Raising children is confusing and stressful, which is why new parents rely on traditional wisdom and the experiences of others to help guide their decisions. But what one person considers traditional knowledge, another may interpret as bizarre or irrational. In psychology, this phenomenon is called magical thinking. Or, more commonly—superstitions.

When it comes to children, superstitions arise out of a need to exert control over the randomness of life and the difficulty of parenting. Parents act on superstitions to protect their offspring from the dangerous, unpredictable outside world. But how real or superstitious a certain custom seems depends on personal belief. Distinct cultural lenses are necessary to focus the blurry line between superstition and age-old wisdom, as is the knowledge that many of these traditions were born in times of high infant mortality and provided much-needed comfort. Read on to learn about some of the most unique ways parents around the world use superstitions.

1. SUMO WRESTLERS AND CRYING INFANTS // JAPAN

For 400 years, bringing babies to tears at the hands of sumo wrestlers has been a tradition carried out during Tokyo’s annual Nakizumo Festival. During the event, two sumo wrestlers stand in a ring while trying to make the baby they each hold cry. If the babies don’t cry, a referee will don a terrifying mask to help bring the babies to tears. There is a saying in Japan that says “Naku ko wa sodatsu,” which translates to “crying babies grow fastest.” The proverb harkens back to a traditional belief that a baby’s cry can ward off demons and promote the healthy growth of the child.

2. FLYING INFANTS // INDIA

In a few remote villages in the eastern Indian provinces of Maharashtra and Karnataka, a reportedly 700-year-old superstition continues to draw the ire of outsiders. Babies under the age of 2 (although some reports claim most of the infants are less than 2 months old) are dropped from the top of Muslim mosques and Hindu temples. The infants are dropped on their backs from dizzying heights upwards of 50 feet and caught by a group of men who break the fall with a blanket. Though widely condemned (and although most Indians don’t even know the custom exists) and illegal under Indian law, some villagers gather to watch the (extremely uncommon) event and participating parents believe that it will bring their children good health, strength, and long life.

3. POST-BIRTH NAMING CEREMONY // EGYPT

Seven days after a baby is born, Egyptian families hold a gathering called the Sebou, which is like a post-birth baby shower. The Sebou is a rite of passage and the first ceremonial acknowledgment of a newborn; to celebrate a birth before the seven days is considered bad luck. Traditional Sebous involve scaring the baby with loud noises, like banging a mortar and pestle, to teach courage. At some ceremonies, the baby is placed on a sieve with a knife on their chest to keep away evil while the mother hops back and forth seven times over her newborn. Guests sprinkle salt around the home and on the mother to guard against the evil eye. After that, guests place grains and gold around the baby; other common gifts include religious verses written on prayer rolls and turquoise stones for luck.

4. DEVIL JUMPING // CASTRILLO DE MURCIA, SPAIN

The devil comes to the streets of Castrillo de Murcia, Spain each June to steal original sin from infants. During the celebration a man playing the character of el Colacho parades around the streets dressed in the garb of the devil. At the end of the multi-day festival, parents lay their babies down on mattresses in the street, and as el Colacho flees the town, he jumps over the hordes of infants. When he leaps over the babies, it is believed the devil soaks in the sin babies were born with and takes it with him. Catholics believe that all humans are born with sin, and this ceremony protects infants from their inherent wickedness.

5. STAY OFF THE GROUND // BALI, INDONESIA

On the largely Hindu island of Bali, after a child is born the placenta is buried in a special location and the cord cutting is delayed. But just as importantly, babies aren’t allowed to touch the ground. After 105 days have passed, families celebrate by throwing Penyambutan, when the baby’s feet get to touch soil for the first time, and it is during this celebration that the baby is given a name. A priest comes to the celebration where he blesses the family and the baby and helps as the family gives offerings to various Hindu gods.

6. CALLING BABIES UGLY // VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Westerners love to ooh and aah over babies, but in other places, admirers are purposely less enthusiastic. In Bulgaria it is believed that if a child is praised the devil will become jealous, so adults (generally) pretend to spit on babies while saying things like “May the chickens poop on you.” In other cultures, including in Greece, Romania, and India, it is customary to spit on or near a baby that has been complimented to ward off the evil eye. In Vietnam, there is a superstition that calling a baby “cute” will make the baby turn ugly. Among families who want to keep away evil spirits, they will affectionately coo, “You’re such an ugly baby.” Variations on this belief include Thailand, where ghosts will steal sweet-looking babies, and China, where superstitions say that praising a newborn will bring on evil spirits.

7. NEONATAL BABY TEETH // VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Not all superstitions are actions that people carry out; some are based on biological functions that no one can control. Natal and neonatal teeth are baby teeth that appear either in the womb or in the first month after birth. They have long been associated with superstitions around the world. Malaysian families have associated them with good luck. Nearby in China, the opposite is believed, with some communities going as far as considering babies with them monsters and demanding the removal of the teeth. There have been multiple accounts of isolated villages in parts of Africa where infants with neonatal or natal teeth have been killed or abandoned. In parts of Europe, it was believed babies with these early teeth would become great leaders—or potentially a vampire. And of course, the superstitions around losing baby teeth later on are just as old and widespread.

For some flyers, price is the only thing that matters when choosing an airline. This is where travel comparison sites come in handy: When legroom, food quality, and seating assignments aren’t deciding factors, customers can arrange flights by cost and choose the cheapest option available. But as a recent story from The Economist points out, at least one airline has found a way to game the system so that those cheap flights can end up costing more later on.

Delta, United, and American Airlines all offer something called “basic economy” (or “last class,” as it’s more commonly known among flyers). By forfeiting the ability to choose their seats, passengers can snag tickets for cheaper than what they’d find in regular economy. For frugal flyers that may sound like a sweet deal, but United just revealed another condition that may cause some customers to reconsider it. By agreeing to fly in basic economy, passengers lose their privilege to store bags in the overhead bin. The only luggage they’re allowed to bring on board is a carry-on bag small enough to fit beneath the seat in front of them.

Customers who always travel light would likely be happy to have the option to pay less than those who bring on heavier loads that require more fuel. But if you aren’t aware of the bag stipulation beforehand, you could end up losing the money saved on the ticket when it comes time to check your baggage. The Economist suggests that the basic economy price tag may be a sneaky way for United to climb to the top of flight searches on sites like Kayak and Expedia. Customers buy the cheap ticket assuming they’ll have access to the overhead bin. But depending on how many bags need to be checked (United charges $25 for the first and $35 for the second), a regular economy ticket may have been the savvier choice.

United is the only airline to include luggage restrictions in their basic economy offers at this time, but if it proves to be a money-maker for the company, Delta and American could soon follow suit. When selecting a flight, always read the fine print to make sure you’re getting the most for your money. If that $200 flight across the country turns out to be too good to be true, there are other strategies, like shopping in the middle of the week, you can use to score the best deal possible.

[h/t The Economist]

When thinking of certain countries, what word comes to mind? If you think of “war” when thinking about the United States, you might have just read the country’s Wikipedia page. This map shows the most recurrent words found on each country’s English Wikipedia page.

Reddit user Amiantedeluxe looked at each country’s Wikipedia entry and used a word frequency counter to figure out which words were used the most. To keep it interesting, prepositions and words connected to the country’s name were not included in the counting. It’s also worth noting that words like “island” and “islands” are counted as different words.

Not all the results were as poignant as the United States. Many of the countries had obvious answers like “national” and “Africa.”

[h/t Vox]

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

It’s now possible to send text messages through glass cleaner and vinegar. Technology invented by Stanford University engineers can relay messages through pulses of acids and bases to pH sensors, as The Verge reports. All it requires is a machine that can send out and decode messages of this type.

Researchers have been able to type text messages into a special machine that then sends out signals with vinegar and glass cleaners to a computer that decodes the chemicals back into text. Initially, inventor Nariman Farsad tried to use vodka to send messages, but the signals ended up building up so much that messages could no longer be received—kind of like a voicemail box that is too full. Instead, by using acids and bases (in places of the binary zeros and ones used by other communication systems), the chemicals cancel each other out when they’re received by the computer. The chemicals do, however, leave behind some residue, which means there’s a bit of noise in the signal that will have to be eliminated to make it truly effective.

The application of such a technology isn’t immediately clear, but the Stanford researchers suggest in a press release that it could be used underwater or in places with a lot of metal—both locations that usually confound electromagnetic communication signals. Because the tech could someday be used without electronics, it could potentially be harnessed to send messages off the grid, or to send signals between biotechnology nanorobots inside the body.

[h/t The Verge]

All images via YouTube courtesy Stanford University

Planning your first trip with a new significant other, friend, or coworker? Traveling with someone for the first time is exciting, especially if it signals a step forward in your relationship. But being together in close quarters or stressful situations can also reveal hidden sides of your companion.

“[Travel] can expose things about each other that you hadn’t previously seen, such as hygiene habits, spending differences, tidiness or messiness, sleep issues like snoring, and eating schedules and habits,” says Tina Tessina, PhD, a psychotherapist and author of Love Styles: How to Celebrate Your Differences. “Travel often creates stress: when plans go awry, a flight is delayed, luggage gets lost, a hotel room isn’t as expected, or the weather doesn’t cooperate. All of these experiences will test your ability to solve problems together on the spot.”

Before you jet off, here are a few steps to take to avoid any potential conflict.

1. TALK ABOUT MONEY.

“I recently embarked on an overseas trip with a longtime friend, our first-ever together,” says frequent traveler Kari Cruz. “While we’ve been friends for five plus years, there are definitely some standard questions you should ask beforehand … You don’t always think to do this when you’ve gotten to know a person for a long time.”

Specifically, Cruz suggests asking about spending habits. “Are you flexible on where you want to eat and how you want to indulge? This may strain outings if you aren’t on similar budgets,” she says.

You also want to discuss exactly how each of you will pitch in for expenses like gas, hotels, restaurants, and so on. The answer may seem as simple as “split it down the middle,” but if your friend has some expensive tastes—or, conversely, a tight budget—you might be in for a surprise.

2. PLAN SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES BEFORE YOU GO.

Aside from the money, you may have different ideas about what you want to do and see during the trip. “Don’t make assumptions that your companion will like what you like,” says Tessina. “You may have dreams of lying on a beach, while your companion loves the nightlife. Find out who wants what.”

Start by coming up with a list of activities you each want to fit in and rank them by priority. When you’ve each written down three to four sites you have to see, schedule them into your itinerary. If there’s extra time, you can squeeze in some low-priority activities from each list.

“Don’t spring surprises on your travel companion,” Tessina adds. “While it might be nice to see someone you know on your travels, or to visit a place you visited with your ex, your companion might see it differently, if not given time to deal with it in advance.”

3. DISCUSS DAILY HABITS.

It helps to understand your travel partner’s day-to-day habits, too. “It could definitely hamper plans and itineraries if you’re on different schedules,” Cruz says. You might be a morning person who wants to get a jump on the day, while your travel companion is a night owl who’d prefer to spend her nights clubbing and the mornings sleeping in.

By discussing your habits in advance, you can not only prevent conflicts but also create a realistic itinerary. Don’t plan to be at the museum when it opens at 9 a.m. if you know it’s a struggle to rise before 10. And if you know you’ll get grumpy without an afternoon nap, don’t be shy about leaving time for that, too.

4. CREATE TRAVEL GOALS.

“Talk in advance about your hopes, expectations, and fears about the trip,” Tessina says. “While you can’t anticipate everything, having discussed these issues will help each of you understand the other better.”

Along the same lines, it may help to establish some overall travel goals for the trip. Do you want to learn about a destination’s culture or do you want to come back recharged? Or both? You may have different ideas, but by discussing them before you leave home you can figure out how to best accommodate both your needs.

5. SCHEDULE TIME APART.

If each of you has starkly different budgets or priorities for the trip, you might consider scheduling time apart to do those things on your own. And even if your goals and plans align, taking some time and space for yourself can be crucial for keeping the peace.

“Traveling together is great—but sometimes we need alone time,” Cruz says. She recommends discussing and scheduling this time in advance to make sure your partner is okay with it—and making it clear your need for a break isn’t a reaction to something they did. You’ll both get to squeeze in all of your activities, and best of all, you can regroup after and share your experiences.

Spectrum Toy Store isn’t your typical one-stop shop for kids’ trinkets. As ABC7 Chicago reports, the brand-new nonprofit business in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood caters to kids on the autism spectrum. Its toys and products are specially designed for customers with developmental disabilities, and families can try out the toys before they buy them to make sure they’re a good fit.

Jamilah Rahim, a behavioral therapist, opened Spectrum Toy Store after she noticed that many of the families she worked with were buying their toys online because no local stores carried them. On top of that, there was no guarantee that their kids would even like the products once they arrived.

“Every child with a disability is different and their needs are different,” Rahim told The Mighty. “Being able to come feel and see the product before purchasing it gives the comfort of knowing you have purchased the right product for your child.”

In addition to selling toys, Spectrum—which has a partnership with nonprofit organization Children’s Advanced Recreation and Education—offers programs for customers with disabilities, ages 3 to 13.

“We do different activity groups,” Rahim told ABC7 Chicago. “We focus on different core areas like communication skills, life skills, cognitive skills, gross and fine motor skills and sensory play. All of the classes are play based; since we are a toy store we try to gear everything around play so we do different activities with different toys to help support the skill deficit that children may have.”

Spectrum Toy Store is the first store of its kind in Illinois, and one of several to open across the U.S. Families that live outside Chicago can purchase Spectrum’s toys online.

[h/t ABC7 Chicago]

Scotland may soon take a major step toward narrowing the country’s hunger gap. As the Independent reports, the government is considering a “right to food” law that would make substantial and affordable meals accessible to everyone.

The proposal comes after the release of a report by the Independent Working Group on Food Poverty [PDF]. According to the publication, the number of requests for emergency food supplies in Scotland rose from around 14,000 in 2012 and 2013 to nearly 134,000 in 2015 and 2016. Legislating the right to food wouldn’t abolish hunger in the country completely, but the group hopes it would reduce the dependence on emergency rations to stay fed.

With the right to food protected by law, the Scottish government would have a legal obligation to implement policies and distribute resources as well as its powers allow. As the group writes in the report, “Underpinning policy with law makes policy more resilient and durable as governments change […] Tackling food insecurity in Scotland, like tackling homelessness, is a challenge which will outlast several parliaments.” They also recommend introducing a uniform system that could be used to measure food security.

Poverty is a pervasive issue in Scotland, and it hits children especially hard. A 2015 survey saw a 51 percent increase in the number of students going to school hungry. It’s such a common problem that teachers are trained to identify malnourished kids. If the new provision passes through, that would make Scotland the second European country to enshrine the right to food into law, the first being Ukraine. 

[h/t Independent]

How do antibiotics work?

Drew Smith:

Antibiotics have been around for a long time now, and we know which bacterial proteins they attack. ß-lactams like amoxicillin inhibit the enzyme that crosslinks peptidoglycans in bacterial cell walls. Fluoroquinolones like ciprofloxacin bind DNA topoisomerases and prevent them from coiling and uncoiling bacterial chromosomes. But so what? How does blocking these processes actually kill bacterial cells?

It turns out that we really don’t know a lot about how antibiotics actually kill bacteria, although we are beginning to get some clues.

One of these clues is that some antibiotics require bacterial protein synthesis in order to be effective: inhibition of protein synthesis reduces the lethality of ß-lactams, for instance. Simply blocking cell wall synthesis does not lead to rapid and complete killing of bacteria—something more is required.

Further research shows that antibiotics induce bacterial stress responses, and it is these responses, rather than the immediate activity of the antibiotics, which lead to cell death. In fact, a unified theory of antibiotic-induced cell death is beginning to emerge in which several classes of antibiotics work through a common mechanism.

Essentially, the stress response of cells to antibiotics causes disregulation of the carefully controlled membrane electrical potential. All cells generate chemical energy by pumping positively charged protons out of the cell, leaving an excess of negatively charged electrons within. The electrical potential created by this mechanism is enormous, as Nick Lane has pointed out; at the cellular scale, it is equivalent to a bolt of lightning.

Normally this power is used to turn a turbine-like molecular assembly (ATP synthase) that converts electrical energy into chemical energy. But when the flow of power is disrupted, a storm of highly reactive electrons is let loose in the cell, where they destroy everything—proteins, DNA, RNA.

We don’t yet understand all the steps that make this happen. That blue box in the figure which says “Metabolic Feedback” is really a black box. But this research should surely lead to new strategies for designing antibiotics and suppressing the evolution of antibiotic resistance.

This post originally appeared on Quora. Click here to view.

In honor of this weekend’s World Toilet Day, it’s time to embrace your inner poet. The awareness-raising holiday for sanitation issues—one of the leading causes of child death worldwide—takes place on November 19. This year, DefeatDD, an initiative combating diarrheal diseases from the global health nonprofit PATH, has launched the third edition of its “Doo a Poo Haiku” awareness campaign, NPR reports.

The contest part of the campaign is already over, sadly, but DefeatDD wants to keep the poo-etic musings flowing and is encouraging people to keep submitting their haikus on Twitter with the hashtag #poohaiku.

Some of the current submissions include gems like these:

When you have to go,
It’s quite important to know,
You won’t be in woe.

oh crap butt’s hurting
i guess i should watch my hands
damn you e.coli

Poo here and there
Makes for illness everywhere
Poo belongs in the loo

And yes, there is the occasional video:

“It’s more than just squirts!” Dick Guerrant, @CGHUVA, reads his #poohaiku with help from Andy Prendergast. #TropMed16 pic.twitter.com/gejA4mQeNh

— DefeatDD (@DefeatDD) November 14, 2016

Check out some of the other submissions by searching the hashtag #poohaiku.

[h/t NPR]