(Photo: unknown)
Maxim Gorky was a Russian and Soviet writer. He was a Bolshevik, but became a sharp critic of the Communist regime shortly after the Russian Revolution. Nonetheless, the Soviet government gave him a luxurious house in Moscow, which is now a museum in his honor.
The house includes a beautiful Art Noveau marble staircase that looks like it's made of a liquid. It flows down the stairs, ending with a lamp shaped like a jellyfish.
-via Messy Nessy Chic
Many cooking tasks are commonly done with two hands. What do you do if that's not an option for you? Sichen Sun developed this mechanical cutting board in response to this need. It's called Better Cut.
First, Sun observed the food preparation activities of people who can use only one hand. Many of them had already improvised solutions from conventional cooking equipment. Forms of clamps were common. These held food in place. But they required a lot of resetting, clamping and unclamping.
Sun's Better Cut uses adjustable gears to hold down food and move it forward along the board for chopping. Pushing and pulling the handle moves the food through the gears, which serve as adjustable clamps.
-via Core77
(Photo: York in a Box)
The best cosplayers in the world assembled at WonderCon in Los Angeles this past weekend. io9 has a photo roundup of the amazing costumes that they wore.
My favorite is this one by Bernadette Bentley, who's made several excellent costumes of Xena, including one with a bunny suit. Here, the Warrior Princess is dressed in the traditional garb of a princess. She's ready to attend the ball and rescue the prince. Bentley's performance is perfect, especially since she's the spitting image of actress Lucy Lawless.
Jan van den Hemel skillfully edits scenes from Star Trek: The Next Generation to create mini episodes that are funny and surreal. In the past, we've seen his pitch for a Riker-based TV show and his depiction of Picard's obsession with tea.
Hemel has done a lot of new work in the past few months, so go to his YouTube channel and laugh out loud at his new comedy videos, such as this one in which Data accidentally empowers the Borg and endangers the ship.
-via Geek Tyrant
The style guide for the Reuters news service calls for all references to Queen Elizabeth II to refer to her by name and/or with her title capitalized. When this 2006 article about honey bees reached the spell-checker, it got the sovereigns confused.
Queen Elizabeth does not lay 2,000 eggs per day. She's 89 years old and no longer up to that kind of work. But it wouldn't surprise me if she ends up with 10 times the lifespan of the average Briton.
-via Kevin D. Williamson
It's called the Singing Road. Follow Route 66 west of Tijeras, New Mexico. Slow down to 45 miles per hour and drive over the rumble strip on the side of the road. The bumps are arranged so that they will vibrate your car's tires to the tune of "America the Beautiful."
The National Geographic Channel and the New Mexico Department of Transportation created the Singing Road in 2014 to serve as a roadside attraction, as well as persuade drivers to avoid speeding. ABC News (auto-start video) reported at the time:
The Singing Road was constructed by Sand Bar Construction on old Route 66, just west of Tijeras and east of Albuquerque. A mathematician from Tigress Productions created the attraction for the National Geographic Channel series.
"They started work on Monday and finished on Tuesday," Dosher said. "It's remarkable the speed in which they finished it."
This video from the National Geographic Channel explains how they built the Singing Road. It's a remarkably precise work of engineering.
-via Jalopnik
It's good to delve into the classics. A couple years ago, I decided to read and watch several plays by William Shakespeare. Then, this year, I decided to re-read the plays that I had read in high school. One of the results is a heightened awareness of how much the Bard of Avon has shaped our language and storytelling, from high culture to low.
The writers of Star Trek were often classically educated. Shakespeare had been woven into their minds, which you can see in the narrative tapestries that they created. In this video essay, Chris Miller argues that a great way to introduce people to the works of Shakespeare is through his references in Star Trek, such as William Shatner rapping Marc Antony's funeral oration from Julius Caesar.
You can watch an extended version of Miller's argument here.
(Photo: NIH)
Scientists have made a breakthrough in the search for a more effective treatment for HIV. Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia used gene editing techniques to remove the HIV-1 virus from the genome of human immune cells, thus preventing the replication of the virus in those cells. UPI reports:
The CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing method uses RNA proteins to alter targeted sections of DNA in a cell. Previously, scientists at Temple had edited HIV DNA out of human cell lines. The new study, using patient cells grown in the lab, showed cleared cells were no longer susceptible to infection by HIV. [...]
The scientists edited out the HIV-1 proviral DNA in T-cell genomes of human cell lines using CRISPR, finding the cells were protected from reinfection by other, unedited cells.
Using T-cells from HIV patients grown in cell culture, the scientists reported using the gene editing method lowered viral load in the patient's cells, suggesting it could be used as a treatment.
-via American Digest
It's a complicated algebra problem. She does pretty good considering that she doesn't have pencil, paper, and a calculator.
The big brother is 4 years old. His little brother is half his age. When the big brother is 100 years old, how old will the little brother be?
-via Tastefully Offensive
(Fowl Language Comics/Brian Gordon)
Hey, kids! A magical creature has left you treats. Start eating because that's what we do on this special day of the year.
Then, in several months, a strange man will sneak into our house at night when your parents are asleep. If you see him, be quiet and don't tell anyone.
This is brilliant!
Karvan Coffee in Perth, Australia is offering a special caffeinated treat this Easter. You can get espresso served in hollowed-out Cadbury Creme Eggs.
Imagine what it would be like to sip espresso from a cup as it slowly melts the chocolate egg.
-via That's Nerdalicious!
(Photo: Chris Pearson)
Wrong the brown skua and shall he not revenge?
Researchers from South Korea have discovered a remarkable ability among the brown skuas (Catharacta antarctica) of Antarctica: they can tell humans apart from each other. After just 3-4 visits to their nests, the skuas can distinguish hostile humans from non-hostile humans. Popular Science reports:
In order to test this, the researchers walked in pairs (one was a nest intruder and the other was a neutral person who hadn't checked on the nests before). The two people then walked in opposite directions, and all seven of the pairs of skua parents focused on the intruder, trying to attack it, while leaving the unknown researcher alone.
-via Glenn Reynolds
My only worry is that I'm massively overqualified for this job. The management at Clark's Trading Post may suspect that I'll expect to be promoted into wolfman management or try to get a better paying wolfman position with another firm. So I'll abstain from applying for the job at this theme park in rural New Hampshire.
Are you a crazy old coot who likes to chase trains and avoid shaving? "If acting crazy and getting paid for it sounds good," then this job opening is the right pick for you. I mean, you might as well start getting paid for it for a change. UPI reports on what the position traditionally entails:
According to the Wolfman's lore, he chases trains to protect his "Unobtanium mine" and fears heights and water, which prevents him from bathing.
His role was created to add excitement to the train ride and entertain children, who are instructed to yell "SCRAM YOU OLD GOAT!" as he pursues the train.
Open auditions will be held for the position on April 9, and park owner Anne Clark Englert told the Boston Globe that anyone with the proper facial hair and a talent for acting would be considered for the role.
"We are looking for someone that has a bit of a theatrical background, or even if they haven't done acting before that they can be theatrical," she said. "It's important that they can stay in character."
-via Ace of Spades HQ
(Photo: David Ngo)
Leia Poppins: practically perfect in every way.
The conventional wisdom is that Mary Poppins is a Time Lord. But that's the wrong universe. She's actually a Jedi who is extremely strong with the Force.
Here she is with Bert Solo, the lovable rogue who once cleaned every chimney along the Kessel Run in 12 hours. Cosplay photographer David Ngo photographed them at WonderCon in Los Angeles.
Fried chicken and freshly baked waffles--that's the right way to start the day! Then you can go burn off those calories on the basketball court. Nike has got your covered. It has produced a special issue of its Dunk High line of shoes that is textured and colored inside and out to resemble the world's favorite meal. You can see more photos at Sneaker News.
Nike plans to release these shoes in early April. And you know what the first day of April is.
-via That's Nerdalicious!
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