A few years ago, redditor Josh Wright converted an old treadmill into a belt sander.

He stripped apart the treadmill (which was no longer useful for its original purpose) and then attached a new 1-HP motor. Wright built a frame suitable to holding up the entire unit as well as make it practical to use. He then experimented with different adhesives for the belt and found that ordinary shellac was the most effective. Wright used the shellac to add sandpaper sand to the belt.

It sands quite effectively. I can see it being useful for very large projects.

You can watch this complete build process here.

What should we call this instrument? It is guitarrdion? An accoritar? The Ukrainian-language website provides us with no information, but the instrument appears to have the bellows and keys of an accordion bisecting an acoustic guitar. I'm not sure what that does to the sound of the strings, but it's quite functional as an accordion.

-via The Awesomer

How often do you think about the cuisine of the Roman Empire? For most men, at least once a day is common. Vocatio Romae in corde cuiusque hominis latet. Now the glory of Rome can be consumed at a pop-up restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Eater reports that chef Caraway Alexander offers meals taken directly from preserved Roman recipes.

Solana, as the program is named, is not Italian cuisine. Alexander found that ancient Roman foods are very different from what their modern descendants consume. Eggplant and tomato are absent, but authentic Roman dishes include pork belly and spelt porridge, celery, and lovage seeds.  These and other Roman foods are available today from 2-6 PM at the Mayfly.

-via Daily Roman Updates

The town of Anahuac on Galveston Bay is called the "Alligator Capital of Texas." The waters near it are filled with these dangerous predators. But you can still visit and prove that you're at the top of the food chain.

Culture Map reports that the Republic Boot Company will take you gator hunting in Anahuac. Once you've bagged your alligator, the company takes the skin of your kill and turns it into a pair of luxurious boots, thus giving you bragging rights about not only your sense of style, but also your effectiveness as a predator. The cost is $5,000 and the adventure is available during alligator hunting season, which is September 11 through 30.

-via Marginal Revolution | Photo: Republic Boot Company

Great Big Story introduces us to the NYO Games. Young people across Alaska's native communities come together to compete in twelve sports. These events are developed from the practical needs of natives engaging in hunting and fishing activities.

For example, the two foot kick, which requires kicking a ball suspended from a cord, was originally a visual signal sent across the tundra. The two-person stick pull reflects a need to hold on to a spear after impaling a seal.

This video shows a state-level competition for teenagers in these games. They demonstrate extraordinary athletic skills and describe how these sports help participants connect with their heritages.

Artist Kamber Carroll makes furniture that satiate your hunger for novel and eye-catching style. He's built up a portfolio of home furnishings that look like food. Carroll's latest collection titled The Sandwich Series presents popular sandwiches as tables.

The habu (Protbothrops flavoridis) is a venomous snake common to the Ryukyu Islands, which includes Okinawa. These snakes measure about four feet long and their bites, if left untreated, can result in death. They don't prey on humans, but humans do prey on them, often by infusing them in local liquors.

Sora News 24 found that they're good eating. The publication sent a reporter to the island of Amami Oshima, where restaurants offer habu meat. This serving of fried habu sells for ¥2,000, which is about $13.98 USD. The reporter says that it tastes like fried chicken, albeit with a chewy texture.

Arieh Smith, who goes by the online pseudonym of Xiaomanyc, is a polyglot who picks up languages incredibly easily. Among other languages, he has a nearly native-level command of Mandarin Chinese. He teaches it online using his sophisticated knowledge of the way that languages work.

In this video, he first delivers a speech to high school students using Gen Alpha slang, which is helpfully subtitled for Gen Xers like me. Then he gives another speech, also in Gen Alpha slang, to language education students at the Ohio State University. Gyatt, Xiaomanyc's rizz is no cap sigma and mad lit.

-via Laughing Squid

National Public Radio reports that Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago* has been elected the Bishop of Rome. He has taken the name of Pope Leo XIV. Fast Company informs us that the house that the Pope grew up in located in Dalton, Illinois is for sale. The house, built in 1949, covers 750 square feet and sits on a quarter-acre lot. Steve Budzek, the agent for the seller, says that he's already received two offers.

*Now there has been a pope from every continent except Antarctica. Better luck next time to the presiding cleric of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows.

Photo: Redfin

UPDATE: In the comments, Andrew Dalke points out that I forgot about Australia, which has also never produced a Pope. Get to work, Aussies.

The New York Post reports that a 21-year old pilot in control of a 1966 Cessna 172G Skyhawk made an emergency landing on the golf course of the famous Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. He tried to land at the nearby Santa Monica Airport, but was unable to for reasons that remain unclear.

One golfer recorded the landing on a cell phone. It shows the pilot struggling to remain upright as he touches down on fairly uneven ground.

Redditor /u/colormuse makes embroidery pieces, many of them profoundly non-traditional. Her works that use multiple hoops at the same time stand out as innovative and clever. Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tubeman definitely draws our attention.

The 2008 action film Taken offers Liam Neeson as an ex-CIA operative who puts his professional skills to work when his daughter is kidnapped by Albanian human traffickers. The scene in which Neeson's character calmly threatens to find and kill the criminals shows the actor's ability to play intimidating roles.

It would be terrifying to be on the other end of the phone, as Neeson once demonstrated on Jimmy Kimmel's show.

Dustin Ballard's There I Ruined It project presents the scene in musical format. Neeson's threat is light and playful, melodiously singing a casual conversation that suggests that the threat is only a joke.

Sora News 24 tours a convenience store in Chikusei, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan that offers rental showers.

Here in the United States, it's possible to get showers at truck stops, which is handy for long-haul tractor trailer drivers. But I've never heard of getting a shower in a convenience store. It's apparently rare in Japan, too.

Sora News 24 found their showering experience quite inexpensive. A mere ¥200, which is about $1.40 USD, purchases 10 minutes of hot water. That fee also provides free soap, shampoo, and towels so that it's not necessary to arrive with those supplies.

It might be interesting (in all possible meanings of that word) if American convenience stores provided showers.

Thirteenth Century Gothic cathedrals expressed a golden age of stained glass. Film photography, some historians argue, reached its zenith in the 1930s through the 1950s. For every medium, there is a time when human creativity surges. Now, in the 2020s, the great artists of the age are pouring their magic into designing the best popcorn buckets.

We've seen this phenomenon with buckets designed for Dune 2, Despicable Me 4, and Gladiator 2. Now that the horror classic Jaws has reached its fiftieth anniversary and return to theaters, Alamo Drafthouse has released images of its custom popcorn bucket for the event. It mimicks the most famous poster for that film.

-via Discussing Film

Fast Company reports on an epoch-defining technological development: the self-propelled zipper. YKK, the Japanese firm that is the largest zipper manufacturer in the world with possession of about 40% of the global market, is experimenting with motorized zipper pulls.

The product will mostly likely begin with large tents that normally require the use of ladders to assemble. These new zipper pulls can join sections 16 feet long in a mere 40 seconds. This invention is obviously useful for people assembling tents. But it's also clear that smaller versions could be helpful in alleviating people of the laborious task of getting dressed.

-via Book of Joe