Page 1838 – fakuto

filed under: shopping

Image credit:

amazon / istock

As a recurring feature, our team combs the Web and shares some amazing Amazon deals we’ve turned up. Here’s what caught our eye today, November 16.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers, including Amazon, and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Good luck deal hunting!

November 16, 2016 – 12:29pm

Amazon Product Id:

B00HUOPXCY

November 16, 2016

You Can Buy Cory’s House From ‘Boy Meets World’

Shaunacy Ferro

filed under: Television

TGIF fans can now own a little piece of TV history—the house that Cory Matthews lived in. While the interior shots on Boy Meets World were studio sets, the establishing exterior shots of the Matthews’s abode in Philadelphia were actually filmed at a house in Los Angeles that’s now up for sale.

The two-bedroom, two-bath home is located in Studio City, a Los Angeles neighborhood that’s home to plenty of celebrities, as well as the CBS Studio Center, where the latter seasons of the show were shot. The listing describes it as a “private gated celebrity estate.”

The interior might not look exactly like the house you saw on television, but some features are reminiscent of the make-believe Matthews residence; there’s an exterior patio like the one Cory and Shawn played basketball on, and a somewhat similar kitchen aesthetic. But an L.A. pad with ties to television will cost you. It’s listed at close to $1.6 million.

All images courtesy Estately.

November 16, 2016 – 1:00pm

November 16, 2016

Charles Redheffer was an American inventor who claimed…

Charles Redheffer was an American inventor who claimed to have invented a perpetual motion machine, He was later exposed when an engineer found a hidden cord that led to an upper floor. Upstairs he found an old man who was turning a hand-crank with one hand and eating bread with the other.

November 16, 2016

Danny Elfman came up with the theme to ‘Batman’ on a flight…

Danny Elfman came up with the theme to ‘Batman’ on a flight from London but since he couldn’t write music he kept running to the bathroom to record himself on a tape recorder whenever he had a new idea, causing the flight attendants to think he was a junkie.

November 16, 2016

Light Therapy Could Help Bees Recover From Pesticides

Kate Horowitz

filed under: Animals, Bees?, environment, insects

Image credit:

Richard Bartz via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.5

The world’s bees are in crisis, beset by a daunting variety of threats. Humans are at least partially responsible for the bees’ decline, but we’re also hoping to be responsible for their rescue. Now scientists have found one way to protect them. Writing in the journal PLOS One, they report that treating hives with red light can help bees recover from pesticide exposure.

About ten years ago, beekeepers began reporting mass die-offs and disappearances from their hives. In many places, it appeared as though the bees had simply been raptured; hive boxes were empty but there were no bodies to be found.

One of the first suspects in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), as it came to be called, was a parasite called the varroa mite. But even the ravenous, invasive mite couldn’t make bees disappear, so scientists began looking for other clues. Their search led them in a number of different directions, including toward a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. All pesticides are, by design, bad for bugs, but neonicotinoids have an especially nasty effect on bees, causing them to forget to eat and even where they live. They also curtail the production of an energy-carrying molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), weakening the bees and keeping them from flying.

In light of this information, environmental agencies in some countries have banned neonicotinoid pesticides altogether. Others are holding out and leaving the bees to fend for themselves.

But they’re not completely alone. Researchers at University College London (UCL) have been developing a treatment that may help bees bounce back from pesticide exposure. They knew from previous studies that infrared light could help slow and heal cellular breakdown, so they decided to try it out with sick bees.

They set up four hives. For 10 days, the researchers exposed two of the colonies (let’s call them A and B) to a neonicotinoid called imidacloprid, while the other two (C and D) were left alone. During the same period, they exposed hives A and C to infrared light twice a day for 15 minutes.

As expected, the poisoned bees in hive B did not fare well. Their survival rate and ATP levels dropped. With no poison and no light treatment, the unmolested inhabitants of hive D were just fine. But so were the bees in hive A. They were hale and hearty, moving around and living their lives as though they’d never been poisoned. The light was clearly doing them good. It also offered a boost to the healthy bees in hive C, whose survival rates were even higher.

Co-author Glen Jeffery is a visual neuroscientist at UCL’s Institute of Ophthalmology. He and his team were encouraged by their results, and say a simple infrared light in hive boxes could be all that’s needed. Not only does the light help damaged bees heal, but it can even protect those who have never been exposed. It’s “an effective means of preventing loss of life in case a colony becomes exposed to neonicotinoids,” Jeffery said in a press statement. “It’s win-win.”

November 16, 2016 – 12:30pm

November 16, 2016

Match the Movie to Its Poor Description

November 16, 2016 – 8:16am

November 16, 2016

You Still Have a Chance to Grab an NES Classic This Week

Rebecca OConnell

filed under: shopping, video-games

Image credit:

Nintendo / iStock

If you’re looking to tap into some fond childhood memories, look no further than the triumphant return of the Nintendo Entertainment System. The new console—called the NES Classic—is just like the original, but smaller and pre-loaded with 30 games. While this piece of throwback technology is in high demand (most of the 8-bit consoles sold out immediately), Walmart still has some in stock, and they’re selling them in tiny batches each night.

According to their Facebook page, the retailer will be selling the NES Classic each evening starting at 5 p.m. EST for $59.96 until Friday. That means rabid Nintendo fans can hang around this page and refresh until the consoles come back in stock. Currently, the price listed shows how much they cost from third-party sellers, which gives you an idea of just how in demand these puppies are.

The NES Classic comes with 30 games (listed here) and a single controller. At the moment, extra controllers are completely sold out, but who knows, maybe Walmart will have a flash sale for those too.

[h/t Polygon]

November 16, 2016 – 11:15am

November 16, 2016

Watch: The Courageous Couple Behind ‘Loving’

Jake Rossen

filed under: History, Movies

Image credit:

Focus Features

On July 11, 1958, five weeks after being married, Richard and Mildred Loving awoke to flashlights and uniformed policemen hovering over their bed. An anonymous tip had led police to the couple for violating Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act. Richard was white; Mildred was black. In 24 states, including Virginia, interracial marriage was illegal.

The Lovings’ fight against that supreme injustice is the subject of Loving, a new feature from director Jeff Nichols. Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga portray the couple whose love was against the law, and who were forced to flee Virginia and face criminal charges for having wed. (The two were married in Washington, D.C., one of the places that recognized mixed-race unions.) Labeled felons, they were told never to return to their home while they were still together.

Fair use, Wikimedia Commons

It would be years before the Lovings made progress, thanks in large part to the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union and volunteer lawyer Bernie Cohen. The case was eventually brought before the United States Supreme Court. Their 1967 ruling would break down the last of the legal barriers in the racial segregation that had divided the country for much of the decade.

Loving is currently in limited release. To check and see if it’s playing in a theater near you, go here. To get a glimpse into the making of the film, check out the video below.

November 16, 2016 – 11:00am

November 16, 2016

Get a Steal on Amazon’s Fire HD 6 Tablet

Smart Shopping Team

filed under: shopping

Image credit:

amazon / istock

You don’t have to wait for Black Friday to get a hefty discount on a tablet. For a limited time, Amazon is knocking an extra $20 off the price of the Fire HD 6 tablet when you use promo code FIREHD6 at checkout. The Fire HD 6 lists for $99.99, and Amazon usually sells it for $69.99. With this deal, you can drop the price all the way to $49.99, a bargain price for a high-definition tablet with eight gigabytes of memory and front- and rear-facing cameras. The Fire HD 6 tablet lets you tap into all your favorite apps, browse the web, and watch video through Prime, Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu, and more. It also features a seamless Kindle Reader integration, and you can even stock up on books when you try Kindle Unlimited for free for 30 days. If you’re looking for a handy tablet that won’t break the bank, it’s hard to pass on this deal.

Buy at Amazon: Fire HD 6 Tablet, 6″ HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB – Includes Special Offers, Black for $49.99 with promo code FIREHD6 (list price $99.99)

November 16, 2016 – 11:30am

Amazon Product Id:

B00KC6I06S

November 16, 2016