National parks walk a fine line between preserving nature and facilitating access for people to enjoy the park. Then when a wildfire comes along, that work goes into overdrive. Dr. Martha Witter is a fire ecologist for the National Park Service, and has to be up on all aspects of nature's strengths and limitations to devise plans for recovery after a fire.

Witter studies all aspects of how a wildfire can affect a park environment — from what happens to the plants and animals to how the soil and water change. Her research helps the teams of experts deployed to parks after a fire be prepared to effectively protect and restore burned environments. Many times, she’s on site — assessing damage before a fire is even out.

With prime hiking season coming up, we asked Dr. Witter to explain the basics of wildfire recovery in the days, months, and years after the embers die out.

Witter explains three phases of park recovery that address safety, access, and the ecosystem after fire damage at Uproxx.

Meteorologist Grace Legge of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology became a Jedi to forecast the weather for Star Wars Day. Let's see how many Star Wars references she can squeeze into about 80 seconds. (via Laughing Squid)

If your children have ever asked to go to New York City and see Sesame Street, you not longer have to explain that there's no such place. In honor of the show's 50th anniversary, the corner of Broadway and 63rd in Manhattan has officially been named Sesame Street! The street sign was unveiled in a ceremony Wednesday attended by New York mayor Bill de Blasio, Big Bird, Elmo, and other current and former Sesame Street residents. You can see more pictures here. So as of now, you can finally tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street.  -via Laughing Squid

Even if you don't know the name Peter Mayhew, you have seen him. The 7'3" actor played Chewbacca in seven films, from the original 1977 Star Wars to The Force Awakens in 2015. Mayhew's family announced on Twitter that he had passed away on April 30. Lucasfilm responded immediately.

“We are deeply saddened today by the news of Peter Mayhew’s passing,” said Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “Since 1976, Peter’s iconic portrayal of the loyal, lovable Chewbacca has been absolutely integral to the character’s success, and to the Star Wars saga itself. When I first met Peter during The Force Awakens, I was immediately impressed by his kind and gentle nature. Peter was brilliantly able to express his personality through his skillful use of gesture, posture, and eyes. We all love Chewie, and have Peter to thank for that enduring memory.”

Fans have long adored Chewie, and so did Peter; he consulted with the creators of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series when the character made an appearance, and mentored his successor, Joonas Suotamo, upon retiring from the role.

Mayhew was also a favorite among Star Wars fans.

As lovable as everyone finds Chewbacca, Mayhew was that as a human being times 10. To fans, he was always the most kind and understanding person ever. Any time you saw him at a convention, he had a smile on his face and a big bear hug at the ready, if you so desired one. Even later in his life when mobility became a problem, Mayhew’s spirit could fill a room, just like his iconic character.

Mayhew was 74.

For the first time, an #IndianArmy Moutaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti' measuring 32x15 inches close to Makalu Base Camp on 09 April 2019. This elusive snowman has only been sighted at Makalu-Barun National Park in the past. pic.twitter.com/AMD4MYIgV7

— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) April 29, 2019

Bigfoot, a yeti, and the abominable sSnowman have a lot in common: mainly that they are legends. But to determine if there is actually a difference in the terms, we have to go back and dig out the origins of the words. The story behind the "abominable snowman" is particularly juicy.   

The phrase Abominable Snowman appeared relatively recently, and was born out of a messy mistranslation. In 1921, a contributor to an Indian English-language newspaper interviewed explorers returning from the British Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition. They spoke of seeing large footprints on the mountain their guides attributed to Metoh-Kangmi. Kangmi translates to "Snowman" and Metoh to "Man-Bear"— the writer got the last half of that equation right but misinterpreted metoh as "filthy." Instead of writing "Filthy Snowman" he decided he liked the sound of "Abominable" better and the nickname stuck.

Delve into the origins of Bigfoot and the being know as a yeti at Mental Floss.

Oh yeah, there are other similar legends worldwide.  

There is apparently no place on earth that can't be contaminated by nuclear bombs. Traces of carbon from nuclear testing has been found in organisms retrieved from the Mariana Trench, almost four miles deep in the Pacific Ocean, where scientists never thought it would be found.  

From 1945 to 1963, humans detonated atomic bombs in the atmosphere. This caused a spike in carbon-14 across the world. This carbon was quickly taken up by plants via photosynthesis, which were then consumed by animals. The presence of carbon-14 can now be used to date the organic matter that contains it.

With this in mind, researchers collected amphipods from three trenches, the Mariana Trench (the deepest point on Earth), Mussau Trench, and New Britain Trench, in 2017. Then, they measured the amount of carbon-14 in the amphipods’ tissues and gut contents. Carbon from the deep ocean should contain no carbon-14, while carbon from the surface would—and yet, the team found carbon-14 values in the deep-ocean creatures that were similar to the concentration of carbon-14 found on the ocean surface.

Read more about the research at Gizmodo.

(IKMage credit: Michal Maňas)

Quebec artist Ulric Collette has an ongoing series of portraits that combine the images of two related people who have been told they look alike. These Genetic Portraits fuse the two faces side-by-side. Collette blends the hair and clothing in a way that makes them look natural. The picture above is of Ginette, who was 61 at the time, and her granddaughter Ismaëlle, who was 12. Despite the age difference, they have a remarkable family resemblance. Below is Kristof and his mother Madineg.



People always ask Collette to blend their family pictures, but he explains that he must take the portraits himself to get the orientation, the lighting, and the expression just right. Here is the artist himself, on the right, with his cousin Justine.



Bored Panda has a ranked list of 30 of Collette's genetic portraits. See more of his work at Instagram.

A man gets off a boat. He walks into a restaurant and orders albatross soup. He takes one sip... pulls out a gun, and shoots himself to death. So...why did he kill himself?

It's not a true story, and while it is a riddle, Albatross Soup is much more than that. This surreal animation by Winnie Cheung explores the "twenty questions" type mystery and how people come to the answer. The whole story eventually becomes clear, although it is told backwards. This video contains NSFW language. Cheung discusses the short film in an interview at the Vimeo blog.  -via Laughing Squid

During World War II, food was rationed in the UK, and some staples and treats weren't available at all. That included bananas, because the refrigerated ships that imported them were diverted for the war effort. The lack of bananas seemed to be a special privation, as their distinctive sweet taste became a memory, and as the war dragged on some children grew up not knowing that taste. The Ministry of Food tried to help citizens substitute foods that were available for those that were not, such as sausages made out of lentils and oyster soup containing artichokes instead of oysters. And then there were mock bananas. Carolyn Ekin wrote a blog post with a mock banana recipe and stirred up memories.  

While it is difficult to determine just how commonplace mock bananas were during the war, readers readily responded to Ekin’s recreation by recalling their own encounters with the dish. “I remember a dear friend telling me she made this for her husband who loved it, thinking she had got hold of bananas in wartime,” writes one reader, “but when he found out the truth, he refused to eat any more.”

So what exactly was a "mock banana"? What could possibly substitute for the world's favorite fruit? Find out at Atlas Obscura.

In January, China made history by landing the spacecraft Chang’e-4 on the far side of the moon. It was a surprise to many Americans, who've been in the habit of looking at lunar exploration as "been there, done that." But while the US has been cutting back on space exploration for decades, other countries have been going all out in reaching for the heavens.  

If you missed the Chinese mission, maybe it’s because you were focussed on the remarkably inexpensive spacecraft from SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit organization, which crash-landed into the moon on April 11th, soon after taking a selfie while hovering above the lunar surface. The crash was not the original plan, and SpaceIL has already announced its intention of going to the moon again. But maybe you weren’t paying attention to SpaceIL, either, because you were anticipating India’s Chandrayaan-2 moon lander, expected to take off later this year. Or you were waiting for Japan’s first lunar-lander-and-rover mission, scheduled to take place next year. Perhaps you’ve been distracted by the announcement, in January, on the night of the super blood wolf moon, that the European Space Agency plans to mine lunar ice by 2025. Or by Vice-President Mike Pence’s statement, in March, that the United States intends “to return American astronauts to the moon within the next five years.”

Why are so many space programs aiming at the moon, fifty years after the Apollo program? There are many reasons, many of which boil down to "money to be made." The moon has valuable minerals to be mined. It has water that can be used to make both oxygen and rocket fuel. The moon is a great place to collect solar power. And there's always the promise of space tourism. In all these ventures, there's lots of money to be made in helping someone else get there. Read about the race to get back to the moon at the New Yorker. -via Damn Interesting

(Image credit: Jessie Eastland) 

Huge shout-out to @DCCityWildlife today for an EPIC gosling rescue today at @NatGeo pic.twitter.com/wTkp2LEXNg

— Rachael Bale (@Rachael_Bale) April 29, 2019

A pair of Canada geese built a nest on the grassy third-story ledge of National Geographic's headquarters in Washington, DC. They laid six eggs, and the mother goose stayed with them while the father stood apart, keeping guard. Of course, National Geographic set up a streaming nest-cam. All six eggs hatched on Saturday. But a third-story ledge is not safe for goslings. The initial scheme was to lower the goslings down the side of the building in a bucket, but the parents were having none of that. Instead, DC Wildlife came Monday and escorted the entire family through the building, down hallways, into the elevator, through the turnstiles, and into the courtyard fountain.   

...then we got on the elevator. Those are the babies in the carrier. pic.twitter.com/eu7kUmcmFS

— Rachael Bale (@Rachael_Bale) April 29, 2019

On Tuesday, the same carrier was used to walk the geese a mile away to Constitution Gardens, where they have a real pond to swim in. You can follow the goose family's journey through a series of videos in this Twitter thread. -via Metafilter

How can a man impress a woman? Musical talent might do it, but if you have a sense of humor, that's all the better. This is a performance from MozART group. -via reddit

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking science fiction-horror film Alien, artist Serene Teh created flip book art to retell the story in hand-drawn animation -in shortened form, of course. It won't mean much to someone who hasn't seen the movie. Is there anyone who hasn't seen the movie? -via Laughing Squid

Woodstock 50 has been cancelled https://t.co/y2pTcYLPen#Woodstock50 pic.twitter.com/8jE3QXyheb

— billboard (@billboard) April 29, 2019

It appears that the music festival to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock is in trouble. The tickets for Woodstock 50 were supposed to go on sale on April 22, but they did not. There is as yet no new date for ticket sales, and no ticket price yet. On Monday, the festival's financial backer, Dentsu Aegis Network, announced they had decided the project was not worth it.

As a result and after careful consideration, Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live, a partner of Woodstock 50, has decided to cancel the festival.  As difficult as it is, we believe this is the most prudent decision for all parties involved.

However, the festival's organizers said that Dentsu Aegis' statement was premature, and they are committed to the festival in August. A statement from Woodstock 50 LLC said, in part,

We are committed to ensuring that the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock is marked with a festival deserving of its iconic name and place in American history and culture,” Woodstock 50 LLC said in a statement. “Although our financial partner is withdrawing,  we will of course be continuing with the planning of the festival and intend to bring on new partners.

But that's all we know for now. Of course, Twitter users had a field day with the news, with many jokes comparing the project with the notorious Fyre Fest. You can see some of that at the Daily Dot.

The terms people use to describe Jeppson's Malört read like a thesaurus entry for "awful." Yet people in Chicago love it. The kindest thing you can say is that it's an acquired taste. Distillery CEO Tremaine Atkinson explains how the distinctive liquor came about and how it got such a reputation. -via Nag on the Lake