When you hammer a nail into a tree or a block of wood, it stays there. That's how nails are useful to us. Now consider the woodpecker. A woodpecker drives its beak into a tree with the force of a hammer, but then immediately pulls the beak out to hammer again. You've probably never thought about that before, but scientists have, and by slowing downside close-up footage of a woodpecker in action, they've figured out how they do it.

Once the tip of the woodpecker’s bill hits the wood, the bird’s head rotates to the side ever so slightly, lifting the top part of the beak and twisting it a bit in the other direction, the videos reveal. This pull opens the bill a tiny amount and creates free space between the beak tip and the wood at the bottom of the punctured hole, so the bird can then easily retract its beak.

-via Boing Boing

When the 18th Amendment made booze illegal in the US, people went to great lengths to get something alcoholic to drink. Industrial methanol found its way into bootleg liquor, leaving behind blind or even dead drinkers by the thousands over the period known as Prohibition. Dr. W.H. Miles of the Oklahoma City Health Board was familiar with methanol poisoning, but he and his assistant Dr. Ephraim Goldfain began seeing cases of paralysis in 1930 that they suspected were from drinking alcohol, yet the symptoms differed from anything they'd seen before.  

But the strange paralysis exhibited by Dr. Miles and Dr. Goldfain’s patients was something completely new. After tracking down and investigating more than 60 cases, the pair soon noticed an intriguing pattern: all the victims were regular users of Jamaica Ginger, a popular brand of Patent Medicine. Patent Medicines were a type of proprietary cure-all sold over-the-counter in most drugstores. These could contain all kinds of substances, including herbal extracts, opium, cocaine, turpentine, and mineral oil, but not – strangely enough – actual snake oil. But one ingredient nearly all brands had in common was copious amounts of alcohol – up to 90% in certain cases. This had made Patent Medicines a popular source of alcohol in dry counties for decades. Jamaica Ginger was especially popular among poor labourers in the South. Boasting a 90% alcohol content and costing only 35 cents a bottle, it was typically mixed with soft drinks at soda fountains to help cut down its strong bitter flavour. Among drinkers the concoction was commonly known as ‘Jake’, and the paralysis it caused soon came to be known as ‘Jake Leg’ or ‘Jake Walk’.

But while the link between Jake consumption and paralysis was convincing, it was also puzzling. Jamaica Ginger had been sold since 1863 without any negative effects. What had changed?

The story as it unraveled revealed shenanigans with regulatory systems and the way manufacturers tried to get around them, which you can read at Today I Found Out.

(Image source: Library of Congress)

Unhappy with a recent glow-in-the-dark paint job for a friend, Andy Zsinko created Lumilor while having a beer with his friends in 2009 after thinking “What if I could control the light, and what if I could make it shine brightly for hours?”

Lumilor coating is made of several layers where the top & bottom layers are conductive & connected to an AC source. Unlike light emitting diodes (LEDs), the brightness of the coating appears the same from all angles and through different atmospheric conditions like smoke, snow, and fog. And it turns on at the flick of a switch.

It begins as grey, similar to primer, but can be used with airbrushing and top coats. And although it's been around for over 10 years the cost can be a bit much, However, it's gone down from $4.50 to $0.46 per square inch since then, so we expect to see more of this awesome creation soon.

Via Oddity Central, Medium, Lumilor.com, & Business Wire

During her evening walk near her home in Tel Aviv, Azure Marshmello noticed something moving in the tall grass. Curious, Azure decided to approach the area, and there she found a number of baby chameleons who almost blended in with their surroundings.

“Since then, each time I walk nearby I count all the chameleons I can spot,” Marshmello told The Dodo. “It’s a relatively easy task once your eye knows what to look for. I suspect every night each chameleon settles down for sleep in the same spot.”

This is one of the photos that Marshmello took, and apparently there are four chameleons here. Can you find all of them?

(Image Credit: Azure Marshmello/ The Dodo)

One of the main problems that lunchboxes have is the fact that you won’t be able to heat up your food when it gets cold if you don’t have access to a microwave oven. This Dutch-designed Heatbox addresses that problem. Now, people can “enjoy a warm and healthy meal anywhere, anytime.”

Users start by pouring 20 ml (0.7 oz) of water into the Heatbox, then adding its stainless steel inner container, which contains their food. One lid is then placed on the inner container – sealing the food inside – and another lid (made of bamboo) is placed on the outside of the Heatbox, keeping the water contained. The whole thing can then be carried around, without anything leaking out.

[...]

The Heatbox is the product of a successful Indiegogo campaign and is now available for preorder, priced at US$149 – shipping should commence by the middle of this year. It's demonstrated in the following video.

Awesome.

(Image Credit: Heatbox/ New Atlas)

The Netflix series Bridgerton takes place in England between 1813 and 1827, which is known as the Regency Era. In the opening scene of the first episode, we see a maid lacing up a woman ever-tighter in her corset. The scene is a metaphor that’s quite common in period dramas, signaling how woman had no freedom, and were constrained by societal expectations to shape themselves into someone acceptable, no matter the pain or effort involved.

The trouble is that nearly all of these depictions are exaggerated, or just plain wrong. This is not to say “Bridgerton” showrunner Shonda Rhimes erred in her portrayal of women’s rights during the early 19th-century Regency era—they were indeed severely restricted, but their undergarments weren’t to blame.

“It’s less about the corset and more about the psychology of the scene,” says Kass McGann, a clothing historian who has consulted for museums, TV shows and theater productions around the world and who founded and owns the blog/historical costuming shop Reconstructing History, in an email.

Over four centuries of uncountable changes in fashion, women’s undergarments went through wide variations in name, style and shape. But for those whose understanding of costume dramas comes solely from shows and movies like “Bridgerton,” these different garments are all just lumped together erroneously as corsets.

There’s nothing wrong with using metaphors in movies or TV to make a point, but if you want historical information about women and their underwear, period dramas aren’t the most accurate source. Learn how corsets and other foundation garments were really used in the Regency Era and beyond at Smithsonian.

If you’re someone who regularly travels at least 75 miles from home, then you probably are 7% happier than those who travel less. That was what Chun-Chu Chen found out in his study, which is published in the journal Tourism Analysis.

Chun-Chu (Bamboo) Chen, an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management at Washington State University, conducted a survey to find out why some individuals travel more frequently than others and whether or not travel and tourism experiences have a prolonged effect on happiness and wellness.

[...]

… participants in the survey who reported regularly traveling at least 75 miles away from home also reported being about 7% happier when asked about their overall well-being than those who reported traveling very rarely or not at all.

“While things like work, family life and friends play a bigger role in overall reports of well-being, the accumulation of travel experiences does appear to have a small yet noticeable effect on self-reported life satisfaction,” Chen said. “It really illustrates the importance of being able to get out of your routine and experience new things.”

Learn more details about this study over at Neuroscience News.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

Bird photographer Jocelyn Anderson lays out a hand filled with snacks in front of the camera. A few moments later, a downy woodpecker, attracted by the food in Anderson’s hand, flies onto it. Suddenly, the woodpecker looks to its right, and then moves its feet backward, as a mourning dove flies into Anderson’s hand as well. Unsure, the woodpecker then stares at the dove as the latter eats the snacks. Eventually, the woodpecker then eats some before leaving.

This is just one of the many videos on Anderson’s YouTube channel.

Jocelyn gave an interview to Bored Panda explaining all of the details and the idea: “I started photographing birds about 5 years ago. I was taking walks on local nature trails and thought it would be fun to take some photos during the walks. I remember seeing a wee bouncing ball of a bird, which I later learned was a kinglet. I immediately became enchanted with this tiny bird and the challenge of photographing him.”

“One of the wonderful things about bird photography is that it creates a strong connection between the photographer and nature; the more you learn about how to listen and watch, the more nature will share with you. The camera also captures images that are too fast or too far for the human eye, giving a look into a world not normally seen. I am constantly inspired by the beauty, the intelligence, and the antics of these wonderful creatures.”

Very wholesome.

(Image Credit: Jocelyn Anderson Photography/ Bored Panda)

The founder of the Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, made an infamous speech on October 24th at the Bund Summit in Shanghai that cost him 3 billion dollars.

He commenced by saying he was torn about what he was about to say but felt that it was critical for financial development in China. For the next twenty minutes, he launched into a not so subtle attack of the Chinese government.

In the speech, Ma criticized “outdated supervision” of financial regulation for stifling innovation and said its global banking rules were like an “old people’s club.” He called for urgent change and said that Chinese banks had a “pawnshop mentality (that) is severe, and it also affects many entrepreneurs.” Ma called the people who run the banks “old men” and inferred they were out of touch.

A week after the speech officials issued stricter rules for online micro-lending companies, and on November 3rd the Shanghai Stock Exchange canceled the Ant Group IPO. Alibaba, which owns part of the the Aunt Group, immediately lost 3 billion dollars.

Jack Ma hasn't been seen since, and has even been removed from his own television shows promotional materials & website. Rumors are that he may have been detained.

Via Entrepreneur's Handbook

You know you have the bestest friend in the world when she goes her way to disguise herself in order to watch over you on your first date. Just like your guardian angel, if you believe in those.

Nope. Not creepy at all. And the mustache is clearly not suspicious.

Image via 9GAG on Facebook

Artist Jason Anderson masterfully uses the impasto technique in these works. With each stroke of the brush, the pixelated abstract images of horizons and city centers are created in the various colors in the linen canvas.

“I relish the often frantic nature of mixing and arranging the paint in thick impressionistic daubs and submitting to a process that creates its own detail and form,” the artist says in a statement. “This forces me to be bold and decisive; it also produces a kaleidoscope of shape and tone (reminiscent of stained-glass) which portrays the ever-present movement and energy found in nature.”

Check out Anderson’s works over at Colossal. You might also want to follow his Instagram to see more of his paintings and sketches.

(Image Credit: Jason Anderson/ Colossal)

Want some plants at the comfort of your own home without the need to water them to keep them fresh? LEGO has you covered with their botanical collection.

… the new sets include a LEGO flower bouquet and a LEGO bonsai tree. apart from it being absolutely breathtaking, the LEGO botanical collection includes a number of elements made from plant-based plastic, produced using sustainable sourced sugarcane — a move LEGO announced in 2020. 

The flower bouquet set is composed of 756 pieces, while the bonsai tree set has 878.

Cool!

(Image Credit: LEGO/ DesignBoom)

Platypuses are the weirdest animals in the weirdest class of mammals known as monotremes. They lay eggs, feed their young with milk, have venomous spurs, and glow in the dark. They have duck bills, webbed feet, and fur. But when you look at them at a molecular level, they are even weirder. Scientists have recently managed to sequence a male platypus’s DNA, and found some surprising things.  

The authors were particularly interested in the animal's sex chromosomes, which appear to have originated independently from other therian mammals, all of which contain a simple XY pair.

The platypus, however, is the only known animal with 10 sex chromosomes (echidnas have nine). Platypus have 5X and 5Y chromosomes organised in a ring that appears to have broken apart into pieces over the course of mammalian evolution.

Comparing this chromosome information to humans, opossums, Tasmanian devils, chickens, and lizard genomes, the authors found the platypus's sex chromosomes have more in common with birds like chickens than mammals such as humans.

Read how the platypus genome resembles an interspecies chimera of sorts at ScienceAlert. -via Damn Interesting

With his partner Margie, local treasure hunter Ross Poulter walks on the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia. This treacherous coast is known for the nearly 700 ships wrecked along its coastline in the mid-18th and early 19th century.

Carrying with them some shovels and a metal detector, the duo survey the land, in search of a legend — the Mahogany Ship. The ship is believed to be a Portuguese caravel that sailed in the 16th century. Poulter has been searching for this ship for 15 years now, and he displays no signs of stopping from his search. But did the Mahogany Ship even exist? Some say that it didn’t.

Know more about the Mahogany Ship over at Atlas Obscura.

(Image Credit: Diceman/ Wikimedia Commons)

Who an actor is should never be confused with the roles he plays, but cinematic history is littered with talented people done in by their offscreen personalities and/or personal lives. Those successful at avoiding such fate are often playing a part even when they aren't playing a part. Cary Grant was a master of such role-playing. When not in character, he was the ultimate gentleman: confident, stylish, charming, and in control, with just the right amount of masculinity and aloofness. This facade made it all the harder to get to know him. Hollywood biographer Scott Eyman's new book Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise tries to find the real man, Archibald Leach, who became Cary Grant.  

Grant reached a level of fame rarely achieved, let alone sustained over decades, with so many great films bearing his name. The actor often joked that he wished he was Cary Grant. He was always torn between his origins as a poor kid from Bristol and the Hollywood legend he became. A friend once wrote of Grant, “when we were out together in Beverly Hills, people usually didn’t approach him, or interfere. He was an object of awe. Being famous, visibly famous, is a terrible fate.” The truth is that Grant had a brilliantly constructed persona, better than anything a studio marketing team could have developed.