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A fruit fly larva's brain has 3,016 neurons and now, for the first time, scientists have mapped how they're connected together. This is the largest brain "connectome" every completed. Previously, one of the biggest brains mapped belongs to a roundworm, which only has a few hundred neurons. — Read the rest
Japanese officials are cracking down on men taking gross photos of themselves pretending to fondle statues of young female characters at Japan's new Ghibli Park, the new theme park dedicated to the work of animation director Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli. — Read the rest
In 1975, Alex Mitchell, 50, was watching the UK television comedy The Goodies when he burst in such hard laughter that, well, he died laughing. His heart had failed. To be fair, he didn't really die of laughter.
"Laughing can increase your intrathoracic pressure, and if you have an aortic aneurysm, that pressure can be transmitted into your vascular system, and it would rupture," Duke University School of Medicine cardiologist Jorge Antonio Gutierrez told Gizmodo in 2019. — Read the rest
The bass notes in the Jaws theme and the five tone melody in Close Encounters of the Third Kind are two of the biggest stars of those films. They set the mood, build tension, and drive the plot. In Close Encounters, those notes are literally a crucial element of the plot. — Read the rest
Henceforth, insurrectionist idiot Jake Angeli shall be known as QAnon Sherman!
(Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!)
front page thumbnail image: lev radin/Shutterstock
The Cure will return to North America for the first time since 2019. The journey begins May 10 in New Orleans and travels across the country, including three days each at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and New York City's Madison Square Garden. — Read the rest
In 1973, David Bowie created the performance spectacle titled The 1980 Floor Show, featuring live performances of songs from Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups, along with the final appearance of Ziggy Stardust. The show took place at London's Marquee Club and was broadcast a month later in the United States as an episode of The Midnight Special musical variety TV program. — Read the rest
Montreal, Canada teacher Neall Epstein, 45, got into the latest of many arguments with his neighbor Michael Naccache , 34, that culminated with Naccache allegedly holding a power tool in a "menacing way" and threatening him. Epstein responded by flipping him the double birds and walked away. — Read the rest
Japanese police have arrested three people for "sushi terrorism." The three suspects, a 19-year-old man, a 15-year-old girl, and a 21-year-old man were apparently in cahoots in a viral video prank at a sushi restaurant during which they chugged from a bottle of communal soy sauce and touched or snatched sushi on other diners' plates before it made its way to their table. — Read the rest
Topol—the mononymous Israeli actor who played Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" (1971), Dr. Hans Zarkov in "Flash Gordon" (1980), and countless other roles—has died at age 87. He's also known for portraying smuggler Milos Columbo in "For Your Eyes Only" and Berel Jastrow in the TV series "The Winds of War" (1983) and "War and Remembrance" (1988). — Read the rest
In 1898, artist Francis Barraud memorialized his dog Nipper in the lovely 1898 painting "His Master's Voice." The image became an iconic trademark of the music industry, used by multiple record labels, from Deutsche Grammophon to RCA Records to HMV. While there's some uncertainty about Nipper's breed, it's suspected that he was a Smooth Fox Terrier. — Read the rest
Coulrophobia—the fear of clowns—is a very real phobia among children and adult across the world. But what makes them so scary to some people? Psychologists from the University of South Wales devised a study to scientifically suss out the root of the fear. — Read the rest
As one might suspect, reticulated pythons aren't native to Long Island, New York. And yet when the state's Environmental Conservation officers (ECOs) responded to a call about an odd snake on the side of the road, that's exactly what they found. — Read the rest
These aren't audio headphones but rather a new medical device for automatically cleaning out earwax. It flushes out your ear canals and then sucks out the waxy water. If I was undergoing the procedure, I'd pretend I'm listening to a Japanese noise album. — Read the rest
Last month, Newcastle University archaeologists suggested that this rather phallic object above is a 2,000-year-old Roman dildo. The 16 cm object—dug up at the Roman fort of Vindolanda in Northumberland, England—was also thought to be a darning tool for sewing or possibly even a pestle. — Read the rest
"In Your Wildest Dreams" is a 1996 duet by soul/R&B legends Tina Turner and Barry White. The bizarre, hot, and hilarious music video below was created by stop motion animation studio Aardman Animations and features cameos from their superstars Wallace and Gromit along with, er, Antonio Banderas. — Read the rest
Ukraine's national postal service Ukrposhta has introduced a new "FCK PTN!" postage stamp created by mysterious artist/activist Banksy. The stamp commemorates the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"We believe that the Ukrainian postage stamp "FCK PTN!" will also become prophetic," said Igor Smelyanskyi, Director General of Ukrposhta, said. — Read the rest
Wayne Shorter, the innovative tenor saxophonist who influenced the shape of modern jazz, has died at age 89. From his start in the 1960s playing with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and the Miles Davis Quintet, to the creation of jazz fusion with Miles and eventually Weather Report, to collaborations with Joni Mitchell, Santana, and Steely Dan, Shorter was one of the most productive trailblazers of the musical genre. — Read the rest
This woman may have been joking about bringing a bomb in her luggage, but Mark Muffley, 40, apparently wasn't. On Monday, the FBI arrested Muffley for allegedly packing explosives and related devices into a suitcase that he checked for a flight from Lehigh Valley International Airport to Orlando, Florida. — Read the rest
"Whole time they missed a whole bomb in my bag," said Dorion Young Davis, 26, as TSA agents patted her down at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Tuesday.
Apparently, Davis was "joking," she didn't really have a bomb, but TSA weren't laughing. — Read the rest
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