JunsKitchen decided to teach his adorable cats how to ring a bell, and the hilarity that ensued brought joy to my heart. He shows us that training your pets to do a certain task is difficult, and takes a lot of effort and patience. His cats ringing the bell everytime they want something just makes Jun a big butler for his cats. 

In a time where facemasks are a necessity to the point that you can’t leave home without them (please don’t leave your homes without a facemask on), it’s difficult to obtain disposable ones. Most of us are relying on reusable cloth masks, as they are inexpensive and easier to find. But do we need to wash them after every use? The answer is yes, as Vox details: 

“It’s definitely recommended to wash that mask every day,” said Dr. Ravina Kullar, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist. Kullar points out that the purpose of the mask is to prevent the virus from spreading, so if there are virus particles on yours, wearing an unwashed mask is counterproductive.

The CDC also recommends washing masks: “Masks should be washed after each use. It is important to always remove masks correctly and wash your hands after handling or touching a used mask,” the website says. According to the CDC, taking off your mask correctly means handling it only by the ear loops or ties, folding it to be placed in the washing machine, and washing your hands immediately after.

Cloth masks can be washed by hand or in a washing machine. Surgical masks, another popular option, cannot be washed and should be discarded after one use. There is very little “peer-reviewed” information about how to wash an N95 mask. Some potential options include vaporized hydrogen peroxide, using dry heat, or UV light — methods that aren’t really suitable for experimentation at home.

For cloth masks, if you’re using a washing machine, the CDC recommends regular detergent and “the warmest appropriate water setting for the cloth used to make the mask.” If you’re washing your mask by hand, you should prepare a bleach solution and soak your mask in it for five minutes, then rinse in cool or room-temperature water. Mask filters should be washed by hand.

Image via Vox 

Have you ever wondered why your dog’s nose is cold and wet? Don’t rush your furry companion to the vet for this one, as it’s a normal trait! Most of the time, that’s how a dog’s nose is, and the only time it gets warm and dry is when it's asleep! Livescience talks about the possible cause of this odd but normal phenomenon in dogs. Check out the full piece here. 

Image via Wikimedia Commons

This simple science experiment/DIY can be the perfect at-home activity (with or without company). If you have kids at home, this will be a great bonding time with them! ABC News’ Ginger Zee made a lava lamp with her kids at home, and was able to wow and entertain her kids without much of a hassle. The lava lamp recipe only requires four ingredients! 

Image screenshot via ABC News

No, it’s not like the cannibal show you see on TV. Carl Emil Pettersson, an average Swedish sailor, was shipwrecked and washed ashore on an island called Tabar (now part of New Guinea's New Ireland province) in 1906. Upon waking up on the shore, he and other survivors were met by a group of hostile cannibals. Don’t worry, Pettersson didn’t end up becoming dinner, as Cracked detailed:

They took him to meet the ruler of the island, King Lamry, and when Carl was asked to justify his existence, he said that he had plenty to offer. He could bring Tabar great wealth, he said, if they just gave him a chance. He had some knowledge from his education in Sweden that could be of use to them. Carl wasn't able to, say, wire a working phone network for the island, or build a steam engine from scratch. But he did know a thing or two about orchards. So he dug up and moved some palm trees in a way that produced a lovely bunch of coconuts.

Promise delivered! This went a long way toward pleasing King Lamry, and also toward earning the favor of the king's daughter, Princess Singdo. She and Carl fell in love. A few years after he'd arrived on the island as a Grubhub delivery, Carl and Princess Singdo got married and had nine children. When Lamry died, Carl Pettersson became King Carl. His subjects gave him the nickname "Strong Charley," and he made good on his promise to bring wealth to Tabar again, after discovering a gold deposit on the nearby island of Simberi.

Image via Cracked 

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, closed-room rehearsals aren’t feasible. Luther College’s choir opted to rehearse in a pool instead of cancelling all practices. The choir are using an empty Decorah Municipal Pool for rehearsals, as KCRG details: 

“I was driving past the city pool trying to contemplate where we were going to rehearse outdoors,” Mark Potvin, instructor of music and conductor at Luther College, said. “I noticed they were draining the pool so I called our friends at Decorah Park and Rec and said ‘Hey any chance that once that pool is empty we can start using it for choir rehearsals?’ and without a second thought they said absolutely, no problem.”

The outdoor pool is easily accessible for the college due to its location next to campus.

Luther College’s COVID-19 precautions include using outdoor venues and having conductors and singers wear face coverings at all times. The conductor uses a personal amplification device to be heard by all the choir members.

Additionally, singers are spread out 7.5 to 12 feet and some of the larger choir ensembles are split into smaller groups during rehearsal.

Image via KCRG

Now, don’t go and face the actual tornado head on, no! It’s possible for us (with the right precautions) to shadow or follow a tornado’s movement. In fact, some have made it into a business. Outside’s Linda Logan spent a week with Extreme Chase Tours to see if she can actually spot a tornado from up close. Check her full piece on her storm chasing experience here. 

Image via Outside 

We aren’t living in the happiest of times right now, and most of us are just trying our best to get by. Some self-help media will recommend exercises, activities, hobbies, or meals that can help us a little. But did you know that some of those recommendations can aggravate underlying mental health issues? Take drinking coffee as an example. Who doesn’t love drinking coffee (or any caffeinated drink)? This refreshing drink can impact our mental health on the negative side, as Discover magazine details: 

“When we’re talking about caffeine and about alcohol and their impacts on mental health, the topic that you start focusing on is sleep,” says Alexander Blount, a psychologist and professor emeritus of family medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Sleep has a big impact on how people manage their mental health and feel about themselves generally, says Blount. Loss of sleep contributes to the development of some psychiatric conditions, like depression and bipolar disorder. People struggling with their mental health are more likely to struggle with sleep, too. In fact, 50 to 80 percent of patients in treatment for mental health issues also report sleep problems, says Blount.

Caffeine in moderation acts as a mood brightener, says Blount. There’s a difference between drinking a cup of coffee or two in the morning to get started and feel a little sharper and drinking eight cups or more over the course of the day, he says. Even if you’re able to fall asleep after drinking that much caffeine, your sleep quality is probably poor. Poor sleep quality can cause problems for people struggling with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder in particular, says Blouth.

Too much caffeine can also increase existing feelings of stress and anxiety. Most people are familiar with the energy boost and jitters that can accompany getting a sudden shot of espresso or an energy drink. The substance increases your body’s alertness and in doing so can make someone already struggling even more anxious.

Image via Discover magazine 

Watching this video can make you scrunch in pain seeing the cat claw at the screen, or admire the cat for perfectly slicing the falling fruits in Fruit Ninja. Hopefully, its claws are not sharp enough to scratch the iPad’s screen, or maybe the owner has a screen protector on it. At least a screen protector is a cheaper option than a new iPad! What do you think about the cat’s masterful swipes? 

pic.twitter.com/EYuAMFUcxR

— out of context cats (@catoutofcontxt) September 11, 2020

Image screenshot via Twitter

Halloween was cancelled in 1918 because of a flu pandemic that killed fifty to one hundred million people. With the current pandemic, the holiday may be cancelled this year. Los Angeles County has issued a formal guidance that recommends against trick-or-treating and bans outright haunted houses, festivals and other traditional festivities that would fall under current Covid-19 health guidelines. Safety first, everybody! There’s always the next year to come for celebrations!

Image via CNN

Fredrick Joseph, a former national surrogate for Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, accused the owner of an Airbnb of having satanic objects. The marketing CEO released a long Twitter thread where he claimed that the Airbnb he stayed in was full of “seemingly satanic items and stuff for witchcraft rituals.” Vice reached out to the host of the Airbnb and the Church of Satan for their thoughts on the matter: 

the host was able to take us on a walkthrough of the house and show convincingly that many of the alleged markers of “Satanic” activity are art books and kitschy objects. Joseph also claimed the house’s basement had “ritualistic markings” on the floor, which, from our viewing, is flatly untrue. They looked like paint smudges.

“They [the items] are not Satanic,” the host, whose name is Alex, told Motherboard on a video call from the house. “They’re kitsch. None of it is occult. You can get this stuff at a bodega.”

The Church of Satan, one of two prominent global Satanic organizations based in the United States, responded to Joseph on Twitter, writing, “The photos in this thread depict thrift store curiosities & hot topic kitsch, not evidence of satanic rituals. Sounds like you have an over active imagination and can’t tell the difference between supernatural horror movies and reality.” (Joseph did not respond.) The Satanic Temple—a group distinct from, and which has long feuded with, the Church of Satan—has a Baphomet statue at its headquarters, and garnered a great deal of news coverage for trying to place Baphomet statutes alongside Christian monuments at state capitol buildings across the country, to make a point about religious plurality in America.

image via Vice 

Watching YouTuber GeorgeNotFound see color for the first time makes me feel privileged and blessed to be able to see my surroundings normally. Feeling his excitement as he explores the world of Minecraft with the help of his new glasses is both touching and inspiring. In addition, it’s always fun to watch players replay a game as if they're playing the game for the first time.

Nicky Quamina Woo’s photograph of a boy playing on a retaining wall near the sea may be one of the best examples of how climate change has affected our society. In an interview with the Guardian, the photographer shared that people in Senegal, where the photo was taken, were moving to other areas because of the rising water. She was awestruck when she saw a boy playing on the structure that was built to defend homes from the sea, as the Guardian details: 

his imagination turned this structure defending his home into a playground. He’s striding above it like a king with his little stick. It captured, for me, the incredible resilience of children and the imagination of childhood. It’s an image of strength.

But it’s also tragic. In a few years, he will be forced to understand the role of that retaining wall, and he will likely have to join the thousands forced to live in makeshift homes. The ocean sustains the fishing communities, and offers a space for its children to play, but it’s now threatening to engulf the city.

Obviously this isn’t Senegal’s problem alone. I have a place in New York City and a few years ago the neighbourhood was ruined by flooding. Today, I live in Jakarta. The whole city is quite literally sinking.

Image via The Guardian 

It seems that the Notre-Dame Cathedral is slowly opening up to people after the fire that devoured the cathedral’s roof. Masses of toxic lead dust from the fire were removed, ancient stones cleaned, ventilation systems vacuumed, lighting and interactive programs reorganized, molds eliminated and anti-Covid measures imposed before the portion of the crypt was opened for public viewing, as the Smithsonian detailed:

The crypt celebrated the opening with an exhibition on the two 19th-century men who helped restore the 850-year-old medieval monument to greatness: the novelist Victor Hugo and the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.

“We are paying homage to the cathedral after all that has confronted Paris, from the tragedy of the fire to the crisis of the pandemic,” said Sylvie Robin, chief curator of the crypt, who helped organize the exhibit.

The crypt has been one of Paris’s hidden jewels ever since it opened to the public in 1980. At more than 19,000 square feet, it is the largest crypt in Europe and includes archaeological discoveries made during excavations between 1965 and 1970 to prepare for the construction of a parking lot on the open plaza in front of the cathedral’s main entrance. (The plaza, which has been car-free for some time, reopened to the public at the end of May.)

Image via the Smithsonian 

Imagine being subjected to long days and years of basic science and see a teacher, who you deemed an expert in the basic sciences fail to answer such a simple question. Frustration (directed towards the player who failed to answer) is what people who watched Who Wants to be a Millionaire felt when retired science teacher Pat Lucas failed to answer a chemistry question. Mirror UK has more details: 

Pat Lucas from Lincoln left the show with just £1,000 as the pressure got the better of her when faced a question from host Jeremy Clarkson.

The retired science teacher was asked: "A skull and crossbones is a warning symbol that specifically indicates a material is what?"

The options were A) Toxic, B) Corrosive, C) Hazardous to the environment, and D) Flammable.

Okay... Being a science teacher I see a lot of this symbol, you'd think I would have paid more attention to it," said Pat.

"Erm, can i use my 50:50 please?" she asked, and Jeremy obliged so just A and C were left.

"I wish one of the others was gone, I am sure it means hazardous to the environment.

"So I will go for hazardous to the environment, final answer," she said.

"Well you are a science teacher, so you could have got that right... But I'm afraid you didn't," Jeremy broke the bad news to Pat.

"You've just lost £1,000, I'm sorry about that I really am, I hope you had a nice minute or two in the chair," he said

Image via Mirror UK