Month: December 2016

Three wizard-loving scientists have named a small, conical spider species after the legendary owner of Hogwarts’ Sorting Hat. They described the fantastic new beast in the Indian Journal of Arachnology [PDF].

The team discovered the orb-weaving spider in the forests of India’s Western Ghats. Like other members of the genus Eriovixia, the new species is petite (this one maxes out at about 0.3 inches) and covered with tiny hairs. Its unusual body is patterned and shaped to resemble a curled leaf—or a ragged, but very important, hat.

Inspired by the resemblance, the researchers named their discovery Eriovixia gryffindori for Godric Gryffindor, who donated the Sorting Hat to Hogwarts at its founding in the year 990. The species name is “an ode,” the authors write, “for magic lost, and found, in an effort to draw attention to the fascinating, but oft overlooked world of invertebrates, and their secret lives.”

The team confirmed E. gryffindori’s status as a new species by comparing a female specimen’s genitals with those of existing orb-weaver species. Sure enough, the Sorting Hat’s gonads were unlike any they’d seen before.

The gleeful researchers shared their find on Twitter with Potter creator J.K. Rowling, who said she was “truly honored” by the new “fantastic beast.”

.@curiocritters I’m truly honoured! Congratulations on discovering another #FantasticBeast! ??✨ pic.twitter.com/NJ4Fe27F1r

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 11, 2016

[h/t Live Science]

Autumn is over in Japan, but locals continue to enjoy the brilliant foliage in the form of “ochiba art,” or “fallen leaf art.” As RocketNews24 reports, the recent trend involves sculpting, raking, and arranging colorful dead leaves into shapes, patterns, animals, bouquets, and other designs. (Way more fun than simply raking them into piles.) Check out a few of the nature-inspired works below.

[h/t deMilked]

The Earth is home to some pretty extraordinary destinations. Some, like a reflective salt flat that stretches thousands of miles, definitely deserve a spot on your travel bucket list. But others, like the coldest corner of Antarctica, are best appreciated from a distance. Here are seven of the most extreme environments on the planet.

1. THE HOTTEST // LUT DESERT, IRAN

The title of world’s hottest place is a subject of heated (pun intended) debate. California’s Death Valley claimed the record when temperatures reached 134°F on a summer’s day in 1913. Nine years later, El Azizia, Libya surpassed that figure by two degrees—a record that still technically stands today. But weather experts claim that temperatures get much more extreme elsewhere on the planet. In Iran’s Lut Desert for instance, the climate is so severe that it would be impractical to maintain a weather station there. Scientists have found an alternative way to measure the surface temperature using infrared satellite imagery. After looking at five years of data, the Lut Desert consistently came in as the world’s hottest spot. In one particularly hot year the temperature measured in at a blistering 159.3°F.

2. THE COLDEST // EAST ANTARCTIC PLATEAU

It’s no shock that all the extreme cold records belong to Antarctica, but just how low temperatures can dip in our southernmost continent may be surprising to some. In 1983, temperatures outside Russia’s Vostok research station on the East Antarctic Plateau plummeted to 128.6 degrees below zero—about 20 degrees colder than dry ice. Scientists believe that the alarming drop in temperature was the result of a combination of a lack of warm air that normally flows in from the southern ocean and the flow of cool air circling the station. No colder temperatures have been recorded on the ground since, but in 2013 satellites detected temperatures bottoming out at -135.8 degrees in that same area of Antarctica. 

3. THE DRIEST // ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE

It’s not unusual for years to go by before a single drop of rain hits Chile’s Atacama Desert. The arid landscape earned the distinction of world’s driest place after sustaining a 173-month long dry spell in the early 20th century. On average it receives 1 millimeter of rain a year—to qualify as a desert, an area must receive an average of no more than 250 millimeters a year. There are corners of the desert where rainfall has never been recorded, and local residents who have never witnessed the phenomenon with their own eyes. There are three main factors contributing to the Atacama’s exceptionally dry conditions: Its position west of the Andes places it in a “rainshadow,” with all the moisture carried by the ocean winds ending up on the wrong side of the mountain range; the winds that blow over it from the neighboring Pacific are unusually dry to begin with; and lastly, its position south of the equator creates high air pressure, causing any moisture in the air to evaporate. Any one of these conditions alone would be enough to create a dry climate, and together they create the perfect (rainless) storm.

4. THE RAINIEST // MAWSYNRAM, MEGHALAYA, INDIA

Anyone planning a trip to the Indian village of Mawsynram would be wise to bring an umbrella. Located in the state of Meghalaya, or “land of the clouds,” the spot receives an average of 467 inches of rainfall a year. For comparison, Seattle was drenched with just 44.83 inches in 2015. The high hills of Meghalaya create a tight space in the atmosphere that squeezes out rainwater from any clouds passing overhead. This results in roughly 320 days of rainfall a year in the area. It’s become such a common part of life that people working outside often suit up in fully-body umbrellas made of bamboo and banana leaf.

5. THE MOST ELECTRIFYING // LAKE MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA

Visit the spot where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela on any given night and chances are you’ll be treated to a light show. The lake sees 260 stormy days a year, and in peak season the Beacon of Maracaibo, or the “everlasting storm”, produces 28 lightning strikes a minute. They even light up in a rainbow of colors thanks to dust particles and water vapor in the surrounding air. There are numerous theories as to the cause of the electrifying phenomenon: Uranium deposits in the ground there were once thought to attract lighting, and recently methane released from oil fields was believed to make the air above more conductive. Today it’s widely accepted that evaporating water from the lake, the topography of the surrounding Andes, and trade winds from the neighboring sea form the wicked storm clouds.

6. THE FLATTEST // SALAR DE UYUNI, BOLIVIA

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is remarkable for what it lacks: There’s not a peak or valley for over 4500 square miles. The salt flat was formed between 40,000 and 25,000 years ago after a large lake covering what is now southwestern Bolivia dried up. Today the desert is home to 10 billion tons of salt. Tourists come from all over to walk or drive across the flat terrain in the winter season or gaze at the massive reflecting pool that forms during the wet summer months.

7. THE MOST ISOLATED // BOUVET ISLAND, NORWAY

If you’re really looking to get away from it all, there’s no better place to be than Bouvet Island. The volcanic landmass is located in the South Atlantic halfway between Antarctica and South Africa. The closest human life is on Tristan da Cunha 1404 miles away, which just so happens to be the most remote inhabited island in the world. Bouvet Island is difficult to walk on, much less live on, but despite that many people have tried to claim it for themselves. Today the 19-square-mile, glacial chunk of rock is a dependency of Norway.

See how 10 of the world’s most skilled survival experts fare all by themselves in another place known for its remoteness: Patagonia, the so-called “End of the World.” The all-new season of Alone airs Thursdays at 9/8c on HISTORY.

Most American four-year-olds can tell you all about beloved holiday characters like Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman. But in other countries, talking about Rudolph and his ilk might earn you little more than a blank stare. Here’s a look at some holiday characters who might not be familiar to Americans, but who play a big role in celebrations around the world.

1. KRAMPUS

This terrifying horned monster is part of the Christmas tradition in Austria and other surrounding countries. If children are good, Saint Nicholas brings them toys. If they’re bad, though, they’ve got to face Krampus’s wrath. The clawed, hairy beast is said to punish naughty children by stealing their toys, smacking them with a birch rod, and even tying them in a sack and chucking them into a river. Krampus is also a prominent presence on Krampusnacht (December 5), when young men outfit themselves in elaborate costumes and masks and terrorize the neighborhood, sometimes even beating bystanders. Getting a lump of coal in your stocking doesn’t seem like such a terrible fate in comparison, does it?

2. BELSNICKEL

In parts of Germany and in some Pennsylvania Dutch communities, children get visits from the somewhat less intimidating Belsnickel instead of Krampus. Belsnickel, a man covered head-to-toe in dark furs, sneaks a sock or shoe full of candy into children’s rooms. Like Krampus, though, Belsnickel will put his foot down; if the children have been naughty, they’ll wake up to a shoe full of coal or switches. In the 19th century, men would sometimes dress up as Belsnickel and go prowling around the city, a practice known as “Belsnicking,” but these days Belsnickel has been largely forgotten in favor of St. Nick.

3. PERE FOUETTARD

Pere Fouettard is another of Saint Nicholas’ enforcers, this time in Eastern France. This bearded, black-robed character carries either a whip or a rod, and while St. Nick hands out toys to the good children, Pere Fouettard is said to beat the naughty ones. Even though he may not be as visually terrifying as Krampus, some origin stories for Pere Fouettard (“Father Whipper”) are pretty grisly. He’s said to be an evil butcher who murdered three boys, a crime St. Nicholas discovered before resurrecting the youngsters and shaming Pere Fouettard into working for him forever to atone for his sins.

4. GRYLA

Naughty children in Iceland have to fear being caught by Gryla, an ogress who lives in a mountain cave but comes out each year to plague bad kids during Christmas. During the 18th century, Gryla was such a terrifying figure—her mythology at the time included eating bad children, not just scaring them—that a public decree banned the use of Gryla to strike terror in the hearts of the poorly behaved. She is also the mother of the Yule Lads, 13 mischievous characters with names like “Door Slammer” and “Sausage Swiper” (and habits to match).

5. DED MOROZ

Ded Moroz (“Grandfather Frost”) is the Slavic equivalent of Santa Claus, but he acts just a bit differently from the St. Nick that Americans are used to. He does wear a long red fur coat and fur-trimmed hat, but Ded Moroz also carries a magical staff, and instead of sneaking down chimneys to deposit gifts before disappearing into the night, he actually shows up at New Year’s parties to give kids their gifts. He’s also accompanied everywhere by his granddaughter Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden.

Ded Moroz had a tough time in the Soviet Union. After the Russian Revolution, he didn’t come at all for a few years due to a ban on Christmas-like New Year’s traditions. Joseph Stalin reversed the ban in 1935, but he ordered that Ded Moroz wear a blue coat so that no one would confuse him with the Western Santa Claus.

6. LA BEFANA

Children in Italy don’t have to worry about Santa, but they definitely want to remain on Befana’s good side. On the night of January 5 each year (Epiphany), Italian kids wake up with the hope that Befana, a shawl-wearing old lady who rides a broomstick, will have come down their chimneys to leave a sock full of candy rather than a lump of coal. Sometimes, she’s also known for sweeping the floor before she leaves.

7. OLENTZERO

In Basque communities, Olentzero comes to town on Christmas Eve to deliver children’s holiday gifts. Although Olentzero—an overweight man who wears a beret, smokes a pipe, and dresses like a Basque farmer—is now a beloved character who comes bearing gifts, he used to have some more violent aspects to his personality. Originally, he went around town with his sickle cutting the throats of people who ate too much on Christmas Eve.

8. JÓLAKÖTTURINN, THE CHRISTMAS CAT

Unlike most of the other characters on this list, Jólakötturinn doesn’t care if you’ve been bad or good—this cat only cares if you’re properly dressed. According to Icelandic tradition, the towering, bloodthirsty feline, who lives with Gryla and the Yule Lads, eats people who don’t get new clothes before Christmas. That ties in to another Icelandic tradition, in which those who have finished all their work for the year get new clothes before the holiday. In the end, the fashion-conscious cat is just another way of motivating kids (and sometimes adults) to behave, lest they be eaten by a giant feline.

9. TIO DE NADAL

Tio de Nadal is a Catalan character that’s also known as “Caga tio,” or “pooping log.” Starting with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, Catalan families host a tio, which is a small hollow log propped up on two legs with a smiling face painted on one end. Each night the family gives the log a few morsels of food to “eat” and a blanket so it will “stay warm” throughout the evening.

On Christmas or Christmas Eve, the family then orders the hollow log to “defecate” small gifts. Family members sing songs and hit the log with sticks in order to speed its “digestion,” and the log gradually drops candies, nuts, and dried fruits that the family shares. When a head of garlic or an onion falls out of the log, all of the treats are finished for the year.

A version of this article originally appeared in 2009.

If you need to hire a professional Santa this holiday season, look no further than that ubiquitous networking site, LinkedIn.

Quartz tracked down some Santas who advertise their expertise on LinkedIn. One serves as the Chairman of Discover Santa 2016, and is employed by the Kringle Group, LLC. While none seem to be educated at the North Pole, there are a few who attended the Charles W. Howard Santa School, known as one of the most prestigious Santa-themed educational institutions in the U.S. Some advertise themselves as a team, with Santa, “Mrs. Clause,” and an elf as a single package.

The holidays are not the only time you can request these Santas’ services, either. One Kentucky Santa, who describes himself as “an experienced real bearded Santa Claus for hire,” says he’s “available year round for home parties, Grandkids visits, company/corporate parties, family reunions, photo opportunities, product promotions, commercials and Holiday kick-offs.” He also refers to himself as “this old reindeer driver.”

This may be the only time LinkedIn could be described as full of mirth.

[h/t Quartz]

All images via LinkedIn unless otherwise noted.

Just when you thought the supply of NES Classics was completely wiped out, a reserve has been revealed at Best Buy. While the online stock is sold out, the electronics store has announced that they have a few more of the coveted devices in their inventory. On December 20, Best Buy will be putting out some NES Classics in stores, so it’s time to find a tent and your waiting-in-line jacket.

Previously, small stocks of the gaming console have popped up on various online stores like Toys “R” Us, Walmart, and even Urban Outfitters. This time, rabid gamers are going to have to wait in a physical line if they want a shot at snagging one of the highly sought-after consoles. A Best Buy representative told Forbes that there would be “extremely limited stock,” so camping outside the door might be the only option in this case.

The NES Classic comes with 30 games and a single controller. At the moment, extra controllers are completely sold out, so you’ll have to game solo for now.

[h/t Forbes]