Wanna get paid to watch T.V. from home? Eh, I dunno. I have a tough enough time doing actual computer work from home. Once I get lost in work I have to do online, trying to “unplug” my brain from alter-reality can feel almost as painful as Neo going between the Matrix and that electrode dental chair thingy he’s strapped into. This machine is a weapon of mass distraction when.. Read More
Did Eve (AKA our ape ancestor) drop shrooms to get smart?
Funny that a Discovery news story on magic mushrooms should pop up in my feed when I just saw a documentary on hallucinogens last night. Collective consciousness, much? I’ve always dug the edible non-druggy mushrooms. Even as a kid, I’d get ’em piled on my greasy pizza and drowned in my Udon soup. As for the psilocybin sort? Eh… I may or may not have tried them once and I.. Read More
Can plants hear themselves dying?
Can plants hear themselves dying? As bad of news as it may seem for us leaf eaters… maybe. Apparently, plants can apparently act defensively – and they do it in response to being eaten. Or… knowing they’re about to be eaten. In a study done at the University of Missouri, caterpillars learned this the hard way when their lunch of leaves demanded they leave – by producing defensive mustard oils… Read More
Summer fluffin – hounds beating the heat
My shih-tzu gets more love than your child does. And there’s nada better than spending long summer days with my bottom betch. But while I love to take my pup everywhere with me, there are certain trips my dog can’t do with me in the summer or activities we’ve gotta keep brief. I thought I knew all there was to know about Pet 101 and have some hacks of my.. Read More
Laughter makes us better tee-hee-heem players
Laughter may be the “best medicine” – but I like to know where my drugs come from. So, I did a lil research. While I’ve written about comedy before, I’ve never managed to get to the causes behind the actual act of laughter. From an evolutionary standpoint – why would we do that? What purpose would it serve? With language or circumstances, it’s usually to do with learning something in.. Read More
Chip and… Dracula?
Holy cough drops – this is a real thing? Scientists in Southeast Asia are studying what’s called a “vampire squirrel”. I mean, I’d heard of zombie fungus before – the one that infects ants – but that real life horror show left the entertain-me centers of my brain unsatisfied. That, I assume, was mostly because the ants didn’t really turn into the animated decaying – they just had their still-alive.. Read More
Downer comments can amplify your life.
The other day as I was about to attack a deliciously seductive salad the size of small house, somebody asked me that question that’s almost become cliché to ask anyone who doesn’t eat meat: “So… where do you get your protein?” It feels derisive when some people ask it – almost like an attack. And I think that’s because – especially when our more worldly friends ask it with a.. Read More
Journey to the middle of the Mojave… for a swim
Anyone up for a bit of adventure this summer? How about retrieving a secret key and then following GPS coordinates to journey 90 miles deep into the Mojave desert where a hidden swimming pool awaits? It might sound like some silly film premise, but this chlorinated treasure is f’real – and it’s the doing of artist Alfredo Barsuglia. His motivation for putting an accessible body of water in such a.. Read More
Furtive fabric is a press-impervious invisibility cloak
What if Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak could hide what we can feel? Naw, dude. I meet – physically feel. With your hands and stuff. Before you start mocking my Hogwart’s fantasy, I’ll have you know that see-through cloaks have been researched and created already. Some even surmise that the military’s already using it. From figuring out ways to stay stealth when their boots hit the ground to hiding whole tanks.. Read More
X-ray mini gun, activate!
Superman’s easy access lasers may not be far off. Kinda. Not really. (I just wanted an excuse to share that amazing superpower I wish I had.) Although I’d love an intrinsic capacity to pupil preen the follicles from my stems, unfortunately this’ll only include the x-ray vision part and it’s in the form of a gun, not glasses. Or injectable superpowers. Also, it can’t see through pants – which is.. Read More