Neatorama

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• The Day That Cost Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba, 3 Billion Dollars
• Undercover Best Friend
• Abstract Landscapes By Jason Anderson
• Lego Plants, Anyone?
• Platypus Genes are Part Bird, Reptile, and Mammal
• In Search of the Mahogany Ship in Australia
• Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise
• Model Railway POV with Monster
• John Adams: Superspreader
• Parrot Gets a New Beak
• Knife-Wielding Squirrel

The Day That Cost Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba, 3 Billion Dollars Posted: 10 Jan 2021 07:25 PM PST The founder of the Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, made an infamous speech on October 24th at the Bund Summit in Shanghai that cost him 3 billion dollars. He commenced by saying he was torn about what he was about to say but felt that it was critical for financial development in China. For the next twenty minutes, he launched into a not so subtle attack of the Chinese government. In the speech, Ma criticized "outdated supervision" of financial regulation for stifling innovation and said its global banking rules were like an "old people's club." He called for urgent change and said that Chinese banks had a "pawnshop mentality (that) is severe, and it also affects many entrepreneurs." Ma called the people who run the banks "old men" and inferred they were out of touch. A week after the speech officials issued stricter rules for online micro-lending companies, and on November 3rd the Shanghai Stock Exchange canceled the Ant Group IPO. Alibaba, which owns part of the the Aunt Group, immediately lost 3 billion dollars. Jack Ma hasn't been seen since, and has even been removed from his own television shows promotional materials & website. Rumors are that he may have been detained. Via Entrepreneur's Handbook

Undercover Best Friend Posted: 10 Jan 2021 07:24 PM PST You know you have the bestest friend in the world when she goes her way to disguise herself in order to watch over you on your first date. Just like your guardian angel, if you believe in those. Nope. Not creepy at all. And the mustache is clearly not suspicious. Image via 9GAG on Facebook

Abstract Landscapes By Jason Anderson Posted: 10 Jan 2021 07:23 PM PST Artist Jason Anderson masterfully uses the impasto technique in these works. With each stroke of the brush, the pixelated abstract images of horizons and city centers are created in the various colors in the linen canvas. "I relish the often frantic nature of mixing and arranging the paint in thick impressionistic daubs and submitting to a process that creates its own detail and form," the artist says in a statement. "This forces me to be bold and decisive; it also produces a kaleidoscope of shape and tone (reminiscent of stained-glass) which portrays the ever-present movement and energy found in nature." Check out Anderson's works over at Colossal. You might also want to follow his Instagram to see more of his paintings and sketches. (Image Credit: Jason Anderson/ Colossal)

Lego Plants, Anyone? Posted: 10 Jan 2021 06:58 PM PST Want some plants at the comfort of your own home without the need to water them to keep them fresh? LEGO has you covered with their botanical collection. … the new sets include a LEGO flower bouquet and a LEGO bonsai tree. apart from it being absolutely breathtaking, the LEGO botanical collection includes a number of elements made from plant-based plastic, produced using sustainable sourced sugarcane — a move LEGO announced in 2020.  The flower bouquet set is composed of 756 pieces, while the bonsai tree set has 878. Cool! (Image Credit: LEGO/ DesignBoom)

Platypus Genes are Part Bird, Reptile, and Mammal Posted: 10 Jan 2021 05:09 PM PST Platypuses are the weirdest animals in the weirdest class of mammals known as monotremes. They lay eggs, feed their young with milk, have venomous spurs, and glow in the dark. They have duck bills, webbed feet, and fur. But when you look at them at a molecular level, they are even weirder. Scientists have recently managed to sequence a male platypus's DNA, and found some surprising things.   The authors were particularly interested in the animal's sex chromosomes, which appear to have originated independently from other therian mammals, all of which contain a simple XY pair. The platypus, however, is the only known animal with 10 sex chromosomes (echidnas have nine). Platypus have 5X and 5Y chromosomes organised in a ring that appears to have broken apart into pieces over the course of mammalian evolution. Comparing this chromosome information to humans, opossums, Tasmanian devils, chickens, and lizard genomes, the authors found the platypus's sex chromosomes have more in common with birds like chickens than mammals such as humans. Read how the platypus genome resembles an interspecies chimera of sorts at ScienceAlert. -via Damn Interesting

In Search of the Mahogany Ship in Australia Posted: 10 Jan 2021 05:09 PM PST With his partner Margie, local treasure hunter Ross Poulter walks on the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia. This treacherous coast is known for the nearly 700 ships wrecked along its coastline in the mid-18th and early 19th century. Carrying with them some shovels and a metal detector, the duo survey the land, in search of a legend — the Mahogany Ship. The ship is believed to be a Portuguese caravel that sailed in the 16th century. Poulter has been searching for this ship for 15 years now, and he displays no signs of stopping from his search. But did the Mahogany Ship even exist? Some say that it didn't. Know more about the Mahogany Ship over at Atlas Obscura. (Image Credit: Diceman/ Wikimedia Commons)

Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise Posted: 10 Jan 2021 05:09 PM PST Who an actor is should never be confused with the roles he plays, but cinematic history is littered with talented people done in by their offscreen personalities and/or personal lives. Those successful at avoiding such fate are often playing a part even when they aren't playing a part. Cary Grant was a master of such role-playing. When not in character, he was the ultimate gentleman: confident, stylish, charming, and in control, with just the right amount of masculinity and aloofness. This facade made it all the harder to get to know him. Hollywood biographer Scott Eyman's new book Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise tries to find the real man, Archibald Leach, who became Cary Grant.   Grant reached a level of fame rarely achieved, let alone sustained over decades, with so many great films bearing his name. The actor often joked that he wished he was Cary Grant. He was always torn between his origins as a poor kid from Bristol and the Hollywood legend he became. A friend once wrote of Grant, "when we were out together in Beverly Hills, people usually didn't approach him, or interfere. He was an object of awe. Being famous, visibly famous, is a terrible fate." The truth is that Grant had a brilliantly constructed persona, better than anything a studio marketing team could have developed. Read an overview of Grant's carefully-constructed persona as it played out over the years at the Los Angeles Review of Books. -via Strange Company

Model Railway POV with Monster Posted: 10 Jan 2021 05:08 PM PST You might think you're watching a travelogue from a train until you see the giant feline stalking your ride! Jonathan Lawton of West Yorkshire built this model railway and strapped a camera on the front, which is infinitely enhanced when his cat Mittens joins in the fun. -via Digg

John Adams: Superspreader Posted: 10 Jan 2021 05:07 PM PST When President John Adams was 85 years old, he attended a conference in Massachusetts and came down with the flu, which he suffered from for several weeks. However, it did not curb his activities much, as he related in a latter to his daughter Louisa.    He wrote to Louisa after he recovered, saying, "I have had the influenza, and with great difficulty have got the better of it — but not perfectly cured." Apparently it started as a cold that just got worse. "I attended every day the Convention," he wrote, "and the air of that hall — instead of curing my cold imperceptibly increased it from day to day." Did he really expect the air of a crowded room to cure his cold? There was still a lot to learn as far as how colds and flus were spread in 1820, and Adams likely spread his disease far and wide. He wrote, "The unceasing hospitality of the gentlemen in Boston compelled me most willingly to accept invitations to dinner, almost everyday." Here is where the contact tracing list begins: "The company was most fascinating — an assemblage of the power, authority, wealth, genius, learning, and politeness of the State — the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the President of Harvard College, the President of the Senate, the Chief Justice and other Judges, Mr. Webster, Mr. Prescot, Mr. Storry, some of the best of the clergy, strangers of distinction, electors of President and Vice President, and whatever characters there were most precious composed the company." In Adams' time, there were arguments back and forth about how illness spread. Adams attributed sickness to the weather, while Benjamin Franklin advocated for fresh air to blow stale air away. Neither really understood how diseases spreads, because no one did. Read about Adams' flu and how the former president might have infected all of Boston's elite at Plodding Through the Presidents. -via Strange Company

Parrot Gets a New Beak Posted: 10 Jan 2021 04:13 PM PST A parrot was found in Brazil with a large part of its beak broken off. Since parrots use their beaks for everything, the bird was in danger of starving to death without it. The veterinarians at Renascer Acn, an animal rehabilitation center in Planura, Brazil, were determined to help the parrot by installing a new beak. You can click to the right to see images of the surgery above, and read the story of the plastic parrot prosthetic at Bored Panda.

Knife-Wielding Squirrel Posted: 10 Jan 2021 07:14 AM PST So apparently knife wielding squirrels are a thing now.... #Squirrels#Toronto#blogtopic.twitter.com/bEDpTqYcS6 — Andrea Diamond (@asdiamond) January 6, 2021 Camera footage captured this squirrel rampaging through Toronto. Local resident Andrea Diamond bravely approached to record the furry menace preparing himself for a no doubt savage rampage. Residents are urged to remain indoors with all lights out until the threat is neutralized. -via Dave Barry

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