People are much more uncomfortable and stressed during short flights than they are during long flights to other continents. See, while airlines are trying to save money everywhere they can, having people stressed and uncomfortable during long flights is counterproductive, discourages repeat patronage, and can be dangerous. Therefore, they make an effort to ease a passenger's experience. Short flights? Eh, those people aren't paying enough to justify any effort on the airline's part. That's why I came up with before I watched the video. Bright Side tells us a lot more on how you shouldn't be discouraged from intercontinental flight, or even ultra-long flights, just because you hate shorter flights. -via Digg

Dollar stores are known as "small box" stores, compared to the "big box" retailers like Walmart, and that's one reason they are popular- they are everywhere, they are convenient, and they are cheap. It's much easier to pop into a nearby dollar store, after parking close to the door, pick up a few things, and check out relatively quickly. You will probably also be impressed with the selection. Some only stock items priced at one dollar each, while others have a range of prices that are still fairly low. How can the company make money doing that? If you weren't in such a hurry, you might start to compare these items with those sold elsewhere.

According to analysis by The Guardian and The Washington Post, paying $1 for a 16-oz bottle of milk at a dollar store is the equivalent of paying $8 for a full gallon, which is more expensive than the fancy organic stuff at Whole Foods. Similarly, the $1 bag of raisins at the dollar store weighs only 4.5 ounces (128 grams), while a 72-ounce (2-kilogram) bag from a big-box store costs $10.50, or 52 percent less per ounce.

By shrinking package sizes, dollar stores can get away with charging way more per volume, which is one of the main strategies that dollar stores use to wring the most profit out of every sale. Just because you only paid $1 for that roll of aluminum foil doesn't mean that it's a good deal. That $1 roll is only 15 feet (4.5 meters) long, while Walmart sells a 75-foot (23-meter) roll for $4.06, the equivalent of more than 18 feet per dollar. (Of course, if finances are tight, maybe you'd rather pay $1 for 15 feet of foil rather than $4.06 for 75 feet.)

That's a part of what's known as the "poor tax." We know it would be cheaper to buy in bulk, but that's not possible if we don't have enough cash to do it. There's more to the economics involved in dollar stores, which you can read at How Stuff Works. -via Mental Floss

(Image credit: John Sposato)

The Australian Floating Hotel That Ended Up in North Korea https://t.co/qyXwTVgQvk

— Amusing Planet (@AmusingPlanet) December 24, 2019

A floating hotel? Isn't that just a cruise ship? Not exactly. Back in the 1980s, cruise ships weren't as big as they are now. And this particular hotel was unique- seven stories tall and situated on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's coast. A spectacular place to stay.  

The Four Seasons Barrier Reef Resort was the brainchild of Townsville developer Doug Tarca, who wanted to put a hotel on the Great Barrier Reef so that tourists could have immediate access to it. The original plan was to permanently moor three cruise ships around the reef, but this was deemed impractical. A chance encounter with a Swedish company who specialized in building floating dorms for oil rigs transformed that idea into a floating resort instead.

As for the story about it ending up in North Korea, no, it didn't just float there on its own. Rather, circumstances decreed that the floating hotel wasn't going to make money in the long run, and it ended up being sold over and over again. Read the story of the floating Four Seasons Barrier Reef Resort at Amusing Planet.

This hand looks as if it has been smashed by a bowling ball or something. The fingers are swollen, cracked, and there are patches that look like it may be bruised. What could have caused this? Who did it happen to? Continue to find out.

The folks at Bad Lip Reading brought us a nonsensical singing Yoda in the video SEAGULLS! (Stop It Now) more than three years ago. It's taken them this long to dare to give Yoda the mic again, and while this song is just as nonsensical, it's quite different. The video is edited from one short scene in The Last Jedi, and the song is completely original. It also has a secret weapon- a cameo appearance by Baby Yoda!

Scientists who study the natural world have to spend at least part of their time in that world. The work can be grueling and uneventful, but spend enough time outdoors and something memorable will happen ventually. Like the time paleontology professor Don Esker and his team were caught in a sudden storm in Montana. Most of the crew hurried to tents (that collapsed) while he was in a van.  

After a bit, we started to hear hard *pings* as objects ricocheted off the van, and we realized we were getting hail, steadily increasing in abundance and size. The vehicles rocked ominously and the hail fell, and the wind blew and blew and blew and we were silent. Gradually, the storm abated.

We went out to check on Mason Jane Milam, who had remained in her tent. As we approached, she emerged, smiling ruefully, streaked with green and brown. Her tent was filled with 15 to 20 centimeters of sludge of the same colors. Cow patties had been sent aloft when the storm first hit, blowing them into Mason’s door-less tent despite all her efforts. When the rain came next, it had rehydrated the excrement and turned her tent into a bathtub of bovine sewage.

In addition to bovine sewage, scientists tell us stories of falling off rock formations, negotiating mine fields, dealing with floods and charging bulls, and even finding a crime scene, at Gizmodo.

(Unrelated image credit: Petrified Forest)

There has been talk for years about looking into the time when Obi-Wan Kenobi stayed in a cave in Tatooine, watching over young Luke Skywalker from a distance as he grew up. Jamie Costa has produced a 15-minute fan film doing exactly that. He portrayed Han Solo in the fan film Han Solo: A Smuggler's Trade three years ago, so it appears that he's staying one step ahead of Disney. Kenobi also stars James Arnold Taylor, Tommy Snider, and Maxine Phoenix. Yes, Hollywood is full of Star Wars geeks.

This is a story about a cat, and Christmas, and it's a horror story. That's Jólakötturinn, the Icelandic Yule cat. It's not pronounced anything like you'd guess. -via Laughing Squid

On December 23, 1927, 14-year-old Woody Harris was driving his family around Cisco, Texas, in their Oldsmobile. He had no idea that this Christmas would be different. And unforgettable.  

At a stoplight, Woody looked out his window and saw something that must have caused him a brief moment of amusement. There in the road was Santa Claus—not the Santa, obviously, but a Santa—and he appeared to be coming toward the Harris vehicle.

Before Woody could process what was happening, Santa brandished a gun. So did the two men with him. They ordered the Harris family out of their car, screaming for them to hurry. The men quickly loaded their belongings from a nearby Buick into the Oldsmobile, including a giant and cumbersome sack like the kind Santa toted for gifts. Santa also produced a moaning and bleeding man from the back seat of the Buick, who was summarily stuffed into the Oldsmobile. Two children were with him, but they didn’t appear to be there of their own volition. Down the road, dozens of men were running toward them, most bearing a firearm of some kind.

Woody Harris did not know why Santa had a gun, why he was accompanied by a badly injured man, why a mob appeared to want to kill him, or why he had carjacked his family. He and his relatives ran away, gunshots ringing in the air.

Well, that ruined Christmas for the Harris family. What they had fallen into was the aftermath of a bank robbery gone deadly wrong. Read the entire story at Mental Floss.


(Image source: Library of Congress)

Re-post cause it blew up on tiktok, which way is he facing? pic.twitter.com/hG4DY9rg0v

— T U P P E R (@ectupper) December 22, 2019

Eric Tupper posted an old video he took of a guy on a swing set in Fairbanks, Alaska. The question is: which way is he facing? Is he swinging toward the building, or toward the camera? The lack of definition in his form and his face not being visible led to conjecture across the internet. People weren't so much arguing about which way he was facing as they were arguing whether this was a new "what color is this dress?" argument. Or maybe the "Yanny or Laurel?" question. Yeah, you can watch this and deliberately change what you think you see with effort. But there is a definite answer.   



Tupper confirmed what the video shows us: the guy is facing the camera. -via The Daily Dot

It appears that in Jerusalem, Santa Claus rides a camel. Santa Claus in Jerusalem? The nation of Israel is a Jewish state, and the Christians who make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in December are focused on the birth of Jesus, not Santa Claus. But Jerusalem has a Santa Claus, and he's an Orthodox Christian Arab. Meet Issa Kassissieh.   

It was 14 years ago when Kassissieh found an old Santa Claus costume that had belonged to his father. He decided to amuse himself and tried it on. It fit so well that he went to the nearby Jaffa Gate, a historic portal in the Old City’s wall, while wearing it. Children happily gathered around, and it had an effect on him. “I realized that as a child I didn’t get to have this happiness, and that it’s time to give it to the children of Jerusalem,” he says. “While traveling the world during Christmas I realized how deep Santa is embedded in Western cultures, while here, in the place where Christmas began, we only know Santa through television and movies.” The following year, Kassissieh donned the costume again. The year after that he hired a camel. Since then, around Christmas, he has ridden the camel around the Old City spreading cheer, and then receives visits from children and their families in Santa’s House in the afternoon. At the height of the season, the line in front of “Santa’s House” can be two hours long. Kassissieh funds most of the operation himself, but he does get candy donations from Christian individuals and organizations worldwide.

Read about Kassissieh, his journey to become Santa, and his Christmas house at Atlas Obscura.

(Image credit: Heidi Levine for Atlas Obscura)

Photographers Kelly Pratt and Ian Kreidich love dogs and love dancers. Every year, they do a photo shoot with the St. Louis Ballet, who perform The Nutcracker every year, and dogs and cats from Stray Rescue of St. Louis. They call it The Muttcracker.

It’s hard to find a more universally lovable piece of work than one that features orphaned pets taking part in a holiday classic. "The Muttcracker" has received tons of coverage over the years, which has opened up the adoption floodgates and led to most of the dogs and cats finding their forever homes.   

    We have gotten a lot of national coverage for 'Muttcracker!' Outlets like People Magazine and Hallmark Channel have covered the story. Last year, all of the dogs were adopted within a couple months of the project. And this year, at least nine of the dogs have found homes already — less than a month after we started.

Read about the project and see the photographs at Wonderful Machine. Don't miss the story of the blind chihuahua that was held by the Mouse King. -via Metafilter

Gargoyles are statuary carvings that serve as downspouts on buildings. In freezing but wet weather, they grow icicles in a hurry! And when a gargoyle looks funnier than usual, someone is going to be ready to take a picture. See a dozen such pictures (#1 is quite rude) at Bored Panda.

(Image source: Green Pepper)

Almost everyone gestures while talking, at least in some situations, some people more than others. Tom Scott explains the many different ways we use gestures, and the many reasons we do it.

Happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate it on Earth! #HappyHanukkah pic.twitter.com/FKC2M5iXni

— Jessica Meir (@Astro_Jessica) December 23, 2019

As Hanukkah began at sundown on Sunday, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir sent a photographic greeting to earth via Twitter. She's been aboard the ISS since September, and had planned ahead well enough to take a pair of festive socks for the occasion. That may be the extent of her celebration, considering the restrictions of space.

But lighting fires in outer space can be especially challenging, considering that flames can react to the absence of gravity in an uncontrolled manner.

Perhaps for this reason, for her messageMeir opted for a picture of her feet wrapped in a pair of entertaining socks featuring pink menorahs and green stars of David on a blue background. And she did follow the tradition of placing the menorah close to the window, since behind her feet, the earth is visible thousands of kilometers away.

In case you are wondering what a lit candle looks like in space, you can see that. Also, since there are around eight "sundowns" per day on the space station, Meir began the holiday using her home coordinates. Meanwhile, a Twitter user in Jerusalem is wearing astronaut socks.

Happy Hanukkah from Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/zSLmwzZTPg

— Yiftah Curiel (@yiftahc) December 23, 2019

-via reddit