Conjoined twins separated with the help of virtual reality https://t.co/70NcZQNi4w

— BBC News Technology (@BBCTech) August 1, 2022

Bernardo and Arthur Lima are three-year-old craniopagus conjoined twins, meaning they were joined at their heads. They have never been able to stand, walk, or look directly at each other until now. The Brazilian boys have been completely separated after a 27-hour operation headed by surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani and assisted by a team of nearly 100 people, including surgeons from the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London via virtual reality. Bernardo and Arthur have been living at Instituto Estadual do Cerebro Paulo Niemeyer for more than two years preparing for separation, and surgeons have been practicing by virtual reality.

The Lima twins are now the oldest twins with fused brains to have ever been successfully separated. That they survived the surgery is remarkable, but their heart rates and blood pressure surged after the operation, and only returned to normal when the boys were reunited with each other days later. They are now recovering together, and face at least six months of medical therapy. Read more about this case at BBC Tech.

Jonathan Dickerson shared a VHS home movie of his family's bluegrass band playing at a restaurant in Houston more than a quarter century ago. On one particular night, some strangers from the audience were invited to perform for the crowd. Dickerson told the story when he posted the video to reddit.

This was 1994 or 1995 at a place called Hickory Hollow Bbq in Houston, TX. Tootsie was the lead singer/string bass and throughout the night she noticed a group of guys that seemed to really be into the show. She guessed they were musicians and invited them up, having no idea who they were. Even when Dean Felber (I think?) told her they were Hootie and the Blowfish it meant nothing to her or to anyone there except maybe one or two in the audience.

Fast forward a week or so later. My aunt, uncle, and cousin came home for a visit. We were all sitting around my grandparents' house when they put this tape in the VCR. I grew up around bluegrass, old country, and folk music. Practically everyone in the family is musical, something us kids took for granted. So when the video started we rolled our eyes and made fun of their flame outfits. Everyone else mostly talked over it when suddenly there's that unmistakable voice of Darius Rucker (who we all assumed was named Hootie at the time).

This was a time when you couldn't go anywhere without hearing them and it blew my mind that my uncle and cousin didn't understand how big this band was. It's not that we were fans, but we certainly knew them and probably had their songs memorized just from them getting constant airplay. My cousin is the goofy one who backs them up with the mandolin. If I remember correctly, he felt they weren't getting a good reception at first so he thought he'd help them out. My uncle is the one who loans his guitar to Darius.

That's about it. I'd nearly forgotten about it but was at my parents this weekend digitizing some of their old home movies and I thought it was interesting enough to share.

Yeah, a brush with fame like that is way more interesting when it's almost purely accidental. Rucker and Felber were just having supper before performing at another Houston venue. It also says something about the fleetingness of fame that some of the commenters at reddit are too young to know who Hootie & the Blowfish are.   -via reddit

Why go to the vending machine when it can come to you? https://t.co/gl75Xh9Xsb

— SoraNews24 (@RocketNews24En) July 30, 2022

It's the convergence of three modern innovations: self-driving vehicles, temperature-controlled vending machines, and food delivery. Kyocera Communication Systems has launched an automated snack vending vehicle in Chiba City, Japan. The small automobile carries neither driver nor passengers, but machines full of hot and cold beverages and snacks such as candy and gelatin through the city that already loves the convenience of vending machines. So far, it is moving during business hours around shopping centers, office parks, and condominium complexes in Chiba City, ready to take your money via smartphone. The vending machine on wheels travels at nine miles an hour, and does not yet have a specified schedule, because you never know when a large crowd of people will want to get something to drink, and the little robot car will have to go restock. Read more about the innovative vending car and see more pictures at SoraNews24.  -via Fark

It is with great sorrow that we report the passing on the legendary icon Nichelle Nichols. No words. #roddenberry #RIPNichelle #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/wQkB0OZ9t5

— 𝚃𝚑𝚎 ❤ 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚃𝚛𝚎𝚔 (@roddenberry) July 31, 2022

Trailblazing actress Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek, passed away Saturday of natural causes.

When “Star Trek” began in 1966, Nichols was a television rarity: a Black woman in a notable role on a prime-time television series. There had been African-American women on TV before, but they often played domestic workers and had small roles; Nichols’ Uhura was an integral part of the multicultural “Star Trek” crew.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called it “the first non-stereotypical role portrayed by a Black woman in television history.”

In fact, it was King who convinced Nichols of the importance of her work on Star Trek. Nichols also broke ground for television's first scripted interracial kiss. After Star Trek, Nichols worked for NASA to recruit women and minorities as astronauts, engineers, and administrators.

We lived long and prospered together. pic.twitter.com/MgLjOeZ98X

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 31, 2022

Y’all, @nichelleisuhuru.
Heartbroken at the news of her passing, however, I am comforted in the knowledge that she illuminated the way for so of us many with her grace, beauty, talent, intelligence and her commitment to humanity going boldly to the stars! #godess #queen
🙏🏾♥️🌹🖖🏾 pic.twitter.com/ye08mXzs3B

— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) July 31, 2022

We celebrate the life of Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek actor, trailblazer, and role model, who symbolized to so many what was possible. She partnered with us to recruit some of the first women and minority astronauts, and inspired generations to reach for the stars. pic.twitter.com/pmQaKDb5zw

— NASA (@NASA) July 31, 2022

Nichelle Nichols was The First. She was a trailblazer who navigated a very challenging trail with grit, grace, and a gorgeous fire we are not likely to see again.

May she Rest In Peace. #NichelleNichols pic.twitter.com/DONSz6IV2b

— Kate Mulgrew (@TheKateMulgrew) July 31, 2022

Many actors become stars, but few stars can move a nation. Nichelle Nichols showed us the extraordinary power of Black women and paved the way for a better future for all women in media. Thank you, Nichelle. We will miss you. pic.twitter.com/KhUf4YM6pX

— Lynda Carter (@RealLyndaCarter) July 31, 2022

One of my most treasured photos - Godspeed to Nichelle Nichols, champion, warrior and tremendous actor. Her kindness and bravery lit the path for many. May she forever dwell among the stars. #RIPNichelle #Uhura pic.twitter.com/nFXHif8HEC

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) July 31, 2022

Nichelle Nichols lived.

I like to remember her delivering the greatest comeback in Star Trek history.

Sulu: I'll protect you, fair maiden!

Uhura: pic.twitter.com/Hs6jshduA8

— Alexandra Erin (She/Her) (@AlexandraErin) July 31, 2022

Nichelle Nichols was 89.

Anyone who was around in 1982 will remember the Tylenol murders. It was terrifying to think that someone was tampering with products on store shelves that might affect anyone at random. But 40 years later, how much of that case do you recall? In September of 1982, seemingly healthy people in the Chicago area began suddenly falling dead. Most had no connection to each other, although three people in the same family were killed. They had taken Tylenol from the same bottle. Seven people died of cyanide poisoning after taking Tylenol, which set off nationwide warnings about the product, a recall of all Tylenol, and a massive police investigation. A break came when a letter demanding a million dollars was sent to Tylenol's parent company, Johnson & Johnson.  

The Chicago Tylenol murders are the reason we have tamper-proof packaging on all kinds of products today, but no one was ever charged with the murders. The number one suspect was sentenced to ten years for extortion, and he's been out of prison since 1995. Read the story of how police tracked down James William Lewis and how he avoided murder convictions in two different cases at Truly Adventurous.

(Image credit: Mrbeastmodeallday)

Can you mix modern hip-hop music with ballroom dancing? A video of Sara Grdan and Ivan Terrazas dancing an exhibition at the 7th Belgrade Tango Encuentro in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2016 has gone viral because they do just that. Watch them dance a sultry tango to Eminem's song "Lose Yourself." It's more than just finding a beat; they incorporate modern dance elements seamlessly into the choreography. Watch the interplay of their four feet and marvel at how they don't get tangled in the tango. No wonder people have become enchanted with their performance! -via Digg

James V. Lafferty made a name for himself in 1882 by building an elephant-shaped building in New Jersey known as Lucy the Elephant. In 1885, he built a second elephant almost twice as tall as Lucy in Coney Island that became known as the Elephant Colossus. This building was 122 feet tall and contained a 31-room hotel as well as various shops in the lower levels. The interior rooms were named after the corresponding elephant organs, which was a novelty and probably aided in navigating the building. The building became a rather well-known brothel during its short life, and inspired the phrase "seeing the elephant" for a stop there. After standing empty for some time, in 1896 the elephant suffered the fate of so many Coney Island attractions and burned to the ground.

You can see more pictures of the Elephant Colossus here. The story of the Elephantine Colossus is just one of the 11 Fun Facts About Coney Island you can read at Mental Floss.

We've come to expect the most ridiculous Rube Goldberg contraptions from Joseph Herscher of Joseph's Machines (previously at Neatorama), but this one takes the cake. Passing the wine from one end of the table to the other involves stunts that couldn't possibly happen in the real world, could they? In many of the events, nothing happens that would advance the sequence the first time around, but maybe the second or third time around. In some places, you are sure you can see what's going to happen, but you are wrong. And then you find yourself becoming more invested in one little piece instead of the overall process, like wondering when that wine glass is going to break (because you just know it will eventually). Or worrying about the welfare of that mouse. Joseph gets his wine in about four minutes, after wrecking the entire table. The rest is Patreon credits. -via reddit

We must be careful about assigning human motives to animals, especially fish. However, whale sharks are known to interact with humans occasionally, and this fellow had a good reason to approach a fishing boat. The shark had a rope caught around its midsection. The fishermen drew the shark close enough to saw the rope loose, and lovingly told the whale shark to take off. I don't know what language they are speaking, but everyone understands "Bye!" including the fish. The whale shark even seems to wave to them as it realizes the rope is gone. But that is speculation, because we must be careful about assigning human motives to animals. At least this fish is free! -via reddit

Max Headroom was a fictional computer-generated character who was designed for TV hosting and advertising, but was actually pretty subversive underneath because the artificial intelligence program that generated him used the brain of a real (although fictional) person as a model. The character, portrayed by Matt Frewer in prosthetics, first appeared in the British movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future in 1985. He then hosted a TV show called The Max Headroom Show, followed by an American drama titled simply Max Headroom, and also appeared in a series of ads for New Coke, all in the 1980s.   

Now Max Headroom is coming back, to be played once again by Matt Frewer. A new TV series is being developed by AMC around the glitchy TV personality, with Christopher Cantwell of Halt and Catch Fire fame as showrunner. The executive producers will be Frewer, Cantwell, Lisa Whalen, Elijah Wood, and Daniel Noah. There's no word yet on when the series is expected to air.

What's weird is that in 1985, a glitchy, digital talking head seemed like some type of science fiction that was just over the horizon. In 2022, we have talking digital avatars, deep fake videos, and artificial intelligence programs galore. We have to wonder what year the Max Headroom reboot will be set in, and whether it will explore new issues about the nature of AI, or will it be just a nostalgic romp. -via Boing Boing

Did you hear the one about the foot doctor who owed his reputation to Abraham Lincoln? Issachar Zacharie was not trained as a medical doctor, although he used the term throughout his professional life. He was a chiropodist who made a living trimming corns and bunions and cutting toenails in New York City. Zacharie used forged certificates and references to inflate his qualifications. The truth was that he learned his crafts as a child apprenticed to a physician.

Zacharie had one very important client, though. The "doctor" had suggested he be put in charge of a team of podiatrists for the Union Army in the Civil War, but the idea was not taken seriously. However, army officials and senators asked Zacharie to work on their feet. Abraham Lincoln eventually availed himself of Zacharie's services and liked the corn-cutter very much. Lincoln actually sent Zacharie on a couple of spy missions disguised as diplomacy during the war. Once Lincoln was assassinated, Zacharie quickly learned he was a nobody among Washington's elite. Read the story of the fraudulent foot doctor at The London Dead.  -via Strange Company

Oscar is sleeping, and he doesn't want to get up. No noise will disturb his slumber, and Paul makes plenty of noise when he gets home from work. The simulated snoring is funny, but I could have found him a cat that snores loudly for real. While it appears that Oscar is dead to the world, there's a part of his brain that is still working, sorting the sounds around him into important sounds and unimportant sounds. A cat has his priorities.

Paul Klusman, who you know from the Engineer's Guide to Cats and its sequel, titled this video Cat Audio Filtration Technology, as you would expect an engineer to do. Don't miss the bloopers at the end. -via Laughing Squid

We know that most adults in the world are lactose-intolerant. That means they've lost the ability to produce lactase, an enzyme that helps babies digest milk. Those who continue to produce lactase and digest milk into adulthood are overwhelmingly northern Europeans. The conventional wisdom was that Europeans evolved this trait to survive, particularly those in the far north where the growing season is short and people rely on animal fats in milk. There are a couple of problems with this theory, however. First off, there are plenty of people in northern Asia who drink milk all their lives even though they do not produce lactase beyond infancy.  It doesn't bother them nearly as much as you'd think from reading about the subject, and certainly not enough to affect group survival. The second problem is that scientists have determined that European adults drank milk as far back at 9,000 years ago, but the switch to lactose-tolerance only occurred about 5,000 years ago, and quite suddenly for an evolutionary trait.

The answer is that there must have been an environmental stressor that made lactose-intolerant people die off in droves about 5,000 years ago, so that the genes responsible for continued lactase production could reach critical mass in the population. That would be a stressor on top of the inability to digest milk, because people do not die of lactose intolerance. The candidates are famine, drought, and pathogens that would disproportionally affect those who could not digest milk. Read what the research says so far about the evolution of lactose-tolerance at Smithsonian.

How does this optical illusion work? You may think it's simply a matter of filming the video sideways, because it's attached to a wall instead of a table. That would be the easy way. I was convinced of that and therefore couldn't see it any other way until we were shown how it works. You might be surprised as well!

Yeah, it's all a matter of perspective. Struck Duck, who made this illusion, has an Etsy store where you can buy this and other illusions. Or if you have a 3D printer, you can buy the STL files and make your own. -via Digg

Edgar Randolph Parker graduated from dental school in 1892 at the age of twenty, even though he wasn't much of a student. When his private practice didn't take off immediately, he decided to advertise, despite advertising being an ethical taboo among dentists at the time. But Parker didn't just advertise- he put on a street show! He promised his tooth extraction would be painless, a claim that was bolstered by the cocaine solution he gave to his patients. Under advice from a former employee of P.T. Barnum, Parker took his show on the road, setting up in small town after small town, offering entertainment by giving lectures on dental hygiene and having his traveling band play. If a volunteer patient screamed and moaned, the band would just play louder.

Parker claimed to have pulled 357 teeth in one day, which he wore on a necklace. Eventually, the dental board of California threatened to pull his license over false advertising for using the "painless" slogan, so Parker had his first name legally changed to Painless! Read about the dentist who found great fame through showmanship at Amusing Planet.