Fook Lam Moon, a Macau restaurant, is currently offering a special menu called the “Manchu-Han Imperial Feast”. The highlights of this special menu include sea cucumber, wild goose, bird’s nest soup, and leg of water turtle. The menu is inspired by a legendary feast in Chinese history — a feast so spectacular that it appeased sworn rivals and stabilized a nation. It was a memorable feast, and probably something that never really happened.

Instead, a misrepresented episode from Chinese history is today an enduring national symbol of ethnic harmony and reconciliation, reenacted time and time again in restaurants throughout the country.

The Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi (1654–1722) was no stranger to opulent dinner parties. He neutralized the Mongolian threat to China’s northern border early in his reign by holding a series of “Mongolian Vassal Banquets” in the Forbidden City, famously sending his princely guests home with leftovers. Later in life, he invited 3,000 of Beijing’s septuagenarians to his 61st birthday party for an event dubbed “The Feast of a Thousand Elders.”

When members of the Manchu ethnic group began taking over ministry positions long-held by the ethnic Han, tension gripped the country. As the story goes, Kangxi, himself a Manchu, turned to a proven solution: food. He planned his 66th birthday feast accordingly.

I guess the saying “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” is proven to be true by this emperor. What do you think?

(Image Credit: Galaxy Macau)

You know a movie is worth watching when the filmmakers listen to their fans.

Last April, I was greeted with a “Sonic The Hedgehog Trailer” on YouTube. Excited, I immediately clicked on the video, and was utterly disappointed. It was an atrocious version of the blue hedgehog, and I believed it was not worth watching over the big screen should it get released. Sonic’s appearance in the film butchered the childhood of many. Thankfully, the filmmakers listened to the cries of the fans.

Five days ago, Paramount Pictures released a second trailer for the movie, and, surprise, they fixed Sonic! Now he’s cuter, and more faithful to the original character design, and everyone loved the change.

Via Funny Or Die

What are your thoughts about the new trailer? Are you looking forward for the film?

(Video Credit: Paramount Pictures/ YouTube)

When Emily Buchenberger brought her puppy Billie, a 4-month-old golden retriever, to a puppy play hour, she was not expecting that Billie would form friendships quickly.

During this time, dogs between the ages of 8 and 18 weeks can romp around a gymnasium off-leash. With plenty of puppies to play with, Billie could have spent the entire time making new friends. But somehow, all the golden retrievers in the room found each other.

The golden retriever puppies then made a secret club under different objects, unseen by anyone. But what were they doing under there? That’s what a dad of one of the puppies set to find out. As he lifted up the plastic box, what can be seen may be considered one of the cutest moments in puppy history — the three puppies were seemingly holding hands.

“We found them all calmly interlocking paws,” Buchenberger said. “They definitely were not expecting to be exposed and immediately dispersed. Soon after, they met back up underneath the bridge to secretly play.”

(Video Credit: GoldenGirl_Billie/ YouTube)

Check out these puffers for puppies made by apparel brand Moncler. With the help of a fellow Italian company named Poldo, Moncler was able to tap into the dog couture market last year.

Building on the 2018 collection, this year’s range updates classic moncler styles in four-legged cuts. It also includes vests, hooded raincoats and leather leashes. Duvet vests come in six sizes with an array of colors including yellow, pink and blue, all naturally made with nylon laqué.

If this is not cute enough for you, I don’t know what will be.

(Image Credit: DesignBoom)

This is “Geometries of Light,” created by Chicago-based duo Luftwerk, architect Iker Gil, and sound designer Oriol Tarragó. The installation, which was shown in two locations, celebrates the architectural forms of Mies van der Rohe.

Both displayed in 2019, the shows were separated by one continent and approximately eight months; the German Pavilion display was on view in February 2019, and the second installation took place this fall at the Farnsworth House outside of Chicago.

The concept was was inspired by the structure’s apparent weightlessness, as it “seemingly floats perfectly on its pedestal”, Petra Bachmaier of Luftwerk tells Colossal. After an initial site visit to Barcelona in 2018, the artists decided to use “a specific tool to accentuate the clarity of the architecture with the laser level, a tool mainly used for construction sites to keep things level,” explains Backmaier. (Bosch Powertools provided the bluetooth-enabled three-plane lasers for both installations.)

Looks like something out of a sci-fi film.

(Image Credit: Kate Joyce/ Colossal)

Japan is known to be prone to natural disasters. Given this fact, the country should always be prepared for them.

Check out this beautiful fire extinguisher created by a Japanese company that has made firefighting equipment for over 130 years.

Morita Miyata is a Japanese company that was originally established in the late 1800s. In 1951 they became the first company in Japan to develop foam-based fire extinguishers. But despite their many achievements, they struggled with the fact that disaster preparedness continues to be removed from everyday life in Japan. So they established a new brand called +maffs and their first product is this gorgeous fire extinguisher.

The idea was to combine the enthusiasm they observed of people decorating their rooms, with disaster preparedness tools such as the fire extinguisher. The product, which is available for 10,000 yen (about $90) , has updated the traditional form using a clean, minimal shape and matte colors like white and black that work better with contemporary color palettes.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Spoon & Tamago)

A man who helped a koala badly burned by Australian wildfires has gone viral online. Footage of the good deed has been uploaded to Facebook by the Koala Hospital Port Macquarie. As of this writing, the post has received over 13,000 reactions.

In the video, a man identified as “Darrel” is caring for the injured animal at the Bellangry State Forest in New South Wales, Australia, the New York Post reported. The marsupial, which was nicknamed “Kate,” received some water from the kind Samaritan and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Darrel was praised for taking care of the koala and bringing her quickly to safety.

(Image Credit: Koala Hospital Port Macquarie / Facebook/ Geek.com)

Photosynthesis is the process where plants accumulate energy from sunlight and use it to produce glucose from carbon dioxide and water. This process is the foundation of life here on our planet, as it provides the food, energy, and oxygen that sustain the plant, animal, and human life.

Now, scientists have solved the structure of one of the key components in photosynthesis. This discovery could lead to the aforementioned process being “redesigned” to bring about higher yields and meet urgent food security needs.

The study, led by the University of Sheffield and published today in the journal Nature, reveals the structure of cytochrome b6f -- the protein complex that significantly influences plant growth via photosynthesis.

[...]

Using a high-resolution structural model, the team found that the protein complex provides the electrical connection between the two light-powered chlorophyll-proteins (Photosystems I and II) found in the plant cell chloroplast that convert sunlight into chemical energy.

More details about the study over at Science Daily.

(Image Credit: hajninjah/ Pixabay)

It’s official: R2-D2 is the most capable robot in the Star Wars universe. He can be a German Observatory, a coffee press, a teapot, and many more things. Now, he has discovered yet another ability: he can apparently make popcorn.

This is an R2-D2 Popcorn Maker from Williams Sonoma. Simply put some corn kernels in and watch him pop them in no time. R2-D2’s head can also serve as a popcorn bowl.

(Image Credit: Laughing Squid)

Computers can now help doctors in diagnosing diseases and assist in monitoring a patient’s vital signs from hundreds of miles away, thanks to improvements in artificial intelligence technology.

Now, CU Boulder researchers are eyeing integrating machine learning into psychiatry through a speech-based mobile app that could tell a patient’s mental health status as good as (and maybe better) what a human is capable of doing.

“We are not in any way trying to replace clinicians,” says Peter Foltz, a research professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science and co-author of a new paper in Schizophrenia Bulletin that lays out the promise and potential pitfalls of AI in psychiatry. “But we do believe we can create tools that will allow them to better monitor their patients.”

Nearly one in five U.S. adults lives with a mental illness, many in remote areas where access to psychiatrists or psychologists is scarce. Others can’t afford to see a clinician frequently, don’t have time or can’t get in to see one.

More details about this over at Neuroscience News.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: GDJ/ Pixabay)

I am a fan of recycling. After all, we only have one planet to live in (for now, at least) and need to take care of it for future generations. But there might be some misconceptions when it comes to recycling — myths that we might be believing. Take for example the belief that we can throw electronics into the recycling just like plastic, glass, and metals.

In the case of most electronics, that is completely untrue. Largely due to lithium ion batteries, the smartphones that end up in trash heaps thanks to poor recycling decisions often explode and catch on fire.

To be clear, these items can be recycled and reused, but they must go to a speciality facility that knows how to handle these materials, commonly known as "e-waste."

This is just one of the many myths in recycling that we might be subscribing to. Check out the others over at Popular Mechanics.

(Image Credit: Hans/ Pixabay)

Ants are insects well-known to ruin picnics, invade kitchens, and bite unsuspecting children (and adults as well) whenever they get the chance. Despite being considered pests, however, there are many ant species that play an essential role in ecosystem health.

Ants belong to the insect family of Formicidae, within the order of Hymenoptera — the same order that includes wasps and bees. Although they're nearly ubiquitous now, ants were scarce compared to other insects when they first appeared on Earth between 140 million and 168 million years ago, according to The Field Museum. As flowering plants became more common, they provided new food sources for ants, which likely facilitated the insects' movement into new habitats.

Now, ants can be found almost everywhere, except in Antarctica.

They're the most dominant insect on Earth and scientists estimate that there are maybe another 10,000 species of ants left to discover.

What do they do to keep ecosystems healthy? Find out over at Live Science.

(Image Credit: Alexas_Fotos/ Pixabay)

Blood flow can stop and even reverse in the upper bodies of astronauts, NASA scientists state in their report.

The study could have some major implications with regards to prolonged trips through deep space, as we’re still trying to identify the exact effects of spending long periods in microgravity.

The study looked at periodic ultrasound tests of 11 healthy astronauts who staffed the International Space Station.

The results were alarming: blood flow had either stagnated or reversed in the left internal jugular vein, a major blood vessel on the side of the neck, in seven crew members. The tests also found a clot and a partial clot in two of the crew members after their return to Earth.

These clots could have some serious effects on an astronaut’s health. Find out more about this at Futurism.

(Image Credit: WikiImages/ Pixabay)

When reporter Allie Conti went on vacation in September this year, she accidentally uncovered an Airbnb scam when she herself became its victim.

Conti and her friends paid $1,200 to Airbnb to stay at an apartment in Chicago. As they were about to check in, however, the host called to say that the apartment was already flooded.

He offered another property of his instead but that alternative turned out to be pretty dingy. Even worse, the host kicked out Conti and her friends after just two days — forcing them to find a hotel at the last minute.

The host never offered Conti and her friends a refund. Fortunately, when Conti published her article, Airbnb itself refunded her. But what of the host?

When Conti researched her horrible host, she found that the same people responsible for scamming her also managed Airbnb listings in eight cities across the US.

Find out more about the story over at Recode.

(Image Credit: TeroVesalainen/ Pixabay)

Children who were born today will be welcomed by a lifetime of climate change-related health problems, warns The Lancet in a report yesterday. The Lancet is one of the oldest and most prestigious medical journals in the world. Now that is saying something.

The Lancet's "Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change" says the new era of climate change will "define the health of an entire generation" — unless there is significant intervention.

The health impacts flagged by the report start at the prenatal level with a heightened risk of low birth weight and neonatal death and continue through childhood and adolescence with potential lung problems, asthma attacks and insect-borne diseases. Older adults would see increasing vulnerability from extreme heat.

The report is a collaborative effort by more than 100 experts from global institutions, including the World Health Organization and World Bank, that tracks the impact of climate change on human health based on 41 indicators.

More details about this saddening but unsurprising news over at Scientific American.

(Image Credit: langll/ Pixabay)