Almost everyone carries an X chromosome from their mothers, and either an X or Y from their fathers. The Y is the odd man out among our 46 chromosomes, carrying only 51 protein-coding genes compared to thousands in other chromosomes. But those genes are important in developing male attributes, from the womb to puberty and fatherhood. However, when men get older, they tend to lose the Y from some of their cells. Since the Y has already done its job and has so few genes, this hasn't seemed to be a problem. But that may change due to more recent research.
Some of the genes carried on the Y chromosome inhibit cell growth, preventing cancers and other diseases. The X does, too. But having only one copy of those genes in certain cells may explain why older men suffer from cancer, Parkinson's disease, kidney disease, and heart problems more than women. Read about the Y chromosome and what we are learning about its usefulness at the Conversation. -via Damn Interesting
In the sitcom The Office, Michael Scott is a corporate middleman at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. His main purpose is to supervise a staff and avoid any real work. When this character is transported into the post apocalyptic world of Fallout 4, his is tasked with frst proving that he is a human (which turns out to be difficult), and then protecting colonies from attack. But he still just doesn't want to do the work. Scott's main mechanism is to make a joke out of any situation, but the apocalypse is deadly serious, and therefore the most inappropriate place to make jokes. Yeah, that's what she said.
This mashup is the work of eli_handle_b.wav (previously at Neatorama, and appearing often at Infinite 1up) who has found his niche in putting comedic characters into life-or-death video game situations. He finds the perfect clips to make even the most serious fantasy world infinitely ridiculous. -via Born in Space
The fairly new technique of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is throwing new light on ancient artifacts. When traces of organic material are recovered from old containers, we can determine what they once were. A Roman vial that was excavated in the city of Pergamon in Turkey was analyzed. They thought it would have held perfume, but what they found was quite the opposite- human feces. The brown flakes extracted fro the vial shown above tested positive for the compounds coprostanol and 24-ethylcoprostanolm which indicates fecal material. The ratios of those two point to a human origin. Other compounds indicate it was laced with a great amount of thyme, probably to mask the smell.
Notes from the Roman physician Galen and other written accounts tell about using feces as medicine, but this is the first time physical evidence has been found. Could the ancient Romans have been practicing a version of fecal transplants to change a patient's gut biome? Your guess is as good as mine. Read more about this research at Independent. -via Strange Company
(Unrelated image credit: Daderot)
Can you build a working submarine from LEGO blocks? Well, I certainly couldn't, but the guy behind Brick Experiment Channel did it. Most of it is LEGO parts, some are homemade, and some are just convenient, like the syringe. This submarine is controlled by Raspberry Pi and PID. He even used power tools made of LEGO blocks to make some parts! This is quite clever- the syringe is for ballast control, so that the submarine's depth can be adjusted. This gadget even has laser sensors, a camera, and remote control. It also has a cute minifig captain inside.
If you want to skip ahead to see the. submarine work, that starts at about three minute in, but I was quite impressed to see the quick build. It first gets tested in an aquarium, then goes to a swimming pool, and finally out to a creek. If you want to build your own, the complete proiect is laid out in a series of articles here. -via kottke
The sight of a bird in early spring gives us hope after the dreariness of winter. Once you really notice them, you want to see more. Birdwatching has grown more and more popular in North America, where roughly 700 species of birds can be seen. Even if you aren't really a "bird person," you may become inspired to learn more about them after reading Searching for Birds. It's a compilation of data that gives you an easy way to explore information about birds you've seen, or want to see. It compares data from three directions: the actual population of bird species in the US, sightings recorded by birdwatchers, and Google searches for these species over time. There's also a section about "spark birds," which is the one bird you've seen that gets you interested in avian wildlife. Many of the charts are interactive, and the illustrations are beautiful.
This comes just in time for the Great Backyard Bird Count, which is happening this weekend. Find out how you can get involved. -via Metafilter
Who would have ever thought about mixing a sultry jazz ballad with '80s glam metal? Bill McClintock, (previously at Neatorama) of course. In this case, he takes the tune of Sade's 1984 hit "Smooth Operator" with the vocals of Ratt's 1984 song "Round and Round." The only thing these songs have in common is the year they were released. You would have likely heard them on the radio in the same hour in 1984, but it takes a special ear to see how well they could mix. The rhythm, the lyrical envelope, and even the key changes work surprisingly well. McClintock calls this song "Smooth OpeRATTor."
But McClintock always gives us something extra. The guitar solo from Santana's "Black Magic Woman" fits right in. That one's from 1968, so it at least breaks up the timeline. Still, you could have easily heard Santana's song in that same radio hour. -via Laughing Squid
A portal to hell has opened: A place in Belarus has been discovered where they make "kurachino" — cappuccino inside a rotisserie chicken.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 12, 2026
Is it a unique idea or a food perversion? pic.twitter.com/fNH3kSaSa8
Is this real? I mean, it could be AI. Everything is these days.* But there's no reason why we couldn't pour a freshly-made cappuccino into a whole rotisserie chicken. Nor is there any reason why I shouldn't do it.
Right now.
NEXTA, which I gather is a news network operated by Belarusian exiles in Poland, asks "Is this a unique idea or a food perversion?" The question is a false choice.
*Did you think that "Miss Cellania" is an actual human? Did you think that "Kentucky" is a real place?
When I learned that the oldest member of the American Olympic team is 54 years old, I asked myself who was the oldest Olympic athlete ever.
It was Oscar Swahn, who represented Sweden at the age of 72 at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. This was Swahn's third attendance, having also participated in the Olympic games in 1908 and 1912 (the 1916 games were cancelled due to an international dispute occurring during that year).
Swahn was a crack shot with a rifle. He participated in the men's double-shot 100 meter running deer event. That meant firing two shots at a moving deer-shaped target 100 yards away. In a team version of this event, Swahn won the silver medal in 1920.
Valentine's Day as it is celebrated today is full of hearts, flowers, and romance (and let's not forget candy). But how did it get that way? The origins of our Valentine traditions are pretty murky. The name comes from St. Valentine, who was one, or maybe two, or possibly more Christian leaders from the third century. His feast day is February 14th. But this saint was not associated with love or romance in any sense, except in stories first told long after his death. Is it a holiday descended from the Roman Lupercalia? Maybe, but the evidence is rather thin. Is it a day to celebrate mating habits, since many animals begin growing their young this time of year? Or is it just a "Hallmark holiday" to sell cards and flowers (and let's not forget candy)? It couldn't be, since the first written mention of the holiday comes from the 14th century.
Maybe the origin of Valentine's Day as we know it comes from a confluence of all those origin stories, melded together by time. Read about Valentine's Day's various origin stories and other myths surrounding the holiday at Mental Floss.
This couple in Mexico were considering getting a dog, but fate intervened. A kitten mysteriously showed up at their house, riddled with fleas and other parasites. Lilo needed help, and when he got it, he wasn't about to let these wonderful people go. He became a velcro cat, following them everywhere.
The guy says it makes "zero sense" that Lilo just showed up like that. As an old cat lady, it makes plenty of sense to me. Lilo didn't walk to their home. Someone who cares so little that they didn't get their cat spayed ended up with a bunch of kittens. As soon as they were barely old enough to be weaned, any kitten not given away got a ride to a random neighborhood and was put out. The kitten is desperate for help, and will approach every human until they find a kind soul. I can't tell you how many cats I've gotten that way. You can see more of Lilo and his loving nature at Instagram.
On Valentine's Day in 1991, a new film opened that ruined quite a few romantic evenings. Silence of the Lambs had been marketed with few clues as to its content, and became a monster hit. Thirty-five years later, it is mainly remembered for the character of Hannibal Lecter. People forget that he wasn't the villain in the movie. They forget how little screen time he had. And many never even knew that it wasn't the first time Lecter was in a movie. Anthony Hopkins portrayal of the cannibal killer stayed with audiences forever.
In an excerpt from a new book about Hannibal Lecter, we learn that Thomas Harris, who created Hannibal Lecter as the author of the novel, couldn't watch the movie, or even get through the trailer. Silence of the Lambs made Anthony Hopkins a sex symbol decades after he began film work. Audiences were glad that Lecter not only survived the movie, but gained his freedom. Read how Silence of the Lambs took audiences by surprise and made Hannibal Lecter an antihero. -via Metafilter
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!
These are the words that William Shatner says at the beginning of Star Trek. The rhetorical origins of these words is complex, as is the textual history.
X personality Subcommander Tal shares earlier drafts of the narration by Bob Justman, John D.F. Black, and Gene Roddenberry. They reflect different visions of what the story, originally conceived of as a "wagon train to the stars" would become. Personally, I'm glad that Captain Kirk engaged in little commercial inspection and customs enforcement.
People in Louisville, Kentucky are calling this dog "Lassie" because they don't know his real name. Lassie fits, though, because the dog is a hero like the fictional female Collie. WLKY News reports that police searched a neighborhood for a missing 3-year old boy. The weather was cold and the boy was insufficiently dressed for it, so officers had a strong sense of urgency.
A local dog, who appears to be a stray, attracted the attention of one officer, who followed the dog into a home lot where a SUV was parked. The child had locked himself inside. Police freed him and took the child to safety.
A pet tortoise escaped a fire in Southern California after a heat lamp fell and ignited the shed where she lives.
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) February 10, 2026
Security camera footage shows the tortoise, named Leo, moving to safety as flames spread behind her. Leo’s owner was not home at the time, but neighbors were able… pic.twitter.com/pADeOkR5TN
People magazine reports that on February 8, the home of Leo, a female sulcata tortoise, caught on fire when her heatlamp malfunctioned. Her human, Hyeri Tom, was away at a Super Bowl party when the incident took place.
Surveillance camera footage shows Leo sprinting away from the flames to safety. Neighbors noticed the fire and put it out.
The recoil of a rifle can leave quite a bruise if you aren't properly braced. Most people only have to learn this lesson once. A young man named Rob noticed this force and imagined making a jetpack out of the recoil force of a rifle. Is this at all plausible? He submitted it to Randall Munroe and Henry Reich of the What If? series (previously at Neatorama) as a theoretical question. They tackle those questions seriously, no matter how dumb they sound. The answer is "sort of," meaning that you could do it, but it would be difficult, ridiculous, and not worth the effort.
But there are guns that have more powerful recoils than a mere rifle. And that's where this theory gets interesting. Not that we're ever going to try making a jetpack from a gun, but the existence of a gun that could do it is both interesting and unnerving.
