This is a little lesson to research what you buy before you buy it. An unwelcoming surprise awaits.
Mike Fahey of Kotaku reports that Strata Miniatures now offers a line of 3D printed Dungeons & Dragons miniatures for tabletop fun. They depict fantastic combat wheelchairs and their users who are fully prepared for the challenges of any quest. Fahey, a role-player who uses a wheelchair, is delighted:
My personal favorite, and the one I’ve purchased, is the elf rogue. She looks nothing like me, but her sly little grin is all me. I love playing the sneaky rogue in RPGs. I bet her chair has a silence spell of some sort cast on it. Look at those dagger-lined wheels! That is one badass wheelchair user.
Image: Strata Miniatures
You might laugh, then feel bad about laughing, then you should know that this picture was staged by the folks at Bitterroot Bison Company in Missoula, Montana. The image has spawned some memes. However, it was based on a real story about a bison goring in South Dakota. The lesson here is: don't try to take a selfie with wild animals. -via reddit
Whenever you feel the need for a safety sign that is ANSI Z535-compliant, just use the Safety Sign Generator. Pick a level of warning with a signal word, select a pictogram or two, and write out any kind of notice you wish.
The examples here were generated by commenters at Metafilter. There are a ton of them if you need a laugh or some inspiration, although some are hilariously rude. Damon Burke, who designed the generator, also has one for Laboratory Door Safety Signs. Go wild with both of these!
Allen Pan invented a gun that shoots a mask onto people’s faces. This gadget comes in handy, especially since some people are actually not taking this whole pandemic seriously. If they won’t gear up for their own safety, someone has to force them to do so. Pan used parts of a car’s brake line, a pistol grip from a spray can, custom electronics, and a solenoid valve, as Gizmodo detailed:
Even with the addition of an actual laser scope that projects a green dot onto a target who’s not been properly educated about the benefits of mask wearing, aiming the mask gun is the most challenging part of using it. After some initial successes during testing, the accuracy of the blaster took a steep nose dive as the wonky aerodynamics of a face mask attached to four projectiles makes its trajectory almost unpredictable. Functionally, the Mask Gun works exactly like those cannons that launch nets to knock drones out of the sky, but the mask instead works like a sail or a parachute designed to catch the wind, and even with a laser scope, aiming is almost completely random.
Image via Gizmodo
It’s best to avoid adopting pets online, as it’s not certain if you’ll be getting an actual furry friend! People who have been victims of online puppy scams have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars before realizing that no pet is on the way to their homes. With the pandemic, more people are searching for companions in order to ease their isolation and brighten their lives, as FastCompany details:
Scammers often place ads on social media platforms or other sites, offering to have a pet shipped to buyers for a fee paid up front. After would-be pet owners place an order, sometimes by wiring money or sending it from a bank account, the sellers often request additional fees to handle shipping issues or for other reasons. Some buyers can be out hundreds or even thousands of dollars before they finally realize there’s no new pet en route.
The scams have been reported across the country and across the world, with former Australian Football League player Andrew Leoncelli revealing last week he was scammed into spending nearly 3,000 Australian dollars on a nonexistent dog he found online.
The BBB advises the following:
- avoid pet purchases that require sending payment through unusual means, like wiring money or buying gift cards to other stores
- be wary of deals that sound too good to be true for the animal breed in question
- check for stock photos and text that appears on multiple unrelated websites
- attempt to adopt from an animal shelter before going the online order route
Image via FastCompany
As we struggle during these trying times, it is no surprise that we experience higher levels of stress. With that being the case, what could help in lowering our stress levels?
Some say that food could help us in lowering our stress levels.
Unfortunately, a lot of these are just puff pieces with little to no scientific basis. Sometimes, however, journalists interview actual scientists about their research. The problem is that researchers often use the word "stress" to mean something very different than what the general population thinks of as stress—and that often leads to confusion.
In this article, Monica Reinagel clarifies that there are two types of stress: physiological and psychological. She also explores the relationship of refined carbs, as well as probiotics, on those two types. In doing so, she separates the facts from fiction.
Learn more about the ways to reduce your stress levels over at QDT.
What are your thoughts about this one?
(Image Credit: Myriams-Fotos/ Pixabay)
Kakao-Regen im Oltner Industriequartier: Lüftungsanlage ist schuld daran https://t.co/O9Iorni5Iz pic.twitter.com/3LWZCsHeE0
— Olten (@olten) August 15, 2020
A defect in the ventilation system at the Lindt & Sprüngli chocolate factory in Olten, Switzerland resulted in a spray of "cocoa nibs" into the air, leaving a fine dust of chocolate around the factory and the nearby environment.
The company says one car was lightly coated, and that it has offered to pay for any cleaning needed — but hasn’t yet been taken up on the offer.
One would guess that the owner of the car would be tempted to clean it himself -with his tongue. Or as the Fark headline said, "That's what a Lindt brush is for." Tay Zonday could not be reached for comment.
We’ve come a long way when it comes to technology. Even our footwear gets an upgrade! Meet the DropLabs EP-01. These shoes let you “feel” the bass in any media you play. Does it work like a bluetooth speaker, except it lets you feel the sound? Check out Unbox Therapy’s video to find out!
Scientists are measuring how far the moon has gotten away from us. Yes, the moon is drifting away from us every year. For decades, scientists have been measuring the moon’s retreat by firing a laser at the moon’s surface. Don’t worry, they’re not aiming to destroy the lunar surface. The laser hits the light-reflecting panels left on the surface, as The New York Times detail:
But the moon’s five retroreflectors are old, and they’re now much less efficient at flinging back light. To determine whether a layer of moon dust might be the culprit, researchers devised an audacious plan: They bounced laser light off a much smaller but newer retroreflector mounted aboard a NASA spacecraft that was skimming over the moon’s surface at thousands of miles per hour. And it worked.
These results were published this month in the journal Earth, Planets and Space.
Of all the stuff humans have left on the moon, the five retroreflectors, which were delivered by Apollo astronauts and two Soviet robotic rovers, are among the most scientifically important. They’re akin to really long yardsticks: By precisely timing how long it takes laser light to travel to the moon, bounce off a retroreflector and return to Earth (roughly 2.5 seconds, give or take), scientists can calculate the distance between the moon and Earth.
Image via The New York Times
The Milky Way is a huge galaxy. It seems that astronomers aren’t even sure how many there are in the galaxy. Various estimates range from 100 billion to 400 billion, because some stars are not visible from Earth for multiple reasons: some of them being too far, too faint, or obscured by gas or dust.. If someone asks you the question though, just give them the estimate! That’s a better answer than nothing!
Image via Science Focus
It’s all for self-protection. New research has found that narcissists are less likely to reflect on their mistakes and are more inclined to blame them on the unpredictability of the universe. Researchers tested the various levels of narcissism present among different people, as ScienceAlert detailed:
"We argue that, due to their exaggerated self-enhancement and self-protection tendencies, narcissists show stronger hindsight bias when their predictions are accurate and a reverse hindsight bias when their predictions are inaccurate, both of which harm their learning and future decision making," the authors of the new study argue.
To do this, volunteers were asked in an online survey whether they identified more with statements like "I think I am a special person" than statements like "I am no better or worse than most people."
Shortly after this quiz, applicants were offered an opportunity to sign up for another in-person study. To avoid influencing expectations, the researchers took efforts to keep the participants unaware that the questionnaire was connected to the follow-up study.
This more personal half of the study involved groups being asked to read a bunch of qualifications for a hypothetical job and choose who to hire. They were then given their pick's performance assessment and asked whether they made the right decision.
Subtle variations in the methodology and performance outcomes of all four experiments allowed researchers to analyse how narcissism can impact hindsight bias and our ability to reflect on what we should have done, known as 'should counterfactual thinking'.
Image via ScienceAlert
Patents are granted to protect a person who has an idea, not to render judgement on whether it's a good idea. Therefore, the patent files are full of strange and wonderful notions that will make you scratch your head. In 1930, Shelby Helene Adelaide was granted a patent for a system to interrogate crime suspects and compel a confession from the guilty.
“The present invention relates to a new and useful apparatus for obtaining confessions from culprits, or those suspected of the commission of crimes, and photographically recording these confessions, in the form of sound waves, in conjunction with their pictures, depicting their every expression and emotion, to be preserved for later reproduction as evidence against them,” the inventor describes her invention.
The invention works somewhat like this: first, the suspect is isolated in a small, dark chamber. The examiner sits in a nearby chamber and asks their questions through a megaphone. But here’s a twist—the suspect isn’t able to see the questioner. Instead, they’re faced with “a figure in the form of a skeleton.”
Moreover, the eyes of the skeleton are glowing red “for the purpose of imparting to the eyes of the skeleton an unnatural ghastly glow”
While such a setup might be perfect for a haunted house attraction, its use in solving crimes might have only come down to separating hardened criminals from the hopelessly naive (and probably innocent), who would end up traumatized for life. At any rate, it seems no one built this contraption, much less used it in law enforcement. Read about Adelaide's patent and see more pictures at Bored Panda.
(Image source: Google Patents)
What do you do when you have a very lucrative franchise, a new streaming service, a holiday season ahead, and then live-action production is shut down due to a goal pandemic? Disney came up with an answer. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special will debut on Disney+ on November 17. Like the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, it will revolve around the holiday Life Day, but most of the Star Wars characters will be played by animated LEGO minifigs. Executive producer Josh Rimes hinted that the story will feature action, comedy, and nostalgia.
The Lego holiday special, which Rimes teases will feature a few “Star Wars” movie actors reprising their roles, catches up with the cast after the events of last year’s saga-closing “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Rey and droid pal BB-8 head off on a quest to gain a deeper knowledge of the Force, but their visit to a mysterious Jedi Temple sends them careening through time and space. Rey interacts with Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and other characters in some of the franchise’s most beloved moments, as they try to return in time for a Life Day feast with her friends on Chewbacca’s Wookiee home world of Kashyyyk.
The use of LEGO not only eased production in the age of social distancing, it also signals that the special is not competing with any of the other Star Wars productions, and is not to be taken as canon. Read more details about the upcoming stunt holiday special at USA Today. -via Boing Boing
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
Living in a lamp is so old school. Modern day genies live in their Uber cars! He can make your wishes come true, except in matters of love- that's not allowed, because it involves more than one person. But where there's a will, there's a way! -via reddit
