Exuperist's Blog Posts

The Costco Wine Hack People Are Raving About

When you're out shopping at Costco and looking through the wine racks, have you ever felt just a bit worried that the wine bottles you put in the cart might jiggle a bit too much and fall or crack? Or perhaps you're trying to figure out how to organize all your groceries in the cart so that the bottles don't get wedged among the rest. Maybe the sound of the bottles clinking as they nudge against each other can get quite annoying or bothersome.

Costo shoppers have been touting this new wine hack as 'genius' after a Costco employee showed someone the best way to organize their wine bottles in their cart. As can be seen in a TikTok video uploaded by dailyoriginalvids, they laid the wine bottles on the child seat securing them through the holes of the flap. Apparently, that wasn't the only wine hack as another person commented that turning the bottles around makes it easier for the cashier to scan the barcode. Finally, there were several people who suggested that one can simply use boxes to place the wine bottles.

(Video credit: dailyoriginalvids/TikTok)


How Invisible Innovation May Be the Future of Food

It's the first time I'm hearing the term 'invisible innovation' and it may be yours too. No, it's not technology that would make things invisible to the naked eye, as if we were in the realm of fantasy. Rather, it's a term used to describe a certain way of doing things that can benefit us without seeing it outright. This may be more easily envisioned as process innovation. For example, when a process is simplified through automation, it makes it easier for people to do certain tasks but it's not something readily recognized as innovation because it's not really flashy. Anyway, in the food industry, invisible or hidden innovation may be the key to solving some of the major problems we face, according to Beatriz Jacoste Lozano, director of the KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub.

Essentially, what they want to target is the fact that about one-third of food goes to waste. And the effects of that reverberates not just to those people in hunger but also to the environment since food production is one of the leading contributors to pollution. In light of this, one of the things they are looking into, for example, is regenerative agriculture, which basically reduced the amount of water needed for the soil to stay healthy. It's not grand or mind-blowing, but it makes production efficient and helps the environment. Another possible area they want to target is the use of plastics, and their organization is planning to partner up with the startup, Notpla, which makes compostable packages. More on this on The Next Web.

(Image credit: Lukas Blazek/Unsplash)


Science's Answer on How to Possibly Lengthen Our Lives

Throughout human history, people have been looking for ways to elongate their lives. Whether it was the elixir of life, the fountain of youth, or the philosopher's stone, humans have been obsessed with the idea of immortality and eternity. Now, science has a suggestion that could possibly be a solution to that problem. Researchers suggest that blocking certain 'jumping genes' can be the key to increase our lifespan. Obviously, at one point or another, we're all bound to return to the dust, it's just a fact of life, but we can at the very least, see a couple more generations down the line with this.

Scientists who have been looking for answers to the question of immortality were inspired by certain species that seemingly appear immortal like the immortal jellyfish, which can reverse its life cycle if injured or hurt. The hydra is also capable of self-renewal with its store of stem cells which it uses to regrow missing body parts. So, they have looked to genetics to try and find the secret to immortality in humans, and think that transposons or these 'jumping genes' may be the holy grail for human immortality. Whether or not, we can reach ages beyond 150 years again is too difficult of an ask, but this may be the start of the quest for longer lives.

Of course, whether or not it's actually good to live for that long is another discussion entirely, since if our bodies will be shriveled by then, and we won't have the energy or the physical capability to enjoy life at that age, then it would all be for nought. So, let's see what the future has in store.

(Image credit: Warren Umoh/Unsplash)


How 'Nyad' Directors Filmed Cuba to Florida Swim Scene

Nyad has recently been released on Netflix, and it's a biographical film that recounts the story of how famed long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad attempted and succeeded in swimming from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida in 2013 at the age of 64. The film stars Annette Bening as Diana Nyad and Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll who's Nyad's best friend and coach. The directors of the film were asked to break down how they filmed the particular swim scene as it's painstakingly meticulous to get everything right, to be able to set the scene up and finally get the right conditions to recreate the moment.

In the Vanity Fair video, directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin go through all the technical details that they had to get right, from the lighting design, the boat design, to the pool and platform in which they filmed the scene. Furthermore, they also explain how Annette Bening insisted on having no make-up except for when depicting how being underwater for 40 hours affects the face. Finally, they also talked about the dynamic between the actors, how they formed a friendship during the shoot and having conversations with the real Diana Nyad and Bonnie Stoll, and what it was like directing them.

(Video credit: Vanity Fair)


The Politics Behind Daylight Saving Time

We learned the potential health side effects of observing daylight saving time as it causes cluster headaches to occur in some people, particularly those with Alzheimer's and dementia, and others who have sleep disorders. Medical professionals suggest that it would be much better for people to stick with standard time, as it helps with the regulation of our circadian rhythms. However, there are political debates surrounding the implementation of DST, and there are currently 19 states pushing for a permanent DST. But it won't be law just yet until Congress makes it so. To learn which states those are, NPR lists them here.

On the opposite end, there are also nine states that would rather end daylight saving time altogether. Those in support of DST say that the reason why DST would be beneficial is economic as they see higher spending with DST as it encourages people to go out and do things. Now, the proposals are still pending in Congress but whether the benefits of a permanent DST outweigh the costs enough to justify legalizing it is still up in the air.

Personally, I just check my phone to see what time it is, and my circadian rhythm is a bit irregular, but I do use some sleeping pills to help me fall asleep, so it wouldn't matter much to me. Perhaps, other people would prefer sticking to the standard time, and not DST, while others may prefer DST because you get to go home earlier or go to work later. What do you think?

(Image credit: Chuttersnap/Unsplash)


Meet the World's Soon-to-be Lithium Queen

The richest person in Australia is Gina Rineheart, the executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting, a mining and agricultural business company that mainly extracts iron ore. Now, the company will be venturing into lithium, the metal used in batteries, which will make her the world's first lithium queen. This is on the back of several market raids to secure a stake in the lithium industry which primarily involved purchasing 19.9% of shares in Liontown Resources, an emerging Australian lithium miner, thereby pushing away US-based Albemarle Corporation which had plans on taking over Liontown.

As the prices of lithium fell, some may argue that this move may be a bit questionable, but Rineheart and her company are following some investment practices put out by Warren Buffett who asserts that one should buy when others are fearful. Certainly, this may be a risky move, but a well-calculated one as many technologies will rely on lithium for their batteries, and with the growth of electric vehicles, the chances that lithium will become obsolete is quite low. Still, Rineheart will require the assistance from specialists who can process the metal, so they are looking toward Korean company Posco as a potential partner.

For more details on the story, check it out on Forbes.

(Image credit: Gina Rineheart)


Google Searches That Make the Most Money

Google has been quite popular recently and not for the reasons that you would think. They are currently embroiled in an antitrust battle against the US Department of Justice who charged Google for making an anti-competitive move by paying companies to keep Google search and Google Chrome as their default search engine and browser.

On a different note, not all search queries on Google make them millions as this article on The Verge reveals. For the week on September 22nd, 2018, it has been disclosed which Google queries were the most profitable, and it won't be surprising how these 20 words made the most money. Let me give you a hint of what they could be. The term that got the highest revenue for that week was iPhone 8. It would make sense that product-related queries would make the most money since the psychology behind it is that people searching about those terms are already considering buying them at some point in the future.

For the complete list of those 20 search queries, check out The Verge.

(Image credit: Arkan Perdana/Unsplash)


The Issue of Shoplifting in America, and How Retailers Just Complain About It

Shoplifting is bad, and that's just for business, we're not even going into the ethical aspects of it. And in America, it's apparently a very huge issue, with estimates saying it happens as much as multiple times in an hour, and only those that are blatantly done. So, what have retailers done to mitigate and stop it from happening? Not enough, according to several retail employees interviewed by Emily Stewart from Vox, who also talked to a couple people who themselves admitted to committing retail theft.

It might seem like a simple solution for us, so much as to simply suggest that security be increased, more cameras be installed in the stores, or just locking up certain products to dissuade people from stealing them in the first place. These measures cost money however, and the return on investment on them just aren't enough to justify them, at least that's how retailers' lack of action on the shoplifting problem is being rationalized. And it's actually more complex than it seems, as Stewart finds out. Read the entire article at Vox to see the explanation as to the difficulties with trying to crack down on shoplifting and maintaining retail sales at the same time.

(Image credit: Nathalia Rosa/Unsplash)


De-Extinction: Scientists Planning to Resurrect These 7 Species Long Gone

Whether it was because of anthropogenic activities or changes in their environment that led to animals going extinct, the chances of bringing them back with the technology that we have right now is not that high. However, there are projects in the experimental stages pushing the idea of de-extinction where scientists are attempting to revive extinct species through methods like cloning or gene editing. It might be an interesting prospect but some ethical concerns have also been raised such as the "Jurassic Park" argument, whether it would be right to bring back these animals into an environment completely different from when they still existed.

Contrary to what one might think, these scientists don't plan to revive dinosaurs like the T-rex, triceratops, or pterodactyls. Instead, the species on their list include animals like the Pyrenean Ibex or passenger pigeon. Perhaps, the oldest animal species on the list would be the woolly mammoth, but even then, it won't be too far-fetched to think that they might be able to adapt in today's environment. To learn about the animals on the list of prospective de-extinction candidates, when they became extinct, and what method is suggested to bring them back, check it out on Discover Mag.

(Image credit: Sangharsh Lohakare/Unsplash)


The Multiplier Effect of Employee Turnover

When a high-performing employee at your office quits their job, how would you react? How about if your best friend at work or your favorite boss leaves? I suppose it would be a very sad occasion, especially if they were one of the few reasons why you love your job or why you're staying there. But will that inspire other people to quit? That's what researchers from the University of British Columbia wanted to find out. If star performers at a company quit, will that entail more resignations as well? Based on their research, it depends on the manner the employees left.

They found that if high-performing individuals at a company quit, there was a higher chance that other high performers will also leave. They dubbed this the multiplier effect. In the same way, if low-performing employees leave, other low performers will be encouraged to follow suit. However, this wasn't always the case as dismissals didn't inspire other employees to quit, and even had the reverse effect when poor performers were dismissed. Meanwhile, when employees were laid off despite their high performances, it made others more likely to jump the bandwagon.

(Image credit: Nick Fewings/Unsplash)


The Difficult Life of Having a Name-Twin

Davon Clark found solace in the fact that he found someone else named Davon when he was in high school. Being the only black kid with the name Davon made him stick out like a sore thumb back in his childhood days, so it was a sigh of relief knowing that he wasn't the only guy named Davon. It was even more surprising when he discovered another guy named exactly like him, Davon Clark, during his university days who was around the same age as him, wrestled in the same weight class as him, and liked writing poetry just as he did. But he would soon realize how difficult it actually was to have a name-twin.

These days, identity theft is a very serious concern as criminals can use your personal information to commit fraud or other crimes, with which you have no association, but the threat is that such acts can be recorded and used against you in the future. So, people and companies are very careful and concise about how personal information is being used. However, having another person with your name is a different matter. It can complicate some things such as when the other is accused of doing something and people around you think it was you. That was Davon's situation.

His name-twin had a rough night, and got accused of stealing an Uber driver's tablet, some items from a car, and had an altercation with a friend's former roommates. With these events, Davon Clark sought to separate himself from the other Davon Clark, and worked to push that association away from him. At the end of it, he found himself exhausted, so decided to set aside other people's perceptions of him based on his name, and live the best life he could without fear.

(Image credit: Chuttersnap/Unsplash)


The Alligator Party of SEO Experts

For anybody who has tried to make a website or create a blog in the hopes of earning revenue from it, one of the first few things that you would probably find when you search for tips on how to make money online from a blog would be to do SEO, or search engine optimization. Twenty or thirty years ago, it was quite a newfangled thing, something that only very clever people could do, those who have the wits to outsmart the algorithm. Nowadays, it's all over the place, with millions of websites being created every year, and with the goal of getting your pages ranked the highest on the Google search results. And there have been many complaints about information being inaccurate or downright false popping up on Google's search results. Who's fault is that? Google itself or perhaps the SEO wizards who found the means of profiteering from the algorithms?

I recently read a Quora article about the supposed real-life inspiration of the movie Shrek. I was almost convinced about the story until I read the comments saying that it was a complete lie. Sure enough, when I looked it up myself, there was no basis for the claim. The commenter also mentioned that it was just an AI-generated answer. Which brings us to our situation nowadays, where AI can simply write something up based on a prompt or a criteria by the user, and out comes a whole article about it. And the SEO experts at that alligator party know just how chaotic the internet will become because of it.

Amanda Chicago Lewis of The Verge spoke to many of those SEO experts at that alligator party in Florida and though she somewhat despised the profession as much as any person who loathed what the internet has become, she found them endearing and not exactly the stereotype that she was made to believe. She details her experience being at that alligator party as well as the people she met on her article.

(Image credit: jig27/Soundcloud)


The Science Behind Entertainment and Why We Love Thriller Films

Have you ever watched a film or a TV series and you get so engrossed in the characters, the world around them, and the story you are taken on a ride with, that, after it ends or even after a major event happens like one of the most lovable characters suddenly passing away for one reason or another, you come out of that experience as if your whole reality has been rocked by this fictional story? Even though you know that, for films or series based on fiction, those are not real people and the events did not happen in real life, and yet, you feel affected as if you yourself have experienced that tragedy with them.

Is it because of our capacity to empathize with other people that the more we delve into these worlds and the characters within them, and the events that happen in their lives, that we somehow place ourselves in their shoes and go through all the same experiences as if they were our own? These are really interesting ideas to explore and thankfully, Walter Hickey is one who has tried to explore that idea and wrote a book about it titled You Are What You Watch. Alissa Wilkinson of Vox interviews him to talk about all these things written in the book as an episode of the podcast The Gray Area. You may listen to the whole episode here.

(Image credit: Daniel Guerra/Unsplash)


This Year's Crop of Newly Discovered Animal Species

Several estimates say that there are at least 7 million animal species in the world, and some even go as high as 8.7 million species. However, out of all that, only 1.2 million species have been discovered. Each year, it is estimated that around 18,000 species are discovered. That just goes to show how many more unexplored areas there are in the world, from the rainforests in the Amazon to the deepest parts of our oceans, there are a still a lot of creatures that we haven't seen or identified. Although it's not an exhaustive list, Discover Mag has selected five of this year's new animal species discovered.

The one that tops their list is the so-called Vampire Wasp of Peru. The scientific name of the new species of Darwin wasp is Capitojoppa amazonica, and it got the nickname 'vampire wasp' because it lays its eggs in hosts like spiders and caterpillars. After hatching, the larvae suck the blood of its host before eating it from the inside out. Truly deserving of its moniker.

(Image credit: Kari Kaunisto)


6 Things You Don't Realize Are Examples of Bullying at Work

I haven't been working that long in a corporate or office setting, but for the several stints I have worked at an office, I generally tried to get along well with my coworkers and to do a decent job. I didn't try to please my superiors, so long as I was doing my job right. Nevertheless, I wasn't insensitive to politics in the office nor was I invulnerable to them. I knew when I was being taken advantage of or was experiencing 'workplace aggressions', though I never felt the need to push back. Instead, I simply weighed my options and when I found the right opportunity, I jumped ship to preserve my own sanity and well-being.

For some people however, it might not seem apparent that they are being bullied at work, as there are people who are just so unassuming, naive, and kind-hearted that they don't recognize how they're being persecuted by their bosses or their colleagues. Moreover, bullying at the workplace can be very subtle as well, so you might not realize it either that you are being bullied already. Perhaps, one of the more common or recognizable items on this list is micro-managing. Nobody wants their bosses to breathe down their neck, and nitpick every single thing that they do. It just shows how much lack of trust your superior has with you. Apart from that, here are the other five examples of workplace aggressions that people may not recognize as bullying.

(Image credit: Proxyclick Visitor Management System/Unsplash)


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