Games are made for different purposes. There are games that were developed to educate people, such as those made for kids. Other games are made to tell a story, like The Last of Us. And then there are games which are designed to make the player angry and frustrated, like Dark Souls. And finally, there are these games that, according to science, may improve your mental health and improve your mood.
The research by the University of Oxford analyzed the effects of playing two popular video games: Nintendo's "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" and Electronic Arts' "Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville."
It found that time spent playing the games was associated with players reporting that they felt happier.
But the study was limited to those two titles, and researchers did not explicitly conclude that increased play time was what caused participants to experience better mental health.
"Our findings show video games aren't necessarily bad for your health; there are other psychological factors which have a significant effect on a person's well-being," Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute and the study's lead author, said.
"In fact, play can be an activity that relates positively to people's mental health -- and regulating video games could withhold those benefits from players."
I have two theories for this photo. One, the camera experienced the pareidolia effect. Two, there is an unknown entity that blended itself with the curtains. Judging by how the cat doesn’t seem to care about its surroundings, I would say that the first one most likely happened. But what are your thoughts about this one?
The Pegasus Luggage line offers this new handbag styled like a disposable facemask, complete with a nose clip. Depending on how people react to your fashion choice, it may actually improve your social distancing capabilities.
It's called the Gushing Water Tree. This mulberry tree in Montenegro has cracks in its trunk. When the area floods with rains, pressure from underground springs forces water up through the cracks and out a hole midway up the trunk.
Radio Free Europe says that the water pressure pushes the water through the roots, but I'm skeptical that roots work that way.
In Antartica, sunset takes a long time, and night lasts for half the year. Most of the workers leave, and those who are left behind get no supplies for nine months. Astrophysicist Robert Schwarz has "wintered over" in Antarctica 15 times, more than anyone else on earth. Now that he's retired from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, he misses those winters and the sunrise that comes in September.
Denis Barkats, a senior scientist who wintered with Schwarz in 2006, recalls an old Antarctic joke: “The first time you winter, it’s for the adventure. The second time, it’s for the money. The third time, it’s because you don’t fit anywhere else.” But that doesn’t seem true of Schwarz, who is cheerful and easygoing, Barkats says. “He has something I don’t have,” he goes on. To return 15 times, one must effectively treat the rigors of winter as one’s job. “You might say, ‘Oh boy, I really want a watermelon!,’” Barkats says with a smile. “Well, you can’t have it for nine months.”
Schwarz doesn’t regard himself as unusual. Still, at the start of each winter, as Pole’s summer population fell from around 150 to under 50, he usually felt relief. “Suddenly everything is quiet, you only hear the wind, and there are only a few people left,” he says. “It’s a great feeling.”
It was about 10:30 PM. Rachel was in the kitchen, and was about to take her dogs for a walk. Her laptop was left charging on a hard table. Suddenly, Rachel heard a loud cackle, and as soon as she heard the sound, she immediately fled into the garden with her dogs. As it turns out, the sound came from the laptop, and as Rachel fled into the garden, she heard the laptop make a sound once again, and saw it catch fire, which immediately spread on the table.
Fortunately, no one was harmed during the accident, but Rachel learned a lesson that night: to not buy cheap electronics online.
"Luckily my two kids were staying at their grandmother's that night but if they'd been in the house at the time the fire would have between them and myself which is absolutely horrible to think about.
"I was told it was the battery of the laptop that was at fault. I'd bought the replacement battery from Amazon through a third-party seller after the original battery died."
Upon hearing this news, the safety charity Electrical Safety First was prompted to warn people about the dangers of buying electrical products online.
Many others are likely to make similar purchases in the run-up to Christmas, said Lesley Rudd, chief executive of Electrical Safety First.
"We would urge people purchasing electrical products to use the stores of websites of known manufacturers and retailers such as those found on the High Street, rather than resorting to third-party sellers on online marketplaces.
Would you like to hold hands with a girl someday? Well, yes, of course, we all would. But let's be realistic: that sort of thing only happens in the movies. For the best alternative experience, we'll need this new hand holding robot. Sora News 24 reports about how responsive it is:
1. The outer covering is made from soft and pliable gel, to recreate “the tenderness of a woman’s hand.”
2. Osampo Kanojo contains an internal pressure sensor, so that when you squeeze its palm, motors activate and the hand squeezes you back.
3. When walking with a girlfriend, your strides may not perfectly mesh for each and every step. To replicate this, the Osampo Kanojo is mounted on a track that runs perpendicular to your wrist. Walk too quickly, and motors will cause it to slide back, creating a rearward tugging sensation on your arm. While this might seem like an inconvenience, it helps create the sensation that you’re walking with someone who’s taking their own steps next to you, and not just carrying a piece of baggage.
4. Osampo Kanojo has an internal heater, so that warmth will radiate out from its palm and fingers.
5. A human hand isn’t dry like a chunk of plastic or mound of rubber. While a hand that’s slick with sweat would be unpleasant, a certain amount of moisture is needed for an organic feeling. To achieve that, a piece of moistened fabric is placed inside Osampo Kanojo, and when the heater is activated, it causes trace amounts of moisture to be secreted through small pores in the outer covering.
6. As discussed above, two people walking hand-in-hand won’t necessarily have identically timed footsteps, so Osampo Kanojo plays the sounds of your virtual girlfriend’s steps through your smartphone’s speaker, along with the sounds of her breathing and the gentle rustle of her clothing.
7. Last, we weren’t kidding when we mentioned that the designers have included something for your sense of smell. The cloth inside Osampo Kanojo is treated with a women’s shampoo fragrance, so that the subtle aroma of freshly washed hair will waft up from it when the cloth is heated.
This viral video of unknown origin shows a dog that is fortunate to not actually be playing fetch with darts. Like any sensible person, he leaves fantasy and reality undifferentiated. Or, perhaps, his televised companion is playing "fake throw", as dog owners are prone to do.
What's the funniest movie you've ever seen? Comedy is certainly subjective, but a well-crafted funny film that appeals to many is likely to become a hit, then a classic. It may even become a standard bearer for the humor of its era. This list of the 30 best comedies is in chronological order instead of rank, so you can read through the history of cinematic comedy, while reading what made each movie great and seeing a clip besides. It's over at Mental Floss.
Random Street View is a fun internet toy. When you click on the button marked "Next", the website will take you to a random location visible on Google Street View.
You get $5,000,000 but you are obligated to live 10 years in a randomly chosen place on earth.
One Twitter user suggests using Random Street View as a game. My first landing was a village in western Ukraine. I think that I'd be happier in Copenhagen.
We know from our science classes that the universe is made up of “fundamental” particles, but have you ever wondered what exactly is a particle? When we ask the question “what is a particle?”, the usual answers that we get are “electrons”, “photons”, and “quarks”, which are examples of “fundamental” particles in the universe. But what, exactly, is a particle?
“We basically think of a particle as a pointlike object,” said Mary Gaillard, a particle theorist at the University of California, Berkeley who predicted the masses of two types of quarks in the 1970s. And yet particles have distinct traits, such as charge and mass. How can a dimensionless point bear weight?
“We say they are ‘fundamental,’” said Xiao-Gang Wen, a theoretical physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “But that’s just a [way to say] to students, ‘Don’t ask! I don’t know the answer. It’s fundamental; don’t ask anymore.’”
When Natalie Wolchover has asked some particle physicists about the definition of a particle, the physicists she asked gave “remarkably diverse descriptions”.
They emphasized that their answers don’t conflict so much as capture different facets of the truth. They also described two major research thrusts in fundamental physics today that are pursuing a more satisfying, all-encompassing picture of particles.
“‘What is a particle?’ indeed is a very interesting question,” said Wen. “Nowadays there is progress in this direction. I should not say there’s a unified point of view, but there’s several different points of view, and all look interesting.”
Know more about the different points of view of what a particle is over at Quanta Magazine.
I remember being amazed as a kid when my classmates brought one of these bad boys into the school one day. Back then, I used to wonder what material the slap bracelet was made of. Now, I know the answer. I finally know the secret of the slap bracelet.
You might not ever get the opportunity to take jetpack lessons, so Tom Scott went through the experience to show us what it's like. Gravity Industries won't let you go off on your own in the first lesson, which is honestly a good call. Just don't aim those jet engines at your feet!
There may be a Harry Potter fan, or five, in my household. I don’t know if that makes me biased in a good way or a bad way against all things Harry Potter. Let’s just say that my expectations are high when it comes to this extraordinary world created by the legendary J.K. Rowling.
Moreover, I also might have a warped sense of what makes for a good pop-up book. You see, I actually inherited a vast collection of pop-up style books. Some are actually done in collaboration with paper engineer Matthew Reinhart. Those books now sit in a beautifully color coordinated row on my bookshelf thanks to a certain show that I binge watched at the end of summer. Some of those pop-up books are exceedingly complex. Some of the books in my collection are more simple, but feature beautiful illustrations. All of these pop-up books hold a special place in my heart for the varying ways that they are engineered to deliver information.
Given my inherent leanings and predispositions I promise to “try” to still give my fair assessment of Harry Potter A Pop-Up Guide to Diagon Alley and Beyond by the incredibly talented Matthew Reinhart. I will also try to keep my Harry Potter fan-girling to a minimum.
Harry Potter A Pop-Up Guide to Diagon Alley and Beyond definitely makes an extraordinary first impression. The book is large and weighty. It is probably one of the bigger pop-up books I have seen. The front, back, and spine of the book are covered with gorgeous illustrations. The title of the book and a few other details are printed in metallic gold which provides a bewitching contrast to the more muted and earthy colors of the illustrations.
When you first open the book the amount of detail is almost overwhelming. You are immediately transported to Diagon Alley. There you will find Flourish & Blotts and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Here I counted no less than 5 pull tabs. Each tab opens up to expose elements and images from the Harry Potter films. As you pull the tabs you really need to make sure the book is fully opened as many of these hidden images and dimensional effects need room to emerge.
As you continue on through the book you will find Gringotts and The Vaults. The Gringotts Bank actually opens vertically to reveal the vault. The page extends well above, and slightly below,the confines of the book. The image pop-up engineering here is quite impressive. The only slight downside being that it is hard to close. I definitely struggled to get everything back into place and worried that I would rip something in the process. Pop-up books as most everyone knows are notoriously delicate.
In the book you will also find pages dedicated to Knockturn Alley and Ollivanders, Hogwarts Express and Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and The Ministry of Magic. All are equally stunning. All the pages feature hidden surprises, hauntingly beautiful imagery, and lovely sections of text.
What’s most impressive about this pop-up book, however, is that the entire book is designed to unfold out into a table top pop-up diorama that is approximately 48” x 21.” Thankfully instructions are provided for this process. I only wish, however, that more instructions were provided for the Gingotts Bank and Vault section of the book. I really struggled with putting that section back together.
The book is illustrated by the marvelous Kevin M. Wilson. Likely you have seen his work before, but just don’t know it. Kevin Wilson has done work for Universal Studios, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Marvel, and more. Kevin Wilson does not disappoint. His illustrations here are hauntingly beautiful and really transport you to all these locations.
I don’t think that any Harry Potter fan or pop-up book collector would be disappointed to add Harry Potter A Pop-Up Guide to Diagon Alley And Beyond to their collection. The book's unique ability to turn into a 4ft long 3D model with additional paper characters makes the book truly one of a kind. I think it’s fair to say that this would be a treasured, albeit delicate, gift for those who love the Harry Potter film franchise or pop-up books.
The first manned space flight by a private company began on Sunday when the SpaceX Crew Dragon lifted off with four astronauts bound for the ISS. The astronauts are Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi, plus a very special little fella, The Child that we call Baby Yoda.
The Baby Yoda plush had a very important role to play during the flight: he was acting as the “zero-gravity indicator,” an object that is brought on board to determine when a microgravity environment has been reached.
