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2020/11/01

Neatorama

Neatorama

Hospital in Japan Gets 5 Million Yen Cash Donation, Returns It, Gets It Again, And Then Decides To Keep It

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:38 AM PST

Japan — Earlier this month, the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital received an enormous monetary donation from an unknown donor. Thinking that there might have been a mistake, they decided to return the package, which contained 5 million yen (over $47,700), on the return address provided in it. Days later, however, they received the same package again, this time with no return address. After consulting their lawyers, the hospital then decided to accept and keep the donation.

So, after some initial awkwardness, all was well that ended well. It's understandable too, as it was probably the sender's first time doing something like this, and Kobe City Medical Center told [the] media that it was definitely the first time they'd ever received an "anonymous" donation.

More details about this story over at SoraNews 24.

(Image Credit: kobeshinbun/ Twitter)

These Computer Mice Are Water-Resistant

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:38 AM PST

Because accidentally spilling your drink on the computer mouse can lead to a messy situation, SteelSeries has developed the Aerox 3 and the Aerox 3 Wireless, which are water-resistant computer mice. Yup, even with those holes, the Aerox 3 will keep out all that liquid, and not only that, but also dust, oil, and other grime.

The Aerox 3 costs $60 and the wireless version is $100. Both will be available on November 10th.

Cool!

(Image Credit: SteelSeries/ Engadget)

The Fight of The Century: Leaf Blower vs Dog

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:38 AM PST

Between the mighty leaf blower and Charlie the cocker spaniel, who would win in a battle of strength? Both are aggressive, and both are unwilling to back down. Will the leaf blower successfully defend his title, or will the underdog snatch it away from him?

What do you think?

Via Laughing Squid

(Image Credit: Laughing Squid)

Could This Be The Replacement For Green Screen?

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:35 AM PST

For almost 90 years, filmmakers have been using the method called chroma keying (using blue or green screen) to layer images. That says a lot about how effective the method is. However, it takes a lot of time, especially for the post-production team, to put all the elements together to make a single seamless image, and sometimes, they go frame by frame just to make everything smooth. Creative roadblocks are also another problem with this method.

And here enters The Volume — a combination of high resolution LED panels. This technology has the green screen's flexibility, but without its drawbacks. Could this be the replacement for the green screen?

Learn more about The Volume through this video by Vox.

(Image Credit: Vox/ YouTube)

Baby is Shocked When Phone Rings

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:17 AM PDT

Baby Schuyler-Mai loves imitating her dad. Whenever she sees her father Anthony with the phone in his ear, she would grab it and put it to the back of her head. But when the phone rang, the 11-month baby had the shock of her life.

The startled little girl begins kicking her legs and waving her legs in panic - leaving the room in hysterics.
Mother Aileen Codd, 22, captured the moment on October 21, and her father Anthony, 34, said that they're still laughing about the 'perfectly timed' video.
[...]
'The phone was on loud and vibrated - I don't think she was expecting it to happen - it was priceless.'
He added: 'It was the first time that she'd reacted like that to the phone ringing - usually she just looks at it and thinks "what's this?"

Check out the video over at Daily Mail.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media/ Daily Mail)

The Uncertain Heavens: Christiaan Huygens’ Ideas of Extraterrestrial Life

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:16 AM PDT

In the late 1680s, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens wrote the book Cosmotheoros, which speculated on the existence and nature of life on other planets. It was the first such book written by a scientist based on observations of outer space. Huygens had established a reputation by discovering Titan, the first moon of Saturn observed, and figuring out that planet's rings. He was also an inventor and mathematician. While he wrote the book in Latin for an educated audience, it was quickly translated and became quite popular.

Huygens' ideas about plants and animals were based on reasonable projections of what was then known to exist on the Earth, recently expanded by news of exotic species brought back to Europe by explorers' ships. Marvelling at the richness and fitness of species "so exactly adapted"12 to life on Earth, he argued that if we were to deny this abundance to other planets, then "we should sink them below the Earth in Beauty and Dignity; a Thing very unreasonable."13

What form might this life take? Based on new information that American species are different, but enough like those of the Old World, Huygens presumed a general similarity with terrestrial species. But he did give some consideration to the different physical conditions that may prevail on other planets. The atmosphere might be thicker, for example, which would suit a greater variety of flying creatures. Gravity might be different, too, although he did not provide estimates of the comparative gravitational force on each of the planets, and in any case he rejected the notion of a simple correlation between the size of a planet and the scale of its flora and fauna. "We may have a Race of Pygmies about the bigness of Frogs and Mice, possess'd of the Planets,"14 he wrote, although he thought it unlikely.

For Huygens, though, "the main and most diverting Point of the Enquiry is . . . placing some Spectators in these new discoveries, to enjoy these Creatures we have planted them with, and to admire their Beauty and Variety". Remarkably, he suggested that these intelligent observers might not be men, but other kinds of "Creatures endued with Reason".15 Some planets, indeed, might be capable of accommodating several species of "rational Creatures possess'd of different degrees of Reason and Sense".16

If Huygens had been born a century earlier, he might have been burned at the stake for such ideas that went against the teachings of the Church. But Cosmotheoros was only published after his death, and he leaned into the scientific principle of uncertainty. As it was, the book gave 17th-century readers something to think about. Read more about the life and writings of  Christiaan Huygens at the Public Domain Review. -via Damn Interesting

Spooky Tree

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:16 AM PDT

My legs would surely feel weak and shaky, and I will definitely freeze and faint upon seeing this horrifying creation. Whoever made this sure loves frightening people.

"If you were walking through the woods and saw this, especially at dusk, what would be your reaction?" writes Jeff Stoker when he posted this picture. Will you run away, or get closer to inspect?

(Image Credit: Jeff Stoker/ Facebook)

Pilots at the Real <i>Top Gun</i> School Are Fined $5 Every Time They Reference the Movie

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:16 AM PDT

The 1986 movie Top Gun is about an elite training program for the US Navy's best fighter pilots. It was inspired by an actual school maintained by the Navy. As that movie is one of the most iconic of the 80s, students at the school are, of course, familiar with it. But they know better than to mention or quote it. Doing so results in a $5 fine.

Why? Former TOPGUN instructor Commander Guy Snodgrass explains in his new book about the school that everything about the school is serious. There's no time to make jokes. Business Insider reports on Snodgrass's book:

"But," Snodgrass explained, "when you get to TOPGUN, because it is such a professional organization and you want to emphasize that you are at the top of your game, that it's about professionalism, about good leadership, you don't turn TOPGUN into a joke by referencing the movie."
[...]
"So, it is a part of our bylaws that if someone overtly references the movie — it could be a direct quote, it could be something that is really close to a direct quote — that's an automatic $5 fine. And it's enforced. And you are expected to pay right then. You pull out your wallet and pay the $5," Snodgrass said.
Old habits die hard though. "I think at some point we were all fined because it's so ingrained in our aviation culture," he told Insider.

-via Geek Tyrant | Image: Paramount

Davy Crockett on How to Get Elected

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:16 AM PDT

Davy Crockett was more than king of the wild frontier. Between becoming a famous bear killer and fighting to save the Alamo, Crockett was a politician in Tennessee. While he didn't win all his election campaigns, he sure participated in a lot of them, which left him quite experienced. He shared some tips on how to win those campaigns.  

When the day of election approaches, visit your constituents far and wide. Treat liberally, and drink freely, in order to rise in their estimation, though you fall in your own. True, you may be called a drunken dog by some of the clean shirt and silk stocking gentry, but the real rough necks will style you a jovial fellow, – their votes are certain, and frequently count double. Do all you can to appear to advantage in the eyes of the women. That's easily done – you have but to kiss and slabber their children, wipe their noses, and pat them on the head; this cannot fall to please their mothers, and you may rely on your business being done in that quarter.

Drinking and kissing babies, got it. There's a lot more advice, though, which you can read at Shannon Selin's blog. -via Strange Company

(Image source: Library of Congress)

Google Has New Icon Designs, And People Don’t Like It

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:15 AM PDT

G Suite has been recently rebranded by Google. The app collection, which is now known as Google Workspace, now has new icon designs as well. According to Google, these new icon designs reflect a "more connected, helpful, and flexible experience" on the Workspace. But it seems that the new designs create unnecessary confusion, and they don't seem to help the average user. Tarvin Gill from Mashable has this to say about the new icon designs:

I'm on the fence about this new design. On one hand, I do like the consistency of the new icons. They all share the same colors and stand out from the other app icons on my phone.
But on the other hand, I find myself taking longer to open up any Google app because I have to make sure I'm launching the right app.

How about you? What do you think about this?

(Image Credit: Frederic Lardinois/ Twitter)

The First Animals To Be Domesticated Were Dogs, Study Finds

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:15 AM PDT

A study of dog DNA has found out that dogs were domesticated some 11,000 years ago, confirming that they were the first animals to be domesticated before any other known species. This would mean that the friendship of humans and dogs is time-tested, and dogs are worthy of the title "man's best friend".

Dr Pontus Skoglund, co-author of the study and group leader of the Ancient Genomics laboratory at London's Crick Institute, told BBC News: "Dogs are really unique in being this quite strange thing if you think about it, when all people were still hunter gatherers, they domesticate what is really a wild carnivore - wolves are pretty frightening in many parts of the world.
"The question of why did people do that? How did that come about? That's what we're ultimately interested in."

Learn more about the study over at BBC.

(Image Credit: pixel2013/ Pixabay)

That Thing Called “Dopaminylation”

Posted: 01 Nov 2020 12:15 AM PDT

It was a new word that neuroscientist R. Douglas Fields encountered one night as he read his copy of Science. The word refers to the ability of the neurotransmitter dopamine to enter a cell's nucleus and control genes. That's right. Dopamine apparently can control the genes in one's body.

As I read the paper, I realized that it completely upends our understanding of genetics and drug addiction. The intense craving for addictive drugs like alcohol and cocaine may be caused by dopamine controlling genes that alter the brain circuitry underlying addiction. Intriguingly, the results also suggest an answer to why drugs that treat major depression must typically be taken for weeks before they're effective. I was shocked by the dramatic discovery…

Learn more about dopaminylation, and how this could be used in future studies, over at Quanta Magazine.

(Image Credit: Jynto/ Wikimedia Commons)

The Memory Tree

Posted: 31 Oct 2020 06:54 PM PDT



Even a ghost can be traumatized by a scary experience and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. This is from Boston band Hallelujah the Hills.

Case-in-point: over the course of 4 months in quarantine, lead singer Ryan Walsh decided to make a stop-motion music video for their song "The Memory Tree," from the band's recent album I'm You. He handcrafted little ghost puppets and tiny ghost houses and put together a whole elaborate world to tell a whimsical story of spirits and transdimensional discovery, in the style of a classic silent film.

-via Boing Boing

Dakota Gets a Pumpkin

Posted: 31 Oct 2020 06:53 PM PDT



Dakota is a rescue coyote living at Save a Fox Rescue. He is so excited about his gift of a pumpkin! It's a ball to play with AND food! If only he had opposable thumbs! -via reddit

Rain Cloud Chair

Posted: 31 Oct 2020 06:53 PM PDT

Rise above those stormy, dreary days. Sit above them on the Rain Cloud Chair by Shota Urasaki, a designer on Okinawa. Stainless steel rods simulating the rain support the polyester foam seat. It would be an ideal chair for creative writing moments.

-via Toxel
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