Month: October 2016

Part of the magic of pizza is that you can put pretty much whatever you want on it. From sweet to savory, your only real limit is what you have in your kitchen. (Crack an egg and you can even have pizza for breakfast.) With that in mind, the people over at Food, People, Places decided to create 10 different pizzas with incredibly creative toppings. It’s deliciously satisfying to watch them all melt and change as they cook. Who knew blackberries could look so good on a pizza? Here’s the full list of what you’re seeing:

The Shrimpy Lemon Pizza
The Parma Ham, Grapes, and Thyme Pizza
The Potato, Rosemary, and Mascarpone Pizza
The Colorful Tomatoes Pizza
The Cauliflower, Figs, and Blue Cheese Pizza
The Blood Sausage and Pears Pizza
The three types of Chilis and Salami Pizza
The Beetroot and Asparagus Pizza
The Mushrooms and Rosemary Pizza
The Ham and Blackberry Pizza

If you want to try a few of these combinations out at home, FP&P say they plan to release some tutorials soon.

[h/t SPLOID]

Primary image courtesy of YouTube.

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

11 Hidden Spots to Enter the Underworld. “The Gates of Hell” are found all over the world.  
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Three Nobel Prize Winners Who Went Bonkers. Genius is no safeguard against mental illness.
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Why a Historian Had to Prove the Holocaust Happened in Court. She did it, without having to subject Auschwitz survivors to another ordeal.
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Fake Food. You can thank William A. Mitchell for developing quite a few modern, um, edibles.
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Judd Apatow Commits Career Suicide with Chris Gethard. Feel the tension between the haves and the have-nots.
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What makes someone a ‘person of color’ or ‘white’ in America? Sometimes the divide is a matter of language or religion instead of ancestry or skin tone.
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We can’t even pick our favorite of these knockoff Halloween costumes. Manufacturers go to ridiculous lengths to avoid infringement charges.
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Gruesome Halloween Party Food and Creepy Halloween Party Food. In case you’re throwing the party everyone will be talking about.

You’ve likely seen Golden Delicious, McIntosh, and Cortland apples lining the shelves of your local grocery store, but did you know that more than 7500 varieties of the fruit are grown around the world? Each has its own unique color, taste, and size, and some even have fanciful names like Cosmic Crisp or Pixie Crunch. In the video above, TED-Ed host Theresa Doud explains why—and how—farmers breed new apple types, tracing the lengthy process from pollination to patent.

[h/t The Kid Should See This]

Banner image: iStock

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

So you have your big idea and you’re ready to go for it. You’re amped up and excited to begin … at least until you realize how much work is ahead of you. How do you get a business going? We can’t do it for you, but we can give you a little push with these nine practical tips.

1. AN UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR MARKET 

Keeping the age, lifestyle, income, buying habits, and interests of your customer in mind will help you create a brand they’ll love. Not sure where to start? Check out the websites and storefronts of your competition and see who’s buying. Online reviews are especially helpful, as they can show you exactly what customers want, in their own words.

2. A GREAT NAME 

You might have come up with the name of your business even before you had a business plan, but that lightbulb moment is just the beginning. Now is the time to check local (or online) business listings to ensure that nobody else has already claimed your clever shop name. Start with an internet search, and see if your name idea is available as a web domain. 

3. A BOOKKEEPING SYSTEM THAT SUITS YOUR NEEDS

Think honestly and hard about your skill with, and interest in, accounting. Do you love it? Find it a cinch? Great. Choose your method and get to work. If you hate it or are worried about your ability to add two and two, don’t despair! You’ve got options. You could take a class or read a book on basic methods. You could choose an easy-to-use program. Or you could outsource the task entirely. Bookkeepers cost money, of course, but the peace of mind (and time saved) might be worth it. 

4. THE RIGHT BUSINESS STRUCTURE 

Think about the financial bones of your company. How many owners or partners are involved? What kind of liability is associated with your products or services? How many employees do you have? How much money do you (realistically) expect to make in your first year? All of these considerations can help you determine if your company is better off as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability company (LLC), or something else.

5. THE NECESSARY PERMITS AND LICENSES 

You’re gonna need at least a few. Unless you’re your only employee, you’ll want a federal employment identification number. Planning to sell products? Get a seller’s permit. Think about your company premises: Are they zoned for business? If not, you may need a license to work out of your home. You may need some kind of additional insurance as well. Feeling overwhelmed? Take a deep breath. Lots of legal websites offer permit and license checklists for new businesses. 

6. A KNOWLEDGE OF TAX REQUIREMENTS

Set yourself up for success by learning about local and federal tax rules now. Understanding what’s expected will keep your fledgling business above board and prevent you from getting too attached to all that money you’re taking in. Step one: Open a dedicated bank account for your business now. 

7. CLEAR, COMPETITIVE PRICES 

Setting prices for your services may be a little more complicated than it sounds. You’ll need to take into account the cost of materials and supplies, as well as your time and expertise, but you’ve also got to pay attention to what everyone else is charging. You may be able to get away with asking a little more, but only if your product is truly, and demonstrably, superior. Be realistic. It also might be worth it to lower your prices at the beginning to attract new customers or clients. 

8. A WEBSITE 

It doesn’t have to be flashy and complicated; in fact, it shouldn’t be. These days, it’s easy and cheap (or even free) to get a basic website up and running. Your company website should include anything a customer might want to know before patronizing your business: location, phone number, what you do, why you’re the best, and what you charge. Don’t be coy; making it hard to get information will not serve you in the long run. 

9. BUSINESS CARDS

Yes, they’re old fashioned, but they’re also incredibly useful. What’s the first question we ask anyone we meet? “What do you do?” With a stash of business cards in your wallet, that cocktail party has just turned into a marketing opportunity. Don’t be pushy, but keep your information ready. You never know who you’ll meet or how you could benefit one another. 

Allstate agents are small-business owners just like you. Head to Allstate.com to find an agent for advice you need to help you run your business more efficiently.

Offices are notoriously bad at thermal comfort. It’s either far too hot or far too cold, regardless of outside temperatures; and often, it manages to be both at the same time—too hot for some workers and too cold for others, depending on where they sit or their gender. There may be a better way to warm up at the office than sticking a space heater under your desk. Keeping your feet comfortable could be a much more effective way of dealing with thermal issues at the office, according to The Atlantic.

As reporter Sarah Zhang writes:

Feet, it turns out, are exquisitely sensitive to temperature. When you get cold, the blood vessels in your extremities are the first to constrict, which is your body’s way of preventing more heat loss. “You feel uncomfortable because your feet get numb or getting close to numb,” says Edward Arens, an architect at the University of Berkeley, who also studies thermal comfort. If building managers could heat or cool the feet alone, they could cut energy and costs. So at Berkeley, researchers are focusing on thermal comfort from the feet up.

The models that help engineers and office managers determine a building’s air conditioning demands are based on studies of men’s metabolic rates, and assume that workers will be wearing full suits and, yes, thick socks and shoes. Meanwhile, women might come to the office in the summer in dresses and strappy sandals. No wonder it feels so chilly.

Arens is developing a foot warmer to keep people warm with an eye toward efficiency. In 2013, he and his team estimated that their Personal Comfort System could cut electricity use by 30 percent. One of Berkeley’s assistant professors of architecture, Stefano Schiavon, is studying how putting ventilation in floors rather than in ceilings could make buildings more comfortable. To test these systems, he monitors research subjects working in flip-flops—ankles, it turns out, are very sensitive to cold air blowing at them.

It may be a while before your office gets state-of-the-art foot-warming devices or in-floor cooling systems, but knowing how easily the temperatures around your feet affect your overall comfort, a high-tech solution isn’t strictly necessary to make cubicle life a little easier. Just change your shoes.

As I write this, my feet and ankles are going numb in the office tundra. Excuse me while I go change into some woolen work socks.

[h/t The Atlantic]

As moderator of tonight’s vice presidential debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine, CBSN anchor Elaine Quijano will become the first digital reporter to officiate a national election face-off. Not a regular CBSN viewer? We can still get you up to speed on Quijano’s career, the ignobility of reporting on cats, and how she convinced the President to change a key policy.

1. A FAKE CRIME GOT HER INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM.

Elaine Quijano (who originally went by the name Elaine Cagas) enrolled in the University of Illinois intending to pursue a degree in engineering. While in school, she grew curious about a journalism class taught by Robin Neal Kaler and decided to sign up. “One time [Kaler] staged a mock crime,” Quijano told the Asian Journal [PDF] in 2008. “In the middle of a lecture, someone ran in and grabbed her purse, and Robin ran out after him. We were just stunned. And I was so naive—I had no idea it was a ruse. But Robin came back in and said, ‘You were all just eyewitnesses to a crime.’ It was a test of our powers of observation.’” Quijano shifted to broadcast journalism, eventually interning for WCIA-TV in Champaign, Illinois before landing at CNN Newsource in 2000.

2. SHE HAD TO COVER A CAT STUCK IN A TREE.

Before graduating to a national platform, Quijano gained experience in small-town markets like WCIA. According to Adweek, she was once dispatched to cover the fate of a cat that was unable to climb down from a tree. “Suffice to say, it was not a high point in American journalism,” she said.

3. SHE SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN A GAS MASK.

After moving to CNN correspondent status, Quijano covered several major stories of the early 2000s, including the presidential election and the September 11 terrorist attacks. While embedded in Kuwait, Quijano was awakened nearly every night to the sound of alarms that signaled a possible chemical attack. “There were sirens and alarms all hours of the day and night, and each time we’d have to evacuate with our chemical and biological sets with gas masks and all this gear,” she said [PDF]. “So we’d lug all this stuff down flights of stairs to the basement, and someone would test the air. That’s frightening—these guys sniffing the air to find out if we were breathing chemicals.”

4. SHE HELPED CONVINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA TO REVERSE POLICY.

During her tenures at CNN and CBS, Quijano covered politics extensively as a White House correspondent. In 2011, she reported that President Obama’s office had not been sending letters of condolence to families of military members that had committed suicide. After Quijano’s report, a policy was enacted to make sure that correspondence was delivered.

5. SHE LIKES TO SCUBA DIVE.

Of her many career accomplishments, Quijano still has one major item to check off her bucket list: swimming with whale sharks. Although she’s an experienced scuba diver, she hasn’t yet gone swimming in the waters of her native Philippines. In 2013, she dove in order to report on a story about the Aquarius Reef Base, an underwater research lab.

6. SHE’LL BE THE FIRST ASIAN-AMERICAN DEBATE MODERATOR.

Quijano will be making history in more than one way on October 4. In addition to being the first digital correspondent moderating a national debate, her appearance will also mark the first time an Asian-American will take the seat.

7. HER FAVORITE BOOK IS …

… The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. “It’s interesting to think about the world beyond what we think we know,” she has said.

Cold chills. Throbbing head. Muscle aches. Fatigue. The sweats. If you experienced those symptoms today, you’d probably just regret putting off your flu shot this year. But if those things cropped up in 1485, your family would likely start planning your funeral. In the late 1400s and early 1500s, these symptoms almost certainly meant you had fallen victim to the mysterious “English Sweating Sickness,” a disease that struck without warning and could kill within hours.

From 1485 though 1551, five epidemics of this terrifying disease swept through England, and once through Europe, with mortality rates from 30 to 50 percent. The illness seemed to be prevalent among upper class males, so the royals and their cohorts were particularly affected. Because of this fact, the sweating sickness may have changed the course of history.

In 1502, just six months after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died suddenly at the age of 15. Though an official cause of death wasn’t recorded, some historians believe Arthur was another sweating sickness fatality. As the oldest male child in the family, Arthur would have ascended to the throne if he hadn’t succumbed to the illness. His younger brother, Henry, Duke of York, ended up taking the crown instead. You probably know him better as Henry VIII, who married his brother’s widow seven years later. She was the first of his six wives, of course.

Though it’s been difficult for modern-day doctors and scientists to trace the origins of the English Sweating Sickness, there’s been educated speculation that it was the result of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which wasn’t even recognized until 1993. Spread by certain rodents, HPS has the exact same symptoms and a similar mortality rate: 38 percent.

But even if 16th century doctors were aware that the English Sweating Sickness was really HPS, there’s little they could have done—to this day, there is no cure or vaccine that will stop it. The CDC’s advice? Avoid rodent infestations, which was a lot harder to do in 16th century England.

The late 4th and early 5th century philosopher and mathematician Hypatia was one of the most admired women in Alexandria, but she was also one of the most hated. She was the first known woman to both study and teach mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy, drawing students from far and wide, but she was also unabashedly pagan in a time when the city’s authority figures were Christian. In the end, her commitment to her beliefs would cost her her life.

Scholars differ on the date of Hypatia’s birth. It is thought that she was born between 350 and 370 CE in Alexandria, Egypt, which at the time was the sophisticated center of learning in the ancient world. She was the daughter of famed mathematician Theon, who wrote commentaries on works by the mathematicians Euclid and Ptolemy (his version of Euclid’s Elements was the only one known until the 19th century), and who also wrote a popular treatise on the astrolabe, an instrument used to chart the position of celestial bodies.

Theon considered Hypatia his intellectual heir and tutored her in art, astronomy, literature, science, and philosophy. She taught math and philosophy at the university of Alexandria, where her father was director. She also wrote, producing several commentaries, and collaborated on more written works with her father. Sadly, none of her works survive, although some scholars believe that part of Theon’s version of Ptolemy’s Almagest was actually written by her.

Hypatia was a follower of the Neoplatonist school of thought, based partially on the teachings of the philosopher Plato. The Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Damascius described Hypatia’s work by saying: “The lady made appearances around the center of the city, expounding in public to those willing to listen on Plato or Aristotle.” She is said to have been a popular teacher—and after her father died, was considered the foremost mathematician in the world.

Hypatia never married and most likely remained celibate due to her Neoplatonist beliefs. Damascius noted that she was “honest and chaste,” while Socrates Scholasticus spoke of her “extraordinary dignity and virtue.”

Orestes, the Roman prefect of Alexandria, admired her mind and sought her counsel. He was a Christian, but tolerant of all the faiths that co-existed in Alexandria, and he worked to form bonds between them. This tolerant attitude would place him in direct conflict with Cyril, the city’s new archbishop, and ultimately lead to Hypatia’s death.

Archbishop Cyril was not as tolerant of other faiths. When he became archbishop in 412, he closed and plundered churches belonging to another Christian sect. After a massacre of Christians by Jewish extremists, Cyril expelled all Jews from the city. Orestes opposed Cyril’s actions and complained to Rome, which led to an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the prefect’s life.

He survived, but Hypatia was less fortunate.

When a rumor spread that she was causing the conflict between Orestes and Cyril, a fanatical Christian sect murdered Hypatia in a particularly gruesome way.

On a March evening in the year 415 or 416 (accounts vary), a mob blocked her chariot as she was driving home. They pulled her from the chariot, stripped her naked, and stoned her to death with roofing tiles. The frenzied mob then reportedly tore her body apart, and burned what remained of her.

Some historians considered Hypatia’s death to be a deliberate act taken by Cyril against Orestes, who refused to reconcile with him. Other historians do not hold Cyril directly responsible for Hypatia’s death, while acknowledging that he did promote the intolerance that helped turn a mob against a prominent pagan figure.

Ironically, despite the fact that she was murdered by a Christian mob at least in part because she promoted Neoplatonist ideas, some of her teachings would eventually influence Christian doctrine. One of her students, Synesius, became a Christian bishop, and some scholars say that his earlier Platonic studies influenced the church’s doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Today, she is remembered as one of the first women known to have studied math and philosophy, and her name lives on in a scholarly journal devoted to feminism and philosophy. She is sometimes credited with the line: “Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”

When you imagine a yoga teacher, you might think of a super-flexible, spiritually enlightened being who seems to radiate peace and benevolence. While it’s true that they inspire their students to harness energy, breathe, and master the downward dog position, yoga teachers also do a lot more than that. We asked a few yogis for the secrets behind their seemingly blissed-out trade.

1. THE BOTTOMS OF THEIR FEET ARE PROBABLY BLACK.

If you work in an office, your feet are most likely covered by shoes and socks. But yoga teachers work barefoot, walking on hardwood floors and stepping on and off yoga mats. Their feet are visibly affected by their work conditions, as Los Angeles yoga teacher Jen Netherby tells mental_floss: “The bottoms of my feet are almost always black since I’m always walking on floors barefoot as I teach.”

2. THEIR JOB REQUIRES PLENTY OF NON-YOGA TIME.

Heather Otterbine, the owner of OmBodies Yoga studio in Chicago, tells mental_floss that a lot of time goes into teaching a one-hour class beyond that hour. “People are always surprised to learn that I don’t ‘only’ practice yoga all day, every day,” she says. Yoga teachers spend time preparing to teach, driving to and from classes, marketing themselves online, doing social media outreach, hosting video webinars, and honing their own practice.

3. PAIN IS ALL AROUND THEM.

Although some students practice yoga to maintain their already-optimal health and wellness, many start yoga because of an injury or chronic pain. According to Netherby, getting in-depth anatomy training helped her better understand her students and how they move. “Lots of students, of all ages, are in pain in some way. I started to notice in my day-to-day how many people walk around with pain, just by how they walk or hold themselves. You really do learn to see people more clearly and have more compassion, as cliché as it is to say that,” Netherby says.

4. THEY’RE WARY OF TOUCHING YOUR MAT.

Because most yoga mats can quickly get sweaty and dirty, your yoga teacher is probably not too keen on touching it. Dr. Robert Lahita tells Elle that yoga mats can be rife with bacteria, fungi, and viruses. “Yoga mats are the worst …[they’re] a perfect incubator for many of our skin infections,” he reveals. To make your mat less germy, clean it regularly with a bleach-based cleaning spray.

5. TAKING CARE OF THEIR HEALTH IS VITAL.

In order to teach class after class, stay flexible, and be in peak physical shape, yoga teachers must take excellent care of their health. By limiting stress, meditating, and doing non-yoga workouts, yogis can bring a strong body and calm mind to class. Eating a good diet also helps them feel their best. To be in tip-top shape, many eschew soft drinks, alcohol, sugar, meat, dairy, and gluten.

6. MIRRORS CAN CONFUSE THEM.

Yoga teachers are constantly using directional signifiers—left, right, up, down—to instruct their students. Whether they’re teaching in front of a mirror or simply standing at the front of a room and mirroring their students’ poses, yoga teachers can understandably get confused about what’s left, right, or (in the case of headstands) up and down. “I spend so much time mirroring students in class that I sometimes have to pause and think which side is right and which is left in my own body,” Netherby admits.

7. MICROPHONES CAN SAVE THEM FROM LOSING THEIR VOICE.

Besides their bodies, the main tool that yoga teachers use to instruct students is their voice. To energize the class and keep everyone’s attention, especially when people are getting tired, good yoga teachers must speak loudly and avoid a monotone. Danielle Cuccio, an LA-based celebrity yoga teacher and CEO of Cuccio Somatology, tells mental_floss that when she first started teaching, she sometimes had to clear her throat by the time she was on her fourth client of the day. To keep her voice strong, Cuccio now teaches three times a day maximum and uses a microphone in some of her larger group classes.

8. THEY GO BEYOND THE PHYSICAL.

“Teaching yoga is like a secret superpower. You sneak in through the back door, and your students have no idea what hit them,” Jen Reuben, the co-owner of Salt Lake Power Yoga, says. Although yoga teachers help their students build physical stamina, they often see extensive improvements in their pupils’ mental health and emotional wellness as well. Cuccio explains that practicing yoga helps us slow down, feel more connected to our true selves, and stop overthinking.

9. PRIVATE LESSONS ARE THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER.

Unless they own their own successful studio, most yoga teachers struggle to make ends meet. They might get a flat rate, graduated rate, or commission based on the number of students who attend each class they teach. But vacation, health insurance, and raises are rare for yoga teachers who work as employees or contractors at a studio. Private lessons (in person or online) can command a much higher rate than teaching group classes, so many yoga teachers rely on them for a significant portion of their income.

10. THEY WISH YOU’D STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER STUDENTS.

If you look around the room comparing your crescent lunge pose to other students’, you’re probably not making your yoga teacher happy. “It’s a yoga practice, not a performance!” yoga instructor Gina Marciano says. Don’t be discouraged or jealous if the woman in front of you is gracefully flowing through her poses like a master yogini. Instead, focus on your own journey to slowly improve your fitness and stamina. And don’t be afraid to try a difficult pose, clumsily topple over, and get right back up.

11. THEY SMILE THROUGH BAD MOODS.

Yoga teachers are expected to be positive and encouraging, but sometimes that means they have to conceal their own bad moods. “You have your own life, your own moods, your own good days, bad days … But no matter what kind of day you’re having, you have to put on a smile,” Cuccio says.

Forcing a smile, though, can start a positive chain reaction. “It’s not that I’m avoiding what I’m really feeling, but I’m reminded of how much I love my clients and what I do. Moving with my clients, teaching them, smiling, and being the teacher that they come to class for makes me happy and makes that ‘bad day’ maybe not so bad after that hour together,” she admits.

12. THEY’RE LIFELONG STUDENTS.

According to Serge Berliawsky, the founder and director of Shivakali Yoga in Los Angeles, yoga teachers must balance their role as a teacher with their own spiritual needs. “We are thrust into a position of some form of spiritual leadership … Yet at the same time, it is absolutely integral as a yoga teacher that we continue our own personal practice, mindfulness, self-growth, and self-reflection to maintain the purity and consciousness that enables us to hold such a position,” Berliawsky tells mental_floss.

By taking classes from other teachers and continuing to learn, yoga teachers can also keep their skills sharp and continue to innovate. “My students love when I apply new sequences and give them something totally new. It keeps it fresh and fun,” Cuccio says.

All photos via iStock.