Russian Company Gives New Meaning to “Game of Thrones”

A plumbing brand in Stavropol, Russia, recently went viral for organizing an unusual contest, smartly dubbed “Game of Thrones,” in which people were required to drink a “non-alcoholic sparkling drink” from brand new toilets using large straws. The person who emptied their container first was declared the winner. Held at a Domix store, the unusual competition challenged dozens of participants to drink out of toilet bowls as fast as possible for the chance to win a 100,000 ruble ($1,276) prize. Competitors were split into groups of seven, with the fastest drinker advancing to the second round. In the second stage of the competition, the seven winners from the previous round had to sit on a closed toilet seat for as long as possible, with the last person sitting being declared the winner of this unusual Game of Thrones. It’s unclear who claimed the 100,000 rubles, but according to the organizers, after 10 hours of the competition, only two people had quit, with the rest continuing to suppress their physiological needs. The unusual competition went viral on social media, drawing criticism from the general public, with many people calling it "degrading."

 

 

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The Spotted Lanternfly is Ravaging the Eastern U.S. and Pet Dogs Are Coming to the Rescue

An 11-year-old Labrador mix named Fozzie was training to be a service dog, but washed out of the program. That’s when Scott Hurst (pictured) decided to adopt the pup, and now Fozzie has found his calling. Nose pressed to the ground, Fozzie eagerly weaves through rows of bushes on a berry farm in Blacksburg, Virginia. He was on a mission to find the eggs of one of the most destructive invasive species ravaging the eastern United States: the spotted lanternfly. Along the Atlantic coast, the inch-long bug with scarlet underwings can be found plastered across windshields or flying into the faces of people trying to enjoy the joys of summer. Spotted lanternflies are more than a nuisance. With very few natural predators and a broad diet, these insects threaten vineyards, orchards, hardwood forests and urban ecosystems. Fozzie and his 4-legged colleagues are part of the resistance. A citizen-science program is training pet dogs to find the eggs before they hatch so they can be destroyed. It's revealing the surprising power of pet dogs' noses, with even unconventional sniffer-dog breeds like the humble pug able to play their part. Professionally trained working canines are expensive and scarce, sometimes fetching as much as $150,000 for a lanternfly detection dog. Pet dogs trained by their owners can detect lanternfly eggs with accuracy comparable to professional detection dogs, and they do it for free. Any breed can be trained. In fact, there’s data suggesting that pugs can outperform German Shepherds. For those living in areas affected by lanternflies, could your dog help? It's not too far-fetched. 

 

 

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The Lure of the Nutty Narrows Bridge

In 1963, Amos Peters didn’t like the carnage happening outside his office windows. Peters, owner of a construction contracting firm, had a ringside seat to a ceaseless procession of hit-and-run squirrel fatalities on Olympic Way in Longview, Washington. It was a busy street with tall trees, part of a somewhat confusing circle, with other busy avenues converging in front of Longview’s public library. Those squirrels didn’t have a prayer. Peters conceived an escape route dubbed the "Nutty Narrows Bridge," a human-engineered span between the library grounds and the other side of Olympic Way. He engaged architects Robert Newhall and LeRoy Dahl, and built the rodent-scaled bridge with associate Bill Hutch. In 1963, the bridge was hoisted over the road between two trees — 60 feet wide and fashioned from aluminum and a length of retired fire hose. It cost $1,000. The bridge has been a Longview landmark for over 50 years. During the holidays, Longview adds a small Christmas tree with lights to the center of the bridge.

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Why Colorblind People Are Less Likely To Be Picky Eaters

When the television show The French Chef, featuring cooking by Julia Child, aired its first episode in color, it revealed how color can change the experience of food. While Child had charmed audiences in black and white, seeing Bouillabaisse à la Marseillaise in color helped elevate the experience from merely entertaining to mouthwatering. Over a period of 20 years, researchers studied how people vary in their ability to recognize images of prepared food. What they discovered is that colorblind people are less likely to be picky eaters. People with normal color vision use color cues to judge the freshness, ripeness, or safety of food. A restricted color palette limits these automatic visual warning flags. Without strong color signals telling the brain to feel cautious or disgusted by unfamiliar hues, the emotional impulse to reject new foods goes down and people rely more heavily on taste, smell and texture when choosing what to eat. 

 

Bouillabaisse à la Marseillaise, in gray scale, color, and simulating the most common form of color blindness

 

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