the world

The WWII-Era Plane Giving The F-35 A Run For Its Money

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 15:37:33 +0000

The Super Tucano was a throwback to a bygone era of aerial combat — a time when pilots looked through the blur of a propeller and pointed their nose at the enemy before pulling the trigger.

Study Finds CTE In 96 Percent Of Deceased NFL Players

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:05:36 +0000

Figures from the nation's largest brain bank show that 96 percent of the deceased NFL players tested over the past decade had positive results for a degenerative brain disease connected with concussions.

Here's Our Best Look Yet At Pluto's Mountains

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 14:40:16 +0000

As more (and better) photographs ping back to us across the Solar System, the surface of Pluto is being revealed in ever greater and more interesting detail. Just look at these mountains!

Sean Bean Died Twice To Bring You Our Videos

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:30:10 +0000

Whether it's totaling up the casualties in the "Lord Of The Rings" films or watching Louis CK mention dicks at every opportunity, our YouTube channel has something for everyone. Spoiler alert: You're gonna want to subscribe now, because we have big things coming soon.

Ad Blockers Could Kill The Internet And Other Facts

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 03:03:05 +0000

This week we learned that you are a jerk if you use an ad blocker, animals really hate drones and beans are the food of the future.

Meet Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Black Woman Theoretical Physicist

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:39:28 +0000

Dr. Prescod-Weinstein talks about her inspiration, teaching herself what she needed to know, how she keeps balance in her life, and being one of 89 black women with a physics Ph.D., and the only theoretical physicist.

"All of these people around us, who are making sure that our working environment and our home environment function so that we can get work done, are part of the scientific process—and part of the activist process, in my case. So, I have to give them credit for that."

"But my dream is for Black children, and Native American children, and Latino children, and Asian children to be able to make the choices that White children seem to sometimes be able to make, which is that, "I'm going to think about this because it interests me." Not because, "I owe it to the community." Not because, "I see this problem in my community that doesn't get solved because of the color of our skin, so I'm going to try and solve it." But for them to say, "Hey, dark matter's a weird thing. Why don't I think about that?" I want everybody to have that equal opportunity to dream, and dream big, and not dream in the context of the duress of racism, and transphobia, and a host of other things."

Remembering Jenkem, The Greatest Internet Hoax

iexplorer — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:38:08 +0000

The teen drug panic that was started by a prankster on a messageboard.

Behold: the greatest trolling effort to make local news believe that teens were doing a new dangerous drug called "jenkem".

youtube.com

The year was 2007. Rickrolling was still a year away from invention, but fucking with people on the internet was, of course, eternal and ageless. It was during that heady time that the greatest fake drug hoax of all time made its way into the hearts of trolls and the minds of local police.

Jenkem isn't completely fake. The real version is tragic – a cheap high that street children in Zambia were using. In 1998 the New York Times mentioned it in a story about the plight of Zambian AIDS orphans. The drug is made by fermenting sewage in a bottle, trapping the gas that is emitted and huffing it.

"Pickwick", the kid who started the hoax, attempting to huff jenkem (it's not really jenkem, folks).

web.archive.org

The hoax started with a user named "Pickwick" on the now-defunct messagebaord Totse.com (archived version here). Pickwick posted a bunch of photos of himself setting up a bottle of pee-and-poo-looking substances in the sun with a yellow balloon over it.

Ok today I set it up and put the bottle in the hot sun. My friend took pictures of the all of the steps. First I shit in the bottle, then pissed in it. I took a balloon and stretched it over the top to catch all of the gases. Now I will wait a few days and hope the balloon fills up.

A few more updates on the progress of the bottle ensued, and finally a follow up "trip report" describing the experience:

Well today I finally did it. I became probably the first person in America to huff his own shit gas ...

After breathing it in I immediately felt that I was passing out. I did not even have time to spit before I became unconscious. When I woke up my spittle had oozed out of my mouth and down my chin. I asked my friend how long I was out for. He said for about a minute, and that he had repeatedly tried to wake me but I would not wake up ....

After I was fully into the dream like state visual hallucinations began to start. I had fleeting visions of people who seemed completely random, like my second grade teacher ... At the peak of the trip I saw things like pillars in my lawn that disappeared and shapes in the sky.

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EXCLUSIVE NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN COLOR PIN-UPS!

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:32:44 +0000

The rise, decline, and possible comeback of Tiger Beat (with free poster of Justin!).

33 Little Things I Miss About Ohio

Nathan W. Pyle — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:31:04 +0000

This list starts and ends with trees.

*I should note - this may or may not be similar to the Ohio you experienced. Ohio is the 7th most populous state after all, so it probably looks roughly 11.5 million different ways to everyone.
**Conversely you may have had a very similar experience in a non-Ohio state.

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

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"The movies' premise is ludicrously simple (emphasis on ludicrous):"

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:28:03 +0000

Universal Soldier may be the only series whose DTV sequels are its best work

Trailer for Universal Soldier
Opening from Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms
Trailer for Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business
Trailer for Universal Soldier: The Return
Trailer for Universal Soldier: Regeneration
Trailer for Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

This Is What Actually Happened To Your Hogwarts Letter

Ellie Bate — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:24:07 +0000

You just can’t find good owls these days.

House OKs Republican bill blocking Planned Parenthood funds

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:24:02 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided House voted Friday to block Planned Parenthood's federal funds for a year, as Republican leaders tried to keep GOP outrage over abortion from spiraling into an impasse with President Barack Obama that could shut down the government.

15 Absolutely Stunning Wedding Venues That Cost Under $3,000

Alison Caporimo — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:16:07 +0000

Barns, lofts, vintage warehouses, and beyond.

The Venue Report and The Wedding Spot shared their top destinations from all across the country.

Jenny Chang // BuzzFeed

Tiffani Jones Photography // Lisa Malott of Wish Rentals

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EPA Accuses VW of Emissions Cheating

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:13:48 +0000

The EPA and the State of California Notify Volkswagen of Clean Air Act Violations via an intentional defeat device

The EPA Notification

The ARB Letter to VW

The ARB letter details the methodology used to discover the defeat. It's an interesting read.

How an 18th-Century Philosopher Helped Solve My Midlife Crisis

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:10:48 +0000

Was David Hume inspired by Buddhist thinking in the 18th century? Alison Gopnik explores the idea in a touching article about her recovery from depression and divorce along with her discovery that Hume may have been influenced by more than just Descartes and Spinoza.

From the article:

As I was doing my research, many unfailingly helpful historians told me that my quirky personal project reflected a much broader trend. Historians have begun to think about the Enlightenment in a newly global way. Those creaky wooden ships carried ideas across the boundaries of continents, languages, and religions just as the Internet does now (although they were a lot slower and perhaps even more perilous).

In particular, Gopnik finds interesting clues that Hume was influenced by two Jesuit priests who were among the first to study Buddhism: Ippolito Desideri and Père Tolu. More details are in a related academic paper.

Alex Trebek Was Tricked Into Saying "Turd Ferguson" On "Jeopardy" And It's What Dreams Are Made Of

Allison Bagg — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:08:10 +0000

Burt Reynolds would be proud.

Trebek, you've been got.

youtube.com / Via youtube.com

When asked this question, Talia Lavin succeeded in trolling Trebek in a truly epic fashion.

Jeopardy / Via youtube.com

As fans of Saturday Night Live well know, Turd Ferguson is the name Norm MacDonald (as Burt Reynolds) attempts to get Will Ferrell (as Trebek) to call him because "it's a funny name."

???

Jeopardy / Via youtube.com

Talia may have lost on the show that night, but she won at life and will forever be heralded as a true hero.

Jeopardy / Via youtube.com

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Inside a German U-boat

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:05:48 +0000

Inside a (WWI) German U-boat.

Did You Ruin Everything?

Jean-Luc Bouchard — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:01:04 +0000

I bet you did, that’s so you.

Lady Gaga's New Music Video Is A Heartbreaking PSA About Rape

Kelley Dunlap — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 17:54:10 +0000

The pop star takes a stand against sexual assault with her new single, “Til It Happens To You.”

The Weinstein Company

The result — a gut-wrenching ballad about grief and survival titled "Til It Happens To You" — was featured in the film's end credits.

Told from the point of view of a rape victim, the song was partially inspired by Lady Gaga's own experiences with rape.

HBO

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Trucks + Sentience

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 17:51:08 +0000

An Oral History of Stephen King's directorial debut: Maximum Overdrive