Julie Nolke traveled back in time three months from the present day to January. Because of time travel paradoxes, there was a limit to what she could say to her prior self. But she tried to leave some good hints about what she should be doing to prepare for the near future.
"Yeah, your definition of 'a pretty big deal' is going to change. For sure."
I really like this video because I've had this thought experiment myself. April 2020 John would warn January 2020 John to get better prepared to work from home and conduct homeschooling more effectively. I prepared for a natural disaster that was more intense, but of shorter duration.
Between the ninth and twelfth centuries, the practice of stealing holy relics was rampant in Europe. Monks, priests, nuns, and even bishops were willing to break one of the commandments in order to possess even a small piece of some martyred saint's remains. Sure, a relic could produce miracles, but one would also be valuable to the monastery's prestige and even tourism business for the entire region.
Perhaps the strangest thing about relic theft is how open monks were about their capers. In fact, we know about it mostly because they wrote about it, quite unabashedly. There was a whole genre devoted to the topic of furta sacra (holy theft). Scholars contend that many of these tales were exaggerated or even fabricated outright. But that only makes the problem more perplexing. It’s strange enough to cheerfully confess that you or one of your brothers stole a holy relic. It’s even stranger to say so if you actually didn’t.
There are a few explanations. First of all, a story of theft could give an otherwise dubious relic a plausible backstory. Or the story could cover up other means of acquisition: theft might actually be preferable to commerce, which crassly reduced holy saints to the status of commodities.
Some zoos in Germany may have to use some of their animals as feed (for the other animals) for their establishments to survive. Neumünster Zoo has listed the animals they’ll slaughter first. Killing some animals so that the others could live is the zoo’s last resort. However, this last resort wouldn’t solve the zoo’s financial problem, as Ms Kaspari at Neumünster Zoo told BBC:
Ms Kaspari at Neumünster Zoo said killing some animals so that others could live would be a last resort, and "unpleasant", but even that would not solve the financial problem.
The seals and penguins needed big quantities of fresh fish daily, she pointed out.
"If it comes to it, I'll have to euthanise animals, rather than let them starve," she said.
"At the worst, we would have to feed some of the animals to others."
Whilst stuck in quarantine, Fanni and Norbert need something to do. So they've been using household items and creative problem solving to remake iconic scenes from movies, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger's rocket launcher scene from Commando. Norbert is hoarding toilet paper, but is fully prepared to defend his stash.
Forced to get creative in the confines of his own home, the mysterious artist Banksy let rats completely trash his bathroom. It's a terrible mess, as you can see at Street Art News. He's no longer the master of his own home and, worst of all, has lost access to his precious supply of toilet paper.
Redditor Unqualified2Live made this magnificent blueberry and cherry pie for Easter. I want to eat it, but it would feel like eating the Mona Lisa if it was made of chocolate. Some food art is just to amazing to actually devour and Unqualified2Live keeps making it, as you can see from this challah loaf and this fruit tart.
As a kid, I wanted to create my own video games, with my very own characters and rules in my own world. Unfortunately, back then, I didn’t know where to start. But now I do.
The Verge gives to us a list of programs that we can use to make our own video games. What’s more, most of them are free of charge (with some free for a limited time only).
See the list over at the site.
(Image Credit: GameMaker Studio | 2 YoYo Games / The Verge)
There’s an unmistakable scent people associate with springtime. The description for the scent varies, but most would agree that the smell is a mix of dirt and something else. The ‘something else’ is the part that varies. Scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the John Innes Centre, and Lund University have determined the compound responsible for the indescribable scent of spring. Popular Mechanics has the details:
The secret? Geosmin, the soil-based compound responsible for those hard-to-describe olfactory sensations. Our noses are so finely attuned to the organic compound, in fact, that we can detect it better than sharks can recognize blood.
For the first time, scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the John Innes Centre, and Lund University have identified why this distinct scent has persisted: a symbiotic relationship between a six-legged worm, known as the springtail, and Streptomyces, a type of bacteria commonly found in soil.
"In field experiments, springtails were attracted to odours emitted by Streptomyces colonies," the authors say in their paper, which appeared earlier this month in the journal Nature Microbiology.
Streptomyces, for its part, produces organic compounds used in everything from chemical weapons to antibiotics. It also produces geosmin and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that easily become gases or vapors.
Imgur user sarbaaz37 shared a step by step procedure on how to build a Nintendo Switch from scratch. When sarbaaz37’s friends were unable to find a console for themselves from different retailers, they turned to online listings. The prices were ridiculous, with some selling a used Nintendo Switch for $450 to $600. This enraged (and motivated) sarbaaz37 to build the console from scratch. If you’re curious on how they built it, or you actually want to build one, head over to the tutorial on Imgur.
With the imposed quarantine due to the pandemic, the sales for the Nintendo Switch skyrocketed. However, this meant that its stock ran out. In Japan, one local retailer had to run an online lottery just to purchase the console. The Nintendo Switch is now out of stock in Japan, and some people are looking at older consoles instead, as NintendoLife detailed:
According to price tracker Kakaku, local retailers have gone from selling the New 2DS XL for as low as 10,000 yen (about $93 USD) in January to 13,775 yen (roughly $129 USD) this month. While it's nowhere near as bad as what scalpers are asking for certain systems, it's still enough to illustrate the increased demand. This follows on from Japanese retailers reducing the price of the dedicated handheld in 2019, due to a drop in sales.
Murray Berrill of Victoria, Australia remodels homes for a living. His most recent project is a wine cellar built directly into a staircase. It holds 156 bottles under temperature-monitored conditions. Berrill spoke to Bored Banda about the project:
Murray explained that maintaining structural integrity was the hardest part, but certainly not impossible: “There is a stud wall from the concrete slab to underneath each tread that runs down the middle of the stairs. An elephant could walk on it. That’s also where the draw slides are fixed so that the draws are anchored to the slab to minimize vibrations.” [...]
The flight of stairs is well-insulated and also comes with its own thermometer to track the temperature. Murray also has thoughts of installing some equipment that would keep the wine cool during the hotter seasons of the year. It took around a week and a half to build.
Berrill states that this project has gained so much viral attention that he may be building these wine cellars for a long time to come.
Viruses that can survive days on plastic, glass, or steel tend to succumb within minutes on a surface made of copper. Our ancestors knew the infection-fighting property of copper, long before they knew about microbes themselves.
The first recorded use of copper as an infection-killing agent comes from Smith's Papyrus, the oldest-known medical document in history. The information therein has been ascribed to an Egyptian doctor circa 1700 B.C. but is based on information that dates back as far as 3200 B.C. Egyptians designated the ankh symbol, representing eternal life, to denote copper in hieroglyphs.
As far back as 1,600 B.C., the Chinese used copper coins as medication to treat heart and stomach pain as well as bladder diseases. The sea-faring Phoenicians inserted shavings from their bronze swords into battle wounds to prevent infection. For thousands of years, women have known that their children didn't get diarrhea as frequently when they drank from copper vessels and passed on this knowledge to subsequent generations. "You don't need a medical degree to diagnose diarrhea," Schmidt says.
But what makes copper so different from other materials, even other metals, in fighting microbes? The explanation is in its atomic structure, which you can read about at Smithsonian.
Does all this social distancing have you missing your favorite hotel check-in treat? Now you can have the Signature Double Tree Chocolate Chip Cookie at home.
For the first time ever, DoubleTree by Hilton is sharing the official bake-at-home recipe for the brand’s beloved and delicious chocolate chip cookie, so at-home bakers can create the warm and comforting treat in their own kitchens.
