Felix Klieser was born without arms. He uses his feet for everything, including his chosen profession -playing the French horn. Klieser fell in love with the sound of the horn when he was just a toddler and has practiced diligently ever since. He turned professional after attending music school. Klieser is now Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s artist in residence. He will perform with the British orchestra for the next two years at least. Klieser holds his horn on a tripod and does the keys with his left foot. He says he can't imagine how others do it with hands. -via Laughing Squid

Reindeer’s eyes are golden in the summer, but turn a deep blue in the winter to capture more light making them the only mammal that does this. pic.twitter.com/IlPAPqD7ob

— Lars-Johan Larsson (@LarsJohanL) December 6, 2021

Is it true? I had to look it up. Yes, reindeer have developed a system for changing their eye color in order to see better during the dark winter months in the Arctic and cold northern regions. But it has nothing to do with the animal's irises, except for pupil dilation. A reindeer's irises are always brown, but you see much less of the iris in winter when the eyes are always dilated.

The part that changes color is actually on the back of the eyeball, a layer called the tapetum lucidum that lies underneath the retina. This layer reflects light back out of the eye. In summer, it is golden colored. In winter it turns blue, which reduces the amount of light reflected back out of the eye and enables the reindeer to see in low light. However, some vision sharpness may be sacrificed.

What causes the change is the light itself. When the sun goes away, the pupils dilate, which causes a pressure change in the eye. The collagen fibers that make up the tapetum lucidum become rearranged and the tissue turns blue. Now isn't that a neat adaptation for winter? Read more about reindeer eyes at LiveScience.  -via Nag on the Lake

What people search for on the internet tells us a lot about the state of humankind. The year 2021 was crammed with topics people wanted more information about, as if we all started paying attention after a year of dealing with the pandemic. Much of it points to people trying to determine what's important in life. However, there's some fun stuff in there. "Bernie Sander's mittens" was the top-searched meme in the US. There are some surprises, too. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who depends on Google to spell something right, but "How to pronounce Michael Jackson" is a little shocking.  

Google has calculated the most searched-for terms for 2021 and has compiled the results. US results are here. You can also see a timeline of search trends over the course of 2021, which you can change to dig deeper into categories listed at the top. Click on the images to read more about a topic.  

The drug sildenafil was first prescribed to treat high blood pressure. Then a side effect emerged in that it caused erections in the men who were taking it to treat their high blood pressure. Under the brand name Viagra, it became a sensation for treating erectile dysfunction. And now it may be our newest weapon in the battle against Alzheimer's disease.

In a study involving over seven million people, the use of sildenafil was associated with a 69% reduced incidence of Alzheimer's. Feixiong Cheng of the Cleveland clinic is the lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Aging. His team combed data on 1600 drugs already in use to see what correlation these drugs had with Alzheimer's, and sildenafil showed the most promise of them all. Of course, correlation is not causation, so further study is needed. A new trial is already in the works to see if sildenafil has any effect in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Also, since most people who take Viagra now are men, gender studies will need to be done. Read more about this research at The Daily Beast. -via Damn Interesting

(Image credit: Flickr user Tim Reckmann)

(Image source: Francis__99)

Look at this picture. The cat looks concerned that two people are pointing at his junk. Then you realize he is probably more concerned that the woman's hand is passing through his chest! The best I can figure out here is that the cat has turned to liquid. It's possible that the woman's shirt has fur cuffs. The only thing that's for sure is that the "hole" in the cat's chest is her sleeve cuff. This confusing picture was drawn from the subreddit Confusing Perspectives, where you'll find a never-ending supply of accidental illusions.  

(Image source: Tooleater)

What kind of ugly monkey is this? It's not a monkey at all; it's a capybara. Those are its nostrils, not eyes, because it's leaning its head back, showing off those long incisors. See a collection of 50 of the most confusing images at Bored Panda. If you can't figure them out, check the comments under each picture.  

Supply chains issues have affected manufactured items both domestic and imported, due to pandemic shutdowns, labor shortages, unforeseen demands, and global logistics. The results are empty shelves and higher prices for a lot of items. But why would that affect Christmas trees? They grow in America, and in most places, you can even select and cut your own at local nurseries.

But here we are. Your local Christmas tree farm or neighborhood kiosk is liable to run out at any time, and the trees you can get will cost an arm and a leg. Curiously, the reason behind the shortage has nothing to do with the pandemic or with supply chain issues. See, an evergreen tree takes eight years to grow to the stabdard six feet, so producers must look into their crystal balls and predict the market for cut trees eight years into the future to decide how many to plant. Tree growers were burned in the 1990s when fewer people wanted to buy cut trees. It happened again during the 2008 recession. Read about the market's ups and down that contribute to Christmas trees costing 50% more this year at Popular Mechanics. If you're not a member, here's an alternate link.

People who use artificial trees aren't quite as impacted. The supply may be thin for a new tree, but you can always pull out that tree you've been using for years. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Beyond My Ken) 

The Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic, was built between 1357 and 1402. In the middle of the bridge stands a bronze statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, who was a priest in Prague during the time the bridge was being built. John heard the confessions of the king's wife, and the king wanted to know all about it. John would not divulge the contents of a confession, so the king had him thrown off the bridge to his death in the Vltava River. The statue was installed in 1683.

At the base of the statue are two bronze plaques. One depicts the priest being thrown to his death in 1393. The other depicts a knight petting a dog, although no one really knows why. It has long been said that touching these plaques will bring good luck, but in the 20th century, visitors to the statue began focusing on touching the dog, as if to pet it. That's why this good boy shines brightly compared to the other imagery in both the plaques. Read more about this often-touched plaque at My Modern Met.  -via reddit

The doll we know as Stretch Armstrong is a man who could stretch his limbs and torso to ridiculous lengths. He's made of soft vinyl stuffed with corn syrup. This stretching ability made him the most sought after toy for boys from his debut in 1976 until around 1980. But as his popularity waxes and wanes, he's brought back every 10-15 years or so to impress a new generation of children. They just love to see how far they can stretch Stretch until he breaks.

Forty-five years later, Stretch Armstrong has fans that range from little kids to men in their late middle age. And he has an interesting story. I once thought that he was some comic book superhero that was made into a toy. No, the doll came first. Jesse D. Horowitz, who invented the toy, explains how the idea came about and was developed into a Christmas juggernaut. Various media producers tell how Stretch tried to make it in TV and movies, but it was an uphill struggle. Now Stretch is a star on YouTube, thanks to the generations of kids who fondly recall how much fun they had destroying their toy.

It's all part of an oral history of Stretch Armstrong at Mel magazine. The article is NSFW due to an image of a rare Stretch Armstrong doll that some might call "anatomically correct," although most would call that a stretch. Pun intended.

It doesn't take long for Tom Scott to unveil the most expensive object by weight, if that's what you are watching this for. And he tells us its history and the reasoning behind why it's so expensive. However, you might wonder how this thing was selected for that very specific title. It all goes into how you define each term. "Object" must be a non-fungible discrete unit. "Expensive" doesn't exactly mean value. You get the idea. I understand why defining every term one uses is so important, because any time I label something superlative in a simple manner, I hear from commenters about exceptions and stretches until, well, until I'm just wrong. An example is the post just before this one on the last public execution by guillotine. The word "public" is necessary since the French government continued to behead people long afterward. Tom is a lot better at explaining that than I am.

The guillotine was a particularly French method of execution, made popular by the French Revolution and continuing until well into the 20th century. The guillotine offered the doomed convict a mercifully swift death relative to other execution methods, yet it was a gruesome spectacle. The crowds that gathered around a beheading were like those that attended a public hanging elsewhere in Europe and in the US, looking for something novel to see in the days when entertainment was hard to come by. But that wasn't quite the reason. Mass media arose with movies and radio around the turn of the 20th century, yet people still clamored to see an execution for reasons ranging from the morbidly curious to the downright bloodthirsty.

On June 17, 1939, around 600 hundred people gathered at 4 AM to watch the execution by guillotine of convicted serial killer Eugen Weidmann in Versailles. The crowd left satisfied after Weidmann's head was separated from his body. But there was a novel factor in this execution- a film crew had surreptitiously recorded it for posterity. Stills from the execution made the papers and caused an uproar in France.

Read the story of Eugen Weidmann's date with the guillotine and its fallout at Amusing Planet.

Imagine you had seen The Terminator in 1984, and it's now 1991 and you hear they are doing a sequel. This is the trailer you see. It doesn't give away anything, yet it makes you want to see the movie. Contrast this with the actual 1991 movie trailer for Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which made us feel like we'd seen the entire movie already.

Michael Edwards edited this trailer to bring it more in line with a trailer you'd see in 2021 (what's known around YouTube as a "modern trailer"), and he focused more on Sarah Conner, which is what really impressed us when we saw Terminator 2. But this version leaves a lot to the imagination, and sets us up for surprises when we see the full movie. You can see the widescreen version at YouTube.  -via reddit

Montreal Comiccon Holiday Edition is back after being canceled in 2020. The weekend is just wrapping up, and Geeks Are Sexy gives us a look at the costumes that celebrate comic book characters, movie and TV characters, creative mashups, and festive Christmas wear. Where else would you see Superman in a Christmas sweater, or Santa Claus with a lightsaber?

Are these folks from The Santa Clause or from The Grinch? It doesn't matter, it's all one big happy North Pole family! See Vikings, aliens, superheros, villains, steampunks, warriors, and storybook characters all in their best fancy dress in a 55-image gallery from Montreal Comiccon at Geeks Are Sexy.

On March 20, 1899, Martha Place became the first woman to be executed by electric chair. It happened in New York under the governorship of Theodore Roosevelt, despite a campaign to stay the execution by women's rights advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Place had been convicted of murder the previous year.

Widower William W. Place had a young daughter and was looking for a new wife to help raise the girl. In 1893 he hired a housekeeper named Martha who seemed to care deeply for his daughter. Place admired Martha's devotion and married her that same year. Having cemented her place in the household, Martha's true nature started to come out. The upshot is that she wasn't that great of a stepmother. It took five years for her murderous tendency to reveal itself, but when it did, the killing was quite gruesome. Read the story of the murder that landed Martha Place in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison at Murder by Gaslight. -via Strange Company 

People build tunnels for myriad reasons, for sewers, subways, or a shortcut through a mountain range, for mining resources, to connect public buildings away from the weather, or to expand real estate. There are clandestine reasons, such as smuggling drugs or breaking out of prison. But one of the oddest reasons for digging a tunnel is because it's fun. Some men find, usually after they complete a digging project, that they enjoy the activity so much they want to continue digging. It might even become an obsession.

Unknown holes in the ground can be dangerous, or interfere with utility lines and property rights. While this might become a problem when a hobby tunneler doesn't know what he is doing, really serious digging enthusiasts learn what they need to know. Some have become rather well known in their own circles, while others cause astonishment when their extensive tunnels are discovered. Messy Messy Chic looks at hobby tunnelers of the past and present to see what they dig and why.

(Image: Library of Congress)

YouTuber dP Art Drawing makes hand-drawn flip books. That's a hobby that requires a lot of paper. She wondered if it was possible to make a flip book animation with only one sheet of paper. Huh? That would require drawing a complete scene and then erasing and drawing again on the same sheet of paper. The project ended up with 211 frames drawn over 53 days. Watch that happen in this mesmerizing video.

The benefits of doing it this way are that she didn't have to completely redraw every frame- just the moving parts, and this method makes it easier to keep the elements in place from frame to frame. It's still a lot of work, even with an electric eraser. The single sheet of paper was completely worn out by the end, but that seems kind of appropriate as Hulk screams with the power to break things. And now all of these drawings physically exist only in one sheet of worn-out paper. The digital version will live on for who knows how long.  -via Geeks Are Sexy