Horses were domesticated for meat and milk long after cattle and sheep, about 5,000 years ago. Central Asian horse herders understood the inheritance of traits that Gregor Mendel explained thousands of years later- that you breed the horses that have the qualities you want, and you eat the ones that don't. These early horse herders sped up natural selection by breeding horses for their tameness and obedience to humans. That was the first step.

Then around 4,500 years ago, a horse showed a genetic mutation in its spine that made it much stronger. This was immediately bred to other horse generations. Suddenly, a horse became the most useful animal humans had. Horses could then plow fields, pull cargo, and most importantly, they could be ridden by humans, which revolutionized long distance travel and warfare. Read about the genetic journey that enabled humans to ride horses at 3 Quarks Daily. -via Nag on the Lake 

(Image credit: long10000) 

In 1850, the total biomass (weight) of all the earth's wild mammals was about equal to the biomass of humans and their domestic animals. As you can see from the graph above, that has changed considerably in the 175 years since. A new study published in the journal Nature Communications traces the changes in that biomass. The total weight of domesticated mammals is more than ten times the total weight of wild mammals! In the domesticated mammal category, two-thirds of that biomass is cattle. We have a lot of them, and they weigh a lot. The other third of that category includes all other livestock, such as sheep and pigs, all cats and dogs, and mice and rats who depend on humans for their survival. Horse populations have declined. You already know about the population growth of humans. 

The total biomass of wild land animals has declined, but not nearly as much as that of marine mammals. That decline is mostly the result of hunting whales. The number of whales dropped steeply during the 20th century, and has only recovered slightly since whaling bans went into effect. Read more about these changes and their causes in the published paper. -via Damn Interesting  

Laurence Brown contrasts autumn in America and Britain by taking audience questions. Yes, there's a difference, and it's mainly that America is big on autumn. The US is a big country, with an awful lot of beautiful trees. We are an agricultural nation, with a big harvest and a lot of delicious native crops like pumpkins and corn and pecans (turkeys, too). And we are Americans, so we relish making a big deal out of everything. 

But the real difference is that Britain is small, and rainy, and autumn doesn't signify all that much change from summer. Brown calls this season the last hurrah before the misery of winter sets in, because he lives in Chicago. Here in the South, we love autumn because it's a reprieve from the misery of a torrid summer. And wherever you live in the US, you can find a place to visit that's very different from your home, without haveing to get a passport. There's a one-minute skippable ad at 2:45. 

In 1890, lumber baron John Mouat built a beautiful mansion in downtown Denver for his wife Amelia and his five children. It seems he also built it as a showcase for his lumber business. The first floor has three parlors, the original five bedrooms are on the second floor, and the third floor is a magnificent ballroom. Each room was lined with a different kind of wood, all available from Mouat's company at the time. More than 100 years later, the mansion was restored to its original splendor and turned into an inn and event space. 

Current owner Elaine Britten, along with her husband Joel Bryant, love the inn but have decided to retire. Brittan tells us about the spirits that haunt the mansion, which she finds comforting, especially the ghost of Amelia Mouat. However, a little digging suggests that the mansion's past includes an unsolved double murder in 1970. 

Yes, this is a bathroom.

That said, the business seems to be doing well, and you can see more of this gorgeous historical home with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms at the real estate listing. -via Fark 

Oh yes, I completely understand that it's rushing things to bring up Christmas when it's still officially October for another few hours, but this is eerie enough for Halloween. Danny Elfman knows about the macabre. The Oingo Boingo frontman has been the composer for more than 100 movies, including most of the Tim Burton films. Today he presents A Danny Elfman Christmas Story, which he wrote and narrates. 

The story is presented in poetic form, in the style of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" as Elfman tells of how he delivers gifts dressed as Krampus, and of the one Christmas he was confronted by a "fan" who is an actual demon wishing to apprentice under Krampus. That's when things get weird. But as creepy as this one is, you have almost two months to get over it before you welcome Santa Claus into your home, with better results, we hope. -via The Awesomer 

The city of Benevento in southern Italy has buildings that go back a couple thousand years, but its reputation as "the city of witches" began in 1428. The Catholic church has begun building a body that would become the Inquisition, and the crime of witchcraft had to be dealt with. Almost anything could be evidence of witchcraft, and confessions could be produced under pressure. Matteuccia di Francesco was convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake. She wasn't even from Benvento, but her confession contained a poetic sequence, or incantation, that told of witches gathering at a walnut tree in the town of Benevento. Ever since, Benevento has been known for witches (called Janara or Strega), not so much among the residents, but a destination for witches from all over Italy. 

Older Benevento residents know all the superstitions to ward off the Janara, but they also embrace the legends for commercial purposes. Benevento became a tourist draw when the local Liquore Strega (advertised in the image above) went into production. The town also has a museum of witches called Janua and is the setting for a series of children's books. Read about Benevento and its witches at Smithsonian. 

(Image credit: Halloween HJB) 

Hobbiton is the original location of The Shire in The Lord of the Rings movies, meaning that's where those scenes were filmed. The movie sets were preserved, and the area is now a pilgrimage destination for fans. It is also a popular venue for weddings. Sharik and Jess Burgess-Stride are both avid LOTR fans, and held their wedding at Hobbiton just a few days ago. All the guests were wearing Shire attire. Elijah Wood, who played Frodo, was not. 

When photographer Cath Ullyett saw Wood walking nearby with his family, she rushed to invite him. Wood was hesitant, not wanting to invade the couples' privacy, but the photographer knew it would thrill them. So Wood ran up to greet the happy couple and pose for a few photos. 



It was the first time a cast member had been to any of the many weddings held at Hobbiton over the last twenty years. The bride and groom were ecstatic. -via Geeks Are Sexy 

There is a species of spider that craves human blood. The jumping spider Evarcha culicivora sniffs out the odors of humans and human blood as well as the blood of animals. But there are two reasons you don't need to worry about being bitten by a blood-sucking spider. The first is that the vampire spider only lives in Kenya and Uganda, around Lake Victoria. And even if you live in those countries, this spider will not bite you. They are around 5mm long, and their tiny teeth cannot pierce human skin.

So how does a vampire spider drink blood? They prey on female mosquitoes that have recently gorged themselves on blood. New research shows that the vampire spider relies more on sight and color than on the smell of blood. They are likely to feast on mosquitoes that have been fed red dye, but have no smell. And even though they eat the mosquitoes that carry malaria, they are no help in controlling the disease since they only eat mosquitoes that have already bitten someone. Read about vampire spiders at Discover magazine. -via Damn Interesting 

The international distress signal in Morse code is SOS, but it was never intended to be an acronym for anything. In fact, the three dots and three dashes was once internationally a code for S5S. The backronym "Save Our Ship" is useful when you are learning how to recognize it, so that phrase became a common explanation.   

The telegraph and Morse code were developed in the 1840s, but the system was no use for ships at sea because it required wires. But then Marconi gave us a wireless telegraph system, or "radio," first demonstrated in 1896. Suddenly, communications from ships at sea was possible, but it took some time and some left turns to work out standard international codes. The most important was a distress signal, calling any available ships for immediate aid. For some time, this code was CQD. Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out explains how that got (slowly) turned into the SOS signal that we all recognize today, despite the fact that ships no longer use Morse code. -via Laughing Squid 

Charles Oldrieve dreamed of one day walking across the English Channel—and perhaps even the Atlantic Ocean. https://t.co/lxePFj5cnV

— Smithsonian Magazine (@SmithsonianMag) October 30, 2025

The early 20th century was full of strange entertainment acts like pole sitters, escape artists, and wing walkers. Charles Oldrieve was a water walker, or an "aquatic pedestrian" if you're fancy. Oldrieve started out as a tightrope walker, but found that novelty acts drew better crowds. He fashioned large wooden shows that resembled canoes so that he could walk across lakes and rivers. He kept setting distance records for walking on water, and dreamed of walking across the English Channel. 

But the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers offered a much longer route, and in early 1907 Oldrieve set off from Cincinnati and walked on water all the way to New Orleans! His wooden shoes were specially designed to gain traction in water, and he only walked during daylight. Still, it was a grueling journey through dangerous currents. By the end, he said, "I wouldn’t walk that river again for five times the money I won.” Oldrieve supposedly began the stunt to win a $5,000 bet. Read about Oldrieve's ridiculous but spectacular journey at Smithsonian. 

When you name a product, you want that name to be simple, memorable, and pleasant. It would be nice if that name were descriptive of the product, but that can be hard in a world where there are so many products already named. It's also crucial that the product name not be something offensive in another language, but that isn't addressed in this video. Coca-Cola is an example of a perfectly-named product, because it rolls off the tongue so easily, yet it was simply named for its ingredients. 

Dr. Erica Brozovsky (previously at Neatorama) gives us some tips on using certain letters and sounds to name your product so that people feel a certain way about it. Then when you come up with the perfect name, you'll find that someone else has already trademarked it. And remember, the perfect product name won't mean anything unless it'a something people need or want. The video is only around nine minutes; the rest is promotional. 

It's not easy being queen, especially if you're a honeybee. Sure, you don't have to work and you have a staff of workers to tend to your every need, but you are in this position for one purpose- to produce hundreds or even thousands of eggs every day. The queen keeps her minions loyal by secreting a bee pheromone. 

But is a queen were to become ill, from, say, a common bee virus, that pheromone production drops, and so does her egg-laying. The workers become aware that the queen isn't upholding her end of the deal, and they can expel her from the hive! It's brutal, but probably best for the overall health of the hive in the long run. Worker bees have other queens in waiting, but until one matures enough to take over egg-laying duties, the hive is vulnerable to failure. Read how this happens, and what it means to the honey industry, at Popular Science. -via Damn Interesting 

The TV special It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted in 1966. It was the third Peanuts TV special, after A Charlie Brown Christmas and the baseball-themed Charlie Brown's All Stars! I had just turned eight years old, and was a Peanuts fan, both from the comics page in the newspaper and from the earlier Christmas special. In those days, everyone at school had watched the same TV shows the night before (we only had two channels), so we spent the next day discussing the show. It gave us the catchphrases "I got a rock" and "Dog germs!" Relive those memories with a list of trivial facts about It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!.

Yes, I noticed that the video clips here borrow heavily from later Peanuts specials. The Halloween special had no Franklin, no Peppermint Patty or Marcie, and Snoopy didn't do aerobics in 1966. If you want to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown this year, you'll have to buy a disc or pay for Apple TV+ (or check the comments). -via Laughing Squid 

Sometimes you'll see a horror film with opening credits that say "Based on a true story." By the time the film is over, you're horrified and wonder what kind of true story it was. Then there are films that say "Inspired by a true story," which could mean anything, since it implies that a story has been greatly altered. Or it could say "Based on a real account" which means little to nothing, because it could be inspired by a hoax, or a story someone else came up with.   

That being said, there are a lot of terrifying horror films that were inspired by stories that made the news somewhere at some time. A lot of slasher films drew inspiration from real murders, some you've heard of. Purely supernatural stories about haunted houses are less credible, but movies can be based on what people said happened. And wherever the story came from, they are usually changed enough to make the movie pure fiction. Read about the news stories that led to twenty of our most horrifying movies ever at Bored Panda. 

The Dodo usually brings us feel-good stories about rescued animals who find a loving home. This is different, because Halloween is right around the corner. You may want to turn the lights on before you watch this. You've been warned!

Amanda is being terrorized in her own home by a malicious entity called The Dark Lord. He watches her from a distance, or he is hidden frightfully nearby, ready to pounce without notice. He stalks her at all times. He thwarts her every purpose, from enjoying a cup of tea to baking cookies. He sits on top of the refrigerator like a gargoyle, following her with his creepy glowing eyes. You might catch those eyes from a hidden place when you least expect them. What horrible fate awaits Amanda from The Dark Lord who rules over his peasant with an iron fist, er, paw? 

If you enjoyed this eerie tale, there's plenty more like it at The Dark Lord's Instagram account.