Month: September 2016

In the last decade, white orca sightings—once extremely rare—have increased, with between five and eight spotted in the western North Pacific. While the cause of the sudden uptick of white killer whales is unclear, scientists worry it’s the result of inbreeding.

In August 2010, a group of whale researchers were watching and recording orcas off the coast of Russia, when to their “surprise and elation”—according to researcher Erich Hoyt, who organized the trip—they spotted a 6-foot white fin in the water near the Commander Islands. The fin belonged to a partially albino male who is known today as Iceberg, thanks to his white coloring.

As Hoyt and his colleagues explained in a recent study published in Aquatic Mammals Journal, Iceberg was one of the first white male orcas ever discovered. But he didn’t hold the title for long: Just two days later, a second white whale made an appearance in the area. Since then, there have been at least five and possibly eight other white whales spotted in the western North Pacific.

Because genetic data has yet to be collected from any of these white whales, the cause of their appearance is unclear. What scientists do know is that the collection of white whales is an area-specific occurrence. No more than two white orcas have ever been spotted in any other single region. Meanwhile, Hoyt’s team estimates that in the western North Pacific, there is possibly one white killer whale in every thousand.

“What we are seeing is strange. It’s a very high rate of occurrence,” Hoyt said.

At the time, the Far East Russia Orca Project, the group leading the expedition, thought Iceberg might be albino. Albinism is usually the result of inbreeding in mammals, but the population of orcas in the region is substantial enough to avoid inbreeding. Other areas have lower populations of whales and yet lack any white orcas.

“They are not what we would think of as the most inbred orca population,” said Hoyt. “Some populations in the eastern North Pacific contain just a few dozen individuals.”

Still, as New Scientist points out, another recent study shows that different regions have different whale cultures, and each type of culture is genetically distinct. Orcas are one of only two species whose evolution has been shaped by culture (the other being humans).

“Often these [cultural] populations are reproductively isolated from neighbouring populations, and often it’s not clear why this is,” said Andrew Foote, a researcher at the University of Bern, Switzerland, who conducted the study. “But it does lead to the populations being relatively in-bred.”

Another clue might be Chimo, the white, female orca that was kept in captivity and did not have true albinism. Instead, Chimo had Chediak-Higashi syndrome, a condition that causes immunity problems and partial albinism. As a result, she only lived to age 4.

Researchers doubt Iceberg and his buddies have this disease because he’s already 22 years old; if he had the condition, he likely wouldn’t have lived this long. On average, male orcas live to be about 29 years old, but some can live as long as 60 years in the wild.

More studies will have to be conducted to see what the cause of this new trend could be and if it’s indicative of the changing climate.

[h/t New Scientist]

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Tupperware is a household name in food storage, but there’s a lot you may not know about this decades-old container company.

1. TUPPERWARE GETS ITS NAME FROM CREATOR EARL TUPPER.

The famed storage containers weren’t named at random. Inventor Earl Tupper branded the plastic sets with his own name after years of working with plastic and decades of flopped inventions. Tupper was a prolific innovator who had begun his own business, Tupper Tree Doctors, to help him in his goal to become a millionaire at age 30, while also supporting his wife and five children. After business dried up with the Great Depression, Tupper landed a job at a plastics factory in Leominster, Massachusetts. The new gig inspired him to venture out on his own and mold the then-new material into beads and plastic cigarette containers. By the late 1940s, Tupper’s experiments produced the first Tupperware bowls—called Wonderbowls.

2. TUPPER CREATED A NAIL DESIGN KIT THAT WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME.

Tupper didn’t just create food storage solutions. He was a serial inventor and his notebooks (which have been digitized and are stored at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History) feature dozens of ideas meant to solve everyday problems. Tupper thought up no-drip ice cream cones, more comfortable corsets, fishing poles that weighed your catch as it was reeled in, and even a fish-propelled boat. One of Tupper’s ideas prior to Tupperware was his nail design kit. Created in 1937, the kits included tiny, plastic embellishments that could be glued on for dazzling manicures. While friends and family enjoyed the kits, they never went to market.

3. TUPPER’S EARLY BOWLS WERE WORKS OF ART.

Tupper focused heavily the Wonderbowl’s design, working to create an elegant piece of dishware that stood out from other kitchen items sold in stores. Initially, the Wonderbowl snagged accolades and won several design contests. By 1956, Tupper’s plastic products were even on display at the New York Museum of Modern Art. For some time, Tupper even had a Fifth Avenue retail spot for his innovative food storage bowls.

4. THE STORAGE CONTAINERS WERE INITIALLY A FLOP.

While Tupper was a clever inventor, he wasn’t the best at marketing. In its early days, Tupperware struggled at its Fifth Avenue store and catalogue sales slumped. Even with a good idea, Tupper’s salesman skills weren’t strong. His previously invented “Sure-Stay” bobby pins offered superior grip to other hairpins, but Tupper’s awkward ad copy didn’t make the sale: “Many women wear more or less false hair. Wigs cost good money, and romance or social prestige often hangs by the hairs on one’s head. A good ‘Sure-Stay’ hairpin is needed.” Early Tupperware suffered similar slumping sales as Tupper’s other oddly marketed products.

5. A MOM-TURNED-SALESWOMAN SAVED TUPPERWARE.

Tupper believed he had created a useful piece of art for the modern housewife, but he knew his efforts weren’t helping the products sell. And if it weren’t for Brownie Wise, a divorced single mom with an eighth-grade education and expert sales skills, Tupperware wouldn’t have become a household name. Despite being a successful saleswoman for Stanley Home Products, Wise knew she had no future with the company after being told “management is no place for a woman.” After encountering Tupperware, Wise quit selling brooms in 1949 and picked up plastic storage containers. That same year, she sold $150,000 worth of Tupperware and became a distributor for the state of Florida. After several years of sales, Wise called up Tupper to express her dismay about the downsides of the company, namely incorrect orders and shipping delays. Within a month, the two met and Wise gave Tupper the secret to her success and Tupperware’s future: home party sales.

6. BROWNIE WISE JUMP-STARTED THE HOME PARTY SALES.

Soon after Tupper met with Wise, she was offered a leadership role unusual for a woman in the 1950s: Vice President of Tupperware. Wise’s grand idea for Tupperware’s success wasn’t her own. Her former employer, Stanley Home Products, only sold its goods through home parties at a time when many sales companies still sold door-to-door. But, she used the sales tactic to Tupperware’s advantage, successfully transforming the company into a thriving home goods company and changing the way retailers of the time made sales. Within Wise’s first year as vice president, Tupperware orders surpassed $2 million, all because of the home party idea. At the heart of it, she knew it was the small people along the Tupperware chain that made the company successful: “Build the people and they’ll build the business.”

7. EARLY TUPPERWARE SELLERS DIDN’T SELL—THEY DATED PARTIES.

Selling Tupperware was a viable side job for many stay-at-home mothers and housewives of the 1950s, ’60s, and beyond. Hocking these plastic containers and tools required little specialty training and could be scaled up or down based on a woman’s schedule. But Tupperware made it clear that its saleswomen—called dealers or consultants—weren’t scheduling sales pitches, they were “dating” parties (which even today Tupperware explains as “a.k.a. scheduling”). The goal was to create an atmosphere of fun complete with games, such as one where guests won Tupperware miniatures for writing the best sales ad for their husbands.

8. TOP TUPPERWARE SELLERS ROPED IN THEIR HUSBANDS.

While most Tupperware sellers were women, those who did exceptionally well got their husbands involved. Top Tupperware dealers quickly rose through the ranks and could be promoted from dealer to manager, which had perks such as additional commission, features in the company newsletter and prizes at the annual Tupperware Jubilee. But women who excelled at manager status could become a regional distributor, tasked with overseeing Tupperware sales and operations in their area. Because of social conventions of the time—and the difficulty for women to get their own business loans or have a bank account—married women were only awarded a distributor role if their husbands agreed to quit their day jobs and join their wives full-time.

9. WISE LOVED TO REWARD TUPPERWARE SELLERS WITH EXTRAVAGANT PRIZES.

As part of fostering Tupperware’s hardest workers, Wise launched the annual Tupperware Home Parties Jubilee, a gathering of top hostesses, managers, and distributors. With exotic themes such as “Around the World in 80 Days” and “Arabian Nights,” Tupperware’s best won German clocks, fur stoles and coats, Chinese carvings, and entire wardrobes packed with clothing. At the first Jubilee in 1954, Wise ran with a gold rush theme that led to attendees digging up buried prizes.

10. ONE TUPPERWARE JUBILEE LED TO COUNTLESS LAWSUITS.

The 1957 Tupperware Jubilee went horribly awry due to dangerous weather. Wise planned an island party but when a thunderstorm threatened the beach luau, a panicked rush by the 1200 guests led to several boat accidents and 21 injured attendees. Tupperware spent several years in and out of courtrooms handling injury lawsuits.

11. TUPPERWARE’S SECRET WAS IN THE BURP.

The key to perfect food preservation lies in the Tupperware “burp,” the process of closing the lid and reopening a small portion to let out any remaining air. Earl Tupper’s idea for lid burping came from the practice of closing paint cans with the intention of creating an airtight seal. But, the burping process wasn’t easy for everyone, such as people with disabilities or difficulty using their hands. Tupperware introduced its Instant Seals line in the 1960s, featuring containers that could be closed with the push of a finger.

12. TUPPERWARE CREATED ITS OWN TOY.

At the height of Tupperware mania, the company began to sample plastic products outside of dishware, such as drawer organizers, portable lap desks, and fly swatters. With the baby boom well underway, Tupperware set out to create its own toy in the 1960s—the Shape-O. Kids have been popping geometric shapes into this large red and blue ball ever since.

13. TUPPERWARE CONTAINERS ARE IMPRINTED WITH BRAILLE.

In 1993, Tupperware looked to make food storage more accessible for people with visual impairments. The company launched its CrystalWave line in the early 1990s, including Braille on the bottom of containers to indicate volume.

14. BROWNIE WISE AND EARL TUPPER DIDN’T END ON GOOD TERMS.

While Tupperware has gone on to become a staple in kitchens nationwide, the team that made it a household staple wasn’t nearly so indestructible. While Tupper and Wise didn’t always get along, their teamwork helped grow the company and its products. But by 1958, Tupper allegedly had enough of Wise’s ideas, extravagant spending and reputation as the “First Lady of Tupperware”—not to mention the previous year’s Jubilee disaster. Tupper supposedly told top Tupperware executives that he’d “had enough of Brownie Wise” and planned to fire her. Wise had no stock in the company and after battling Tupper in court, received one year’s salary as severance pay. Wise went on to dabble in her own home party cosmetics companies, though never found the same level of success as she had with Tupperware. Tupper sold Tupperware within a year for $16 million, divorced his wife, and moved to Costa Rica. He died there in 1983; Wise died in 1992.

15. VINTAGE TUPPERWARE IS A HOT COLLECTIBLE.

Tupperware styles have changed with each decade to reflect new ideas, color schemes, and food storage needs. Older containers have become common collectibles and many sets, such as the iconic Wonderlier Bowls manufactured throughout the 1960s, sell for nearly $45 per set. Even the Smithsonian has its own stash of more than 100 Tupperware pieces, dating between 1946 and 1999. Who knew your fridge was housing such an important part of pop culture? Just make sure you don’t lose any lids.

Nostalgic for the Cold War? Prefer to live in a world without the polio vaccine? You can come close. The professionals at Virginia Cook Realtors in Dallas have recently listed a model house originally built in 1954 that hasn’t appeared to age a day.

Constructed as part of a post-war development project with streets named after Disney characters, the house, situated at 11016 Pinocchio Drive, was featured in a series of home tours and parades given by the Dallas Chapter of the National Association of Home Builders in the mid-1950s. Potential homebuyers could walk through and decide if they wanted to build something similar in an area nearby.  

“No cheap builder-grade granite here,” reads the listing, which touts original kitchen cabinetry and vaulted ceilings. Current owner Carlos Cardoza purchased the home in 1994 and proceeded to scrap anything anachronistic, including the red exterior. He’s moving to Florida, so the house can be yours for $665,000. (Furniture not included.) To arrange for a viewing, make a left on Snow White Lane or check out more images below.  

All images courtesy Virginia Cook Realtors.

[h/t Curbed]

Meet your new Librarian of Congress: Seven months after being nominated by the president, Carla Hayden was officially sworn in on Wednesday, September 14. She is both the first woman and the first African American to assume the title, The New York Times reports.

Another factor that makes Hayden a remarkable choice for Librarian of Congress is her experience as an actual librarian. The two men who held the job before her were historians, and before them many other Librarians of Congress had been scholars or writers.

Hayden has already racked up several impressive credentials over the course of her career, including chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library system, president of the American Library Association, and CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Part of what qualified her for the role in the eyes of the president, he said in a statement earlier this year, was her devotion “to modernizing libraries so that everyone can participate in today’s digital culture.” She remarked after Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony that she’d liked to see more historical documents, like Rosa Parks’s notes and letters, reach a wider audience through the power of the internet.

The previous Librarian of Congress, James Billington, ended his 28-year tenure in 2015 following criticism for his failure to properly adapt to evolving technology. Along with his nomination of Hayden, President Obama also signed a law reducing the office from a lifetime role to a 10-year term.

As Librarian of Congress, Hayden will be responsible for handling congressional relations, appointing staff members such as the national Poet Laureate, overseeing the Copyright Office, and many other duties that come with running the world’s largest library.

[h/t The New York Times]

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Meteorologists observe more than just rainfall and temperatures. Weather records dating all the way back to the 19th century show measurements that don’t even seem possible, like the world’s largest snowflake. Others, like the world’s biggest hail, are mind-blowing just for their sheer size. Here are 15 weather records you might not know about: 

1. EARLIEST HURRICANE 

An unnamed hurricane in 1938 formed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on January 1, making it the earliest-ever hurricane in the calendar year. In 2016, Hurricane Alex nabbed the second-place spot, reaching hurricane strength on January 14. 

2. WIDEST TORNADO

In 2004, a tornado in Hallam, Nebraska reached almost 2.5 miles in diameter at its widest. 

3. LARGEST HAILSTONE

The largest recorded hailstone to fall in the United States dropped on Vivian, South Dakota in 2010. It was 8 inches in diameter. Because it melted a little before authorities could measure it, it was likely even bigger when it initially hit the ground. The previous record for largest hailstone belonged to a 7-inch monster in Aurora, Nebraska in 2003. 

4. HEAVIEST HAILSTONE 

The heaviest hailstones in the world fell in 1986 in Bangladesh. The deadly, grapefruit-sized ice balls weighed in at 2.25 pounds. By contrast, the 8-inch hailstone that fell in South Dakota in 2010 weighed 1.94 pounds. 

5. HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IN LOS ANGELES

On January 10 and 11, 1949, Los Angeles saw its most intense blanketing of snow on record: a whopping 0.3 inches near the city’s center. While the amount sounds tiny, the sun-soaked city wasn’t prepared for even a small downfall, and Los Angeles briefly ground to a halt. 

6. LARGEST SNOWFLAKE 

The world’s biggest snowflake was reportedly observed in Montana in January 1887, when a rancher described seeing a 15-inch-wide flake. This record is hard to verify since there wasn’t anyone else there to see it, and you can’t really stick a snowflake in the freezer (especially not in 19th century Montana).  

7. FIRST TWIN SNOW CRYSTALS 

As it happens, two snowflakes can be alike. The first recorded identical snow crystals were discovered at an atmospheric research center in Colorado in 1988. The twin crystals, examined under a microscope, came from a Wisconsin storm.

8. FOGGIEST PLACE ON EARTH 

Enjoy the mystery and romance of fog? Head to Grand Banks of Newfoundland. When the warm waters of the Gulf Stream collide with the chilly waters of the Labrador Current, they create a stunning amount of fog. The area sees fog for more than 200 days a year. 

9. MOST RAINFALL IN ONE MINUTE 

The 4th of July, 1956 in Unionville, Maryland was a wet one. An estimated 1.23 inches of rain fell in just a minute. 

10. FARTHEST-TRAVELING TORNADO 

In 1925, the “Tri-State Tornado” traveled 219 miles from Ellington, Missouri to Princeton, Indiana over the course of 3.5 hours. 

11. LONGEST DISTANCE A TORNADO HAS CARRIED AN OBJECT

In April 1991, a tornado carried a cancelled personal check from Stockton, Kansas to Winnetoon, Nebraska, a total of 223 miles. 

12. HIGHEST WAVE 

The highest wave ever observed by a ship was 60.7 feet tall. It was spotted by a British research vessel in the North Atlantic west of Scotland in 2000. 

13. SMALLEST HURRICANE EYE 

When it reached Darwin, Australia during Christmas of 1974, Cyclone Tracy had an eye 4 miles across. Tropical storm eyes are typically between 20 and 40 miles across. 

14. LONGEST-LASTING TROPICAL STORM 

Hurricane John (1994) formed during an El Niño year and lasted from August 11 to September 10. It traveled 7165 miles across the Pacific, making it also the farthest-traveling tropical cyclone that has ever been observed. Because it formed in the eastern Pacific and traveled to the western Pacific and then returned to the east, it was both a hurricane and a typhoon. Though it was a Category 5 hurricane at its peak, it caused little damage because it barely brushed land.

15. FIERCEST WIND

In 1996, Barrow Island in Australia experienced a 253-mile-per-hour gust. Guessing that that kind of breeze might require stronger measures than just holding onto your hat.  

You can’t always predict what the weather will bring, but with GEICO’s customer service, you know what you’re getting: Friendly, knowledgeable help that makes saving money on car insurance a breeze. 

Today’s hottest cat celebrities are doing it all. Lil Bub released her first album last year, and Grumpy Cat is a bestselling author at the age of four. As RocketNews24 reports, Mash is the latest web-famous cat to expand his brand with a new collection of furry, high-fashion shoes.

The photogenic Exotic Shorthair is widely beloved in Japan with over 182,000 followers on Instagram. Now fans of the feline can update their wardrobe with footwear inspired by Mash himself. The shoes from the Japanese fashion brand Randa feature tufts of beige and brown fur, and each comes with a paw print on the bottom of the sole. The most distinctive piece from the line is the Fur Pumps, a fluff-trimmed shoe with a tiny, plush Mash head positioned above the heel.

The shoes range in price from $100 to $150 and will be available to purchase online this October. Fashionistas with their hearts set on the heel bearing Mash’s smushed mug will hopefully be in Japan around that time, as RocketNews24 reports they’ll only be sold in 16 select stores nationwide.

All images: Randa/PR Times

[h/t Rocket News 24]

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Not everyone has what it takes to be a model, but wildlife photographers face a different problem entirely—their subjects don’t even know they’re posing. As such, sometimes the experts behind the camera need to employ some tricks of the trade, and as National Geographic reveals in the video below, that sometimes means pulling out a pricey fragrance.

In the short movie “How to Catch a Tiger with Joel Sartore,” NatGeo photographer Joel Sartore attempts to get the perfect shot of a South China tiger at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Filmmaker Morgan Heim documents the struggle, which results in the use of a Prada perfume after two-and-a-half hours of failing to capture the attention of the uninterested wildcat.

Turns out, zookeepers often use fragrances to keep all kinds of large felines happy and healthy. Eau de toilettes—along with spices and essential oils—often serve as sensory enrichment for wildcats in controlled environments who are less exposed to a variety of olfactory experiences. In the wild, researchers use perfumes to lure the animals, with mixed results, though they’ve proved to be helpful in drawing the cats to hair traps or snares, which collect follicle samples when animals rub against them. With the hair, scientists are able to perform DNA tests, which can aid all sorts of research.

It’s not just perfume either: in 2010, Wildlife Conservation Society researchers at the Bronx Zoo in New York identified Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men as one of the more popular scents among its cheetahs. (It wasn’t the favorite among cats in the wild; they declined to reveal which scent was.)

Louise Ginman, the Unit Supervisor for Carnivores at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia told Scientific American that they’d found lions and tigers to be the most receptive—snow leopards were as well—and that Obsession for Men was indeed one of the favorites.

Pat Thomas, a general curator at the Bronx Zoo, described fragrance testing to National Geographic, in which the big cats behaved a lot like your kitty does after breaking into the catnip: “Some would encourage this really powerful cheek rubbing behavior where these big cats would literally wrap their paws around a tree and just vigorously rub up and down. Sometimes they would start drooling, their eyes would half close, almost like they were going into a trance.”

Scientific American reports that the big cats’ attraction to fragrances isn’t just about them having high-end taste—it’s because of a chemical compound in perfumes called civetone, which was originally taken directly from civets but is now produced synthetically.

See how the power of perfume makes for a stellar snapshot—like the one here from Sartore—in the NatGeo video down below.

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Every four years, athletes from around the world compete in more than 50 sports at the Winter and Summer Olympics. But not every sport is fit for the Olympic stage. Here are a few non-traditional international matchups.

1. THE WORLD BEARD AND MOUSTACHE CHAMPIONSHIP

Long hair, don’t care! Competitors come from all over the world to show off the beards, mustaches, and whiskers they’ve been cultivating for years at the World Beard and Moustache Championship. The international contest is divided into 17 categories, including everything from Hungarian Moustache to Garibaldi beard. While the time and place of the 2016 world championship has yet to be announced, this year’s U.S. championship took place on September 3 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

2. WORLD COW-MILKING CHAMPIONSHIP

It’s udder chaos at the World Cow-milking Championship in Malonno, Brescia, Italy. The contest, set for October 16 this year, challenges teams of two (one human and one cow) to produce as much milk as possible in the shortest amount of time—without the help of machines. This year’s participants will take on undefeated champ Gianmario Ghirardi who got 8.7 liters of milk from his cow Mirka in just two minutes in 2014.

3. WORLD SUDOKU CHAMPIONSHIP

Every year, the World Puzzle Federation welcomes more than 200 brainteaser fans from over 25 countries to the World Sudoku Championship, held in a different nation each time. This year’s competition—a part of the World Puzzle Championship, which includes games like Kakuro, Mastermind, Battleships, Complex Mazes, Word Search, and others—will take place in Senec, Slovakia, from October 16 to 23. There’s no prize money, instead all contenders compete for two days for the honor of being Top 3 in individual, teams, contestants over 50, contestants under 18, or newcomers.

Word to the wise: The registration deadline has expired, but you can still enter by October 10 if you’re a member of your local World Puzzle Federation chapter and you’re willing to fork over an extra 15 percent in participation fees. You can train with a few sample puzzles here [PDF].

4. MOBILE PHONE THROWING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ever been so annoyed with your phone that you want to chuck it? The Finns have harnessed that frustration and made mobile phone-throwing into what the organizers of this competition call a “light and modern Finnish sport.” If you have some experience flinging a phone as far as you can, you can try out for the annual Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships in Savonlinna, Finland. But leave your smartphone at home. Contestants are only allowed to pick from the assortment of mobile devices provided by the organizers. The next championship—which features four categories, Junior, Freestyle, Original, and Teams Originals—will be on March 11, 2017.

5. AIR GUITAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

You don’t have to be a musician, but you do have to look like one to stand a chance in the Air Guitar World Championships held in Oulu, Finland. During the 21st annual championships that were recently held from August 24 to 26, the winners of the National Air Guitar Championships in 10 countries competed on a bigger stage, in front of 8000 fans. This year, New Yorker Matt “Airistotle” Burns came out on top. “It’s a crazy thing to have your dreams come true,” he told The New York Post.

6. WORLD BOGSNORKELLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The World Bogsnorkelling Championships take place every August at the Waen Rhydd peat bog in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales. Bogsnorkelling, or bog snorkeling, is a race in which participants run, swim, and fight their way through a trench that’s located in a peat bog. While competitors don flippers and snorkels, they aren’t allowed to use normal swimming strokes. Read an account of the experience here.

7. WIFE CARRYING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The Wife Carrying World Championship take place every summer in Sonkajärvi Finland. Each team consists of a man carrying a “wife.” While the “wife” does not have to be his wife, or even a married woman, she must be at least 17 years old and weigh a minimum of 108 pounds. (Otherwise, her partner is required to also carry weights.)

Participants in this race, measuring less than a mile, tackle obstacles—and are mandated by the rules to have fun. Winners are declared in the under 40 and 40-and-over categories, plus there are prizes for the best costumes, most entertaining couple, and strongest carrier. Then there’s the relay race, in which three men hand off one wife to each other.

8. WORLD CHAMPION SQUIRREL COOK OFF

Have a recipe for squirrel meat that you’re particularly proud of? You might want to enter next year’s annual World Champion Squirrel Cook Off in Bentonville, Arkansas. In the contest, two- or three-person teams have 2.5 hours to cook a main dish in which at least 80 percent of the meat is squirrel as well as a side dish. There are cash prizes for the best dishes, and proceeds help support several charities.

9. WORLD POOH STICKS CHAMPIONSHIPS

The annual World Pooh Sticks Championships—sponsored by the Rotary Club Oxford Spires—took place in June this year in Witney, Oxfordshire, UK. Not sure what’s involved? Oh, bother.

Poohsticks, or Pooh Sticks, is a game from the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A.A. Milne in which everyone drops a stick into a body of running water upstream from a bridge. Then, the participants race to the bridge to see whose stick emerges on the far side of the bridge first. The game is rather low on the competitive scale, but that only makes it easier for children of different ages to participate.

10. WORLD STONE SKIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

It takes a good arm and lots of practice to take the prize at the World Stone Skimming Championships at Easdale Island, Argyll, Scotland. Winners are decided on the length of the throw before the stone sinks. To be counted, each contender’s stone must skip at least three times. The contest—which always takes place on the last Sunday in September—is limited to the first 350 people who register, because the contest must be completely finished before the last ferry leaves the island.

11. SWAMP SOCCER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Participants get down and dirty at the Swamp Soccer World Championships, where football is played in a swamp or bog. (It’s similar to the American sport of mud wrestling.) While the sport originated in Finland, there are now swamp soccer leagues in several countries. The championship tournament takes place in Vuorisuo, Finland, every June.

12. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GURNING

Every year on the third weekend in September, the Egremont Crab Fair in Cumbria, England, hosts the World Championship Gurning, a competition where participants compete in “gurning” or “making faces.” You don’t need to pre-register, just show up and make your best face. Check out the 2015 competitors here.

13. WORLD CONKER CHAMPIONSHIPS

Conkers is a British game in which two people tie horse chestnuts to a string and swing them at each other until one of the chestnuts breaks, leaving the other as the winner. The simple children’s game is elevated to serious status at the World Conker Championships in Southwick, Northamptonshire, UK. It’s always on the second Sunday in October (October 9 this year) and cost contenders about $13 to enter or about $5 to watch, which goes to charity.

14. WORLD TAXIDERMY & FISH CARVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Fish carving isn’t what you think it is. At least not at the World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships. At the competition, which takes place in May every two years, participants show off their skills in taxidermy and fish carving, an art competition in which people carve images of fish from wood. In categories for both amateurs and professionals, taxidermists battle for $30,000 in cash awards, while carvers vie for over $3000.

The next World Show is set for May 16 to 20, 2017, in Peoria, Illinois.

15. HIDE AND SEEK (OR NASCONDINO) WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Ready or not, here they come. On September 3 and 4, more than 60 teams of five battled it out in the 7th Annual Hide and Seek World Championships in Italian ghost town Consonno. But the competition doesn’t exactly follow the rules you remember from childhood.

All of the 64 teams are split into four groups. During each round, all of the teams send a member to hide while a neutral searching team counts to 60 seconds. Then, each hidden member has 10 minutes to make it to a mattress placed in the middle of the field without being spotted by a finder. The first contender to make it to the mattress gets 16 points, the second person gets 15 points, and so on. If a participant doesn’t make it there before the 10 minutes up, the team isn’t awarded any points.

Over the course of his three-decade acting career, Nicolas Cage has become famous for his strange screeches, screams, and over-the-top performances of rage, emerging over time as something of a connoisseur of anger. Now one website dares to ask the question: Can you rage like Nicolas Cage?

AV Club reports that an interactive website called The Nic Cage Rage Page lets visitors see how their screams compare to those of Nicolas Cage. Simply hit a button and begin yelling into your computer to see if your rage matches up with that of cinema’s angriest man.

“Nicolas Cage defies definition. He defies logic. He can be an over the top caricature, yet painfully human at the same time,” Jane.Works, the company behind the website, explains. “But one thing he can always do is scream. No one screams like Nic Cage. It’s part feral beast, part existential crisis. Something so contradictory, yet so pure.”

[h/t AV Club]