Month: February 2017

During his mission aboard the International Space Station in 2015, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured a dramatic weather phenomenon that’s rarely seen from Earth. As Mashable reports, his footage below is the clearest look we have at “blue jet” lightning.

Blue jets form when lightning bolts spring from the tops of thunderclouds, shooting 25 to 30 miles up. Even from a vantage point in the Earth’s orbit, the flashes can be difficult to document. Mogensen recorded this video using highly sensitive camera equipment aboard the ISS.

During the 160 seconds of footage taken above the Bay of Bengal, 245 blue flashes of electricity were captured. The film provides an unprecedented look at a weather phenomenon meteorologists still know little about. The European Space Agency (ESA) is now planning to mount a camera outside their Columbus laboratory aboard the ISS that will monitor thunderstorms around the clock. In addition to giving us more data about blue jets, future footage could provide valuable information about other types of upper-atmospheric lightning like red sprites, pixies, and elves.

[h/t Mashable]

Kids and adults alike are drawn to coloring books for the fun, creative outlet they provide. Although adult coloring books are currently a trendy, bestselling genre, coloring books have a vibrant history—they’ve been around since the 1880s! So grab your colored pencils (or crayons, if they’re more your style) and check out these 10 facts about coloring books.

1. THE MODERN COLORING BOOK IS THANKS TO A FAMOUS CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATOR.

The coloring book has a surprisingly long history. Laura E. Wasowicz, Curator of Children’s Literature at the American Antiquarian Society, told mental_floss that “the earliest coloring books in our collection were produced in Germany and published in Philadelphia by John Weik & Co.” around 1858. But the real ancestor of the modern coloring book is generally agreed to be British illustrator Kate Greenaway. Born in 1846, Greenaway became internationally recognized as a children’s book illustrator (and is now memorialized with the Kate Greenaway Medal for “distinguished illustration in a book for children”).

Sometime in the late 1870s, she teamed up with publisher Cassell Petter & Galpin for The ‘Little Folks’ Painting Book, a reference to a children’s magazine that Cassell Petter & Galpin published. In some cross-promotion, any child who sent in their colored books to a competition the Little Folks magazine was holding could win money and medals, and the books themselves would go to the Children’s Hospitals to “[provide] for the amusement of little ones during their weary hours in the hospital.” Several more of these books were published over the following years, some with similar contests.

So why were these books so influential? Thank lax copyright laws. As Wasowicz has explained before, American publisher the McLoughlin Brothers took Greenaway’s illustrations and published them in books for the American audience, almost certainly without her permission. These were the books that became massive hits and helped create a new genre. And later this year the Antiquarian Society will be hosting an exhibition on the McLoughlins’ dominance of late 19th-century picture books—thanks in part to copying British works.

2. EARLY COLORING BOOKS WERE MEANT TO EDUCATE CHILDREN.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reform movements in children’s education helped to shift popular attitudes about the role of education in achieving social progress. Coloring books became an interactive tool that parents gave to their kids to educate and entertain them, in hopes of giving them an advantage in life. During this time, the cost of books (and paper) also decreased, which made coloring books accessible to more children and families than ever before. Some companies that sold consumer goods, such as shoes and paint, even gave free, promotional coloring books to parents with every purchase.

3. THE FIRST ADULT COLORING BOOK MOCKED CORPORATE CULTURE.

Published in 1961 by three advertising executives, The Executive Coloring Book was the first coloring book aimed at adults. Featuring drawings and captions depicting a businessman getting ready for work (“This is me. I am an executive. Executives are important. They go to important offices and do important things. Color my underwear important.”), the book satirizes and mocks the monotony, conformity, and austerity inherent in corporate workplaces. For example, the book comments on the corporate dress code—like the proliferation of gray suits—as well as the pills that some employees took to combat the depression and ennui of early ’60s workplaces. (The original book is getting a full reprint in March 2017, in case you or someone you know is suffering from cubicle syndrome.)

4. THE 1960s SAW A PROLIFERATION OF ADULT COLORING BOOKS.

After The Executive Coloring Book’s publication, adult coloring books became trendy. Many of these books satirized societal expectations, political extremism, social movements, the Soviet Union, communism, President John F. Kennedy, and mental illness. Rather than actually color in the drawings in these books, most adults reportedly bought and read the books for a laugh. By the early 1970s, the trend of subversive, satirical coloring books for adults was over.

5. BARBRA STREISAND CAPITALIZED ON THEIR POPULARITY.

“For those who fancy coloring books…” In 1962 and 1963, singer Barbra Streisand released two versions of a song called “My Coloring Book.” Capitalizing on the contemporaneous popularity of adult coloring books, Streisand sang about a breakup through the lens of a coloring book. “Crayons ready? … Begin to color me / These are the eyes that watched him as he walked away / Color them gray / This is the heart that thought he would always be true / Color it blue.” Though Streisand sang the song on the late-night circuit, the song never charted, but it was later covered by Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, and Kristin Chenoweth.

6. THEY HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF PROMOTING POLITICAL VIEWS.

The ’60s wasn’t the only time period that cartoonists used adult coloring books to lampoon political figures and promote counterculture or fringe views. More recently, creators of coloring books have used the books to comment on events and figures in contemporary politics. You can find coloring books about the death of Osama bin Laden and the Tea Party (complete with drawings of Sarah Palin and text about the evils of political correctness), as well as coloring books devoted to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and President Donald Trump.

7. RESEARCHERS CLAIM THE BOOKS CAN LOWER STRESS AND ANXIETY.

According to researchers and art therapists, adults who color in coloring books may experience a variety of therapeutic benefits. A 2005 study (and a 2012 replication study) concluded that people who colored in mandalas—complex geometric figures frequently seen in Hinduism and Buddhism—experienced lower levels of anxiety than people who simply colored on a blank piece of paper. By focusing on different shapes and patterns in a structured way, people who color can shut off negative thoughts, becoming calmer. The study concluded that like meditation, the act of coloring patterns can let the brain rest, decrease anxiety, and encourage mindfulness.

8. DIGITAL COLORING BOOKS ARE A THING.

If you assumed that all coloring books are tangible items, think again. Plenty of websites offer digital coloring books, allowing users to choose an image, pick a stylus tool, and decide how to color it. But digital coloring books can be more high tech than a glorified Microsoft Paint program. Disney offers Disney Color and Play, an augmented reality coloring book app that lets you use your smartphone or tablet to transform 2D images of Disney characters into a colorful, digital 3D experience.

9. TODAY, YOU CAN FIND JUST ABOUT ANY TYPE OF COLORING BOOK…

Whether you have a hankering to color in drawings based on pop culture, politics, literature, or sports, there’s probably a coloring book for you. Pop culture-themed options include everything from Star Wars and Harry Potter to Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. And if you want a more involved coloring experience, interactive coloring books let you write your own story, solve puzzles, or scan pages that you’ve colored and animate them online.

10. …AND YOU CAN EVEN CREATE ONE USING YOUR OWN PHOTOS.

The only thing better than taking a selfie is coloring in your selfie! Thanks to Color Me Book, you can order personalized coloring books that feature your own photos. After you upload your images, a team of designers hand-trace them and turn them into pages of a customized coloring book—one that’s perfect for those impossible-to-shop-for family members.

Urban cyclists encounter many dangers: Path-clogging pedestrians and reckless drivers are among the most obvious, but bikers also face an under-the-radar road risk called “dooring”—the collision that results when a parked driver opens their car door into an oncoming pedaler’s path.

Most states don’t track dooring accidents, so it’s hard to determine just how often they occur. However, Grid Chicago analyzed Illinois Department of Transportation data from 2011, and found that one in five bike crashes in Chicago were caused by dooring that year.

To prevent dooring accidents, The Telegraph reports that drivers in the Netherlands rely on a simple practice that’s been dubbed the “Dutch Reach”: After parking, they reach for their car door’s handle using their right arm instead of their left one, even though the latter is closer to the door. This method forces the drivers to pivot their bodies so they look over their shoulders, allowing them to notice incoming bikers on the street.

Children in the Netherlands learn this habit from their teachers and parents, and it’s even included on their driving tests. Now, the practice is starting to catch on in the U.S., thanks in part to vocal evangelists like Michael Charney. Charney, a doctor from Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded a website called dutchreach.org after a local woman named Amanda Phillips was killed in a dooring accident. It provides resources about cycling safety, and suggests ways to promote the Dutch Reach. Meanwhile, advocacy groups like the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition are also spreading the word.

Some U.S. cities, like Minneapolis, are starting to build protected paths for bike-loving commuters. But in most places, designated paths for cyclists are situated in a “door zone,” a.k.a. the buffer zone between parked cars and the main road. Until more cities invest in infrastructure changes to keep bikers safe, U.S. drivers can save lives by adjusting their habits.

Master the Dutch Reach by watching the tutorial below, courtesy of Outside magazine.

[h/t The Telegraph]

Antique weapons always draw enthusiastic collectors, often with deep pockets, during sales at the world’s most prestigious auction houses—especially when those weapons belonged to some of history’s most formidable figures. Here are just a handful of historic swords, pistols, and more that made history a second time for their extravagant price tags.

1. F-GRADE A.H. FOX 12 GAUGE // $862,500

Theodore Roosevelt’s Fox shotgun, which he brought along on a 1909 African safari, became the most expensive shotgun ever sold at auction in 2010. That year, the James D. Julia auction house sold the firearm to a private buyer for $862,500—that’s a price tag more than $200,000 higher than any shotgun previously sold.

2. WINCHESTER MODEL 1886 // $1.26 MILLION

As Popular Mechanics reported, a Winchester rifle fetched more than a million dollars at auction for a couple of reasons. For one, it was the very first Winchester model produced that year. But even more importantly, it was gifted to Captain Henry W. Lawton, the man responsible for the tracking and capture of Geronimo.

3. PRESENTATION SWORD // $1.67 MILLION

In 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was presented with a silver and gold diamond-encrusted sword “by the grateful citizens of Kentucky after his assumption as the General in Chief of the United States Army,” according to Heritage Auction Galleries’s curator Dennis Lowe. The sword netted $1,673,000 in a 2007 auction.

4. 19TH CENTURY FLINTLOCK PISTOLS // $1.8 MILLION

These pistols have quite the pedigree. Designed by Nicolas Noël-Boutet, Napoléon’s gunsmith, the Marquis de Lafayette carried them to America, where he befriended George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. In 1825, Lafayette presented the guns as gifts to Simón Bolívar, the revolutionary who helped establish South American independence from Spain. In 2015, an anonymous buyer snagged them during an auction at Christie’s for $1.8 million.

5. SADDLE PISTOLS // $1.99 MILLION

Bolívar wasn’t the only comrade Lafayette bestowed fancy weapons on. In 2002, a pair of saddle pistols the French general gave to George Washington sold for a whopping $1,986,000 in an auction at Christie’s. The guns, according to the lot description, feature octagonal-to-round steel barrels with silver-and-gold wire inlay, and a base made from European walnut. Post-auction, the buyer was revealed to be the Richard King Mellon Foundation; the group went on to donate the pistols to Fort Ligonier in Pennsylvania.

6. DAGGER, MUGHAL EMPIRE // $3.3 MILLION

Only a handful of items remain from the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor (and the Taj Mahal’s creator). One weapon—a dagger forged in 1629 and inscribed with the emperor’s name, title, and the date and place of its manufacture—sold in 2008 for more than twice the starting bid during an auction at Bonham’s, bringing in a cool £1.7 million (around $3.3 million).

7. NAPOLÉON’S SWORD // $6.5 MILLION

This curved steel blade holds the Guinness World Record for most expensive weapon ever sold at auction, and for good reason: It once belonged to Napoléon Bonaparte, who brought it with him to the Battle of Marengo in 1800. The weapon, which features an ebony and gold handle, sold for $6.5 million during a 2007 auction in Fontainebleu, France.

Anyone who has ever read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice over the past 200 years has surely conjured up his or her own idea of what the curmudgeonly-but-lovable Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy would look like in real life. Since the 1995 premiere of the BBC’s beloved miniseries based on the book, that image may look a lot like Colin Firth. But a couple of academics and one illustrator are here to dash your dreams.

A group of researchers led by John Sutherland, a professor of Modern English Literature at University College London, and Amanda Vickery, a professor of Early Modern History at Queen Mary University of London, were recently commissioned by Drama TV to dig into Austen’s text (which offers very little description of Darcy), the author’s own romantic relationships (which often inspired her work), and the fashion standards of the time to create the first historically accurate image of one of literature’s most iconic leading men, courtesy of editorial artist and illustrator Nick Hardcastle. Here’s what he looks like…

According to a press release from Drama TV, “The new portraits paint a very different picture of the literary heartthrob when compared to modern day TV depictions, portrayed by Hollywood actors such as Colin Firth, Elliot Cowan, and Matthew Macfadyen.” We’ll say!

According to the team’s research, Mr. Darcy—who would stand just under six feet tall—would have “a long oval face with a small mouth, pointy chin, and long nose.” This pale-complexioned dreamboat would also have “slender sloping shoulders and [a] modest chest” and his hair would be white—and powdered.

“There are only scraps of physical description of Fitzwilliam Darcy to be found in Pride and Prejudice; he is our most mysterious and desirable leading man of all time,” Sutherland explained. “What’s fantastic about Jane Austen’s writing is that Mr. Darcy is both of the era and timeless. Our research for TV channel Drama’s Jane Austen Season shows how Austen herself envisioned Mr. Darcy, however the literature leaves space for the reader’s imagination to create their own Darcy and bring their own fantasies to the storyline.”

“Mr. Darcy is an iconic literary character, renowned for his good looks, charm, and mystery,” added Vickery. “As Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in the 1790s, our Mr. Darcy portrayal reflects the male physique and common features at the time. Men sported powdered hair, had narrow jaws and muscular, defined legs were considered very attractive. A stark contrast to the chiseled, dark, brooding Colin Firth portrayal we associate the character with today. Drama’s ‘The Real Mr. Darcy’ … reveals that in recent times, Darcy’s character has been sexed up for the modern day audience with a turbo-charged injection of testosterone and steamy romance.”

You can see more of how the project came together in the video below:

[h/t The Cut]