The trend these days is away from having a bar of soap in your shower or on your bathroom sink, and more toward a bottle of liquid soap or shower gel. Younger people see a communal bar of soap as dirty, with an ick factor of imagining other people touching it. However, soap in a solid bar is more environmentally-friendly, less expensive, and last longer. Plenty of liquid soap users don't think about any of these factors because using liquid soap out of a pump bottle is just what's done in the modern world. 

Dan Kois will defend bar soap until the end. He writes about the history of soap, including his personal history with Irish Spring, and the advantages of a simple bar in your bathroom. In preparing for this extensive essay, he even engaged a microbiology lab in testing the bacteria on soap and the poufs people use with liquid soap. Read all about the simple bar of soap and why we should be bringing it back at Slate. 

(Image credit: Dwight Burdette) 

Most people become disgusted when they find a foreign object in their food, and even more so when that object is alive. Musician Simon Curtis, on the other hand, didn't lose it when he found a frog in his lettuce. Making a simple salad in the middle of the night turned out to be an adventure he never expected. He kept the frog in the lettuce container because it was too cold to put it outside. Well, Tony, as he named the frog, didn't want to stay in the plastic box. He didn't just get out of the box, he wandered from room to room exploring his new home, and getting pretty dirty in the process. You have to admire Tony's adventurous spirit, but you also don't want to step on a frog just walking through the house. Simon went from simply not wanting the frog to die to showering his new pet with everything a little frog could want in life. Tony lucked out!

How often do you fart? Is that more or less than the average healthy human? Who knows? Scientists aren't quite sure, yet, but that could change with new technology. Brantley Hall of the University of Maryland led a team in developing a special device to answer the question. It attaches to your underwear and then detects certain gases that indicate flatulence. They named the device "Smart Underwear," even though you have to provide your own underwear. One could imagine they had plenty of other possible names that were rejected. "Fart Finder" comes to mind. 

They've tested the device on volunteers, first to see if it worked at all, then to see if the device will detect changes in the amount of farting when the person's diet is changed. Smart Underwear seems to work just fine, and Hall has applied for a patent. So far, they've found a wide variation in the number of farts per day and the amount of gas expelled, and hope to expand their experiments among the population. They are particularly looking for outliers, meaning people who fart very little or an awful lot. Read more about fart research and what they've found so far at Scientific American. -via Damn Interesting 

The original Toy Story hits theaters in 1995, so an entire generation has grown up and produced their own children since then. But there have been three main story sequels and few spin-off films too, so everyone knows the toys in Toy Story. They've learned to deal with children growing up and leaving them behind, only to find new children to play with. But what happens when a child decides regular toys aren't fun anymore because they now have an iPad? Excuse me, this device is a "Lilypad" in the new movie Toy Story 5. Can the toys tear Bonnie away from her screen long enough to play with them anymore? You know Woody, Buzz, and the gang will come up with a scheme or two to make that happen. This trailer offers several contenders for the most memorable quote from a movie that isn't even here yet. Toy Story 5 will open nationwide on June 19. 

This unassuming building in Millmont, Pennsylvania, looks like nothing more than a garage specializing in oil changes. But it's listed as a single family residence with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and 5,800 square feet of living space -and nine acres of land. You can't see it because most of it is underground. This home has regular utilities, but also a backup generator, fuel storage, well water with a water filtration system, air filtration, and multiple heat pumps. Continue reading to see more.

The eyes of the world were drawn to an Olympic preliminary qualifying round in the women's cross-country skiing event in Tésero, Italy, on Wednesday. A large dog joined in the race and was even caught on Omega's official timekeeping camera as he crossed the finish line. Local news outlets and social media lit up at the appearance of what looked like a wolf running the race. But this wolf was wearing a collar. 

The dog was identified as a Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul, who belongs to a family who runs a local bed and breakfast. His owners speculated that Nazgul wanted to follow his family as they left for a different Olympic event, and he broke out of the house. While the wolfdog surprised and unnerved some of the competitors, his presence did not affect the results of the heat, since the qualifying skiers had already crossed the finish line. That's a good dog.    

The city of Hampi is in the Indian state of Karnataka, and its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Five hundred years ago, Hampi was the biggest city in India, and the second largest city in the world, but today relatively few people outside of India are familiar with it. One of its stone ruins is pictured above- what kind of building was this? It's magnificently ornate, and huge. Check the size of the people standing in front. Why were these entrances so big, and why were there so many of them? Make your guess before you read the next paragraph. 

This structure was built by a ruler of the powerful Karnata Kingdom as a literal barn. It's the stable where the kingdom's war elephants were kept. That explains why the openings are so large and numerous, but the stone architecture and the ornate decorations speak to a deliberate declaration of power and wealth. When the kingdom was defeated and Hampi burned to the ground in 1565, only the sturdiest stone structures survived. Read up on the Hampi elephant stable and see plenty of pictures at Kuriositas.  

(Image credit: Arun Shetty) 

The annual Spring Festival Gala is a "must see" TV experience in China, broadcast on the eve of the Lunar New year. This year's show featured dancing by humanoid robots developed by several Chinese robotics firms. The robots danced, flipped, jumped, and performed martial arts moves. Only one fell, and that turned out to be a programmed stunt. The robots, which are about four feet tall, were joined by a group of children dancing onstage, which was impressive due to the danger it implied. The robots relied on their programming and would not have been able to make any adjustments for the human dancers. But the choreography went off flawlessly.  

This performance was designed to impress the world, while Western roboticists emphasize that dancing robots don't need to have situational awareness in order to adapt to changing conditions like industrial robots would. But they can sure put on a show! -via Laughing Squid 

If you picture two teenagers passing time in a dark basement, leisurely experimenting with chemicals, you might think of the 1970s. I can pull up many memories of just that scenario. You wouldn't be surprised that they had fluorescent paint down there. The very first fluorescent paint, in fact. 

But all this happened in the 1930s, and they weren't hanging out in the basement because they were hiding anything. Bob and Joe Switzer knew a few things about color, chemicals, and light, but even they were surprised at what they developed in their home darkroom. They ended up starting their own company to market DayGlo paint, and eventually struck a partnership with the Sherwin-Williams paint company. DayGlo paint found its way into home products, art, and construction. It was only later that other teenagers used it to illuminate dark basements. Read the story of how that all started at Smithsonian. -via Damn Interesting 

Seven years after the last feature film, Star Wars is coming back to theaters, with The Mandalorian and Grogu. The film takes the place of season four of the TV show The Mandalorian that had already been planned out, but was delayed by the pandemic and the writer's strike. Grogu (who we all came to know as "baby Yoda") is still cute, still young, but appears slightly older and more in touch with the Force. We get to see Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver. And a line from Din Djarin sets up his fierce devotion to Grogu and his fears for the future. There's very little plot revealed in the trailer, which is probably a good thing. There's fighting, and spaceships, so what else do you need to know? You'll find a very detailed breakdown of what we learn from this trailer at Gizmodo. The Mandalorian and Grogu will open in theaters, including IMAX theaters, on May 22. 

Can you recreate a color from memory? If you were shown a color, could you go back to it without a paint name or hexidecimal number? In the Color Memory Game you will be shown a color for five seconds. Then you get a screen with a color that may or may not be anywhere near the original color, and three slider bars to change the hue, saturation, and brightness to get back to the original color. You have five colors per game, but you may have to play through once or twice to get your brain in gear. When you get your result for each color, you'll also get a snarky comment on your abilities. 

At the beginning, you have a choice to play as a single or multiplayer, and a choice between easy or hard mode. I didn't even attempt the hard mode, because my scores weren't all that great on easy mode. But you'll have fun trying! -via Metafilter 

We all know that being overweight is bad for our health, but Kurzgesagt tells us why in detail down to the molecular level. And it's not just one thing, but an entire constellation of effects that excess fat can have on us. Carrying more weight than is healthy will screw up every organ in your body sooner or later. If you think of a hundred ways to die, 95 of them are liable to be due to excess fat. It's pretty scary, especially right after you've splurged on a fast food meal. However, it's better to understand what's going on than to just suffer and die in ignorance, even while eating cheesecake. 

The horror is somewhat assuaged by the googly eyes on our cells and organs when they are under stress, and by the forces of evolution that are illustrated by opossums. This video is only 9:12; the rest is an ad. 

Valentine's Day weekend was also a carnival cosplay party at the winter version of Québec Comiccon at the Québec City Convention Centre. Plenty of  Canadian cosplayers braved the cold to meet up and have their pictures taken. Love was in the air, too, as a duo of blinged-out Lady Deadpools stole the show. 

You can't be too cold when you're covered in pounds and pounds of rhinestones! You can get a closer look at Anne-Ma in her glittery gold glory in a video at Instagram. There were also a good number of group cosplayers arriving together or else getting together, like the cast of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the top, and a contingent of bad guys from the Empire below. 

As you can see, a good time was had by all. See dozens of the best costumes from the con in a gallery at Geeks Are Sexy. Click on any photo to bring up the full size version.  

When a women's style site gets a chance to interview the first woman to cross Antarctica solo, of course they are going to ask her about her skin care routine. British explorer Felicity Aston completed her record-setting ski excursion in 2012, and now lives on an Icelandic island near the Arctic Circle. As a scientist who leads polar expeditions, Aston doesn't rely on her looks, but she does know a thing or two about protecting herself from the elements. 

On many Antarctic expeditions, Aston was the only woman among many men. They were astonished to see how much moisturizer she slathered on her face at night. They kept their socks on for warmth, while Aston inspected her feet every night. And she uses a lot of sunscreen. When they returned, her skin was fine while the men looked "like they’ve been dipped in a vat of acid." And she names the products she uses. Oh yeah, she also talks about her motivations and the experience of being alone in Antarctica in an interview at A Cup of Jo. -via kottke 

(Image credit: Felicity Aston) 

The Regency romance novels of Jane Austin defined an entire literary genre. They lend themselves well to cinema, with lush historical settings and the strictly-defined etiquette of the upper crust. We call these movies period dramas. Sketch comedy writers Julia Aks and Steve Pinder saw a pun in the term, and went to great lengths with it, turning a period drama into a comedy of errors.  

Mr. James Dickley is about to propose marriage to Miss Estrogenia Talbot when she unexpectedly starts her menstrual period. The clueless Dickley assumes she has been injured, and escalates the situation to a ridiculous degree. That's all you need to know, except that the incursion of a woman's unspoken biology into Dickley's genteel world is really funny, and the short Jane Austin's Period Drama is up for the Oscar for Live Action Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards. If you want to know more after watching it, Wikipedia has you covered.