One of the best things that you can experience as a child is growing up with an animal companion, who always stays by your side and tries to take care of you as well. Watch as this pittie, Dora, stays by baby Teddy’s side as Teddy grows up. The video can be seen over at The Dodo.
(Image Credit: The Dodo)
Clean water is an essential part of many aspects of human life, such as in agriculture, energy production, and drinking. One of the ways to make clean water is through a desalination membrane. Through this device, the salt from salt water is filtered out, making the water safe for consumption. It might look simple at first glance, but scientists have been baffled by the complex intricacies of the process. For decades, this has been the case, until now.
Researchers from Penn State, The University of Texas at Austin, Iowa State University, Dow Chemical Company and DuPont Water Solutions published a key finding in understanding how membranes actually filter minerals from water, online today (Dec. 31) in Science…
"Despite their use for many years, there is much we don't know about how water filtration membranes work," said Enrique Gomez, professor of chemical engineering and materials science and engineering at Penn State, who led the research. "We found that how you control the density distribution of the membrane itself at the nanoscale is really important for water-production performance."
Learn more details about this over at PHYS.org.
(Image Credit: ronymichaud/ Pixabay)
It might look lowkey odd at first glance, but Daisy Collingridge’s depiction of the naked human body as ‘squishies’ in her art shows her interpretation of our fragile yet fascinating forms. Her depiction of the human body is just a joyful representation, not a statement or a revolt against the idea of an ‘ideal body type,’ as Observer details:
“The reaction to this work varies hugely. From this, I have learned that we all inhabit a body therefore we all have an opinion of equal validity,” she says. “Bodies are so unbelievably different despite being made from the same components. I am not seeking to promote or demote any one type of body. This work is bodily. There is warmth and softness, these signifiers of life. They celebrate flesh, form, touch, and movement.”
Collingridge started this year with the goal to work more collaboratively, which the pandemic made near impossible (also canceling her first solo show). Like many artists, however, she says she is naturally a solitary worker and still was productive alone in her studio space. She recently became part of the Sarabande foundation in London, a move that’s allowed her to begin working on a collaborative film project with Isabel Garett. They’re currently working on a short film detailing the life and loves of the Squishy family, meaning these joyous depictions of the human form will soon be getting a backstory.
Image via Observer
Archaeologists have discovered a Sanctuary of Apollo in Pera Orinis-Fragkissa Lefkosia, Cyprus. The Sanctuary is considered one of the most important structures found in Cyprus, as it contains many priceless sculptures. The building was actually part of a ‘rescue excavation’ in 1885, but afterward, the exact location of the Sanctuary was tragically forgotten:
The survey revealed not only a high concentration of pottery shards, but also fragments of ancient sculptures and terracotta figurines in a relatively narrowly-defined area. A geophysical survey by ground penetrating radar, carried out in cooperation with the University of Cyprus under the direction of Apostolos Sarris, confirmed the findings.
Structures located deep beneath the ground can only be found in the part of the valley that was also prominent in the archaeological survey.
A preliminary analysis of the finds showed that the area had been occupied since the Iron Age and was used throughout the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. The numerically smaller finds from the Roman and Byzantine era are considerably more eroded, however, and most likely originate from a settlement of this period further downstream, which is already known.
Image via the Greek Reporter
Found in the deep shade of a Madagascar forest, this unflattering flower actually has a musk rose-like scent that becomes stronger when it's warmer outside.
And while all orchids are parasitic, this one depends entirely on fungi for nutrients as it lacks true leaves or other photosynthetic tissue.
Scientists at England's Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, recently dubbed it “the ugliest orchid in the world" noting its “small, brown, and rather ugly" flowers.
Via Curtis's Botanical Magazine, The Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, & Atlas Obscura.
Photo Credit: The flower of Gastrodia agnicellus, showing the stem and part of the rhizome. Ranomafana September 2019. Photograph: Rick Burian.
Behold the world's largest sea slug- the California Black Sea Hare.
It can be found near the coast and gulf of California. And while I don't see it, the "sea hare" is named due to the two "ear-like" protrusions on its head.
Brown algae makes up most of this giant mollusks diet. And while it might seem defenseless, it's made itself highly unappealing to predators by concentrating the toxin acetoxycrenulide from the algae in its tissues.
Read More at The Malibu Post & Oddity Central
In 1970, for just $1,800, you could purchase a kit to build your own personal jet in just 600 hours using a snowmobile engine for propulsion. The aircraft designed by Jim Bede were so small the pilots had to lie almost on their backs below fighter jet-like canopy, with a joystick-like device for control.
Unfortunately, the plane ended up performing terribly in test flights, with engine stalls common. But despite this, thousands of kits were shipped- possibly because thousands of deposits had already been put down.
With dissatisfied builders grumbling almost immediately, the company went bankrupt and left the buyers to cobble together working planes from what they had. And either due to the above, and/or the original design, 12 to 15% of all the BD-5s that ever flew have ended in fatal crashes.
Read more in Air & Space Magazine and at HistoryNet
No, you cannot eat this one. No matter what its Pokedex entry says, you cannot have it for a snack! It’s very huggable though! NintendoSoup is now taking preorders for Pokemon Center’s 65-cm long Appletun plushie. The Pokemon, which first appeared in Pokemon: Sword and Pokemon: Shield is a turtle-like Pokemon that has an apple-pie-like shell. For more details (and all the logistical details for pre-ordering one for yourself), check NintendoSoup’s full piece here. If I had the extra money to splurge, I’d probably buy one for myself.
Hey, this could let New York City commuters forget about the rats and the dark tunnels on the station. The Moynihan Train Hall will now welcome incoming passengers from the train, with its 92-foot-high ceilings and art installations by Kehinde Wiley, Stan Douglas, and creative duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. The area will surely be a good waiting spot and a great photo-op location:
“Is it grand? Yes. Is it bold? Yes, because that is the spirit of New York and that is the statement we want to make to our visitors, to our children and to future generations,” says Governor Andrew Cuomo, who unveiled the space Wednesday, in a statement. “As dark as 2020 has been, this new hall will bring the light, literally and figuratively, for everyone who visits this great city.”
Speaking with the New York Times’ Dionne Searcey, Wiley, who is perhaps best known for his presidential portrait of Barack Obama, describes the inspiration behind his contribution to the hall: Go, a hand-painted, stained-glass ceiling triptych that depicts young, black New Yorkers break dancing.
Image via the Smithsonian
I’m surprised it survived, actually. The Green Man was a pub in Loughborough, Leicestershire that was shut down in 1993. The bar is still surprisingly intact, even if a new mall has been built above it. From murals, to propped up benches, to empty pint glasses all over the place, and to bags of peanuts on the bar, this place feels like it was frozen in time:
Although the pub has been visited by potential developers, they all decided against taking on the job.
Speaking in 2011, Baljit Kooner, Carillon Court's manager, said: “Developers looked at it a couple of years ago, but they were put off by the cost.
“Lots of pubs seem to be being bought by Tesco to make them into Express stores. But I don’t think even Tesco would want to put a shop down there.
"The whole place looks like a castle inside, the pictures are very impressive.
“It is also pretty clean as well – there are not as many cobwebs as you’d think.”
image via The Sun
Parasitic worms of multiple species can infect you by penetrating through intact skin and often don't even lead to a rash. They then develop for months and the adults or their eggs cause disease. Also pin worm eggs can be airborne and can survive machine washing with detergent.
— Molecular Worm Dude® (@JRHagerty) December 31, 2020
Harvard professor Michael Baym asked Twitter users to share an "uncomfortable" fact that they know because of their professional expertise. Since many of his followers are academics, we have a lot of cringeworthy facts in the replies.
Jesus christ I'm stunned that didn't happen in 2020
— Doctor TAS (@tas997) January 1, 2021
While it's nice to know how the world works, some of these bits of knowledge explain the old adage that ignorance is bliss. As a commenter at Metafilter put it, "Seems like most of them boil down to, there are no adults in the room, and you are far less safe from nature than modern living leads you to believe."
About 2 degrees Celsius of our body heat comes from the metabolism of microorganisms helping us digest our food.
— Rob Young (@DoubtTheWorm) December 30, 2020
Read a lot more of these facts (and they aren't all science-related) in the Twitter thread. -via Metafilter
There’s a perfectly nice house for sale in Guildhall, Vermont, boasting four bedrooms. These are bedrooms on the second floor. However, there are actually seven more that aren’t as prominently advertised. When you look through the photo gallery, you get the image 30 before you see the jail cells. The cells are mentioned only at the end of the realtor’s description.
This home is situated on nearly an acre of land offering a large private back yard for gardening, and a detached barn with plenty of additional storage. The main house served as the Jailer's residence and attached to the north wall of the house is the former Essex County Jail (discontinued in 1969). The Jail still exhibits the prison cells with barred windows & the Jailers Office. Bring your own ideas on what this 28' x 40' wing could be!
This is not the same house as the one we posted back in August, but the story is pretty much the same. The town jailer lived there, and having your work so close to home means you don’t have to have a 24-hour schedule of guards. But now you can purchase a home for only $149,000 that will sleep many people if you aren’t too choosy about where to put the kids. -via Boing Boing
Weird Universe introduces us to Stuart Stebbings, a businessman in Wisconsin (of course), who marketed candy made from cheese. He speculated that cheese might absorb smoke effectively and could therefore be used as the filters in cigarettes. In 1958, he worked with Henry Lardy, a biochemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin, to develop an effective filter and patented the result. The best cheeses for these filters are Parmesan, Romano, and Swiss.
The work of paleobiologist George Poinar Jr. inspired Michael Crichton to write Jurassic Park. Poinar's latest published research introduces us to a tiny flower found embedded in amber 100 million years ago in what is now northern Myanmar.
The discovery is a type of angiosperm flowering plant and has been named Valviloculus pleristaminis. The stunningly well preserved specimen is a male flower which Poinar notes displays amazing detail.
“Despite being so small, the detail still remaining is amazing,” explains Poinar. “Our specimen was probably part of a cluster on the plant that contained many similar flowers, some possibly female. The male flower is tiny, about 2 millimeters across, but it has some 50 stamens arranged like a spiral, with anthers pointing toward the sky.”
What's really groundbreaking about this flower is how it shows our timeline of continental drift may have to be adjusted. Poinar explains how at New Atlas. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: George Poinar Jr.)
When the astronauts from Apollo 11 returned to Earth, could they bring with them a microorganism that could sweep across the earth, killing an Earth population biologically unprepared for it? That was a major fear leading up to the moon launch and return. Aeon describes the extraordinary precautions that NASA engineers and scientists took to ensure that there were no breaches in the quarantine around the astronauts, machines, and lunar samples:
It was now clear that NASA would need to design a facility that could not only protect Moon rocks from terrestrial contamination but also protect Earth from contamination by those rocks – all while conducting complex experiments using the rocks and maintaining a strict quarantine of everything else that had returned from the Moon, astronauts included. Nothing like the facility they would need had ever been imagined, let alone built.
After more than a year of bureaucratic squabbling, NASA planners settled on a design for an 86,000 sq ft laboratory. It would cost nearly $75 million to build, $60 million to equip, and more than $13 million annually to operate (all in 2020 US dollars). It would consist of three parts, each with a different function: a quarantine facility to isolate returned astronauts and spacecraft behind a biological barrier; a sample operations area to run experiments on Moon rocks and Earthly biota behind another barrier; and an administrative area.
Despite these expensive and carefully-arranged procedures, there were several breaks in the quarantine system. Fortunately, the astronauts did not return to Earth with a plague (such as space herpes).
-via Nag on the Lake | Photo: NASA
