In 1850, the total biomass (weight) of all the earth's wild mammals was about equal to the biomass of humans and their domestic animals. As you can see from the graph above, that has changed considerably in the 175 years since. A new study published in the journal Nature Communications traces the changes in that biomass. The total weight of domesticated mammals is more than ten times the total weight of wild mammals! In the domesticated mammal category, two-thirds of that biomass is cattle. We have a lot of them, and they weigh a lot. The other third of that category includes all other livestock, such as sheep and pigs, all cats and dogs, and mice and rats who depend on humans for their survival. Horse populations have declined. You already know about the population growth of humans.
The total biomass of wild land animals has declined, but not nearly as much as that of marine mammals. That decline is mostly the result of hunting whales. The number of whales dropped steeply during the 20th century, and has only recovered slightly since whaling bans went into effect. Read more about these changes and their causes in the published paper. -via Damn Interesting
Laurence Brown contrasts autumn in America and Britain by taking audience questions. Yes, there's a difference, and it's mainly that America is big on autumn. The US is a big country, with an awful lot of beautiful trees. We are an agricultural nation, with a big harvest and a lot of delicious native crops like pumpkins and corn and pecans (turkeys, too). And we are Americans, so we relish making a big deal out of everything.
But the real difference is that Britain is small, and rainy, and autumn doesn't signify all that much change from summer. Brown calls this season the last hurrah before the misery of winter sets in, because he lives in Chicago. Here in the South, we love autumn because it's a reprieve from the misery of a torrid summer. And wherever you live in the US, you can find a place to visit that's very different from your home, without haveing to get a passport. There's a one-minute skippable ad at 2:45.
In 1890, lumber baron John Mouat built a beautiful mansion in downtown Denver for his wife Amelia and his five children. It seems he also built it as a showcase for his lumber business. The first floor has three parlors, the original five bedrooms are on the second floor, and the third floor is a magnificent ballroom. Each room was lined with a different kind of wood, all available from Mouat's company at the time. More than 100 years later, the mansion was restored to its original splendor and turned into an inn and event space.
Current owner Elaine Britten, along with her husband Joel Bryant, love the inn but have decided to retire. Brittan tells us about the spirits that haunt the mansion, which she finds comforting, especially the ghost of Amelia Mouat. However, a little digging suggests that the mansion's past includes an unsolved double murder in 1970.
Yes, this is a bathroom.
That said, the business seems to be doing well, and you can see more of this gorgeous historical home with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms at the real estate listing. -via Fark
Kyle Marcoux is the world's greatest chef. He thinks of new food products that are not simply innovative, but revolutionary. I mean, who would ever have thought that Pepto-Bismol could be consumed in slices?
This Halloween, you're probably going to recieve a lot of candy corn. It's the most popular of all Halloween candies. You--or at least Marcoux--can accomplish much with it, such as this candy corn grilled cheese sandwich.
Oh yes, I completely understand that it's rushing things to bring up Christmas when it's still officially October for another few hours, but this is eerie enough for Halloween. Danny Elfman knows about the macabre. The Oingo Boingo frontman has been the composer for more than 100 movies, including most of the Tim Burton films. Today he presents A Danny Elfman Christmas Story, which he wrote and narrates.
The story is presented in poetic form, in the style of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" as Elfman tells of how he delivers gifts dressed as Krampus, and of the one Christmas he was confronted by a "fan" who is an actual demon wishing to apprentice under Krampus. That's when things get weird. But as creepy as this one is, you have almost two months to get over it before you welcome Santa Claus into your home, with better results, we hope. -via The Awesomer
The city of Benevento in southern Italy has buildings that go back a couple thousand years, but its reputation as "the city of witches" began in 1428. The Catholic church has begun building a body that would become the Inquisition, and the crime of witchcraft had to be dealt with. Almost anything could be evidence of witchcraft, and confessions could be produced under pressure. Matteuccia di Francesco was convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake. She wasn't even from Benvento, but her confession contained a poetic sequence, or incantation, that told of witches gathering at a walnut tree in the town of Benevento. Ever since, Benevento has been known for witches (called Janara or Strega), not so much among the residents, but a destination for witches from all over Italy.
Older Benevento residents know all the superstitions to ward off the Janara, but they also embrace the legends for commercial purposes. Benevento became a tourist draw when the local Liquore Strega (advertised in the image above) went into production. The town also has a museum of witches called Janua and is the setting for a series of children's books. Read about Benevento and its witches at Smithsonian.
(Image credit: Halloween HJB)
Hobbiton is the original location of The Shire in The Lord of the Rings movies, meaning that's where those scenes were filmed. The movie sets were preserved, and the area is now a pilgrimage destination for fans. It is also a popular venue for weddings. Sharik and Jess Burgess-Stride are both avid LOTR fans, and held their wedding at Hobbiton just a few days ago. All the guests were wearing Shire attire. Elijah Wood, who played Frodo, was not.
When photographer Cath Ullyett saw Wood walking nearby with his family, she rushed to invite him. Wood was hesitant, not wanting to invade the couples' privacy, but the photographer knew it would thrill them. So Wood ran up to greet the happy couple and pose for a few photos.
It was the first time a cast member had been to any of the many weddings held at Hobbiton over the last twenty years. The bride and groom were ecstatic. -via Geeks Are Sexy
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit on Rubber Chickens pic.twitter.com/AxELDIg7Eg
— Lord Vinheteiro (@Vinheteiro) October 30, 2025
Fabrício André Bernard Di Paolo, who goes by the name Lord Vinheteiro, is a Brazilian musician who is a classically trained pianist. It's worth noting that he is not actually a member of the nobility of the defunct Empire of Brazil. He is, though, a princely master of many musical instruments, including the rubber chicken.
In the past, we've seen Lord Vinheteiro play "Total Eclipse of the Heart" on a single rubber chicken. Now he plays the most famous work by Nirvana on an array of 14 rubber chickens.
Question: what kind of instrument is a rubber chicken? Some people on the web says that it's a percussion instrument, but I think that the sound comes from the movement of air inside, not the striking of the rubber itself.
There is a species of spider that craves human blood. The jumping spider Evarcha culicivora sniffs out the odors of humans and human blood as well as the blood of animals. But there are two reasons you don't need to worry about being bitten by a blood-sucking spider. The first is that the vampire spider only lives in Kenya and Uganda, around Lake Victoria. And even if you live in those countries, this spider will not bite you. They are around 5mm long, and their tiny teeth cannot pierce human skin.
So how does a vampire spider drink blood? They prey on female mosquitoes that have recently gorged themselves on blood. New research shows that the vampire spider relies more on sight and color than on the smell of blood. They are likely to feast on mosquitoes that have been fed red dye, but have no smell. And even though they eat the mosquitoes that carry malaria, they are no help in controlling the disease since they only eat mosquitoes that have already bitten someone. Read about vampire spiders at Discover magazine. -via Damn Interesting
The international distress signal in Morse code is SOS, but it was never intended to be an acronym for anything. In fact, the three dots and three dashes was once internationally a code for S5S. The backronym "Save Our Ship" is useful when you are learning how to recognize it, so that phrase became a common explanation.
The telegraph and Morse code were developed in the 1840s, but the system was no use for ships at sea because it required wires. But then Marconi gave us a wireless telegraph system, or "radio," first demonstrated in 1896. Suddenly, communications from ships at sea was possible, but it took some time and some left turns to work out standard international codes. The most important was a distress signal, calling any available ships for immediate aid. For some time, this code was CQD. Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out explains how that got (slowly) turned into the SOS signal that we all recognize today, despite the fact that ships no longer use Morse code. -via Laughing Squid
Charles Oldrieve dreamed of one day walking across the English Channel—and perhaps even the Atlantic Ocean. https://t.co/lxePFj5cnV
— Smithsonian Magazine (@SmithsonianMag) October 30, 2025
The early 20th century was full of strange entertainment acts like pole sitters, escape artists, and wing walkers. Charles Oldrieve was a water walker, or an "aquatic pedestrian" if you're fancy. Oldrieve started out as a tightrope walker, but found that novelty acts drew better crowds. He fashioned large wooden shows that resembled canoes so that he could walk across lakes and rivers. He kept setting distance records for walking on water, and dreamed of walking across the English Channel.
But the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers offered a much longer route, and in early 1907 Oldrieve set off from Cincinnati and walked on water all the way to New Orleans! His wooden shoes were specially designed to gain traction in water, and he only walked during daylight. Still, it was a grueling journey through dangerous currents. By the end, he said, "I wouldn’t walk that river again for five times the money I won.” Oldrieve supposedly began the stunt to win a $5,000 bet. Read about Oldrieve's ridiculous but spectacular journey at Smithsonian.
Redditor /u/amp123 made this beautiful handbag that's shaped like an isopod. Given its size, it closely resembles the giant marine isopods that are so popular in Taiwanese cuisine.
She comments that it's functional as a small purse, but will not take large items. She also suspects that it will be an effective deterrent against pickpockets.
When you name a product, you want that name to be simple, memorable, and pleasant. It would be nice if that name were descriptive of the product, but that can be hard in a world where there are so many products already named. It's also crucial that the product name not be something offensive in another language, but that isn't addressed in this video. Coca-Cola is an example of a perfectly-named product, because it rolls off the tongue so easily, yet it was simply named for its ingredients.
Dr. Erica Brozovsky (previously at Neatorama) gives us some tips on using certain letters and sounds to name your product so that people feel a certain way about it. Then when you come up with the perfect name, you'll find that someone else has already trademarked it. And remember, the perfect product name won't mean anything unless it'a something people need or want. The video is only around nine minutes; the rest is promotional.
It's not easy being queen, especially if you're a honeybee. Sure, you don't have to work and you have a staff of workers to tend to your every need, but you are in this position for one purpose- to produce hundreds or even thousands of eggs every day. The queen keeps her minions loyal by secreting a bee pheromone.
But is a queen were to become ill, from, say, a common bee virus, that pheromone production drops, and so does her egg-laying. The workers become aware that the queen isn't upholding her end of the deal, and they can expel her from the hive! It's brutal, but probably best for the overall health of the hive in the long run. Worker bees have other queens in waiting, but until one matures enough to take over egg-laying duties, the hive is vulnerable to failure. Read how this happens, and what it means to the honey industry, at Popular Science. -via Damn Interesting
Luke Pickman is a composer and multi-instrument musician. And by multi-instrument, let's emphasize the modifier multi. He's an avid collector of instruments from around the world. As his collection grows, he adds their use to his repertoire.
In the past, we've seen him perform the 7-note piece known as "The Lick" on 92 instruments (including mayonnaise) and a longer original piece on 111 instruments. For this video, Pickman performed the C major scale on his expanded collection. The instruments now include a double ocarina, a toy piano, a double bawu, a piccolo trombone (which apparently exists), and an Aztec death whistle.
-via Born in Space
