Starbucks is bringing back its red holiday cups, but there’s a twist. Thirteen different holiday designs will be served starting today.
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Why Did Kamikaze Pilots Wear Helmets? It’s time to set the record straight.
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This Psychopath Cult Leader Honed His Craft in Elementary School. Jim Jones learned his preaching skills at a very early age.  
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Clinical Trials Can Learn From Particle Physics. Here’s some ideas for streamlining the experimental process.
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The Tiny Kentucky Town That Eclipse Fans Are Obsessing Over. Just forget booking a room there.
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The History of Butter. The delicious creamy dairy fat goes back a long way.
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15 Continents that No Longer Exist. Unlike Atlantis, they did exist at one time.

Athletes, rejoice: We’ve officially entered marathon season. The New York City Marathon took place last Sunday, and in upcoming weeks, race participants will pound the pavement in Las Vegas, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Months of training aside, how are these competitors capable of logging so many miles? The American Chemical Society’s latest Reactions video explains what happens to the human body on a chemical and cellular level during a long-distance running session—from the reason your legs sometimes burn to what’s behind the highly sought after runner’s high.

[h/t Reactions]

Banner image: iStock

In the grand scheme of things, it really hasn’t taken humans very long to conquer the world. Modern humans didn’t evolve until 200,000 years ago, and didn’t start moving out of Africa until 100,000 years ago. Now, we dominate most regions across the globe, reshaping our environment, and encroaching on the environment of other animals. The American Museum of Natural History visualized just how quickly humanity has spread across the planet in this video spotted by Digg.

Each 1 million people living in a particular area is represented by a yellow dot, and labeled badges show the rise of specific empires, as well as notable population-changing events, like the bubonic plague or world wars. Over the course of just a few minutes, you can watch just how humans spread out of Africa, across Eurasia, and into the Western Hemisphere. Though booming populations and the spread of megacities aren’t always positive developments, the timeline will at least give you an appreciation for humanity’s long-lasting dedication to exploration.

[h/t Digg]

Teaser image by NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Whether you’re a single young professional or just starting a family, conserving funds for the future is always going to be your highest priority. One of the best ways to free up income is to make sure you’re in an area where the cost of living is reasonable. To help you avoid budget-busting relocations, we’ve rounded up some of the most affordable cities in the country. Check out 11 areas where housing, living expenses, and entertainment will be kind to your bank account.

1. BUFFALO, NEW YORK

Buffalo offers low median housing costs without succumbing to some of the cultural deprivations common in “affordable” cities. Buffalo has major sports teams, a large map of museums and attractions, and a geography that means you can find a place to call home without having to compromise with a long commute: Professionals tend to drive an average of just 20 minutes to their job sites. For families with children, the Buffalo school districts have been cited as being among some of the best in the country.

2. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Inexpensive rental properties averaging $850 a month: check. Low-cost food and entertainment options: check. Mortgage amounts that would take up only a fraction of your monthly income: check. Despite being the hub for several federal government jobs, Kansas City has kept its cost of living at reasonable levels for decades. Gamers might also get a kick out of the city’s rise of arcade bars, which mix retro amusements with refreshments.

3. DAYTON, OHIO

Expect to pay just over $10 for a T-bone steak and roughly $70,000 for a quality home in Dayton, which frequently makes appearances in several best cost-of-living reports. Residents are always close to major highway crossings and a variety of diversions, including several fine arts programs. Small business owners can also get a boost from the city’s aggressive economic development resources. And if health care is a priority, Dayton’s hospitals tend to be on the forefront of burgeoning diagnostic and treatment advances.

4. OMAHA, NEBRASKA

Omaha has an impressive balance sheet: Residents tend to make more and pay out less than national averages. And if you’re looking to mingle with a younger crowd, the city has an attractive statistic—roughly a third of its residents are 24 years old or younger. Job prospects for white collar workers are also bright: With five of the largest corporations in the country within city limits, opportunities are always within driving distance.

5. BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

Known as the Magic City, Birmingham boasts a low cost of living and moderate temperatures; foodies are unlikely to tire of the city’s 500-plus restaurants. The area also has a wide cross-section of housing, from a burgeoning loft community to quiet, family-friendly neighborhoods. The city’s natural and architectural summits provide some of the most spectacular views you’ll find in any metropolis.

6. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

Anyone looking to save as much as they can will appreciate Louisville’s reduced food and health care costs, which can offer double-digit decreases from the national average. The same holds true for their utilities, which is an often-overlooked (and money-eating) expense for anyone looking to spare funds. For job seekers, Louisville has been able to resist economic downturns and keep employment high.

7. MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Great food and music makes Memphis a no-brainer in terms of quality recreation; a cost of living 14 percent lower than the national average is just icing. Residents are able to save in some unexpected ways, with Tennessee among the lowest-taxed states in the country. For first-time homebuyers, a typical mortgage payment in the city may only eat up an average of 10 percent of monthly earnings.

8. GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

You won’t experience any wide weather or housing fluctuations in Greenville, which has some of the most consistent numbers for both. An afternoon car ride will get you to major hubs like Atlanta or Myrtle Beach, but you might be inclined to stay put: The city is famous for its food, museums, downtown district, and strong job market.

9. COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

In addition to modest housing costs, Colorado Springs cuts health care costs by harboring some of the country’s fittest residents. Outdoor activities and pet-friendly areas keep people moving, and the city is a quick commute to ski towns that you can enjoy on weekends.

10. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

San Antonio tends to attract devotees who wear their citizenship proudly. That’s because the city’s economic appeal is balanced by a thriving arts community and a lot of beautiful scenery. For the health-conscious, the city’s medical infrastructure is so strong that it can attract out-of-area patients. And despite being the seventh-largest city in the country, San Antonio’s housing prices are often just a tenth of the cost of other major hubs.

11. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Providing you can tolerate both the heat and the temptation to gamble your disposable income away, Las Vegas ranks as a surprisingly affordable destination. Groceries, utilities, and transportation are well below the national averages. Plus, the state of Nevada has no sales tax. Coupled with some of the best entertainment in the country, Vegas might be the most fun and most affordable hometown on the map.

Whether you’re relocating to a new state or a new block, Allstate.com has the tools and resources you need to make your move a cinch.

The typical method for preparing a turkey is to put the bird in a hot oven and wait until it’s done—perfectly acceptable, if a little basic. Have a more adventurous Thanksgiving this year by trying one of these out-of-the-box recipes.

1. MOLE-ROASTED TURKEY

To create this delicious bird, Epicurious recommends marinating the turkey in mole overnight; at minimum, you’ll need to coat the inside and the outside of the turkey with the sauce and let it sit in the fridge for an hour before cooking. The chocolate sauce makes for one moist turkey; serve with Masa stuffing and spicy chili gravy on the side.

2. BEER CAN TURKEY

Beer can turkey is a variation on beer can chicken, in which a chicken is propped up over an open can of beer that bastes the bird from the inside. For a turkey, you’ll need to find two 24-ounce cans of beer—one for the interior basting, and one for the dripping pan and for basting the outside of the bird—and spices to season. Cooking can be done either in an oven or on the grill; either way, consider purchasing a special rack to help keep the bird upright while it’s roasting. Step-by-step instructions can be found at The Chew.

3. SPATCHCOCKED TURKEY

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats calls spatchcocking “a method for lazy folks with great taste,” but it’s also a great technique if you’re short on time. The method—which allows a turkey to cook faster and more evenly—requires removing the bird’s spine, turning it over, and pressing hard to splay it out flat before popping it in the oven. You can find step-by-step instructions here.

4. 100-PROOF TURKEY

If you’re serious about adding alcohol to your turkey, you can emulate New York tavern PD O’Hurley’s by injecting your turkey with vodka. The recipe calls for the turkey to be marinated overnight in four flavors of vodka, and a vodka injection is done after cooking to retain the alcohol content.

5. BACON-WRAPPED TURKEY

There’s an easy way to make every food better: Add bacon. A turkey is no exception; when placed on top of a turkey, the bacon grease melts and flavors the bird’s skin. This recipe combines the flavors of bacon and maple syrup to create one delicious dish. To take the turkey to the next level, check out this recipe, which requires weaving a bacon jacket for your bird.

6. BRAISED TURKEY

To braise a turkey, you first cook it in the oven, let it rest, then slice it and remove the legs and wings, and cook the meat in broth. It won’t look like a traditional Thanksgiving turkey for the presentation, but it will taste delicious. Bobby Flay has a recipe for herb-roasted and braised turkey.

7. SOUS-VIDE TURKEY

Sous-vide is a method for cooking meat that involves encasing meat in a plastic bag and placing it in hot water to cook over a long period of time. Serious Eats has step-by-step instructions for making sous-vide turkey (with crispy skin cooked separately). Before getting down to sous-videing, you’ll need to remove the wings and legs from the bird, then cut the breast meat from the bone; next, place one half of the breast meat cut side up, and place the other half on top of it, cut side down, and tie into a cylinder, which is what you’ll place into a plastic bag and immerse in a hot water bath for cooking.

8. PUMPKIN SPICE TURKEY

Pumpkin spice is the ultimate fall flavor—and by following this recipe, you can even have a pumpkin spice-flavored bird. Create one-quarter of a cup of rub with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, then add brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Coat the thawed bird with canola oil, then rub in the spice; allow it to sit in the fridge overnight, then cook as usual.

9. TURDUNKIN’

Sure, you could make a Turducken—a turkey stuffed with a duck that is stuffed with a chicken—but it’s a complicated dish, since all the birds have to be deboned ahead of time. Those who love both Thanksgiving and Dunkin’ Donuts should try the Turdunkin’, which is “a turkey brined in Dunkin’ Donuts coolattas, stuffed with munchkins and served with coffee gravy and mashed hash browns.” Yes, it definitely sounds disgusting, but according to one of its creators, “The turDunkin’ was largely delicious” if “a bit too salty … The coolatta only penetrated the outer reaches of the white meat, but it was delicious and subtle in those places. … I was very happy with the turkey, the glaze and sprinkles, and the stuffing.” You can find step-by-step instructions at Unwholesome Foods.

10. WHITE CASTLE-STUFFED TURKEY

Cook the turkey as you normally would, but replace the stuffing with White Castle sliders (sans pickles). You can find the recipe on White Castle’s website, which notes that chefs should “allow 1 Slider for each pound of turkey, which will be equal to 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound.”

Facebook is pushing to be seen as more than just a social networking site. Last month, the web giant introduced the option for users to order food and make appointments directly through companies’ official pages. Now the website is making it easier for businesses to connect with potential employees as well as consumers: As TechCrunch reports, Facebook is experimenting with ways for job seekers to find and apply for positions within the site.

Businesses can now share special job posting status updates that display details like job title, hours, and salary. By clicking the “Apply Now” button, applicants can submit their resumes using personal information already available through their profiles. Business pages will also feature a “Jobs” tab that displays any openings to Facebook users without redirecting them elsewhere.

This could be beneficial for both employers and candidates: Businesses can pay to have their News Feed postings seen by a wider audience, and users can subscribe to their favorite companies to stay to up-to-date with openings they may have missed otherwise. The announcement may spell bad news for LinkedIn, however. Though it’s one of the top recruiting sites on the web, it only has 467 million members. Facebook, in comparison, has 1.79 billion.

[h/t TechCrunch]

Have you ever wanted to attend a formal dinner party or wedding dressed as Iron Man but were afraid of the social implications? The geek clothiers at Fun.com may have a solution. They’re now offering a line of suits designed to mimic the costumes of some of Marvel and DC Comics’s biggest attractions.

Here’s the runway version of Tony Stark’s alter ego:

Slick, no? A back shot of Batman:

The sublimated costume patterns are laid over polyester and come with a complementary bow tie. The Man of Steel cut also comes with a cotton undershirt that displays his trademark emblem:

If you’d prefer a more subtle nod to your fandom, Fun.com is also offering a line of suits that have comic panels and imagery printed on their interiors:

The suits, priced at $249.99 for adult sizes and $169.99 for child sizes, are available for pre-order. Dry clean only.

All images courtesy of Fun.com.

[h/t Licensing.biz]

Americans are hard workers. According to Gallup, adults employed full-time report working an average of 47 hours a week—essentially a six-day workweek—and nearly four out of 10 people log more than 50 hours each week on the job. It’s no wonder we don’t have much time left to play. We grilled mental health experts and career coaches to figure out how to find an appropriate work-life balance, even when our jobs are more demanding than ever.

1. SET REALISTIC GOALS.

Instead of blindly believing that you can do it all, decide what your priorities are and set goals that will keep you focused, Jaime Kulaga, licensed mental health counselor and author of The SuperWoman’s Guide to Super Fulfillment tells mental_floss. “Use the acronym SMART when setting goals for yourself: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound,” she says.

Many times, people set goals that are out of reach, either because they’re comparing themselves to someone else or they’re thinking too many steps ahead. “It’s okay to dream big, but be sure that each goal you set toward your dreams is something that is realistic and attainable for that moment in your life,” Kulaga says.

2. IDENTIFY YOUR PRIORITIES.

Take time to list all of your life roles and circle the top five. “Those top five need time and attention, and if you don’t focus on these roles, you will feel the lack of balance in your life,” Kulaga says.

While you may not have a lot of time to spend on each of these roles (be it spouse, parent, or professional), think quality versus quantity. “Your children would rather have 30 minutes of your time where you’d talk to them and play with them than four hours when you’d do everything on your to-do list and don’t acknowledge that they’re there,” Kulaga says.

3. STOP LIVING BY YOUR TO-DO LIST.

You won’t get it all done, says Mary LoVerde, a work-life balance strategist, but that doesn’t mean that you’ve failed. “There’s too much to do and not enough time to do it, so give yourself permission to not get it all done,” she says.

4. STOP MULTITASKING.

Researchers at Stanford University found that multitasking is actually less productive than doing one thing at a time. And those who regularly try to multitask, or who take in several streams of electronic information at once, have a harder time recalling information, paying attention, and switching from one job to another.

While you might think that doing more things at once will help you get everything done faster (and therefore give you more “down time”), it’s actually making you more frantic. So slow down and focus on one task at a time—you’ll not only feel less stressed, but you’ll get more done.

5. MAKE YOUR ACTIVITIES DO DOUBLE DUTY.

While you shouldn’t multitask, you can make sure that your actions do the multitasking for you, LoVerde says. We know we should be exercising because it helps us stay fit, and we also should be doing breathing exercises to stay calm—but who has time for all of that? Instead, take a yoga class, which does both, she suggested. And when you need to de-stress further, reach for a book instead of turning on the television—reading is calming and it also helps your mind stay strong. “Adopt the attitude that every action should have more than one benefit,” LoVerde says.

6. TAKE ONE MINUTE.

Carve out 10 strategic minutes in the day—one minute at a time—to take a break, says Jeff Davidson, work-life balance expert and author of Breathing Space. One minute every hour isn’t going to effect your work at all, but it does wonders for your mind. “You’re giving yourself permission to pause,” he says. “One of the laments from people who say they have no work-life balance is that they say they never have a break; but realistically, anyone at any time can carve out a minute for themselves.”

7. VISUALIZE THE FINISH LINE.

If you’re in a crunch situation at work, or are on a deadline, you might need to cut back on free time, Davidson says. “But continue to practice strategic pauses, continue to focus on the end result and how you’re going to feel when this is over,” he says. Recognize that this busy period is finite and take on a divide-and-conquer strategy: For these two weeks, this is where my attention needs to be. And then I will have more free time.

8. SAY “NO.”

If you feel unbalanced, chances are that you say “yes” too much, Kulaga says. You may have earned yourself a reputation as the go-to person or the people pleaser, which can cause your work to pile up and take over your life. Saying “no” gives you self-control and confidence, and it lets the favor-asker know your priorities, Kulaga says. When you do turn down a request, be sure to provide other options or resources to get the job done.