Author: Anna Green

Identifying which of William Shakespeare’s many masterpieces is the most popular is a near-impossible task. After all, critics, actors, students, and casual readers all have very different perspectives on the Bard, and the longevity of his works means different plays have likely occupied the “most popular” slot over the years. However, according to Priceonomics, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is currently the most frequently performed of Shakespeare’s works.

Using data from the website Shakespeareances, which lists upcoming Shakespeare performances, Priceonomics was able to determine how frequently each of Shakespeare’s plays have been performed since 2011. Though the website does not list every Shakespeare performance globally (it mostly sticks to professional performances in North America, Australia, and England), Priceonomics believes it is the most comprehensive database of Shakespeare performances online.

Priceonomics found that A Midsummer Night’s Dream represents more than seven percent of the nearly 2000 Shakespeare productions listed on Shakespeareances, both in the United States and abroad. Meanwhile, in America, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night were the second and third most performed plays, while Hamlet and King Lear took second and third abroad.

Shakespeareances founder Eric Minton thinks A Midsummer Night’s Dream may be the most performed because it’s among Shakespeare’s most accessible plays. “It appeals to people who aren’t familiar with Shakespeare,” he explains. “You are gonna get the comedy even if you’re not proficient at speaking in verse.”

[h/t Priceonomics]

We hate to squash your autumnal dreams, but baking a pumpkin pie might not be as easy as you think. That’s because the canned pumpkin that normally makes pie prep such a breeze isn’t made of pumpkin at all. Food & Wine reports that cans of pumpkin puree—even those that advertise “100 percent pumpkin”—are actually made of a range of different squashes.

Most pumpkin purees are a mix of winter squashes, including butternut squash, Golden Delicious, and Hubbard. Meanwhile, Libby’s, the largest pumpkin puree brand, has developed its own unique brand of squash called the Dickinson, which is more closely related to a butternut squash than a pumpkin. The FDA is vague about what counts as “pumpkin,” which allows companies to pack unspecified squashes into their purees and still list pumpkin as the sole ingredient.

While it’s a little unsettling to find out your favorite pie is not what it seems, pumpkin puree brands have a good reason for their deception. While pumpkins are a quintessential part of autumn, they don’t actually taste that great. Most pumpkins are watery and a little bit stringy, and turning them into a puree takes more work, and involves less reward, than other, sweeter winter squashes.

[h/t Food & Wine]

Filmmaker and scientist Yan Liang wants to show students that learning science is about more than lab reports, tedious measurements, and complex calculations. He recently founded the education company Beauty of Science which will produce books, apps, and videos that focus on the beauty and wonder of science.

His first project is a timelapse video called “Crystallization2” that reveals how different salt molecules crystallize when water evaporates. Though it doesn’t really explain the scientific processes at work, the video showcases the breathtaking beauty of the microscopic world and is designed to inspire viewers to learn more about the crystallization process on their own.

“The subjects of this project were droplets of saturated aqueous solutions containing various inorganic salts (e.g.table salt, sodium sulfate etc.). The evaporation of water initiated the crystallization processes inside the droplets, which were captured by time-lapse photography,” Liang explains. “A single droplet contains the wonders of nature.”

[h/t Gizmodo]

Banner image credit: Yan Liang, Vimeo

A group of West Coast tech entrepreneurs are so confident self-driving cars are the way of the future, they want to dedicate an entire highway lane to them. CBC News reports that Madrona Venture Group, which is made up of several high profile tech industry experts, recently released a report proposing that at least one lane of the I-5 highway connecting Seattle and Vancouver be given over to autonomous cars.

The report addresses American and Canadian policymakers, arguing that self-driving cars will soon begin to take over the roads, and that dedicating an I-5 lane to them would make transportation easier between the two tech hubs. Madrona wants autonomous cars to begin by sharing an HOV lane with regular vehicles—as autonomous cars become more dominant, however, Madrona believes it will be necessary to give them exclusive use of an entire lane.

An autonomous car lane would make commuting more appealing and save money, Madrona says. Instead of spending money on expensive train tickets, or wasting hours behind the wheel of a car, commuters would be able to relax in the back of their own self-driving car or a shared taxi-style autonomous van. Additionally, Madrona argues, the autonomous car lane could serve as a cheap alternative to large-scale transportation projects, like the high-speed rail that has been proposed to connect Seattle and Vancouver.

Ultimately, Madrona argues, the autonomous lane could revolutionize commuting. “The principal benefit is that it allows drivers to recapture all the time otherwise spent behind the wheel,” the report explains. “This is at least two and one half hours from Seattle to Vancouver. Imagine being able to watch a video or sporting event, prepare for a business meeting, work on your novel or plan a game with your children.”

[h/t CBC News]

Earlier this year, France passed a law banning disposable plastic bags. Now, Quartz reports, France has announced it’s working towards eradicating all plastic cups, plates, and utensils by 2020. It is the first nation to announce a total ban on all plastic tableware.

The law, which is part of the country’s Energy Transition for Green Growth Act, will make it illegal to manufacture or sell plastic tableware in France, though biodegradable disposable tableware will be permitted. New regulations will require that any disposable tableware be made of 50 percent biologically sourced materials that consumers can compost at home.

The Washington Post explains that the law is the result of a conference in Paris last year on strategies for combating global warming. French lawmakers hope that by banning plastics, they will improve waste management strategies by creating a “circular economy” of waste disposal, and contribute to a greener planet. According to French president François Hollande, the plastic ban is part of France’s mission to become “an exemplary nation in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diversifying its energy model and increasing the deployment of renewable energy sources.”

[h/t Quartz]

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Fans of The Simpsons will really have something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. ComingSoon.net reports that FXX is airing all 600 episodes of the beloved animated sitcom beginning on November 24, and running for 13 days straight.

The massive TV marathon—appropriately entitled “Every. Simpsons. Ever.”—will run chronologically beginning with the very first episode of The Simpsons, which aired in 1989. Fans who clear their schedules and forgo sleep can spend 300 consecutive hours watching the world of Springfield evolve over the course of 27 seasons. While this certainly isn’t the first time a network has aired a Simpsons marathon (even FXX actually aired a slightly shorter version back in 2014), it’s a record-breaking one: Not only will it be the longest Simpsons marathon in TV history, but it will be the longest television marathon ever aired, according to the network.

“The first ‘Every. Simpsons. Ever.’ Marathon was truly so special and landmark in its cultural relevance and impact,” FX Networks President and COO Chuck Saftler said in a statement. “The unprecedented feat of reaching 600 episodes deserves something of that caliber to mark it and celebrate it. Doing this is an act of true fandom, honoring Jim Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, all the writers, artists, directors, people behind the scenes, and the ridiculously talented voice actors who have brought this series to life and kept it at the pinnacle of artistic excellence these past 27-plus seasons.”

[h/t ComingSoon.net]

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If you’ve caught a case of wanderlust and are looking for a new city to call home, a website called The Earth Awaits wants to help you plan your move. Created by travel blogger The Frugal Vagabond, the new website lets users search for cities based on lifestyle and income, and generates detailed budgets for life in cities around the world.

The website, which aggregates data from sources like Numbeo, lets users search for cities based on factors like monthly income, family size, quality of life, and language. For each city, The Earth Awaits provides information on population size, pollution levels, crime rates, transportation options, and overall quality of life.

It also lets users calculate detailed monthly budgets based on the cost of living in each city. Users can automatically generate budgets based on how “lean” or “opulent” their ideal lifestyle is, or create a custom budget by entering the quantities of goods they purchase each month. For each city, The Earth Awaits adjusts its calculations based on the average cost of housing, transportation, and goods ranging from a loaf of bread to a pair of running shoes. That makes it the perfect tool for people looking to compare the cost of living in different cities, as well as those working on creating a monthly budget for the city they currently call home.

[h/t Lifehacker]

New York City is home to an incredibly diverse array of people, foods, crafts, and businesses—but that diversity is rarely represented by its street fairs. For years, the Big Apple’s bazaars have been dominated by the same few vendors, no matter where or when they’re hosted. But now, Politico reports, Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s administration is working on bringing a bit more local flavor into the mix.

De Blasio’s administration has proposed several major changes that could benefit local businesses and communities—not to mention fairgoers’ tastebuds. Instead of allowing the same handful of vendors to run the stalls and concessions—selling the same sausages, grilled corn, novelty t-shirts, and pashminas block after block—the proposed rules would require half of all stalls to be operated by local neighborhood businesses. This would not only help make street fairs less generic, but allow store owners and restauranteurs in the community to directly benefit.

The new rules would also help more communities across New York City to host markets of their own. Right now, the vast majority of the city’s street fairs are held in just three community board districts in Manhattan. The new rules would limit the city to around 200 such events a year, and require that at least half be hosted outside of Manhattan. Together, the new rules would help more communities host fairs that directly benefit local businesses and better represent local cultures, foods, crafts, and identities.

“We’ve criticized street fairs in the past, but not on principle. These could be so amazing for New York City,” Jonathan Bowles of the Center for an Urban Future told Politico. “New York City has so many independent and entrepreneurial businesses, but so few of them have been represented in street fairs that it’s been a missed opportunity.”

[h/t Politico]

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The Elsewhere headset is designed to bring the photos and videos on your iPhone’s camera roll to life. Unlike most virtual reality headsets, the Elsewhere isn’t designed for immersive gaming or 360 degree video. Instead, WIRED reports, the headset adds a third dimension to two dimensional photos and videos and lets users view the real world from a new perspective.

The strange headset is built a little like a 19th century stereoscope. Viewers look through the lens and snap their iPhone on to the end at a slight distance. An app, which comes with the device, transforms photos and videos into 3D images, and even allows users to zoom in and out, and control the depth of field. Elsewhere’s creators, Wendellen Li and Aza Raskin, claim the device can even add more depth to the real world. By connecting to the iPhone camera, the Elsewhere app lets users view flat surfaces in the world around them, like screens, mirrors, and artwork, as three dimensional. The device also ostensibly makes the real world look even “more 3D than usual—as if it had too much volume and wants to burst” (the Elsewhere website calls this experience “hyper-dimensional”).

“Elsewhere uses a new model of human perception to convert motion directly into depth,” the website explains. “Instead of attempting to reconstruct a 3D model after the fact—which fails for everyday stuff like smoke, liquids, mirrors, screens, and GIFs—Elsewhere shows two videos (one for each eye) packed with depth information encoded in the input format of the human visual system.”

[h/t WIRED]

Swedish automotive company Scania has created a massive 750,000 square foot clock made entirely of moving trucks, Engadget reports. Replacing gears and motors with massive engines, and clock hands with the latest line of Scania trucks, the company successfully created a functional timepiece that ran for 24 hours.

In the video above, Scania drivers and stunt coordinators reveal how they managed to accurately keep time for a full day without stopping or crashing. The stunt, which was designed to show how dependable Scania vehicles are, involved an amazing 90 drivers and 14 trucks. Though the Scania truck clock may not be the most practical or environmentally friendly way to keep track of the time, its huge scale and perfectly timed choreography are certainly impressive to watch.

[h/t Engadget]

Banner Image Credit: Scania Group, YouTube