Ancient Romans used to start their new year in March, since their first calendar only had 10 months which ended in December, approximately harvest time, so people can celebrate at the end of the year with a good harvest. Then, two months of winter will pass by and they start a new year.

This configuration of the early Roman calendar had most likely been adopted from other dating systems like those of the Greeks, Etruscans, and Babylonians. The Roman simply named their months after gods and goddesses like the war god Mars for March, and Juno for June. The rest of the months had been named after the numbers such as septem for seven, and so on.

Later on, this 10-month calendar was replaced by a lunar calendar which added two new months, each consisting of 28 days: Ianuarius (named after the god Janus) and Februarius (a reference to the Roman purification festival, Februa).

The problem with this new calendar, they soon found out, was that it did not sync with the seasons. They tried to rectify this by adding an extra month called Mercedonius, every two or three years, which just made the matter more confusing.

It wasn't until Julius Caesar had commissioned a new standard calendar in 45 BC. Designed by Sosigenes, the Julian calendar consisted of 365 days with a leap year every four years. This was more consistent with the seasons, and finally synced with the sun.

January 1st became the beginning of the new year as well, as opposed to the original March. It was in celebration of the day that consuls, the highest elected public official in the Roman Republic, took office.

(Image credit: Yamen/Wikimedia Commons)

We initially thought that boa constrictors like pythons and anacondas killed their prey by asphyxiation, or cutting the animal's airflow and depriving it from oxygen. However, research has suggested that boa constrictors stop the blood flow of their prey, causing immediate death from cardiac arrest.

The difference between asphyxiation and sudden cardiac arrest is that in the first situation, only the airways are constricted, but the heart continues pumping blood throughout the body. In this scenario, one would assume that the prey caught in the stranglehold would try to free itself and show signs of a struggle.

But this anecdote by a doctor who had witnessed the killing of a goat by a python indicated that there had been no signs of a struggle, but he observed depressions on the goat's chest. Granted, this is just one anecdote and the doctor did not investigate further.

Scientists who conducted experiments, however, have been able to figure out exactly how boa constrictors killed their prey. They attached sensors into anesthetized rats and a python in order to measure the rats' blood pressure, blood gases, blood ion balance, and heart function, as well as the amount of pressure that the python was exerting on the rat.

From the experiments, they found that the pythons had been exerting immense pressure on the rats' blood flow at a rapid pace. It caused instantaneous cardiac arrest. Again, a few caveats: rats are mammals, and quite small. So, attacking its circulatory system would entail instantaneous death.

On the other hand, if boas will try and constrict lizards or frogs, for example, will the manner of death be the same, considering cold-blooded animals don't have the same circulatory systems as mammals? This is a question for a future study.

But it makes sense why sudden cardiac arrest is more advantageous for boa constrictors.

First, it eliminates the possibility of harm when the prey struggles. In the example of the rat, it may use its claws or teeth to gnaw away at the python. Or, in the case of the goat, it may use its horns to stab the python or its hooves to trample on it.

Second, it saves the snake time and energy in hunting and eating its prey.

At the end of the day, I think the lesson is the same. Stay away from boa constrictors.

(Image credit: Jan Kopřiva/Unsplash)

Knights have mostly been depicted in period dramas, historical epics, or fantasy adventures as the noble warriors, tragic heroes, or some romanticized version of the ideal man during the Medieval Ages. But the truth is they were the elite soldiers of that time who constantly trained their bodies to their physical limits in order to protect their lords and realms.

It was extremely difficult to kill knights in a medieval battle. Although we have seen a lot of gory shows like Game of Thrones depicting knights being easily slain in battles or jousts, the reality is that knights generally avoided killing other knights in battle and because of their rigorous training and near-impenetrable armor, there were only two ways to actually kill medieval knights.

The two ways to kill medieval knights were (1) to break through their armor by brute force, and (2) to incapacitate the knight, and then attack the weak points in their armor.

The best weapons to crush a knight's full set of chainmail or plated armor were lances, maces, and warhammers. The second method, which was most often used by groups of regular soldiers since they could not beat a knight one-on-one, was for four or five soldiers to wrestle the knight to the ground while one would stab the knight through the armor's weak points.

Weak points in a knight's armor generally would be located in the groin area, the inside of the legs, the armpits, and the slits on the helmet. Or, if they were lucky enough to remove a knight's helmet, then the chances of killing the knight increased exponentially.

However, knights already knew that their armor was not invulnerable, so it was very difficult and dangerous to attempt to kill a knight, since it required one to get very close to the knight, at which point, the knight would have already killed the assailant.

One prime example, however, when knights had been killed en masse was at the Battle of Agincourt. That was an incredible feat accomplished by the English infantry who killed a lot of French knights. To do that, they killed the knights' horses with arrows, and falling off their horses, the knights were immobilized, and stabbed to death.

Learn more about medieval knight history on Neutral History.

(Image credit: Joseph Martin Kronheim/Wikimedia Commons)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1966 is a law that ensures the security of sensitive patient health information by issuing national standards that prohibit the disclosure of such without the patient's consent or knowledge.

One misconception that people generally have with HIPAA is that all health-related data is secure. They're not. HIPAA doesn't cover everything.

Entities under HIPAA include (1) healthcare providers such as hospitals, private medical offices, medical professionals, labs, clinics, and pharmacies, and (2) subcontractors or "business associates" which include third-party vendors, health plan providers, and insurance companies.

HIPAA doesn't include pharmaceutical companies, employers, universities, and social media businesses. This means that, for example, giving personal information on Instagram for buying health-related products or services will not be covered by HIPAA in case a data breach occurs.

Employers asking about an employee's health-related concerns will not be considered an HIPAA issue, although it could be a discrimination issue.

Also, universities accessing students' records from the campus health clinic regarding any issue students may be involved in, for example, sexual assault cases or other violent crimes like hazing incidents, is not covered by HIPAA, although it is under the Federal Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA).

One way experts suggest to increase one's data security is by enabling two-factor authentication. Also, it is best to avoid connecting through public WiFi to prevent sensitive information from being leaked.

On the part of healthcare providers, getting more secure and efficient software or ERP systems will most likely let doctors focus on being doctors instead of worrying about their patients' data security, just as ZDoggMD's music video above astutely points out.

(Video credit: Dr. Zubin Damania aka ZDoggMD/Youtube)

Fifteen demonstrators in Tokyo marched through the streets yesterday, shouting slogans and waving banners in their protest of the celebration of Christmas in Japan. This was not a nationalist objection to a holiday of foriegn origin, but an annual tradition of the Revolutionary Alliance of Unpopular People.

Sora News 24 explains that in Japan, which has only a very small Christian population in modern times, Christmas is a romantic holiday for couples. This irritates himote--lonely people, mostly men, who are unable to find dates. They banded together to form an organization to crush Christmas love and have marched each Christmas Day since 2007.

Photo: @kakuhidou1

Sky Elements Drone Shows launched almost 1500 drones to present the story of The Nutcracker in a series of 3D vignettes over North Richland Hills, Texas, a week ago Sunday. Unlike the ballet, the drone show took only seven minutes. It included 700-foot-tall images, the biggest ever created with flying drones. They included Santa Claus, who does not appear in the story of The Nutcracker, but it's hard to have a Christmas show of any kind in Texas without St. Nick. The drone show set two Guinness World records, for the largest aerial display of a fictional character and the largest aerial image. A good time was had by all.

There are people in this world who are as nice and friendly as can be most of the year, but who get so tired of the hype around Christmas that they become Scrooges, and dismiss Christmas with a "Bah! Humbug!" There are also people who love Christmas, but know the only parts worth telling someone about are the disasters. Thank to the fading art of sending letters, we have a glimpse into Christmases past from some well-known people who didn't always have a merry Christmas. Virginia Woolf wrote in a 1964 letter:

Do not expect wit or sense in this letter, only the affection of a drugged and torpid mind. Oh an English Christmas! We are not Christians; we are not social; we have no part in the fabric of the world, but all the same, Christmas flattens us out like a steam roller; turkey, pudding, tips, waits, holly, good ·wishes, presents, sweets; so here we sit, on Boxing day, at Rodmell, over a wood fire, and I can only rouse myself by thinking of you.

Letters of Note has a collection of excerpts from 13 such letters, many of them filled with vinegar. But the very last one from 1940 is a reminder that no matter how bad your Christmas turns out to be, it could be much worse.  -via Nag on the Lake

Claire Lamman is a graduate student in astronomy at Harvard University. So, in a short, she's a genius. But she's also humble enough to describe herself as a "procrastibaker" -- someone who bakes in order to avoid assigned work. Lamman's portfolio of culinary work is astonishing.

Each Christmas, Lamman composes a gingerbread masterpiece of an astronomical survey instrument, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and an assortment of her favorite space probes. This year, Lamman made the above model of the Very Large Array, a radio telescope consisting of 28 dishes in the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

I'm impressed with how smooth the domes turned out.

Harry Hill of New York City is a writer, podcaster and "vibe curator" who is in a Christmas mood. Since Thanksgiving, Hill, his father, and his brother have labored over this set of giant Christmas lights. The construction required 20 plastic bottles, spay paint, glue, and a generator. The plug, you can see, is just decorative.

They illuminate very well, creating just the right ambiance, as well as entertaining people as he drives them around town.

Experience should tell us that just because someone works in a bakery, that doesn't mean they know how to create a reindeer in icing. Especially when that someone worked in the women's lingerie department yesterday. Or maybe in the butcher shop, because these cakes are certainly butchered. They were told it doesn't have to look exactly like a reindeer; it's a symbol, so you just have to convey the idea of a reindeer. Some of these cakes fall short of even that. Jen Yates at Cake Wrecks gave all these reindeer their own names:

Now, Droopy! Now, Poopy! Now, Boner! ...and Pancake!
On, Slappy! On, Psycho! On, Peanut! And Lunch Break!
To the top of the shelf! To the stores at the mall!
Now wreck away, wreck away, WRECK AWAY, ALL!

See eight not-so-tiny reindeer and Santa Claus, too, ready to wreck the halls at Cake Wrecks. And if that's not enough Christmas chaos, see more Christmas wrecks and even more here.

My dogs were enthusiastic about opening presents this morning. The smarter one seemed to actually understand that some of the objects beneath the Tree Inside the House That Must Not Be Peed Upon were to become her property.

The cat has been through enough Christmases to know that it's worthwhile hanging out with the humans and dogs on this day--at least long enough to receive the obligatory offering to the feline overlord. The boxes are a plus, too, as the cat in Jimmy Craig's They Can Talk comic for today demonstrates. Perhaps both received what they asked for from Santa Claus.

Chefs Perfect, an Instagram account that highlights the masterpieces of the modern culinary arts, showcases a recent work by Sicilian pastry wizard Guiseppe Lombardo. In this Instagram post, we see a time lapse video of Lombardo's sorcery at work, weaving together dough so that after it is shaped, cut, baked, and decorated, it presents a perfect Christmas treat.

When Lombardo slices open one, we see a blood-red filling inside, just like a real Christmas tree. Yummy!

-via Nag on the Lake

Keith Massey magister est et scholarium multarum linguarum, in quibus sunt Biblica Hebraice et moderno Arabico. Celebris factus est in YouTube propter videos de eo docens linguam Latinam in schola physica et in online publica. Haec posterior categoria includit translationes et cantus celeberrimas vitae The Beatles, ut "Yesterday." Sed hodie est Nativitatis, ita nos circum larem congregemus et prosapias Nativitatis decantemus quae homines in generationes susceperunt. Superius est, sane, "Jingle Bells."

A new sequel to Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas has been published this year and it's titled How the Grinch Lost Christmas. It was written by Alastair Heim, illustrated by Aristides Ruiz, and approved by the Dr. Seuss estate. 

I have only watched the 2000 film adaptation, which starred Jim Carrey, and I wasn't that big of a fan of the character, mostly because of how it was portrayed. Dan Kois, however, makes the case for the original 1966 animated film adaptation, the screenplay of which was written by Theodor Geisel, Dr. Seuss himself.

The appeal of Geisel's Grinch, according to Kois, was the very essence of the character. The Grinch was a miser who hated Christmas and the raucousness of the whole occasion. Although he couldn't actually help it as he was born that way.

Although we want children to enjoy the spirit of the occasion, sometimes we just feel it's just too much work and too much madness. At the end of the day, the moral of the Grinch's story is that the core of the holiday season is that we get to spend it together. It's not the presents or all the other decorative elements, it's the spirit of family and community.

The new Grinch book, on the other hand, picks up a year after the events of the original (spoilers will follow).

It involves a Christmas tree-decorating contest. The Grinch enters, loses, and sulks about it. Instead of the malevolent creature threatening the Whos and all the readers that Christmas will be lost forever, the Grinch turned into the sore loser. Then, the Whos invite him back and he regains his Christmas spirit.

It's a nice children's story, though Kois argues that it lost sight of who the Grinch is, in favor of teaching its readers the moral that Christmas isn't about the glitz and the glamor. But there is perhaps an expectation that this sequel will open the doors for the Grinch to become more relevant as he permeates through other aspects of culture.

(Image credit: Slate)

One person's return is another's bargain, or so the saying goes. People have various reasons why they would return products to Amazon, but where exactly do those go? According to a few reports, some of those returns unfortunately go to landfills.

However, there are other more entrepreneurial individuals at Amazon Return Stores who buy these returned products and sell them at cheaper prices. More than that, they don't only sell return items from Amazon, but also Target, Home Depot, and Walmart.

A simple Google search will give you the location of the nearest Amazon return store to your place. You may try other search terms as well such as Amazon liquidation store, Amazon bin store, and Amazon salvage store. You can also try searching on Facebook.

Depending on your local store's policy, they might give away the products from $1 to $12, just like the Bargain Bins store that Kyle James found. Since these are return items, products may be defective but typically, they will still be in decent condition.

(Image credit: Kyle James/Rather-Be-Shopping)