Neatorama |
- This Black Hole Made Astronomers Puzzled
- This Guy Teaches His Dog To Hug Him When He’s Sad
- Plentiful Acorns And Increased Population in Chipmunks
- New Theory On How Exercise Lowers Risk of Cancer
- So What’s Going To Happen To This Year’s Comic-Con
- Woman Snaps Selfie with Bear
- When Is The Best Time To View Saturn’s Rings?
- These Vintage Computers Are Not As Worthless As You Think They Are
- Outrageous Florist Card Messages
- What’s The Most Googled Cocktail During Quarantine?
- The Towering Windmills of Paris
- People Who Survived Completely Unsurvivable Situations
- Looking For A First Aid Kit To Carry? How About This One?
- Prairie Dogs: The Engineers of the Natural World
| This Black Hole Made Astronomers Puzzled Posted: 20 Jul 2020 11:27 PM PDT
In 2018, astronomers were alerted by a strange phenomenon detected by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Super-Novae (ASSASN). A supermassive black hole, which belonged in the class called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), shone 40 times brighter than usual. When they were alerted by the ASSASN, the astronomers quickly pointed their telescopes toward the AGN. Here, things got really mind-boggling. While observing the AGN in X-ray, optical and ultraviolet light, scientists watched in surprise as the light faded, its brightness dropping by a factor of 10,000 until it was no longer detectable at all. Scientists have never seen a burnout that drastic happen so quickly. [...] But that wasn't the end. Within a few months the light had been rekindled, firing back up almost to its original luminosity, which has also never been seen before. [...] "This seems to be the first time we've ever seen a corona first of all disappear, but then also rebuild itself, and we're watching this in real-time," says Kara. "This will be really important to understanding how a black hole's corona is heated and powered in the first place." While the team may have some speculations on the event, they still couldn't explain the phenomenon fully, which makes this all the more mysterious. This just goes to show how much we still don't know about our universe. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ New Atlas)  |
| This Guy Teaches His Dog To Hug Him When He’s Sad Posted: 20 Jul 2020 11:26 PM PDT
Warning: this video might tug at your heartstrings! Then again, any dog video is adorable and can make people happy, just like this one. Watch as Liam Thompson teaches his labradoodle a new trick he can use when he's sad. |
| Plentiful Acorns And Increased Population in Chipmunks Posted: 20 Jul 2020 11:26 PM PDT
New England, U.S. — Chipmunks were welcomed with plenty of acorns last fall. In fact, there were so many that the rodents couldn't stash them all for the winter, which meant that, according to small mammal biologist Shevenell Webb, there were still many acorns on the ground waiting for them in the spring. So the chipmunks had lots of food in the spring while they got busy breeding. And when this summer came, these cute creatures became a nuisance to people in the region, "darting to and fro, digging holes in gardens, and tunneling under lawns." ...They can destroy lawns and gardens with their burrowing, and can even get into homes, Webb said. "We can't grow a tulip without them digging it up," Steven Parren, wildlife program diversity manager for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, said of the chipmunks in his yard. "They don't even pause." People needn't get too alarmed over an overpopulation. Small mammal populations tend to explode, then crash and burn. Such is life near the bottom of the food chain, where food supply ebbs and flows and chipmunks are easy prey for owls, hawks, snakes, foxes and raccoons. Even if their lives aren't cut short, individual chipmunks tend to live only for three years, Webb said. (Image Credit: Richardfabi/ AndiW/ Wikimedia Commons) |
| New Theory On How Exercise Lowers Risk of Cancer Posted: 20 Jul 2020 11:26 PM PDT
With its positive impact on the bones, the muscles, the brain, and a person's weight management, exercise is one of the healthiest activities that you can do. And not only does it offer improvement on the body, as regular exercise also lowers the risk of developing deadly diseases, such as cancer. According to a literature review of an international group of exercise oncologists last fall, exercise lowers the risk of developing different types of cancer by 10 to 25 percent. But they weren't sure as to how exercise can lower the risk of developing the disease. There are plenty of theories involving things like hormone levels, blood sugar, chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress, but no one has put all the pieces together. Now, a new theory has been proposed by a group led by Peter Biro of Deakin University in Australia. The opinion piece can be found in the journal Trends in Science. Biro and his colleagues propose a new theory in which the link between exercise and cancer is explained by what they call "energetic capacity." In short, fit people are able to ramp up and sustain high levels of energy consumption, which gives them the ability to mount a more robust immune response when cancer cells attack and also helps them to withstand the energy-sapping effects of tumors that do get a foothold. More details about this over at Outside Online. (Image Credit: Fotorech/ Pixabay) |
| So What’s Going To Happen To This Year’s Comic-Con Posted: 20 Jul 2020 05:39 PM PDT
Well, for starters, Comic-Con is free this year. That's already a big sigh of relief for those who wanted to attend or view the panels and other events at the famed convention, however, with the pandemic, the convention is also going digital. So expect a lot of bookshelves and figurines in the background, and a lot of Zoom conferences, as Cracked details: Instead Of Panels, They'll Have A Bunch Of Zoom Calls (And That's An Improvement) Although it may not feel that way when you're swimming through a dense sea of people dressed as Deadpool and Harley Quinn, not every single comic book fan in the world gets to attend Comic-Con every year. In fact, only a small minority do. For the rest of us, the way to keep up with all those panels and announcements from home has always been to hit F5 on a text feed hurriedly written by someone at the con and then trawl YouTube for shaky phone videos before they get deleted. image via Cracked |
| Posted: 20 Jul 2020 12:10 PM PDT
Well, wouldn't you? It's a very Instagrammable moment! These hikers at the Chipinque Ecological Park in San Pedro Garza GarcĂa, Mexico saw a black bear on the trail. It approached, sniffed, and pawed at them. At the 0:30 mark, she appears to get a picture of herself posing with the bear. Which filter should she use? |
| When Is The Best Time To View Saturn’s Rings? Posted: 20 Jul 2020 08:44 AM PDT
On July 20, Saturn will be bright and visible all night long. Saturn will be well-positioned and shining brightly for the next few months. If you're interested, go grab a telescope and try to look for the planet in the night sky! Forbes' Jamie Carter details why there are specific times and positions to best see certain planets. Check out his full piece here, and equip yourself with more knowledge before trying to look for Saturn! image via Forbes |
| These Vintage Computers Are Not As Worthless As You Think They Are Posted: 20 Jul 2020 08:44 AM PDT
If you have some of your old computers and gaming consoles boxed up somewhere in your home, don't just throw them away! Some people are willing to pay a lot of money just to get their hands on some retro computers and consoles. Computers like the Apple-1 are worth hundreds or thousands times more than their original selling prices. Mental Floss has a list of some retro tech that will sell for hundreds of dollars, so check if you have these:
image via Mental Floss |
| Outrageous Florist Card Messages Posted: 20 Jul 2020 08:44 AM PDT
The usual messages attached to flowers are romantic, thankful, or sorrowful in nature. Some flowers are sent to celebrate an event, some are sent to offer condolences. But there are some flowers that are sent with outrageous messages that will leave you uncomfortable or laughing. Florists share the most outrageous card messages they had to deliver, with one florist sending a card that said, 'To my one and only — I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was married.' Check out the other messages over at Buzzfeed. image via Wikimedia Commons |
| What’s The Most Googled Cocktail During Quarantine? Posted: 20 Jul 2020 08:23 AM PDT
If you're looking for a drink to mix up in your home during quarantine, why not check the trends? Check this list of the most Googled quarantine cocktails per state from Vogue for an inspiration for your next cocktail: Alabama—Hurricane Alaska—Whiskey Sour Arizona—Paloma Arkansas—Frozen Daiquiri California—Paloma Colorado—Hurricane Connecticut—Margarita Delaware—Screwdriver Washington, D.C.—Old Fashioned Florida—Cuba Libre Georgia—Sazerac Hawaii—Lemon Drop Martini Idaho—Kamikaze Illinois—Manhattan Indiana—French 75 Iowa—Kamikaze Kansas—Screwdriver Kentucky—Lily Louisiana—Bushwacker Maine—Margarita Maryland—Kamikaze Massachusetts—Old Fashioned Michigan—Cosmo Minnesota—Oliveto Mississippi—Painkiller Missouri—Gin And Tonic Montana—Blue Hawaiian Nebraska—Old Fashioned Nevada—Grasshopper New Hampshire—Old Fashioned New Jersey—Manhattan New Mexico—Old Fashioned New York—Manhattan North Carolina—Bushwacker North Dakota—Kamikaze Ohio—Boulevardier Oklahoma—Black Russian Oregon—Old Fashioned Pennsylvania—Whiskey Sour Rhode Island—Cosmo South Carolina—Tequila Sunrise South Dakota—Screwdriver Tennessee—Bushwacker Texas—Paloma Utah—Cape Cod Vermont—Cosmopolitan Virginia—Old Fashioned Washington—Old Fashioned West Virginia—Kamikaze Wisconsin—Grasshopper Wyoming—White Russian image via Vogue |
| The Towering Windmills of Paris Posted: 20 Jul 2020 07:28 AM PDT
There was a time in France where windmills stood proud in the city of Paris. These windmills would grind up the grain from the Americas and turn it into fine flour — an essential recipe for making bread, which, at that time, was the staple food for the poor French families. During period of abundance, the average wage earner in France spent as much as two-third of his income on bread alone. During shortages, prices could double, dramatically straining the finances of poor French families. As such, grain merchants were often detested and viewed with suspicion. They were accused of adulteration and hoarding grain to artificially raise the price of this vital commodity. Some say that there were over 300 windmills that stood up in the city. These structures probably had lots of stories to tell, but unfortunately, most of them can no longer be seen in the present day, but there are a few that still stand. Learn more about these windmills over at Amusing Planet. (Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons) |
| People Who Survived Completely Unsurvivable Situations Posted: 20 Jul 2020 06:15 AM PDT
Russian cosmonauts are pretty tough. They always return from their space missions on land, which can be a pretty bumpy ride even when everything goes perfectly. They used to carry guns, to protect themselves from bears they might encounter before the search team reaches them. I looked up Boris Volynov, and he walked away from this crash with some broken teeth. He also went into space again after that incident. I also looked up Linda Morgan.
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| Looking For A First Aid Kit To Carry? How About This One? Posted: 20 Jul 2020 06:10 AM PDT
There are life situations that call for certain items. For example, if you're outside and nature calls, not all public bathrooms have the items you need for the job, so if you're carrying some wet wipes and alcohol, you'll be patting yourself in the back for bringing those items with you. Being prepared isn't a bad trait, but you can only carry so many items with you everyday, so how can you manage to squeeze in, say, a full first aid kit? The Daily Beast recommends a sleek first aid kit that can fit right in your everyday bag: For starters,the VSSL is extremely cool looking, which makes it way more incentivizing to be prepared. It's a red tube that offers no signs of being a first aid kit. Instead, it looks like a flashlight. Because it is a flashlight. It has a four mode LED light, which unscrews as well so you can see what you're doing in the dark if need be. The other end is a compass, which is a nice touch. Inside the tube there is a roll filled with all forty six first aid essentials: from Steri wound closure strips, disposable thermometers, bandages, antiseptic wipes, a hemostatic agent, gloves, tweezers, and plenty more, you'll be prepared for every situation. Best of all, the roll folds up easily so you don't have to worry about cramming it back into the tube when you're done using it. While the VSSL doesn't have Spaghetti O's in it (sorry, mom), it does have everything else you might need. Thanks to VSSL, I'll never forget to bring a first aid kit along with me again. image via The Daily Beast |
| Prairie Dogs: The Engineers of the Natural World Posted: 20 Jul 2020 06:10 AM PDT
For many, prairie dogs are pests that are to be driven away. But for scientists, these creatures are worthy of praise and recognition. With their tiny paws, they shape the landscape in which they live. Prairie dogs are not big and charismatic like bison, grizzly bears or pandas, but they are just as important and perhaps even more controversial. The cause for their controversy is the same reason that they are so important: these burrowing rodents make a unique and significant impact on the prairie landscape. Prairie dogs live in huge colonies composed of countless small family groups, called coteries. They are prolific diggers, constructing complex burrow systems with specific areas for sleeping, nursing young, storing food and even disposing of their dead. A single colony's burrow system can cover thousands of acres, with an average of about 20 prairie dogs per acre in the summer after the young emerge. That's why these burrow systems are sometimes called prairie dog towns. And these burrow systems not only house prairie dogs, but also other animals such as black-footed ferrets (which eat prairie dogs), and animals that can't dig on their own such as rabbits, salamanders, and rattlesnakes. Know more details about these little creatures and the reason why they're essential to the environment over at Smithsonian Magazine. (Image Credit: Joe Ravi/ Wikimedia Commons) |
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