One of the most popular cars in Volkswagen's lineup is the Beetle. But alas, the company has officially discontinued the production of its last Beetle model two months ago. However, some say that this is not the end for the Beetle.

Volkswagen has made three versions of the Beetle, selling more than 22.5 million of them over the years. Among passenger cars, the Beetle trails only the Volkswagen Golf and the Toyota Corolla in popularity. -CNBC

Now, it’s gone again as Volkswagen customers shift their wallets toward EVs, SUVs, and crossovers. But, have the people really slugged their last “punch buggy”? 

When asked in 2018 whether the Beetle would ever make its way back into production, Volkswagen Group of America President and CEO Hinrich Woebcken said, “There are no immediate plans to replace it. But . . . I would also say, ‘Never say never.’”

(Image credit: Stan Diordiev/Unsplash)

B’z
ロッテ戦
アイマスが同時に終わった悲劇の海浜幕張 pic.twitter.com/AmTa7mvjqf

— 〖新〗ゆーた✨B'z (@pleasure_yuta) September 3, 2019

When there's a big event, concert, or sports game, one would expect that there will be crowds of people bustling in the area and that train stations as well as other modes of transportation will be filled with people.

But when three different events ended at about the same time, all within the same area, everybody was in for a very tough and uncomfortable train ride. Sora News 24 reports:

The crowds at Kaihin Makuhari Station, though, about half an hour east of Tokyo in Chiba City, are less regular. Chiba doesn’t have anywhere near the population Tokyo does, and so Kaihin Makuhari isn’t a commuter nightmare like Tokyo’s three Shi-s.

But there’s a good reason Kaihin Makuhari is designed with a large, open plaza just outside its gates. The station is the nearest access point for Makuhari Messe, one of the Tokyo area’s largest convention centers, as well as Chiba Marine Stadium, home to professional baseball team the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Both venues were in use on Tuesday night, with the Marines taking on the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Makuhari hosting both a concert by legendary J-rock duo B’z and a fan event for the Idolmaster anime/video game franchise.

Now, despite the harrowing experience being crammed in one station amidst a sea of people, when you are a hardcore fan, come hell or high water, nothing will stop you from going to see your favorite team, band, or anime event. And these fanbases must have gone home incredibly satisfied after their events and an interesting experience to share with others.

(Image credit: @pleasure_yuta/Twitter)

Everyday we grow older and add years to our lives. Our body also ages. It becomes weaker and more prone to injuries and diseases. That's a fact of life. In a new study, scientists say that the drug cocktail they formulated was able to reverse patients' biological age.

While we tend to define age as the number of years we have been alive – our "chronological age", so to speak – there is another definition, which relates to how fast our body is aging and when we can expect to see symptoms and disease associated with old age: it is our "biological age".

Nine patients were put on a regimen that required they take one growth hormone and two diabetes drugs (dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, and metformin). Researchers used four epigenetic clocks to determine the volunteers' biological age and, to their surprise, found the drug cocktail reversed biological aging by an average of 2.5 years.

(Image credit: Martin Reisch/Unsplash)

With a flick of his wrist, Uli Kirchler demonstrates one of his kinetic sculptures of castles, hidden within burled wood, popping up from underneath to show a miniature landscape of buildings or tower-like structures. -via Colossal

The Portland, Oregon-based artist originally hails from Italy, and works with unique pieces of wood with textural surfaces and variegated colorations.

The stacked, castle-like towers appear to be built on the rocky hillsides emulated by the knots, burls, and twists in the wood’s natural shape. Kirchler frequently shows his kinetic sculptures at the Portland Saturday Market.

Check out more of his work on his Instagram page.

(Image credit: Uli Kirchler)

View this post on Instagram

A very cute little girl stepped in to my booth last weekend. I asked her: why do you think I show you this piece of wood? “You’re going to set it on fire! “ she replied. I didn’t, but did surprise her‼️#portlandsaturdaymarket #unexpected #surprise #popup

A post shared by Uli Kirchler (@ulikirchler) on Sep 6, 2019 at 12:22pm PDT

Christie Kirkpatrick felt overwhelmed with joy and relief after she had just witnessed the miracle of birth. Bringing life into the world is something special and she took a moment to take it all in. More than that, she actually did the procedure with the same doctor who delivered her into the world.

“I’m seeing the miracle that is life for the first time, and in C-section, it’s not a traditional delivery,” Kirkpatrick said of the Aug. 27 delivery. “You just sort of see this little life pulled out from an abdomen. So I’m seeing this miracle of life for the first time. Your jaw kind of drops.”

“I’m standing across from the man who brought me into this world, and I have this sort of overwhelming sense of gratitude just to be a medical professional,” Kirkpatrick said. “The things that we do in medicine, it’s a privilege to share these moments with patients. And the fact that I’m getting to do that in my home community with the physicians that I grew up around, it was overwhelming. I had to take a moment after the surgery.”

(Image credit: Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash)

We often think of the symbol for medicine as the staff with two snakes wrapped around it but that isn't the right one. The rod of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing and medicine, actually only has one snake entwined. The rod with two snakes is called a caduceus and it was the one used by Hermes, the Greek messenger god.

Just like Hermes Asclepius was also linked to snakes. One story has a snake licking his ears clean and in so doing giving him healing knowledge. Another story has a snake giving him a herb with resurrecting powers. For whatever reason, Asclepius would show his gratitude to snakes by carrying a staff with one snake on it. Not two. One.

So why do we confuse these two symbols? Read more on Mcdreeamie Musings to find out.

(Image credit: WHO/Wikimedia Commons)

Any book lover would know that going to a bookstore can be a struggle, especially when there are a ton of books that would pique one's interest and yet one doesn't have the means to buy them all. But not everyone who loves books actually loves reading them. That is, some love books only for the sake of owning them. This is what was called bibliomania.

“Bibliomania is the overwhelming compulsion to own books, not so much as to inform oneself as to possess them and feast one’s eyes on them.” The bibliomaniac was interested above all in editions, and bindings, either old or fine. These interests were, in essence, a disease of the mind, a futile, absurd, and ultimately self-destructive obsession.

(Image credit: Eli Francis/Unsplash)

A few months ago, Nintendo announced that it will be releasing a lite version of its Switch console which garnered mixed reactions since it takes away the primary selling point of the console, which is the ability to "switch" between a traditional, stationary form and a portable, handheld one.

Now, however, Nintendo has released a teaser video that shows a new dimension that the Switch can bring to users. The video shows two circular accessories which seems to allow users to play more physical games and activities. -via Gematsu

(Image credit: Gematsu)

It's been almost three years since the US elected its 45th president and as we inch forward to the next elections, several Democratic names have come up as possible presidential contenders to the GOP. However, one name at the moment stands above the rest, and that is Elizabeth Warren.

Over the summer, Trumpworld operatives, Republican Party oppo researchers, and GOP aides in Congress have all gleefully celebrated planting unflattering stories about Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Kamala Harris. But no one seems to have landed a lasting blow on Elizabeth Warren.

The earliest days of the Massachusetts senator’s presidential campaign provided ample fodder for Republicans. But Warren has recovered from that initial stumble, and steadily gained ground in the Democratic primary. And now Republicans are wondering why there is so little critical coverage of the senator and why the stories out there are making next to no dent.

Former VP Joe Biden may be ahead of the pack for now but trailing close behind are Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. So far though, one of the hurdles that Warren needs to overcome is the expansion of her base and reaching out to a more diverse group of people. But if she can keep her momentum going and steadily gain more support from different sectors, then she has a really good chance of becoming the nominee.

-via Jezebel

(Image credit: Elizabeth Warren/Flickr)

As if we need more of Facebook in our lives, the social media platform has just recently launched their own dating service expecting that the new product will help them regain the value they lost from last year as well as when millions of users left the platform this year.

Called Facebook Dating, it is a platform wherein users can meet with potential partners by employing an algorithm that matches your profile based on your interests, preferences, and other activities done on Facebook. Users would need to create a separate profile which they will use on the platform.

“Facebook Dating isn’t about swiping or having to wait for someone to like you to get a first chance at reaching out. If you are interested in someone, you can comment directly on their profile or tap on the Like button to let them know. If you aren’t interested, you can pass on them.”

(Image credit: Facebook via Jezebel)

Trying to put a spin on games to make them more creative or innovative, or just to try and make them appealing to a wider audience doesn't always work, if at all. There may be some games that have good execution of a weird concept but those are pretty rare.

Here, SB Nation compares two weird basketball video games - NBA Jam and NBA Street - which try to offer some form of variety or weirdness to the ordinary mechanics of the sport but do it pretty well.

NBA Jam is a legendary franchise that defined multiple generations of basketball video games. NBA Street was a series with extremely low expectations that turned out to be pretty damn great.

Which one do you think is best?

(Image credit: SB Nation)

Currently, there are 14.6 million Jews in the world and though their numbers are spread out in various countries, there are some countries which constitute a large percentage of their global population. One can venture a guess and say that Israel and the United States would be at the top but would you know where else in the world in which there is a large Jewish population?

Della Pergola defined a country’s “core Jewish population” as anyone who identified themselves as Jews; anyone without a religion who was identified as Jewish by a respondent in the same household; or anyone with Jewish parentage who does not identify with a particular religion. If one were to use the broader definition of Israel’s Law of Return - anyone with a Jewish grandparent - the number would swell to 23.5 million.

(Image credit: Cole Keister/Unsplash)

Officially, World War II began with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. It had initially been a war between France, Germany, and Britain. However, other major players - Italy, Russia, Japan, and the USA - joined in the fray not long after. But it was only two years later that the US became more involved in the war.

In the beginning, the government and the general public had not wanted any direct participation. Things might have been different if America had not been provoked to join in WWII. But in the end, it was inevitable for the US to take part in it and the attack on Pearl Harbor only served to ignite the public and hasten America's participation.

To learn more about the events that led to America's decision to participate in WWII, check out this article on History Extra.

(Image credit: National Archives and Records Administration, Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division/Wikimedia Commons)

There are many stories about the exploits and adventures of William Kidd. He had been an experienced sailor long before he was at the helm of his own ship.

Time passed and his name spread around England, which later got him commissioned for various tasks. In the latter part of his life, one of those jobs was to hunt pirates which ended in failure.

Because Captain Kidd proved himself invaluable during the war between the English and French, he was commissioned to police the American waters. He was supposed to protect English interests, and attack any pirate ships in the area.

However, instead of cruising up and down along North America’s eastern coast, Captain Kidd sailed off to the Indian Ocean. He decided to become a pirate and began attacking ships. Word of Captain Kidd[']s deeds soon reached England and North America.

When he arrived back in North America, he was apprehended and brought to trial in England. He and his crew were found guilty of piracy, while Kidd was also convicted for the murder of William Moore, one of his crew. And so they were sentenced to the gallows.

Until the very end, Kidd maintained his innocence of the accusations hurled at him and even cited that the failed first attempt at hanging him was a sign from God about the fact. Read more about the execution of Captain William Kidd and the details of his life and death.

(Image credit: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris/Wikimedia Commons)

They say that if you want to lose weight or to have a healthy gut but don't want to give up alcoholic drinks altogether, then red wide would be the best alternative to other liquor like beer. However, researchers say that there is no proof to suggest that red wine provides such benefits.

Researchers looked at the self-reported drinking habits of 916 female twins in the UK, and cross-checked their findings in similar groups from the US and Belgium. They found women who drank red wine had more diverse gut micro-organisms.

They also noted that women who drank red wine tended to have a lower body mass index (BMI), which their analyses suggested might be related to the effect on gut micro-organisms.

Despite these findings, the researchers said that there may be other factors contributing to gut diversity and lower body mass index. Furthermore, it is not advisable to drink red wine if one wants to lose weight or stay healthy.

As the researchers made clear, any potential beneficial effects on red wine intake could possibly be achieved by drinking just 1 glass of red wine every 2 weeks.

(Image credit: Kelsey Knight/Unsplash)