Happy Thursday! 709 vials of dangerous viruses have gone missing from a high-security Brazilian lab, a 13-year-old metal detectorist unearthed a Viking king’s treasure, and airline pilots were caught meowing over air traffic control radio. Also: Isaac Asimov’s favorite story, a man who replaced $34K in stolen LEGO with pasta, and…

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No crumbs. No perfume. No bedsharing. Those are some of the house rules for Skynest, the triple-tier bunk bed that Air New Zealand is about to install in the economy cabin of its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, according to AP News. Six curtained pods will be stacked three-high between cabins. A four-hour slot costs 495 New Zealan…

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Grandchildren of mice fed artificial sweeteners showed altered glucose tolerance and shifts in gut microbiome composition — even though those grandchildren never consumed the sweeteners themselves. The finding, reported by StudyFinds, suggests that zero-calorie sweeteners can leave a biological footprint that…

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Someone walked out of a laboratory in Belém, Brazil, with 709 vials of dangerous viruses — including samples of Eastern equine encephalitis and oropouche, both of which can cause severe or fatal illness in humans. BSL-3, or biosafety level 3, is reserved for pathogens that can cause serious or lethal disease through inhalati…

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Sixty-two years ago, Arthur C. Clarke sat down with the BBC’s Horizon program and described daily life in the year 2000: doctors performing surgery on patients thousands of miles away, people carrying devices that kept them in “instant contact with each other, wherever they may be,” and workers doing their jobs with…

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After more than a decade of evidence that California’s marine protected areas help sea life rebound and even boost nearby fisheries, the state is now weighing whether to expand them, scale them back, or leave them alone. This sets up a familiar clash between conservation, industry, and everything in between.

The state is considering a variety of changes to the network — a few proposals shrink those areas or remove certain protections, while most propose expanding existing protected areas or adding new ones. The levels of protection can range from a total ban on commercial fishing and certain recreational activities, to highly limited allowances. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is in the process of reviewing dozens of proposals from tribes, environmental groups, the fishing industry and other stakeholders.

The discussion comes amid escalating pressures on our ocean — from plastic pollution and offshore energy efforts to rapidly warming temperatures that have, in recent years, led to some of the worst mass dieoffs of marine life ever seen.

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Ultimately, the decision on whether to approve or deny the petitions lies with the five governor-appointed members of the state’s Fish and Game Commission. A decision is expected this summer.

Some say the state isn’t being bold enough in its approach to boosting protections for marine life, while others argue the existing network is strong enough. There is agreement, however: Marine protected areas can be a powerful tool in boosting certain fisheries and building resilience to climate change.

LAist

As a long-time SCUBA diver in both North and Southern California, I can attest to the power of our marine reserves. Recovery around Catalina over the last 25-30 years has been astounding. Preserving underwater treasures like Point Lobos is a must. The damage to our commercial fishing industries seems minute compared to the loss of entire species and industries that the West Coast has experienced from overfishing time and again.

Our ocean is finally starting to recover, but now it has to survive the decision-making process.

A 13-year-old with a metal detector on the German island of Rügen managed to do what treasure hunters dream about, accidentally uncovering a cache of Viking-era artifacts linked to Harald Bluetooth. Yes, the Bluetooth current wireless tech is named after.

In January 2018, Rene Schoen and his young student Luca Malaschnitschenko were doing what many weeke…

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I was planning to give away my aging iPhone 15 and get a dumbphone instead, but then I saw that the new model is going to come in “Dark Cherry” and consumerism once again overwhelmed me. MacWorld’s Felipe Esposito calles it a “classy, bold look.”

While other sources have previously reported on a “Dark Red” color, the informatio…

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Look, if you’re reading this, you already know that the Tesla Cybertruck is the most embarrassing vehicle you could possibly be spotted in, besides maybe Air Force One. They’re slowly rusting containers for violently explosive batteries that you’d be lucky to sell for a quarter of the hundred grand o…

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Is it possible for a game to be carried entirely by its art direction? A few examples come to mind — Bungie’s Marathon, most recently — but if any upcoming game is going to put this theory to the test, it’s Hieronymus.

As you may have guessed, this is a game inspired by the works of Dutch surrealist painter Hieronymus Bosch, who created an impressive arr…

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It’s called Metro 2039, but it’s weirdly only the fourth Metro game. Despite name might imply, the game is not, in fact, some sort of cutesy subway management simulator but a brutal Russian post-apocalypse based on the writings of Dmitry Glukhovsky. Imagine if Fallout were linear, grittier and featured more funny accents and you have a decent idea of wh…

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If you like music, and weird humor, you’re gonna love the “Show Bits“ series from Portland, Oregon-based “motion designer“ Aaron Keuter. In this clever series, Keuter takes clips from various songs and artists, and inserts them into short animations, where the clips take on new, silly, weird, and hilarious meanings.

For instance, here…

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This is the chaotic cat video that everyone needs today. A guy sitting on his couch is left completely stunned after his cat jumps from one end of the room to the other, sailing over his head as if it has wings. I had to watch this five times in a row just to understand how the cat managed such speed and height.

The vi…

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The early seasons of SpongeBob by Stephen Hillenburg are without a doubt the best ones. This is the SpongeBob Bible — made to plan out the show and its characters, and a fun read for any fan.

The SpongeBob Bible calls our beloved main character “SpongeBoy” instead of “SpongeBob.” We get to hear about plans for al…

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Disney just announced details about its upcoming ride in Disney World’s (Orlando, FL) Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The roller coaster is currently undergoing a redesign, from Aerosmith to Muppet theming, and is scheduled to open on May 26.

There will be celebrity cameos incorporated into the attraction, inc…

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Maybe Donnie is so New York that he only knows them as a “bodega?” I find it unlikely he was often popping into his local market to grab a few odds and ends to help one of his several discarded wives not prepare dinner.

This hilarious video has a couple of airline pilots under scrutiny after they were caught meowing to each other on the radio while flying. The air traffic controller is not pleased with their behavior and repeatedly tells them to stop — clearly, firmly, and more than once. The pilots can’t help themselves, though, and …

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“One of the cases that occurred here in Orange County, they shared that they opened the box and instead of Legos, they found bags of dry pasta,” Officer Ziggy Azarcon said.

Investigators said the dry pasta mimics the sound of Legos when they’re shaken. Officers said Augustine got refunds at Target locations in Costa Mesa, Irvine and Westminster, as well as different stores out of state.

Earlier this week, Irvine PD tracked Augustine to his Los Angeles County apartment and arrested him. They found several packages of Lego pieces.

CBS

Turns out the system is less “trust but verify” and more “shake the box and hope for the best.”

In René Magritte’s 1937 painting La Reproduction Interdite — roughly “depiction prohibited,” or “depiction impossible” — a man stands before a mirror and sees the back of his own head.

Artists have been putting trick mirrors into paintings for about 600 years. The Escher in Het Paleis museum in The Hague has an essay tracing t…

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