Month: January 2017

The modern incarnation of the ironing board is a century-old design. The folding design sold ubiquitously today was invented in 1914, though the original model came with a wood table. A new company, however, is trying to finally improve on our current equipment for ridding clothes of wrinkles.

Flippr, launching on Indiegogo, has two sides and rotates. You can put your shirt or dress on it like you’re outfitting a super-thin mannequin, and then all you have to do to iron both sides of the clothing is flip the board.

The edge of the board slides out from the body and fits nicely inside shirt sleeves, so you don’t need to take the shirt off the board to iron out those wrinkles. A clip on one side of the board holds pant legs to keep them from sliding off. And a metal rack attached to the board holds your hot iron when you’re finished.

Ironing isn’t usually the most physically tasking item on people’s household chore list, but the current system isn’t exactly convenient. Flippr doesn’t come cheap at $124, but it does show a vast improvement from the board sitting in your closet. If you’re steaming up your dress shirts all the time, it might be worth it. And if it’s too pricey for you now, perhaps it will at least inspire other manufacturers to take a second look at their own ironing board designs.

All images courtesy Flippr

Despite an increased demand for avocados that has spurred price hikes and crime waves, it appears that consumers have yet to tire of the green stuff. According to Metro, the newest establishment looking to satisfy our relentless avocado cravings is an avocado-themed eatery opening in Amsterdam.

Simply titled The Avocado Show, owners Julien Zaal and Ron Simpson, and chef Jaimie van Heije, have vowed to incorporate the trendy ingredient into every dish they serve. The menu covers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night eats, and it includes nutrient-packed offerings like avocado fries, avocado ice cream, avocado smoothies, and burgers served on avocado buns.

According to The Avocado Show’s Facebook page, the restaurant will open its doors in Amsterdam’s De Pijp neighborhood sometime in February 2017. If you can’t make it to Europe for a visit, you can always pay tribute by embracing a new trendy fruit this year—preferably one that’s not potentially on its way to extinction.

[h/t Metro]

Thanks to a geomagnetic storm tonight, January 5, some people won’t have to travel all the way to the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis will be visible as far south as the high latitudes of the U.S., meaning that Maine, Michigan, and other northern states could get a glimpse, according to NOAA and other weather centers (as spotted by the Daily Mail).

Outside the U.S., the lights may be visible in the UK, particularly Scotland, and in the central to northern regions of Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

Tonight’s forecast calls for a G1 geomagnetic storm—the lowest level of geomagnetic storms. G1 storms happen about 1700 times per each 11-year solar cycle.

This is where NOAA predicted the storm to be around 4 p.m. ET:

And here’s where different levels of storms create the Northern Lights. This storm has a Kp level of 4 on a scale of 0 to 9. The higher the number, the greater the disturbance to the geomagnetic field.
 

 
The winter is already the best time to see the Northern Lights since there are long, dark nights. To check out some sites that provide real-time updates on where you can see the lights, look over on AuroraWatch.

[h/t Daily Mail]

Carrie Fisher, who died at the age of 60 on December 27, 2016, played an intergalactic ruler in the Star Wars franchise. Now, to honor the late actress’s legacy, fans want her to be made into Disney royalty. As TIME reports, a man named Cody Christensen launched a Change.org petition requesting for Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger to make Princess Leia an official Disney princess, joining the ranks of Snow White, Cinderella, and other heroines. (Reminder: Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, thereby adding Princess Leia and her Force-wielding sidekicks to the entertainment conglomerate’s roster of characters.)

Website GeekExchange.com interviewed Christensen, who points out that some people say Princess Leia can’t be made into a Disney princess because a real actor portrays her instead of an animated figure.

“With Carrie’s death, I think that it’s time to change the rules,” Christensen told GeekExchange.com. “I actually have five daughters, and there are constantly princess movies playing in the background. We are big fans of the current Princess lineup, but I think that Leia is a really strong, positive, awesome role model for my girls, and she would make a great addition.”

The petition reads:

“After the tragic lose of Carrie Fisher, we feel that it is only fitting for Disney to do away with the rule that an official Disney princess must be animated and make Leia a full-fledged princess. This would be a wonderful way to remember Carrie and a welcoming to one of Disney’s new properties that is beloved by millions.

What we are asking is that the Walt Disney Corporation hold a full ceremony inducting Leia as the newest Disney princess as well as a special service in memory of Carrie Fisher.”

As of noon on Thursday, January 5, Christensen’s petition had more than 35,000 signatures. 

[h/t TIME]

The Internet of Things is upon us. We use fitness trackers to count our steps, program our vacuums to clean our rooms, and can set the thermostat in the kitchen while sitting in a meeting at work. If all this connectivity is your jam (and you’ve got hair, or a hairy friend or pet), L’Oréal and Kérastase’s new smart hairbrush will help bring your grooming routine into the 21st century.

The theory behind the Hair Coach is familiar: The more information you have about something—in this case, your luscious locks—the better off you’ll be. The setup is also pretty standard: a smart device linked to a tracking app for mobile phones.

 
What makes Hair Coach unique is its execution: a high-quality hairbrush packed with enough gadgetry to make a spy jealous. A microphone built into the brush records the sound of your brushstrokes, then sends that information to the app for analysis. Movement sensors track and count your strokes, while load sensors monitor how hard you’re brushing. Conductivity sensors inside the brush’s bristles note whether your hair is wet or dry, while the app pulls in local weather data to consider how humidity and temperature could be affecting your ‘do. The net result is a personalized analysis of brushing technique and hair quality, which is used to generate recommendations and tips for better hair care.

Because this is a L’Oréal/Kérastase collaboration, you can expect advertisements and recommendations like “buy this serum.” But if you’ve got a passion for beauty products and some cash to burn—the Hair Coach will retail for $200 in autumn 2017—you’re probably already their ideal customer.

[h/t Gizmodo]

If you head out of town during peak travel season, the odds of you running into an overly filthy hotel room go up. With turnover high and capacity spilling over, stained sheets and bug infestations aren’t uncommon.

But even reputable hotels can harbor some truly unsettling bacterial guests. Online trip calculator TravelMath.com recently conducted a study of guest room contamination, dispatching the EmLab P&K laboratory to swab several different surfaces in nine different hotels. Grime was measured in colony-forming units (CFUs) per square inch, looking for bacteria that can cause respiratory problems, gastrointestinal distress, or skin reactions.

The result? In some cases, a so-called “five star” hotel may not necessarily be any cleaner than your budget accommodations.

The next time you’re traveling, you may want to try and avoid some of these germ-ridden hot spots. (Disclaimer: Hypochondriacs probably shouldn’t read any further.)

by Becca Stanek

The Thursday morning front page of The Washington Post Express, featuring the upcoming Women’s March in Washington, D.C., left everyone facepalming. Give it a second, and you’ll figure out why:

Washington Post Express screwed up a story about the Women’s March in the worst imaginable way. https://t.co/Ro80XxMrxh pic.twitter.com/BHdkWumzf3

— Washingtonian (@washingtonian) January 5, 2017

Yes, that is indeed the male symbol representing a women’s march.

Hours later, The Post tweeted an apology—and a revised front page.

This is how the cover should have looked. We apologize for the mistake. pic.twitter.com/MKKOkHPV8T

— Express (@WaPoExpress) January 5, 2017

When it comes to the natural world, fungi are (truly) in a kingdom all their own. They help humans brew tasty beverages like beer, they recycle nutrients from dead plants and animals, and they provide nutrients for trees. Of course there are others that destroy food crops and kill any humans who accidentally ingest them. You never know what you’re going to get with fungus. In celebration of their weird and wonderful world, here are 15 fungi that will blow your mind (some of them in a literal sense).

1. SHOESTRING FUNGUS (ARMILLARIA OSTOYAE)

Hidden underground in Malheur National Forest, Oregon lives a creature so large it makes the blue whale look small. Meet the Humongous Fungus, the world’s biggest living organism. This four-square-mile patch is mostly hidden from view (a few odd mushrooms pop up here and there), but its impact is, well, humungous: this type of fungus causes root disease and kills conifers across North America.

2. BLACK WITCHES’ BUTTER (EXIDIA GLANDULOSA)

This blister-like fungus grows on decaying logs and fallen branches, looking flat and rougher in dry conditions and swollen after rain. Despite its unappetizing appearance, the fungus is edible—though you might want to add some seasoning.

3. BLEEDING TOOTH FUNGUS (HYDNELLUM PECKII)

One of the more disgusting-looking fungi of the world might cause concern for hikers who stumble across it. But the red liquid oozing out of it isn’t blood—it emerges due to guttation. This is a process that causes rapidly growing or metabolizing plants to excrete excess fluids. For the bleeding tooth fungus, the fluid happens to be bright red.

4. GLOW IN THE DARK MUSHROOMS (MYCENA CHLOROPHOS)

There are plenty of fungi that exhibit bioluminescence, but this particular species from Southeast Asia is the oldest known example. What makes it give off that eerie green glow? In 2015 scientists discovered a compound called hispidin, an antioxidant that undergoes a chemical reaction to create a glowing light.

5. CHICKEN OF THE WOODS (LAETIPORUS SULPHUREUS)

Do you prefer your poultry in the form of nuggets, drumsticks—or maybe as fungus? This edible mushroom tastes like—you guessed it—chicken. It’s bright yellow and has no gills (the fine, black material you may have noticed on the underside of Portobello mushrooms). But watch out for a variation of this mushroom growing on conifers, since they’re a different species and might cause poisoning. 

6. DUNG CANNON (PILOBOLUS CRYSTALLINUS)

Considering fungi are immobile, the superlative “fastest creature on Earth” might seem impossible. But when it comes to acceleration, the Dung Cannon is indeed the fastest organism: The fungus launches its crystalline spores at an acceleration rate of 1.7 million m/s2—faster than guns and even rocket ships. 

7. RED YEAST RICE (MONASCUS PURPUREUS)

Moldy rice might not sound like an ideal element of a meal, but the mold Monascus purpureus actually makes a popular fermented food with possible medical uses. In addition to being eaten, red yeast rice is also sold as a supplement to decrease cholesterol. 

8. WAVY-CAPPED MAGIC MUSHROOMS (PSILOCYBE CYANESCENS)

These mushrooms might look innocuous, but they pack a potent dose of psilocybin, a chemical that causes distorted perception, hallucinations, and intensified emotions. In 2001, scientists found 100,000 of the mushrooms growing along a racetrack in England, but more recently these fungi have made the news for their potential in treating mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and PTSD. 

9. GEM-STUDDED PUFFBALL (LYCOPERDON PERLATUM)

Though this member of the puffball family resembles an anemone shell, it’s actually covered in detachable spiny warts. In urban areas it can be found near trampled ground and around curbs. It is edible, but foragers should be particularly careful, since lookalike species include the Pigskin Poison Puffball and the deadly Destroying Angel.

10. WHITE-ROT FUNGUS (PHANEROCHAETE CHRYSOSPORIUM)

Given its name, you might think this is a harmful fungus to be avoided. But white-rot fungus (here on the left) is actually quite valuable for its use in bioremediation—cleaning land that’s been contaminated by heavy metals and chemicals. White-rot fungi can deteriorate pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and even crude oil.

11. DEVIL’S FINGERS (CLATHRUS ARCHERI)

This woodland fungus is a native of Australia and New Zealand that has since spread throughout the world. It grows around leaf litter, decaying stumps, and woodchips. Its “fingers” are smelly and meant to attract flies, which then carry its spores away with them. 

12. ALMOND MUSHROOM (AGARICUS SUBRUFESCENS)

These mushrooms were cultivated in the 19th century and used to be popular in North America, although they fell out of favor until more recently when they’ve been cultivated in Brazil and Japan. The almond mushroom is also thought to combat cancer by stimulating the immune system, though there haven’t been enough studies yet to prove its efficacy. 

13. SLIME MOLD (STEMONITIS AXIFERA)

You’d think a slime mold would look, well, slimy, but in this case it’s actually more like hair. The furry brown strands are sporangia growing on top of thin, black stalks. For years, slime molds were thought to be fungi, but they’re actually multicellular amoebas whose spore structures mimic those of fungi. 

14. REISHI MUSHROOMS (GANODERMA LUCIDUM) 

Chinese civilizations have cultivated reishi mushrooms for medicinal purposes for more than 2000 years. They treat everything from bacterial infections to cancer (though studies are ongoing to see just how effective the mushrooms actually are). But more recently, a mycologist has found an alternative use for them—as building material. Their root-like mycelium is strong, waterproof, and fire-resistant, discovered Philip Ross. The mycelium bricks were even used to build towers at MoMA PS1 in New York.

15. RED CORAL FUNGUS (RAMARIA ARAIOSPORA)

Coral fungi are aptly named for their resemblance to coral, and they grow all over the world. Red Coral Fungus is a beautiful pinkish color, which turns green when sprinkled with iron salts. It’s also eaten and sold in markets in Mexico and Guatemala.

When Greek immigrant Thomas Carvel started the Carvel College of Ice Cream Knowledge in the late 1940s, his intention was to educate his ice cream shop franchisees in the proper handling and distribution of the soft serve cones he had invented back in 1934. Famously strict about his scooping protocol, Carvel would grow upset if he discovered a store owner dished out only three ounces of vanilla to save money, not his required 3.5 ounces. Customers—especially kids—could tell the difference.

“Once a kid realizes he isn’t getting his full cone, you’ve lost a customer,” Carvel told The New York Times in 1985. “And that’s the way you lose an entire chain.”

Carvel’s rigid standards sometimes stirred up dissent, as in the case of the antitrust lawsuit filed in 1979 by franchisees over his insistence they buy Carvel-supplied napkins and other goods at inflated prices. But it was his ingenuity that led the 865-location Carvel chain to a stunning $300 million in sales by 1985.

That growth was spurred in large part by the company’s distinctive ice cream cakes, including Hug Me the Bear and Fudgie the Whale. But no confection drew as much attention as Cookie Puss, the cone-nosed birthday treat made famous in a series of 1970s commercials, a 1983 Beastie Boys song, and a legendary bit on The Howard Stern Show.

Although stores frequently tweaked the Cookie Puss design, it never strayed far from its original inspiration: the face of Carvel himself.

Carvel’s ice cream empire began with a flat tire. In 1934, he had borrowed $15 from his fiancée, Agnes, to get an ice cream truck on the road in Hartsdale, New York. The truck broke down, but customers didn’t seem to mind the softening ice cream—in fact, they seemed to love it.

Carvel jumped on the opportunity, cobbling a soft-serve machine together in his garage and obtaining a patent for it. When he realized that selling the machines led to frequent user error, he founded the Carvel Corporation in 1947, lining states—and his pockets—with Carvel-branded frozen treat storefronts.

Carvel recognized that it would take more than his name to help distinguish the stores from other ice cream shops. Their ice cream sandwiches were dubbed Flying Saucers in 1951; Carvel invited franchisees to brainstorm other unique product ideas.

In the early 1970s, an attendee at the College of Ice Cream Knowledge presented Carvel with a cake in a vaguely humanoid shape. With a cone to mimic Carvel’s bulbous nose, Carvel was impressed. He also realized anthropomorphized cakes would be a clever way to further the Carvel brand. An entire line—including Fudgie the Whale and Hug Me the Bear—were rolled out, 50-something ounces of frozen cake goodness that shops could decorate for personalized birthday greetings.

To spread the word, Carvel began featuring Cookie Puss in regional television advertisements throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Airing Saturday mornings and late at night, the ads were low-budget—Carvel refused to hire an ad agency—and featured Carvel himself as the narrator, his gravelly voice urging viewers to consider Fudgie for Father’s Day, Cookie Puss for all occasions, Cookie O’Puss for St. Patrick’s Day, Dumpy the Pumpkin for Halloween, and Cookie’s female counterpart, Cupie Puss, for whatever else might require massive sugar consumption.

Carvel even issued stuffed toys of Cookie Puss and Fudgie in 1985, hoping the $5.98 dolls would become Carvel’s version of Ronald McDonald, a food mascot that transcended corporate direction.

Even people who had never tried Cookie Puss were still aware of him thanks to the pervasive ads. The Beastie Boys broke through with “Cooky Puss,” their 1983 single that was built around a real prank phone call made by Adam Horovitz to a Carvel store asking to speak to Cookie Puss. (One unconfirmed urban legend says Carvel was so annoyed by the album that he was considering legal action before his nephew, a Beasties fan, talked him down.)

In 1991, The Howard Stern Show dragged Cookie Puss back into the spotlight when Stern spent an inordinate length of time berating staffer Fred Norris for giving his mother a Cookie Puss for Mother’s Day. Using audio effects, Stern raised his pitch to resemble Cookie’s distinctive voice:

Stern: Hey, Fred. How come you didn’t get your mom a Fudgie the Whale? Because Cookie Puss is number one, right? … I think you really didn’t think about your mother.

Norris: Thank you for judging me, Cookie Puss.

Stern: Tom Carvel was a weird guy. I wish he could have named me Rambo. Rambo the Cake.

Puss’s heyday came to an end in 1993, when Carvel’s new owners (Tom Carvel had sold the business in 1989 to investment bankers for $80 million) hired an actual ad agency to create a polished campaign. Carvel himself died in 1990, and was later the subject of a bizarre claim by his niece that he had been murdered so his aides could lay claim to the Cookie Puss fortune. The allegation was later dropped.

Today Puss, Fudgie, and the others can still be found at the 400-odd Carvel locations; the company’s slightly retroactive history currently claims that Cookie Puss is actually an alien from the Planet Birthday.

But whatever its fictional narrative might be, Cookie Puss still bears a strong resemblance to Tom Carvel. The inspiration for Dumpy the Pumpkin, however, remains unknown.

For the fourth time in an hour, I reached into the back of my bathing suit and pulled out a small worn-down rock. The Asian small-clawed otter named Rocket who had deposited it there watched me, waiting, as I held out the rock to look at it. In a flash, the aptly named Rocket swam up and snatched it from my hand. This time he neatly deposited the rock down the front of my bathing suit. Almost immediately he decided he wanted it back, so he went after it, right down the front of my bathing suit, sparking a wave of giggles from me and the other swimmers.

The staff at Nurtured by Nature in Valley Center, California, told me it’s a sign of friendliness when the otters shove rocks into your swimsuit. They’ve developed a game based on the habit: When you get out of the pool, whoever has the most rocks hiding in their suit wins. My total in and out of water was about six. By this metric, I think I made a new otter best friend that day. Thanks, Rocket.

While swimming in a pool of otters is almost certainly the main attraction for many people visiting Nurtured by Nature, it’s far from the only exotic animal experience you can have there. A $300 excursion takes about three hours and gives you access to a wide range of animals to feed, pet, and play with, including kangaroos, sloths, armadillos, porcupines, lemurs, owls, serval cats, and more. The otter swim caps the event, when you stand in a pool with up to seven other people while several Asian small-clawed otters dive in and swim up to you. When they’re not shoving rocks in your bathing suit, they’re sharing their water toys with you.

It may seem like a steep price tag, but it’s all for a good cause: Nurtured by Nature’s main goal is to offer animal programs for kids through the Make A Wish Foundation. The proceeds from the public excursions go toward ensuring those visits remain free. Wendy and Kevin Yates, the owners, host about two Make A Wish families each month, customizing the program completely to the child’s desires, within safety limits. According to Wendy Yates, Nurtured by Nature has helped grant about 45 wishes since 2013, fueled by the funds from about 1700 public visits a year.

Eleven-year-old Reagan McBride from Alabama was one of those 45. Reagan has osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, and is paralyzed from the neck down as a result, with limited mobility in her arms.

“She’s had fractures since before she was born,” Jeri Ann McBride, Reagan’s mother, tells mental_floss. “But she can still elbow punch her brother.”

When Reagan and her family came to Nurtured by Nature in 2015, it was because of a wish to spend time with animals at the San Diego Zoo, where Kevin Yates was a zookeeper for more than two decades before starting Nurtured by Nature with Wendy. Reagan got to do a behind-the-scenes tour at the zoo, thanks to Make A Wish, which also arranged for her otter swim at Nurtured by Nature. It was her favorite part of the animal tour because “the otters were funny,” she says.

“They were up close and personal, something she would never get to experience otherwise,” Jeri Ann says. “It’s important for us to see her smiling and having a good time. Knowing that she’s had such a challenging life, to see her happy and enjoying life is just a huge blessing.”

Wendy agrees. “There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing a smile on the faces of the little kids, and then hearing from their caretaker that they haven’t seen their child smile or giggle in the last six months to a year because of the treatments they’ve been going through.”

Those smiling faces appear in handmade collages decorating the locker area at the facility that showcase the happiness and fun experienced by children who need it most. Make A Wish programs here are limited to one family per visit, so the children can get the most one-on-one interaction time with the animals possible.

“Every day we hear from people how it was the best day of their lives and it gave them so much joy,” she said. “What more can anybody ask for than to be able to give back to the world that way?”

The McBrides shared that sentiment. “It was the best trip ever,” Jeri Ann recalls. “We ran out of storage because we took so many pictures.”

For the Yates family, Nurtured by Nature is truly a mission of giving back. Their house was destroyed in the southern California wildfires in 2003. So many people—friends, family, and strangers—helped the couple get back on their feet. There was no way they could ever repay those who helped them, so Wendy says they decided to pay it forward instead, by opening Nurtured by Nature in 2008 and launching a partnership with Make A Wish.

Every animal on the property is considered a pet, complete with family bickering over what to name each of them, and the animals’ physical and emotional well-being is top priority. Some of the animals are born there (the otters were born and raised on-site from captive-born parents that came from two different zoos) as part of a conservation breeding program; others are surplus animals from other zoos; and many of them are rescues from breeders and research facilities, or animals confiscated by the State Department.

Nurtured by Nature is a California Fish and Wildlife- and USDA-permitted and inspected facility. The team works in concert with two veterinarians and ensures that everyone working with the animals has ample experience in the field. Kevin Yates has more than 30 years of professional exotic animal experience, and all 25 volunteers have a veterinary or zoological background.

My otter swim was the standard excursion, but that day it was a bit extended—not because we got special treatment, but because Rocket didn’t want to get out of the pool. Basically, you aren’t done until the otters are done. I stood by in the pool and watched as Rocket sat down under the railing on the pool steps just out of reach of Sarah, one of the animal keepers. He reached out his paw, grabbed one of Sarah’s hands, mischievously stared into her eyes for a minute, and then took off swimming again, inviting all of us to join the fun.