From a laptop that already has a swollen battery but is still used, to a melted telephone that someone apparently put in the oven, Bored Panda compiles some of the nightmare-inducing pictures from the subreddit Tech Support Gore. Should you want to see more of these, be ready to abandon all hope as you visit the site.

(Image Credit: Tech Support Gore/ Bored Panda)

It was twenty years ago since Craig Mod first set foot in Japan. Back then, with his “extremely unsophisticated” palette, Mod did not know what to eat in the land of sushi and natto (fermented soybeans). Fortunately for him, he found a place that he describes as “a sort of bridge space for [him] between where [he] came from and Japan itself.” That place was the kissaten, or the kissa coffee shop.

Leather sofa seats, mod bubble lights, elderly patrons smoking at the bar, and thick slices of pizza toast: These are the elements of a typical Japanese kissaten, or kissa coffee shop. Part bar, part restaurant, and part community center, these humble, Shōwa-era cafés serve tea, coffee, alcohol, and delightfully hybrid dishes such as pizza toast. Made of inch and a half thick slices of white bread topped with tomato sauce or ketchup, processed cheese, and whatever toppings the chef has on hand, this gooey, crunchy comfort food is what American writer, photographer, and designer Craig Mod calls “a hug produced in a toaster oven.”

The kissaten is a slowly disappearing culture in Japan today, and so Mod decided to pay homage to this culture before it’s gone.

Mod pays tribute to pizza toast and these endearing eateries in his new book, Kissa by Kissa, which documents his 1,000-kilometer, 40-day walk across Japan in search of kissa and his favorite menu item. He follows the Nakasendō Route—a historic highway from Japan’s Edo period—from his home in Kamakura to Kyoto, often walking eight to 10 hours per day. In lushly detailed photographs and perceptive, punchy texts, we meet charming, octogenarian kissa owners, sample an array of pizza-toast styles, and witness fascinating, fading kissa culture.

Learn more about the kissaten, as well as Mod’s journey, over at Atlas Obscura.

(Image Credit: Craig Mod/ Kissa by Kissa/ Special Projects, 2020/ Atlas Obscura)

The government of Singapore has recently given the company Eat Just the green-light to sell their lab-grown chicken in restaurants. Sales to regular customers have also been scheduled at a later date. According to the company, before it gained the government’s approval, it had to run through 20 production runs of its chicken to prove lab-grown meat’s safety and consistency.

According to the company’s press release, initially, Eat Just’s lab-grown chicken will be used as an ingredient in chicken bites or chicken nuggets, though Eat Just is already working on other “cultured chicken formats” for use in other dishes or applications. However, while its first lab-made chicken has been approved for use, there currently isn’t a specific date for when it will go on sale in restaurants in Singapore.

Unlike some of the company’s other plant-based products like Just Egg (which is based primarily on mung beans) or Just Mayo (which is based on yellow peas), or other plant-based meats like Impossible Burger, Eat Just’s lab-made chicken is derived from chicken cell-cultures grown in a bioreactor fed with various proteins, amino acids, sugars and minerals.

Learn more about Eat Just’s lab-grown chicken meat over at Gizmodo.

Cool!

(Image Credit: Eat Just/ Gizmodo)

Many of us by now have probably adapted a sedentary lifestyle. Because work is now done from home, commuting to work has now become as simple as rolling over in bed and opening the laptop. We know that too much sitting is risky for our health, and the way to reduce that risk is to exercise. But how long? A new study suggests that at least 11 minutes of moderate exercise could greatly reduce that risk.

The study, a meta-analysis of nine other studies tracking nearly 45,000 people, found that those who were most sedentary risked dying prematurely. But even when people sat as much as 8.5 hours a day, getting just 11 minutes of moderate exercise significantly cut that risk. Thirty to 40 minutes of exercise was even more helpful.

Keith Diaz, one of the co-authors of the study, clarifies that this amount of exercise will not eliminate the risk of long hours of sitting. However,...

 if some amount of sedentary time is unavoidable, any movement helps.

Learn more about this study over at Fast Company.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

It is said that cats love to be in enclosed spaces because they get comfort and a sense of safety in staying in those kinds of places. This is why they spend many hours just staying inside boxes.

This is probably why cats hate sleeping in the bed provided by their humans, because they feel exposed on those beds. And this sense of safety might also be the reason why this Banana Cat Bed could be the perfect bed for them.

… a plush, banana-shaped cat bed, complete with a peelable peel on top.

While available in a variety of sizes (18-inch small, $20; 22-inch medium, $25; 26-inch large, $30; and 36-inch extra-large, $41), it is not available in a variety of colors. It’s yellow or nothing.

It could also be a decent bed for puppies, too!

(Image Credit: Technabob)

Cheryl Stephen knew what she had to do when she saw the orphaned fawn lying in the middle of the road: she would take care of the deer at her home. What she wasn’t sure of, however, was how Sarge, her 9-year-old German shepherd, would react when he saw the deer. Much to her surprise, Sarge immediately stepped in to be the deer’s temporary babysitter. And so began the happy days of Sarge and Buckwheat the deer.

In an interview with The Dodo, Cheryl Stephen, Sarge’s mom said;

“Something clicked in Sarge and he took to Buckwheat instantly,” “He wanted to be involved with every aspect of Buckwheat’s care.” “He took on the role of being Buckwheat’s guardian,” she added. “None of the other dogs were allowed near the baby.”

After a time, Buckwheat was released back to the wild, but it wasn’t the end to Sarge’s deer-raising days.

Sarge’s exceptional rehabilitation skills became of the talk of the town on the local area by the time Buckwheat was released back into the wild and Sarge’s mom Cheryl was the go-to-person anytime someone came across an orphaned or injured deer.

After learning about his compassionate side his owners have now started regularly introducing him to animals who have come upon hard times. Most often these are fawns, or baby deer, who have found themselves in need of extra care. This is Sarge’s job and it clearly makes him proud!

Very wholesome.

(Image Credit: Dogs Addict)

Well, this is all subjective, of course. But it doesn’t hurt to see beautiful photos that made others’ 2020. BBC’s Kelly Grovier picks 14 photos from this year, from a shark, to lightning above a volcanic eruption, to wildfires. These photos are striking, and beautiful. It can make you second guess the validity of the photos. Check more photos here. 

Image via BBC

Yes, there are songs that are not suitable for kids. Usually, people would just not let kids listen to those songs, but there are some people who are willing to change the lyrics so kids can bop to some of the tracks that are not deemed suitable for younger audiences. Kidz Bop changes lyrics to make them kid-friendly - sure, that’s great, but sometimes the clean lyrics just … suck. Well, it’s not bad to use it for games! Watch as the guys from Good Mythical MORE guess the Kidz Bop lyrics to some popular songs. 

Well, believe it or not, 2020 is almost done. December is the chance for people to spend holidays with their loved ones (under safe and proper health protocols, of course), and it’s also time for the annual ‘best of 2020’ lists. Just the other day, Spotify trended after its release of Spotify Wrapped, a list of a user’s most played tracks in a year. Apple also released its annual list of best apps and games. App Store editors selected the winners based on quality, design, usability, and Apple technology: 

The “Best of 2020” winners this year include a number of apps that helped people transition to a life spent at home. For example, home workout app Wakeout! won iPhone App of the Year, while Zoom snagged the top spot as the iPad App of the Year.

Disney+, which helped families keep kids entertained during coronavirus lockdowns, won for Apple TV App of the Year. The streaming service had just won “best app” in Google Play’s User Choice category, announced on Tuesday alongside its other Play Store winners.

Top games of the year highlighted our collective need for escapism, often to fantasy worlds. This year, the list of game winners included Genshin Impact (also a Play Store “best game” winner) for iPhone Game of the Year; Legends of Runeterra as iPad Game of the Year; Disco Elysium as Mac Game of the Year; Dandara Trials of Fear as Apple TV Game of the Year; and Sneaky Sasquatch as the Apple Arcade Game of the Year.

Image via TechCrunch

Dark energy sounds like a main premise for a dystopian science fiction movie. Actually, it’s a real thing, even though it’s one of the biggest mysteries in physics. The universe is composed of matter, radiation, and an additional component that doesn’t clump or cluster, appears the same everywhere, at all times, and in all directions. This component is called dark energy. While scientists know how it affects the universe, they have no idea what it really is. Forbes writes about the mystery behind the component and how it could destroy not just us, but the entire universe. Check the full piece here. 

Image via Forbes 

The sun is now experiencing a second mode of fusion, as scientists discover the presence of neutrinos in its energy range. Stars actually have different kinds of fusion reactions at their cores, so there’s no surprise that the sun is getting another fusion. It’s the detection that’s difficult, as Popular Mechanics detailed: 

But detecting the evidence of different kinds of reactions is difficult. Enter neutrinos, which are lightweight, neutral subatomic particles that can pass through matter almost without any evidence. This is because of their physical properties and the fact that they respond to the weak, rather than strong, force of physics in our universe. (In a colloquial sense, the furthest extension of the weak interaction of neutrinos is something like dark matter, which scientists believe is mingling around us all the time without disturbing our matter.)

Image via Popular Mechanics 

The elusive Canada lynx usually does its best to avoid humans, but this one in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, was up for an astonishing close encounter. In fact, it climbed up on some heavy equipment to get a better look at Dean Erickson, who was recording.

"I am a logger from Alberta, Canada. I was stopped on the road with my skidder and looked back and to my great surprise, there was a Lynx standing by the tire on my machine. I quickly climbed on the roof and started videoing. He then jumped up on the tire, looked at me, and then jumped again on the arch of my skidder. Only a few feet from me now, he sat and curiously watched me. After a few minutes, he jumped back down on my tire and then with one great big leap, jumped off the tire back on the ground and slowly walked back into the forest never to be seen again."

The lynx didn’t seem to be scared, nor was it particularly threatening, just curious. But look at those magnificent feet! -via Boing Boing

Hungary — Réka and Balázs wanted a summer getaway that would get them closer to nature, not something “grounded” or “fixed” like their normal lives in an apartment in Budapest. And so, In October last year, the two approached the architect Tamás Bene and asked him to design a boathouse so that they can explore Lake Tisza, the largest artificial lake in Hungary.

The project pays homage to their love of the region, and their desire to learn more about it and experience it on a more intimate level. 

Lake Tisza is a vast, artificial body of water that owes its natural ecosystem to River Tisza, which passes through it. Tamás Bene found it interesting to conceptualize and design a dwelling that has no tangible groundwork or foundations. The point of vehicles – their primary function – is to transport. However, the movement of this compact living space intends to enable its inhabitants to experience the natural environment as closely as possible. The boat provides an opportunity to spend time, eat, drink, sleep and awaken nearly anywhere.

See the pictures of the tiny boathouse over at DesignBoom.

Cool!

(Image Credit: Balázs Máté/ DesignBoom)

Gangster movies have always been popular, because they present a lifestyle full of risk, violence, riches, and disdain for lawful authority, which audiences enjoy vicariously without having to actually deal with such dangerous people. You can relive the thrills of gangster movies in a chronological list starting in 1931. The selections may evoke your disagreement, but it presents a lot of films you may not have already seen, and it doesn't limit itself to the theme of organized crime in America. There are gangsters, real and cinematic, all over the world. Read up on twenty of those movies at Mental Floss.

A pastel character rolls on a wavy road with a smile on its face. However, its smile suddenly turns into a frown as it rolls on the road, and then it smiles again. This animation, titled “SMILE”, captures how we felt during this year: happy in one moment, and suddenly sad the next. 

Watch the full clip over at Colossal.

(Image Credit: Lucas Zanatto/ Colossal)