On June 5, 1968, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy made his way through a crowd at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California primary. He was shaking hands as a bullet tore through him, and he was dead the next day. The last hand he shook was that of 17-year-old hotel busboy Juan Romero. Romero crouched down beside Kennedy, and became a subject in the photograph that everyone remembers from that day.

That photo brought Romero celebrity, but he had a hard time dealing with it. He was only a teenager, and was wracked with guilt. What if he hadn't gone for a handshake from Kennedy? Would the bullet have missed him? It didn't help that other people were thinking the same thing, and let him know about it. Romero lived with the "what ifs" for the next fifty years, until his death in 2018. But he eventually made peace with history, and was even able to talk about it. Read Romero's account of what happened that day, and how he dealt with the aftermath at Utterly Interesting. 

(Image credit: Sven Walnum) 

When a cool science fiction weapon sticks around for half a century and gathers more and more fans and more fiction, there will be people who put way too much thought into it. The lightsabers from Star Wars were born out of a cool special effect, but now everyone wants one, or at least wants to understand them.   

What happens if you drop a lightsaber? Specifically, what happens if you drop one vertically, business end first, into the ground. Would it keep burning its way through the earth indefinitely? In the Star Wars universe, no, because there's a safety feature that disables the blade when it's not held. But there have been depictions of Jedi throwing lightsabers, so this feature apparently can be disabled. So what would happen in the real world? Rocket Riley goes through all the ways a lightsaber would act on earth, if there were such a thing. -via Laughing Squid 

Around the turn of the 20th century, about two million children in America younger than 15 were full-time workers. Some were a lot younger than 15, and they worked dangerous jobs, sometimes 12 hours a day or more, just like their parents. The photo above shows two boys at a cotton mill in Georgia. An adult working this machine would have their feet on the floor, but children were assigned such work because they had smaller hands and arms that could manage the machines better. And of course, they weren't paid much. 

The National Child Labor Committee was formed in 1907, and they commissioned sociologist and photographer Lewis Hine to document the practice in 1908. Hine knew that nothing would move popular opinion like a photograph. Factory overseers knew it, too. He had to sneak into workplaces, pretending to be an inspector or a Bible salesman to gain access, and he often took notes with his hands in his pockets to avoid detection. Hine's photos taken between 1909 and 1911 shocked the country, and led directly to the first federal child labor law in 1916. See samples of Hine's child labor photographs that led to changes in the system at Smithsonian. 

First, you watch the video because cat, but wow, what a fine looking cat. Then you are impressed by her behavior. Rory (short for Aurora Borealis) is a four-year-old Bengal cat with nice markings and stunning aqua blue eyes. But Rory is more than her looks. She understands the English language better than you can imagine! That's because her person has so many delightful activities and rewards that go with those words. Or is Rory just a magical being trapped in a pretty cat body? She responds to a variety of commands, and she talks back, too. You have to wonder whether she's giving her own commands when she speaks. And since we don't understand, who are the real dumb animals here? 

Rory takes that in stride. She has her mom wrapped around her little paw, and she's living a good life, chasing a plastic propellor around the house and impressing the internet. See more of Rory at her Instagram page. 

A case study from Brazil offers a tantalizing possibility for treating dementia with magic mushrooms. A woman in her 80s suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease had been incontinent for five years, did not initiate conversation, and only spoke in monosyllables. Her medical guardian gave permission for a dose of hallucinogenic mushrooms. She was given five grams of mushrooms containing psilocybin, which is a massive dose, much more than in other such experiments. 

After sleeping for 19 hours, the patient woke and began talking to herself. Over the next few days, she began speaking to others in complete sentences, controlled her bladder, and was even able to dress herself! The effects were lasting, too. She was given a second three-gram dose a month later, and showed even more improvement. The data from this one patient is a little sparse, as they didn't do any brain scans before and after treatment, but it may lead to more such experimentation. Read more about the magic mushroom treatment at Science Alert. 

-via Damn Interesting 

(Image credit: Cannabis Pictures) 

When you think about how your life turned out, you might wonder how it happened. How much can you attribute to, or maybe blame on, your family? An awful lot of it. You probably resemble your siblings in appearance, health, temperament, and psychological well-being. But is that because you carry the same genes, or because the same parents raised you? The question of nature vs. nurture has been around for a long time. That's why scientists are so interested in twin studies. Identical twins have the same genes, so there's a factor you can control for. But most twins also have the same environment. 

However, throughout the 20th century, scientists have been able to study the phenomena of twins raised separately, which opened a new door to answering the question of nature vs. nurture. From these studies, it turns out that genetics has more say in some factors, while environment is more important for other facets of life. This video from AsapSCIENCE shares some of the findings of those studies, but it doesn't address the disturbing scenario that made them possible. Why have there been so many identical twins raised apart? It's already a tragedy when a child cannot be raised by their biological parents, but being separated from your identical twin only adds more unnecessary trauma. How does finding that out later in life affect the studies?  

There's a skippable ad from 7:49 to 9:36.  -via Geeks Are Sexy 

Before Benjamin Franklin experimented with electricity, before he was a Founding Father, he was a printer. One of the things he printed was paper money for the colony of Pennsylvania and eventually several other colonies. Paper money was a novelty in America, but became necessary when the supply of gold and silver coins couldn't keep up with the expanding economy.  

Franklin knew that the bills he printed would only work if people could trust that they were real. So he spent his time coming up with printing methods that were hard to counterfeit, such as bespoke paper with embedded particles that could be seen, but were hard to duplicate. He also developed a unique type of ink. And his designs reflected intricate patterns based in nature. This work technically made Franklin a materials scientist, and some of his techniques are still in use. today. Read about the anti-counterfeiting methods developed by Benjamin Franklin at the Conversation. 

(Image credit: Benjamin Franklin and David Hall) 

Today's US military is an all-volunteer force, and they spend most of their time on military bases. These young, strong people eat a lot of food. To attract and retain them, base food is plentiful and pretty good. There are plenty of options (including fast food), and experts are always trying to improve both nutrition and quality. 

The story is different for wartime. From the beginning in the Revolutionary War, the nation grappled with the difficulties of procuring, paying for, and delivering food to its troops in the field. There was no refrigeration, and preservation was hit-or-miss. Alcohol rations helped a little. But behind the scenes, there were those trying to solve the problem, because an army travels on its stomach. They developed C-rations, ration D, and ultimately MREs. All work under the idea that hunger makes everything taste better. Weird History Food takes us through the evolution of military rations in the United States.

Robert Francis undertook the task of ranking the greatest bird names of all time. The project involved going through the common names of more than 11,000 different bird species. A lot of birds already had notable common names long before they are studied, but you have to imagine naturalists and scientists having a hard time coming up with something both descriptive and unique. 

Many birds are simply named for the way they look, like shining sunbeam, mouse-colored penduline tit, bearded mountaineer, and blue-footed booby. An awful lot are named for their call, which people have always tried to put words to. Some names we assume were assigned just because they are fun to say, like Stark's lark, chaco chachalaca, and bananaquit. 

Then there are birds with names so bizarre that you have to find out the story behind them. These include diabolical nightjar, hoary puffleg, bared-faced go-away-bird, pipipi, and invisible rail. And those didn't even make the top ten! See all of the 100 best-named birds, plus dozens of honorable mentions at Bird History.  -via Nag on the Lake 

(Images from Cornell Lab's Macaulay Library) 

Taco Bell food has a reputation, deserved or not, for running right through you. It's never happened to me, but then again I have never been able to eat a whole bag of their food. But that's what happens in this parody version of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Not that Taco Bell deep fries their food, no, they rely on mini-ovens to melt that cheese. But it works with the title. The song is almost safe for work, but the lyrics paint quite a picture.

This is the first offering from Dustin Ballard of There I Ruined It (previously at Neatorama) in three months, since YouTube put him in a time-out over some copyright kerfluffle. The song isn't AI-generated. He wrote and sang it, then ran the vocals it through an AI filter to make him sound like Adele. His band is working on a way to present it live at their Austin and Houston shows this summer. 

The Beatles disbanded in 1970, but the cracks were there for years prior. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were best friends and songwriting partners, but the competition for "top Beatle" undergirded the tensions in the group until they finally drove the band apart. This became obvious during the recording of their Magical Mystery Tour album. Each wrote and promoted a song that the other called "meaningless." 

The two songs were McCartney's "Hello Goodbye," which was conceived during a word association game with Brian Epstein's assistant Alistair Taylor. The other was "I am the Walrus" by John Lennon, which was written in fragments over several LSD trips. Lennon meant it to be surreal and enigmatic, but also insisted it made sense. But which song would be the first single off the album? The battle between the two musical giants laid the groundwork for the eventual end to the Beatles. Read the story of the two songs that drove Lennon and McCartney apart at Mental Floss. Both videos are included. 

What is the longest plane flight you can take without leaving a country? The answer could be pretty simple and make for a very short video- but first we have to define what we're talking about. Does a "domestic flight" mean a regularly-scheduled airline route? Does it mean that you don't have to have a passport or move through immigration? Does it mean within a nation proper, or do overseas territories count? And are we talking about a currently-existing route, or one from the past? That's what makes this video from Half as Interesting, well, interesting. He goes through several flights that might be contenders for one reason or another, and eliminates them due to any of the reasons above. Yes, we have a winner, but you'll still learn about geography and aviation history along the way. This video is less than six minutes long; the rest is an ad.

Water running off a stone building can cause real damage over time, so cathedrals and other classical stone buildings were equipped with gargoyles. The purpose of gargoyles was to direct rainwater away from a building, so they had to protrude away from the walls. And since this feature would be so noticeable, they were carved into the forms of dragons, animals, demons, chimeras, and human beings. Some were designed with humor, while others served as a warning against sin. The word gargoyle came from the French for "water conduit," although the original meaning was "throat." Most gargoyles directed water out of their mouths onto the streets below, which made them appear to be throwing up, but you didn't want to be outside during a rainstorm anyway. 

Kuriositas takes us on a tour of some of the more interesting gargoyles on European cathedrals and government buildings. Some have a well-known meaning behind them, while others are enigmas. They divert water through their mouths, with one exception at the end that may be a bit NSFW. 

(Image credit: Son of Groucho) 

If you've ever wondered about the functions of all those buttons Darth Vader wears on his chest, the secret is now out. They are controls for his cassette deck. Yes, Vader has achieved what we've all dreamed of at one time or another- carrying around our own soundtrack, so we have the best music for an entrance at our fingertips, plus mood music and sound effects for the appropriate times. Darth seems to prefer his own theme song to any other song, but he also has the mashup "Another One Bites the Bee Gees" by Craven Moorhaus. What else does he have on his favorite mixtape in that conveniant chestplate? 

Auralnauts hasn't posted a new Star Wars comedy series since they wrapped up Larry three years ago. Since this scene is labeled "Episode 1," you can bet there will be more to come. You can keep up at their YouTube channel. -via the Awesomer 

In the few short years between the Wright Brothers' first flight and World War I, airplanes really took off, so to speak. England, France, and Germany all used them in the war as bombers, which at first consisted of pilots throwing bombs by hand, but advanced quickly. 

The US did not enter the war until 1917, but for years beforehand had supplied the British with gunpowder and various explosive ordinance. These were produced by DuPont, who expanded their operations with new facilities across the eastern half of the country. Their workforce grew from 5,300 people in 1914 to 48,000 by 1918. And there were quite a few factory explosions. A rash of explosions during the war could be explained by the rapid expansion of the project, with many new factories and inexperienced workers. But there were plenty of eyewitness accounts of airplane sightings just before a factory disaster. Were German infiltrators spying on those munitions factories? Were they actually throwing bombs? It was hard to tell, since the reports came from ordinary citizens, many of whom had never seen an airplane before. At least one sighting was attributed to balloon toys. No evidence was ever found to prove or disprove the possibility that DuPont's gunpowder factories were the victims of German bombing. Read about those scary days at American Strangeness. -via Strange Company