Throughout history, conspiracy theories have divided friends and families. In this day and age when information travels fast, these can now spread at a much faster pace. And in this time of social media, like-minded people can easily build communities and organizations. In other words, conspiracy theories…

… are dividing more and more families. Children and parents are having a difficult time communicating because they have different understandings of basic facts. The problem is frustrating for everyone involved…

Anyone can be led to believing in a conspiracy theory. Caddie Alford, an assistant professor in the Department of English in the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University, cites the example of Valerie Gilbert, a Harvard-educated writer who believes in the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Gilbert writes about the theory on her Facebook page and communicates with many followers of QAnon… Gilbert’s sister was worried about her and tried to talk to her about her beliefs. After being confronted, Gilbert cut off all ties with her family. Her relationship to the QAnon community was important and something she valued. 

“To Gilbert, that seemed condescending and outside the scope of their relationship,” Alford said. “It also just struck Gilbert as odd because she feels she is currently living her best, most enlightened life.”

What draws people into believing in conspiracy theories? Alford states that it is not the theory that draws people, but the sense of community.

So how should we talk to people who believe in one?

Alford suggests conversations around conspiracy theories should be aimed at understanding rather than arguing. She claims that with any belief, there is a kernel of truth. A person should ask probing questions and try to better understand the beliefs. People are likely to argue and become defensive when someone takes a position against their beliefs. They are more likely to answer a question where the aim is to understand.

(Image Credit: Comfreak/ Pixabay)

It would seem that ground combat is about to change, as Microsoft has struck a deal with the US Army. The deal involves the big tech company supplying over 120,000 augmented reality headsets to the US Army.

The contract, amounting to about $21.88 billion over ten years, follows a 2018 contract to build prototypes of the Army’s Integrated Visual Augmented System (IVAS). The new contract will involve building working production versions of the system — a deal that stands to change the face of ground combat.

The headsets, based on Microsoft’s consumer-facing HoloLens, allow soldiers to view map and even thermal imaging overlays, allowing them to effectively see in the dark.

The headsets can also relay video streams. For instance, thanks to a new gun barrel attachment, soldiers could even see around corners.

Naturally, some employees at Microsoft protested this deal, and they are telling their company to cancel the said contract. In a 2019 open letter signed by over 100 engineers, employees stated that they “did not sign up to develop weapons,” and they demanded to have “a say in how [their] work is used.”

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Ricinator/ Pixabay)

It is normal for thunderstorm clouds to form over the Pacific Ocean. What’s not normal is when a thunderstorm cloud reaches a really cool temperature that “pushes the limits of what [our] current satellites are capable of measuring.” This is what happened in 2018, when a storm cloud reached -167.8°F (-111°C), according to a study.

Thunderstorms and tropical cyclones, a circular low-pressure storm, can reach very high altitudes — up to 11 miles (18 kilometers) from the ground — where the air is much cooler, according to a statement from the U.K.'s National Center for Earth Observation.

But this new temperature is on another level. The top of the storm cloud was about 86 F (30 C) colder than typical storm clouds, according to the statement. The beast of a storm loomed about 249 miles (400 km) south of Nauru in the Southwest Pacific on Dec. 29, 2018, and its clouds' temperature was picked up by an infrared sensor aboard the U.S.'s NOAA-20 satellite orbiting the planet.

Simon Proud, lead author of the study, states that this phenomenon of clouds reaching extremely cold temperatures is becoming more common today, and this means that thunderstorms will be more dangerous for us in the near future.

More about this over at Live Science.

(Image Credit: National Centre for Earth Observation/ Live Science)

The rocket that you’re seeing in this one-and-a-half minute time lapse video (which condensed about 15 minutes) is the Russian Soyuz-FG Rocket, launched in November 2018 to bring supplies to the International Space Station. On the ground here on Earth, this rocket is a towering figure, with a height of over 40 meters. But from a view above our planet, the rocket looks really tiny.

Compared to the vastness of the universe, our creations look really miniscule. But to us, our creations are great and significant.

(Image Credit: APOD Videos/ YouTube)

How do bears spend their energy as they search for food? To find the answer to this question, scientists from Washington State University’s Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center trained grizzly bears to run on treadmills. What they found in this experiment is that bears are lazy creatures who want to be efficient with their energy usage.

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) need to stock up on energy before they slip into winter hibernation. As opportunistic omnivores, they eat just about anything—berries, roots, grass, insects, and meat—to put on weight...

This is the reason we usually see bears around popular hiking trails: they can save energy as the hiking trails are mostly flat. So,...

If you’ve ever worried a bear might be after your picnic basket, you may want to take the hardest, hilliest trail to your destination.

(Image Credit: Anthony Michael Carnahan/ Science Magazine)

Maneki-neko (“beckoning cat”) is a popular figurine that can be found in Asian stores. It is believed that this figurine can bring good luck to its owner, and it raises its beckoning hand. Because it has one hand raised all the time, it would be unsurprising to see this hand increase in muscle mass and grow in size. Such is the case with this Maneki-neko.

Available in both a 9-inch $70 and 13-inch $120 model (affiliate link), the cat is also wearing some cool cat sunglasses, so of all the good luck cats, this is the coolest good luck cat.

This cat is ripped!

(Image Credit: DudeIWantThat/ Technabob)

Because an environment has an established ecosystem which governs the circle of life of the flora and fauna in that area, new species introduced to that environment can bring about massive changes and disruption to that ecosystem. These changes brought about by the new species are usually not beneficial for the natural inhabitants of the area; the said changes could be a new disease or a transformation of the landscape (such as devastation of crops).

Over the years, we humans have traded and have introduced foreign creatures to our local environments, and this has caused us more harm than good to our respective environments. It costs a lot in resources trying to control the damage.

ScienceNews gives us the top five costliest invasive species in the world, with the Aedes mosquitoes, which cost the global economy about $149 billion, taking the number one spot.

More about the list over at the site.

(Image Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim/ Wikimedia Commons)

Like the butterfly whose days inside its cocoon are finally over, Ingenuity, the tiny helicopter that hitched a ride in the Perseverance rover, slowly unfolded itself and found its landing legs suspended just a few inches above the Martian soil. The unfolding process took about a week. The future looks bright for the first helicopter on Mars.

Next, the Perseverance rover will set the helicopter down in what will be the center of Ingenuity's airfield, a 33-foot (10 meters) square section of Mars hand-selected by mission scientists to be as safe as possible for the little aircraft.

Then, Perseverance will drive away and give Ingenuity time to charge up its solar batteries. Mission personnel will run a series of tests on the helicopter to ensure its ready to attempt flight.

Ingenuity's first flight is planned to take the helicopter just 10 feet (3 m) above the Red Planet's surface and see the chopper hover for no more than 30 seconds before touching down on the now-unfolded legs.

NASA plans on having the Ingenuity’s first flight above the Martian in early April.

(Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ Space.com)

What makes the Mii Channel and the Wii Sports themes so good that people are willing to listen to extended versions of these themes (which last ten hours)? In this video Charles Cornell analyzes the music and explains to us why these pieces of music sound really good to our ears.

(Image Credit: Charles Cornell/ YouTube)

Why are we humans obsessed with butts? I think that is a question worth pondering about for hundreds or even thousands of years. But while all of us think about this puzzling question, here is a gallery of bread butts provided to us by Sad and Useless.

BUN appetit!

(Image Credit: Sad and Useless)

At first glance, you might think that this hen is keeping her chicks under her wings to protect them. But get close to her and try lifting her for a pleasant surprise. Those under her wings are not her chicks; those are her kittens.

Cute!

Via Laughing Squid

Taiwan — A few weeks ago, the Japanese food chain Sushiro announced that they will be giving free meals to people whose names contain the Chinese characters 鮭 and 魚. When put together, these characters translate to “salmon.”

The offer promised such individuals a free meal for up to six people including the one with the fishy name.

But in order to be eligible for the promotion, participants would be required to provide proof via official identification.

Naturally, only a few people would qualify in the promo. But because of Taiwan’s Name Act, which allows individuals to change their names up to three times, there were people who went into the registration office to have their names changed in order to qualify for the promo.

Of course, Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior was not too happy about this, and he warned the country’s citizens about changing their names.

(Image Credit: Sushiro Taiwan/ Facebook/ Mashable)

When it comes to high level chess play, the Berlin Defense is usually used by grandmasters in order to draw a game. In this particular game, Carlsen and Nakamura both expected that their game would be a draw, but Carlsen had a better way of drawing the game than the Berlin Defense — the Bongcloud. As Carlsen (the white pieces) moved his king immediately in the game, Nakamura (the black pieces), taken by surprise, couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Nakamura then accepted Carlsen’s invitation and moved his king, too. With big smiles on their faces, the two grandmasters moved their kings back and forth. And just like that, the game was drawn via threefold repetition.

You could tell by their faces that they truly enjoyed this short game.

(Image Credit: chess24.5/ YouTube)

How do you say hi to someone when you don’t have hands and you can’t speak? This dog had found a way, and that is through its teeth. You have to be very observant, however, as its teeth are tiny. But even if you don’t look at the teeth, you know that it is pleased to meet you, and is looking forward to playing with you. Just look at its cute eyes.

Image via Important Animal Images on Facebook

Playing Phasmophobia on the computer is already a nerve-racking experience. Playing it on VR is much worse. But if you want to suffer from a heart attack and die early, you might want to buy a bHaptics suit, which will let you fully experience the horror game, as the game’s latest update now supports the full body haptic suits and face covers of the said company.

Essentially, these will let the game trigger vibrations across your [body], presumably to send actual shivers down your spine when a spook shows up.

In other words, the virtual ghosts from the ghost hunting video game can now touch your real body.

Granted, bHaptic's suits don't come cheap. The simplest of the company's tactical haptic vests will set you back $300, with a more expensive version containing over double the number of vibration points going for a spicy $500. 

(Image Credit: Kinetic Games/ PC Gamer)