The Liberal was a British journal which published between 2004 and 2012. For one of its earliest issues, the editors invited a contribution by Michael Finnissey, a British musical composer and pianist. The music blog 5:4 reports that the subject of that issue was space exploration. So Finnissey’s response was an ensemble piece that, in written notation form, resembles arms of the rings of Saturn.

Finnissey titled his work Back on Earth, inspired by childhood memories of his father saying, “Michael, please come back to Earth.” Perhaps, in this composition, we can hear the sounds of a celestial journey from Saturn to Earth. Listen and judge for yourself:

-via Futility Closet

Australia is sometimes called "British Texas". That's fair, but I'd like to propose that Florida is "Australian America," if for no other reason than due to the extremely dangerous wildlife.

Florida Man Roy Bonilla recorded video of fellow Florida Man Eugene Bozzi capturing an alligator by maneuvering it into a trash can. Toward the end, the gator fights with all his might to escape. Bozzi did not, though, kill and eat the gator (they taste like fish, by the way), but instead rolls the trash can down to a lake to set it free.

Yes, the Philly Taco is exactly what it looks like. It is a quintessentially Philadelphia experience, where the city of brotherly love lovingly combines two perfect food items. Despite the seemingly simple recipe and the cheap paper plates, though, the creation of a Philly Taco is an art that has been carefully refined since its invention over ten years ago.

The first step, the Philadelphia Inquirer explains, is to visit Jim's Steaks, which is famous for its cheesesteak sandwiches. Some creativity in the toppings is permissible with the Philly Taco while remaining canonically correct. What is essential is to immediately proceed 436 feet away to Lorenzo and Sons' Pizza. There, buy a huge slice of cheese pizza and wrap it around the sandwich. Fans disagree about whether the taco should be eaten from one end or cut down the middle, but they agree that the combination is awesome.

-via Atlas Obscura | Photo: Al Dia

The city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, calls this special bus pass a 'health ticket". You can pay a regular fare or do twenty squats in front of a camera. If you do so, you get to ride for free for the next seven days.

The news website Romania Insider reports that this service, which is so far available at only one station in the city, has been very popular. When it was installed last year, users completed about one million squats total over a three month period. The system has been reinstalled and is again available for residents  who would like an incentive to exercise.

Would you use this service if it was available in your area?

-via Debby Witt | Photo: Sports Festival

Every year, schools in China must administer jump-rope tests for kids. If students want to be eligible for scholarships, they have to score well. Failing to get a top score can mean a future of academic and, consequently, career mediocrity. Because the stakes are so high, some parents hire special tutors to coach their kids jump-rope skills.

The Wall Street Journal (paywall link) describes the testing standards. First graders must skip 17 times a minute. That goes up with age. At the fourth grade, boys must skip 99 times a minute and girls 103 times. Moving slowly or tripping a single time can result in a very low grade. This is why parents are willing to pay professional coaches as much as $50 an hour to train their children to be top competitors. These coaches have studied the body mechanics of jump-rope carefully and can spot minor errors that throw kids off of their full athletic potential.

-via Super Punch | Photo: Pixabay

I have a well-rounded appreciation for art, especially that which is inspired by past events. The arc of history bends toward justice, taut against the thin confines of social expectations.

And so I am perplexed as to why some women in Italy think that this newly unveiled statue by Emanuele Stifano does not do justice to the subject, which is the 1857 poem "The Gleaner of Sapri." That poem, by Luigi Mercantini, honored the revolutionary Carlo Pisacane and his companions, who launched a failed expedition to overthrow the Kingdom of Naples.

We can only surmise, as the sculptor did, that what is pictured above is what those brave men fought and died for. The maiden beckons us to walk behind her and follow her. Who could not accept such a call to adventure?

The Guardian reports that Italian politician Laura Boldrini and her colleagues claim that the gleaner has been sexualized. The sculptor denies the allegation, claiming that he originally planned to render the subject nude. Stifano was determined not to waste too much time debating critics "who absolutely only want to see depravity."

-via Super Punch | Photo: Italia 2 TV

Perhaps you've grown used to a very simple relationship with your toilet. Perhaps you use it for only one purpose. But that will change in the future. Competing research teams across the United States are developing "smart toilets" that, with cameras, can identify each user by their "anal print" and diagnose health problems.

The Wall Street Journal (paywall link) reports about various emerging smart toilet designs that will closely monitor your urine and feces. Stanford University's design will chemically test all urine. Duke University's will take stool samples to test for blood and proteins. Other designs will measure blood pressure and heart rate.

Who needs these toilets? Perhaps not you, but the start-up companies working on health-monitoring smart toilets see future markets in assisted living facilities, where staffs could appreciate early warning signs about patient illness.

-via Dave Barry

In the olden days, the homes of poor Irishmen would not have wooden floors--just dirt ones. They were thus inappropriate for dances that require a clacking sound. So the residents would remove the door--the largest piece of wood available--and place it on the floor. They placed four cups filled with water on the corners. Whoever spilled the least water won the dancing competition.

-via Laughing Squid

Weird Universe alerted me to this unusual book, which I acquired through interlibrary loan. The Bear Facts by Polly Culbertson and Paul J. Fennell was published in 1948. It addresses three specific political phenomena of the late 1940s: the threat of communism to the free world, the lack of a consensus among Americans as to the need to mobilize against that threat, and the belief that air power would be the primary means of securing freedom from communism.

Does this image look familiar? It's a unique take on Francisco Goya's famous and gory painting Saturn Devouring His Son. DJ Morrow, a balloon artist in Houston, rendered this amazingly realistic sculpture.

The sculpture is one of a series of balloon recreations of famous paintings, including Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio and The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli.

This video from Ohio shows a classic method of toad hunting. Just draw a circle with chalk around the animal and it will be convinced that it's trapped inside.

What other species do you think might be susceptible to this trickery?

Etsy seller Anisa Liang carves tiny, fragile pearls into unique pieces of jewelry. She's especially fond of skulls (who isn't?) and much of her work focuses on that body part. They're beautiful pieces that make we regret not knowing this was an option before I purchased an engagement ring because this is exactly the right way to pop the question.

I know what you're thinking: it's one more job that robots are taking away from humans. But consider that this robot's job requires access to humans. So when the robopocalypse happens, it will be necessary to keep at least a few of us around to provide employment for the EMMA. This robot, developed by the Singaporean startup company AiTreat, can customize a massage to reflect the needs of each client. CNN reports:

Using sensors and 3D vision to measure muscle stiffness, EMMA (which stands for "Expert Manipulative Massage Automation") identifies pressure points and delivers massages to patients to help offer pain relief and relaxation.

AiTreat CEO Albert Zhang describes a future dominated by these robots:

With soft-touch treatment modules warmed to a temperature of 38 to 40 degrees Celsius (100 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit), patients lying on the table might not even notice the difference between EMMA and a real-life masseuse -- but Zhang doesn't want robots to replace masseuses. Instead, he says that they can help by taking away the back-breaking work massage therapists do every day, and enable them to "focus on the 10% highly skilled part," which can increase their productivity and income while reducing the cost for patients.

-via Dornob | Photo: AiTreat

This cabinet of mysterious origin, now housed in the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, is a miniature apothecary's workshop and collection of natural curiosities. It's a masterpiece of woodworking, as it contains perfectly fitted spaces and an almost countless number of drawers, many of them with secret openings. Scholars don't know who made it, but they do know that it was made for a wealthy physician who wanted a place to display scientific samples.

-via Messy Nessy Chic | Photo: Rijks Museum

Inventor Ralph Woltstem doesn't call them shock absorbers, but that's basically what he had in mind when he filed this patent in 1928. In order to provide breasts with the support that they need during vigorous movement (e.g. anime), he proposed installing springs that support each breast from the bottom:

Another object of the invention is to provide a breast supporting device in which the breast supporting member is normally held in a vertical position by equalizing springs which allow lateral movement to be imparted thereto upon side bending body movement of a wearer so that upon the return to an upright position, the said breast supporting member will automatically return to normal position, thus readily adapting itself to the said body movement of the wearer.

I see no historical evidence that Woltstem's invention entered mass production.

-via Weird Universe