This image floating around the internet addresses the common trolley problem of ethics, which was invented by philosopher Philippa Foot. Do you throw the switch and kill one person or do nothing and allow five people to be killed?

In the past, we've examined absurd variations of this thought experiment, the the actual practice of railroad engineers who have to deal with the problem on a regular basis, and a solution developed by a 2-year old.

This variation, which is floating around the internet, imagines two scenarios: one in which the train kills an infinite number of people tied to the track and the other in which it continuously kills a finite number of continuously reincarnating people.

Which option do you choose?

-via Red Sun

XVIII century elevator table, allowing hosts and guests to dine without the presence of servants in St. Petersburg, Russia.pic.twitter.com/7ZwHnNCmK5

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 14, 2024

One of the challenges of aristocratic life in Eighteenth Century Russia was the ongoing proletarian nature of the servants who made life comfortable. I mean, the lower classes are occasionally useful, but you don't want them actually around, right?

The Hermitage Pavilion in the Peterhof Palace complex in St. Petersburg displays a solution to this problem. Russia Travel Blog shares photos and a video of a technically complex table with built-in elevators to raise food from a lower floor directly into the table itself on the upper floor. Servants could move individual place settings as needed.

A few years ago, redditor /u/whalecat_of_the_sea made these Rice Krispie treats with a wonderfully morbid ambiance. The "roadkill patties" look like they might be freshly scooped from the highway and then ground up, but there's no meat present. The artist used actual butcher trays, so they really look authentic meats from the local grocery store.

The labels, which include "Beef? Mince" and "Gerbil Mince" are a hoot, too. Perhaps we should make them for Christmas morning, too, and call them reindeer meat.

-via I Like Food

Conkers is a traditional British game that uses conkers--the fruits of a horse chestnut tree. They're inedible by humans, so Britons instead drill holes through them and attached a cord. Two players square off against each other, slamming their nuts together until the conker of one player ruptures.

The Associated Press reports that David Jakins may not have played fairly. Alastair Johnson-Ferguson complained that his nut disintegrated after a single blow by Jakins. He accuses the champion of using a steel prosthetic nut instead of a real one. Organizers found a steel nut in one of Jakins' pockets, but Jakins insists that he competed honestly.

Last year, Valkyrie Historical Auctions, a seller of World War II memorabilia, offered a copy of this paper pamphlet attributed to the occupied Netherlands during World War II. The Dutch inscription says, "Where is the fifth pig?" over images of four stocky pigs.

Fold the paper correctly according to the instructions and a fleshy Adolf Hitler appears.

-via Futility Closet | Photos: Alf van Beem

Irvine Kaye was an American businessman who created novel amusements from the 1960s until 1981, such as arcade games, luxury pool tables, and foosball games. A fan site devoted to his work describes an innovative pool table that was shaped like an ellipse and had a pocket off the center. Playing on the table requires thoughtful math work to calculate angles.

A few of Kaye's Ringo tables, as he named them, survive to this day. At 56 inches across, each unit sold for $225. Among Kaye's customers was the US Army, which purchased three for a hospital in Japan. As Ringo tables were smaller than standard pool tables, they were able to fit into the confines of therapy wards in hospital facilities.

-via Weird Universe

Bill Bailey is a British musical comedian who mixes up famous works of music so that they are recognizable, but sometimes unsettlingly different. In the past, we've seen his video switching minor and major keys. This video, recorded 3 years ago, features Bailey playing with the iconic Doctor Who theme.

Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire created the original version in 1963. It's electric, synthetic, and futuristic. Grainer suggests, though, that the music works well as a jazz composition. He knows enough about jazz to identify it as, specifically, Belgian.

I remember just enough high school French to get a gist of the lyrics, which glorify the heroism of the Doctor and the menace of the Daleks.

-via Thompson

We live in an age of wonders. Unlike the the primitive before times, we now have access to TikTok, broccoli haircuts, and Brazilian butt lifts. Best of all, crocs, which are allegedly futuristic but also stupid, are now available to our fur babies.

Fast Company reports that BarkBox, a company that will monthly send you a box of things that you don't need, is teaming up with the official Crocs brand to produce footwear for dogs. They're fairly sophisticated shoes because they're made to fit different sizes and shapes of dog feet. They're compatible with Jibbitz charms, so be sure to also order your dog's favorites starting on October 23, when these crocs go on sale.

Photo: Crocs

Vogue reports on a fashion show that took place on October 1 in front of Cinderella's Castle at the Paris location of Disneyland. Kylie Jenner snatched audience attention with a surprise appearance, but I don't think that she was wearing these gorgeous shoes.

My 6-year-old asked where the music goes after we listen to it. I didn’t know whether to go into how sound waves travel, or explain that music isn’t tangible in the way he might think. Maybe this is just a philosophical question. Where DOES the music go?

— Kiss my Fat Ash🍑 (@Tobi_Is_Fab) October 1, 2024

On X, writer @Tobi_Is_Fab, offers up to the world a weighty question posed by her young son.

Pictured above is the family of Luigi Lo Rosso, a junk dealer in Italy. In the background on the right is a painting that hung in his home for many years. Eventually, Lo Rosso's wife made him take it down because she found it hideous. It sat in the basement for many years until Lo Rosso's son, Andrea, had it identified.

It's an original work of Pablo Picasso. Specifically, it's one of many portraits that Picasso painted of Dora Maar, one of the painter's many mistresses. The Guardian reports that art appraisers have priced its value at €6 million ($6.7 USD). Andrea Lo Rosso is pleased, especially since, as a child, he argued with his father that the signature on the painting was Picasso's. Now, he's finally proven correct and rich.

-via Dave Barry

Very happy to say that I've passed with minor corrections, after a really intensive and enjoyable few hours discussing with Profs. Thonemann and Magnetto.

And friends in the grad community have produced the most amazing Western Asia Minor cake! pic.twitter.com/I3d2x2HM7s

— Oliver Clarke (@Astroclassicist) October 1, 2024

Oliver Clark is a graduate student in ancient history at Oxford University who, if I understand it correctly, has completed his studies. These labors traditionally culminate with the preparation of a cake. Clark provides a map of western Asia Minor at some point in its history--I think the Hellenstic era.

Simona Bloom works as an IT professional, but her joy comes from making art. Her corpus includes paintings and colored pencil work. Her internet fame, though, comes from her composition of colorful cocktails that resemble real life objects. Lately, Bloom has recreated flags of many nations, such as the above cocktail that looks like the flag of Cameroon.

The monstrous clown is an archetype that speaks to a fear and yearning within the collective unconscious of the human psyche. The Batman villain of Joker is but one modern incarnation of this primal impulse to destroy and be destroyed. Nerdstalgic explores how artists, filmmakers, and audiences have seen him over time.

The Joker first appeared in a 1940 comic book. His character was inspired by a 1928 adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel The Man Who Laughs. After a central role in the 1960s Batman television series, the Joker faded from media until revived in 1973 comics emphasizing the character's violent insanity. He continues to haunt media with nihilistic joy, perhaps at its most extreme in the 2019 film Joker.

-via Laughing Squid

Minne, if I understand it correctly, is something like a Japanese version of Etsy. It is definitely a massive online purveyor of handcrafts, such as this lovely handbag made to resemble a gyoza--a steamed dumpling.

It's most inedible at the moment. But since the body is leather, one could slice it up to create smaller, bite-sized gyoza.