Author: Kirstin Fawcett

It only takes a few minutes for a Keurig machine to brew a fresh cup of coffee, but every second counts during the morning rush. Soon, you might not need to choose between getting your caffeine fix and making it to work on time: As Real Simple reports, a company called AnyCafé has created a travel mug that brews single-serve pods on-the-go.

The BPA-free, battery-powered Travel Brewer works similarly to a K-cup machine: Simply open the lid, pour in some water, and stick a coffee pod inside. Then, close the mug’s lid and press a button. Voila—instant, fresh coffee. And if your beverage gets cold, the travel mug can reheat your brew for you.

The Travel Brewer, which is looking for funding on Kickstarter, holds nearly 10 ounces and is compatible with most K-cup brands. It also works with tea bags. (In the future, the company wants to create an eco-friendly mug that uses coffee grounds or loose tea leaves.) The dishwasher-safe mug does need a charged battery to work, however, so your alacrity in the morning depends on a bit of foresight the night before.

[h/t Real Simple]

Planning a post-election move to Canada? Don’t dig out your passport just yet. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not that easy to emigrate North. For Americans to become Canadian residents, they pretty much either need to land a job offer, or marry a Canadian citizen. But if you’re really determined (and single), Business Insider reports that a dating app called Maple Match will pair you with a paramour from the land of snowshoes and syrup.

Maple Match launched in May 2016. After a seven-month beta period, the iOS app was officially released on November 5—just in time for the presidential election. For the most part, Maple Match is similar to other dating apps, like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble. But in addition to filling out a profile and selecting a picture, users are provided with the option of listing their citizenship, and stating which citizenship they’re looking to marry into. There’s also a survey designed to gauge users’ political views, and which ones they desire in a partner. Once your personal information is all filled out, Maple Match selects potential matches, and you can message the ones you’re most interested in.

Long-distance dating is hard, but plenty of people seem up for the challenge: As Vice reports, more than 4000 people signed up for Maple Match during its first week, and about 70 percent of those love-seekers were Canadian. There’s currently a waitlist.

[h/t Business Insider]

Want to see physics in action? Visit your local skate park. The aerial feats of skaters might look complicated (and sometimes even logic-defying), but they’re made possible thanks to basic concepts like gravity, friction, and force. In the video above, online video network Super Deluxe gives viewers a quick crash course on the science of skateboarding, demonstrating scientific principles with real-life pro skaters including Boo Johnson, Dane Vaughn, Marquise Henry, Ricky Chavez, and Maurice Jordan. It’s proof—as if you needed any—that the laws that govern the universe can be pretty gnarly. 

[h/t The Kid Should See This]

Banner image: iStock

Grocery store labels often list strange-sounding ingredients like BHT and BHA, sodium nitrate, sulfites, and sodium benzoate. These preservatives are added to food to keep it from spoiling—but some people might wonder how they work, or whether they’re harmful.

The TED-Ed video above explains how microbes (like bacteria and fungi) and oxidation cause food items to go bad. It also gives a brief overview on the different types of preservatives, how they help prevent the chemical changes responsible for decomposition, and how they’ve been used historically. For now, TED-Ed says, the jury’s still out on whether these additives are conclusively linked to major health risks. But if you’re still concerned, a growing number of companies are getting rid of preservatives, or trying to find alternative ways to help foods stay fresh.

[h/t TED-Ed]

Banner image: iStock

Gravediggers aren’t normally acknowledged for their skill, but eastern Europe’s funeral industry wants to pay homage to the funeral industry’s unsung heroes. Yesterday, the Associated Press reports, laborers competed in an international grave digging tournament in Trencin, Slovakia, sponsored by the third International Exhibition of Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services.

Apparently a gravedigging competition is an actual thing in Hungary https://t.co/lmRdwaqCWq pic.twitter.com/JRK4zi8pvq

— dwnews (@dwnews) June 3, 2016

Ten two-member teams from Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary competed to dig the fastest and neatest coffin-sized pit, using only shovels and picks. No modern tools were allowed, and each grave had to measure exactly 5 feet deep, 6.5 feet long, and 3 feet wide.

“This whole exhibition is about getting groups of funeral companies together,” said event spokesman Christian Striz, as quoted by the AP. “It’s all about showing people how hard” the gravedigging profession is (and since Striz was reportedly dressed like the Grim Reaper, how funny it can be, too).

In Slovakia, gravediggers are a necessity. “Most Slovak graveyards are so crowded and spaces between graves so narrow that we need human diggers instead of machines,” Ladislav Striz, the contest’s founder, told Reuters. “They work hard, come rain, come snow.”

Two brothers from Slovakia—Ladislav Skladan, 43, and Csaba Skladan, 41—took home the grand prize. According to The Guardian, the siblings dug their grave in only 54 minutes, and a five-member jury declared their work to be the neatest.

“I am happy we won,” Csaba Skladan said. “It’s a satisfaction after 15 years in this job.”

[h/t Associated Press]

Instead of making fun of crazy cat ladies, a new exhibit at Los Angeles’s Animal Museum wants to celebrate them. As The Washington Post reports, the museum recently launched an exhibit, “Crazy Cat Ladies,” that looks at the history of human-feline companionship and pays homage to ailurophiles in film, literature, and pop culture. 

The Animal Museum (formerly known as The National Museum of Animals & Society) bills itself on Facebook as “the first museum of its kind—anywhere—dedicated to enriching the lives of animals and people through exploration of our shared experience.” It was founded in 2010, and recently moved into a brand-new space in downtown L.A.’s Arts District. On December 3, 2016, the revamped museum will officially celebrate its grand opening.

The Animal Museum is currently in a soft-opening period, and “Crazy Cat Ladies: A Celebration of Kitties and Their Champions” is one of its inaugural rotating exhibits. According to the museum’s website, the display aims to “take a magnifying glass to the myths and stereotypes surrounding this legendary figure, and provides viewers with a heartfelt insight into today’s modern cat lady and gent.”

The display includes a replica of a fictional crazy cat lady’s living room, cat-themed knickknacks and art, and plaques emblazoned with feline facts. (Example: “One in four Americans feed stray cats, so many of us have crazy cat lady tendencies!”) Feline fanciers can submit their true-life cat rescue stories to be featured in the exhibit, or download an official “Crazy Cat Ladies” exhibition coloring book [PDF] from the Animal Museum’s website. As for dog-loving patrons, they can enjoy an exhibit that showcases portraits of celebrities with their rescued pets.

[h/t The Washington Post]

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient Pharaonic boat burial at Abydos, an ancient Egyptian religious center that sits about six miles away from the Nile River. As Sci News reports, the site dates back to the rule of Senwosret III (c. 1850 BCE), a 12th dynasty king who may have ruled Egypt for nearly 40 years. The find was recently announced in The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.

An international team of archaeologists, working in collaboration with Egypt’s Ministry of State for Antiquities, excavated the site. Long ago, a boat was interred in a vaulted, underground building crafted from mud bricks. Inside the chamber, the walls are covered in 120 detailed drawings of Pharaonic vessels.

No full watercraft was discovered, but archaeologists found nine surviving cedar planks, indicating that it was once nearly 66 feet long. The vessel was buried intact, but was likely taken apart for its wood, and white ants consumed its remains. Archaeologists also found more than 145 liquid storage vessels buried inside the building.

Dr. Josef Wegner and his colleagues from the Penn Museum have conducted excavations at Senwosret III’s mortuary complex since 1994. The lavish funerary complex includes a mortuary temple, along with residences and facilities so workers could maintain the site. Long ago, the royal tomb was called the “Mountain of Anubis,” and the entire mortuary complex was referred to as “Enduring-are-the-Places-of-Khakaure-justified-in-Abydos.”

The boat burial was discovered about 213 feet from the pharaoh’s underground tomb. According to Wegner, its most intriguing feature is its boat drawings. “It is also clear there once were many more boats decorating the building’s vaulted roof,” Wegner wrote in Nautical Archaeology. “The incongruous situation of watercraft in the desert presents numerous questions and mysteries begging for explanation.”

Wegner theorizes that the boat tableau’s creators “may be people involved in the initial transport and installation of the vessel in the building. Possibly these were participants in the ceremonies, presumably mortuary in nature, that may have accompanied the boat burial,” he mused.

Wegner hopes to discover more boats as his team continues to excavate the site, along with other funerary objects of Senwosret III.

[h/t Sci News]

Some people say there’s no substitute for experience and hard work—but in the eyes of hiring managers, Forbes reports, a candidate’s natural talent is considered more impressive than their career credentials.

In a series of studies published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, University College London professor Chia-Jung Tsay discovered that recruiters interviewing job candidates tend to be biased toward ones that demonstrate innate skill. The catch? They weren’t aware of this preference, and thought they preferred ambitious career-climbers to bright novices.

In one study, participants were provided with information on a fictional applicant named Charles. Half were informed that Charles was a natural leader, and the others were told that Charles had to work hard for his success, and became a boss by forming important work alliances. The participants then evaluated a recorded business pitch from Charles, using criteria including his likelihood for success and whether they would consider hiring him or investing in his business. Sure enough, the subjects who were told that Charles was inherently gifted gave him higher scores.

A second study provided Tsay with similar results. This time, Harvard Business Review reports, participants were presented with 18 pairs of applicants, all of whom possessed different levels of management skills, leadership performance, IQ, investor capital raised, and talent versus ambition. They were asked to choose one of the two entrepreneurs to invest in for a new business, and ranked how much of a part of each quality played in their choice.

In the end, natural abilities trumped qualifications, with nearly 60 percent of the participants choosing the candidate with natural aptitude. These hiring managers were even willing to overlook a candidate’s lack of leadership experience, management skills, IQ, and accrued capital if they believed they were talented enough.

This raises the question: How does a candidate showcase innate talent during the recruiting process? In her story for Forbes, Amy Morin, author of the book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, suggests that you skip the speech about what a hard worker you are, and instead impress interviewers by playing up attributes that “come naturally” to you.

Other tips? Since hiring managers will likely Google you before calling you in for an interview, consider making an online portfolio of your best work. Confidence is often viewed as talent and competence, so when you go in for your interview, try to convey your self-assurance with a firm handshake, good eye contact, and a relaxed, positive demeanor. Also, prepare in advance for any surprise skills assessment tests they might spring on you so you can display your ability to think on your feet. Lastly, speak to your references in advance about instances in which you displayed a natural ability to lead or learned new skills quickly; this way, these attributes are top-of-mind when your potential employer gives them a ring.

[h/t Forbes]

There are more than 190 countries in the world, and Cassandra De Pecol wants to visit all of them in record time. As Teen Vogue reports, the 27-year-old from Connecticut is attempting to become the first documented woman—and the fastest person—to accomplish the feat.

In 2010, Yili Liu from Ann Arbor, Michigan, completed the around-the-world journey in three years, three months, and six days, setting a Guinness World Record for “fastest time to visit all sovereign countries.” Now, De Pecol wants to break his record. She has visited 180 countries since July 2015, and is currently slated to finish her voyage—which she’s dubbed Expedition 196—in the next month or so.

How much does it cost to visit all of the world’s sovereign nations, along with Taiwan, Kosovo, and Palestine? According to The Daily Mail, Expedition 196 has cost De Pecol nearly $200,000. Hotel chains help her foot part of the bill, offering the traveler free lodging in exchange for promotion on her Instagram account. De Pecol is also filming a documentary of her voyage, which received funding from private contributors.

De Pecol isn’t just lounging on beaches, though. She’s serving as the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism’s Ambassador for Peace, and she’s teamed up with the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation to gather samples from remote regions of the world. The traveler also tries to spend two to five days in each country, so she gets a sense of its culture and natural surroundings.

Follow De Pecol’s travels on Instagram, or visit her trip’s official website to keep track of her global adventures.

[h/t Teen Vogue]

Archaeologists have discovered the contents of an ancient Viking toolbox, buried at a Danish ring fortress called Borgring. According to Science Nordic, the rare iron tools are the first direct piece of evidence that people lived in the fortress. And since Vikings often melted down abandoned tools for scrap metal, very few of them survived the centuries—making these devices some of the only known artifacts of their kind.

Borgring is more than 1000 years old, and was discovered in 2014 near the town of Køge, on the Danish island of Zealand. Previously, experts had believed that only four Viking forts remained in Denmark.

Excavation leader Jens Ulriksen told The Local DK he hoped the new archaeological site—the first of its kind to be discovered in 60 or so years—would “provide new and crucial knowledge of the enigmatic fortresses and the Viking Age.” However, Borgring didn’t immediately provide experts with any new insights. In fact, initial excavations of the fortress only yielded a single glass bead.

Experts didn’t know when or why the fortress was built, or whether anyone lived there—but the newly discovered tools might help answer the latter question. The artifacts are also historically significant, as Viking Age tools are elusive. The roving warriors prized iron, and any discarded metal objects would have been re-purposed into new equipment.

Archaeologist Nanna Holm and her colleagues dug up the tools, buried under Borgring’s east gatehouse, after amateur archaeologists detected them with metal detectors. The gatehouse may once have served as either a workshop or as housing space. Experts theorize that the toolbox’s owner may have abandoned his equipment (and his residence) after the aging structure collapsed.

In all, 14 tools were found. Their placement indicated that they were likely stored in a box that rotted away. Among them, archaeologists discovered spoon drills used to drill holes in wood, and a drawplate used to make wire bracelets. Holm believes the tools may have belonged to a carpenter.

A CT scan provided archaeologists with a more detailed image of the tools, but some of them were too poorly preserved, or contained too little iron, to be fully captured onscreen. Holm hopes to x-ray them, and eventually, the artifacts will be preserved and put on display. Until then, you can watch Science Nordic journalist Charlotte Price Persson help Holm excavate the tools in the video below.

[h/t Archaeology]