Yep that time again when I give you lots of stuff and hopefully none of it is of political persuasion…..
Locally–We had our Fall muster for those Civil War pretenders. although there was never a battle fought down here, and for two days I had to listen to cannon fire and shooting, you see the site is just about 2 miles from my house….it was not an enjoyable day.
The lead story today is from the Holy Crap! File……
The truth behind a myth has been found…..
The largest anaconda was reportedly 33 feet long, 3 feet across at its widest part, and weighed about 880 lbs. This snake was discovered at a construction site in Brazil.
Unfortunately, it either died in the controlled explosion after which they found the snake or by construction workers after it emerged. Either way, humans killed the biggest anaconda ever found.
Discover the Largest Anaconda Ever (A 33 Foot Monster?)
Think about the size….that snake can eat full grown humans….scary and after I saw the movie.
The lost game has been found…..
Fans of literature most likely know Kurt Vonnegut for the novel Slaughterhouse-Five. The staunchly anti-war book first resonated with readers during the Vietnam War era, later becoming a staple in high school curricula the world over. When Vonnegut died in 2007 at the age of 84, he was widely recognized as one of the greatest American novelists of all time. But would you believe that he was also an accomplished game designer?
In 1956, following the lukewarm reception of his first novel, Player Piano, Vonnegut was one of the 16 million other World War II veterans struggling to put food on the table. His moneymaking solution at the time was a board game called GHQ, which leveraged his understanding of modern combined arms warfare and distilled it into a simple game played on an eight-by-eight grid. Vonnegut pitched the game relentlessly to publishers all year long according to game designer and NYU faculty member Geoff Engelstein, who recently found those letters sitting in the archives at Indiana University. But the real treasure was an original set of typewritten rules, complete with Vonnegut’s own notes in the margins.
https://www.polygon.com/board-games/467103/kurt-vonnegut-ghq-lost-board-game-publisher-interview
In my younger years I played Risk a lot so I will probably like this one as well.
Are you counting your carbs?
Maybe we should re-think our carb consumption?
Our love of carbs goes so far back that it predates the first humans, a new study suggests. What’s more, our ability to digest carbohydrates—as opposed to the protein in meat—may have played a more important role than thought in the development of bigger brains, reports CNN. The insights come from a study published in Science by researchers at the University of Buffalo. They examined ancient human DNA and zeroed in on the salivary gene AMY1, which produces an enzyme called amylese that begins breaking down starchy foods in the mouth.
As it turns out, human ancestors had multiple copies of the gene at least 800,000 years ago, which is hundreds of thousands of years earlier than thought, reports NBC News. “That is predating not only agriculture, but also people’s migrations out of Africa,” says co-author Omer Gokcumen. Going back 800,000 years means the genes first duplicated before humans split off from Neanderthals, who also had them, notes HealthDay. Another surge in copies of the gene appears to have occurred about 12,000 years ago, at the dawn of agriculture.
Coverage at Smithsonian notes that the discovery “raises new questions around our hunter-gatherer ancestors’ diet and lifestyle,” as well as the belief that a diet heavy on meat and protein fueled the increase in ancient brains. “Perhaps carbs, not meat, gave humans the energy needed for developing bigger brains,” writes Sarah Kuta
Who knew?
Surfing can be dangerous….you could get beat down by a wave or contact with a run away board or even a shark attack……but a swordfish?
Giulia Manfrini was among the many surfers from around the world drawn to the epic waves off Indonesia’s islands. Unfortunately for the 36-year-old Italian, there weren’t only humans exploring the waves off Masokut Island last week. “Unexpectedly, a swordfish jumped towards Manfrini and struck her squarely in the chest,” the acting head of the Mentawai Islands’ Disaster Management Agency said Friday, per NBC News. Local media reported Manfrini, a well-known surfer, was impaled by the swordfish or possible needlefish. The agency said Manfrini was able to signal to witnesses, who provided first aid. But she “died almost immediately,” according to the resort where she’d been staying, per CBS News.
“Unfortunately, even with the brave efforts of her partner, local resort staff and doctors, Giulia couldn’t be saved,” said Manfrini’s business partner James Colston. The pair founded London-based travel company AWAVE, which organizes trips to popular surfing destinations. He described the death as a “freak accident.” Fishery expert Su Nan-Jay tells NBC that swordfish attacks are rare, especially during the daytime. However, these fish are extremely dangerous and can cause injuries that are “very likely to be fatal” to humans. “Their snout is like a real sword” and “if it stabs, it goes very deep, and it could even slice through, leaving a large wound.” It also carries bacteria, which can trigger an infection.
Those of us that care about the environment try to limit our carbon footprint to help the planet….we recycle, plant trees and some even go total electric in autos….but is it helping?
It’s no secret that our planet is feeling the heat, quite literally. Rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, and melting polar ice caps all point to one undeniable reality. We, the residents of Earth, must accept responsibility for the ongoing climate crisis.
Human activities, especially greenhouse gas emissions, are key contributors to this crisis. Even with the adoption of climate-friendly solutions like electric vehicles (EVs), our carbon footprint remains a major challenge we must address.
The automobile industry, notorious for being a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, is putting its best foot forward to reduce this footprint.
A noticeable shift is being made towards EVs, a cleaner alternative to their gas-guzzling counterparts. These high-tech vehicles, unlike traditional cars, release no tailpipe emissions while being operated.
But are electric vehicles the silver bullet solution to the crisis our planet is facing?
https://www.earth.com/news/why-electric-vehicle-owners-have-high-carbon-footprints/
Finally, my Pups and I spend a lot of time together and I talk with them lots….I argue, bounce ideas and ask for advice….but what if they could answer?
The Shazam Band is a new AI-powered collar containing speakers and sensors that lets your pet talk to you, just like the dogs in the Pixar movie UP can. Once your pet is wearing the band you can have a conversation with it, and the band emits a human voice in response to your questions.
You can also use the Shazam Band to track your pet if they wander off, and it will alert you via text message if they get into danger, say from other animals or traffic, or if they got left behind somewhere. You can find them using the Shazam app and the GPS inside the band.
Ever since the Pixar film UP came out in 2009 people have been trying to make a real-life version of a collar that lets your pet talk to you. Back in 2021 TechRadar even interviewed the makers of Petpuls, one of the first AI-powered dog collars that aimed to give your pet a voice.
Okay now that is just cool.
That does it for this Saturday….go out and enjoy your weekend and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”