Since we all know the plot to the 1979 movie Alien, we don't need to waste a whole lot of time with buildup, exposition, or reveal, so this Sweded version from Folks Films gives us just the action parts. The genius in this one-minute version is the use of everyday objects to recreate the terror. A baseball mitt. A stapler. A mess of noodles. Cantaloupe. And lots of ketchup. You will have to watch it two or three times to catch them all. But nothing is more clever than blowing up the Nostromo by putting silverware in a microwave. That even gives you a proper countdown! Ripley and Jonesy are fine, and most likely are making plans for a sequel. -via reddit

The human immune system is so complicated that it doesn't take a new disease to spark consequential research and discoveries. It has been known for a long time that while a case of measles will confer lifetime immunity against catching measles again, you are then more likely to suffer and even die of some other infectious disease. Public health records show that children who survive a bout of measles (and the overwhelming majority do) lose their ability to fight off different diseases afterward. In 2012, this phenomena was named "Immune amnesia."  

Essentially, when you're infected with measles, your immune system abruptly forgets every pathogen it's ever encountered before – every cold, every bout of flu, every exposure to bacteria or viruses in the environment, every vaccination. The loss is near-total and permanent. Once the measles infection is over, current evidence suggests that your body has to re-learn what's good and what's bad almost from scratch.  

On average, it takes about three years for children to re-develop the immunity to diseases that they had before they contracted measles. Children who are vaccinated against measles apparently don't suffer from immune amnesia. Studies show that the measles vaccine reduces a child's chance of death from all diseases in the next few years by a degree that greatly exceeds the chance of dying from measles itself. And in the years since the discovery of the effect, scientists have found out a lot about how the measles virus rewires our immune systems.

This discovery will interest those of us who contracted measles before there was a vaccine against it. Did the illness negate the effects of the vaccines we got before? It should cause even more concern for parents who opt not to vaccinate their children against measles. Read about measles and immune amnesia at BBC Future. -via Kottke

We've heard a lot of music made by reprogramming odd machines, but it's so much cuter when they are anthropomorphized with googly eyes! The Device Orchestra (previously at Neatorama) is looking altogether goofy as designed. This video features seven devices: two electric toothbrushes, two credit card machines, two typewriters, and one steam iron play the White Stripes' song "Seven Nation Army." There's also a pair of pliers dancing along with a toothbrush, both controlled by a credit card reader. That's what you call multitasking. -via Laughing Squid

We've seen plenty of pictures of European supermarkets and their "American sections." They are filled with candy, marshmallows, Pop Tarts, and other junk foods that are not as available elsewhere. Yes, Americans are used to sweet foods, whereas the rest of the world isn't. But there are genuine American* crops that just aren't grown elsewhere. For example, cornbread and the corn meal to make it. Or corn tortillas or grits. It's hard to get maple syrup in Brazil. And even though canned pumpkin is made of butternut squash, it's not sold everywhere. And there's no celery seed in Finland.  

A list at Buzzfeed tells of foods that visitors liked but cannot get at home in other countries. Sure, there's some junk food items that you'd expect, but also a bunch of spice mixes that we Americans depend on, and foods we never think about as being particularly American*.  

*To be honest, in this post, "America" can also mean North America and South America.   

(Image credit: Douglas P Perkins)

Was Ghostbusters: Afterlife any good? Before we answer that question, be warned that this Honest Trailer has spoilers. Screen Junkies doesn't think so, but they are in the business of picking apart every movie they encounter.  In this Honest Trailer, they lay out the evidence for their opinion of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which has the same problem as every Ghostbusters sequel, remake, or reboot. It cannot recreate the magic of the first movie, so it relies on references to it. Okay, the secret to enjoying a sequel is to NOT compare it to the original, which is impossible for the Ghostbusters franchise. The franchise as a whole is a lesson in trying to catch lightning in a bottle. It's a miracle that it happened once, but you're not going to do it again. This is the fourth Ghostbusters movie, and the third to be a disappointment. -via Geeks Are Sexy

The yeti is a cryptid, possibly resembling an ape, that roams the higher reaches of the Himalayan Mountains. It was a legend among the Sherpa people going way back, but captured the world's imagination during the first half of the 20th century as mountaineers raced to conquer the summit of Mount Everest. Some mountain climbers brought back pictures of mysterious footprints and shadowy figures, and even bits of skin and fur. The Everest race was won when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first expedition to reach the summit and return alive in 1953. But yeti fever endured for years afterward.  

So Hillary set out to find the yeti. That was one purpose for the nine-month expedition that launched on September 10, 1960. The other purpose was to study the long-term effects of high altitude exposure. The expedition was packed with scientists and mountain experts, including zoologist Marlin Perkins, who you may remember from the TV show Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. The altitude studies drew financing from World Book Encyclopedia, but the hunt for a yeti drew the headlines and public support. The expedition was well-supplied with both tranquilizer rifles and defensive weapons. Read about the expedition, and what the team found at Atlas Obscura.

In 2008 an avid contributor to Wikipedia uploaded a photoshoot illustrating a "high five." He enlisted a couple of friends to pose for the pictures, four of them, entitled Up High, Down Low, Victim Misses, and Too Slow (with finger-guns). The pictures are pretty funny, and the couple is just too cute. The set of pictures managed to capture the hearts of internet users. They've been used as memes for 14 years now.

Annie Rauwerda was taken with the joyous pictures, and wondered who these people were. What made them so happy when the pictures were taken? Why were the pictures taken? Were they a couple? Are they still together? What led to the high fives? Fourteen years later, she managed to track them both down to find the story behind the pictures. Read how Rauwerda found them and what has happened to the two people since the pictures were taken at Input magazine. -via Digg

(Image credit: Bgubitz at English Wikipedia)

After World War II gave us the first nuclear detonation, the world had only two nuclear powers, the US and the Soviet Union. As time passed, scientists began to think about using nuclear technology for things other than war, constructive odeas such as digging canals. Oh yeah, what could possibly go wrong? But that is hindsight talking. In 1969, engineers in Britain came up with a plan to conduct an underground nuclear explosion in a national park in Yorkshire. The purpose was to create a large hole for a gas storage tank in a very short time.

As Americans, we are used to such stories, but Tom Scott found out about this forgotten plan, and was horrified. In the years since 1969, we figured out what an insane idea it was to use nuclear bombs for digging holes. Take a video trip with Tom to the site where this could have happened- but didn't.

Johnny Eck was an actor, artist, musician, and sideshow performer who was billed as "The Amazing Half-Boy," among other titles. You may remember him from the 1932 movie Freaks, or as the Bird Monster in early Tarzan movies. Due to sacral agenisis, Eck appeared to only exist from the waist up. He actually had all necessary body organs, and even underdeveloped legs and feet, but hid them under his clothing. John Eckhardt, Jr. was born a twin. His brother Robert had a normal build, and although they were fraternal twins, the brothers looked very much alike.

Robert was often part of Johnny's act. This made possible an amazing stunt you won't soon forget.

In 1937, Eck and Robert were recruited by the illusionist and hypnotist, Rajah Raboid, for his "Miracles of 1937" show. In it they performed a magic feat that amazed audiences. Raboid performed the traditional sawing-a-man-in-half illusion, except with an unexpected twist. At first Robert would pretend to be a member of the audience and heckle the illusionist during his routine, resulting in Robert being called on stage to be sawed in half himself. During the illusion, Robert would then be switched with his twin brother Eck, who played the top half of his body, and a dwarf, who played the bottom half, concealed in specially-built pant legs. After being sawed in half, the legs would suddenly get up and start running away, prompting Eck to jump off the table and start chasing his legs around the stage, screaming, "Come back!" "I want my legs back!"

You must read the rest of the story for the exquisite audience reaction. No doubt a few were seriously traumatized. The article includes more about Eck's astonishing career. -via a comment at Metafilter

My husband and I used to tell each other, "It's okay that we don't look too good, because we don't see too well, either." Then he got cataract surgery and left me. But I digress.

Another quote that comes to mind is from It's a Wonderful Life: "Youth is wasted on the wrong people." Old folks who have been together a long time understand what is important, and it's not a hot bod or a smooth face. The hormones get replaced by respect, familiarity, and a lifetime of adventures together. At the same time, they can look at each other and picture what how they appeared when they first fell in love, and just that can bring up a tiny rush of hormones -which is enough. This poem was written by Josh Whicker and illustrated by Lauren Dodson. -via Fark

If you've ever received a Valentine card that you thought didn't quite measure up to your expectations, try to be forgiving. At least it wasn't one of the misguided, bizarre, or downright insulting cards of the Victorian era. The morbid example above, in case you can't read the script, says,

My late dear Wife preserved in a glass case
She was such a darling Pet that I had her stuffed.
Will you be my second?

That's probably the worst marriage proposal I've heard of ...ever. Twitter user Lauryn Ipsum posted a thread that shows us some of the worst valentines of bygone eras. Some are well-meaning but accompanied by creepy imagery. Others are cringeworthy, including some "vinegar valentines" and the plainly misogynist cards aimed at suffragettes. Some are, frankly, just incomprehensible.



Yeah, it was a different time. Maybe we should be thankful for the kinder, gentler valentines at the corner convenience store, even if they are blandly generic. See all of these unhinged vintage valentines in the Twitter thread, or in a more image-friendly version at Threadreader.

-via Metafilter

If you are planning to dedicate a love song to your sweetheart for Valentines Day, it might pay to listen to the lyrics first. Any wedding DJ will tell you that "Every Breath You Take" from The Police will be requested for the reception, because people think it's a song about undying devotion. But if you really listen to it, it's clearly about stalking. Just as people embraced the mistaken idea that "Born in the USA" is a patriotic song, lovers take the wrong message from a song's title or chorus, isolated from the full set of lyrics. Or they just like the tune. For example, "Marry You" by Bruno Mars. While it has been effectively used to express true love, the lyrics are more of a pickup line.

According to this 2010 Bruno Mars hit, marriage is a sacred union involving two people and a whole lot of booze. “Is it the look in your eyes / Or is it this dancing juice?” Mars asks in the chorus. It’s definitely the latter, as this couple is admittedly wrecked on tequila and “looking for something dumb to do.” As for the next morning, “If we wake up and you wanna break up, that's cool,” Mars sings.

Read about ten other songs that are used as love songs until you listen to the lyrics at Mental Floss.

Just in time for Valentines Day, but sadly too late for a Oscar nomination this year, Tibo Charroppin and his cat Lizzy, whose stage name is OwlKitty (previously at Neatorama) have unveiled their newest cinematic creation. OwlKitty has landed the role of Rose in the 1997 movie Titanic! Poor Kate Winslet has been relegated to a bit part. It's a romantic masterpiece, as Rose and Jack frolic aboard the doomed ship and kindle a romance for the ages. You'll be swept away by the sheer joy in their hearts. Don't miss the part where OwlKitty gets her portrait drawn. She's naked, but it's still SFW because, well, she's a cat and is quite hairy. That in no way undermines her magnificent performance.  -via Geeks Are Sexy

Sweets for the sweet! That makes so much sense that it's hard to imagine a Valentines Day without candy, whether it's fancy chocolates in a heart-shaped box from your sweetheart or a desk full of handy conversation hearts you picked up at the checkout counter. But it was not always so.

The holiday started out as the feast day of St. Valentine, first observed in 496 AD. It wasn't associated with romance until centuries later, possibly when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem in the 1300s mentioning St. Valentines Day as the day birds chose their mates. If that's the case, the holiday as we know it today came about simply because it's mating season.

Candy is a nice gift to show romantic feelings, along with flowers and jewelry, and certainly more affordable. Candy as a Valentines Day gift got off the ground during Queen Victoria's reign. Victoria was a hopeless romantic, had a sweet tooth, and was the world's biggest influencer in her time. That was also when a man named Cadbury invented the heart-shaped candy box. Then came Hershey's Kisses, Russell Stover assortments, and conversation hearts. Read the history of Valentines Day candy at Cracked.

(Image credit: Parnote)

1955 Disneyland Casa de Fritos Matchbook https://t.co/qfLqdDgDkL pic.twitter.com/AkwhcbABs9

— Cory Doctorow RIGHT-CLICKING WORDCEL MENTALITY (@doctorow) November 12, 2018

Does anyone remember the restaurant Casa de Fritos at Disneyland? It was sponsored by Fritos (later Frito-Lay) and served Mexican food at the park -dishes heavily dependent on Fritos- from shortly after the park opened until the name was changed in 1982. You could get a full combination plate there for a dollar, and then purchase a small bag of Fritos from an elaborate vending device featuring a statue of the Frito Kid. Casa de Fritos got their tortillas delivered from a manufacturer called Alex Foods.

“One day, a salesman from Alex Foods noticed that Casa de Fritos was dumping stale tortillas in the trash,” Bob Sorokanich wrote for Gizmodo. “He gave the kitchen a tip: instead of trashing the stale tortillas, cut them up and fry them.”

Now, mind you, this wasn't an original idea from the tortilla salesman. He was passing along a trick that came from tortilla manufacturer Rebecca Webb Carranza that had been in use since the 1940s to produce tortilla chips. But the resulting chips became very popular at Casa de Fritos, and Fritos partnered with Alex Foods to market them nationally in 1966. Read the story of how Doritos came about and took the country by storm at SFGate. -via Digg