Author: Rebecca OConnell

The mantis shrimp is an interesting creature: It flaunts a whole rainbow of colors, has some of the best working eyes in the animal kingdom, and ruthlessly kills its prey with extreme precision and power. There are over 550 species of the ocean dweller, but of those hundreds, the formidable crustaceans have just two primary methods for maiming their prey: smashing or spearing.

As PBS’s Deep Look series explains in the video above, smashers have a strong club, which they use to literally punch animals to death (or bust open a shell). Their tiny boxing glove moves through the water at 50 mph—faster than a .22-caliber bullet. These clobberers also have a simple spear that’s sharp enough to jab their enemies in turf battles, but pro spearers have an advanced harpoon with a serrated blade. They hide in the sand and wait for an unsuspecting fish to pass by so they can leap out and attack before dragging the unsuspecting animal to its death. Yikes.

The mantis shrimp combines this pure power with an incredible sense of sight. While humans have two pupils and three color receptors, the mantis shrimp has six pseudopupils and 12 receptors to better destroy their enemies. As the video explains, “Mantis shrimp can perceive the most elusive attribute of light from the human standpoint: polarization. Polarization refers to the angle that light travels through space. Though it’s invisible to the human eye, many animals see this quality of light, especially underwater.”

This skill is great for more than just killing dinner: The special vision lets mantis shrimp communicate with each other and stake out territory. Scientists have even borrowed this technique to find injuries and even cancer with polarized light. Just another example of how Mother Nature can be both beautiful and terrifying. 

[h/t SPLOID]

Images: iStock

Banner image courtesy of iStock.

Erik Sass is covering the events of the war exactly 100 years after they happened. This is the 257th installment in the series.   

November 15, 1916: British Advance Into Sinai 

Fighting in the Sinai Peninsula in 1914-1916 was unusual by the standards of the First World War, in large part because – unlike the nose-to-nose stalemate on the Western Front – the two opposing sides were separated by a “no man’s land” consisting of an inhospitable desert stretching hundreds of miles. Although both sides staged raids and larger attacks in this huge arena with scant success, in between these encounters ordinary troops might not see the enemy for months at a time.

This situation finally began to change – albeit very slowly– on November 15, 1916, when the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force under commander-in-chief Archibald Murray made its first foray into the desert with an eye to permanent occupation, rather than reconnaissance or harassing raids. Above all, the long delay in the British offensive reflected the enormous logistical difficulties attending modern desert warfare. 

The first and most challenging obstacle was also the simplest: water. With the British planning to bring a force numbering hundreds of thousands of men across the desert, the small brackish wells scattered across the Sinai Peninsula for use by Bedouin tribes were obviously going to be totally inadequate. The British decided to overcome the obstacle by building a pipeline to carry water from a base near the Suez Canal, at Qantara, across the northern Mediterranean coast of the peninsula to Palestine. 

The pipeline, and an accompanying railroad (top), were the main target of the failed Turkish campaign against the British in front of the Suez Canal at Romani in August 1916. That fall the pipeline and railroad continued to advance east, while the British received additional valuable information from Jewish Zionists who knew the terrain in Palestine, including the location of wells for when the invaders were forced to leave their pipeline behind.

In mid-November the British began their gradual pursuit of the Turkish force they’d first defeated at Romani, which had now retreated to a position at Bir Lahfan, leading to another British victory at El Arish in late December 1916 and Rafah in January 1917. But here, as in Mesopotamia, anyone expecting a colonial walkover was in for a surprise: following these early successes, Turkish resistance mounted once the British arrived in Palestine, stiffened by German officers and the prospect of a threat to the empire’s core territories. 

For ordinary British soldiers, the slow advance across the Sinai alternated with long periods of tedium, broken up by occasional leave to Cairo or Alexandria as well as a grudging appreciation of the desert’s natural beauty. Oskar Teichman, a junior medical officer serving with the British Army in Egypt, recalled the dramatic natural setting near the Suez Canal in early November: 

The landscape was grand and austere; the enormous vista of endless desert, here and there interrupted by gigantic sand mountains – fashioned into fantastic shapes according to the caprices of the wind – and by occasional palm-studded Hods nestling in tiny valleys, was most impressive. In this clear atmosphere the visibility was wonderful. Perfect silence reigned, and there appeared to be no sign of life except an occasional vulture hovering over the old Turkish battle-field or a jackal slinking homewards to his laid. At sunset the sky assumed most marvellous colours, which it is useless to try to describe. Then followed the deathly stillness of the desert night…

On the other side, conditions were already dire for Ottoman citizens living in Palestine, thanks to growing shortages of food, fuel, medicine, and other necessities. These were further underlined by disparities in the rations provided to German soldiers and officers, versus ordinary Turkish soldiers and civilians, according to the Conde de Ballobar, a Spanish diplomat who found himself acting as caretaker for Allied interests in Ottoman Palestine. On November 17, 1916 he wrote in his diary: 

Truly the contrast is notable in this Austrian-German-Turkish entente. The Teutons and Austrians live the life of princes: Sanatoriums, hospitals magnificently equipped, automobiles, economical restaurants, great free warehouses, very well stocked, while the Turks do not even have shoes, eat almost nothing and are lodged and cared for any old way. 

Lawrence Meets Faisal 

Hundreds of miles to the southeast developments marked the beginning of the end of Ottoman rule in the Hejaz, the west central coast of the Arabian Peninsula, home to the two holy cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, as well as the port of Jiddah. Here, in late October 1916 the British intelligence officer T.E. Lawrence finally met Prince Faisal, the son of Sharif Hussein bin Ali, the feudal ruler of Mecca who rose up against the Turks in June of that year.

Hussein had declared himself “King of the Arab Countries,” but as Lawrence already understood he would mostly be a figurehead for the Arab Revolt, which still needed a dynamic political and diplomatic leader. On meeting Hussein’s third son at a walled compound at Wadi Safra, nestled in a valley full of palm groves, Lawrence decided he had found a true revolutionary statesman.

Lawrence later recalled their first meeting, introduced by one of Faisal’s many retainers, in typically dramatic (not to say mystical) fashion: 

He led me through a second gate into an inner court, and across it I saw standing framed between the posts of a black doorway, a white figure waiting tensely for me. This was Feisal, and I felt at the glance that now I had found the man whom I had come to Arabia to seek, the leader alone needed to make the Arab Revolt win through to success. He looked very tall and pillar-like, very slender, dressed in long white robes and a brown head cloth with a brilliant scarlet and gold cord… His hands were loosely crossed in front of him on his dagger. 

Faisal would eventually prove a great leader, as Lawrence guessed – but for now the Arab Revolt was in its infancy, and the Turks felt they had little to fear from a disorganized band of Bedouin outlaws. Lawrence would have to do something to get their attention. 

See the previous installment or all entries.

If you only pay attention to figure skating once every four years, you’re missing out on one of the most passionately-practiced sporting events in the world. To get you up to speed, we’ve gathered some fast facts about this perfect pairing of art and athleticism. 

1. IT’S THE OLDEST WINTER GAME. 

Figure skating debuted during the London Olympic Games in 1908, pre-dating the beginning of the formal winter games by 16 years.  

2. SKATES USED TO BE MADE OF ANIMAL BONES. 

Before people began to develop artistic expression through skates, they used them as a practical form of transportation. Thousands of years ago, residents in Finland strapped animal bones to their feet to glide across frozen lakes rather than walk around them. Scientists believe they might have also used wooden poles to propel themselves forward. Metal blades didn’t arrive until the 13^th century. 

3. A CLEVER INVENTION MADE FIGURE SKATING POSSIBLE. 

Prior to E.V. Bushnell inventing a secure clip for metal skates, it wasn’t possible to perform intricate maneuvers on blades—they’d simply fall off, or injure the wearer. But when Bushnell unveiled skates that could be clipped to the foot in 1848, more elaborate moves became possible. 

4. ICE DANCING GREW OUT OF THE WALTZ. 

Modern figure skating can involve “ice dancing,” an activity dating back to a harsh London winter in 1862. But the first concrete example may have come in the 1880s, when the Vienna Skating Club began to mimic the Waltz on ice during their gatherings. Ice dancing wasn’t recognized in the Winter Games until 1976.

5. THE FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE GENDER-MIXED. 

Skating competitions haven’t always been broken up by gender. During a St. Petersburg, Russia event in 1896, there was one division and only men were allowed to compete. When the world championships were held in London in 1902, a woman named Madge Syers entered and took second behind male winner Ulrich Salchow. A separate division for women was instituted three years later. 

6. A PLANE CRASH WIPED OUT THE ENTIRE U.S. TEAM. 

The best American skaters were en route to a competition in Prague in 1961 when their plane crashed, killing everyone on board. Out of respect for those who were lost, the competition was canceled. It would be several years before the U.S. could rebound from the tragedy and once again become a presence on the international scene. 

7. THE BLADE IS SERRATED IN FRONT. 

Figure skaters can pivot and stop short thanks to a barely-visible serrated edge on the tip of their blades. Also known as a “toe pick,” it grabs the ice and helps skaters prepare for jumps. 

8. YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR THEM DURING A LANDING.

Male skaters weighing 150 pounds or more can land on the ice following a jump with extraordinary force: more than 1000 lbs. of pressure. 

9. THERE ARE MOVES MALE SKATERS CAN’T DO.

The “layback spin” that requires skaters to lean back with their shoulders and head puts considerable pressure on the spinal column and demands a great deal of flexibility. It’s thought that female skaters typically have more success doing the maneuver than men. 

10. THEY SPIN AT 300RPM.

Have you wondered how skaters can endure the seemingly-impossible speed reached when they execute a spinning jump? So do we: At more than 300 revolutions per minute (RPM), figure skaters experience as much RPM as astronauts in centrifuge training. 

11. VOCALS ARE BANNED DURING ROUTINES.

You may not have noticed, but at many top level competitions, skaters who take to the ice with musical accompaniment have to abide by a strict rule: None of the music can include vocals.

12. THE WRONG COSTUME CAN COST THEM POINTS. 

In many skating competitions, judges can deduct a point if they consider a skater’s costume to be overly garish or provocative. While that sounds dangerously subjective, the point is deducted only if multiple judges agree that the outfit is in poor taste.

13. THEY CAN’T USE PROPS. 

Skaters performing routines are expected to succeed or fail based on their individuality and skill-set: They can’t use props. The only time you’ll see a figure skater accessorizing is during exhibitions, like the one held during 1972 when a silver medalist appeared with a plastic umbrella.

14. THEY USE CRASH PADS. 

Inexperienced figure skaters are best served adding padding to their bodies to cushion against hard falls on the ice. While helmets are not uncommon, particularly for younger skaters, many also wear crash pads that are essentially cushioning for the buttocks in the event of a rear landing. 

15. THE U.S. MEDALS EVERY TIME. 

Despite stiff competition from perennial rival Russia, the United States has been well-represented in figure skating competition during the Winter Games. The country has won at least one medal during every event dating back to 1948—that’s 18 consecutive competitions.

If customer service were a competition, GEICO would earn perfect 10s every time. Thinking about making the switch? Their friendly customer service agents can help you find insurance coverage that fits your needs and your budget—they may even be able to save you money in the process.

When setting out to write, it’s hard not to compare yourself to those classic authors whose work has endured for hundreds of years. Don’t let the thought of competing with Dickens or Austen leave you paralyzed, though. Harness their writing habits and tips to further your own work. Here are 15 tips you can take away from the famous authors of yesteryear, in honor of National Novel Writing Month:

1. KEEP YOURSELF MOTIVATED BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY // FRIEDRICH SCHILLER

The 18th century poet and playwright reportedly had an ingeniously weird way of keeping himself motivated at his writing desk. He kept a bunch of rotting apples in his drawer, claiming they sparked creativity. The writer definitely thrived on discomfort. Since he wrote at night, he would take extreme measures to keep himself awake, including sticking his feet into tubs of cold water.

2. IGNORE THE HATERS // EZRA POUND

Pound may have been giving advice to aspiring poets in this quote from 1913, though his words apply to writers of all stripes: “Pay no attention to the criticism of men who have never themselves written a notable work.”

3. DON’T WAIT AROUND FOR INSPIRATION // JACK LONDON

“Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and if you don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it,” the author advised in a guidebook for aspiring writers. His other piece of advice? Make it a habit. “Set yourself a ‘stint,’ and see that you do that ‘stint’ each day,” he wrote.

4. DON’T GET TIED DOWN BY LESSER PURSUITS // ELIZABETH CADY STANTON

Women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton once wrote to publisher and fellow suffragette Susan B. Anthony complaining that Anthony hadn’t written to her in a while. She joked, “Where are you, Susan, and what are you doing? Your silence is truly appalling. Are you dead or married?” Stanton herself was married with seven children, so she knew what she was talking about. Even if you aren’t married, it’s important not to let your creative pursuits disappear under the weight of your other responsibilities.

5. FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY // FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

In a series of 1882 letters to another writer, the philosopher—who also wrote poetry throughout his life—recommended that writers know where their work is going to go before they sit down to write. “First, one must determine precisely ‘what-and-what do I wish to say and present,’ before you may write,” he told her. “Writing must be mimicry.”

6. DON’T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT YOUR “PROCESS” // LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

“Dear Sir,” Louisa May Alcott began in a letter to a fan and aspiring writer. “I never copy or ‘polish’ so I have no old manuscripts to send you; and if I had it would be of little use, for one person’s method is no rule for another. Each must work in his own way; and the only drill needed is to keep writing and profit by criticism.” Whatever your writing habits, she continued, write plainly and avoid fanciful language: “Young people use too many adjectives and try to ‘write fine.’ The strongest, simplest words are best, and no foreign ones if it can be helped.”

7. LOCK YOURSELF AWAY UNTIL YOU FINISH // VICTOR HUGO

Sometimes, we all need to shut ourselves in to get down to work, as even the most successful writers would tell you. If you’re having trouble getting started, you’ve just got to give yourself no other options. When he was writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo pursued this artistic isolation in a particularly extreme fashion. He had a servant hide all his clothes and wore only a full-length knitted shawl around his body so that he couldn’t go outside, no matter how much he was tempted to. Presumably it deterred anyone from visiting, too. He successfully cranked out the novel in six months.

8. DON’T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT ORIGINALITY // MARK TWAIN

While reading his friend Helen Keller’s biography in 1903, author Mark Twain was shocked to hear of an incident more than a decade prior (when she was 11) when she had been accused of plagiarism in one of her short stories. In a letter to her, he told her not to worry too much about echoing the works of other writers. “The kernel, the soul—let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances—is plagiarism,” he declared. “For substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources, and daily use by the garnerer with a pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them; whereas there is not a rag of originality about them anywhere except the little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his temperament, and which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing.” The lesson here? Prioritize your language.

9. KEEP YOUR DIALOGUE NATURAL // JANE AUSTEN

In 1814, Jane Austen’s niece, Anna Austen, was writing a novel that she naturally sent along to her Aunt Jane for editing notes. “I do not like a lover speaking in the 3rd person,” she wrote. “I think it not natural.” However, Austen maintained that the author knows best, even over the advice of a famous writer like herself. “If you think differently,” she wrote, “you need not mind me.”

10. READ YOUR IDOLS // H.P. LOVECRAFT

In 1920, the horror writer advised young writers on the importance of careful reading of literary masters: “No formal course in fiction-writing can equal a close and observant perusal of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce. In these masterpieces one may find that unbroken sequence and linkage of incident and result which mark the ideal tale.”

11. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS // CHARLOTTE BRONTE

In reply to a critical review of her work, Charlotte Brontë observed that she could not predict what her next book would be like until she had written it. “When authors write best, or, at least, when they write most fluently, an influence seems to waken in them which becomes their master—which will have its way —putting out of view all behests but its own, dictating certain words, and insisting on their being used, whether vehement or measured in their nature, new moulding characters, giving unthought of turns to incidents, rejecting carefully elaborated old ideas, and suddenly creating and adopting new ones.” Basically, there’s no point in trying to counteract your writerly muse.

12. DON’T BE LONG-WINDED // D.H. LAWRENCE

In a 1906 letter to his future fiancé, Louie Burrows, the then-21-year-old D.H. Lawrence haughtily panned an essay she wrote, giving his ladyfriend a few tips on tightening up her prose. “Do be careful of your adjectives—do try and be terse, there is so much more force in a rapid style that will not be hampered by superfluous details,” he wrote. “Just look at your piece and see how many three lined sentences could be comfortably expressed in one line.” Despite the fact that he insulted her writing as wordy “like most girl writers,” four years later, the two would be engaged. (They cancelled the pending wedding 14 months later.)

13. WRITE BELIEVABLY (AT LEAST TO YOU) // JOSEPH CONRAD

“In truth every novelist must begin by creating for himself a world, great or little, in which he can honestly believe,” Joseph Conrad wrote in 1905. “This world cannot be made otherwise than in his own image: it is fated to remain individual and a little mysterious, and yet it must resemble something already familiar to the experience, the thoughts and the sensations of his readers.”

14. APPRECIATE THE EXPERIENCE // THOMAS JEFFERSON

The writer of some of America’s most important founding documents had several general rules for living, which he documented in a letter to his granddaughter in 1783. One of them every writer should take to heart: “Nothing is troublesome that one does willingly.” Writing a book of any length is hard work, but for true writers, it’s also a pleasure. Jefferson knew what he was talking about, too. He sat down at his writing desk every day from sunrise until 1 p.m. answering letters to friends, scholars, political colleagues, and admirers, sending off almost 20,000 missives throughout his life.

15. DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE ELSE // RILKE

It can be crippling to think about all the authors who are more successful, more well-known, and who you may perceive as more talented than you. But as Rainier Maria Rilke wrote to a young admirer in 1903 (later collected in the book Letters to a Young Poet), such comparisons are useless to you as an artist. “You are looking outside, and that is what you should most avoid right now. No one can advise or help you—no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself.”

If you’re working on the next Great American Novel, you don’t have time to waste shopping around for car insurance. Instead, get a quote from GEICO. In just a few minutes, their friendly customer service team can help you find excellent coverage that could save you money. (How’s that for a happy ending?)

Even without television, video games, and the internet, our Victorian predecessors found plenty of ways to entertain themselves around the holidays. They just had to get creative, using everything from flaming raisins to pure imagination to pass the time. Here are 15 classic parlor games to break out if you and your loved ones feel like unplugging during the holiday season. 

1. FICTIONARY 

Whether they’re played in the form of board games or mobile apps, word games are incredibly popular. They were also a hit with Victorian audiences, though the options they had back then were severely limited. Instead of pulling up a game on their phone, players would pull out a dictionary. To play Fictionary, one person reads an obscure word from the dictionary while everyone else jots down their made-up definitions. After the person with the dictionary reads the fake definitions out loud along with the real one, players vote on whichever definition they think is true. Fake submissions earn points for each vote they receive and players earn points for guessing the right answer. If no one guesses correctly, whoever is holding the dictionary gets a point. 

2. SQUEAK PIGGY SQUEAK 

Also known as Oink Piggy Oink or Grunt Piggy Grunt, Squeak Piggy Squeak is a spin off Blind Man’s Bluff. One player chosen to be the “farmer” gets blindfolded and sits on a pillow in the center of a circle of “piggies.” After spinning around a few times, the farmer stumbles over to a random piggy and places the pillow on their lap. When he sits down and says “Squeak Piggy Squeak” the piggy must make a squeaking sound: If the farmer can guess who he’s sitting on based on the noise alone the piggy becomes the new farmer. This game hasn’t proven to be as timeless as Blind Man’s Bluff, but we bet it would still make for a successful icebreaker with modern party guests. 

3. THE MINISTER’S CAT 

The Minister’s Cat follows the formula of many classic word games: Players sit around in a circle and take turns describing the minister’s cat with a different adjective. Each adjective must start with a different letter of the alphabet, starting with “A.” For example, the first player might say, “The minister’s cat is an angry cat,” followed next by, “The minister’s cat is a brilliant cat.” Players are eliminated if they repeat an adjective or fail to come up with a new one.

4. THE SCULPTOR 

This game gives players a chance to show off their inner artist. Players stand still while the person chosen to be “the sculptor” walks around positioning everyone into silly poses. Participants aren’t allowed to laugh, move, or smile. If this happens the sculptor becomes a statue and the player who broke character assumes the role. Everyone should get to be the sculptor at least once, since he or she obviously has the most fun of anyone. 

5. CHANGE SEATS! 

And you thought musical chairs could get rowdy. During Change Seats!, players sit in a circle of chairs, while one player stands in the center of the circle. Whoever is “It” picks someone in the circle and asks him or her, “Do you love your neighbor?” If the answer is “No,” the people seated on either side must quickly change seats, before the person in the center can steal one of their chairs. However, the person being questioned may also answer, “Yes, I love my neighbor, except those who … [are wearing red, have blue eyes, etc.].” At that point, everyone who falls into the category must stand up and try to change seats as quickly as they can, while the person in the middle tries to steal one.  

6. ARE YOU THERE, MORIARTY? 

Are You There, Moriarty? is similar to Marco Polo, except instead of playing in a pool, a pair of players lay face-down on the floor about arm’s length apart. Both participants are blindfolded and each is equipped with a rolled-up newspaper. The game begins when the first player calls out “Are you there, Moriarty?” When the second player responds, the caller attempts to bop him over the head with his makeshift weapon. The newspaper swordfight proceeds until both parties feel too silly to continue. 

7. FRUIT BOWL 

Fruit Bowl is like musical chairs with a delicious twist. Game participants are assigned one of a handful of fruit categories: apple, banana, strawberry, etc. Everyone takes a seat while one player is left standing. That player chooses a fruit to call out—if he or she says “apple,” for example, then all the apples have to switch seats while the person who is “It” scrambles to find a seat as well. The last player left standing takes over the job of calling out names. 

8. PASS THE SLIPPER 

If you don’t have a slipper for this game, any light object you trust your party guests to handle will do. One person sits in the middle of the circle with their eyes closed while people around the perimeter pass along an item. The player at the center opens their eyes at random moments and the passing stops. If he or she can’t see who’s holding the “slipper,” he or she must guess where it stopped. The two players switch spots if the guesser succeeds. 

9. CONSEQUENCES 

If you’ve ever made up a story one piece at a time as a group, you know the basic concept of Consequences. This version can lead to even more hilarious, and often horrifying results. The first player kicks things off by drawing a head (whether human, animal, or mythical) on a sheet of paper, then folds it over to cover the creation. After passing it on, the next player draws a torso, the next legs, and so on. Once the sheet has made the rounds, players can unfold it to marvel at whatever monstrosity they created as a team.

10. THE LAUGHING GAME

The rules of the Laughing Game are straightforward. One player begins by saying the word “ha” with a straight face. The second player continues saying “ha ha,” followed by “ha ha ha” and so forth in a circle. The object is to keeping going as long as possible without cracking up. If a player breaks so much as a smile, he’s out of the game. 

11. WINK MURDER 

Nothing spices up a holiday party like a good murder mystery. To play this game, one participant acts as the “murderer,” while another plays the detective whose job it is to identify him or her. The murderer covertly winks at the other players in the circle, causing them to drop dead. Using his or her deductive reasoning skills the detective has three shots to guess which of the players left alive is the murderer. 

12. ELEPHANT’S FOOT UMBRELLA STAND

Elephant’s foot umbrella stands may not be as common as they were in the Victorian Era, but the game named after them is still fun to play. The leader starts the game by saying “I went to the store and bought…” followed by an object. Whatever object the leader names has to fit a secret rule they’ve decided to follow throughout the game. For example, if the rule is that every object must end with the letter “E,” the leader might say “I went to the store and bought an orange.” Players then taking turns guessing the rule by naming objects they think apply. If a player says “I went to the store and bought a boat” the leader would say something like “They’re all out of boats.” But if they said they bought a kite instead, the leader would approve their purchase without sharing why. The game becomes more fun the longer you play, assuming you’re not the last player to catch on. 

13. LOOKABOUT 

The only thing you need to play Lookabout is an object. The host shows the selected item—whether it’s a shoe, a vase, or a pillow—to the party guests and asks them to leave the room. Once it’s hidden, guests are allowed to return and attempt to locate the object. Players take a seat whenever they spot it, and the last person remaining becomes the next hider. 

14. FORFEITS 

A round of Forfeits is a fast way to loosen up your party guests. To start, everyone forfeits an item of value (keys, phone, wallet, etc.). A player selected to be the “auctioneer” stands at the front of the room and presents each item as if it were to sale. Players can get their item back for a price—the auctioneer might tell them to sing a song, share a secret, or do 100 jumping jacks. In the smartphone era the stakes of this Victorian parlor game are even higher. 

15. SNAP-DRAGON 

This game, while certainly an ice-breaker, is probably best left to the Victorians. To play snap-dragon, party guests, typically together for Christmas Eve, would dunk raisins in a bowl of brandy and set the booze on fire. Players would then attempt to pick out the raisins and pop them in their mouths. There’s not really a point to the game other than to avoid getting burnt. Suddenly spending the holidays glued to your phone sounds like the saner option. 

Save time (and maybe even some money!) this holiday season by switching to GEICO. Their award-winning mobile app can help you find coverage you can count on faster than you can say, “Are you there, Moriarty?”

The next time you’re throwing a party, give your guests something to really talk about. Namely, a gigantic inflatable unicorn that looms over everyone with a smile.

This new creation from Firebox is as good as it gets for anyone who loves magic and rainbows. The durable, vinyl creature is 7 feet tall and will probably dwarf anyone who comes to visit (unless you know some basketball players). It’s perfect for mythical ragers, scaring neighbors, and unseasonable pool parties.

You can get your own giant friend for $65 on Firebox. With giant blue eyes and flowing rainbow mane, it’s sure to be a hit with all your guests—just don’t invite Voldemort over.

As any resident of New York or Tokyo could tell you, a lot of people can squeeze into some small bits of land. While some countries have rather dense populations, others offer a bit more breathing room. To better illustrate the populations of different countries, Imgur user JPalmz decided to scramble the world map so that each country’s population was reflected by its corresponding mass of land. That means China, the most populated country, has been moved to the largest land mass, Russia.

You can see how all the different countries have found new homes that better accommodate their size in the map above. Interestingly, the United States, Yemen, Brazil, and Ireland didn’t have to move at all because their land size and population rankings matched.

“All of the data is publicly available on Wikipedia, I just wanted to make it more visually presentable,” the creator told indy100.

[h/t Amazing Maps]

The Afternoon Map is a semi-regular feature in which we post maps and infographics. In the afternoon. Semi-regularly.

This holiday season, give your loved ones the gift of nostalgia. These products draw their inspiration from the popular children’s books that most of us read when we were young.

1. BABAR YOGA TOTE BAG; $18

Some might remember that Babar, king of the elephants, is a bit of a yogi. The 2002 book Babar’s Yoga for Elephants gave readers step-by-step instructions on how to do yoga like an elephant. This tote bag features some of the positions and stretches, along with the instructions, as featured in the book—making it the perfect companion for yoga class.

Find it: Amazon

2. CHRONICLES OF NARNIA COLORING BOOK; $16

Now, readers can enter a version of Narnia that’s completely black and white. It’s up to fans to color in Azlan and the rest of the mystical gang. The 96-page book is based off all seven books from C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.

Find it: ThinkGeek

3. PETER RABBIT TEE; $30

Did you know Peter Rabbit was a real rabbit? Author Beatrix Potter kept him as a pet and would sketch him for her stories. Your loved one can pay tribute to the mischievous rabbit with this deep green t-shirt.

Find it: ModCloth

4. DR. SEUSS MUG; $9

This Dr. Seuss classic is a staple for children and graduates thanks to its encouraging words about the future. The mug reminds recipients that there’s plenty to do—after a cup of coffee. The 12-ounce mug is both dishwasher and microwave-safe.

Find it: Amazon

5. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE SOCKS; $10

Know a rambunctious monster? Give them socks that match their wild nature. These unisex socks match the recognizable pattern seen on Carol, the monster from Maurice Sendak’s classic tale.

Find it: Amazon

6. CHARLOTTE’S WEB PIN; $11

We all know the heartwarming tale about the unlikely friendship between a pig and a spider. Help your loved one celebrate their timeless story with this enamel pin, which makes for a great stocking stuffer or Secret Santa gift.

Find it: Etsy

7. HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON SWEATER; $42

This cotton and poly blend purple sweater features the cover from the book, Harold and the Purple Crayon. With the cold weather upon us, this will be a welcome present.

Find it: Amazon

8. CHESHIRE CAT EARRINGS; $14

These earrings, featuring the slippery Cheshire Cat and his signature grin, can be worn as simple studs or as ear jackets, with the cat’s body dangling behind the ear lobes.

Find it: ThinkGeek

9. THE LITTLE PRINCE PURSE; $25

After carrying The Little Prince around during childhood, nostalgic readers can now carry it around in purse form. The purse can be worn on a chain or carried like a clutch.

Find it: Amazon

10. THE GIVING TREE CANDLE; $12

If you know someone who thinks of The Giving Tree fondly, you can remind them of the heartbreaking story every time they want to light a candle. This soy wax candle—which burns for about 55 hours—smells like apples, with notes of natural cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, orange, and cedarwood.

Find it: Etsy

11. CLASSIC BOOK PILLOWS; $15 – $20

After reading long into the night, it’s hard not to fall asleep right on the pages of a book. Now, your friends and family can sleep comfortably, with pillows that look like one of three familiar books and feature a quote on the back cover. Treasure Island and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes are shaped like closed books, but Alice in Wonderland is open, allowing for some great literary snoozes.

Find it: ThinkGeek