Month: December 2016

Puns—much like physical beauty—are often transient, but in the internet’s new “Gyllenhall,” both last forever. The virtual gallery features an endless, scrolling display of dreamy head shots of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. 

Spotted by The Verge, the whimsical website really has no point, other than to make your work breaks more fun, your pun-hating friends wince, and your eyes happy. (For a few minutes, at least. They might start hurting after that.) Turn up your computer’s volume, and you’ll even hear Jake’s classic Brokeback Mountain (2005) line—the impassioned “I wish I knew how to quit you”—echo on a continuous loop. Pro tip: To quit Jake, just exit the browser.

The site was co-created by Paul Feldmann, a digital artist, and writer Zack Johnson. Their personal websites feature an assortment of silly projects, but none seem as ripe for a sequel as the Gyllenhall. Will the pun-loving duo make an Arsenio Hall next? What about a tribute to the 1977 Woody Allen film Annie Hall, or Daryl Hall from Hall & Oates? Only time will tell. Until then, feel free to glut yourself on decent pun and a pretty actor by checking out the Gyllenhall yourself.

[h/t The Verge]

For just $2, you can get unlimited Frostys at Wendy’s for an entire year, as Money reports. If you purchase a promotional key tag for a couple bucks any time in the next year, you can flash it at the checkout of any Wendy’s nationwide to get a free junior-sized frozen treat with your purchase.

If you are a Wendy’s aficionado, you may have already participated in previous versions of this program, which only cost $1. But at least the price increase is going to a good cause: Ninety percent of the money will go to the adoption-focused nonprofit Dave Thomas Foundation, named for the Wendy’s founder (who was adopted as a child).

The key tags are sold out online, but are still available in Wendy’s stores, so hustle to your nearest location for an endless supply of those sweet, sweet chocolate ice drinks.

[h/t Money]

Some insects’ mouth-to-mouth exchanges transmit tiny molecules of hormones and other important chemical information, according to scientists writing in the journal eLife.

The spit-swapping behavior is called trophallaxis. Many entomologists who witnessed the behavior in ants and other social insects believed the bugs were using it to efficiently share food. But some researchers noticed that carpenter ants were trophallax-ing in non-dining contexts, like when one ant would return to its family after being away. The scientists wondered if the ants’ kissing juice contained more than just calories.

They brought lots of ants into the lab to sample what the ants were sharing. At first, the researchers tried just waiting around until one ant initiated trophallaxis, but that mostly resulted in a lot of waiting and very little fluid. Eventually, they figured out that they could gently squeeze the ants’ bellies until the liquid came dribbling out of their mouths.

The researchers ran chemical and genetic tests on the fluid to determine its contents, and they found all kinds of interesting things. The liquid did indeed include particles of food and digestive enzymes, but it also contained several growth-related proteins and a juvenile hormone that can influence an insect’s development.

To find out how these compounds might affect a trophallaxis recipient, the researchers added the juvenile hormone to the meals they were feeding adult ants. The adults passed the hormone-charged liquid onto their larvae. The larvae loved it. Individuals who had taken in the hormone were twice as likely as others to survive to adulthood.

First author Adria LeBoeuf works at the Center for Integrative Genomics in Switzerland. She says the ants could very well be using trophallaxis to decide which larvae succeed. “When the ants feed their larvae, they aren’t just feeding them food, they are casting quantitative ballots for their colony, administering different amounts of growth-promoting components to influence the next generation,” she said in a statement.

Larvae chosen to receive the liquid are being nourished in more ways than one. In some ways, LeBoeuf says, it’s a lot like mammals’ milk. It also suggests that “…the oral exchange of fluids, such as saliva, in other animals might also serve previously unexpected roles.” Yum.

Step into, say, Little Odessa in New York City, where the sidewalks are flecked with caviar stands and the signs are in Russian, and you might feel like you’ve left the country. But there truly is a way to leave the United States while in midtown Manhattan (although with fewer blintzes): Clear security and enter United Nations headquarters.

Many people don’t realize that the U.N. is actually an international territory. It’s defined as an “extraterritoriality,” meaning that it’s exempt from any local law. As the U.N. explains [PDF], “No federal, state or local officer or official of the United States, whether administrative, judicial, military or police, may enter UN Headquarters, except with the consent of and under conditions agreed to by the Secretary-General of the Organization.”

The history of how this surprise international territory came to be is fascinating. Sovereignty was a political hot topic at the time the U.N. was established, just after World War II in 1945. To provide neutral ground, the Canadian government offered to donate its Navy Island in the Niagara River, a body of water that marks part of the U.S.-Canadian border.

But two months after the U.N. was formed, Congress voted to invite the organization to base itself in the U.S. That’s when more than 200 sites around the country started jockeying to hold the new headquarters, as Rutgers history professor Charlene Mires recounts in her book Capital of the World: The Race to Host the United Nations.

Out-of-the-way spots like the Black Hills of South Dakota pushed to be considered. Mires summarizes the competition this way: “At times it seemed the world’s diplomats could agree on only one thing: under no circumstances did they want the United Nations to be based in New York.”

In the end, only an unexpected $8.5 million donation from the Rockefeller family placed the headquarters in expensive, logistically complex New York City. The gift was especially toward purchase of nearly 18 acres of Manhattan land overlooking the East River, then a rundown industrial area of slaughterhouses and a railroad barge landing. The Rockefellers owned an apartment building across the street.

If you’re thinking, “Great! If I ever need to flee the U.S. authorities I’ll try there for safe haven,” be warned. U.N. officials seem to have sewn up every potential corner in a patchwork of laws. They established their own firefighting department, security force, and post office branch (although New York City services are also occasionally used). And they put out explicit rules about avoiding jail: “The United Nations is bound by an agreement with the United States, its host country, to prevent its Headquarters from being used as a refuge for persons attempting to avoid arrest under the Federal, State or local laws of the United States,” they say. “People being extradited by the United States Government are also denied use of United Nations Headquarters in attempts to avoid arrest.”

There’s no record of anyone trying to give birth in U.N. headquarters with hopes of a birth certificate reading “international territory” (the way occasionally expectant mothers are said to try on planes). The closest anyone seems to have come is a baby delivered a couple blocks away, by a cop during morning rush hour on FDR Drive earlier in 2016. And there’s been seemingly no major crimes committed in an attempt to thwart American justice—the most violent events the headquarters appear to have seen occurred in 1964, when a bazooka was fired across the East River during a speech by Che Guevara and a woman tried to charge into the building to stab him.

For New Yorkers who hate the traffic snarls and diplomatic license plates that major U.N. gatherings entail, know that some of the diplomats hate the location, too. Montreal and Dubai have been offered up as potential new headquarters sites—but since the U.N. just remodeled its headquarters in the past few years, don’t look for New York City to lose its 18 acres of international territory anytime soon.

San Pellegrino’s green, glass bottle has become synonymous with high quality sparkling water. Whether you drink it as a fancy, fizzy alternative to still water or mix it with lemon or lime juice, S.Pellegrino can jazz up (and possibly add health benefits to) any drink. If you’re thirsty for knowledge about the sparkling water brand, read on for 10 hydrating facts about Pellegrino.

1. THE WATER IS NATURALLY FILTERED FOR THREE DECADES BY THE ITALIAN ALPS.

San Pellegrino (which is also styled S.Pellegrino) comes from natural springs in San Pellegrino Terme, which is in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. Snow and rain gradually flow from the top of Italy’s Dolomite Mountains down to the foothills of the mountains. The water travels for 30 years through the sedimentary rock of the Italian Alps, picking up minerals such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium.

2. LEONARDO DA VINCI REPORTEDLY TASTED THE SPRING WATER.

According to legend, Leonardo da Vinci traveled from Milan in 1509 to taste the water and test its purported healing powers. Although it’s unclear if da Vinci’s connection to Pellegrino is true or apocryphal, the natural spring water’s properties as a liquid salve reportedly attracted visitors as early as the 1100s.

3. IT WAS FIRST BOTTLED IN 1899.

Today, every Pellegrino bottle has a label that says “1899,” indicating the first year it was bottled. Because of the reported healing powers of the water, spas opened around the spring, and 35,343 bottles were produced and sold between 1899 and 1900. By 1905, a newly built plant allowed 50,000 bottles to be produced per day.

4. A SPA, HOTEL, AND CASINO WERE BUILT NEAR THE SPRING.

The Palazzos, a prominent Italian family, built a spa near the San Pellegrino Terme spring. Opened in 1901, the San Pellegrino Bath Facilities and The Refreshment Hall featured the supposedly healing mineral water from the spring and attracted wealthy European tourists. Besides the spa, the ornate, Art Nouveau-style Grand Hotel was commissioned in 1902 and inaugurated in 1906. The hotel housed 250 rooms and featured an adjacent San Pellegrino Casino. By 1928, the spa included medical facilities [PDF] such as an x-ray room and laboratory.

5. THE CARBONATION PRESERVES THE MINERALS.

In the early 1900s, Pellegrino didn’t contain carbon dioxide bubbles. The company added carbonation to preserve the minerals when the bottle was shipped. The added CO2 also made the taste of the water a bit sweeter and crisper than flat water, and was so popular with customers that it’s been a staple ever since.

6. ARANCIATA, PELLEGRINO’S FRUIT FLAVORED WATER, WAS INTRODUCED IN 1932.

Back in 1932 in Milan, Pellegrino’s owner, a chemist named Ezio Granelli, began selling carbonated mineral water with a splash of orange juice and sugar. Called Aranciata, the line of sparkling fruit drinks has expanded to include other flavors such as lemon (Limonata), blood orange (Aranciata Rossa), grapefruit (Pompelmo), and prickly pear and orange (Ficodindia e Arancia). Starting in 1976, Pellegrino’s sparkling fruit drinks became available in their now familiar aluminum cans.

7. LIMITED EDITION BOTTLES HAVE FEATURED JEWELRY COMPANIES, FASHION HOUSES, AND AN OPERA SINGER.

Every Pellegrino bottle has a shoulder label that depicts the San Pellegrino Casino and the Alps. But Pellegrino has changed the main label, with its recognizable red star, over the years. In 2011, to celebrate Bulgari’s 125th anniversary, a limited edition bottle featured a gold label with an image of a necklace made of Bulgari jewels on it. Other special edition bottles have promoted the Expo Milano 2015, Vogue Italia, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, and fashion house Missoni.

8. BIOHACKERS DRINK IT FOR THE SULFATES.

Some biohackers drink Pellegrino because it’s pure (no chemicals) and contains 459 milligrams of sulfates per liter. Sulfates reportedly help our muscles, joints, and nervous system perform optimally. Because hard water (water that has a high mineral content) is more likely than soft water to contain sulfur, some people swear that drinking Pellegrino (a hard water) can significantly improve our bodies’ performance.

9. GIANT FLORAL ART WAS MADE TO CELEBRATE ARANCIATA’S NEW FLAVORS.

To celebrate the launch of Pomegranate and Orange (Melograno e Arancia) and Clementine (Clementina) fruit drinks, Pellegrino constructed giant cans of the fruit soda made of flowers. In late April 2014, the flower cans were in an installation at Eataly, a gourmet Italian food store in New York City. The idea was that the lavish installation would gradually “blossom” and reveal the two new fruity flavors.

10. PELLEGRINO IS FINDING THE WORLD’S BEST YOUNG CHEFS.

Last year, the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 competition crowned Irish chef Mark Moriarty as the world’s best young culinary talent. Moriarty was chosen out of more than 3500 chefs under 30 years old from 191 countries. Together with ALMA (an international school for Italian cuisine) and Vogue Italia, Pellegrino hosted a cooking competition for the finalists in Milan. The 2015 competition was so popular that they held a second competition; the 2016 winner was American chef Mitch Lienhard.