Irene Kuzemko grew up in Ukraine and Russia and had medical tests done when she did not go through normal puberty. That was followed by surgery that she was vaguely told was related to cancer. Kuzemko suffered depression when her body didn't become normal afterward. Years later, she watched a YouTube video about what it's like to be intersex, and only then realized what had caused all that misery. What upset her most was how her parents and doctors kept her intersex condition, diagnosis, and treatment a secret from her, and how she was robbed of the right to make decisions about her body.

A few months after first confronting her father, Irene asked again, “Why didn’t you tell me?” This time, she says, he answered differently and admitted to keeping it all a secret from her on purpose. “I told him, ‘Do you understand that you destroyed my life?’”

Irene says he was unwilling to apologise, and that he instead said that two child psychologists had advised him not to tell her anything. This, she has since discovered, is common advice in Russia and other countries. But her father told her something else, she says: that he should have thrown her medical records away so she could never have known the truth and blamed him for it.

Three years later, Kuzemko is sharing her story with the world, and advocating for the rights of intersex people. Read what she went through and how it has affected her at Buzzfeed.

(Image source: Irene Kuzemko)

Mika here knows what he is doing, and knew that he only had one day in which conditions were ripe for running across Ukkijärvi Lake in Kangasala, Finland. According to the YouTube description, the lake is relatively small and freezes thick enough to skate on in the winter, although it is often covered with snow. This winter, there has been very little snow so far. The lake froze to 10 centimeters thickness, perfect for skating. Then the weather warmed a little, causing the ice to melt just enough for a couple of millimeters of water to form on top. This left the deliciously clear ice looking like clear water. Mika put on his running spikes, dressed as if it were summer, and was able to film himself running on the lake on December 10. Let's hope he got some warm cocoa afterward for his efforts. -via Digg

When Grim Natwick first drew the character that became Betty Boop for Fleischer Studios, a song made popular by Helen Kane was the direct inspiration. Kane had made a career with her high voice, big eyes, and the "boop-boop-a-doop" she would insert into songs. Kane was so upset that Fleischer stole her act for the cartoon character that she sued. But karma intervened, as it turned out that Kane did not originate the "boop-boop-a-doop" act, but appropriated it from a Cotton Club headliner named Esther Jones, also known as Baby Esther.

Tipped to be the next Josephine Baker, her real name was Gertrude Saunders and African American historians believe that she “coined” the famous words “Boop-Boop-a-Doop”, first uttering them on stage at the Cotton Club. Jazz studies scholar Robert O’Meally, referenced by the Harlem World Magazine, even referred to Saunders as Betty Boop’s “black grandmother.” But somewhere between 1927 and 1928, a white Broadway actress and singer, Helen Kane, caught one of Esther’s performances and almost immediately began using the “boops” in her songs.

An article at Messy Nessy Chic tells the story of Esther Jones, Helen Kane, and Betty Boop, but only after running down the fascinating history of the Cotton Club itself.   

Fruits are living things, but they don't move. They aren't even a whole plant. But what if they did move? Might they resemble some other things that move? Jan Elsner created the animated video ÖBST as a personal project. The result is surprising and rather funny. -via Nag on the Lake 

Norwegian artist Caroline Eriksson just finished an epic sculpture of the xenomorph queen from Alien, made of gingerbread! In the reddit thread, she explains that the sculpture is built over an iron structure, held together with sugar syrup. The gingerbread is baked and then bent over curved surfaces while still warm to achieve the proper shape for each piece. The finished product is quite edible, but if not eaten, it will retain its shape for months. Ericsson has previously made a gingerbread Optimus Prime, Smaug, and Darth Vader.

Queen has released a 43-minute video showing a compilation of performances during their early career in the 1970s. Clips from different concerts include "Liar," "Killer Queen," "Keep Yourself Alive," "Don’t Stop Me Now," "White Queen," "Tie Your Mother Down," "Somebody to Love," and "You're My Best Friend." I saw them in Knoxville during their Sheer Heart Attack tour in 1974, so this really brings back memories. -via Laughing Squid

Christopher Ingraham (previously at Neatorama) ordered a shipment of 250 crickets to feed Holly, his bearded dragon. It was the first time he bought insects over the internet, and possibly the last time.  

So, a shipment of crickets for the lizard arrived via FedEx today. It was my first time ordering bulk crickets off the internet, and I naively assumed that they would be in like, a bag or some other contraption to facilitate easy transfer to another container. They were not.

— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) December 29, 2018

The crickets were shipped loose in the box. He closed the box and went back to work in another room, but apparently "had not sealed the box shut as well as I should have." The story of what happened after that is a hoot, told in a few succinct Tweets here. Or if you aren't paywalled, you can read an expanded account of the chaos at the Washington Post. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Eerschay)

The full moon has many names, depending on the conditions. Mark your new calendar for the night of January 19-20, 2019, when the convergence of several of these unique conditions will bring us a light show called a Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse.  

What a way to start a year of spectacular celestial sights. With Earth between the Sun and Moon, our satellite in its 'full' phase will turn a gorgeous red-orange-copper color for an hour or so during this Total Lunar Eclipse. Totality is at 9:12 p.m. PST on January 20 and 00:12 a.m. EST on January 21 from North America, but do look for the change from partial eclipse to total eclipse over the preceding hour or so. The event goes into reverse afterward. It's visible on the night-side of Earth, which includes South America, the eastern Pacific Ocean, the western Atlantic Ocean, and extreme western Europe. It's also a Supermoon (when the moon is closer to Earth than average, so appears slightly larger), and the last Total Lunar Eclipse visible from the U.S. until May 2021, so enjoy it while you can.

So where does the "wolf" part come in? That's the common name for the full moon in January. You'll find a schedule for all the spectacular celestial events happening in 2019 at Forbes. -via Mental Floss

(Image credit: Irvin calicut)

A guy helps himself to a package delivery left at the door, but a neighbor (also a victim) sees him. That leads to a chase scene up and down the road that lasted around ten minutes, and the entire episode is caught on security video. However, the footage has been greatly improved by speeding it up and overlaying an appropriate soundtrack. -via Boing Boing

We've been cutting open human bodies to see what's inside for thousands of years, and animal bodies before that. The art of determining the cause of death by autopsy came about long after the study of anatomy arose, and a rather famous murder gave us the earliest written account of an autopsy.

44 B.C. The first recorded autopsy occurs when Antistius examines Julius Caesar’s body after his assassination, determining which of the 23 stab wounds proved fatal. It was one wound to the chest that ruptured Caesar’s aorta.

A.D. 131–201 Galen of Pergamon is the first person to correlate a patient’s symptoms with what was found upon examining the affected area of the deceased. He produces a large amount of written text about the human body—his meticulous masterpiece is titled On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body—though his writings were based on the inaccurate humoral theory.

So you see that the autopsy preceded most of our understanding of physiology. It was a long trek from Julius Caesar to the hi-tech examinations that can solve mysterious deaths today -when the money and expertise are available. Read an extensive history of the autopsy at Popular Mechanics. 

While we often get a kick out of watching people fall and fail, seeing success is pretty satisfying, too! People are Awesome has compiled the best examples of physical skills displayed in 2018 from people who combine determination and guts with a lot of hard work and practice to show us what the human body can do. The music is "Grapevine" by Tiësto.   

We call it New Year's Eve, but the ringing in of the new year in Scotland is called Hogmanay. As in other places, it is a time to start anew, with a clean slate and good luck superstitions. Also, as in other places, it is a time for hard partying. The rich traditions of Hogmanay are still practiced, although they've been given a modern twist.

In years past the house was thoroughly cleaned and the ashes of the last fire of the old year were swept out. This custom is still observed by many women while the menfolk make the traditional "trip to the shops" to stock up on peanuts. This involves several hours in the pub, eulogising Denis Law. ("Like Anna Pavlova so he wiz.") They return home around 9pm, eschewing the pavement in favour of a zig-zag formation across the neighbour's lawn, ending up in the fuchsias. They do not buy peanuts.

Read the rest at The Guardian. When you do, keep in mind that "A&E" is British English for emergency room. You'll find plenty of links to Hogmanay history, traditions, and recipes at Metafilter.  

In this clip from the BBC documentary series Spy in the Snow, we see a group of emperor penguin chicks traveling in a group. I guess they are learning to get around without their parents. But they are threatened by a petrel, who would love to have one of the penguins for lunch. Then it gets weird. By the time this dramatic scene is over, you'll think you've seen an outtake from Happy Feet. -via Tastefully Offensive 

If you've ever had the hankering to explore the nine circles of hell, you are in luck! Take a trip into the Inferno at Infernal Topography, where you can zoom in and meet all the characters, from the harpies to Lucifer himself. Each has a profile, and you'll also find a description for each circle, as well as the marginal areas and portals. References from Dante's opus are provided.

It helps that the illustrated characters and punishments are kind of cute. -via Metafilter 

A rogue planet is one that has been knocked out of its orbit by something or other. Losing their star system changes everything for that planet. A rogue planet traveling through space by itself may have a substantial history, and possibly even life! Kurzgesagt explains how that theoretically might happen.