Phosphorus is one of the key ingredients in making life possible. But compared to other elements which life on Earth depends on — namely, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur — phosphorus is less abundant than these elements. And so, scientists were really surprised when they discovered a new type of star, one that is rich in the aforementioned element. Currently, scientists do not know exactly what type of stellar process paves the way to the creation of phosphorus, which is why they were so puzzled with this recent discovery.

What happened to these stars that made them so rich with phosphorus?

“The paper is all about exploring all possibilities and ruling out all of them,” said Masseron. “Basically, the answer is we don’t know.”

Check out the story over at Vice.com.

(Image Credit: FelixMittermeier/ Pixabay)

The “Outstanding Move” meme template is often used to praise an action for its ingenuity and uniqueness. Bored Panda compiles what they believe are the funniest outstanding move stories that can be found on the Internet.

Learn more about the real context of the image, and view Bored Panda’s compilation, over at the site. For now, here are two photos.

(Image Credit: Bored Panda)

Jellyfish may be considered one of the oldest creatures that survive on our planet. For at least 500 million years, they have swam across the waters and have reproduced and have thrived. This feat probably is thanks to their strange physical features.

These creatures have no special organs for respiration or excretion. They have no head, no brain, no skeleton and no true circulatory system. This allows them to be highly adaptable and to survive in even the harshest conditions.

Sometimes, jellyfish are unwanted visitors, especially to humans. They can clog cooling intakes of power plants, destroy fishing nets, and spoil catches. For other creatures on the planet, however, they prove to be a great help.

They are indicators of oceanic circulation patterns, play a rather large role in the mixing of oceanic nutrients and also help control pelagic fish populations (those that inhabit the water column, not near the bottom or the shore). It was recently discovered that jellyfish even provide microhabitats where other marine species may live and survive.

Jellyfish are creatures truly worthy of study, and that’s just what this team of researchers from South Africa is currently doing.

More about this over at The Conversation.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

In 2008, locals were surprised to find a group of beavers on their River Otter. These creatures were said to have died out in England around 1550 because of hunting. But instead of relocating the beavers, the Devon Wildlife Trust decided to observe the beaver population “to see how it would interact with the local environment.”

The beaver group currently living on the River Otter likely originated with either an accidental or unauthorized release. When local authorities discovered the beavers were breeding in 2014, they intended to relocate them to protect the local ecosystem. The Devon Wildlife Trust proposed an alternative: Allow the population to live on the river undisturbed for five years, and only remove them if they were proven to cause harm by the end of the trial.

Unsurprisingly, the beaver group did not cause harm in the local environment. Even better, they also made the area better than before.

The population, which now consists of 15 family groups, constructed 28 dams throughout the river system. These dams helped slow water flow during floods and contained water during droughts that would normally dry up riverbeds. The beaver-engineered habitat also allowed an increase in the number of water voles, fish, and amphibians.

And so,...

When the trial officially ends on August 31, the beavers will become permanent residents of Devon in the eyes of the government.

This is good news indeed!

(Image Credit: Ray Scott/ Wikimedia Commons)

Stress Squishy Rubber Chicken

Are you feeling like your life is running a-fowl? Have you been cooped up for too long? Maybe it's time to beak out the Stress Squishy Rubber Chicken from the NeatoShop. This little stress ball, shaped like a rubber chicken, is a real comedi-hen. It will be sure to have you feeling egg-cellent in no time. 

Be sure to check out the Neatoshop for more great items. We have punny new stuff arriving all the time. 

Don't forget to stop by the NeatoShop to see our large selction of customizable apparel. We specialize in curvy and Big and Tall sizes. We carry baby 6 months all the way to adult 10 XL shirts. We know that fun and fabulous people come in every size. 

When you hear that a part of the coastline rises and falls twice a day, you surely think, "Yeah, that's the tides. The land is not falling, but the water is rising." And so that's what people thought of the rise and fall of the peninsula of Cornwall. But with precise modern measurements by GPS, we found that the land does indeed rise and fall in that area, in tune with the tides but not just in relation to where the waterline is. Tom Scott explains this anomaly.

Schools around the world, including my own, are searching for new ways to teach students in engaging and meaningful ways online. It's pretty neat to create educational games. But coding video games is hard.

Today, I learned about H5P, which offers a branching game model used to create multiple choice scenarios. It's like a high quality Choose Your Own Adventure story. In this particular one, which the above screenshot comes from, a Canadian nurse makes a home visit to a client who, it becomes clear, is in a dangerous home situation. The producers did an extraordinary job of designing a scenario that tests a nurse's social skills.

-Thanks, Katie!

View this post on Instagram

#keklapissarawak #sarawaklayercakerolls

A post shared by Karen (@kitchen_confidante) on Jun 12, 2020 at 9:25am PDT

Kek lapis Sarawak is a uniquely Malaysian approach to layer cake design that emerged in the 1970s. The colorful layers are carefully baked, then sliced and rearranged into complex patterns that are as much a feast for the eyes as the mouth. Atlas Obscura describes the creation process:

Building these cakes requires a vivid imagination, an almost mathematical mind for detail, and perhaps most importantly, a steady hand.

Making one cake can take anywhere from four to eight hours, depending on the complexity of the design. It’s a process that could go wrong at any point in time: bakers first must cook up cakes in deep pans, carefully adding even stripes of colorful batter with ten minutes in the oven between each layer.

But making the cake is only half the battle. Kek lapis Sarawak is unique because bakers must carefully cut up the cooled cakes and reassemble them using jam or condensed milk as glue. The end result is a complex, vibrant pattern that appears when the cake is sliced.

Have you ever tried pressing your nose on a window or transparent glass? This beagle named Max certainly has, and it is funny. Apparently, Max was put on the balcony by his mother while she cleaned his room, because he loves to bite the mop. Growing impatient on the balcony, the beagle decided to press his nose against the glass, as if to ask his mother, “How long will the cleaning take?”

Cute!

(Image Credit: ViralHog/ YouTube)

Howdy Y'all! Meet Curbside Larry.... We Got'em! #libraries #curbsidepickup pic.twitter.com/Rkvzrt3ScU

— Harris County Public Library (@harriscountypl) July 22, 2020

Like a lot of librarians and library staffers across the United States, I'm working from home. The adjustment has its challenges, but also opportunities to rethink how libraries can and should operate. For example: you want a 5:30 AM virtual reference appointment? Sure, I'll be there!

Alas, I don't have Curbside Larry's engaging personality. He sells what the Barbara Bush Branch Library of the Harris County Public Library (that's the Houston area) has for you. This punk ass book jockey talks like a stereotypical Texas car salesman offering crazy deals on the latest and classic models. Texas Monthly reports:

Curbside service at the Barbara Bush Branch Library was already robust when the character—played by library staffer John Schaffer—was created. But according to Clara Maynard, the branch’s manager, Curbside Larry has brought even more awareness to the curbside pickup option at the library—and he’ll continue to do so, as she says that this isn’t the last we’ll see of the character. Schaffer, she says, has received a well-deserved promotion, and will be spending more time as both Curbside Larry and other characters to bring even more attention to the Harris County Public Library. 

-Thanks, Terry!

Do you think that you can cross in time before the train arrives? Maybe, but keep in mind that if you fail, you're creating an awful bloody mess all over the tracks for someone else to clean up. And the engineer will also be an emotional wreck, as he just watched someone--you--die in front of the vehicle under his control.

So the New Zealand Transport Agency, which operates the country's public train system, has created a series of mock memorials next to crossings. Scan the QR code on each to see video of a near miss.

-via reddit

Many animals engage in what behaviorists call "contrafreeloading." This means that when presented with the opportunity to solve a puzzle and be rewarded with food or get free food for no work at all, animals that engage in contrafreeloading take the puzzle option. Rats, gerbils, mice, chimpanzees, dogs, and other animals demonstrate this behavior.

But not cats. Andy Fell writes for the University of California at Davis:

But not domestic cats. Given the choice, cats prefer eating for free to working out a simple puzzle to get their food, according to a paper by researchers from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine presented this week at a virtual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society.

UC Davis cat behaviorist Mikel Delgado with colleagues Brandon Han and Melissa Bain offered 18 house cats a choice between a food puzzle and a tray of free food. Cats ate more from the free tray and spent more time on the free food, they found.

“It wasn’t that the cats NEVER used the food puzzle, they just used it less, ate less food from it, and typically would eat from the freely available food first,” Delgado said.

Why do some species engage in contrafreeloading and cats don't? It's uncertain:

Although contrafreeloading has been known for almost 50 years, there is still no single theory to explain it.

“There are different theories about why animals might contrafreeload, including boredom in captive environments, stimulating natural foraging behaviors, and creating a sense of control over the environment and outcomes,” Delgado said.

It’s also not clear why cats don’t do it — perhaps because it does not simulate natural hunting behavior, she said.

-via Marginal Revolution | Photo: Mikel Delgado

Street art isn’t just the optical illusion we see drawn on roads or pavements, some are in the form of different object displays, like a colorful row of umbrellas over a street. National Geographic features different kinds of street art from all over the globe. Check all the images here. 

image via National Geographic Kids

Who wouldn’t dream of going on a much needed vacation every now and then? Unfortunately, due to the current pandemic, that isn’t much of an option. That doesn’t mean we can’t take a break! Minjin Kang and Mijoo Kim of MUE Studio created some vibrant, minimalistic worlds in their series called ‘Visual Escapism, Somewhere in the World 2020.’ The artists aimed to create dreamlike dreamlike spaces that are architecturally rendered in 3D. Check out more pieces from the series here. 

image via We And The Color

Montreal-based graphic designer Olivier Bruel has done a mashup that is a welcoming distraction. Bruel has combined several well-known logos, such as Google and Lego, and the results are strange but fascinating. Creative Bloq has more details: 

Perhaps the most enjoyable of Bruel's designs are the most incongruous. We're not sure Peta and Metallica are often used in the same sentence, but the logo for Petallica (above) is making us imagine all sorts of head-banging heavy metal songs about small, furry animals. 

You can enjoy more of our favourite examples below, and find the full, strange collection on Bruel's website. For more marvellous mashups, take a look at these fun Disney NBA logos.

image via Creative Bloq