Some people see new technology and can't wait to get their hands on it, no matter what it does. Others see it as useful or not, and nothing more. Then there are those who consider the possible implications of a new gadget or app before deciding whether to adopt it. Kaiwei Tang was confronted by these different philosophies when we joined a startup class focusing on creating new tech.

Given his experience designing phones for Motorola, Nokia and Blackberry, Tang was more than qualified. Yet he thought about technology differently from his teachers and peers. For them, he says, success was about users spending more and more time on their phones, engrossed in the founders’ new apps. But to Tang, who describes apps and phones as ‘tools’, this sounded perverse. Would the maker of a hammer boast about how long his customers spent using it?

By now, Tang’s gripe is solidly mainstream: millions of people feel (and are) addicted to their phones and social media. We worry about checking email during family dinners or about the fact that we spend more time documenting vacations on Instagram than enjoying them. Unlike most of us, though, Tang was in a position to do something about it. He co-founded a company, raised millions of dollars, and released a new product: the Light Phone.

The Light Phone made phone calls. That was it. It couldn’t even text. It was the phone you bought because you wanted to stare at the clouds or notice the flowers blooming when you walked to work. Tang’s target customers were desk workers who downloaded meditation apps and people who paid for digital-detox camps. But other people wanted the Light Phone, too. Tang found himself speaking with parents who sought a stripped-down phone for their young teens – and, in a development that surprised him, members of ultra-Orthodox Jewish families.

To understand this attitude, Alex Mayyasi looks at the tech philosophy of the Amish, who aren't necessarily anti-tech, but who carefully consider the pros and cons of new technology. -via Damn Interesting

Listen, we know that there are a lot of ways to invade your privacy on the Internet. From advertisers to tech companies  to hackers-- these establishments aim to track down your activity in every way possible, and to be honest, it’s very easy for them to do so. If you want your privacy back, USA Today states that the first step you should take is to shut down all the intrusive GPS trackers. It’s like disappearing from the Internet, if you think about it. Check their full piece here on how to restore your privacy on different social media platforms! 

Image credit: Austin Daniel via Unsplash 

A mule is a not a species, but a hybrid of a horse and a donkey. Mules don’t reproduce because horses and donkeys have different numbers of chromosomes, but that doesn’t really tell us much. SciShow explains why those chromosomes can pair up for one generation, but not two. Still, while mules are at a disadvantage in producing their own genetic descendants, they make pretty good surrogate mothers.

At its height, the British Empire offered many foreign places for an English family to live, temporarily or permanently. Employees of the British government or the many companies that did business overseas were stationed in faraway places and raised families there. Labor was cheap in Asia, especially female labor, and these families procured ayahs, or nannies, for their children. These ayahs were expected to be completely devoted to the children they were hired to raise, even while the family traveled, often leaving their own children to do so.

Between the late 1700s and mid-1900s, countless ayahs traveled under the employment of British families. Maritime voyages were long and arduous, marked by bouts of seasickness and dangerous storms. The ayahs relieved memsahibs of their childcare duties by tending to their young and often anxious charges, and keeping them entertained for hours, day after day. Upon disembarking in London or other port cities, however, their services no longer required, a number of the ayahs were unceremoniously discharged. There are no records documenting how many ayahs found themselves in this position, or how most of them fared.

Many of these stranded ayahs, from India, Hong Kong, Burma, Malaysia, and other countrie, found their way to the Ayah's Home in London, run by the London City Mission. Established in 1825, the Ayah's home took in woman of many different backgrounds and religions whose stories are lost to time. Read about the Ayah's Home, and what little we know about the women who lived there, at Atlas Obscura.

When you know your death will be widely publicized due to your wealth or notoriety, it can be very tempting to fashion the story of your legacy to ensure people would still be talking about it a century (or more) later. In some cases, it was a joke. In other cases, it was just something weird that we still read about.  

An eighth of a million dollars ain't what it used to be, but even back then it probably wasn't all that much when you're raising nine kids. Read more of the weirdest sendoffs and bequests at Cracked.

Plants, like humans, catch diseases. They also sometimes suffer from physical stress (due to lack of water, cold weather, lack of sunlight, etc.). But, unlike in humans, it is very difficult to identify sick and stressed plants. And, by the time that signs of disease or stress appear, it may already be too late to save the plant. This has been one of the challenges in farming.

In order to address this problem, scientists, led by Dr. Shilo Rosenwasser, have genetically modified a plant known as the Irish potato.

The researchers introduced a new gene into the plant's chloroplasts, which are organelles (subcellular structures) that conduct photosynthesis. That gene expresses a fluorescent protein in response to the presence of reactive oxygen species – these are highly reactive chemical molecules that are produced in order to help mitigate stress, although they can also harm the plant if they build up in its cells.

Putting it simply, the more stress that a plant experiences, the greater the amount of reactive oxygen species it produces. In the case of the new potato, this in turn causes it to produce more of the fluorescent protein – so the more stressed the plant is, the brighter its fluorescent glow. And although the fluorescence can't be seen by the naked eye, the scientists could detect it using a highly sensitive fluorescent camera.

Cool!

(Image Credit: Shilo Rosenwasser/ Hebrew University/ New Atlas)

Twitch category Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches is now dominated with swimsuit-clad streamers ready to have fun in the water. However, the category, which was recently introduced to the platform, is now welcoming a new kind of content creators: rescued otters! Otters from the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre in Vancouver can be seen under the new category doing some adorable shenanigans, like splashing around and flipping underwater: 

While it’s hilarious to see them next to all the people hanging out in their swimsuits, it’s actually a really clever use of the category. The grouping is new, and while many probably go to it looking for conventional hot tub streams, it seems to be grabbing attention for the otters. At the time of press the little otters had roughly 1,700 viewers with the channel being the third most-watched under the category.

But part of what sets the otters apart is that the handler managing the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre stream has leaned into the controversial hot tub category. The title of the broadcast jokes that the animals have the “THICCEST FUR” and that it’s the “HOTTEST” stream, referencing how human streamers format their broadcasts in all caps, if not endless emojis. 

Image via Wikimedia Commons 

A handwritten letter by Albert Einstein was sold for a whopping $1.2 million at an auction. The letter, which was sent to a rival physicist, included Einstein’s famous E=mc2 equation. Adding to the letter’s value is the fact that it is one of the four known written records that has the equation in the physicist’s own handwriting. No wonder it sold for such a huge amount of money! Live Science has more details: 

The one-page letter, written in German on paper with Einstein's blind-stamped personal Princeton letterhead, was sent to Polish American physicist Ludwik Silberstein, a well-known critic of some of Einstein's theories at the time. The document is signed "A. Einstein" and is dated Oct. 26, 1946.

The letter remained in Silberstein's archives and was recently auctioned off by his family. The document was expected to sell for $400,000, but ended up going for three times that after a late bidding war between two parties on May 18, according to RR Auction, the Boston-based company that sold the letter.

"E = mc2 is the most famous equation in the world," Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, said in a statement. For that reason, it is "an important letter from a physics point of view."

Image via RR Auction

It is often said that before working out, one should stretch first to prevent injury. However, this piece of advice seems to contradict decades of scientific research, which say that static stretching prior to exercising does not help. In fact, it might make performance worse and increase one’s chances of getting hurt. At least, that’s how it is for runners.

“If the goal is to improve performance, then you usually don't do static stretching prior,” says Nick Kruse, an exercise physiologist at the University of Iowa. Instead, it might be better to swap in another warm-up before your run, and maybe move the static stretches to another part of the day.

But for those who aren’t athletes, static stretching is a big help for the body. There is growing evidence that this activity could improve cardiovascular health.

More details about this over at Discover Magazine.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

Pyramid Lake in western Nevada offers excellent trout fishing. But if you want to access deeper water and more fish, then you need to move away from the shore. Some enterprising sportsmen began setting up ladders into the water. Standing on top of these ladders was more comfortable than standing in the cold water for hours at a time.

Then some outfitters began modifying ladders to hold fishing gear. And then some mounted chairs on top of the ladders. In the New York Times (paywalled), Chris Santella writes:

Our ladders seemed pedestrian next to the local models — custom contraptions made by a Reno craftsman which included a platform and a padded seat.

“When people first started fishing the lake, they used milk crates,” recalled Joe Contaldi, principal guide with Pyramid Lake Anglers. “This helped them cast far enough to reach the drop-offs where the fish cruise looking for food. And it also helped them get above the cold water.” The crates gave way to conventional ladders and then to chair ladders.

-via TYWKIWDBI | Photo: Pyramid Lake Guides

Want something cute or wholesome to complete a long week? Well I believe I’ve got something for you to check out: meowlfunctioning cats. Don’t worry, the cats I’m talking about are perfectly fine, they’re just acting weirdly. Internet users post their weirdest cat photos in the subreddit ‘What’s Wrong With Your Cat', and some of the posts there are just downright hilarious. Bored Panda compiles some of the best in their article here!

Image credit: JeniBean7 on Reddit

Jordan Rudess, a master keyboardist, owns a Pocket Piano. This is an electric keyboard that breaks down into segments. It will continue to play even when segments are removed. With the help of his friend Maddi, Rudess played a ragtime song while losing piano segments. In the end, he's playing on only three keys!

-via The Awesomer

British artist Matthew Simmonds carves miniature architectural models out of hunks of marble. Most of his models feature ancient ruins and older architectural styles, with grand archways, detailed ceilings, and some even come with mini-statues on display in their halls. Colossal has more details: 

Within the spaces, Simmonds contrasts the rough, jagged edges of the stone with precise angles and detailed flourishes. “Drawing on the formal language and philosophy of architecture the work explores themes of positive and negative form, the significance of light and darkness, and the relationship between nature and human endeavor,” he says in a statement.

See more of the artist’s carved interiors, which are often less than a foot wide, on his site.

Image credit: Matthew Simmonds via Colossal

There are many ways that the intersection of poverty and childcare end in tragedy. Before state-run orphanages and foster care, before licensed daycare centers, there were baby farms, a profit-making industry that preyed on poor mothers.

In an era when the most prevalent form of contraception was abortion, for working-class Victorian women who found themselves unable to care for a child, a less dangerous alternative was to surrender their newborn or, “put them out to nurse” at baby farms for a small weekly fee. Most women who chose this route assumed that their child would be properly cared for and receive a wet nurse, attention, room and board at the very least. After all, as referenced heavily in the writings of Jane Austen, wealthier women were also known to put their infants in the care of wet nurses – women who were not the childrens’ biological mothers, but who would breastfeed the children. The fictional character Grenouille of Perfume, as well as the titular character of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist were both residents of baby farms.

Behind the scenes, there were plenty of practices that boosted profits, like taking in way too many babies and neglecting to feed them. But even worse was the trend to take a one-time fee from the relinquishing mother, which relieved the entrepreneur of the necessity of keeping the child alive at all. Read about the gruesome era of baby farms at Messy Messy Chic.

They say that we should not judge a book by its cover. From the outside, this piece of technology looks like a regular Nintendo GameCube to an unsuspecting person, and I wouldn’t blame him if he made that remark; it does look like a regular Nintendo GameCube. But, as the title says, this is, in reality, a gaming PC made by modder Cityle.

Cityle shared pictures of his one-of-a-kind gaming rig on Reddit..., which is outfitted with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, a Ryzen 5 4500u processor, a 2TB Samsung 860 QVO solid-state drive, and 16GB of HyperX DDR4 RAM.

Cityle published his build log here, and it seems it was no easy feat fitting so many intricate parts into something the size of a GameCube. Though clunky by today’s standards, the console measures just 5.9 × 6.3 × 4.3 inches (150 x 161 x 100 mm). Since it’d be nothing short of impossible to fit a top-tier gaming motherboard inside a case this tiny, they transferred one from a disassembled Asus PN50 Mini PC.

Who would have thought that a powerful computer could fit inside a GameCube? I sure didn’t.

(Image Credit: Cityle/ Reddit/ Gizmodo)