STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

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CHEVROLET FNR CONCEPT

While we do like seeing the more realistic concept cars at the major auto shows (you know, the ones that might actually make it to production), there’s a lot to be said about the ones that just look downright awesome. That’s exactly what we have with Chevrolet’s FNR Concept.

Looking like something straight out of Tron, it’s doubtful that this thing will ever see the light of day, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have it’s day of internet fame. The futuristic vehicle was developed in Shanghai by GM’s Pan Asian Technical Automotive Center, and comes complete with everything from crystal laser headlights and taillights to the dragonfly swing doors, magnetic hub-less wheels, and built-in wireless charging system. Seeing that the car uses sensors and roof-mounted radar technology to drive itself, it should come as no surprise that the front seats can rotate a full 180 degrees, freeing you up to enjoy some social activities with your fellow passengers.

[MIKA27]

4-IN-1 BAR TOOL

Your decluttering efforts should go well past your workspace, and flood right into the home bar. Ditch the random assortment of bar tools and opt for the 4-in-1 Bar Tool.

This bad boy combines 4 essentials bar tools into one extremely handy device. Shaped like a mini hammer, the tool comes complete with an ice breaker, measuring jigger, corkscrew, and bottle opener to keep the party going all night long. Did we mention it looks gorgeous? It’s crafted from solid bronze, and features the words “Raise The Bar” along the bottom side, letting your house guests know just how your roll. This vintage inspired tool sells online for about $30. [Purchase]

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URBAN TREEHOUSE BY BAUMRAUM

Berlin, home to some 3.5 million Germans, is a pretty busy city. So imagine the surprise you’d get if you stumbled across one of these new urban treehouses by Baumraum.

The Urban Treehouse isn’t quite a pure treehouse – it’s supported by galvanized steel – but it is perched a full story off of the ground and totally surrounded by trees on a 7,000 square foot lot. The steel supports are framed with larch paneling and actually serve as storage for bicycles or gardening tools and such. You climb a steel staircase and enter 400 square foot living space. It’s not exactly fit for family get-togethers, but hey, that could be a good thing. And again, you’re living in a sweet steel-made treehouse in the middle of Berlin.

[MIKA27]

TROBLA WOODEN AMPLIFIER FOR SMARTPHONES

Too many times we’ve seen (and heard) this tragic scene play out: a guy or girl, desperate to get some tunes going at a party, actually tries to fill the room with music via their phone. Eesh. Instead, maybe they should look into the Trobla, a wooden amplifier for smartphones.

Yes, you read that right; in this world where aircraft grade aluminum is used for cereal bowls, the creative team at Tok Tok Furniture has tapped into nature itself for assistance with our cutting edge calling devices. There’s no battery, no cord, and no shortage of looks you’ll get when you slide your phone into the Trobla (the Slovenian word for “horn”) and the volume jacks up. Tok Tok says they used a cone to “keep tones sharp and created a special chamber to enhance the stereophony and low frequencies.” The Trobla works with all iPhone models, the Samsung Galaxy S6, and many other phones. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

Scientists Target New Painkillers From Spider Venom

Scientists in Australia, home to some of the most poisonous creatures on Earth, have made an important discovery about spider venom that eventually could lead to a new class of painkillers.

Spiders use their venom to immobilize or kill their prey. Researchers from the University of Queensland isolated seven peptides—the building blocks of proteins—in spider venom that blocked the molecular pathway responsible for sending pain signals from the nerves to the brain. One peptide in particular, from a Borneo orange-fringed tarantula, had the right structure, stability and potency to potentially become a painkilling drug, the researchers said. The study was recently published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

The medical community is eager to identify new medications to treat chronic pain, which affects about 15% of all adults, according to a 2012 study published in the Journal of Pain. Traditional painkillers such as morphine and widely used medications like hydrocodone can be addictive, and abuse of the drugs has soared in recent years, prompting stricter regulations from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

“Spider venom acts in a different way to standard painkillers,” said Jennifer Smith, a research officer at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience. Dr. Smith, one of the authors of the Australian study, doesn’t expect a painkiller derived from the venom will be addictive because it blocks a specific channel that transmits pain to the brain. Opiate painkillers, by contrast, block widespread opioid receptors on cells in the brain, spinal cord and other organs.

Spiders aren’t the only venomous creatures with medicinal potential. Researchers in France have found that ingredients in the venom from Africa’s black mamba snake, one of the world’s deadliest, had painkilling properties as potent as morphine. And a drug derived from the venom of the sun anemone, which lives on reefs in the Caribbean, is currently being tested in the U.S. on people with psoriasis and could also be used to treat other autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Scientific interest in venom’s painkilling properties stems from an earlier discovery by geneticists of a rare mutation in some people—in a gene known as SCN9A—that eliminates their ability to feel pain. While they can experience touch, warmth and other tactile functions, their sense of smell and pain are inhibited, Dr. Smith said. Some venoms from spiders and other animals and plants have been found to mimic the effects of the gene mutation, she said.

The Australian study analyzed spider venom from 205 species found locally and in other countries (there are currently about 45,000 known species of spiders in the world). The researchers isolated various active peptides from the venom. Each peptide was studied to see how it would affect specific pain targets known as ion channels, which transmit pain signals through the body.

About 40% of the tested spider species contained at least one peptide that blocked pain channels. The researchers plan to conduct animal studies to test the peptides’ clinical potential, looking for any unforeseen side effects, whether the substances break down in the body and other outcomes, Dr. Smith said.

“We’ve got a massive library of different venoms from different spider species and we’re branching out into other arachnids: scorpions, centipedes and even assassin bugs,” Dr. Smith said.

Some, such as the Sydney funnel-web spider, a native to Australia, were easy to milk because they are very aggressive. “Literally, you have to just look at them and they’ll start dripping venom from their fangs,” Dr. Smith said. The spider’s venom, however, didn’t contain ingredients capable of blocking pain channels, she said.

Others, including South American tarantulas the size of dinner plates, had to be anesthetized and the muscles around the venom gland stimulated for venom to be produced, she said. A university researcher traveled the world to collect venoms from spiders kept by arachnid enthusiasts and pet shops.

Australia is a natural fit for this research, Dr. Smith said. “We have a plethora of really good venomous animals: You name it we’ve got it, pretty much. Australia is the venom land.”

The Australian research is funded in part by Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson. “We think this is scientifically promising, but it is too early to put time frames around when this might be in the clinic or a product would be available,” a Janssen spokesman said.

Experiments with the black mamba snake also aim to develop nonaddictive painkillers. The snake, which has olive-gray skin and can grow as long as 12 feet, gets its name from the color inside its mouth, which it displays when threatened.

Researchers at France’s National Center for Scientific Research tested peptides from the black mamba snake’s venom called mambalgins on mice and found potent painkilling properties. The peptides focused on a different pain pathway than the opioid receptors targeted by morphine, according to the research, published in the journal Nature in 2012.

Venom from the sun anemone is being developed into a drug called dalazatide by Seattle-based biotech company Kineta Inc. A human clinical trial with the drug as a treatment for psoriasis recently concluded and results are expected to be released in the next few weeks, according to Kineta. Unlike traditional treatments for autoimmune disorders that suppress the entire immune system, Kineta’s drug is intended to block only the white blood cells that cause the diseases, said company chief executive Charles Magness.

[MIKA27]

Check Out Russia's Soundproof, Indoor Rocket Engine Testing Chamber

American aerospace engineers test rocket engines in large outdoor test stands far away from densely populated areas, and let the engines roar. In Russia, they built a soundproof and gas-tight indoor test chamber right in the middle of town.

Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, has just posted two awesome photos of the altitude testing chamber at the headquarters of the engine maker Energomash, located in the town of Khimki, one of the largest satellite cities of Moscow.

Energomash is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-power liquid-fuel rocket engines in Russia. In this specific test chamber they can test their engines* without noise and dust, because it absorbs all the byproducts of combustion.

NASA and ESA have similar huge chambers for simulating space conditions here on Earth, and Energomash also has dozens of other test systems, but this indoor testing chamber is unique. I would love to watch and listen to a recording from this chamber. Hey, Energomash, please put a few GoPro cameras on those railings for our viewing pleasure!

[MIKA27]

Plastic Gears Reinforced With Carbon Fibre Could Replace Metal In Cars

Given the sheer amount of torque and power needed to propel a car that weighs thousands of kilos, you’d think that parts made from plastic would disintegrate in minutes. But researchers have developed a plastic gear reinforced with carbon fibre that’s strong enough to actually be used as a replacement for metal parts in a vehicle.

When a gear is spinning against another gear, the vast majority of the forces are exerted where the teeth actually connect to the gear’s core. So researchers at Japan’s Gifu University and a company called Central Fine Tool added a thin layer of carbon fibre running through each tooth that adequately reinforces and strengthens the part.

Because carbon fibre is used sparingly in the part, the new gears are easier and cheaper to produce than their metal counterparts. And because they’re not made from metal, they’re considerably lighter which in turn makes the vehicle lighter and improves its fuel efficiency.

Its creators are hoping to commercialise their product by 2017 as they continue to improve and strengthen its design. But you probably won’t find it under the hood of your new car for a few years after that given the amount of testing automobile manufacturers, and safety regulators, will require before approving them for the road.

[MIKA27]

Solar Impulse Safely Lands In East China -- But The Hardest Leg Is Still To Come

Yesterday, the solar-powered aeroplane Solar Impulse successfully touched down in Nanjing, China, completing the Asian leg of its global trip. Next, though, comes one of the toughest parts of the journey: crossing the Pacific Ocean.

The round-the-world trip has been facing some delays since it started in March. In fact it was forced to wait further west in China for three weeks until there was decent enough weather to complete the trip. Cloud and crosswinds were out in force preventing safe flight and while alternative routes were considered none proved suitable.

Now sat in Nanjing for about 10 days, the next flight will be the toughest of the journey so far. From China, the aeroplane will have to travel to Hawaii before it can next set it wheels on the ground. That crossing — never yet attempted by a zero-fuel aeroplane — will last five days and five nights, with pilot Bertrand Piccard facing massive swings in temperature as he flies the unpressurised craft.

[MIKA27]

FBI And TSA Warn Airlines To Watch Out For Wi-Fi Hacks

Following concerns about the plausibility and dangers of passengers hacking aeroplane Wi-Fi networks, the FBI and TSA have issued a joint alert warning airlines to be increasingly vigilant about monitoring for such attacks.

The warning, issued as a private industry notification and first reported by Wired, is a response to last week’s news about Chris Roberts being stopped and questioned after he tweeted about hacking the Wi-Fi network aboard a United Airlines flight. “Although the media claims remain theoretical and unproven,” the authorities warn, “the media publicity associated with these statements may encourage actors to use the described intrusion methods.”

The FBI and TSA do point out that they have no evidence of hackers being able to successfully gain access to an aeroplane’s vital systems via Wi-Fi or In Flight Entertainment networks. But that doesn’t stop them suggesting how flight crews should respond to suspicious activities:

• Report any suspicious activity involving travellers connecting unknown cables or wires to the IFE system or unusual parts of the aeroplane seat.
• Report any evidence of suspicious behaviour following a flight, such as

  IFE systems that show evidence of tampering or the forced removal of

  covers to network connection ports.

• Report any evidence of suspicious behaviour concerning aviation wireless signals, including social media messages with threatening references to Onboard Network Systems, ADS-B, ACARS, and Air Traffic Control networks.
• Review network logs from aircraft to ensure any suspicious activity, such as network scanning or intrusion attempts, is captured for further analysis.

The issue is clearly a big concern that the authorities have yet to respond to with absolute clarity. Stopping and questioning security researchers is perhaps less useful than working out how to prevent real hacks from taking place, after all. But we know one thing: we hope all this fuss doesn’t affect the ongoing relaxation of electronic device use one planes.

[MIKA27]

Why The Data On California's Biggest Water Hogs Isn't Public

It might seem like all of California is busy naming scapegoats who consume unfair shares of water during the state’s historic drought. But there’s actually no way for the public to go after the state’s worst water wasters because there’s no way of knowing who they are. Legislation has ensured that much of the state’s water data will never be made public.

In fact, California is the only state in the west that does not make its water data public.

While the state has promised to call out cities with exceptionally high per capita water usage — information which was only released by the state for the first time last year — that’s one small part of the water data story. Due to several measures that challenge open government policies, what should be boundless flows of open data about our most squandered resource are as dry as the wells in much of the state. And right now California needs all the data it can get — not only to find out who the biggest water hogs are, but so data scientists, visualisation designers, developers, and engineers can work together to find better and more relevant ways for the state’s residents to weather the drought.

Protecting water wasters

When the California Public Records Act was passed in 1968 it was one of the most progressive public information efforts in the country. It’s easy, for example, to find water information collected by the stateat public monitoring stations. But several challenges to the act have removed more specific datasets from public access. An intriguing story at Reveal uncovers a 1997 measure that was specifically written to keep water consumption data in the dark. And it was brought about specifically so affluent tech industry giants would not be forced to reveal their own water use.

The city of Palo Alto was the first to back the measure, which was sponsored by its former mayor Byron Sher. As a state senator, Sher had helped pass several important environmental initiatives like the Groundwater Protection Act. But this 1997 legislation he introduced was not so much about protecting underground aquifers as it was about protecting Intel execs, since many of the state’s wealthiest residents lived in Sher’s Silicon Valley district.

Releasing personal information about water and energy usage was a safety issue, argued the supporters, citing a 1989 case where the man who murdered actress Rebecca Schaeffer legally got her information from DMV records.

A detail of an infographic by the New York Times showing municipal water use in California. While cities report aggregate data, the available information is usually not much more granular than that.

The problems with California and water data go even further back than that, according to a story inGovernment Technology: California Water Code Section 13752 blocks the public from inspecting the logs from any well-drilling companies. Much like the antiquated water rights which still rule the state, this 1951 law might be worth revisiting. Several efforts have attempted to end well log confidentiality but so far, these details remain out of the public eye.

Public data, public shaming

Before that 1997 ruling, the California Public Records Act allowed anyone to access utility information. It was, after all, from public utilities. The kind of details that were once made available can be seen in this story from the Los Angeles Times in 1991 (yep, there was a megadrought back then, too). As part of its Internal and External Water Audit Program, the city of San Diego used to publish a list of the city’s top 100 water users.

Helen Copley, the publisher of the Union-Tribune newspaper, made her own headlines for using 10,000 gallons per day on her 9.5-acre La Jolla estate:

“We are doing a very good job of water conservation here,” Copley said, noting that her June, 1990, water bill was 39% lower than her June, 1989, bill. Water conservation efforts of Copley’s 10 full-time gardeners include watering pool-side plants individually instead of spraying an entire area, punching deep holes in soil to allow water to soak in, and pouring unused drinking water on plants. She said she is considering leaving one portion of her property unwatered.

You can quickly see how these same public shaming tactics could just get into people’s hands in the current-day social media landscape, no data required. You can easily report a waster via a 311 app or post a photo on Twitter when you can see someone’s sprinklers overwatering from the street.

But it does seem like making this very specific information officially public can make a difference. The city of Montecito, for example, which made national headlines when it was uncovered that wealthy residents were trucking in their own water, made its water data public as part of program to slap hefty fines on wasters. Here, releasing information about high-profile water users — including Oprah Winfrey! — seems to have done the trick: In 2014 the city was able to cut its water usage 48 per cent from the year before.

Information equals conservation

The type of data that impacts the largest majority of the state’s water consumers arrives from the local utility every month. My monthly bill tells me how many gallons of water I used last month and if it was more or less than the month prior. Depending on your utility company, you might also be able to see how your usage compares to others in your neighbourhood. Now a slew of new apps are trying to make that usage more transparent and top of mind for residents. The biggest issue here isn’t that information is necessarily being withheld, it’s just a painfully slow process for cities to release the datasets.

I tried to sign up for an app called Dropcountr which would help me track and manage my water consumption from my iPhone, but was dismayed to discover that LA’s Department of Water and Power hadn’t yet released enough data for me to use it. “In order to make our app actually work we have to partner with the utilities to get the information flowing,” says Robb Barnitt, Dropcountr’s founder. “We have huge user interest and they’re just as frustrated as we are.”

Dropcountr wants its users to be able to track their water use day-to-day; their CLEAR system allows utility companies to manage customers and send messages about conservation

To make it easier to sync city data with their app, Dropcountr has even developed a meter data management product called CLEAR to help utilities gather this very information and pass it along more efficiently to their customers. “Our argument is that a lot more people look at their phones than their bill and getting it front and center is key to conservation,” says Barnitt. He argues that if more California cities switched to a system like their app, they could not only reduce usage but also help send reminders about watering days or new rebates offered for low-flow showers, for example. But they need access to the data to make it work.

The battle for groundwater

Utility-regulated water consumption is only part of the data picture. The rest is actually hidden from view — it’s underground. Of far greater concern at the moment is groundwater use information, since the state’s aquifers are being depleted due to surface water scarcity. And if someone’s wasting or stealing water — including farms — it’s harder to see and report.

There is plenty of reporting available from scientists on groundwater levels. USGS, NOAA, and NASA, for example, have all been doing extensive groundwater surveys to study how quickly aquifers are being drained. What we know now is that the country is in trouble when it comes to groundwater, and it’s not just California. This information has even inspired hackathons where data scientists are looking at how more open government policies can inspire better agricultural methods.

In this July 2014 image, NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) combines data with other satellites and ground-based measurements to model the relative amount of water stored in underground aquifers

The problem in California specifically is that we don’t know who is taking that water out. Up until last year, groundwater was not regulated by the state, and the laws which were passed last summer will take a few years to be fully in effect. Some communities are reporting record-high numbers of requests for new wells to be drilled — shouldn’t we be able to know who’s making them? How about larger agricultural interests that are siphoning off water from smaller farms? And wouldn’t it be important to know how much groundwater that, say, oil companies are extracting?

In the meantime, efforts to try to make this groundwater information public have been swatted down by courts, like a 2014 attempt by the First Amendment Coalition to get the information of businesses like golf courses in the Coachella Valley Water District, the infamously irrigated desert community east of LA.

It’s a privacy issue, the president of the water board told the Desert Sun:

“CVWD fought this lawsuit because we believe it is important to protect private customer data, whether that customer is a homeowner, a business or a private pumper,” board president John Powell Jr. said in a statement.

So we’re back to the same issue of open data being “protected,” while some customers are almost certainly silently sucking the state dry.

This data becomes even more important as municipalities are lining up to negotiate with the state about how much they actually need to reduce their water use in light of the statewide 25 per cent reduction mandated on April 1. Many cities argue that they have already been able to reduce their water use so much that they shouldn’t be subject to another 25 per cent, and they have got the records to prove it. Along with those records, the municipalities should be required to hand over all of that information to the public. You want to get water from the state? Show us all the data.

[MIKA27]

The Artwork On These Ghostbusters Playing Cards Is Fantastic

You probably don’t need much of a reason to spend $US14 on a pack of Ghostbusters-themed playing cards — you loved the movie, you love Texas Hold’em, it’s the perfect match. So consider it a nice bonus that every single card in this deck features beautiful caricature-esque illustrations of all the characters — dead or alive — from the movie.

And the king? Of course it’s Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman. [Firebox]

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Peaceful Shot Of MV-22 Osprey Overlooking The Sun On Top A Mountain

The US Marines says this photo shows a MV-22B Osprey preparing to take off on top of a mountain in New Mexico. I think the picture is fantastic, the rear shot makes it look like the Osprey is being contemplative and its rotors are splitting the Sun at the perfect angle. Everything almost looks peaceful.

US Marines:

An MV-22B Osprey with Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 22, prepares to take off while on top of a mountain during a flight aboard Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 2, 2015. During the flight the Marines conducted low visibility landing, flew through mountainous terrain and at low altitudes.

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Scientists Propose Putting A Laser On The ISS To Blast Space Junk

Millions of pieces of space junk, big and small, are constantly circling the Earth. This intractable problem has inspired many a grandiose idea, but perhaps none as initially bizarre-sounding as a laser on the International Space Station, a real scheme recently proposed by Japanese scientists.

Now, lasers have been proposed as a space junk solution before, but these lasers were based on on land. And this idea hasn’t gained much political traction because, well, you can imagine how they could easily double as weapons. But perhaps a laser on neutral ground, or erh, in more neutral space, might appease those fears?

That’s what scientists at Japan’s RIKEN institute suggest in a new paper in Acta Astronautica. A high-powered laser can be used to nudge space junk toward the Earth’s atmosphere, where it will harmlessly burn up. The researchers say this will work on dangerous and small pieces of space junk. These centimeter-sized pieces might seem harmless, but they can punch right through vehicles and satellites at high velocities.

The researchers arrived at this idea by way of the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO), a mission that includes a telescope for detecting cosmic rays. The European Space Agency had initiated EUSO but ultimately decided to drop the mission in 2004, before the telescope launched. Now scientists at RIKEN have since taken the project and are aiming to get a telescope up in the ISS’s Japanese Experiment Module in a couple of years. The laser system would repurpose EUSO’s telescope to track space debris.

The team now suggests a proof-of-concept study with a small telescope (20 centimeters) and small laser (100 fibres) on the ISS. If that happens and it works, the ISS could eventually get a full-sized three-meter telescope and a laser with 10,000 fibres.

Perhaps more so than anyone else, Japan has stepped up to deal with space junk, creating a militarised force to monitor debris and announcing plans to launch a giant collection net. The space laser proposal is still a lot more nebulous than those concrete plans, but hey, it’s given us something to ponder.

[MIKA27]

THIS GHOST PRANK WILL SCARE THE BEJESUS OUT OF YOU

If you search for any ghost-related videos on YouTube you'll find a seemingly endless list of supernatural pranks and cheap scares.

But few are as good as what you're about to see here. A popular Brazilian TV show decided to rig up an entire subway train with multiple cameras (and more than a few scares) and allow unsuspecting members of the public to go about their daily commute.

But once they've boarded the train, that's when the fun begins and the lights go out....

Now having a corpse like ghost randomly appear in the darkened carriage next to you, is enough to scare the live-in daylights out of anyone. But when you realise how slick the production values are (she seemingly disappears into thin air) and the fact there's no escape you can't help but laugh and recoil in horror at what unfolds.

Simply put, these fearful passengers utterly lose their minds! Not that you can blame them, after all we'd probably all have the same reaction.

[MIKA27]

The 'Ocean's 11' of Bourbon Burglaries: Uncovering the Great Pappy Van Winkle Heist

Prosecutors claim a criminal syndicate stealing and selling the most coveted bourbon was an audacious inside job.

Call it Pappy’s Revenge.

On Tuesday, at a courthouse in Frankfort, Kentucky, nine people were indicted, accused of a long-running scheme to steal and sell bourbon.

They had chosen Pappy Van Winkle, the grand cru of bourbons—bad move. Until recently, Pappy brand whiskeys were merely cognoscenti-craved obscurities.

But by a couple of years ago the craze for the ever-so-limited-release bourbons was in full frenzy—a fevered condition that continues, and that transformed a simple scheme to steal some whiskey into a crown-jewel heist.

It’s Gilbert “Toby” Curtsinger’s bad luck that the Van Winkle family of whiskeys has become such a phenomenon.

He stands accused of organizing a criminal syndicate in Kentucky, using his position as a 26-year employee of Buffalo Trace distillery, where he manned the loading dock, to lift liquor not only by the case, but also by the barrel.

Prosecutors say he worked the scam with, among others, Mark S. Searcy, an employee at the nearby Wild Turkey distillery, which was also regularly robbed. His ever-so-convenient job was to truck barrels between company warehouses.

For years, nobody seemed to notice all the bottles and casks that went missing from the two companies. That’s right—years.

Curtsinger is accused of systematically lightening warehouse shelves as far back as the beginning of 2008.

Of course in those days no one had heard much about Pappy Van Winkle. Which may explain why the gang didn’t attract any attention when, several years ago, according to the indictment, it sold some 20 cases of Pappy.

Someone trying to sell 20 cases of Pappy these days wouldn’t be arrested; they would be trampled to death by a mob long before any police arrived.

Prosecutors say the criminal conspiracy was organized through the outwardly innocent networking opportunities presented by a softball league.

Curtsinger allegedly recruited both his gang and his customers through the sport, which provided ample cover for traveling the state and meeting plenty of thirsty people.

The distillery workers didn’t hide where they were getting their barrels from, just how. When Curtsinger was arrested last month, some of his regular customers started calling the sheriff, hoping, it would seem, to get out ahead of any raps for receiving stolen property.

They said that Curtsinger told them the distilleries had been remarkably generous with their valued employees, saying: “Hey, we’ve got some extra liquor that we aren’t going to sell...take it home.”

The gang had been getting good money for the whiskey, prosecutors said, even at a steep, back-of-the-van discount—selling for $1,500 each barrels the distillery would have gotten $3,000 to $6,000 for.

However much they got for the bottles of Pappy, though, was not nearly enough.

Over the last few years, Pappy has become a (overhyped) sensation, with soaring aftermarket prices and hens-teeth scarcity.

So valuable had Pappy become, by 2013, that even the lax loss-prevention folks at Buffalo Trace took notice when cases went missing. What had been a longstanding and ongoing pilferage was all of a sudden The Great Pappy Van Winkle Heist.

The key to solving the case was, in its own way, simple, and can be found in an article in Louisville’s Courier-Journal back in October of 2013 when news of the Pappy heist broke.

“Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton said his office has been inundated with calls about the theft—some tips and a lot of media calls,” the C-J’s Mark Boxley reported. The sheriff’s reaction to all the media attention? “I’ve just been blown away by it,” he said.

And yet even with all that motivation to solve the crime, it was nearly a year and a half before the sheriff got the break he was looking for.

From the beginning of the investigation, Curtsinger might have been a prime suspect: The sheriff in 2013 noted that the whiskey had gone missing from a (clearly only semi-) secure location at the Buffalo Trace factory, and that his investigators would be looking at anyone with “regular access to the whiskey.”

But it wasn’t through the distillery that Curtsinger became the prime suspect. The Sheriff’s Office was working to unravel a local steroid ring, and stumbled on what appears to have been the whiskey gang’s other line of work—importing illegal anabolic steroids from China and putting them on the street.

When police raided Curtsinger’s house looking for bodybuilding drugs, Sheriff Melton says they found a couple of whiskey barrels out back, and several bottles of Pappy inside.

The officers deduced that these were clues.

Of course Mr. Curtsinger and the eight others indicted today have only been accused of crimes. As is the admirable custom of the country, they cannot—and should not—be assumed to be guilty.

That said, the moral of the story remains for any future distillery employees who know where the security cameras’ blind spots are: Lug away all the bulky barrels of mid-market liquor you like, but it’s best to leave the stuff labeled “Unobtainable Nectar of the Gods” alone.

[MIKA27]

POLAROID ZIP INSTANT MOBILE PRINTER

Taking quality photos has never been easier thanks to the constant progression of smartphone cameras. But printing them? Well, that’s still a bit of a hassle. Polaroid’s Zip looks to bring selfie prints to the next level.

The Zip is an instant mobile printer, letting you wirelessly print photos in less than a minute. The device prints out polaroid-sized photos that can be edited before hitting the print button, and does so without using any ink. That means no more shaking it like a Polaroid picture. The smartphone sized printer uses ZINK paper along with dye crystals that are activated during the print process. Not only does this streamline the printing experience, it also does away with pesky ink and toner. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE TEASER POSTERS

Some of us here have watched the latest trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a dozen times by now, and some of us are avoiding it completely, not wanting to spoil even one second of the film until it comes out in March of 2016.

But all of us have now seen these new teaser posters, and we’re giving them the thumbs up. They look like something you’d see in a Gotham City subway station, and that certainly fits with the theme here. Zack Snyder (Man of Steel, 300, Watchmen) is directing, with Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and other Justice Leaguers expected to appear as well, paving the way for future JLA movies.

[MIKA27]

A LOOK AT THE ‘BATMAN V SUPERMAN’ BATMOBILE

With every new Batman film comes a redesigned Batmobile. Zach Snyder has his work cut out to match the fractal tank Christopher Nolan put out. Well, no need to wait for the film’s release next year, here’s your first look at the new Batmobile. To be honest, it looks like a nice blend of the Tumbler and older, more agile-looking models. Not a bad start.

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THE IRISHMAN CASK STRENGTH WHISKEY

Distilled three times and aged in American Bourbon Oak Casks, many call The Irishman Cask Strength Whiskey one of the most exclusive in all of Ireland. And it's not only rare — with only two to three thousand bottles produced each year — but it's also a remarkable Irish whiskey. Only the best casks in the cellar are used for this annual release that weighs in at 54% ABV and garners awards and praise from reviewers and tasters around the world every year.

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Watch Australia's Latest 'Daily Show' Clone Take On Internet Piracy

Australia has been looking for an answer to The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight for some time now. A new ABC show hosted by comedian, Charlie Pickering, is the latest to give it a go, and for its first feature story it’s taking on Australia’s love affair with piracy. Pickering skewers Foxtel and drops some knowledge on piracy with a few laughs to boot.

You can watch the full pilot of The Weekly on ABC iView for freeeeeeee.

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The Woman Who Woke Up in the Future

Naomi Jacobs was a 32-year-old single mother living in Manchester, England, when she went to sleep on April 30, 2008. She lived in a small flat with her ten-year-old son Leo and their cat Sophia. At the time, she was unemployed, but she had gone back to school, where she was pursuing a degree in psychology. When Naomi woke up the next morning, she didn't remember any of this. Instead, she woke up believing she was 15 years old, bewildered by how she had ended up in the future.

It took years for Naomi to figure out what happened to her that night, but eventually, doctors gave her the diagnosis: transient global amnesia. The disorder only affects about five per 100,000 people each year, and results in sudden loss of memories. Unlike other forms of amnesia, people typically remember who they are and how to do stuff (Naomi, for example, could still remember her pin number and how to drive a car), but they forget qualitative memories. Those memories return eventually, but not before the traumatic, disorienting experience of feeling like you've traveled through time.

For Naomi, the experience wasn't just jarring—it was a catalyst to change her life. Now, seven years later, she's detailed everything that happened in a memoir, called Forgotten Girl. The book reveals a woman who forget the entirety of her adult life, rediscovered the person she grew up to be, and ultimately learned how to forgive herself.

VICE: Tell me what happened when you woke up that morning in 2008.

Naomi Jacobs: I had woken up that morning and saw my son Leo off to school. Then I went back to sleep. I hadn't been sleeping very well. I'd had a stomach virus and tonsillitis, and I'd just broken up with my ex-boyfriend—so my sleeping pattern was all over the place.

When I woke up, the first thing I saw were the curtains opposite me. I didn't recognize them, and then I looked down I didn't know the bed or the bedroom I was in. I jumped out of the bed. Initially, for the first couple of minutes, I still thought I was dreaming. It wasn't until I dashed into the bathroom and I saw my face in the mirror, and saw that I'd aged. I didn't know 17 years at that point, but I could tell I'd aged significantly from the age of 15. And that's when I realized I wasn't dreaming.

What was going through your mind at that point?

Terror. Complete shock. Then fear. I didn't know where I was, when I was, whose bedroom it was, which city I was in...

In the book, you describe having this telephone number in your head, and intuitively knowing who to call.

I didn't really know if it was a telephone number at first, but when I kept running around the house in a panic and every time I looked at this strange-looking house phone—it looked very, very different from the way cordless phones looked in 1992—this number just kept popping into my head. In the end, I felt like I had no choice but to press these numbers into the phone.

It was my friend Katie's telephone number. I knew the name attached to those numbers was Katie, but when this woman answered the phone, I knew straight away that I didn't know her. I didn't recognize her voice. But I just burst into tears, really distressed, and I told her on the phone that I hadn't a clue what was happening to me or where I was.

How did she react to what you were telling her?

She laughed at first, because I think she thought I might've been joking. But once she realized I was really quite upset, she kicked into gear and said 'I'll be there shortly.' When she came to get me, I saw her for the first time and I knew I didn't know her, but once she told me that she'd called my sister, I thought, 'Well, OK, she knows my sister, so maybe I'll be OK.'

They asked me as many questions as they could, because I had a lot of pain in my head—my head was pounding. But I was convinced that I'd be fine. I thought, I'll just fall asleep tonight and I'll just wake back up in 1992. That's what I told myself for those first 24 hours to get me through the trauma of what was happening.

But then, of course, you didn't go back to 1992.

Right. When I woke up the next day and I [still wasn't] 15, I thought, This might be permanent. My sister was insistent that I see a doctor, but I refused.

Why were you reluctant to see a doctor?

In my head, I was like, It's OK, I'm not even going to be here tomorrow—I'm going back to 1992! It took four days until I did see a doctor, because my practitioner—the doctor who knew me and my medical history—was away on vacation. So I went to see a replacement doctor, who saw me a few days later.

He was no help at all. He just told me that it was all in my imagination; go home, take a sleeping tablet, have a cup of tea, and everything will be fine the next day. That was traumatic in itself.

That's horrible.

Eventually, when I did go back to my doctor, he was livid that I'd been treated that way. But it took me a long, long time to figure out what had actually happened to me, because it was so rare. Over the consequent five years, it took me seeing so many different doctors and psychiatrists—because the memory loss was psychological, not organic or caused by head trauma—to figure out what happened and to get a diagnosis.

It took five years to figure out what happened?

Yeah. At the time it happened, I was getting my degree in psychology. It was kind of serendipitous, I suppose. I was studying for my exams and I'd commandeered all of these books on brain and behavior from the library. So when I had the amnesia, once I realized Oh crap, this might last, I started trying to research what could possibly be wrong with me. We eventually found the answer in the psychology books. When I found "transient global amnesia," I said, "I think I might have this," because I could remember numbers and how to drive, but I couldn't remember giving birth to my son. And he was just dismissive of that. So when I came away, I was like, "I've got transient global amnesia." I needed that to anchor me—I suppose to have something tangible? I reckon that helped me. Those psychology textbooks were my saving grace.

You also had a lifetime worth of diaries to read through, right?

Yeah, I had 20 years worth of diaries. As a teenager, I thought, This is really sad. Like, I can't believe I'm an adult who still writes in a diary. But I was really glad they were there, because they allowed me to peel back the layers, bit by bit, of the complicated adult life.

What was it like to read about your life without remembering you'd lived that life?

It was like reading somebody else's life, somebody else's story, because I had no emotional attachment to these memories that had been documented in these journals. So it wasn't my life. I hadn't lived it. It was a big of an emotional rollercoaster. I found the more I read, the more involved I got in this woman's life and more attached I got to her. I became more understanding and more compassionate. At 15, you don't know what you're going to be at 32, and to wake up 17 years in the future and think, Wait a minute, nothing has turned out the way I've expected—I was a single mother, living in this really tiny council house, with a cat, and a beaten-up car. I was unemployed, doing a psychology degree, taking government hand-outs. How had I ended up like this? I was so disappointed, and disgusted, and devastated in my adult life that I really didn't want any part in it until I started reading the diaries. Then, those diaries started to explain to me what had actually taken place in the 17 years, and by the time I reached the last diary, I found this deep sense of compassion for myself.

Did that change the way you lived your adult life going forward?

Absolutely. In reading the diaries, I found I'd struggled with drug addiction, struggled with damage and trauma for sexual abuse, I was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, I did a whole lot of LSD in my teenage years, my relationship with my mother had broken down, because she was an alcoholic... There was so much in there that made me understand, like, it's not as black and white as I'd originally thought it was, from my teenaged perspective. Teenagers can be quite black and white about things; adults know life is a lot more complex. So realizing all of this about myself not only allowed me to kind of forgive myself, but it was also the catalyst for huge change in my life. I went on a 12-step program, I let go of unhealthy friendships and relationships, I started to exercise, I quit smoking, and I started to write. I started to finally understand what it would be to live a life without basing my identity on victimhood. I feel like I've been given a second chance.

It took seeing yourself from 15-year-old eyes again to make that change.

When I was 15, I had all these hopes for my future—hopes for who I would be, growing up, or the woman that I would turn into eventually. I saw this great potential within myself to achieve whatever it was that I wanted to achieve. I wanted to be a journalist, I wanted to travel the world, and I knew I wanted to do something artistic. Those dreams were destroyed over the space of a year from the age of 15 to 16, when my whole family life fell apart. It was my first real attempt at an overdose. My relationship with my mother was really breaking down and I sort of thought I didn't matter. I thought, if I can't do what I dreamed I deserve in life, then there's no point. I don't matter. So I'm just going to take loads of drugs and live a crusty life. I didn't believe in myself.

Then I had Leo, my son, and I really promised him when he was born that whatever problems that I had—whatever damage or wounds that were inside of me—I was going to do everything in my power to heal them. My 20s were a kind of journey of trying to heal the things that had happened in my past, but I was very stuck in the past and traumas and hurts that had taken place. I never felt like I could fully move on from them. There would be times when I thought I was OK and then something would happen and it would push me back into that painful place, and the only thing I could use to help me deal with it was drugs. It wasn't until the amnesia that I think my mind was just like "No, we're not doing this anymore" and went back to when this all started.

So the fact that you woke up believing you were 15 is meaningful, because that's when your troubles began?

It's hard to explain in an interview (that's why I wrote the book!) because it's so multi-layered and complex. When the story first was out there and people were asking me "Why 15?" I just said, "I went back to a time when I felt safe." But once I started to write the book, I started to peel back the layers and do the same thing that my teenage self did. I deconstructed myself. Fifteen was the point in my life where I gave up on myself; where I believed that I was not worthy of living a good life. I believed I didn't matter. There was no point in believing that I could achieve my dreams, because I thought I would always be at the whims of other people, or people would hurt me and push me down. So I gave up on myself.

When I got the amnesia, I didn't remember this. It was only when I read the diaries, and I got to the diary that I wrote in when I was 15 and 16, and that diary reminds me of what happened to me and I realized, This all started with me.

While all of this was happening, you were living with your ten-year-old son, who you didn't remember having. How did he deal with this?

He was at school the first few hours that I had the amnesia, so my sister and Katie prepared me a little bit: "You have a son, his name is Leo. He is ten years of age, he likes skateboarding, and he's a really good kid." So when I went to collect him from school, my sister was there with me. We had discussed in the car what to do, and I was like, "No, no, don't tell him," because again, in the first 24 hours, I thought I was going to fall asleep and wake up back in 1992. So I was like, "Don't tell him, we'll scare him."

Seeing him walk out of the school gates—I still remember it now—I can't describe the way I felt. It was shock and horror that I've got a child—I never wanted children growing up!—but also this weird joy of seeing this miniature version of myself, because he looks so much like me and my sister, and he had this huge smile walking out of the gates. I was in awe of him—the way he talked, the way he talked; this overwhelming emotion at being introduced to a ten-year-old, three-foot version of me. He just seemed really cool and really laid back. I went to high-five him, because I saw that my sister had high-fived me, and he just looked at me strangely and put his schoolbag in my hand and walked off. I was like, "I guess mothers don't high-five their kids?" I had to follow my sister's cues, because I didn't know how to react to him, but I also wanted to keep the fact that I felt 15 hidden from him.

Did you tell him eventually? It seems like he must've been able to figure out that something was off about you.

A couple of months after the amnesia, we did talk about it, and I asked, "Did you suspect anything?" He was like, "I knew something was happening, and I wondered why you'd ask me what time I should go to bed, but I just thought you were joking."

I know it's difficult to believe, and some people have said, "Well, my child would know." And he did know, on some level, because I'm his mom and he's my son. He knows me. Also, I cannot stress how much Simone and Katy really helped. They essential became the mothers and they took care of 15-year-old me and ten-year-old Leo, who felt like my younger brother that I was babysitting for. I really felt like I had a little brother. He introduced me to the wonders of 21st century technologies: Xbox and Playstation and Google and YouTube. The times that I spent with him were the only times I wasn't afraid.

That must've been cool to transcend the parent-child relationship and bond with him in that way.

It was, but I was only able to do that because of my sister and Katie. They gave me the time and space to navigate my way through the amnesia. I dedicated the book to them: to Simone, Katie, and Leo. I couldn't have gotten through any of this without them.

It's been seven years since this happened. How are you doing now?

I'm in a really, really great place—mentally, emotionally, and physically. Leo is 17 now. He still skateboards and he's working in digital marketing. My sister lives in Dubai, and we're the best of friends. The amnesia wasn't just a catalyst to change in my life; it was a catalyst to change in my sisters' and my mothers' [lives] as well. My mother has been sober for six years now and we're really close. I hadn't seen her in four years [at the time of the amnesia] and now we're the best of friends. There have been so many positive changes in my life. Of course, life is not perfect! I still get my period, I still eat too much chocolate, I still have one glass of wine too many, and I'm still human. But it's different now.

When I wake up, I focus on what really matters in life. Even if it's just one thing, once a day, I try to do things that make me feel good about being me. For too long before the amnesia, I was surrounded by people making me feel bad about being me. It took the amnesia for me to realize that I don't need to feel that way. That's the foundation that I build my life on now.

Naomi Jacobs' memoir will be released later this month in the UK (under the titleForgotten Girl) and in Australia/New Zealand in next month (under the title I Woke Up in the Future).

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The New Mad Max Game Looks So Goddamn Good

As if Mad Max: Fury Road wasn’t exciting enough. There’s a new Mad Max game hitting the shelves in September, and now we’re getting a look at the gameplay.

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An Absolutely Massive Volcano Is Exploding In Chile Right Now

Calbuco, a stratovolcano in southern Chile, began erupting yesterday at 7pm local time. First spewing massive ash clouds, then, at 10pm, erupting explosively as its fragile structure collapsed inwards. Here’s all the stunning imagery and video. You can see it from space!

Why do Volcanoes create lightning? I09 explains it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WOluVIPVu0

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The Secret History Of The Most Famous Neon Sign In The World

Much like the I Heart NY logo or the Hollywood Sign, the sign welcoming visitors to Las Vegas was not meant as a grand gesture when it was conceived. What was a simple act of civic self promotion — an ad, really — became a piece of public art and eventually an icon in the public domain, plastered on fuzzy dice and shot glasses that line the Strip’s souvenir shops. But who made it?

The sign’s heart and soul — and in many ways, the city’s — is attributed to Betty Willis, who died Monday at 91. When she was hired to design the piece, the Las Vegas native was working as a graphic designer, creating newspaper ads for shows, and, as the building boom in the city peaked, neon motel signs.

Las Vegas in 1950

In 1959, a salesman at a neon company proposed a sign that would entice visitors driving in from LA. Willis was tapped to design a flashy way to welcome tourists to their destination — which was really only a handful of hotels on a dusty highway. The sign is actually not in the city of Las Vegas at all, but rather in an area of still-unincorporated Clark County that encompasses much of the Strip — so it’s leased to the state of Nevada by Young Electric Sign Company (hence the “YESCO” logo at the bottom).

Willis’s design was inspired by two logos which were reaching a cultural nadir in the late 1950s: Goodyear and Disneyland. The star atop an oblong rounded rectangle is typical of the Googie architectural style found in most of the city’s motels at the time. When it came to the wording, however, the “fabulous” was added by Willis, using lettering that evoked local hand-painted signage.

The sign became an instant hit. Visitors would stop on their way into town to pose with it. Unlike most of the other neon signs in the city, this one is incredibly accessible, straddling a median at the far south end of the Strip (which was miles away from anything built when it was first erected). You can stand just beneath it and marvel at the size of the lightbulbs, the clear laces of neon tubing. The area around it has become almost an unofficial pocket park and there’s a parking lot there now that accommodates dozens of tour buses. And of course, you can easily Instagram yourself in front of it, selfie stick or not, cementing its relevance in today’s culture. It even has its own Twitter account.

What was once a gaudy ploy to make drivers stop and give Vegas a spin has now been dwarfed by the glittering towers in the background. Visitors coming from LA most likely sail into town on the 15 freeway now and most miss the sign completely (some might even be duped by a replica that’s situated in downtown Vegas). But on all my trips I make a point to roll into town this way so I can see the sign.

Even when I leave I go back the way I came. The opposite side of the sign, so rarely photographed, is like a special, secret message beckoning visitors to return. Guess what? They always do.

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I Can Hear The Sound Of Artillery Firing In This Photo Of A Howitzer

I’m not a gun nut, but I love badass machines and this photo of US Marines firing a howling M777 Howitzer is mechanical awesomeness dripping with badassery. I can almost hear the thumping blast of the Howitzer firing from just looking at the picture. It’s, yep, pretty badass.

US Marines:

Marines with 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, fire an M777 howitzer during Exercise Desert Scimitar 2015 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, April 7, 2015. The tough, realistic live-fire training central to Desert Scimitar allows Division units to train in order to maintain readiness and meet current and real-world operational demands.