The modern pop culture image of a ghost is a partially transparent pale apparition that floats. Ghosts once appeared in many different ways in different cultures, sometimes solid, sometimes only in voices, and sometimes only in the objects they moved around. But they all represented the dead whose bodies are gone the way of all flesh, but whose souls live on among us.

Throughout human history, it appears we just can't seem to let go of the dead. We long to see our loved ones again, but at the same time, the thought of spirits wandering among the living scares the daylights out of us. Ghosts are also a way to explain away the unknown things that frighten us even more just because they are unknown. Over time, belief in ghosts went from comforting because it was evidence that our souls continued after death, to terrifying, because we can't control what mischief those ghostly souls want to practice on the living. -via Laughing Squid

Many folks celebrate Halloween by watching horror films. The problem is that truly dedicated horror fans started watching them on the first of October and have been doing this for years, so you end up watching the same blockbusters and classics every Halloween. The good news is that the world is full of great horror films you haven't seen already. The bad news is that you've never heard of them. But that what the internet is for.

Redditor CanApprehensive8720 consulted the folks at r/movies for a recommendation of a horror film to impress her boyfriend, who has seen "almost every single horror movie in existence." Movie fans were glad to oblige, and told of extremely niche horror films that thrilled them. Many are foreign films, some are arthouse or student movies, and some are just films that are plenty scary but never got properly distributed or promoted. Some are fairly recent while others go back decades. The post got more than a thousand comments, and CanApprehensive8720's boyfriend was impressed indeed and thrilled to start on a list of new horror films to watch. You can check out the responses in the original reddit thread or read the top twenty movies from it with a trailer to accompany each description at Cracked.

There are some factoids and trivia on the internet that have been around so long they are accepted as common knowledge. But that doesn't necessarily mean they are true. If something is repeated over and over, especially if different people repeat it, people will believe it, at least until someone calls their bluff. And if it is something plausible that has no obvious agenda, it's easier to swallow it whole.

In this example, we've all heard that the blood vessels in your body, if laid out end-to-end, would be 100,000 kilometers or 60,000 miles long, which is long enough to wrap around the earth twice and then some. But where did that figure come from in the first place? Who figured this measurement out? And is it true? Kurzgesagt decided it would be best to run this down after someone asked for a source. It was a long path back to 1922 to find where the "fact" came from, and a big job figuring out if it was plausible. The moral of the story is that fact-checking can be a lot harder than you'd think. This video is only 10:35 long; the rest is promotional.   

The question is, "How long does Halloween candy last?" which is a kind of a dumb question. If you are handing out candy to trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood, a five-pound bag of candy will last about 10 minutes. If you are talking about what the kids bring home from trick-or-treating, it depend on how many family members have their hand in the bag, and how much chocolate your neighbors splurged on. In many homes, that's less than an hour.

But let's assume you are an adult who bought candy on sale, or were given leftover trick-or treat candy. You looked at it and said "That will last a year." It might, because it's okay to eat candy past its expiration date, but you really want to consume it or share it before the quality goes downhill. And in candy, the quality will tank long before food spoilage becomes a danger. Some types of candy will last much longer than others, and you can extend that time by keeping it in proper storage, away from heat, light, and humidity. Eater goes over which candies you should make a point of to eat first while they are fresh, and which candies will last longer. After all, you may be inundated with Christmas sweets before the Halloween candy is gone.

(Image credit: Islandsislands)

In 1973, a movie called The Wicker Man hit theaters and was called "The Citizen Kane of horror movies." Too bad this Honest Trailer is not about that movie. Rather, it is about the 2006 remake starring Nicolas Cage that set the standard for bad remakes. The Wicker Man from 2006 has Nic Cage showing his emotional range without any coherent reason. Sure, he's investigating a missing child in a strange community that performs pagan rituals, but he's not getting anywhere by going all psychotic about it. In trying to ramp up the creepy factor, the movie veers into unintentional hilarity. That would be good if this were a comedy, but it's not, and anyone who appreciated the 1973 masterpiece was appalled by the remake. It did not make enough money to cover its budget, and was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards. Screen Junkies reminds us of why we didn't see The Wicker Man in 2006 in this Honest Trailer.

In the natural order of things, Chinook salmon swim from the Pacific ocean up into freshwater rivers for hundreds of miles, back to their birthplaces to spawn the next generation. But a dam was built on the Klamath River in Oregon in 1912, and three more followed, leaving the salmon unable to complete their biological imperative. The salmon population declined, and the pooled water along the river became infected with algae and diseases. You might recall the salmon cannon that was supposed to help the fish get upriver, but that wouldn't help the newly-hatched salmon get down to the ocean, nor would it restore the river quality. Native American tribes advocated for dam removal for decades, and that finally happened beginning in 2023. The last dam was removed in August of this year.

Lo and behold, the salmon are coming back! Despite being blocked for more than a century, they know where to go to spawn, and it took the fish less than two months to get to the Upper Klamath and its tributaries. The dam removal was a major project, but the free-flowing water is showing signs of recovery. Read about the saga of the Chinook salmon on the Klamath at Smithsonian. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: USFWS Fish and Aquatic Conservation) 

The Alice Cooper song "Feed My Frankenstein" is silly, but is always a go-to song for Halloween. This year, it gets a lively dance beat when music mixer DJ Cummerbund (previously at Neatorama) mixes it with "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. This masterful mashup is called "Uptown Frank," and it's not only a smooth mashup, it's a lot of fun. You'll see video clips of Wayne and Garth not be worthy of Cooper's attention, since he sang the song in the 1992 movie Wayne's World. The mashup gets all Halloween-y with the cast of the 1974 film Young Frankenstein and that movie's musical interlude, which is just the perfect touch. You'll also see Randy “Macho Man” Savage, but that's no surprise at all because he's in every DJ Cummerbund mashup. Make sure this one's on your Halloween party playlist, when it's time to get everyone up and dancing! -via Laughing Squid

Dysentery is a condition caused by the Shigella bacteria. Sufferers become dehydrated by diarrhea, and 70,000 people, mostly in poor countries, die of it each year. It's treatable, but Shigella is becoming antibiotic-resistant. It's difficult to study this phenomena in the US because dysentery is rare here, but in a challenge trial, volunteers are given the bacteria in order to study the disease.

Georgia Ray volunteered for a challenge trial at the University of Maryland because they were testing a bacteriophage treatment regimen, which she had studied, and because it paid well. Sixteen volunteers were isolated in a university building ad given the bacteria Shigella flexneri. Half were also dosed with the bacteriophage, but the subjects did not know whether they were given the treatment or a placebo. Soon, they suffered joint pain, chills, projectile vomiting, and diarrhea. Ray spent nine days in the facility before she was cleared to go home. She was never in danger of dying, as there were medical personnel monitoring the subjects constantly, but it was no picnic, either. Read the account of her experience and learn a lot about dysentery and bacteriophages at Eukaryote Writes Blog. -via Nag on the Lake

Vultures have never been considered cute birds, and no one keeps them as pets. But Bernard and Twinkle, endangered Eurasian black vultures who live at Horstmann Vulture Trust, will win your heart because they are so devoted to each other. The pair previously produced the first Eurasian black vulture chick hatched in the UK. Bernard is 28 years old now, and has arthritis, which limited his activities. Then he became a groundbreaker as the first vulture to undergo experimental stem cell therapy. A veterinary team extracted some of Bernard's stem cells and cultured them until they grew to more than seven million cells! These were re-introduced into the bird, and they replaced the tissue in Bernard's worn-out knees. The Trust hopes that a rejuvenated Bernard will be able to produce more chicks with Twinkle. We wish them luck. Vulture populations are declining around the world, and while their feeding habits may seem disgusting, they are a vital part of our ecosystem.

We haven't heard much about Kylo Ren since The Rise of Skywalker, but you have to admit that the saga did him dirty. Adam Driver was awesome as the Big Bad in the Star Wars sequel trilogy until they unnecessarily flipped him into a "good guy" just like they did with Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi -and then killed him off to escape consequences. But the character is coming back in comic book form as his former evil self. A new series called The Legacy of Vader places Ren at the point where he was most dangerous: after killing Snoke and becoming the Supreme Leader of the First Order, but before the events of the disappointing last movie.

The comic series will focus on Ren's obsession with Darth Vader as he explores the places Vader obtained and used his powers, looking for guidance, and the series will also reveal some insights into Vader's psyche. Avid Star Wars fans are looking forward to the series, as they know that the franchise is rich in satisfying stories outside of the films, which tended to try to please everyone. The first comic will be released in February, and you can read more at Gizmodo.

(Image credit: Lucasfilm/Marvel Comics)

You will always run into people who remember that McDonald's hamburgers were once 15 cents. They were also ready when you got there, because that's all they served, unless you wanted a cheeseburger, which were ready as well. The slowness of fast food is due to the variety of options available, but what happened to the price? You can go to a sit-down restaurant and get a plate of hamburger and fries and a drink brought to your table for $10, and it may cost you the same to get one at a window to eat in your car, and you won't know what a mess it is until you unwrap it a half-mile away. I wrote that before I watched the video, but the sentiment is widely observed. McDonald's isn't the only outlet where prices have risen dramatically. Weird History explains what happened, beginning with the history of fast food.

If you were to ask a longtime Neatorama reader which city has the most haunted hotels, they might guess Savannah, Georgia. And they would be right. Vio crunched the numbers, and Savannah came up with a "horror score" of 75.41. I'm not sure what that means, but it landed Savannah at the top of the list of cities with haunted hotels. I'm surprised that New Orleans came in as low as fifth -behind Orlando, for goodness sake! Baltimore, San Antonio, and Charleston also ranked high in hotel spookiness.

The factors they considered include the number and percentage of hotel guests who report paranormal activities during their stay, and the number and percentage of hotels in each city that guests reported to be haunted. However, one would think that a hotel's reputation might color a guest's expectations. You can't visit Savannah without hearing about the many ghosts who call that town home. The good news is that haunted hotels are slightly cheaper than non-haunted hotels. The bad news is that all these cities have very expensive hotel rates. See the complete list at Vio, plus the breakdowns of cities by either haunted mentions or paranormal mentions. I'm not sure how the difference between the two terms was determined. -via Digg 

(Image credit: Steve Langguth)

Drones can be a lot of fun and give us great visuals from an aerial point of view, but their most impactive use is for jobs that are difficult and dangerous. What we hear about most is their use in war, but while that's safer for the aggressor, it's still killing people. Check out what drones are doing for power grids, such as clearing ice from power lines. Temperatures in these conditions can make human work even more dangerous when fingers get stiff and helicopter motors fail. Drones are also used for inspection, line photography, and troubleshooting, and some can even recharge themselves on the electrical towers without returning to home base. The drones used for this kind of work are above your budget or your needs, but for infrastructure maintenance, they are not only cost-effective (compared to a pilot plus workers in a helicopter), and much safer than sending people to do certain jobs. -via Nag on the Lake

In 1948, E. B. White wrote an essay about his experience in raising a pig. The plan was to buy a spring piglet, feed it all summer, and then have it slaughtered for ham and bacon in the fall. It was a common custom, but this pig changed White's perception completely when it became sick. He confronted feeling like a failure in the simple task of feeding a pig for a few months, but more importantly, explored the connection he felt for an animal who was completely dependent on him. The ailing pig became less a unit of livestock and more like a pet.

A few years later, White published the children's novel Charlotte's Web, which became one of the most beloved stories of all time. In that book we see White's motivation to save the pig from slaughter, except this time he succeeds. As The Atlantic is celebrating its 160th anniversary, it has reprinted that original 1948 essay called Death of a Pig. This time, it won't be a spider you'll cry over, but the pig that became neither pet nor bacon. -via Kottke

There are plenty of ways to gauge how well you are aging. One test is how much difficulty you have getting to a standing position after sitting on the floor. Or whether you can put your pants on without sitting down. I was pretty proud to think that not many people my age can still wash their feet in the sink (one at a time, of course), but why would I brag about that? However, a new study from researchers at the Mayo Clinic suggests an even simpler test.  

How long can you stand on one leg and keep your balance? People under 50 can usually hold the “unipedal stance” for 30 seconds or more with no trouble. Just bend one leg up like a flamingo and hold your arms by your sides. The amount of time you can retain your balance indicates the health of your neuromuscular connections, and that time naturally decreases as we age. If you cannot hold your balance on one leg for ten seconds, it may be time to do something about it. There are ways to improve our strength and balance, which you can read about at ZME Science.

Of course, you can test your continuing sense of balance by riding a bike or using roller skates, but with age comes wisdom, and we who are wise don't want to take the risk. -via Real Clear Science

(Image credit: Deepak Sundar)