(Image: WGRZ)

It's late July and 88ºF in Buffalo, New York. But that city had a rough winter with foot upon foot of snow. It took a long time to clear all that snow away. And the job isn't over, yet. There is at least one huge pile of snow that hasn't melted. It's been there so long that it's covered over with dirt and grass is now growing on top. Local news meteorologist Patrick Hammer explains how it's lasted so long:

"That pile of snow is like a glacier," explained Hammer. "It's very dense and it's covered in dirt and garbage, which acts to insulate the snow from the sun's rays. That's what melts the snow, not just the heat but the sun's rays, and it's protected."

Hammer also noted that because of this, most of the melting of the pile is not occurring from the surface, as one might suspect.

"It's actually mostly melting from below…from the ground which has warmed beneath it," he said.

Hammer says rather than sunshine and heat, water might be more effective in dissipating the pile.

"A lot of rain would do the trick,…but so too could the fire department with a bunch of hoses, which they could use to spray off the dirt and break up what's under it, because it's really the dirt that's insulating it."

You read more at WGRZ (warning: auto-start video).

I wonder if, like the Springfield Tire Fire, the snow pile will last until next winter so that nature can replentish it.

-via Gizmodo

YouTube Link

Peanut Butter, a nine-week-old Corgi pup owned by Alvin Hsu, is shown here as he is encouraged to take the stairs downward. But Corgis have tragically cute, stumpy legs, Alvin Hsu, a fact which Peanut Butter seems to vocalize before he gives up altogether. Maybe in a couple of weeks, human. Via Tastefully Offensive

(Photo: Mary Anne Cardinale)

On Thursday, firefighters pulled what appeared to be a dead cat from the scene of a fire in New Orleans. They were able to revive it with an oxygen mask designed specifically for dogs and cats. He is now in good health and has been returned to his owner.

-via Nag on the Lake

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While on his lunch break, YouTube user MrTomostan of the seaside town of New Quay, Wales taught a seagull to dance for treats.

The bird appears to be engaging in wormdancing. Seagulls do this to encourage worms in the sand to burrow to the surface to be eaten.

-via Tastefully Offensive

Redditor aquatinne03 has an absolutely fascinating story. She says that her infant daughter has been issued a subpoena by her local district attorney’s office to testify in court on a certain date. Here’s a selection from her description of the problem:

I called the number on it to explain how it must be a mistake because my daughter is not even 3 months old yet but I was told there was no mistake and my daughter is required to appear as a witness to testify on the date shown on the subpoena. I went in person with my daughter to the DA’s office and was told the same thing. […]

My daughter has a rare and uncommon first, middle and last name, so it is very doubtful that there someone else with her exact name. When I called the number on the subpoena and went to the DA’s office I was told both times that if she doesn’t show up for court a warrant will be issued for her arrest. Would the police actually arrest a baby for not showing up in court?

-via Popehat

People will look at you funny if you wear a normal life jacket everywhere.  And, honestly, it gets bulky and cumbersome. The Kingii is a better option. It fits onto a wrist. There’s a pull lever that activates a CO2 tank, which inflates a small bag. It’s bright orange and has a whistle, which can hopefully signal rescuers. There’s a compass in case you have to navigate on your own. Now if you suddenly find yourself if the water, you’ve got a better chance of surviving. And the strangers at the mall who laughed at you will be drowning while you’re still alive and safe.

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Japanese household bathrooms are very different from what you might find in a typical American home. They are far more multi-functional and high-tech. For example, the bathroom is divided into three sections: there's a shower/bath area and a toilet area, which are separately accessible from a sink and vanity area. Consequently, three people can use the same bathroom at the same time!

The shower and bath area is a thing of wonder. There's a deep bathtub that is heated continuously with controls that can be activated from different parts of the house. I want one of those!

In this video, a young girl shows how the different parts of the bathroom function. It's part of a series of videos in which she introduces Westerners to Japanese bedrooms, toilets, and kids' homework, among other aspects of modern Japanese life.

-via Core77

(Photo: KHSL)

Amber Pangborn of Oroville, California got lost while driving through a forest in northern California. She was 9 and a half months pregnant. After her car ran out of gas, Pangborn went into labor. She then gave birth alone in the woods.

Pangborn named her daughter Marisa.

Pangborn was then promptly attacked by bees who, she says, wanted her placenta. They stung her badly. In an attempt to signal for help, she tried to start a fire. She was successful. In fact, she started a wildfire that grew into a quarter acre blaze before being spotted by a US Forest Service helicopter crew.

The helicopter took them to a hospital, where the child is reported to be in good condition. The Los Angeles Times reports:

Pangborn’s mother, Dianna Williams, told the L.A. Times that her nine-months-pregnant daughter went to a casino on Wednesday to visit a friend and get a respite from the hot temperatures. Pangborn, she said, was also hoping to induce labor.

Well, her plan worked.

Sometimes real life can be even more terrifying than the movies, and real life is generally devoid of happy endings.

A family from Westfield, New Jersey was forced to move out of their new million dollar home when they began receiving dark and disturbing messages from someone calling themselves “The Watcher”.

This mysterious messager began leaving threatening, and very specific, notes for the family that ultimately forced them to move out and pursue a law suit against the previous owners, citing they must have had some knowledge of "The Watcher":

After moving in to the spacious new home, the couple say they received a letter in May of 2014 from The Watcher informing them that the home “has been the subject of my family for decades,” and that “I have be (sic) put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming.”

The Watcher claims that his father and grandfather before him watched the house, and that “It is now my time . . . you don’t want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy.”

The couple claims the previous owners knew about the disturbing letters and withheld the information.

“I asked the Woods (the previous owners) to bring me young blood,” the letter menaced. “Have they found what is in the walls yet?  In time they will.”

“Who has the bedrooms facing the street?  I’ll know as soon as you move in . . . then I can plan better,” the chilling letter reads. “I am pleased to know your names now and the name of the young blood you have brought me.”

-Via KTLA 5

Ugh! What a piece of junk! No thief could consider stealing that wreck. I doubt that it will last more than a few more miles before falling apart.

Or maybe not! It's actually a brand new Volkswagen T5 Transporter Sportline in perfect condition. But the owner wanted car thieves to suspect otherwise. So he hired Clyde Wraps, a car graphics company in Glasgow, Scotland, to design and wrap the van in custom vinyl sheets that make it look like a rust bucket. The Clyde Wraps blog describes the process:

Once we had completed the artwork – which is not mirror imaged for either side too – we printed in full colour digital vinyl and finished in a Matt Laminate to further dull the colours used. It goes without saying the van stands out in a crowd and our customer had great pleasure in telling us later that it only took 3 days for the police to pull him over to ask what was going on with all the rust…

-via Pee-wee Herman

(Photo: Jun Seita)

One of the greatest problems with nuclear war strategy is that nuclear attacks require very little time to carry out. At the height of the Cold War, annihilation was, hypothetically, only a few minutes away (as illustrated metaphorically by the famous Doomsday Clock on the cover of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.) This inspired fear by both sides that the other would launch a pre-emptive strike in order to avoid a surprise attack. The winner (or the side that would lose less badly if everything worked) would be whoever struck first.

In these tense moments, it would be essential to have national leaders who were sufficiently calm that they could make rational decisions. To a degree, they must hesitate to kill. In a 1981 issue of the Bulletin, Roger Fisher made a suggestion for how to create that condition. It’s quoted at the Nuclear Secrecy Blog:

There is a young man, probably a Navy officer, who accompanies the President. This young man has a black attaché case which contains the codes that are needed to fire nuclear weapons. I could see the President at a staff meeting considering nuclear war as an abstract question. He might conclude: “On SIOP Plan One, the decision is affirmative, Communicate the Alpha line XYZ.” Such jargon holds what is involved at a distance.

My suggestion was quite simple: Put that needed code number in a little capsule, and then implant that capsule right next to the heart of a volunteer. The volunteer would carry with him a big, heavy butcher knife as he accompanied the President. If ever the President wanted to fire nuclear weapons, the only way he could do so would be for him first, with his own hands, to kill one human being. The President says, “George, I’m sorry but tens of millions must die.” He has to look at someone and realize what death is—what an innocent death is. Blood on the White House carpet. It’s reality brought home.

When I suggested this to friends in the Pentagon they said, “My God, that’s terrible. Having to kill someone would distort the President’s judgment. He might never push the button.“

And so this proposal was never put into practice (as far as we know).

What do you think? Would Fisher’s suggestion have been a good idea?

-via TYWKWIDBI

A World War II bomb shelter 100 feet below the streets London once had room to protect 8,000 people. Now it’s a farm! Last year, we told you about the plans to open an underground vegetable farm called Growing Underground, where leafy greens are grown under LEDs. Now the project is reality.  

Crops will be grown in a sealed clean-room environment with a bespoke ventilation system, advanced LED lighting and a sophisticated irrigation system that enable the farm to produce crops with very little energy.

The farm’s mission is to deliver fresh produce with zero effect on the environment and all energy is sourced from green suppliers.

The farm says its advanced systems mean crops can be grown year-round in a perfect, pesticide-free environment because there is no risk of pests or disease.

“Because we have total control over their environment, each tiny leaf tastes as amazing as the last and because they are unaffected by the weather and seasonal changes, we can reduce the need to import crops and drastically reduce the food miles for retailers and consumers.”

Growing Underground is expected to deliver pea shoots, radishes, coriander, celery, parsley, and other vegetables sometime in July. Read more about the project in two articles at Farmer’s Weekly. -via Boing Boing

(Image credit: Growing Underground)

The street artist Mobstr found a wall in East London that was partially red and decided to have a little fun with it. It turned into a battle of wits that lasted an entire year.

I cycled past this wall on the way to work for years. I noticed that graffiti painted within the red area was “buffed” with red paint. However, graffiti outside of the red area would be removed via pressure washing. This prompted the start of an experiment. Unlike other works, I was very uncertain as to what results it would yield. Here is what transpired over the course of a year. --Mobstr

You can see each stage of the graffiti “battle” individually at StreetArtNews. Contains profane language in graffiti. -via reddit

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The Conqueror is much bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside. As this tour video shows, even when you think that you've reached the end, there's always one more option that unfolds. It's got a complete kitchen, a bedroom with a heater, fan, and TV. There's storage space for fishing rods, a hot water heater, and a grill. What impresses me the most are the solar panels, which could be handy for roaming through the wilderness for extended periods of time.

-via Nag on the Lake

Passersby filmed an officer of the Texas Highway Patrol near Edinburg, Texas stuck inside the driver side window of his patrol car. He was bent over backwards with his legs flailing out. There was no clear indication what he was trying to do and whether he was succeeding at it.

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The Texas Department of Public Safety did not respond to the San Antonio Express-News's request for comment on the incident.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath