According to Know Your Meme, the "milk create challenge" got its start on August first and went viral. The problem with the milk crate challenge is that everyone falls, and many have been injured. Engineering professor Dr. Nehemiah Mabry explains how humans aren't made to negotiate this type of structure. Oh, you might be able to stand on two stacked milk crates, as a short person with high shelves can tell you, but anything more is way too risky.

This is a warning: just because a challenge is fairly impossible doesn't mean you'll get any kind of acclaim if you accomplish it. More likely, you'll hurt or possibly kill yourself trying, and even if you are successful, you'll be contributing to other people's injuries as they try to emulate you. -via Digg

Taquille is a Peruvian island in Lake Titicaca. The 1,300 people who live there have some unique cultural traditions developed over centuries of semi-isolation from the mainland. One of those developed from knitting.

Both men and women knit, but men in particular knit woolen caps called chullos. The colors and patterns are codes that describe the wearer. Women evaluate potential mates based on the quality of their knitted chullos. BBC Travel interviewed residents about this practice:

According to Alejandro, the sign of good partner is one who can make a pin-tight chullo – one knitted so well that it is able to hold water over large distances when turned upside down. Would-be fathers-in-law often test the chullos of their daughters' potential husbands in this way. Alejandro proudly explained that his chullo could hold water for up to 30m without losing a single drop, and was impressive enough to attract his wife, Teodosia Marca Willy, 44 years ago.

"She saw good skills apparently in my chullo. I used to make a really good hat; I was a good knitter," he said.

The girls look for the best chullo. So if you're wearing a good hat, you've got more [chances] to get a girlfriend earlier and faster," added Juan, explaining that it's often a community spectacle when the father-in-law checks the knitting quality of would-be grooms. "[When] the father-in-law [pours] the water in the chullo, then the groom has to be able to show the water in the chullo to everyone that is gathering there. All the family gathered have to be able to see the water in the hat," he said.

-via Messy Nessy Chic | Photo: Inter-American Foundation

Dave Kloc got his start in poster art by making 310 posters for the stand-up comedy television series The Meltdown that aired from 2010 to 2016. Now, art posters for a television show are not really a thing, and neither are posters for standup comedy night, but when Kloc went to a show, he was assigned the job.

“A friend of mine named Jordan Vogt-Roberts invited me to a comedy show in the back of a comic-book store,” Kloc tells me over the phone. “It turned out to be the first ‘Meltdown’ show. It wasn’t like a typical comedy club, a two-drink-minimum kind of place,” Kloc says of the 175-seat NerdMelt Showroom behind Meltdown Comics on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard. “It had a very different vibe. I went up to one of the hosts, Jonah Ray, and said, ‘This feels like an old punk show. You should do some posters.’ He said, ‘Do you do posters?’ I didn’t, but I knew how. So I said ‘Yeah,’ he said ‘Great,’ and after I figured out where to get paper and stuff like that, I did roughly a poster a week for more than six years.”

That takes chutzpah. Sow how did Kloc end up as a renowned artist of posters for concerts? While Kloc had never designed posters before The Meltdown, he did have some art training back in Michigan where he grew up. He interests were art, hockey, and music. Kloc, a bass player, quit his band, moved to Los Angeles in 2008, and became a tour manager for other musicians.  

While the work was steady, it was not 52-weeks-a-year steady, which meant Kloc would find himself at loose ends between tours for weeks at a time. “One time after I got off the road,” he says, “I went to a concert at a little gallery called Nomad’s, which also turned out to be a screenprinting shop. It was the coolest place.” Kloc made a deal with the owner, Damon Robinson, to tidy up around the shop and generally help out in exchange for learning how to screenprint. “He taught me the ins and outs of screenprinting,” Kloc says of Robinson, “and I helped him print a lot of gig posters.”

Kloc’s experience with Robinson was the reason he found himself saying “yes” to Jonah Ray at that first “Meltdown” show when Ray asked Kloc if he made posters. In turn, Kloc’s experience as the poster guy for “Meltdown” eventually allowed him to make a few gig posters of his own.

“I still had all the contacts I’d made from years of touring, I still talked to those guys,” Kloc says. “As I got better at making posters, it became reasonable for me to ask if they needed one for an upcoming tour.”

They did. In fact, by the time of Kloc’s last “Meltdown” poster in October of 2016, he was already pivoting to a second career as a gig-poster artist, printing his work from a windowless janitor’s closet in an apartment building near downtown L.A. “It was just a piece of wood clamped to a table,” Kloc says of his makeshift press. “It would be 90 degrees outside, which in L.A. is not uncommon, and 110 in the closet. Between screens, I’d stand outside with my shirt off to cool down, questioning every decision I’d ever made in my life before going back inside to face the heat and humidity. If I needed 30 good posters, I had to print 50. It was awful, but I printed posters there for years.”

Read about Kloc's art and see plenty of gorgeous posters at Collectors Weekly.

Ambergris, the rare effluvia of a tiny minority of sperm whales, occasionally washes up on the beach and makes someone quite wealthy. Although perfumers now use a synthetic version, the real thing is rare enough to be prized. It's been that way for hundreds of years, as ambergris' many uses were known a long time before its origin was pinpointed.

Though ambergris has been traded since at least the Middle Ages, we still know remarkably little about the substance. Even the fact that it originates from sperm whales is a relatively recent discovery. For hundreds of years—even as beachcombers were finding ambergris washed up on shore and sailors were recovering the substance from carcasses—naturalists and physicians treated the theory that whales produce ambergris as outlandish. Ninth-century Muslim travel writers proposed that whales likely consume a substance produced elsewhere and later regurgitate it, a view that remained in circulation for several centuries.

The Hortus Sanitatis, an encyclopedia of herbal medicines published in 1491, cited theories that ambergris was tree sap, a type of sea foam, or some kind of fungus. In the 12th century, reports from China suggested ambergris was dried dragon spittle. It has at various times been proposed to be a fruit, fish liver, or a precious stone. According to a 2015 paper from the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, “By 1667, eighteen different theories existed on this matter and various animals were considered producers of this substance—including seals, crocodiles, and even birds.”

While we now know that ambergris is produced by a whale's gut, the exact process is still being debated. However, the global trade in ambergris and the clandestine ways it continues today is quite a story in itself, which you can read at Hakai magazine.  -via Smithsonian

Richard Branson's trip to near-space in July wasn't quite the picture-perfect flight we were led to believe at the time. The Federal Aviation Administration gave the company notice that all their space flights will be put on hold until an investigation is completed. So what happened?   

Indeed, the Unity 22 flight, as far as we knew until now, seemed to go exactly as planned, but as the New Yorker article reveals, pilots David Mackay and Mike Masucci ignored warning lights during the ascent. Specifically, the pilots brushed off an “entry glide cone warning,” which indicated that VSS Unity wasn’t climbing steeply enough and that the spaceplane wouldn’t have enough energy to glide back to the designated runway at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

And by flying outside of this cone-shaped volume of space, the spaceplane strayed beyond the mandated airspace for the mission, which it did for 1 minute and 41 seconds. This is a big no-no for the FAA, who enforces these rules.

The New Yorker article suggests the pilots should’ve aborted the mission when the warning lights came on. The warning should’ve served like the discouraging Monopoly card: Go directly to runway jail, do not pass into orbital space, and do not collect $200. Had the pilots done that, however, Richard Branson would probably not have been the first billionaire to reach space—especially given that Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos achieved the same feat just a few weeks later. Instead of aborting the mission, however, the pilots allowed VSS Unity’s engines to go at full throttle for the required one full minute.

This grounding will put some would be space tourists, willing to shell out $450,000 each for a flight, on hold for now. Read more about the kerfuffle at Gizmodo.

Measuring scales go back into antiquity. The act of balancing an unknown quantity with a known quantity of weight is the simplest way to measure weight and assign value to goods for sale. Archaeologists have found evidence of these known quantities all over the world. One such find in Jerusalem appears to have quite a story.

Found in the northern part of the City of David in Jerusalem's Old City and dating back to 2,700 years ago during the First Temple period, the weight in question is just 14 mm. in diameter and 12 mm. in height, and is only the second one of its kind to have been found in Israel. Made of hard limestone, the it contained engravings indicating it has a weight of two gerah, which equals 0.944 grams.

Despite this, however, the weight does not weigh two gerah. Rather, the researchers found that it weighed at least 3.61 grams, over three times as much.

Researchers believe traders used the weight to scam people. For example, if someone brought in their gold jewelry to sell, they could set six gerah of gold on the scale and be paid for only two gerah. This was apparently a problem in the ancient world, as several places in the Bible warn against the sin of using misleading weights and measures. Read more about the find at The Jerusalem Post.  -via Strange Company

This holds major Studio Ghibli vibes! Indonesian wildlife photographer Ajar Setiadi takes photographs of frogs that live in his garden. His images reveal the fascinating behavior these amphibians exhibit. Setiadi treats the animals as pets, letting them frolic in his garden as he watches them play with the flowers. According to the photographer, capturing their small moments on camera is a miracle: 

In one image, a frog in the rain holds up a leaf like an umbrella, and in another, two frogs appear to dance together. There’s one image in particular that stands out as the most charming, though: Setiadi managed to capture two frogs huddling together, sheltering from the rain under a flower umbrella. Frogs are social creatures, and this emotional image looks just like a loved-up couple or two friends who are looking out for one another during the rainstorm. Setiadi commented on the sweet scene: “I could only get a few frames because this moment can't be repeated.”

Check out Setiadi’s frog images below and find more from his portfolio on Instagram. When he’s not photographing frogs, he’s capturing the intimate lives of insects, birds, and reptiles.

Image credit: Ajar Setiadi 

Time to sharpen up your Smash Bros. skills! Zen Family Dental in Ashland, Massachusetts is offering a rare promotion that lets Smash Bros. players claim a ‘free dental clean’ if they beat its resident dentist, Dr. Tej A. Shah in a match. I wonder who Dr. Shah mains? Is it Dr. Mario? Maybe it’s one of the newest DLC additions, Sephiroth! According to NintendoLife, the dentist’s favorite game is Final Fantasy. 

Image credit: Nintendo 

Look, animals are cute. They’re also in a league of their own. Animals have their own thing, and sometimes we humans cannot understand or comprehend what they’re doing, and you know what, that’s okay. We can just laugh it off or take a photo and post it on the Internet for fun. That is exactly what Doggo Taxi does! The Instagram account shares random animal photos with no context at all. Some of them are funny, and some of them just make you ask: ‘what in the world happened here?’ Bored Panda compiled 50 photos from that account. Check it here! 

Image credit: doggo_taxi

I wish this existed when I was required to memorize the periodic table of elements! Software engineer Keith Enevoldsen designed a periodic table that illustrates how we see or interact with the different elements in our everyday lives. The new table, called “The Periodic Table of Elements, in Pictures,” manages to provide a lot of information without overwhelming its viewer: 

“The table is color-coded to show the chemical groupings,” he explains. “Small symbols pack in additional information: solid/liquid/gas, color of element, common in the human body, common in the earth’s crust, magnetic metals, noble metals, radioactive, and rare or never found in nature.”

Image credit: Keith Enevoldsen

No, this is not a weird euphemism. It’s an aircraft shaped like a behind, or a peach if you’re feeling ...conservative. The concept is definitely bizarre, though. Meet the Airlander 10, an airship that is designated for commercial use with Swedish air travel company OceanSky. The company aims to use this bootyful aircraft for recreating Roald Amundsen's airship expedition to the North Pole. 

Aside from its current purpose, people on the Internet are having fun with this plane, noticing that the world’s largest aircraft resembles a giant backside. Can’t unsee it? You’re welcome! 

See the Airlander 10 in all its glory below. 

image credit: Associated Press

Image credit: Hybrid Air Vehicles

Mike Ryan decided to use his lockdown time to catch up on old movies he'd always meant to watch. He thought he would see twenty movies, but as the pandemic dragged on, he caught up on 602 movies! One of the things he noticed is how movies in the 21st century end very differently from older films. Before 2000, the movie went to credits when the plot was resolved. What happened to the characters after that was left to our imaginations. Modern movies can resolve the main plot and spend another 40 minutes tying up every loose end and explaining where the characters then went. Talking to screenwriters and filmmakers, he came up with several reasons for this.

“Well, I think it has a lot to do with CinemaScore and the testing process,” says a screenwriter. “Movies are looking for that little boost at the end to get that final impression up a bit right as people leave the theater. That’s why post-credit sequences work. You can see that movies that end ambiguously score lower in testing and on CinemaScore. So the longer endings remove all ambiguity.”

He continues, “There is a screenwriter guru person. She says people don’t care about victories; they respond to people celebrating the victories. That’s what makes audiences happy. Hence the medal scene at the end of Star Wars. That’s what gives people joy, not the Death Star exploding. I think maybe we’ve overlearned that lesson.”

And that medal ceremony scene at the end of Star Wars? Do you know how long that scene is? It’s one minute and forty seconds long. That’s it. Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star and they wrap everything up in a tidy scene less that two minutes long. It’s perfect. Compare that to the ending of The Rise Of Skywalker that I think is still going. Every little thing had to be resolved, even Chewbacca finally getting a medal from this aforementioned medal ceremony. Think about watching the first Star Wars in a vacuum in 1977, without all the sequels that would come later. Do we think Han will stick around? Darth Vader got away, what’s he up to? What happened to Ben, why did he just disappear? This created discussion and it created a more satisfying experience because, we, the viewer, could think about those questions and it made us think about the movie more.

You know what they say: nothing succeeds like excess. There's more to be said about how movies have changed, which you can read at Uproxx.

Have you ever wondered about how film studios make a blockbuster movie trailer? Turns out, there is a secret formula for it, and it seems that most trailers today use the same formula. So if you want to make a fantastic movie trailer, just follow this formula, too!

Auralnauts breaks down for us the elements of a blockbuster movie trailer here in this video.

(Image Credit: Auralnauts via YouTube)

This is the Zero Emissions Utility Vehicle, or ZUV for short. It is an electric vehicle designed by the Viennese social enterprise EOOS Next, in collaboration with The New Raw. With it being an electric vehicle, and with its 3D printed chassis made from 70 kg of recycled plastic, the ZUV is very eco-friendly. But that’s not all, as it is also family-friendly.

ZUV seats two passengers at the back while the box at the front can either hold two small children or cargo. to reduce complexity and cost, the vehicle has no pedals and it’s driven by a rear hub motor. the two front wheels provide steering. ZUV has a top speed of 25 km/h in urban areas, classifying the vehicle as a bicycle, and can travel 50 km on a single battery charge. in total, ZUV weighs approximately 100 kg and can carry a payload of 200kg.

For some reason, the ZUV looks like a vintage vehicle, yet at the same time it looks modern. I’m confused. But one thing’s for sure: it looks gorgeous.

(Image Credit: Studio Theresa Bentz via DesignBoom)

Jean Jullien is known for his installations which feature cartoonish characters. Now, he has collaborated with surfboard manufacturer Fernand to create cartoonish surfboards. The four characters, which feature two grinning fish, a whale, and a seal, are all hand-drawn by Jullien on the foam boards. The boards are then glazed by Resin League, and then polished by Paul Hyde.

The playful and innocent designs on these surfboards seem to contrast with the “coolness” we generally associate with surfing, which is refreshing and perhaps encourages us all to take ourselves a little less seriously.

Jullien has also designed some tiny – yet very cool indeed – surfer dudes which have been embroidered upon sweatshirts and a T-shirt, which come in soothing ocean tones of deep blue, khaki and black.

Cute!

(Image Credit: Julien Binet/ Jean Jullien via Colossal)