The Science Of Laughter

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Laughter is weird - and we do it a lot. One study found that people laugh seven times for every 10 minutes of conversation. It's been found that if you ask people what makes them laugh they'll talk about jokes and humour, but we laugh most frequently when we are with other people - and hardly ever at jokes.

It's a social emotion and we use it to make and maintain social bonds. Laughter is also a very primitive way of making a sound.

Stick

A persecuted stray dog gets attached to a funny man in swimming trunks - literally attached.



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(thanks Cora)

9 Bizarre Schools That Actually Exist

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While there are myriad approaches to education in all disciplines, from calculus to literature to language to chemistry, if you want to learn about magical people hiding under rocks or unconventional physics, you might have to look outside the realm of traditional schooling.

If you're hoping to further your education, consider these nine schools that diverge somewhat from the standard curriculum.

How Long Did Famous Novels Take To Write?

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Did you know that it took J.R.R. Tolkien 16 years to write the 'Lord of the Rings'? Or that John Boyne wrote 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' in only 2.5 days? Have you ever wondered how long it took to craft some of history's most famous books? Take a look at this infographic.

Among the Ancients - California Timelapse

The Eastern Sierra Mountain Range offers an extremely diverse range of unique natural features, from some of the oldest living trees in the world to extraordinary desert arches. Beyond its incredible terrain, this area of California also offers stunning, vivid views of the Milky Way and the Night Sky.



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Why Does a Dog Lick Its Nose?

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When dogs are in their training stage a question that comes up a great deal is why do dogs lick their noses? While it is tempting to simply go with the old chestnut of an answer - because they can - there are a number of reasons why a dog might lick its own nose.

One thing is for certain sure, however: while they are doing it they often bring a smile to the faces of their human companions.

Get Your Coke, Freshly Delivered On Your Doorstep Every Morning

Coca-Cola doesn't have too many direct ties to the collector car hobby. There's the 'coke-bottle shape' of many muscle cars and the urban legend that you can use the soft drink to clean rust off chrome.

Coca-Cola in 1933 introduced the automatic fountain dispenser. Apparently, the company then decided to take the new fountain drink on the road the next year with a home sampling campaign.

Ruben's Elevator

Seventy-five year old Ruben Pardo is the oldest elevator manual operator in Los Angeles. For six days a week over the past 40 years, he has helped the patrons of the Art Deco marvel at 5514 Wilshire Blvd 'up and down' while enlightening them with positive musings on the simple joys of life.



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(thanks Cora)

Perplexed By Gravity? Here Are Six Weighty Facts

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Gravity: we barely ever think about it, at least until we slip on ice or stumble on the stairs. Of course, we know that gravity does far more than make things fall down. It governs the motion of planets around the Sun, holds galaxies together and determines the structure of the universe itself.

The modern theory of gravity is one of the most successful theories we have. At the same time, we still don't know everything about gravity, including the exact way it fits in with the other fundamental forces. But here are six weighty facts we do know about gravity.

Was Edward The Black Prince Really A Nasty Piece Of Work?

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A letter that has lain unread for over 600 years is forcing a rethink of a 14th Century prince with a controversial reputation. He was the superstar of his age, winning his spurs in battle aged just 16. But the reputation of Edward of Woodstock - or the Black Prince, as he has become known to history - is still the subject of the same type of dispute that rages over the reputations of Richard III and Oliver Cromwell.

A persistent theory runs that Edward's nickname refers to the cruelty he inflicted upon the French during the Hundred Years War - the dynastic struggle for the crown of France. The blackest stain upon Edward's reputation is the sack of the French town of Limoges in September 1370.

IndyCar Driver Alexander Rossi VS Kirby Chambliss' Edge 540 Plane

IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi meets Edge 540 pilot Kirby Chambliss for the ultimate head-to-head race of speed, power and G-Force. After battling on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the two take turns climbing into the passenger's seat while taking each other for unforgettable rides.



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The Sky-Riding Bus Of Timberline Lodge

Built in the late 1930s, Timberline Lodge is a mountain lodge on the south side of Mount Hood in Oregon. Skiers travelled from Government Camp to Timberline Lodge on the the sky-riding bus highway.

The sky bus was powered by two 185 horsepower engines taking passengers from 3,800 feet all the way up to 6,000 feet, completing the more than 3 mile journey above tree level in less than 10 minutes supported by 38 steel towers up to 72 feet tall.

Kestrel Hover Slo-Mo: How To Really Control The Wind

The name kestrel is given to several different members of the falcon genus, Falco. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around 10–20 metres (35–65 ft) over open country and swoop down on prey. This bird at Birmingham Airport shows its all-body control which aircraft designers can only dream about.



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(thanks Cora)

A Test Of Blind Ambition

Charity Guide Dogs UK has produced a fantastic new short film to mark the start of the Paralympic Games. Every hour, another person in the UK goes blind. Can you handle three minutes in the life of a person with sight loss? Get an insight into the world of one amazing girl who lost her vision, but kept her ambition.



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(thanks Mike)

Why Does Poison Ivy Makes Us Itch So Much?

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An international team of researchers has finally decoded the science behind a plant responsible for no small degree of human misery: poison ivy. For the first time we now know why poison ivy leaves make us itch, and the answer lies in a key molecule called CD1a, which scientists have long known about but didn't fully understand until now.

Bizarre String Theories

image credit: David Jones

Most guitarists don't tend to think it's a good idea to put foreign objects on their prized rock instruments. But some do, and they make the craziest music.

The Evolution Of Stop-Motion

Go back in time and see the evolution of stop-motion animation throughout the years.



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That's Not Nice

(via Bad Newspaper)

DNA Reveals That Giraffes Are Four Species - Not One

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One of the most iconic animals in Africa has a secret. A genetic analysis suggests that the giraffe is not one species, but 4 separate ones - a finding that could alter how conservationists protect these animals.

Researchers previously split giraffes into several subspecies on the basis of their coat patterns and where they lived. Closer inspection of their genes, however, reveals that giraffes should actually be divided into four distinct lineages that don't interbreed in the wild.

Why The Adam's Apple Is Called The Adam's Apple

The laryngeal prominence (commonly referred to as Adam's apple), a feature of the human neck, is the lump or protrusion that is formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx. That's the scientific description of that lump in a human's neck. But why is that called an Adam's apple.



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18 Common Words That Have Unexpected Science Definitions

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Many words in the English language that seem remarkably common have a surprising secondary definition known mostly to scientists in different disciplines. Here are 18 words drawn from the American Heritage Science Dictionary that have an alternative meaning in various science disciplines.

The Dreadful Beauty Of Abandoned Places

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Kieron Connolly’s new book of photographs of more than 100 once-busy and often elegant buildings gives an idea of how the world might look if humankind disappeared.

Drone Footage Of 3 Humpback Whales Circling A Boat

Spectacular drone footage of humpback whales swimming around a boat in New Caledonia in the South Pacific.



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The Last Thylacine

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The thylacine, more popularly known as the Tasmanian tiger, was an apex predator in Australia and Tasmania before its extinction in the early 20th century. The last known specimen died in Hobart Zoo during the night of 7th September, 1936. It was the last extant member of its family.

Why Paper Cuts Hurt So Much

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Paper seems completely harmless, but anybody who has refilled a photocopier or thumbed too quickly through a book knows that this humble material harbours a deep, dark secret. Deployed properly, it can be a serious weapon: paper cuts are just the worst.

Cat In Japan

The Bonte cat has arrived in Japan and can't stop dreaming about sushi.
Can you find all the sushi by solving all the puzzles?

More Bart Bonte Games.

Venezia

Much has been made about the wonders of Venice, but few ever venture deep enough across its less touristy, yet still historical hidden places. This short film uncovers the secrets that have been handed down from father to son, immersing you in the extraordinary craftsmen's veiled workshops that belong to a long lost era.



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(thanks Cora)

Quiver Tree Forest, Namibia

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The Quiver Tree Forest is located north-east of the town of Keetmanshoop in southern Namibia. Here grows, on a private farm, about 250 specimens of the quiver tree, or aloe dichotoma, which is a tall, branching species of aloe.

The unusual look of aloe dichotoma has made this area a popular tourist attraction.
The quiver tree is not really a tree, rather a plant of the genus aloe. It has a stout stem that is covered with beautiful golden brown scales with sharp edges.

Are Aliens Talking To Us?

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On August 15, the news broke that a Russian radio telescope detected strong signals from outer space. The signals allegedly originated from a star 95 light-years from Earth. This means that the signal would have left the star or, potentially, an orbiting planet, 95 years ago.

Scientists were cautious, but still believed the source deserved permanent monitoring.
The signal seems to be isotropic, that is, beamed with the same power in all directions. For this to happen the responsible civilization would have to be a Kardashev Type II, a kind of civilization with a technology way more advanced than our own.

The Day The Gorillas Met David Attenborough

To celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 90th birthday, the BBC did a series of videos in which animals reminisce about meeting him fir the first time. One of the gorillas gives his opinion of the famous broadcaster.



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(via Miss Cellania)

The Iceberg(s) That Sunk The Titanic

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In the night of April 14, 1912 the passenger liner 'R.M.S. Titanic' collided with an iceberg, two hours later the ship sank, and an estimated 1490 to 1517 passengers died in the cold water of the Atlantic.

The story of the iceberg that caused the disaster is less understand or known and only vague descriptions and some photos exists of the supposed iceberg(s). Here are some of the pictures of icebergs taken in the area of the Titanic disaster.

More Space

(via Bad Newspaper)

A BERRY Good Day...

This video is in response to a recent study by The Berry Company which revealed that Brits know what kind of day they are in for by 8.12am, and we all have 'one of those days' once a week.



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(thanks Ciaran)

10 Unusual Facts About Ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egypt has long been a fascinating subject not only to historians, but to average people all over the world. They had many mystical practices that have long kept us intrigued.

From their unique burial practices to their awe inspiring pyramids, ancient Egypt has left us with a feeling of mystery and wonder. But there are also many fascinating things we have already discovered in regards to them that most people are not aware of.

Skye's Storr Lochs Monster Fossil Unveiled In Edinburgh

The fossilised skeleton of a 170 million-year-old Jurassic predator discovered on the Isle of Skye has been unveiled in Edinburgh. Named the Storr Lochs Monster, the fossil of the sea-living reptile was found in 1966.

Fifty years on from the find, scientists from the University of Edinburgh and National Museums Scotland are preparing a detailed study of it. It has been identified as being from a family of animals called ichthyosaurs.

(thanks Cora)

Infinitude

Infinitude is a meditation on the cosmic evolution of matter and energy over time.



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10 Long Lost Beasts Of The Old World

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Some 80,000 years ago, our planet began to cool, heralding the dawn of the last ice age. This was a land of giants like the Woolly Mammoths, Saber-Toothed Cats, Dire Wolves, Giant Ground Sloths, and Glyptodonts.

In the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, however, the story was quite different. These lands had their own class of giants who evolved differently from their counterparts and became the masters of their domain. Check out 10 of these incredible creatures who once dominated the Old World.

The Department Of Silly Measurements

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You've heard of a 'New York minute' and a 'stone’s throw'... but how about a 'potrzebie' or a 'sheppie?' Here are a few more strange units of measurement (and one very serious one) that you may not be familiar with.

6 Ways You Completely Ruin Everything Good About Coffee

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It seems as though coffee is kind of magical. A slew of research links it to everything from a reduced risk of dementia to revving your metabolism. Then there's the essential energy boost it provides when we need it most.

You may be unintentionally countering some of the brew's benefits depending on factors like when you drink it and what you add to it. Here are six common mistakes, and find out how to brew a more nutritious pot of coffee.

Burning Man 2016 Hyperlapse

Burning Man is an annual gathering that takes place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA. The event is described as an experiment in community and art, influenced by 10 main principles, including 'radical' inclusion, self-reliance and self-expression, as well as community cooperation, civic responsibility, gifting, decommodification, participation, immediacy and leaving no trace.



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(thanks Cora)

8 Elegant Facts About Russian Blue Cats

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The Russian Blue is a cat breed that comes in colors varying from a light shimmering silver to a darker, slate grey. They develop close bonds with their owners and are sought out as pets due to their personalities, beauty and coat. Take a crash course on Russia's sleekest, most aristocratic-looking feline: the Russian Blue.

Scientists Discover Sixth Taste

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The desire to delve into a whopping great bowl of pasta or devour a huge bag of crisps comes to many of us - and now scientists from Oregon State University believe they have discovered a sixth taste which could be fuelling our carb cravings.

Until now, it was believed that humans could only detect five different primary tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and, added to the list seven years ago, umami. But now researchers claim we're capable of tasting a 'starchy' flavour too.

The Majesty Of The Moor

Enjoy the majesty of the moor from high above as well as lower to the ground. Sit back, relax and take a journey through some beautifully spectacular countryside.



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(thanks Cora)

Warship Graveyard Of Truk Lagoon

image credit: Aqua Immersion

Under the clear blue waters of Chuuk Atoll in the South Pacific, seven degrees north of the equator, near New Guinea, lies the wreck of a dozen Japanese warships, more than thirty merchant ships, and hundreds of aircrafts.

Google Street View Map Of San Francisco In The 1800s

If you've ever wondered what it would feel like to travel back in time and walk the streets of San Francisco, this might be the closest you'll get. Two developers, Dan Vanderkam and Raven Keller, had the brilliant idea to take all the old photographs from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection and put them on an interactive map.

This map functions similarly to Google Street View, except when you zoom in on a particular place, it gives you photos from as far back as 1850. The project, called OldSF, lets you manipulate a slider to change the range of years.

946,000kg Load Headin Towards Fort McMurray, Alberta

Take a look at this massive load heading to Fort McMurray, Alberta weighing in at 946,000kg.



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(thanks Cora)

Vintage Car Brochures

Before the World Wide Web was responsible for the spread of information, print was the most captivating way of garnering audience attention. Specially when it came to carmakers, it was their go-to tool for creatively crafting a message for people about their cars.

These vintage car brochures back then were essential part of the manufacturer or dealers promotional campaigns. They weren't necessarily about pushing a sale, but were more about creatively pointing out a lifestyle choice that their brand or vehicle offered.

(via Everlasting Blort)

The Weird Tale Behind Ice Cream Jingles

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Each year, a new batch of hot summer songs hits airwaves and earbuds, dominating top-40 charts and iTunes sales. But there are a handful of popular tunes that never fade away, ever present throughout the world's streets on sunny summer days: The familiar jingle of ice cream trucks.

But where did this summer hallmark come from? Why are ice cream trucks some of the only vehicles that play music as one of their main functions? It's a strange and surprising story.

Case IH Autonomous Concept Tractor

Case IH (a brand of agricultural equipment) unveiled an autonomous concept vehicle at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. The concept vehicle is a cabless Case IH row crop tractor that can operate autonomously with a wide range of field implements.



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10 Real Places On Earth That Seem Scientifically Impossible

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There are places in this world that are very strange. Places that seem almost alien, as if they could only exist on a planet that evolved separately from our own.

These are places that scientists have had to struggle just to understand how they ever could have been formed. Places that will truly make you wonder - not just because they're beautiful, but because they seem to follow scientific laws that don't exist anywhere else on earth.

What Is The Largest Desert On Earth?

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When you hear the word desert, what comes to mind? Chances are, you'd think of sun, sand, and very little in the way of rain. Perhaps cacti, vultures, mesas, and scorpions come to mind as well, or possibly camels and oases?

Like all of Earth's climates, it all comes down to some basic characteristics that they share - which in this case, involves being barren, dry, and hostile to life. For this reason, you might be surprised to learn that the largest desert in the world is actually in Antarctica.

Researchers Reconstructed A 2,300-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy's Face

Australian researchers from the University of Melbourne have reconstructed the face of an ancient Egyptian mummy, using a 3D printer to create a replica skull and forensic sculpting techniques to bring it to life.



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(via Science alert)

Jupiter's North Pole Unlike Anything Encountered In Solar System

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NASA's Juno spacecraft has sent back the first-ever images of Jupiter's north pole, taken during the spacecraft's first flyby of the planet with its instruments switched on. The images show storm systems and weather activity unlike anything previously seen on any of our solar system's gas-giant planets.

The History Of Russia In 70,000 Photos

'The History of Russia' is an enormous joint archive project from Moscow's Multimedia Art Museum and Yandex, Russia's largest search engine.

The archive contains over 70,000 photos, gathered from more than 40 institutions and collections and representing over 150 years of photographs capturing all sorts of scenes of Russian life.

100 Years Of Fashion: High Heels

Take a walk down memory lane and peep at the peep-toes, pumps, platforms, and other shoes that have kept us in step for the past century.



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12 Savory Facts About Bacon

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Bacon is everywhere these days. You can find it in ice cream, coffee, cupcakes, and chewing gum. There's bacon-scented candles, bacon lip balm, and even a bacon deodorant.

With bacon saturating every corner of the market, it's worth looking at the origins of this smoky, salty food and how it became so wildly popular.

What A Bargain

Don't pay $9.95. Pay $9.95.

(via Bad Newspaper)

Transport Of Wind Turbine Blades In Difficult Terrain

CIMC is a Chinese company principally engaged in the manufacture and sale of transportation equipment. See how CIMC vehicles transport wind turbine blades in difficult terrain. It's like watching ants carrying leafs.



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(thanks Cora)

10 Bizarre Beauty Pageants From The Past

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To a sane observer, beauty pageants can seem to be rather strange affairs, yet they are an ingrained part of modern culture in many parts of the world. The idea of women being judged primarily on their looks, and only secondarily on their talent, is nothing new.

But if you look back through history at the beauty pageants of bygone days, you'll see that this was sometimes taken to the extreme.

How Did They Drink Beer Over 100 Years Ago?

And these were their ways...

The Glider Yachts SS18 - The Coolest Thing On Water

London-based Glider Yachts has launched its Glider SS18 concept that it hopes will revolutionise luxury sea travel. The craft glides along the water using two 60-ft long twin hulls. It's powered by four 270-horsepower engines, and the catamaran can travel from Miami to the Bahamas in just 45 minutes.



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(thanks Cora)

Stromatolites Of Hamelin Pool

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What appear to be rocks submerged in the hyper-saline water of Hamelin Pool at the base of Shark Bay in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, are not quite rocks. They are living things called stromatolites, created by tiny, single-celled microbes which are some of the earliest forms of life on earth.

Stromatolites are formed by the growth of layers upon layers of cyanobacteria and sediments that the microbes trap with their sticky mucus layer. These fine particles are cemented together with calcium carbonate produced by the bacteria, thereby building up the stromatolite structures.

10 Real People Who Became Gods

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Gods are generally thought of as eternal, existing before the universe or being the first things to spring from the chaos. That is not a view shared by everyone, however. Throughout history, humans like us have been raised to the status of gods. Here are 10 people who have been deified.

An Un-Conventional Thirst: Collecting 7Up's Most Beautiful, Hallucinatory Billboards

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In the late '60s, hippies saved 7Up. On the verge of bankruptcy, the company decided to go after the young people in the antiwar counterculture, who'd be making their way to Woodstock in August 1969. They hired psychedelic artists to make billboards exploding with color and flower-power motifs.

Between 1969 and 1975 7Up also sold these paper UnCola billboards, 21-by-10-feet and printed in 12 panels, to college students, who could use them as wallpaper. Now, one of those college students, Bob Treat, is trying to collect all of the campaign's 53 billboards. He has 25 so far.

(thanks Lisa)

German Eyes World Record For Heaviest Rideable Bike

Using giant tires from an industrial fertilizer spreader and scrap steel, Frank Dose from Germany man has built a bicycle weighing 2,072 pounds that he plans to pedal into the record books as the world's heaviest rideable bike.

The 49-year-old Dose has been building his bike since March. It sports tires that are 5 feet in diameter. It's reportedly proved surprisingly easy to ride.



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Sing Your Way To Health And Happiness

An infographic packed with information about the benefits of singing. The infographic includes information about the physical benefits, the psychological benefits, benefits of singing for children and benefits of singing for the elderly.

Only Known White Killer Whale Sighted For First Time Since 2012

An extremely rare white killer whale - the first adult of its kind ever spotted - has been rediscovered by scientists. The whale, who they have named Iceberg, was seen off the coast of Russia's Kuril Islands.

Iceberg was last spotted in 2012 off the coast of Kamchatka in eastern Russia, and seems to be still enjoying a healthy life in its pod. The 22-year-old white whale is the only adult Orca ever to have been spotted in the wild. Just one in ten thousand killer whales are completely white.

High School Musical - Dolphins Style

A couple of days before the 2016 Paralympics in Rio will get underway, the Australian women's swim team decided to take a break from training. They recreated their favourite scenes from High School Musical.



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Enter An Archive Of 6,000 Historical Children's Books

We can learn much about how a historical period viewed the abilities of its children by studying its children's literature. And we can do so by surveying the thousands of mid- to late 19th century titles at the University of Florida's Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature.

Their digitized collection currently holds over 6,000 books free to read online from cover to cover, allowing you to get a sense of what adults wanted children to know and believe. You can search the collection on language, publisher, topic, geographic area and genre.

12 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets Of Museums

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Museums welcome millions of tourists, field-trip-bound schoolchildren, and culture vultures into their exhibition halls, but much of the real excitement occurs behind the scenes.

Here are some stories about what life is like working among the world's most precious paintings and dinosaur bones, from the massive amount of work it takes to set up exhibitions to the one rule museum visitors break more than any other.

72 Hours In Model Horse Mecca

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Horses are the one inescapable fact of Lexington, Kentucky - home to BreyerFest, the model horse Comic-Con, an annual convention for one of the last hobbies nearly untouched by culture at large.

Breyers figurines are made from a far less conspicuous material, and some of the rarest models fetch thousands. When you think of a toy plastic horse, it's probably a Breyers model - it's the biggest producer, and nearly every other model horse manufacturer has since gone belly up.

The Simple Solution To Traffic

The way we can make traffic disappear.



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15 Famous Landmarks Zoomed Out To Show Their Surroundings

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This collection of photographs of majestic landmarks around the world do a great job of showing just how important framing, perspective and lighting are to a photograph. All of these photo pairs are of the same object, but the changes in perspective can make them seem more or less grand.

A change of perspective can change a lot, which applies just as much to photography as it does to anything else in life. Aside from the composition of these images, some of them also show just how misleading photography can be.

We Are Now Living In A New Geological Era

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A group of experts tasked with considering the question of whether we have officially entered the Anthropocene - the geological age characterized by humans' influence on the planet - has delivered its answer: yes.

The British-led Working Group on the Anthropocene told a geology conference in Cape Town that, in its considered opinion, the Anthropocene epoch began in 1950 - the start of the era of nuclear bomb tests, disposable plastics and the human population boom.