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. 

The International Olympic Committee provides free condoms to athletes staying in the Olympic Village. This has been going on for decades, but apparently they didn't plan for enough at the Milano-Cortina games. The initial shipment of 10,000 condoms ran out in the first three days of the 17-day event! Yes, 10,000 condoms seems to be very few when compared to the Summer Games, but there are only 2,800 athletes competing. Still, the ratio is eye-opening. This year, 47% of the athletes are women, which means they've gone through more than two condoms every day for each penis. 

However, these are Olympic-branded condoms, so you can bet that many from that first shipment were stashed with souvenirs to take home and show off, sell, or give away. Some, no doubt, were inflated for fun. But we also know that young, extremely healthy athletes on the most important trip of their lives will need more condoms to get through to the closing ceremonies. Read about the condom kerfluffle at Forbes in an article that tries to squeeze in as many puns and double entendres as possible. -via Metafilter 

On August 6th, 1945, the US military dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and killed 70,000 people. Another 70,000 would die later from injuries and radiation within a few weeks. Three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The Japanese, not knowing how many bombs the US had (which was two), surrendered and ended World War II.     

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima when the first bomb detonated. He was severely injured, but managed to get back to his home in Nagasaki and go to his job just in time for the second bomb to be dropped. What are the odds? Weird History tells the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both bombs and became a staunch advocate for nuclear disarmament later in life. There's a skippable promotional break from 2:03 to 3:13. 

Speaking of the odds, back in 2012, Neatorama published an article about the approximately 165 people who fled Hiroshima after the bombing and went to Nagasaki for safety. Read about these nijyuu hibakusha, or "double bomb-affected people" in The Unluckiest Train Ride. 

The Winter Games of the Olympics began as a separate event in 1924, to showcase sports that depend on snow and ice. In that century, some nations rose far above others in medal counts. To guess who's the champ in that department, Americans of a certain age might name the US and Russia, but that's Cold War thinking, as that rivalry has always been highlighted. You would eliminate tropical nations, since winter sports are not really a thing for them. Alpine and Scandinavian nations do really well, but many of them have relatively small populations. Brilliant Maps crunched the numbers and presents a list of the top 14 medal-winning nations, because there are 14 who have taken home more than 100 Winter Olympics medals. 

But if you are guessing, you have to take history into account and consider the definition of "nation." The list not only ranks these nations, but explains why the count is as high or as low as it is. There's even more detail in an accompanying video. -via Nag on the Lake 

In 1943, William McArthur of Sydney, Australia, patented an eating utensil that combined a fork, spoon, and knife all in one unit. It has a scoop like a spoon (although it's usually not round), tines on the end, and the side edges are straight so they can be used like a butter knife. This is the splayd, named as a portmanteau of spoon and blade. "Spknork" is offered as an alternative name, but who can pronounce that? The splayd became quite popular in Australia as permanent utensils used in the home. They were handy for cookouts and parties, because you could hold a plate in one hand and all your utensils in the other. A nice set of splayds even became a common wedding gift. Splayds are not that popular anymore, even in Australia, but since they were made of metal, many folks still have them in a drawer somewhere. 

Foil Arms and Hog, or in this case, just Foil and Hog, have differing opinions on the traditions of Valentine's Day. How do you make the simple act of giving a greeting card to someone super creepy? Is a homemade card better or worse than a store-bought card? A homemade card shows that you put thought and effort into it, but it may also signal that's you're too cheap to buy one. How about an original poem? That's so childish! Or is Foil just being a party-pooper? 

Whether a Valentine is creepy or not comes down to who you give it to. Between people who have a relationship, it's not only sweet, but often expected. On the other hand, getting a homemade card with a poem from a complete stranger can set off alarm bells. This skit works because Foil doesn't know what kind of relationship Hog may have been building with Megan that went underneath his radar.

Almost everyone carries an X chromosome from their mothers, and either an X or Y from their fathers. The Y is the odd man out among our 46 chromosomes, carrying only 51 protein-coding genes compared to thousands in other chromosomes. But those genes are important in developing male attributes, from the womb to puberty to fatherhood. However, when men get older, they tend to lose the Y from some of their cells. Since the Y has already done its job and has so few genes, this hasn't seemed to be a problem. But that may change due to more recent research.

Some of the genes carried on the Y chromosome inhibit cell growth, preventing cancers and other diseases. The X does, too. But having only one copy of those genes in certain cells may explain why older men suffer from cancer, Parkinson's disease, kidney disease, and heart problems more than women. Read about the Y chromosome and what we are learning about its usefulness at the Conversation. -via Damn Interesting 

In the sitcom The Office, Michael Scott is a corporate middleman at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. His main purpose is to supervise a staff and avoid any real work. When this character is transported into the post apocalyptic world of Fallout 4, his is tasked with frst proving that he is a human (which turns out to be difficult), and then protecting colonies from attack. But he still just doesn't want to do the work. Scott's main mechanism is to make a joke out of any situation, but the apocalypse is deadly serious, and therefore the most inappropriate place to make jokes. Yeah, that's what she said.  

This mashup is the work of eli_handle_b.wav (previously at Neatorama, and appearing often at Infinite 1up) who has found his niche in putting comedic characters into life-or-death video game situations. He finds the perfect clips to make even the most serious fantasy world infinitely ridiculous. -via Born in Space

The fairly new technique of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is throwing new light on ancient artifacts. When traces of organic material are recovered from old containers, we can determine what they once were. A Roman vial that was excavated in the city of Pergamon in Turkey was analyzed. They thought it would have held perfume, but what they found was quite the opposite- human feces. The brown flakes extracted from the vial shown above tested positive for the compounds coprostanol and 24-ethylcoprostanol, which indicates fecal material. The ratios of those two point to a human origin. Other compounds indicate it was laced with a great amount of thyme, probably to mask the smell. 

Notes from the Roman physician Galen and other written accounts tell about using feces as medicine, but this is the first time physical evidence has been found. Could the ancient Romans have been practicing a version of fecal transplants to change a patient's gut biome? Your guess is as good as mine. Read more about this research at Independent. -via Strange Company 

(Unrelated image credit: Daderot) 

Can you build a working submarine from LEGO blocks? Well, I certainly couldn't, but the guy behind Brick Experiment Channel did it. Most of it is LEGO parts, some are homemade, and some are just convenient, like the syringe. This submarine is controlled by Raspberry Pi and PID. He even used power tools made of LEGO blocks to make some parts! This is quite clever- the syringe is for ballast control, so that the submarine's depth can be adjusted. This gadget even has laser sensors, a camera, and remote control. It also has a cute minifig captain inside.  

If you want to skip ahead to see the. submarine work, that starts at about three minute in, but I was quite impressed to see the quick build. It first gets tested in an aquarium, then goes to a swimming pool, and finally out to a creek. If you want to build your own, the complete proiect is laid out in a series of articles here.  -via kottke 

The sight of a bird in early spring gives us hope after the dreariness of winter. Once you really notice them, you want to see more. Birdwatching has grown more and more popular in North America, where roughly 700 species of birds can be seen. Even if you aren't really a "bird person," you may become inspired to learn more about them after reading Searching for Birds. It's a compilation of data that gives you an easy way to explore information about birds you've seen, or want to see. It compares data from three directions: the actual population of bird species in the US, sightings recorded by birdwatchers, and Google searches for these species over time. There's also a section about "spark birds," which is the one bird you've seen that gets you interested in avian wildlife. Many of the charts are interactive, and the illustrations are beautiful. 

This comes just in time for the Great Backyard Bird Count, which is happening this weekend. Find out how you can get involved.  -via Metafilter 

Who would have ever thought about mixing a sultry jazz ballad with '80s glam metal? Bill McClintock, (previously at Neatorama) of course. In this case, he takes the tune of Sade's 1984 hit "Smooth Operator" with the vocals of Ratt's 1984 song "Round and Round." The only thing these songs have in common is the year they were released. You would have likely heard them on the radio in the same hour in 1984, but it takes a special ear to see how well they could mix. The rhythm, the lyrical envelope, and even the key changes work surprisingly well. McClintock calls this song "Smooth OpeRATTor."

But McClintock always gives us something extra. The guitar solo from Santana's "Black Magic Woman" fits right in. That one's from 1968, so it at least breaks up the timeline. Still, you could have easily heard Santana's song in that same radio hour. -via Laughing Squid 

Valentine's Day as it is celebrated today is full of hearts, flowers, and romance (and let's not forget candy). But how did it get that way? The origins of our Valentine traditions are pretty murky. The name comes from St. Valentine, who was one, or maybe two, or possibly more Christian leaders from the third century. His feast day is February 14th. But this saint was not associated with love or romance in any sense, except in stories first told long after his death. Is it a holiday descended from the Roman Lupercalia? Maybe, but the evidence is rather thin. Is it a day to celebrate mating habits, since many animals begin growing their young this time of year? Or is it just a "Hallmark holiday" to sell cards and flowers (and let's not forget candy)? It couldn't be, since the first written mention of the holiday comes from the 14th century. 

Maybe the origin of Valentine's Day as we know it comes from a confluence of all those origin stories, melded together by time. Read about Valentine's Day's various origin stories and other myths surrounding the holiday at Mental Floss. 

This couple in Mexico were considering getting a dog, but fate intervened. A kitten mysteriously showed up at their house, riddled with fleas and other parasites. Lilo needed help, and when he got it, he wasn't about to let these wonderful people go. He became a velcro cat, following them everywhere. 

The guy says it makes "zero sense" that Lilo just showed up like that. As an old cat lady, it makes plenty of sense to me. Lilo didn't walk to their home. Someone who cares so little that they didn't get their cat spayed ended up with a bunch of kittens. As soon as they were barely old enough to be weaned, any kitten not given away got a ride to a random neighborhood and was put out. The kitten is desperate for help, and will approach every human until they find a kind soul. I can't tell you how many cats I've gotten that way. You can see more of Lilo and his loving nature at Instagram.