Pages

▼

2021/01/01

Neatorama

Neatorama

Toddler Recreates His Uncle’s Photos

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 08:32 PM PST

Augie, along with his mom, Katina Behm, loves to make fun of his uncle Aristotle Polites, who works as a model, by recreating Polites's photos. And because Polites is a model, Augie gets to have a lot of photos to recreate.

See Augie's recreations over at Bored Panda.

Cute!

(Image Credit: Bored Panda)

Leech-Keeping Is A Thing, Apparently

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 08:32 PM PST

Would you keep a leech as a pet? For many of us, the answer would be no, but believe it or not, there are some people who keep leeches as pets. To make things even weirder, these people even let these leeches suck their blood. But why in the world would they do that?

ScienceAlert documents the story of Ariane Khomjani, a leech keeper. This is what he has to say.

"They're amazing, curious creatures that grow like crazy and make wonderful pets,"...
He explained how individual leeches have their own unique personalities, with some being more adventurous and others more shy.
"Some like to try and sneak a feed more often than others, haha! But once they're full, they're content to sit and rest for a bit out of water if handled gently," he said.
… The species he keeps is one of the larger types: buffalo leeches (Hirudinaria manillensis) from Asia.

 Learn more about this strange practice over at the site.

(Image Credit: Ariane Khomjani/ Instagram/ ScienceAlert)

Racing Tardigrades, Because Why Not

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 08:32 PM PST

Wouldn't it be nice if we could see tardigrades in action with our naked eye? Perhaps that's what the guys Archie McPhee had in their minds when they decided to make these cute racing tardigrades.

These pull-back tardigrades come in a set of four so you can race up to three of your friends to see who has the fastest time in a drag race.
The full set goes for just $14.95 and would be lots of fun to race against some babies, possums, or cockroaches. Place your bets now!

I have a feeling that this will be a hit in the market.

Well, what do you think?

(Image Credit: Archie McPhee/ Technabob)

This AI Robot With A Broken Leg Can Still Walk

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 08:32 PM PST

Two robots, both of which have brains that have evolved for over 300 generations, can be seen in the video. Both of them have one leg broken as well. However, only one of them can walk upright, while the other struggles to get back up. But why? That's because one of them has been programmed to keep learning.

Artificial intelligence (AI) often relies on so-called neural networks, algorithms inspired by the human brain. But unlike ours, AI brains usually don't learn new things once they've been trained and deployed; they're stuck with the same thinking they're born with.
So, in a new study, researchers created nets with "Hebbian rules"—mathematical formulas that allow AI brains to keep learning. Rather than their synaptic weights—the values dictating how activity spreads from one neuron to another—remaining static, they change based on experience. Then, the team partially removed the left front leg of both bots, forcing them to try to compensate for the injury. Both bots struggled at first, but the Hebbian bot was able to walk nearly seven times as far, the researchers report this month at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems.
Hebbian learning could someday improve algorithms used to recognize images, translate languages, or drive.

Truly amazing.

(Image Credit: Science Magazine/ YouTube)

In California: Man Dressed As Santa Gets Suspended In Power Lines

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 08:32 PM PST

After taking off on his powered parachute near a school in Rio Linda, California to deliver candy canes to children in his community, a man dressed up as Santa found himself in a maze of power lines and ended up being suspended in them. Thankfully, the man was not injured.

Video from the rescue shows the red-white-and-blue aircraft dangling overhead as Santa sat fastened to the pilot seat.
Neighbors watched from the ground as crews worked.
Colleen Bousliman, who lives nearby, said the pilot flies overhead often.
"He flies just around so people can see and flies around people's houses," she said. "This was the first time he was in his Santa suit."
[...]
"W/o a scratch & full of good cheer we made sure Old St. Nick will use his reindeer when he sees you later this year," the fire department said in a tweet after the incident.

I guess Santa has better watch out, too.

(Image Credit: California Highway Patrol via AP)

One Year on a Beaver Dam in Minnesota

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 06:46 PM PST



Footage from a trail cam at a beaver dam just south of Voyageurs National Park shows us a variety of animals using it as a river crossing. Over a year's time, we see wolves, bears, deer, beavers (of course), and other creatures, as well as the changing of the seasons. The dam is so sturdy that vegetation thrives on top, and the resulting pond is calm enough to freeze in winter. Good work, beaver! -via Metafilter

How UPS Trains Its Drivers

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 06:00 PM PST

I had no idea that UPS invested so much time and resources in calculating the movements and actions of its drivers. The delivery company is already famous for not making left turns because it's more efficient to make a series of right turns.

But its training facilities teach more than efficient land navigation. There's even a simulator for walking on ice, as well as drills for drivers protecting themselves from dogs and getting into a truck with a minimum number of movements. As this video from Business Insider illustrates, what appears to be a casual if rapid process by drivers is actually precision drill designed to move quickly and safely through the delivery process.

-via Born in Space

Internet Drama Turned into Songs

Posted: 31 Dec 2020 09:44 AM PST

In the old days, before the internet, if you wanted to encounter the rantings of angry, semiliterate people, you usually had to go search your house for a family member or, possibly, even step outside. Now you can enjoy such delights from wherever you are seated at the moment.

To enhance this experience, you can listen to Instagram user Lubalinmelodiously sing these online arguments. That he sings the misspelled words as they are written is especially delightful.

-via @kaijubushi
@

No comments:

Post a Comment

Keep a civil tongue.