The reason only female cats have calico markings, or almost always, have to do with genetics. The exact story of how those genes work is quite interesting. Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out tells us all about it. He also explains catnip.

Here’s a stunning dessert that will only take you thirty minutes to make. And it also doesn’t need a lot of tedious effort! Twitter user Tsunewaak (@tsunekawa_) shares their recipe for a rainbow milk gelatin cake. The multi-colored pattern on the cake does look intimidating, but creating it is simple, as SoraNews24 details the recipe:

it’s actually very simple to make, with only a handful of required ingredients:

● Kanten (a.k.a. agar powder, available at any Asian market)

● Water

● Granulated sugar

● Milk

● Shaved ice syrup (or fruit juice)

Step 1: In a pot, combine 4 grams (0.14 ounces) of agar powder, 150 milliliters (5.07 ounces) of water, and 60 grams (2.12 ounces) of granulated sugar. Heat the pot on the stove until the contents come to a boil, then turn off the heat.

Step 2: Stir 300 milliliters (10.14 ounces) of milk into the mixture. Place the mixture in the refrigerator to chill/harden into gelatin.

Step 3: In a separate pot, Repeat Step 1.

Step 4: Stir an additional 300 milliliters (10.14 ounces) of water into the second pot, plus 20 milliliters (0.68 ounces) of shaved ice syrup, the more brightly colored the better. Once again, put the mixture in the fridge to cool and solidify.

Step 5 (optional): Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for any additional colors you want to use.

Step 6: Once everything is nicely chilled (which should take about 30 minutes or so), take the mixtures out of the fridge. Cut the colorful syrup gelatin into small cubes and arrange them on top of the white milk gelatin, which will serve as the base.

image via SoraNews24

This collection of detailed paintings might seem to accurately portray (to some extent) our society's current state, and they actually might just be appropriate for today’s situation. Hanging by a String is a collection by Vicki Ling. Ling portrays fragile objects being balanced by a string. The series explores the “feeling of insecurity brought forth from the potential catastrophes of modern life,” as Plain magazine details: 

The oeuvres are composed of fragile objects interacting with string in an impossible way, directly challenging the balance and harmony of the overall scene. Biscuits, fruit, jars and porcelain dangle gently on a piece of red string, a visual device which Ling repeatedly uses to represent the tension of modern life. Each composition is enveloped in a sense of foreboding, as if any sudden movement could cause it to come crashing down. A fitting metaphor for the current reality we’re living

Vicki is a visual artist and illustrator whose work has circled the globe in selected exhibitions and publications. She is currently based in Chicago.

image via Plain magazine

One of the drawbacks of studying history in school is that the major events gets covered so often that they eventually seem boring. Later on in life, we realize that history is so much deeper and richer than we were ever taught. Kings and wars are important, but everything in our civilization has a story behind it, even things as mundane as eating utensils. The website Eating Utensils tells us the stories behind the evolution of table manners, with the stories behind forks, spoons, knives, chopsticks, skewers, toothpicks, and even drinking straws. Follow the links on each page to dive into a wormhole of information on various cutlery and the etiquette that grew up around them. -via Boing Boing

(Image credit: Cutlery 1)

We've seen different species produce hybrid offspring, like a horse and donkey producing a mule. Such crossbreeding usually occurs between species in the same genus. But life, uh, finds a way. The common black hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) normally lives in Central or South America, but one found its way up to the Laguna de Santa Rosa Wetlands Complex in Sonoma County, California. She was all alone, and eventually tried to make friends, and mate, with the red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus) that live there. The natives, being from a different genus, wouldn't have anything to do with her for years.

But, according to a new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research by Moore and Coulson, after years of unrequited courting, someone finally swiped right. In 2012, a bird watcher spotted what appeared to be a hybrid juvenile hawk following the common black hawk. In 2013 and 2014, the common black hawk was seen fraternizing with a red-shouldered hawk, and later on, the two were recorded mating and tending to a nest. In the spring of 2014, Moore spotted their hybrid nestling.

Like its mother, it had dark plumage on its back and was pretty big. But its head was round, its bill was shallowly hooked, and its jaw narrow; all features more like its father.

Read about the hawk hybrid and why it is so rare at Gizmodo.

(Image credit: Stan Moore)

It's a common story. You find the home of your dreams, but the real estate agent says the bathroom needs to be updated. Yeah, you find it a little weird, but that will have to wait because there are more important things than remodeling a bathroom due to its looks. Then you get used to it, and come to embrace the odd 1950s pastel fixtures or the 1970s neon walls. Or if you are renting, you have a landlord that doesn't see an upside to fixing what ain't broke. The bathroom is a great place to be a little weird, after all.  

Bonus for the above Pepto-Bismol loo: scroll up and down quickly to see the floor bounce. Thirty people have shared their odd and unusual bathrooms that sport delightfully different colors and styles in a list ranked by votes at Bored Panda.

Houseparty is an app that lets you connect (and party) with your friends even if you’re all far away from each other. Houseparty is a free video chat app that lets you play games with friends. The app is a Snapchat-Zoom hybrid, and has been gaining popularity during the pandemic. The Huffington Post has more details: 

 “It’s a super fun way to host game night with friends,” Woods said. In fact, she and her friends schedule game nights on Houseparty a couple times a week. Woods also pops into the app throughout the day when she’s notified that friends are online. “It’s a quick five minutes of play to break up the day, then I’m back to work.”

If you want to ping someone to come online, you can simply “wave” at them, “kind of like a nudge for those familiar with Words with Friends and other similar games,” Woods said. Once you have a party room open, you can play a game. Woods is partial to the drawing game, in which one person uses their finger to draw a picture of the word at the top of the screen while the other parties try to guess what it is. “There’s also an off-brand Cards Against Humanity-style game (called Chips and Guac) that was OK, but is best for a larger group of five to six,” she said.

image via The Huffington Post

Quarantine, day 14. Me and my boyfriend spent the whole day setting up an art gallery for our gerbil. pic.twitter.com/kswEukLc7s

— A happier day (@AHappierDay) April 6, 2020

Pandoro and Tiramisù are lucky gerbils. They live in London with art lovers Filippo and Marianna, who recently took the time to build their gerbils a miniature art museum! Hyperallergic interviewed the couple about the project and their gerbils.  

H: Have they demonstrated a love of art before?

F&M: Not really, this was their first time in a museum. They much enjoyed the display and paid close attention to the quality of the gallery’s props. They can’t read so the sign to advise the visitors to not chew [on the furniture] went completely unnoticed. Overall, it seemed to be a satisfying and engaging experience.

Read the interview, and see more of Pandoro and Tiramisù, including a video of their museum tour, at Hyperallergic.

Did you know that you can buy much more affordable products in the supermarket just by looking down at the bottom shelves? Did you know that most of the time, the grocery is tricking you to buy “prime quality cut” meat because the title doesn’t really mean anything? And did you know that some products are less expensive in small sizes rather than in big ones?

These are just some facts that might really help you save big when going to the supermarket.

Check out other tips over at QDT.

(Image Credit: igorovsyannykov/ Pixabay)

You opened a bag of chips. Unfortunately, you can’t finish them all up, and so you decide to seal the bag to keep it fresh when you eat it at a later time. There’s just one problem, however: you don’t have clips that you can use to seal the bag. So what do you do? Thankfully, there’s a way to seal the bag without using a clip. See the video to find out how.

Via Laughing Squid

(Video Credit: Origami At The Sushi Bar/ YouTube)

Tired of getting back up and down the entire time when you’re working on projects that require you to kneel? That will no longer be necessary. Check out these KneeBlades made by Milescraft. With its design which will give you balance, flexibility, and mobility, you need not go back up your feet that much, as the tool gives you the ability to move while kneeling.

Watch the video to find out more about the KneeBlades.

Via The Awesomer

(Image Credit: Milescraft/ YouTube)

Since all of us are now forced to stay at home thanks to the danger that lurks outside, many of us have now turned to baking as a new hobby.

If there’s one type of bread that’s really difficult to bake, that would be sourdough for many reasons. One reason is you have to have some technical knowledge about baking sourdough bread, like the optimal humidity and temperature for your loaf. The other is it takes a lot of time (hands-off time, at least).

If you’re a beginner at baking, and you find it difficult to bake sourdough bread, Stuart Thompson’s website — Bread Scheduler — might be of great help to you. Bread Scheduler is…

... a scheduling tool that helps you plan all that rising and resting with precision. Just choose one of six recipes provided and pick a start time, and Bread Scheduler will spit out timed, step-by-step instructions, along with timer reminders and helpful photos.

More details about this website over at LifeHacker.

(Image Credit: Zozz_/ Pixabay)

Welsh farmer Gareth Williams was surprised to see sheep climbing on the playground equipment of their Raglan Farm Park and play together on the merry-go-round. The said farmer states that the sheep are usually kept away from the children’s playground, but due to the global health crisis that we’re facing, the playground was closed, and the sheep were allowed to freely roam over the place.

"I was quite shocked when I saw them on the roundabout, we don't usually have them down here so it was quite amazing to see," Williams told ITV News. "Some of them were playing and others were all around the park. I was really surprised at how quickly they've started to play and get the hang of it -- as I said they're not usually here when the park is open."

(Image Credit: Gareth Williams/ ITV News/ Facebook/ UPI)

Passover, or Pesach, begins on Wednesday evening at sundown and lasts until April 16th. But how does one celebrate Passover during a lockdown? If you are at home alone, you might have to ask the four questions yourself, no matter how old you are. Finding the proper food may be difficult, but the concept of pikuach nefesh may apply.

Chabad.org has a roundup of information on how to celebrate Passover while social distancing. 

Metafilter has links on how to host a virtual Seder or join one online.

People have always been creative when it comes to finding something to eat, and also creative in stretching what you have to feed a family. During food shortages, wartime, or the Great Depression, almost everyone had a hard time obtaining the food they were used to, so they made do. Many of those recipes are still around, like the slugburger.

As you find yourself stretching packs of ground beef, consult the “meat extending” techniques of the Great Depression. When hard times hit the greasy spoons of the American South, restaurant owners supplemented their thinning patties of ground beef or pork with potato flour. Fried, topped with mustard, and slid between buns, the resulting “slugburgers” had perfectly crisp exteriors that gave way to the juicy meat inside. Despite the name, they didn’t contain any slithery creatures. One theory says the snack’s moniker was a reference to counterfeit coins, known as “slugs,” implying that the burger was a sort of culinary impostor.

Today, line cooks tend to use cornmeal, soybean meal, or even crumbled sandwich bread instead of potato flour, and add toppings such as cheese, onions, and pickles.

Funny, when I was a kid, I did not know you could make hamburgers without mixing a whole sleeve of saltines into the ground beef. Then I grew up and found you can save even more money by not buying meat at all. The slugburger is one of the milder desperation recipes you'll find at Atlas Obscura. -via Nag on the Lake

(Image credit: Southern Foodways Alliance)