The 11 Items Expert Survivalists Always Have on Hand

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When you’re living off the grid, your chances of staying alive are only as good as your instincts—and the gear you have on you. Here are 11 items that savvy, self-sufficient survivalists—like the ones you’ll see on the new season of HISTORY’s Alone, airing Thursdays, at 9/8c—always take with them.

1. A RELIABLE FIRE SOURCE

Fire is a basic—yet important—necessity for human survival. In the wilderness, you’ll need a steady blaze to keep warm, scare off wild animals, cook food, and boil water. Waterproof matches are handy, but they’re also expensive—plus, you’ll eventually run out. A much handier piece of equipment to have on hand is a rod made from ferrocerium, a man-made metallic material that emits sparks when it’s scraped across a rough surface.

2. A FIRST-AID KIT

What goes into your First Aid kit is entirely dependent on your individual health needs, but mainstay supplies include materials and tools for cleaning, disinfecting, dressing, and suturing wounds; pain medication and sundry items like sunblock and bug spray.

3. PARACORD

Paracord (short for parachute cord) is a superior alternative to rope. The smooth, nylon cord is durable, elastic, and mold-resistant. It can be used to secure a tent, haul heavy items, and make everything from clotheslines to fishing lines. If you’re really in a pinch, you can even use its inner threads as emergency dental floss.

4. MATERIALS FOR COLLECTING AND PURIFYING WATER.

Hopefully, your campsite is located near a body of water, which can be made drinkable by boiling it. If it isn’t, you can collect rain, snow, or dew by leaving bandannas outside and wringing out the moisture they collect. (Bonus? This type of water doesn’t need to be purified.) Another handy water-gathering method is to secure a clear plastic bag over a leafy tree branch. Plants “transpire”—meaning they release water through their leaves—and you can collect this condensation inside the bag and drink it.

5. MAPS AND A COMPASS

Even if you are living off the grid, you still need to know where you are in case you run out of gear or decide to return to civilization. Survivalists recommend carrying a compass, along with three different types of maps: a detailed local one, a regional topographic map, and an extended area road map. That way, you can navigate distances both large and small.

6. A SLEEPING BAG

One of the most dangerous threats you’ll face isn’t encountering a wild beast—it’s developing hypothermia.  A sleeping bag keeps you warm, protects you from the elements, and also serves as a makeshift shelter. Select a warmer, insulated sleeping bag for cold climes; a lighter one for warm weather; or a synthetic one that wicks away moisture if you’re expecting a lot of rain.

7. A COOKING POT

A large, two-quart cooking pot might take up a lot of room in a rucksack, but survivalists say it’s an essential piece of camping gear that’s well worth toting with you into the wilderness. For one thing, a pot lets you purify lake, stream, or river water by boiling it, and you can also use it to cook food.  And when you’re not using the pot for meal prep, it serves as a handy storage receptacle.

8. A SHARP, ALL-PURPOSE KNIFE

A good, fixed-blade knife with a long blade is an essential part of a survivalist’s tool kit. You can use it to hew branches and trees to construct a shelter; fashion weapons and tools; skin and dress game; and protect yourself from predators. Select an all-purpose knife that’s thick and heavy enough to do some heavy-duty chopping, but fine and sharp enough for more detailed work.

9. AN AXE

A good knife goes a long way, but you’ll also need an axe to chop firewood and cut down trees. Select one that’s sharp and sturdy, yet easily maneuverable.

10. A FLARE GUN

If you’re injured or in danger, the only way you’re going to get outside help is if you signal for it. A flare gun—a firearm that launches flares—reveals your position when you shoot it directly above you into the air.

11. EMERGENCY FOOD RATIONS

An emergency store of food won’t last you forever, but it will tide you over during lean hunting seasons. Bring along non-perishable items like canned goods, dried foods in bulk, and freeze-dried meats, and store them somewhere cool and dry. And to grow your own food, have seeds on hand.

See how 10 survival experts fare in one of the most remote—and most dangerous—place on Earth, Patagonia, on the new season of Alone, airing Thursdays at 9/8c on HISTORY.


December 15, 2016 – 12:00am

Pop-Up Video Store to Offer 14,000 Copies of ‘Jerry Maguire’

Few entrepreneurs would opt to open a brick-and-mortar VHS outlet in 2017, but Los Angeles-based video collective Everything is Terrible! is temporarily reviving the business model, and adding an absurdist, ‘90s-inspired twist. As /Film reports, the group has stockpiled more than 14,000—yes, 14,000—VHS copies of Jerry Maguire (1996), and will soon launch a pop-up store for fans willing to show them the money.

The Jerry Maguire Video Store will open in LA’s iam8bit Gallery on January 13, 2017, and run until January 29. Visitors can expect an exact replica of a 1990s video rental store—the era of Jerry Maguire’s release. But instead of carrying everything from Kevin Smith comedies to Steven Seagal flicks, it will only stock VHS versions of Cameron Crowe’s catchphrase-heavy film.

“Seeing thousands of Jerrys finally reunited will forever destroy the viewers’ previous perception of culture, waste, and existence as a whole,” Everything is Terrible! said in an online release. “The Jerrys are a beautiful thing.”

The pop-up store will run for two-and-a-half weeks, but Everything is Terrible! has been hard at work collecting Jerry Maguire VHS tapes for approximately eight years. As LA Weekly reports, the video collective solicits “Jerrys” (their nickname for the film) from donors across the country, but not because they love the film.

“We honestly don’t have many feelings on the actual movie,” Dimitri Simakis and Nic Maier, co-creators of Everything is Terrible!, told LA Weekly. “We don’t really care about it as a movie.” However, one of the collective’s main objectives is to rediscover—and highlight—bizarre and overlooked VHS movies. Jerry Maguire was a blockbuster when it was released, but aside from its quotable lines, it’s actually the box office’s lowest-grossing number one film of the past 20 years.

“We always have noticed since the beginning that there seems to be nothing but just Jerry Maguire tapes filling our nation’s thrift stores,” Simakis told NPR in 2010. “I have no idea why.”

Instead of letting the Jerry Maguire tapes go to waste, Everything is Terrible! uses them to create bizarre art installations. They’ve built a throne made entirely from VHS copies of the movie, and after the pop-up Jerry Maguire Video Store has run its course, the group plans to use donations received at the outlet to construct a giant pyramid made from “Jerrys” in the middle of the desert.

“This is the stupidest incarnation of the American dream and it must be realized,” Everything is Terrible! concluded.

No word on whether Tom Cruise knows about the project. And while Crowe was unavailable for comment, his office told mental_floss that Crowe himself donated a signed VHS copy of the film to Everything is Terrible! a few years ago.

Watch a commercial for the Everything is Terrible! pop-up video store below, and learn about upcoming events, shows, and parties held at the venue here.

[h/t /Film]


December 14, 2016 – 7:00pm

‘Star Trek’ Bean Bag Chair Lets You Command the Room in Comfort

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Exploring the final frontier can wait until tomorrow. For now, the comfort of a bean bag command chair modeled after Captain Kirk’s looks much more alluring.

This officially-licensed Star Trek product from ThinkGeek is the perfect addition to any living room-turned-casual Enterprise. It’s emblazoned with the Starfleet insignia and even includes a control panel patch with a communications speaker and various buttons. (Unfortunately “beam up snacks” isn’t an option, so you’ll have to leave your chair when you get hungry.)

The $90 purchase gets you the 3.25-foot tall chair cover—no beans included. Affordable filling isn’t too hard to find at big box stores or online, so once you have that taken care of all you need are some Starfleet sweats and you’ll be ready to snugly go where no man has gone before.

[h/t io9]


December 14, 2016 – 6:30pm

The Origins Behind 8 ‘Star Wars’ Character and Species Names

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Facebook/Star Wars

Much of the success of the Star Wars franchise has to do with the fact that while it features plenty of spaceships and laser swords, the themes and conflicts are all grounded in very human experiences. Creator George Lucas even took his cues from the real world when populating his universe with names suited for alien creatures, droids, and Sith lords. Some of the most popular names from Star Wars have their roots in languages found here on Earth, while others pay homage to classic films and even some politicians.

1. DARTH VADER

Darth is simply a variation of the word dark, while Vader comes from the Dutch word for father (though in the movies it’s pronounced more like vater, the German word for father). While it seems like Lucas might have tipped his hand on Vader’s relationship with Luke and Leia with that name in the first movie, the decision to make Darth a Skywalker wasn’t finally made by Lucas and company until development on The Empire Strikes Back was well underway. Lucas has gone on record saying the Skywalker family drama was always part of his plans, while other stories contradict that. Either way, if you knew Dutch or German heading into the original Star Wars, you might have been able to figure the whole saga out before all your friends.

2. R2-D2

The name R2-D2 was conceived in the editing bay of George Lucas’s 1973 teen comedy, American Graffiti. The term originated with the film’s editor, Walter Murch, who used to say “R2, D2,” which was shorthand for “reel two, dialogue two,” referring to the movie’s various dialogue tracks. Lucas, who was jotting down notes for what would become Star Wars during this period, instantly took a liking to the offbeat term.

3. BB-8

For BB-8, director J.J. Abrams didn’t want to complicate matters, so the naming process was as simple as looking at the droid’s design. “I named him BB-8 because it was almost onomatopoeia … It was sort of how he looked to me, with the 8, obviously, and then the 2 B’s,” the director explained.

4. CAPTAIN PHASMA

The reflective chrome surface of Captain Phasma’s uniform directly inspired her name, which also has its roots in a cult horror classic. “Phasma I named because of the amazing chrome design that came from Michael Kaplan’s wardrobe team,” Abrams said in an interview. “It reminded me of the ball in Phantasm, and I just thought, Phasma sounds really cool.”

5. NUTE GUNRAY

Nute Gunray, the sleazy Viceroy of the Trade Federation, seems to have gotten his first name from Newt Gingrich and his last name by swapping the syllables of Reagan. You’re never going to hear Lucas admit this one outright, but fans and news outlets have been dissecting the name ever since it first appeared in 1999’s The Phantom Menace.

6. EWOKS

The lovable (or supremely hateable, depending on your tolerance for militarized teddy bears) little fuzzballs from 1983’s Return of the Jedi didn’t get their name from politicians or classic works of sci-fi; instead, the story behind the word Ewok has its origins right in Lucas’s backyard. He got the term by rearranging the syllables in the word Wookiee and rhyming it with Miwok, the name of a Native American tribe that used to inhabit central California, not terribly far from where Skywalker Ranch is located.

7. WOOKIEES

If the word Wookiee sounds like nonsense, well, it is. The name actually originated during Lucas’s 1971 debut sci-fi film THX 1138. In it, actor Terry McGovern played a voice on a radio providing background chatter during the film’s vehicular escape sequence. One of the lines he improvised was “I think I ran over a Wookiee.” McGovern came up with the word in honor of his friend, Bill Wookey, and apparently the name stuck in Lucas’s mind when it came to coming up with a species for Chewbacca.

8. JEDI

There are two main theories behind the word Jedi—the first one points to Jidaigeki, which is a Japanese term for “period dramas” in theater or on the screen. This origin certainly makes sense, since Lucas modeled so much of the Star Wars mythology on the samurai movies of directors like Akira Kurosawa (they all fell into the Jidaigeki genre). The other inspiration for Jedi is Jed or Jeddak, a term for tribal leaders in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter adventures, which also played a large role in the formation of the swashbuckling Star Wars style.


December 14, 2016 – 6:00pm

Compare the Calorie Counts of Your Favorite Fast Food Menus

filed under: Food, health
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Mattes via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Fast food is notoriously bad for you—and a major factor in America’s obesity epidemic—but not all drive-thru visits are equal, health-wise. On Flowing Data, stats nerd Nathan Yau crunched the numbers to figure out how different fast food restaurant menus stack up in terms of calorie counts, as WIRED recently highlighted.

Unlike some other breakdowns that compare the calories of specific fast food items or meal combinations, Yau’s visualization takes all the major menu items into account so you can see in general terms how restaurant menus stack up, as compared to seeing the calorie count of just your chicken tenders or double cheeseburger.

Click to see the larger version on Flowing Data. Image Credit: Nathan Yau via Flowing Data

Carl’s Jr. and Jack in the Box lead the pack, with some single menu items containing more than 1200 calories. McDonald’s, that much demonized symbol of American fatness, comes in third place. (Stay away from that Big Breakfast!) Surprisingly, the fried chicken empire of KFC keeps its menu relatively low-calorie compared to other restaurants, with its highest calorie meal, the chicken pot pie, containing around 800 calories. Of course, few people go to KFC for a single chicken drumstick, and in this chart’s case, it’s hard to tell exactly how much of your daily caloric intake you’d gobble up if you ordered a few sides, too.

[h/t WIRED]


December 14, 2016 – 5:30pm

UberX Is Deploying Self-Driving Cars in San Francisco

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Uber

If you order up an UberX in the Bay Area, your car may show up sans driver. The ride-hailing app just debuted autonomous vehicles to supplement its fleet of human drivers in San Francisco, according to The Verge.

The company began testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh in September, and tech-obsessed Silicon Valley seems like an obvious choice for a bigger trial. Uber says that San Francisco’s varied terrain, traffic, greater density of cyclists, and weather will provide a new layer of challenges that can help the company improve its vehicle technology. The San Francisco pilot will feature Volvo XC90s, compared to the Ford Fusions deployed in Pittsburgh.

You won’t necessarily get an autonomous car every time you order. Sometimes, a human driver may be closer. Even if you do, there will still be a human minder to take the wheel if something goes wrong. Still, if you prefer not to get in a car driven by a robot, you can also opt out in the app and end up with a person instead.

However, there are some roadblocks. According to The Verge, the pilot may run afoul of California’s strict driving laws, which require companies to obtain permits to let autonomous cars run wild on city streets. Uber doesn’t yet have those permits. But the company thinks those rules don’t apply to its cars. Of the state requirement, the company’s statement says, “We have looked at this issue carefully and we don’t believe we do [need testing permits].” Uber goes on to explain:

“First, we are not planning to operate any differently than in Pittsburgh, where our pilot has been running successfully for several months. Second, the rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them. For us, it’s still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them.”

Whether the California DMV will be persuaded is a different matter.

[h/t The Verge]


December 14, 2016 – 5:00pm

Lots of People Are Missing Out on the Smell of Asparagus Pee

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Adriaen Coorte via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Scientists have recently uncovered some staggering news: Many people have never smelled asparagus pee—and never will. The experts, writing in the British Medical Journal, say more than half of participants in a large survey reported an inability to pick up the scent.

People have been remarking on the odor of asparagus pee for just about as long as we’ve been eating asparagus. A bemused Benjamin Franklin noted the “disagreeable odour” the vegetable produced in his urine. Marcel Proust waxed lyrical on the subject, writing that asparagus spears “…played…at transforming my humble chamber into a bower of aromatic perfume.”

The precise cause of that perfume remains to be seen. Scientists’ current best guess is a natural compound called asparagusic acid, which is found only in—you guessed it—asparagus. On its own the acid smells fine; it’s after being processed through your body and coming out the other side that it acquires its signature scent.

Or at least it does for some people. Previous studies have suggested that the ability to smell asparagus pee is not as universal as we once thought. To find out, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health pulled data from two long-term projects on American health: the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Both studies had, remarkably, asked respondents about their ability to smell their own asparagus pee. All 6909 of the respondents had also submitted samples of genetic material.

The results were kind of astonishing. A full 58 percent of men and 61.5 percent of women said they’d noticed no unusual aroma in their pee after eating asparagus. That’s well over half of everyone in the study. All of the survey respondents, including the ones who could detect the scent, were of European descent, which means these results can’t be considered representative of everyone everywhere.

The researchers then looked at the DNA of smellers and non-smellers to see if they could find any differences. They could. The 4161 people with this asparagus anosmia collectively had hundreds of genetic variants, all located in the region of the chromosome associated with our sense of smell.

“Outstanding questions on this topic remain,” senior author and epidemiologist Lorelei Mucci said in a statement. “First and foremost perhaps is: Why such a delicious delicacy as asparagus results in such a pernicious odor, and what are the selective pressures driving genetic variations that lead to asparagus anosmia?”

Pernicious or no, the aroma is one that Mucci and her co-authors imply is an olifactory experience millions are missing out on. They note that “future replication studies are necessary” but suggest a future of “targeted therapies to help anosmic people discover what they are missing.”


December 14, 2016 – 4:30pm

5 Tips for Keeping Your Home Safe While You’re Gone for the Holidays

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If you have travel plans for the holidays, you’re not alone. The stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is one of the busiest long-distance travel periods of the year, according to the Department of Transportation. “Although July and August are the peak months for break-ins, nearly 400,000 burglaries occur in the U.S. during November and December,” says Sarah Brown, a home security expert for SafeWise.

If you’ll be going away from home for the holidays, you want to make sure you’re not left vulnerable to thieves and vandals. Here are a few tips for keeping your house safe and secure so you can enjoy a worry-free trip.

1. KEEP UP WITH MAINTENANCE.

Nothing tips off a potential thief more than snow in the driveway, overgrown bushes, and newspapers piling up. Ask a friend or neighbor to check in and bring the mail inside each day. “Most burglaries take place between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.,” says Brown. “Having a friend stop by around those hours can be helpful, or having a dog can keep [burglars] away.”

If you’re coming up short on volunteers, you can put your mail and newspaper deliveries on hold while you’re on vacation.

2. LOCK UP.

“Almost 30 percent of burglars enter a home through an unlocked door or window,” says Brown. “Double check you locked everything up before leaving. If you have automated locks, check up on them every so often or have alerts set to let you know when they are opened.”

3. MAKE IT LOOK LIKE SOMEONE’S HOME.

You don’t have to go full-on Home Alone, but there are a few simple steps you can take to deter thieves. For starters, you can connect your lights to an outlet timer (you can get one on Amazon for $7) and schedule it to turn on and off during certain times of day. “Set your lights on a timer but make sure they turn off,” Brown says. “Lights that stay on all of the time alert burglars you’re gone.”

Smart home technology makes this even easier. Smart light switches and outlet plugs, like the Belkin Wemo, allow you to set them to an automated “away” mode that can throw potential thieves for a loop.

And if you have a landline phone, Brown adds that you should turn down its ringer so it isn’t obvious no one is picking up the phone.

4. SET UP A SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM.

“Having a monitored security system is one of the safest ways to leave your home if you are going away on vacation,” Brown says. “Monitored simply means that there is a security company on call at all times if your alarm goes off.”

If you’re not prepared to invest in a monitored system just yet—or you are renting and don’t have the owner’s permission to do so—you can install a USB- or battery-powered camera in order to keep an eye on things while you’re out via an app. You could mount one on the ceiling to get a view of your overall home or set one by the window to see what’s going on outside. Just keep in mind, Brown says, “If you choose to have an unmonitored security system, or a self-monitored system, you are in charge of calling the authorities yourself.”

5. DON’T BROADCAST YOUR PLANS.

Think twice before bragging about your travel plans on social media—both before and after you take off. From Foursquare check-ins to Instagram tags, it’s easy for potential thieves to keep tabs on your whereabouts while you’re away.


December 14, 2016 – 4:00pm

Buoy Detects Record-Breaking Wave in North Atlantic

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A windy day in 2013 has made history for producing the tallest wave ever recorded by a buoy, the BBC reports. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the wave measured 62.3 feet from crest to trough, besting the previous record by 2.34 feet.

The data was gathered by the UK Met Office’s K5 buoy, one of the service’s many Marine Automatic Weather Stations. It resides in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Scotland’s Western Isles and monitors ocean conditions with help from ships and satellites. On February 4, 2013 a strong cold front with over 50 mph winds created the perfect conditions for the massive wave to sweep by. The record was recently confirmed by the WMO.

While it may be the tallest wave ever recorded by a buoy, it still doesn’t earn the title of tallest wave on record. That distinction belongs to a 95-footer spotted by a ship in the North Atlantic in 2002. Of course both of those records would be destroyed once you include monstrous underwater waves in the mix, which can reach 1640 feet in height.

[h/t BBC]


December 14, 2016 – 3:30pm

Why Is Holly a Symbol of Christmas?

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Santa Claus. A big ol’ red-and-white stocking hung by the fire. Nativity scenes. Most classic Christmas imagery is pretty self-explanatory. Then there’s the holly, genus Ilex, which found its way onto holiday cards through a more circuitous route. 

Christmas is kind of the new kid on the block as far as holly symbolism is concerned. The hardy plant’s ability to stay vibrant through the winter made it a natural choice for pre-Christian winter festivals. The Roman feast of Saturnalia, celebrated at the darkest time of the year, celebrated the god of agriculture, creation, and time, and the transition into sunshine and spring. Roman citizens festooned their houses with garlands of evergreens and tied cheery holly clippings to the gifts they exchanged.

The Celtic peoples of ancient Gaul saw great magic in the holly’s bright “berries” (technically drupes) and shiny leaves. They wore holly wreaths and sprigs to many sacred rites and festivals and viewed it as a form of protection from evil spirits. 

Christianity’s spread through what is now Europe was slow and complicated. It was hardly a one-shot, all-or-nothing takeover; few people are eager to give up their way of life. Instead, missionaries in many areas had more luck blending their messages with existing local traditions and beliefs. Holly and decorated trees were as good of symbols for new Christians as they’d been in their pagan days. 

Today, some people associate the holly bush not with the story of Jesus’s birth but with his death, comparing the plant’s prickly leaves to a crown of thorns and the berries to drops of blood. 

But most people just enjoy it because it’s cheerful, picturesque, and riotously alive at a time when the rest of the world seems to be still and asleep.

NOTE: Holly is as poisonous as it is pretty. Please keep it away from your kids and pets.


December 14, 2016 – 3:00pm