This may look like a Halloween fright wig, but it's really a caterpillar called a puss caterpillar. If you see one, don't touch it! That fur is nothing to trifle with. And they are surprisingly common in Virginia this year.

Puss caterpillars’ fuzz hides spines filled with poison. It’s the most poisonous caterpillar found in the U.S., and its sting can cause nausea, vomiting, swelling and itching, and feelings of anxiety. Not pleasant, to say the least. In recent weeks, Virginia residents have unfortunately had a chance to experience this. A woman in the Richmond area touched one and said it felt like a “scorching-hot knife passing through the outside of my calf.” She was admitted to the emergency room to treat the sting. This is Virginia’s second outbreak of weird bugs this year. Cicadas overran the state this summer, buzzing up a storm.

Read more about the puss caterpillar at Gizmodo.

(Image credit: Virginia Department of Forestry)

Do you want to spice up your daily routine? Try eating some glass shards! Okay, not actual glass shards (I mean, eating actual glass shards would spice up your life, but that’ll be the last moment of your life); edible glass shards. Watch BORE.D’s RPG-esque tutorial on how to cook some edible glass shards.

Timothy Dexter was born into Boston's working class in 1748. He achieved some success as a leatherworker, but became rich through marriage. He moved into a high-society area, where his neighbors included some of America's Founding Fathers, and although they found Dexter tasteless and annoying, they put up with him. But having money, he went on to make more money.

With the upward trajectory of Dexter's life in full swing, it was his ability to seemingly fall ass-backward into piles of cash despite the lack of any skill that brought him the riches he became known for. The first, and the one that set the tone for everything to follow, was his directionless speculation on American money. The Continental dollar was one of our first attempts at making money, and ... we weren't that good it turns out. A comical failure to the point of becoming a punchline at the time, Dexter made a ludicrously risky and stupid decision to hoard up the currency at its lowest possible value on the slim chance that it may one day be reinstated as the dollar of choice for this great new country. Though, of course, this never happened, Alexander Hamilton did work the constitution to allow for the trade-ins of these bills for 1% of face value and, overnight, Dexter became filthy rich. Despite having zero intention of playing the game how it worked out for him.

Dexter then built a notorious 20-room mansion and festooned it with 40 statues of prominent Americans, including himself. Later business ventures made him even richer with a combination of reckless risk-taking and unbelievably dumb luck. Read the story of Timothy Dexter in the snarky and colorful language you'd expect from Cracked. 

(Image credit: John H. Bufford)

Many have heard of the Excalibur, a sword which had to be drawn out from an anvil atop a stone. But only a few have heard of the Eggscalibur, a frying pan that has a hilt instead of a regular handle. It is said that whoever possesses this legendary item will have the ability to make perfect sunny-side up eggs.

Image via 9GAG on Facebook

Due to some quirks of both nature and human interference, there is an area of sand dunes in Maine called the Desert of Maine. Naturally, it was made into a tourist attraction early in the 20th century. A freshwater spring was found on the property in the 1930s, which was fortunate for thirsty tourists. However, just because you can own it and profit from it doesn't mean you can control it.

At some point in the late 1930s, the then-owners of the property built a gazebo-like structure around the well-head. “For a time, visitors could go over and get a drink of water from the groundwater spring,” Smith says. And though he hasn’t seen any historic advertisements, he adds, “I would be strongly surprised if they weren’t advertising healing properties or something.”

Trouble is, dunes are always on the move. The dunes at the Desert of Maine are said to have swallowed entire trees: One visitor, recounting a 1936 ramble for a New Jersey newspaper, recalled standing on dunes that had recently overtaken an apple tree, whose branches still seemed alive and jutted out through the blanket of sand. “That’s what sand dunes do, migrate from place to place,” Smith says. And the dunes marched right over the gazebo.

The gazebo, called the Spring House, was labeled as unsafe due to encroaching sand, and by the 1960s, it was completely buried. This fall, the owners of the Desert of Maine hired Josh Smith to dig up the Spring House. Read how that is going at Atlas Obscura.

(Image credit: Josh Smith)

You’re looking for something and you can’t find it. Suddenly, something happens in your brain and you find what you are looking for. Turns out that object was right in front of you all along. What did just happen?

When it comes to searching for objects that are faint or difficult to find, a type of brain wave called traveling brain waves help us to perceive, and, eventually, find objects. This type of brain wave is what Professor John Reynolds and company discovered in their study, which is in the journal Nature.

"We've discovered that faint objects are much more likely to be seen if visualizing the object is timed with the traveling brain waves. The waves actually facilitate perceptual sensitivity, so there are moments in time when you can see things that you otherwise could not," says Reynolds, senior author of the paper and holder of the Fiona and Sanjay Jha Chair in Neuroscience. "It turns out that these traveling brain waves are an information-gathering process leading to the perception of an object."

More details about this study over at MedicalXpress.

(Image Credit: geralt/ Pixabay)

You might not believe it, but there are no vegetables in this advertisement, except for the word “vegetables”, that is. (Peppers are considered fruits.) I’m afraid that’s the only thing that I can tell you about this. The poster doesn’t say much, either. So from here, just imagine that I said something meaningful, or something funny.

What would you add to this poster?

(Image Credit: u/ambitiousshark/ Reddit)

Ann Trow Sommers immigrated to the US from England in 1831. After her husband died, she supplemented her job as a seamstress by selling contraceptive potions. She arranged for pregnant women to relinquish infants for adoption. She referred women to abortionists, then she learned to do abortions herself. Sommers took the name Madame Restell and grew quite wealthy, as there was such a demand for her services. But the newspapers vilified her, and gave her the title of the "wickedest woman of New York."  

At the time, birth control and abortion weren’t illegal in New York or the wider United States—at least not before “quickening,” which was when the mother felt the fetus move. In addition, “abortion was not considered a medical issue,” explains Linda Gordon, New York University professor and author of The Moral Property of Women, explains to Mental Floss. It was performed by midwives, and it wasn’t unusual for city abortionists to call themselves physicians, even with no formal training. (There was no accreditation for medical schools until 1912 and no standard training for doctors until around 1915.)

This didn’t stop Restell from being arrested many times—and the press loved to sensationalize each of her trials. “Restell became well-known for her medical practice because she was made scandalous and it sold newspapers,” Leslie Reagan, history professor at the Univeristy of Illinois and author of When Abortion Was a Crime, tells Mental Floss in an email. “She was wealthy and had fabulous homes, all of which drew attention to her.”

Madame Restell was arrested every time New York changed its laws, and she eventually served a year in jail. She gave up doing abortions, but that wasn't the end of the arrests, because contraceptives were illegal by then, too. Read about Madame Restell at Mental Floss. -via Strange Company

Because the competition is fierce, fast-food companies always create food products that will surely attract the eyes and provoke the taste buds of the customers. During the process, however, these companies sometimes create food products that are rather strange, if not gross. Many of these products were a result of combining foods that tasted great when eaten individually.

Cracked.com lists 16 strange fast-food products that were once served in popular fast-food restaurants. See them over at the site.

(Image Credit: Cracked.com)

Alan McElligot was at a recycling bin dumping old clothes. When he dropped an old pair of shoes in the bin, he suddenly heard the cries of the cat inside. Alarmed, McElligot immediately called the police to get the cat out of the recycling bin.

Police and firefighters responded to the scene and agreed that there seemed to be the sounds of a trapped cat -- possibly two cats -- inside the container.

"One of the police officers suggested we drop food in there in case the cats had been there for a few days. So I went to Sainsburys as I had my car nearby and bought wet cat food," McElligott told Deadline News.

But when the fire brigade used their heavy tools to open the bin, they did not find signs of the cats. What they found instead was a battery-operated cat which was made by FurReal Friends. McElligot remarked that the cat made “very convincing meows.”

McElligott said the firefighters and police officers had a good laugh at the outcome of the unusual rescue.

"The two community officers, three police officers and the two firefighters started laughing," he said. "I went red faced and apologized. We all then left as quickly as possible."

Still wholesome.

(Image Credit: Alan McElligot/ Twitter)

3D Bat Air Freshener

Halloween is almost here. Now is the perfect time to freshen up your car, cave, or belfry with the 3D Bat Air Freshener from the NeatoShop. This frightfully fun, and practical item, comes in a lovely blood orange scent. It is a wonderful way to make your spirits take flight.  

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great items. New items arriving all the time. 

Don't forget to stop by the shop to see our huge collection of customizable apparel. We carry baby 6 months all the way to 10 XL shirts. We know that fun, fabulous, and Halloween loving people come in every size. 

Sci-Fi fan Phil Stiller spent a year building a home theater, and made it exactly what wanted. Behind these Space Invader doors is the bridge of the starship Enterprise! It has all the Star Trek details, plus four comfy recliners and ample video screens.  

Yes this room is TOTALLY my inner 12 year old and I make no apologies. I'm a total space/scifi/tech geek and it was really fun creating a cool theater room for my family to watch movies. (which we love to do) and NASA/SpaceX launches.

Stiller gives some specs on this build at the YouTube page, and you can see progress pictures at imgur. He's not an exclusive Star Trek fan; he also has a TARDIS for a front door. -via Geeks Are Sexy

Because in this time of uncertainty and worry, some pizza and a few comforting words would certainly do great things and help us cope up with the times. But of course, it comes with a cost, but it’s very affordable.

The legendary pizza joint Vinnie’s Pizzeria is offering something new in their menu. Aside from the pizza that they will deliver at your doorstep, you can also hear some comforting words from their delivery driver for an additional dollar.

Sounds like money well spent.

Well, what do you think?

Via Laughing Squid

(Image Credit: vinniesbrooklyn/ Instagram/ Laughing Squid)

A team of researchers led by Minjoo Larry Lee, an engineer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has found out that by layering advanced materials atop traditional silicon could maximize the efficiency of solar panels and make these capable of absorbing more energy from sunlight. The findings of their study are published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Sciences.

"Silicon solar panels are prevalent because they are affordable and can convert a little over 20% of the sun's light into usable electricity," said Lee, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Lab affiliate. "However, just like silicon computer chips, silicon solar cells are reaching the limit of their abilities, so finding a way to increase efficiency is attractive to energy providers and consumers."

Head over at TechXplore to know more details about this study.

Amazing!

(Image Credit: Mijung Kim/ TechXplore)

Many people love to post inspirational or motivational stuff on their Facebook or Instagram profiles. But not everyone loves these things. Some even feel like throwing up when they see these. Thankfully, Unspirational exists. It is an Instagram account dedicated to posting uninspirational, but realistic, stuff.

See some of its posts over at Sad and Useless.

(Image Credit: Unspirational/ Sad And Useless)