Author: Kirstin Fawcett

The much-anticipated Twin Peaks revival isn’t coming to the Showtime network until 2017, but fans can get pumped for its return by donning new gear inspired by the cult show. Showtime recently launched a new line of Twin Peaks-themed merchandise, and some of it even features artwork by the series’ co-creator, David Lynch.

Items for sale include T-shirts and sweatshirts, totes, blankets, mugs, art prints, and more. Some items are emblazoned with the classic “Welcome to Twin Peaks: Population 51,201” tagline, or Laura Palmer’s prom picture. Others feature scrawling illustrations—Twin Peaks’ ubiquitous hills, or motifs of pastries, coffee, fish, and logs—drawn by Lynch. And for particularly cultish fans, there are even “Red Room”-inspired items that are bright crimson, edged with the black-and-white zigzag pattern from the room’s floor.

You can view some pictures below, or visit Showtime’s online Twin Peaks storefront to get the full scoop. Now, if only the network store would start selling fresh slices of cherry pie from the Double R diner (a.k.a. Twede’s Cafe).

All images courtesy of Showtime.

In the early 20th century, steel baron Andrew Carnegie donated approximately $5 million to construct more than 60 public library branches throughout New York City. These centers of knowledge didn’t just hold books; they also housed a custodian, who lived inside a hidden apartment tucked above the building. These tenants shoveled coal throughout the night to keep the furnaces running. But as heating technology improved, many library custodians retired or left, and their residences were repurposed.

Among the library’s current branches, 32 once contained apartments, but only a handful of the living spaces remain today. Now, one of these relics of the past has been converted into a vehicle of the future: It’s a teen center and programming space, designed to nurture adolescents’ interest in technology.

The teen/tech center is housed on the third floor of the NYPL’s branch in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. The building reopened in 2014, following an extensive renovation. But for years, one of its rooms—the home of the building’s former custodian, Raymond Clark—remained closed off. Now, thanks to a $4.4 million renovation project, its doors were opened to the public for the very first time this past week.

The newly renovated third floor will be used for after-school programs, media and computer programs, and general use. There are also facilities and equipment for adult learners. On Friday, December 2, the space celebrated its official opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Present were New York Public Library president and CEO Tony Marx, along with city politicians who supported the project. Also there was Ronald Clark, Raymond Clark’s son, who lived in the pre-converted apartment during the 1970s.

“This floor had not been used for decades,” Marx joked in a speech delivered at the ribbon cutting. “This is New York City. We can’t have unused real estate.”

As for Ronald Clark, he reflected on what it was like to spend his formative years living in a library. “It was a life-changing experience for me,” he said. “I was the first one of my family to graduate from high school. To be able to go downstairs at any time of the night and open a book and read on any subject that my mind had curiosity about was what changed my whole life. It led me to go on to college.” He said he thinks his old home will be a great new spot for teens.

As of right now, only 13 vacant NYPL apartments remain. Five are slated for renovations, including locations in the Bronx, Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and Staten Island. As for the Washington Heights branch, check out the pictures below to see what their custodial apartment once looked like, and how it looks now.

THEN…

AND NOW.

All photos courtesy of the New York Public Library.

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]

At the peak of the last Ice Age (around 25,000 years ago), woolly mammoths lumbered across Michigan’s grassy fields and forested valleys. In October 2015, a local man stumbled upon one of the massive creatures’ skeletons while digging a gas line on a farm in Washtenaw County. Similar bones had been found in the region before, but this was one of the more complete sets, with 30 to 40 percent of the skeleton uncovered. Now, Nova Next reports, experts think the serendipitous find may yield new, early evidence of human activity in the Americas.

Michigan Farmer Finds Wooly Mammoth – See full image at https://t.co/wwXRNRHS8k pic.twitter.com/EKJSpnZPK0

— DailyDerpz (@dailyderpz) November 8, 2015

Daniel Fisher—a University of Michigan paleontologist who studies the extinction of mastodons and mammoths—led the excavation. He also spent the past year studying the skeleton, named the “Bristle mammoth” after its finder, James Bristle. The oldest documented evidence of humans arriving in Michigan is around 13,000 years ago, but Fisher believes he’s found evidence that the Bristle mammoth was butchered around 15,000 years ago.

Fisher estimated the skeleton’s age using preliminary radiocarbon dating, and he also noted that many of the bones illustrate “intentional breakage, targeted toward removal of nutritious tissues that humans might wish to harvest” (as quoted by PBS).

Plus, at the archaeological site, the mammoth bones were found embedded in pond sediments. Near the skeleton, excavators found three boulders that likely wouldn’t have been deposited there naturally. Fisher thinks that early hunters used the boulders as weights, and tied mammoth meat to them with ropes to store them in a cool body of water (an early refrigeration technique). Portions of the skeleton also appear to have been set in piles, suggesting that hunters arranged them that way for storage purposes.

If hunters did indeed kill it, the find could prove that Michigan was home to humans long before the Clovis—a Paleo-Indian culture that hunted large mammals with spears—arrived on the scene. According to Phys.org, only a few pre-Clovis archaeological sites have been documented in the Americas, including in Texas, the Pacific Northwest, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and South America.

Fisher and his team plan to return to James Bristle’s farm to excavate the site more extensively (they only had a day to remove the bones before construction on the gas line resumed), find more evidence, and conduct more tests on both the skeleton and its environment. Soon, they hope to submit their fleshed-out findings to a scientific journal.

As for now, the Bristle mammoth is on temporary display at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Natural History until January 2018, when it will move to a more permanent location in the university’s new Biological Science building.

[h/t Nova Next]

This week, the BBC reports, Nestlé announced that its researchers have discovered a way to restructure sugar. This will allow company confectioners to reduce the sweet stuff in chocolate products by as much as 40 percent, they claim.

Chocolate candy isn’t the biggest source of sugar in the average American’s diet (that would be soda), and for the most part, people know they’re not doing their bodies any favors by eating it. But since recent studies link added sugars in foods to an increased risk for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, confectioners have new incentive to provide customers with reduced sugar options. Until now, a tricky question remained: Could they do so without sacrificing flavor?

Nestlé thinks so. According to the company, their scientists have developed a method of altering sugar’s structure. “It is sugar, but it is assembled differently so it can disassemble easily in your mouth with less going into your gastrointestinal tract,” Dr. Stefan Catsicas, Nestlé’s chief technology officer, told The New York Times. This reportedly allows food companies to use less of it in products. And considering a single Kit Kat bar contains almost all of your added sugar intake for one day (the candy contains 21 grams of sugar, while the the American Heart Association recommends eating no more than 24 to 36, depending on your gender), this reduction could go a long way toward combating the U.S.’s obesity epidemic.

Nestlé hasn’t divulged the secret to its breakthrough technology and is currently pursuing patents. However, the company expects to begin using its new, reformulated sugar in products from 2018 onwards. Eventually, Nestlé might also sell it to other companies for use. Keep in mind, however, that Nestlé’s emerging sugar technology won’t be able to replace all sugar; it can’t be used to sweeten soda or coffee, for starters.

[h/t BBC News]

On HBO’s Game of Thrones, characters guzzle copious amount of wine (presumably to wash away all the traumatic memories of betrayal and bloodshed). If you’ve ever dreamed of sipping and scheming with Tyrion, or getting sauced with Cersei, Entertainment Weekly reports that you can soon do so vicariously from the comfort of your own couch, with a new GOT-inspired wine line.

Vintage Wine Estates, a winery in Santa Rosa, California, has partnered with HBO to produce three types of Game of Thrones-branded wine: a “proprietary red blend” and a chardonnay (both $20), along with a cabernet sauvignon ($40). No official release date has been announced, but the New York Daily News reports that the wine will hit stores nationwide in spring 2017, just in time to uncork it for the show’s seventh season premiere in the summer.

This isn’t the hit TV series’ first foray into the alcoholic beverage business. Beer-loving fans have enjoyed GOT-themed brews since the show’s second season, produced by Cooperstown, New York-based brewery Ommegang. Since you’re more likely to see the show’s characters downing a tall goblet of vino in any given scene, it seemed only right to add wine to the mix, HBO executives said.

“Given the prominent role of wine on Game of Thronesand our previous success in the beverage category, an officially licensed wine for the show feels like a natural extension for our fans,” Jeff Peters, HBO’s director of licensing and retail, said in a statement quoted by Entertainment Weekly. “Game of Thrones wines most definitely will add to the fan experience as the battle for the Iron Throne heats up heading into the final seasons.”

The GOT-themed wines won’t be available until 2017, but you can get a sneak peek at their mythical-looking labels below.

I know what I’m drinking for the next few months. https://t.co/j7flIOiNUC

— PGP (@PostGradProblem) November 26, 2016

[h/t Entertainment Weekly]

When you were a kid, well-meaning adults probably told you to sit or stand up straight. You likely shrugged and followed suit, or rolled your eyes and ignored them. But years (and multiple desk jobs) later, you—and your aching back—have to admit that the grownups of your childhood had a point.

Thankfully, there’s now a more technologically advanced way to correct bad carriage than your parents’ nagging. Poze is a tiny wearable sensor that monitors the angle of your back’s position. If you slouch 15 degrees or more, it buzzes you after one minute, providing you with a gentle reminder to straighten your spine.

Since people presumably don’t want the world to know they’re struggling with bad posture (or they’re not a fan of the way wearables look), Poze is designed to be discreet. Secure it to the skin under your collarbone using hypoallergenic tape, or clip the tiny gadget onto your shirt. Once Poze is attached, turn it on with the push of a button. Start wearing Poze 15 minutes at a time, and gradually increase this amount to a few hours per day. By then, your body will have hopefully committed its newfound correct posture to muscle memory.

Poze recently received full funding on Indiegogo, and it’s now available for preorder, with a projected December 2016 delivery date. Consider buying it as a stocking stuffer for the person who has everything—everything that is, except for good posture.

If you’ve ever visited Belgium, a large portion of your travel time was likely devoted to eating and drinking. The small European country is famous for its culinary offerings (frites, waffles, and chocolate, anyone?), but even more so for its beer culture. Now, The Guardian reports, Belgium’s storied suds have been officially added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. Launched in 2006, the list identifies traditional occurrences, observances, and social activities around the world that help define citizens’ national identity.

According to Reuters, the Belgian Brewers trade association petitioned the specialized United Nations agency to add beer drinking and brewing to the list. This past week, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage met in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, to debate whether beer (and other proposed cultural additions, including Indian yoga and Czech and Slovak puppetry) should make the cut.

Beer production and consumption might not sound high-brow enough to warrant a vaunted status, but Belgium takes both activities pretty seriously. The country is roughly the size of the U.S. state of Maryland, yet it boasts nearly 200 breweries and 1500 varieties of beer, according to the Belgian Brewers. Not surprisingly, beer is even one of the nation’s national dishes.

Plus, the trade organization argues, beer helps the local economy, promotes camaraderie among citizens, and is historic, to boot. Rudi Vervoort, a mayor and member of the Brussels Parliament, agrees: Earlier this week, he commented to The Guardian that the beverage “has been a part of our society since time immemorial.” We’ll toast to that.

[h/t Travel + Leisure]

Earlier this week, pranksters in Gardner, Kansas, went a little wild. Police were notified of a potential mountain lion sighting in a local community park, so they set up two motion-activated trail cameras to monitor the area. Instead of filming the predator unawares, the Associated Press reports, they captured human hijinks: people dressed in strange costumes, lumbering in front of the camera.

Shot over the course of three nights, the footage revealed bizarre characters, including a gorilla; lions (who were wrestling, no less); a woman using a walker, holding a bow and arrow; monsters; and even Santa Claus.

“We definitely got some wild life,” Lieutenant Lee Krout, of the Gardner Police Department, commented to KMBC News—just not the kind officials were expecting. “It was actually very humorous. I mean it was quite obvious that it was people playing a joke or just having fun.”

No real mountain lions were actually spotted, although it could be argued that the costumed humans might have scared them away. And perhaps most importantly, no creepy clowns were sighted either (probably because creepy Santas are much more seasonally appropriate).

[h/t Associated Press]

Moving to England, and looking for a quirky apartment to call home? An inexpensive studio flat inside a charming stone gatehouse in Birmingham is currently up for rent, The Daily Mail reports. The only catch? It’s in a cemetery.

The studio apartment is located on the grounds of Witton Cemetery, one of Britain’s largest graveyards. It opened in 1863, but its plots filled up in 2013, and the site is now closed for burials. The cemetery’s Gothic-style gatehouse building was converted into living facilities, and today, its rooms and apartments (including this one) are rented out to public residents.

Presumably because of its location, the apartment’s monthly rent is pretty low, at least by British standards: £520 per month, or $650. This sticker price includes local government taxes and utility bills; no security deposit is required, though there is an “administration fee” of £175 ($218). The residence includes an en-suite bathroom and a kitchenette, and it comes fully furnished with a bed, chest of drawers, fridge, microwave, and a kettle. As for the flat’s location, it’s close to Villa Park, a large city soccer stadium, and only a few miles from Birmingham’s city center.

If you’re intrigued—but a bit spooked—by Witton Cemetery’s flat, keep in mind that cemeteries aren’t always just for the dead. In some crowded cities, they’re a cheap and practical place for the living to establish communities. Other people live in cemeteries for religious reasons, like the Aghori ascetics of India. And for some, living in a graveyard is simply part of their job: Ken Taylor, who serves as vice president of operations for Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, calls the burial ground his home.

The Birmingham graveyard flat is currently listed on retailer site Zoopla. Learn more details there, or check out some pictures of the apartment below.

All images courtesy of Zoopla.

[h/t The Daily Mail]