The festival of Berikaoba has been a tradition in the country of Georgia for thousands of years. To welcome spring, the festival begins with a wrestling match and then there's a procession featuring
berikas, the spirits of the season.

As the berikas continued down the street, shrieking and lashing the pavement with their whips, villagers offered them gifts of eggs, bread, and wine. The offerings, they believe, will increase their chance of having a fruitful spring and avoiding misfortune. In return, the berikas dole out a special greeting, caressing spectators’ faces with their muddy hands. Howling, splashing through puddles, dancing with liters of homemade wine, the berikas—local men in homemade costumes—evoke the energy of a world emerging from the long, cold winter.

“Thousands of years ago, the procession began from a pagan temple,” says Eka Veshapidze, the local Berikaoba aficionado. “And if townsfolk couldn’t provide food or wine, the berikas would run inside the villager’s house, roll around on the floor and effectively curse the family. Afterwards, they might steal a chicken from the yard. Even if it was the last one.”

They don't steal chickens anymore, which is good, but the entire festival has died out in most Georgian villages over the past few centuries, as Christianity discouraged the festival due to its pagan origins. Veshapidze is trying to reverse that decline, and her efforts have added street theater, feasts, and wine tasting to the Berikaoba festival activities in her town of Didi Chailuri. It's become somewhat of a tourist draw since then, and other villages are beginning to re-embrace the ancient festival. Read about the revival of Berikaoba at Atlas Obscura.

For geography nerds, it's a valid question: Which country is the squarest in the world? None are perfectly square, as national boundaries are ruled by geographical features like coastlines and rivers, and cultural histories like where people choose to settle and the legacy of invasions.

However, the value in this video goes way beyond the original question. Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones (previously at Neatorama) start off guessing countries, and gradually slide into a rhythm. Then you suspect that they might be rhyming with each other. Finally it spills into a full-blown comedy song. While there may be no square nations, a lot of them are shaped like animals or something else that you hadn't realized before. They eventually determine which country is the closest of them all to being a square. -via Digg

By some definitions, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the movie with the longest theatrical run ever. It has been shown in theaters at least once a week for more than 45 years! But wait- theaters were closed for the majority of 2020. How can a movie continue a run when theaters are closed?   

Some things are constants in a chaotic world: Death, taxes and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which has played at Portland’s Clinton Street Theater every Saturday night for 43 years.

So, on March 15, 2020, when the theater was forced to close due to coronavirus restrictions, one man was determined not to break the streak.

For the next 54 Saturdays, Nathan Williams came to an empty theater to screen the film, sometimes with a friend, sometimes by himself.

While this may sound sad, there are worse ways to spend Saturday nights alone during a pandemic. On April 3, the theater welcomed back a limited audience for the usual Saturday night screening. Read how Rocky Horror became such a tradition at the Clinton Street Theater that even quarantine couldn't stop it at The Oregonian. -via Boing Boing

PS: The Clinton Street Theater also spent 2020 using their marquee for fun and awareness. See more of these at Instagram.

Cats can be liquid, cats can be buff, and the weirdest ones remain in our memories. Starting with viral pictures of cats we've all seen, YouTuber kekeflipnote was inspired to make pixelated animations of their strangeness. Sometimes the original picture comes first, and then takes off into another universe, and other times we get the animation first, leading up to a surprise photograph. -via Everlasting Blort

Arnold Shortman in "Hey Arnold!" (1996). pic.twitter.com/6AgT9oHu3Z

— Found a good outfit. (@foundgoodoutfit) December 31, 2020

The Twitter account called Found a good outfit. is run by comedian Brady O'Callahan. Each Tweet is an instruction on how you can dress like a character from movies, TV, comics, video games, etc. etc. with clothing found on the internet.

Daffy Duck in "Duck Amuck" (1953). pic.twitter.com/9mszybmIL1

— Found a good outfit. (@foundgoodoutfit) March 9, 2021

It's not meant to be an exact recreation of a look, like cosplay, but more like a way to evoke recognition. In other words, if you dress this way, people will be reminded of that character. And it's not all characters- some of the fashion tips are for ways to recreate a consumer product or a logo.

24 Caplets Box in Imodium A-D (date unknown). pic.twitter.com/uDhWo11fMV

— Found a good outfit. (@foundgoodoutfit) March 19, 2021

There are a ton of these at the Twitter account, some funnier than others. And for some reason, "apron" always get translated as "handbag." -via Metafilter 

You might be surprised to learn how often flights are delayed because of bees. Ben Shertzer is the wildlife administrator at Pittsburgh International Airport. In 2012, had to call in master beekeeper Steve Repasky to deal with swarms of honeybees that had attached themselves to planes. Since then, Shertzer has learned a lot about bees from Repasky, and how to keep them off the aircraft.

Shertzer and Repasky approached airport management about placing hives on the property in 2013, but were told the project didn’t fit the airport’s vision. It wasn’t until Christina Cassotis came on board as CEO in 2015 that things turned around. Turns out, Cassotis’ grandfather was a beekeeper. The airport currently has 110 colonies—almost four million honeybees—spread out over 8,000 acres.

The program benefits the airport as well as the honeybees. “Swarming is reproductive behavior,” says Repasky. “In the spring, a healthy colony will split in half, and will take off in a swarm to locate a new home, traveling upwards of a mile or more. While they’re searching, they’ll stop to rest on the first solid object they can find, whether it’s the wing of an aircraft, a runway taxi light, or a luggage cart.” To combat this behavior, Shertzer and Repasky have placed 15 “swarm traps” around the perimeter of the airfield offering the bees alternative landing spots. It’s worked: Whereas the airport used to have 15 or more swarms a year interrupting air operations, in the past year they’ve had just three.

The program has other benefits besides keeping planes bee-free, and has spread to other airports. Read about the bee-havior that makes it worthwhile to keep beehives at airports at Air & Space magazine.

(Image credit: Steve Repasky/Pittsburgh International Airport)

A bear wandered into Deedee Mueller's house in the hills of Pasadena, California, Saturday looking thin and hungry, like it had just come out of hibernation. The Muellers weren't home, but their two tiny terriers, Squirt and Mei Mei, were. The family's security cameras tell the story, which has a bit of a surprise ending. -via Digg

An interactive list of the world’s most populated cities may surprise you. Imagine living in the midst of 20 million (or more) people! None of the top 20 cities are in the US. None are in Europe, either, unless you count Istanbul, which lies in two continents. Maps Mania has more information and some tips on how to use the map.

The World's Twenty Largest Cities is actually a bit of a misnomer as the map actually allows you to explore the size of thousands of cities around the world. If you scroll to the end of the map presentation you can explore the map for yourself. Zoom out and you will see that cities around the world have pink circle's representing the relative size of the population. If you click on a city's circle you can view details on the city's actual population size.

-via Nag on the Lake

(Image credit: Ben Morlok)

Children are born to seek sweet nourishment and reject bitterness -it's a part of human survival. But by the time they are adults, they've learned to enjoy things like salsa, seafood, pickles, and salad. Or most do. Your diet would be pretty bland if you only ate what babies want, and it wouldn't be good for you, either.

Acquired tastes are part of practically every culture’s cuisine and some of the world’s most beloved dishes. Without expanding beyond innate preferences in their diet, humans wouldn’t be able to get the nutrients they need to survive. But there’s a good reason people aren’t born with a taste for bitter vegetables and fermented foods. Without knowing any better, seeking out these flavors could be deadly.

Humans have an innate aversion to decay because that odor and flavor signals that a food has gone bad, and may therefore carry dangerous pathogens. But many fermented foods (which are technically decayed) are totally safe to eat and even contain beneficial bacteria. People have no natural instinct for telling “good” decay and “bad” decay apart, so they rely on the process of acquiring taste to learn what’s good to eat. This also applies to bitter flavors, which are present in toxic plants as well as nutritious vegetables.

It's not a matter of taste buds "maturing," even though that what I told my kids and they bought it. It turns out to be a matter of learning. Science says that there are three components to acquiring a taste for foods we wouldn't naturally eat: influence, familiarity, and conditioning. Mental Floss explains these components, and has some tips for those who want to learn to like a certain food. And considering the quote here, let's have a moment for those adventurous individuals in our distant past who determined, say, which mushrooms are okay to eat and how to safely ferment food.

(Image credit: Rainer Knäpper, Free Art License)

In Riga, the capital of Latvia, there's a house with cat sculptures on top, as if they were guarding the building. While the Art Nouveau house is now a landmark, its history may be surprising. For some reason, the man who owned the house, built in 1909, was refused membership in the local tradesman's guild, called the Great Guild.  

He happened to own the building across the way from the Guild. So, he ordered two sculptures of black cats made and placed on the roof of his building (Kaķu nams in Latvian). Not only that but he ordered that they should be turned away from the Guild, backside up.

Today it may not seem much of a retort, visual or otherwise. Back then, a pair of black cats showing their posteriors to the parish principals was a public gesture of defiance, distaste and damnification. This feline feud was serious. Put the message in to your own contemporary words.  You got it.

The gesture enraged the members of the Great Guild, and a battle ensued. Read how that turned out, and see plenty of images of the Cat House at Kuriositas.

(Image credit: Flickr user Yusuke Kawasaki)

If you've ever had to give a pill to a cat, you know that it can involve lots of time, possible injury (to you, not the cat), and may land you on the cat's enemies list. Now imagine giving medication to a wide variety of wild animals, some of which have the ability to kill you.  

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is home to hundreds of animals comprising a wide variety of taxa, from bugs to bison, salamanders to siamangs, prairie dogs to pandas, and everything in between. Regardless, all of our animals receive veterinary care, and often that means an animal needs to take medicine.

Our Department of Wildlife Health Sciences includes veterinarians, technicians, pathologists and nutritionists that ensure every single animal receives the highest level of care. They examine the animals in our care and prescribe the best course of action for any ailment. An animal may have a new problem, like a wound that needs attention, or a chronic problem, like arthritis. Medication can take several forms — pills, capsules, liquid suspensions (medicine mixed into a liquid) or even injections. Ensuring that an animal receives its full dose of medicine, as often as necessary, takes a bit of creativity.

Read about the National Zoo's animals and see videos on giving medication to a gecko, a red panda, an orangutan, sea lions, monkeys, onagers, and avocets at Smithsonian. Bonus: find out what onagers and avocets are.

If you've ever wondered how a courtroom stenographer keeps up with everything that is said in a trial, Isabelle Lumsden is happy to explain. It takes special equipment that require a particular technique. After watching the video, I am impressed, but I still don't know how she does it. -via Digg

In 1936, actress Mary Astor and her ex-husband Dr. Franklyn Thorpe went to court to fight over custody of their daughter Marylyn. It had been a particularly acrimonious divorce, and the custody battle became a sensation, mainly because of Astor’s diaries.  

Her estranged husband stole her private diaries, called the Purple or Lavender Diary, to use in a bitter custody battle. It was reported that Astor wrote breathless accounts of her many love affairs in its pages. As the press salivated for details, Astor appeared in court to face a hostile lawyer hellbent on proving she was an unfit mother. People flooded the courthouse and vendors sold hot dogs and ice cream to the crowds.

Astor's diary was the first major Hollywood sex scandal, "a sensation the likes of which had never been seen before," writes Joseph Egan in The Purple Diaries. Astor faced losing her career, daughter, and reputation, but she wouldn't be shamed. When faced with these challenges, Astor fought back.

Astor’s affairs became public knowledge during the trial, but so did Thorpe’s. The press couldn’t get hold of the actual diaries, so they published false excerpts. And the diaries weren’t even purple: they were written in brown ink in blue notebooks. In any case, the details of the case were both salacious and gripping, but the fallout what not what you would have expected from the early days of Hollywood. Read the story of the purple diaries at Mental Floss. -via Strange Company

(Image credit: CINELANDIA magazine)

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021

The British royal family has announced that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, passed away this morning. Philip was 99, only two months from achieving his 100th birthday. His wife of 73 years, Queen Elizabeth II, has a habit of congratulating her subjects with a personal letter on their 100th birthday. In discussing the prince's death, reddit poet Poem_for_your_sprog said:

She looked at the message
she'd crafted and penned -
A letter to Philip
that she'd never send.

-via reddit

Neuralink, a tech startup owned by Elon Musk, is working on a wireless brain-machine interface to give paralyzed people some control over their environment. They've reached an important milestone in the quest.

Today we are pleased to reveal the Link’s capability to enable a macaque monkey, named Pager, to move a cursor on a computer screen with neural activity using a 1,024 electrode fully-implanted neural recording and data transmission device, termed the N1 Link. We have implanted the Link in the hand and arm areas of the motor cortex, a part of the brain that is involved in planning and executing movements. We placed Links bilaterally: one in the left motor cortex (which controls movements of the right side of the body) and another in the right motor cortex (which controls the left side of the body).

Pager was already pretty good at Pong, but now he can play without a joystick! Read more about the research at the company's website. -via Geekologie