Going high isn’t an exclusive activity for present-day people. Scientists have discovered the first evidence of prehistoric people taking hallucinogens. Indigenous Californians who  gathered in a cave would look up the ceiling, where a pinwheel and a big-eyed moth were painted in red: 

This mysterious "pinwheel," is likely a depiction of the delicate, white flower of Datura wrightii, a powerful hallucinogen that the Chumash people took not only for ceremonial purposes but also for medicinal and supernatural ones, according to a new study.

The moth is likely a species of hawk moth, known for its "loopy" intoxicated flight after slurping up Datura's nectar, the researchers said.

Chewed globs that humans stuck to the cave's ceiling provided more evidence of these ancient trips; these up to 400-year-old lumps, known as quids, contained the mind-altering drugs scopolamine and atropine, which are found in Datura, the researchers said.

Image via ScienceAlert

If you're joining relatives by Zoom for Thanksgiving this year, you'll want to show off your cooking in the only way you can -by the way it looks. I was completely taken with this glowing dessert, and I'm sure your kinfolk would be too.

This isn’t a cheat, and it’s not an optical illusion — these are simply gin and tonic jellos made by adding gelatin to G&T and leaving them to set. So why are they glowing that fantastic ghostly color? The answer is that quinine (the bitter flavoring in tonic water) glows under UV fluorescent light. If you want to serve this to kids or teetotallers, it works just as well without the gin.

You'll find the recipe for Fluorescent Jello at The Splendid Table. And you'll find links to eight other recipes that will add visual flourish to your table, like cranberry lime pie, green deviled eggs, and ombré apple pie at Fast Company. -via Digg

Because we only have a limited amount of energy and resources in the universe, scientists are always developing devices that can run for a longer period of time while using less energy. This sensor is an example of such devices.

The latest sensor to be invented in the lab can go for a whole year on a single burst of energy, aided by a physics phenomenon known as quantum tunnelling.

The tunnelling aspect means that with the help of a 50-million-electron jumpstart, this simple and inexpensive device (made up of just four capacitors and two transistors) can keep going for an extended period of time.

The quantum rules of physics, applying at the smallest atomic scales, means that electrons can behave both as particles and as waves, and the scientists were able to tap into that behaviour to precisely control electron flow from one side of a circuit to the other.

Learn more details about this device over at ScienceAlert.

Cool!

(Image Credit: Chakrabartty Lab/ ScienceAlert)

In this video, YouTube channel GameRiot compares the original release version of Marvel’s Spider-Man (for the PS4) with the PS5 remastered version of the game. Many differences can be seen in the version, such as the lighting and environment details. But perhaps the greatest difference that can be seen is Peter Parker’s face, which many people have criticized, because in this game, Peter Parker is already 23 years old, and has been Spider-Man for about eight years.

Which version do you think is better overall?

(Image Credit: GameRiot/ YouTube)

When this corpse of a thresher shark was found washed up onshore, it didn’t take researchers that long to figure out the cause of the shark’s death, as a “sword” was found sticking out of its body. It was clear enough that a swordfish was this shark’s killer, but it is still unclear why it stabbed the shark. According to the researchers, it was possible that, at that time, the two ocean predators were competing for prey.

"The most likely scenario is that both species were hunting on a school of fish or on squids in the deep," said study lead researcher Patrick Jambura, a doctoral student in the Department of Paleontology at the University of Vienna. 

It's also possible the two ocean predators were fighting over territory, or that the swordfish accidentally stabbed the thresher shark and left nearly 12 inches (30.1 centimeters) of its "sword" in the victim, he said. 

News of the fight's deadly aftermath spread when the shark's body washed up on the Mediterranean coast of Libya, near the town of Brega in April 2020. A local citizen scientist group learned about photos and video taken of the 14.5-foot-long (4.5 meters) dead shark, and after seeing the evidence "I was just stunned for a few moments," Jambura told Live Science in an email. Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) are known to defend themselves against blue sharks (Prionace glauca) and mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus), as these sharks prey on swordfish. 

However, Jambura states that the thresher shark preys upon small food, and it may not have been a threat to the swordfish. So why did the latter stab it? It is still quite puzzling.

More details about this story over at Live Science.

(Image Credit: The Ichthyological Society of Japan 2020/ Live Science)

Many of our physical movements can be telltale signs of who we are as a person. In this study, scientists have revealed that how a person moves a computer mouse can be used to reveal how much of a risk-taker that person is. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We could see the conflict people were feeling making the choice through their hand movements with the mouse,” said Paul Stillman, lead author of the study who received his Ph.D. in psychology at The Ohio State University.

“How much their hand is drawn to the choice they didn’t make can reveal a lot about how difficult the decision was for them,” said Stillman, who is now a postdoctoral researcher in marketing at Yale University.

Stillman conducted the study with Ian Krajbich, associate professor of psychology and economics at Ohio State, and Melissa Ferguson, professor of psychology at Yale...

The researchers were surprised at how accurate mouse tracking was at predicting how people would react to other similar risk choices.

“In many cases, we could accurately predict how people would behave in the future after we observed them just once choosing to take a gamble or not,”...

“It is rare to get predictive accuracy with just a single decision in an experiment like this.”

Learn more about how the researchers measured risk-taking, and what type of test they made participants take, over at Neuroscience News.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

You probably have seen Uncle Roger work at two places now, one at a restaurant, and one at a food truck. Unfortunately, he got fired from both after just a day of working for them. But Uncle Roger takes another job once again, this time at a bubble tea shop in Sweden.

Check out his first (and probably final) day at this bubble tea shop, through this video.

(Image Credit: mrnigelng/ YouTube)

Paul Koudounaris’ beloved feline companion Baba is the narrator and model for his new book, A Cat’s Tale: A Journey Through Feline History. The book tackles the different events in our history, from ancient Egypt to the Enlightenment and the New World. While some history books focus only on the people that contributed to history, Koudounaris also shines the spotlight on the heroic, tragic, and heartwarming stories of cats! The Smithsonian has more details: 

A Cat’s Tale is one of dozens of books about the history of cats. But the richly illustrated volume stands out because it’s actually told through the voice of a cat. Baba acts not only as narrator but also Cindy Sherman-like impersonator, appearing throughout the book dressed as historic individuals and caricatures. Her voice and visage make Koudounaris’ take on the subject truly singular, mimicking oral storytelling more than an academic treatise. As Baba declares in the first chapter, “We cats have been allies to humankind for a very long time, and while you have reserved the sobriquet ‘man’s best friend’ for the dog, I may now provide you reasons to judge differently.” Letting Baba carry the book also allows Koudounaris to make a larger point about the subjectivity of history, including which stories get told and whose point of view and agenda they convey.

“Ostensibly, it’s a feline history book, but it’s also at its heart something more: a challenge to history as being a homo-centric monologue,” Koudounaris says. Underneath Baba’s narratorial sass and charm is “a plea to include other species that have been left out of history,” he adds. “We’re all in this together, and we’re all connected.”

Image via the Smithsonian

McDonald's is not exactly known for gourmet food, but most people will agree that their french fries are pretty good- for the five minutes it takes to eat them before they get cold. But they were once better. The McDonald brothers sold a thousand pounds of fries every day even before Ray Kroc turned their operation into a franchise. So what happened to the those extra-tasty McDonald's fries?

McDonald’s original french fries were cooked in beef tallow. For that fact, they were bullied out of production by a well-funded, well-intentioned businessman and self-proclaimed health advocate named Phil Sokolof, who unknowingly dethroned what many fans claim was the greatest french fry to ever meet mass production. “The french fries were very good,” [Julia] Child said in a 1995 interview, “and then the nutritionists got at them … and they’ve been limp ever since … I’m always very strong about criticizing them, hoping maybe they’ll change.”

Child never lived to see McDonald’s fries return to their former glory, and sadly, and there’s no indication they ever will. That’s why I set out on a quest to find the original recipe.

Luke Fater not only found what he believes to be the original recipe, he also cooked them to see if they were as good as he'd heard. See that and read the history of McDonald's french fries at Atlas Obscura.

The most common story of the history of Thanksgiving is the one we learn as children, either at school or from our parents. It's the short, simplified version: the Pilgrims sailed to Massachusetts for religious freedom, learned to grow crops from their native friend Squanto, and in November had a feast of turkey to thank God for a bountiful harvest. None of that is exactly accurate, but the nuances of history take some time and study to understand. UCLA historian Carla Pestana goes over some of the myths surrounding Thanksgiving, like the complicated idea of religious freedom.

There's also a narrative about religious freedom and persecution that we owe to Bradford, who says that the English king James I had harassed this little church out of England and they had to flee to the Netherlands, and that that church then came to settle Plymouth. It’s very compelling, but when they got to the Netherlands, they actually had perfect religious freedom. They don’t need to leave the Netherlands for religious freedom, and Bradford says as much; the idea that they go to America for religious freedom is just off.

I do think that in Plymouth they tended to be somewhat more tolerant of alternate religious views. Decades later when the Harvard president openly explains that he's a Baptist and has to leave Massachusetts, he goes to Plymouth. The first Quaker in Massachusetts who gets converted goes to Plymouth. I actually think that's one reason why Plymouth wins in the sweepstakes for becoming the most important founding moment in the region. They don't kill witches like Salem. They don't kill Quakers like Boston. Some of the worst things that people in the late 18th century were starting to be embarrassed about, about their ancestors, didn't happen in Plymouth.

Read more of what really happened to bring about our Thanksgiving holiday at Smithsonian.

This is Barnard 68, a dark absorption nebula found near the constellation Ophiucus. This molecular cloud absorbs practically all the visible light emitted by the stars near it, thus, the darkness.

It is not known exactly how molecular clouds like Barnard 68 form, but it is known that these clouds are themselves likely places for new stars to form. In fact, Barnard 68 itself has been found likely to collapse and form a new star system. It is possible to look right through the cloud in infrared light.

Cool!

(Image Credit: FORS Team, 8.2-meter VLT Antu, ESO)

Are cats really gods in our midst? I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer to my question is yes. And if that is the case, then it would only be fitting to serve these creatures and devote ourselves to them.

So why not take the next step with this cardboard Shinto shrine for cats, created by a Japanese cardboard company. From scratching pad and hiding spot to litter box cover, there are multiple ways to use the shrine to further your devotion.

The cardboard shrine was developed by Howay Industry, an Osaka-based manufacturer of cardboard and cardboard products. Unsure of how much demand there would be for a cardboard shinto shrine for cats, the company turned to crowdfunding site kibidango, where they quickly surpassed their goal of 500,000 yen (about $4800 usd) and have already raised three times the amount. The basic shrine is going for 4840 yen (about $46 usd).

It is only available in Japan, unfortunately, but talks are being made with the manufacturer.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Spoon & Tamago)

Name a more iconic duo. I’ll wait. pic.twitter.com/pxjLTKSxM9

— The Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) November 23, 2020

This week's new episode of The Mandalorian has the internet all abuzz, not because of anything in the plot as much as for the picture above, cropped from a promotional image released by Disney. To the left you see a person wearing jeans and a t-shirt! Who knew jeans were canon in the Star Wars universe? From the A.V. Club's review (which contains spoilers):

The Mandalorian had its Starbucks cup moment this week, as a crew member in a T-shirt and jeans appears on the left-hand side of a shot during the battle aboard the Imperial base. The gaffe even made it to the official still above, which I downloaded before this becomes a thing and Disney pulls it. (You can also see it at around 18:53 in the episode.)

And to show you how on top of things Ochre Jelly is, he's already recreated Jeans Guy in LEGO. He sent this image of a new LEGO set, and I had no idea what he was referring to ...so I looked it up. See more artwork in tribute to Jeans Guy at the A.V. Club.

Oddity Central introduces us to chả rươi, a popular street food in Vietnam. This omelet dish is high in protein because the principle ingredient is palolo sand worms (a species distinct from the sandworms of Arrakis). These marine segmented worms can be caught at sea or raised on farms. Then they are prepared into spicy dishes:

Before being added to the chả rươi omelet, the sand worms have to be boiled to remove their tentacles and fishy smell. The latter is also combatted by the zesty tangerine peel and all the herbs. Still, the taste of sand worm can be too much for some people, so over time a less hardcore version of chả rươi emerged, one which contains more pork than worms. But for true chả rươi fans, the original, more expensive version is the only real option.

In this video, the food vlogger Sonny Side travels to Hanoi and helps prepare a worm pancake. It looks good, but I prefer my gagh to still be wiggling.

Photo: Viethavvh

The early days of space flight were quite different. Rocket scientists would sometimes even pull practical jokes on their team, such as the time Gene Kranz convinced flight director Chris Kraft that an Atlas rocket had actually taken off during a flight simulation. But a 1991 incident put a stop to all that. One Thanksgiving morning, Lead Flight Director Milt Heflin was informed that a dormant Turkish satellite could possibly collide with the space shuttle in flight in 15 minutes.

There was no way for Heflin's engineers to calculate an avoidance maneuver, wake the crew, and communicate with them before the blackout period began. Heflin was livid—why had the Air Force not given more warning about a potential collision? Typically, they provided about 24 hours' notice. By God, if that satellite hit Atlantis, they could very well lose the astronauts as they slept. The crew of STS-44 might never awaken.

An experienced flight director who had started work at the space agency more than two decades earlier during the Apollo program, conducting oceanic recovery operations after the Moon landings, Heflin was largely unflappable. But now, he grew tense. "When I think about all of my time, I don't remember ever being so nervous or upset about something as I was then," he told Ars recently.

You can see the "Turkish satellite" in the picture above. But Heflin was too busy look at it, and the joke went so far as to stop all practical jokes at Mission Control forever. Read what happened at Ars Technica. -via Digg

(Image credit: Milt Heflin)