrophiliac duck, taxi drivers’ brains — the Ig Nobel prizes have shined a spotlight on offbeat work
— nature (@Nature) November 19, 2024
Here’s an inside look at how winners feel about this sometimes unwanted ‘honour’ https://t.co/hryjpzYygE
Every fall, we cover the awarding of the Ig Nobel prizes from The Annals of Improbable Research. These lighthearted awards highlight research that seems weird, silly, or outrageous. But that's how science is done, one tiny step at a time to reveal what's going on in our world. Last year, more than 9,000 research papers were nominated for the Igs, and when potential winners are selected, they have the option of turning down the honor. Eleanor Maguire once declined to accept the award, because she was afraid it would hurt her career. But three years later she was up for the award again and decided to accept it. Far from hurting her career, she was later introduced as the “the most famous member” of a science panel, even though that panel included actual Nobel prize winners. Well sure, we may laugh about the Ig Nobel prizes, but we remember them because odd and obscure science studies are more fun to read about than the "serious" science that wins Nobel prizes. An article in the journal Nature tells us how winning an Ig Nobel affected the careers of several scientists, including one who won an Ig Nobel and a few years later won the Nobel prize. -via Damn Interesting
To understand the context of this Letters Live performance, you need to know the cast of characters.
Dr. Serge Voronoff transplanted glands from monkey testicles into human men in the 1920s, in order to "rejuvenate" them and extend their lives.
Dr. Edward Bach was a bacteriologist who warned in 1928 that not only was Voronoff's surgery a con, but that the patients would take on a chimpanzee's "worst characteristics." While chimpanzees are not monkeys, Voronoff used the glands of both baboons and chimps.
Consul Junior was a chimpanzee at the London Zoo, and a favorite among visitors. A letter from Consul Junior appeared in the London Daily News shortly after Bach's statement.
Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw was the actual author of the chimp's letter.
Actor Andy Serkis is a motion capture specialist who played Caesar in the 21st-century Planet of the Apes movies. In this video, he reads that letter from the chimpanzee objecting to what Bach considered a chimp's "worst characteristics." He really gets into the role. -via Laughing Squid
for my last lunch in paris i went to a bistro where, at the end of your meal, they bring you card and a fountain pen to write yourself a letter which they will send in a year’s time 🤎 pic.twitter.com/h4hsahQuby
— kitty 🤎 (@pastryangel) November 20, 2024
X user @pastryangel tells us about a unique restaurant in Paris in the fashionable and quaint Saint-Germain district in Paris. Bistro des Lettres offers gourmet dining with amazing dishes that you can view on Instagram. It's a memorable experience for that reason alone, but also because you can compose a letter to your future self which the establishment will send your way in a year.
Imagine you are a chemist, working hard to find a synthetic replacement for shellac. You mix some chemicals together and get a blob of gunk that's not liquid enough for your purpose. But instead of throwing it out, you find you've invented plastic. That was in 1907, and while Leo Baekeland himself called the material "plastic," it became known as Bakelite after its inventor. This kind of thing happens a lot in science experiments, so you need to be open to the idea that your screwups might be useful for something besides what you were aiming for. All of our artificial sweeteners were discovered when a scientist was trying for something else entirely, because you know that scientists can't help but taste what they are studying. Read the stories of five such developments wrestled from laboratory accidents at Cracked, none of them leading to artificial sweeteners.
(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Wouldn't it be nice to be as fashionable as a cop? Miami Vice was the hottest show on TV from 1984 to 1989. The series focused on two very stylish police officers fighting the war on drugs in the Art Deco neon glow of southern Florida. There were plenty of established stars in the "drug dealer of the week" role, as well as up-and-coming actors, but as the show went on, famous recording artists wanted to get in on the action, as well as athletes, models, and other notable figures. Many of the "unknowns" who appeared on Miami Vice got noticed and became famous for other roles later. In this supercut, they stand out because they look so young. Well, that was 40 years ago.
This list of Miami Vice guest stars is far from comprehensive. A few years ago, we posted about a massive Twitter thread that was a Who's Who of Miami Vice characters. You'll find an even longer list at Wikipedia. -via Laughing Squid
Memento mori translates from Latin to mean "remember that you will die." It alludes to a common artistic theme that began in the medieval period featuring skeletons and other symbols of death. To bring that idea into the modern age, Mefite condour75 created a generator that compares your lifespan to a movie. It's called Memento Movi. Enter your date of birth and expected lifespan (you can be as optimistic as you like, but the average is 79 years) and then pick a movie. You will get a frame from that movie that corresponds with the present day in your lifespan, like a progress bar. The list of films is alphabetical and extensive, so I picked The Blues Brothers. I got the image above and this explanation.
You are 87.1% through The Blues Brothers (1980).
I had to laugh, because not only am I too far into it, it's a wreck. You can try this with movie after movie, and you don't really have to be truthful about your age, but if you are, it can be jarring. How far is your life into Star Wars, Young Frankenstein, Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life, or Jaws? -via Metafilter
