The Presurfer

How Marmite Is Made

2013-05-23T12:50:00.004+02:00

Some people love it, others hate it. The product that was to become Marmite was invented in the late 19th century when German scientist Justus von Liebig discovered that brewer's yeast could be concentrated, bottled and eaten. This video shows how Marmite is made.

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(via Look At This...)

The Science Behind Luwak Coffee

2013-05-23T12:48:00.001+02:00

image credit: Leendertz cc

Kopi luwak is a rare and prized variety of coffee. Kopi luwak refers to the beans of coffee berries once they have been eaten and excreted by the Asian Palm Civet. Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion.

It's the most expensive coffee in the world with retail prices reaching $700 per kilogram. This article is by Professor Massimo Marcone who explains the science behind Kopi luwak.

10 Absolutely Amazing Tipping Stories

2013-05-23T12:46:00.001+02:00

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A tip (also called a gratuity) is a sum of money tendered to certain service sector workers for a service performed or anticipated. Such payments and their size are a matter of social custom. Tipping varies among cultures and by service industry.

We hear a lot of bad stories about cheap tippers and even cruel tippers (like the pastor who refused to tip because she gives God 10 percent), but it's a lot rarer to hear about excessive and genuinely kind tippers. Fortunately, such people are out there.

10 Awesomely Creative Piggy Banks

2013-05-23T12:44:00.000+02:00

image credit: 401(K) 2012 cc

Piggy banks date back over 600 years. Back then, there weren't any modern-style bank accounts, credit cards or tax forms, and people had no choice but to hide their money somewhere relatively safe. This often meant filling up an old container with extra coins.

Today, the humble piggy bank still has its place. Not only is it a powerful symbol of financial savvy, but it's also a way for people to get thrifty and learn how to manage their money - both physically and virtually.

Pig Box

2013-05-23T12:42:00.003+02:00

A story about a shivering blue bird and a sleepy porcupine.

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(thanks Cora)

What To Do When Social Media Drives You Crazy

2013-05-23T12:41:00.001+02:00

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Is Social Media Anxiety Disorder the newest affliction resulting from our love affair with Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites? Researchers have stopped short of actually classifying SMAD as a disorder, but it's no doubt a problem.

Sure, you could quit using your social sites altogether - but then you'd be, well, bored and lonely. Science may someday shed more light on social media stress, but in the meantime, here are the most common problems associated with popular social networks.

Plague Helped Bring Down Roman Empire

2013-05-23T12:39:00.001+02:00

image credit: Jani Niemenmaa cc

The plague may have helped finish off the Roman Empire, researchers now reveal. The plague is a fatal disease so infamous that it has become synonymous with any dangerous, widespread contagion.

Scientists investigated ancient DNA from the teeth of 19 different sixth-century skeletons from a medieval graveyard in Bavaria, Germany, of people who apparently succumbed to the Justinianic plague, named after the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. The Justinianic plague killed more than 100 million people. Some historians have suggested it contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.

Women In Space: The Mercury 13

2013-05-23T12:37:00.002+02:00

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On April 19, 1959, NASA introduced the seven astronauts who would take part in the Mercury Program. The goal: to put an American into orbit. It was America's first manned space program, and competition for the seven slots had been fierce. Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Donald Slayton were chosen (photo above).

Why not women? The length of time between the first-ever man in space and first woman in space was just over two years between Vostok 1 and Vostok 6, whereas the length of time between the first American man and first American woman in space was 22 years between Freedom 7 and Space Shuttle Challenger STS-7.

North To Norway

2013-05-22T12:44:00.005+02:00

Beautiful Norway. Filmed during 9 days in the western fjords of Norway.

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(via Everlasting Blort)

Skywhale Rises Over Australia

2013-05-22T12:43:00.003+02:00

image credit: Aaron Maras cc

The Australian state of Canberra is 100 years old this year. As part of the on-going celebrations the Skywhale - a 34 meter long hot balloon was commissioned to symbolize... well, a lot of Canberrans aren't exactly sure what. Skywhale has hardly gotten off the ground before she is the center of very divided opinion.

Irish Potato Famine Pathogen Identified

2013-05-22T12:41:00.001+02:00

image credit: Wally Gobetz cc

Scientists have used plant samples collected in the mid-19th Century to identify the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine. A plant pest that causes potato blight spread to Ireland in 1845 triggering a famine that killed one million people.

DNA extracted from museum specimens shows the strain that changed history is different from modern day epidemics, and is probably now extinct. Other strains continue to attack potato and tomato crops around the world.

Art And Culture Of Burning Man

2013-05-22T12:39:00.004+02:00

Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, USA. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. This video offers a glimpse into the art and culture of this dynamic community with the hope to spark a dream within you.

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(thanks Cora)

Like A Snowdrift On The Slope

2013-05-22T12:38:00.002+02:00

image credit: Pirmin Olde Weghuis cc

In the competition for tourists, Reinhold Streng, manager of the Pitztal Glacier Lift in Austria, came up with something rather special. At 3,440 meters above sea level, the slope is now crowned by a new upper station for the 'Wildspitzbahn' - with a spectacular design by the architects at Baumschlager Hutter Partners.

7 Signs We Are Heading For A Mass Extinction

2013-05-22T12:36:00.002+02:00

image credit: gnuckx cc

Today, many scientists believe we are on the cusp of a sixth mass extinction which could wipe out most life on Earth as we know it. Here are seven signs that they could be right.

10 Vintage Wartime STD Ads

2013-05-22T12:34:00.001+02:00

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During World War I, 18,000 US servicemen were out of action every single day thanks to venereal diseases. Military hospitals took in more men for VD treatment than any other condition apart from mumps, tonsillitis, and bronchitis.

Understandably, venereal diseases were a major concern during World War II as well, and so the military set out to reduce rates of transmission. The following 10 posters offer a look at wartime anti-STD advertising, opinions of the day on the subject, and other initiatives undertaken by the military to keep venereal diseases from spreading.

(S)he's Right Behind Me, Isn't (S)he?

2013-05-21T10:30:00.002+02:00

A collection of moments when someone is talking trash about someone else, and that person appears behind them.

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(via Kuriositas)

Ruins Of Super Science

2013-05-21T10:28:00.000+02:00

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If science and research run into a problem too large or too difficult to solve in the lab, the next logical step is often to build a bigger, or stranger, lab. The grandest scientific endeavors work to part the veil of the material world and tear the secrets of the universe from the ignorant darkness in order to discover new truths about our very existence. And when they are done, we drop them like a bad habit.

Take a look at some record-setting and awe-inspiring scientific ruins that seem too unbelievable to have been built, much less forgotten.

Why Does Toothpaste Make Orange Juice Taste Bad?

2013-05-21T10:22:00.002+02:00

It's a common breakfast disturbance. The foul taste of orange juice after you brush your teeth. This video explains why.

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(thanks Kirk)

Ancient Discovery Set To Rewrite Australian History

2013-05-21T10:21:00.001+02:00

image credit: Rupert Gerritsen cc

Our history books teach us that Australia was discovered in 1606 by a Dutch explorer named Willem Janszoon when he reached the Cape York peninsula in Queensland with his ship Duyfken (picture of a replica of the ship above). Now, 5 copper coins might lead to a discovery that could rewrite Australia's history.

In 1944, Australian soldier Maurie Isenberg was stationed on an island off Australia's north coast. While sitting in the sand with his fishing-rod, he discovered a handful of coins in the sand. In 1979 he decided to send the coins to a museum to get them identified. The coins proved to be 1000 years old.

The discovery was apparently forgotten again until anthropologist McIntosh got the ball rolling a few months ago. The coins raises an important questions: How did 1000-year-old coins end up on a remote beach on an island off the northern coast of Australia?

10 Worst Civilian Nuclear Accidents In History

2013-05-21T10:18:00.002+02:00

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In 1945, towards the end of World War Two, two different atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ever since then, the word 'nuclear' has evoked a mixture of fear and suspicion in many minds.

Moreover, controversy still surrounds nuclear technology, even when it is used for nonviolent purposes - for example, as a source of power. For the doubters, these 10 civilian nuclear accidents won't be very reassuring.

Kratcast

2013-05-21T10:15:00.004+02:00

Who else could invent something practical to carry a beer crate on your bike? The Dutch of course! Kratvast means 'fixed crate.'

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(thanks Cora)

50 Stunning Ice Formations From Around The World

2013-05-21T10:14:00.000+02:00

image credit: Mike Beauregard cc

Ice that is found at sea may be in the form of sea ice, pack ice, or icebergs. The term that collectively describes all of the parts of the Earth's surface where water is in frozen form is the cryosphere.

Ice is an important component of the global climate, particularly in regard to the water cycle. Glaciers and snowpacks are an important storage mechanism for fresh water; over time, they may sublimate or melt.

Navigating A Passenger Boat

2013-05-20T11:11:00.002+02:00

How to drift a long passenger boat into a narrow passageway during an Amsterdam canal cruise.

YouTube link

(thanks Cora)

Wurst

2013-05-20T11:10:00.001+02:00

The sausage gallery. A German showcase of what you can do with sausage.

(via Everlasting Blort)

Beardvertising

2013-05-20T11:07:00.005+02:00

A Kentucky-based ad agency came up with a high-concept platform that will take native advertising to the next level, putting ads in untapped real estate that consumers interact with every day: beards. Half joke, half genius, the scheme pays men with facial hair $5 a day to walk around with a mini ad in their beards.

Beardvertising website.

(via Neatorama)