February 24, 2020
Menstrual cycles and athletes
Several high-profile sports teams (USWNT, AFLW, Chelsea FC) have revealed they are using information about athletes’ menstrual cycles to tailor training programs, enhance performance and endeavour to avoid injury. Here are some recommendations for how menstruating people can tailor their training to their cycle. [more inside]
Recipe Hacks: fake news of cooking videos
The fake 'kitchen hacks' with billions of views (BBC video) -- most are deceiving, and some are dangerous, from suggesting that you put molten caramel on a spinning whisk, or dunk strawberries in bleach. But apparently First Media now states that they only showcase recipes that work, unlike a prior statement made to Food scientist and YouTuber Ann Reardon (previously) that "whether the recipes worked or not was never their concern." Reardon debunks fake TroomTroom and 5-Minute Craft videos, and exposes dangerous 5-Minute Crafts & So Yummy how-to videos, but also makes 200 year old candy recipes from The Complete Confectioner (Archive.org).
Lost soul bent on revenge
Ten years ago, Scorpion played the Mortal Kombat theme on an accordion (bayan) and was noticed by many, including Geekosystem, Neatorama, and Mortal Kombat co-creator / voice of Scorpion, Ed Boon. Scorpion also returned a few years later to play the Mortal Kombat theme on a glass harp. The bayan previously. The glass harp previously and previouslier.
Petting
Travelling petting zoos with scorpions and tarantulas spread the love. Stillwater -- Brooklyn -- maybe one will visit near you. Some insectariums also have petting zoos, for instance in Philadelphia and Victoria, Canada.
Two Moments in Time: Funky Bugs
Sampled by more than a few in the land of hip hop, Scorpio was released by Dennis Coffey in 1971. It has a pretty awesome break at the 1:12 mark.
Totally unrelated, ten years later (or maybe eleven years, depending on how you want to count it), Grandmaster Flash released Scorpio. Named after one of the band members, Scorpio did ok on the charts.
Beware the burning sting!
Scorpions are often inspiration for some of the deadliest (and outlandish) ways of creating burning pain. For example, a legendary Chinese poison was made by “sealing venomous snakes, scorpions, and centipedes into a jar and having them fight” which reveals more about cultural relations in ancient China than how to make poison. In Game of Thrones, the way to stop flaming dragons was to use a version of one of the first siege engines, the Roman scorpio, a torsion weapon that you can make yourself (Pdf)! And if you just want to wish you were dead, you can eat the Trinidad Scorpion, one of the hottest peppers in the world, as this fascinating discussion of hot peppers in India shows.
COIN PROS COP IRONS
Treasure Hunters Headed to Jail After Concealing Their Discovery of Viking Treasure Trove. The metal detector enthusiasts, along with two coin dealers who assisted in selling the concealed find, have all been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail. The collection is worth an estimated $15.4 million.
Not a stinger, but named after a thing with a stinger...
A brief history of the scorpion, with recipe and flaming cocktail safety tips. ╰()╯('-')╰()╯ A longer history of the scorpion bowl. ╰()╯('-')╰()╯ Additional scorpion cocktail and scorpion bowl recipes.
'Nok, 'Nok! Who's Head? Zarak
Great 12 minute overview of the Transformer Scorponok and close ally Lord Zarak in their various print, toy and screen versions, by YouTuber Chris McFeely [SLYT] [SLSCORP]
Justice has a nasty sting!
She's a police officer by day. But, by night, she takes to the streets and fights crime with powerful pinching pedipalps and a stinging tail! [more inside]
Crop Is On! I Sop Corn!
Do you feel that predatory arachnid links are almost perfect except for their subject’s letter order? Fear not! How to become Coin Pros
. Learn how Cops Iron
. And finally, swoon at Pi Croons
. [more inside]
Modelling 2019-nCOV outbreak
Nowcasting and forecasting the potential domestic and international spread of the 2019-nCOV virus. This Lancet article published in late January has proven prescient. "Our findings suggest that independent self-sustaining human-to-human spread is already present in multiple major Chinese cities, many of which are global transport hubs with huge numbers of both inbound and outbound passengers (eg, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen). Therefore, in the absence of substantial public health interventions that are immediately applied, further international seeding and subsequent local establishment of epidemics might become inevitable. On the present trajectory, 2019-nCoV could be about to become a global epidemic in the absence of mitigation...." [more inside]
These scorpions, while not live, are definitely wired
Sit back, relax, and watch Dave or Angel demonstrate how to make a scorpion out of wire. [more inside]
wrecks it after a riotous all-animal party
The most disturbing talking animals in film – ranked! [The Guardian]
Extraordinary chessboard or Kickstarter scam
"If you follow the Internet chess scene closely you will no doubt have noticed the new kid on the block: Regium. Purportedly an e-board that can connect to all the major chess websites and play seamlessly with a real physical board, over the Internet! [...] While we want to believe as much as any chess lover, we have a few doubts about these claims as well as the conduct of Regium. Here are some reasons for caution." Lichess investigates the Regium chessboard [more inside]
Katherine Johnson has passed at the age of 101.
NASA announced this morning that "Hidden Figures" computer Katherine Johnson has passed away. Katherine Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, WV, August 26 1918, and worked for NACA (later NASA) as one of their top "Computers" from 1953-1986. In addition to her work on the Mercury program that was highlighted in the movie Hidden Figures she worked on the Apollo program, LANDSAT, the Space Shuttle, and authored 26 research reports. [more inside]
Boycycle
A surreal, trope-tastic short movie. By Salvatore Ganacci forBusiness Club Royale via Weird Universe
Harvey Weinstein, Convicted Rapist
After a several weeks long trial and five days of deliberation, Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of a criminal sex act in the first degree and rape in the third degree. (SLGuardian) [more inside]
Conditions Of The American Working Class
“...the fastest-growing occupations in San Francisco were taxi drivers, chauffeurs, couriers, messengers, and personal care aides.” The Silicon Valley Economy Is Here And It Sucks (New Republic) “ “Platforms like this, they exist to twist people who have no other recourse … It’s depressing, and makes it hard to feel like it’s worth getting up in the morning.” Horror Stories From Inside Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Gizmodo) Youtube Moderators Forced To Sign Statement Acknowledging Their Job Can Give Them PTSD (The Verge) “ “Today, I was expected to clean up after 300 people in 10 minutes, alone,” he wrote. “This is not physically possible.” The Usher Uprising, are movie theaters the next wave of unionization? (Mel) Kickstarter and Amazon warehouse employees hold historic union elections, drives. How To Organize Your Workplace (Without Getting Caught) [more inside]
“338 it is and welcome to Walmart”
The Postal Service Fired Thousands of Workers for Getting Injured While Delivering and Processing Your Mail: USPS forced out 44,000 workers who got injured on the job. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says the effort, part of a five year program, violated the law. But the Postal Service has fought its workers’ claims since 2007. (SLProPublica by Maryam Jameel)
Scorpions Live
526.5 Live Scorpions
Presented without comment: United States Postal Service regulations for mailing live animals
“a rhythmic, chaotic catastrophe of cooking!”
Cook, Serve, Delicious 3 Is A Chaotic Cooking Game Set In The Back Of A Food Truck Driven By Cyborgs [YouTube][Game Trailer] “Cooking food can be a relaxing or even therapeutic activity. But not in Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! That’s because you are cooking in the back of a moving food truck driven by two cyborgs in a dystopian future. In that case, things are a bit more...chaotic. CSD3 is the third entry in the Cook, Serve, Delicious series and it released earlier this week. These games are all about cooking lots of quality food, quickly and accurately. [...] Each day in CSD3 starts with you crafting a menu of different foods and snacks to serve and then you head out to three stops, where hungry people await. On the way to each stop, you can prep food to help make your life easier. ou use various keyboard keys to slap together food. For example, simple food like chicken nuggets has you hit the “N” key a few times to place raw chicken nuggets into your deep-frying baskets. Then you hit the “D” key to dunk the food into the burner and finally, you hit enter to close that window and let the nugs cook.” [via: Kotaku] [more inside]
The defector who brought North-South Korean romance to life
Seeing is believing
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