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

[MIKA27]

7 Things You Had No Idea The World Is Running Out Of

Hardly a day goes by that we’re not told about the unsustainable pressure we’re putting on our natural resources. And while it prompts visions of oil, fresh water and coal, you’d be surprised at how many of our creature comfort commodities are dwindling just as quickly.

While the following may not be quite as crucial as, say, potable water, they’re still an integral part of our day to day lives. Let’s take a moment to appreciate some these seven mainstays of the modern world that you’d better enjoy while you still can.

Chocolate

Chocolate is delicious, right? Unfortunate, then, that the majority of the world’s cocoa supply comes from West Africa, where many countries have yet to outlaw things like child labour, trafficking, or slavery; in other words, the kind of labour that produces the chocolate you’re putting in your mouth. Even with slave labour though, farming cocoa beans isn’t financially lucrative for your average West African farmer.

As these kids can surely tell you, harvesting cocoa is damn hard work. It’s time-consuming (each new crop takes five years to grow), has to be done by hand, and even worse, has to be done by hand in excruciating heat. And the final payoff? A whopping 80 cents a day — for the farmer, that is. At this rate, in about 20 years, chocolate could become a luxury with a caviar-comparable price points. And that’s with the continuation of child labour. With fair-trade laws slowly but surely inching their way into the industry and child labour laws being (rightfully) enforced, the price of labour is going to go up, putting farmers at an even greater loss. The fact of the matter is chocolate will just be too expensive to produce en masse.

Plus, it’s not like other parts of the world can pick up the slack. Chocolate can only be grown in latitudes within 10 degrees of the equator — an area that’s home to some of the most unstable countries on the planet. In other words, best not skip out on trick-or-treating next year; 50 years down the line, that candy haul could payoff big time.

Sardines

This one might not be as upsetting for some of you, but for lovers of the oily little sidefish, Armageddon is just around the corner. Just this past month, Western Canada’s fleet of sardine-hunting ships came back with a return of… zilch. Not only is that $US32 million worth of potential sardines down the drain, but the loss is indicative of a much more disturbing future: We could be in store for decades worth of sardine-free waters.

Sardine populations have a tendency to fluctuate with water temperature, and these tiny fish have been reproducing less ever since Pacific waters cooled back in the 1990s. Heavy fishing, of course, kept trudging on regardless. What’s more, any sardine eggs we’re getting these days are coming from fish born a decade ago — a sardine generation that’s just about dead. Despite all this, Canada is still upping its sardine quotas and the US, though it does limit catches, still hasn’t cut down enough to sustain the dwindling stock.

So what does this mean for people with a predilection for the canned swimmers? It could be decades before the water warms up enough to welcome back our salty friends of the sea.

Tequila

Back in 2007, Mexico’s blue agave yield (the plant tequila comes from) already wasn’t doing so hot. 20 per cent of the crop was crippled by disease, a sign that, the Chicago Tribune noted, proved that farmers were turning their backs on their crops for the same reason cocoa farmers are fading fast: cost. Growing corn is far more lucrative than blue agave. So what does a farmer do when he wants to replace his blue agave with a cash crop? Burn it down. Yep, rather than harvest what they already had, farmers decided to burn down fields upon fields of the precious potential tequila.

But don’t start drowning your sorrows just yet; major producers have been carefully storing away tequila for the upcoming shortage.

Because when it finally does hit, that gold liquid will turn into liquid gold, which isn’t great for the consumer, sure. But as independent farmers see blue agave start rising in value, they’ll start replanting those same fields they previously set in flames.

Of course, once that does happen, it takes about 12 years for a blue agave plant to be able to actually produce the fructose necessary to make tequila. Better stock up while you still can. And if you do decide to drown your sorrows — stick to vodka.

Helium

Ever sucked down some helium for a cheap laugh? Thanks for nothing, pal. Because these days, we need to conserve as much of it as we can. You may not realise, but helium is a highly necessary commodity in the modern world. Everything from MRI magnets to fibre optics and LCD screens needs the element (which has the lowest boiling point of any other material on Earth) to function, so without it, pretty much everything we’ve grown to depend on gets hit hard.

But that doesn’t make any sense, you might say, how can helium stock be diminishing when I can still go pick up a bundle of helium-filled balloons for 10 bucks? Well, you’d be right, it doesn’t make any sense — but not for the reasons you might think. While we are indeed running out of the noble gas, that hasn’t stopped the United States from continuing to sell the stuff by the barrel full, dirt cheap. And according to Cornell scientists Robert Richardson, we want it that way:

The US government established a national helium reserve in 1925, and today a billion cubic metres of the gas are stored in a facility near Amarillo, Texas. In 1996 Congress passed an act requiring that this strategic reserve, which represents half the Earth’s helium stocks, be sold off by 2015. As a result, helium is far too cheap and is not treated as a precious resource.

And when we do eventually run out of our current store, our only other option is to recover helium from the air — which will cost 10,000 times what it does today. So yeah, try not to dwell on all the thousands of dollars balloons you’ve watched float away into nothingness.

Wine

As a species full of wine-guzzling lushes, humanity’s unquenchable thirst has put us in a bit of a predicament — a 300-million case predicament, to be exact. Sure, there may be one million wine producers worldwide putting out about 2.8 billion cases a year, but that’s still not enough to fill the ever-increasing demand for more vino.

In fact, despite a one per cent rise in global wine consumption, production actually fell by over five per cent last year — the lowest it’s been since the 1960s. Even more unsettling, last year’s wine production in Europe, which produces about half of the world’s supply, dropped a staggering 10 per cent. Unfortunately, most of the industry growth that is happening is thanks to “boutique operators,” which aren’t going to drive any significant supply.

Goat Cheese

Back in 2010, the UK saw a major outbreak of Q fever disease. As a result, over 50,000 pregnant goats and sheep were culled (i.e. removed from breeding), and some farmers decided to halt breeding altogether. This would have been problem enough in and of itself, but it certainly doesn’t help that as the source diminishes, demand continues to skyrocket.

While goat cheese is particularly popular in the time leading up to the holidays — especially in Europe — another, exceptionally large section of the globe seems to have acquired a taste for the particularly tangy treat: China. And they’re willing to pay — a lot.

This is putting goat cheese suppliers in quite a predicament. As George Paul, director of cheesemaker Bradbury & Son, told The Telegraph:

Retailers would either need to pay more for goat products or risk being left short. One or the other will give shortly — it’ll either be price or availability.

So don’t be surprised if you start seeing painfully high goat cheese price tags littering the shelves — just be glad it’s made its way over at all.

Bacon

Perhaps the most beloved of salty, cured meats, bacon is on the fast path to breaking hearts. According to Britain’s National Pig Association (NPA), which is a delightfully real thing, a world-wide shortage of bacon (and other pork products, for that matter) “is now unavoidable.” But don’t blame your impulsive, gluttonous self just yet; there are a variety of factors contributing to our little pig problem.

The NPA largely attributed the shortage to the rising cost of food, a cost which can in turn be attributed to the previous year’s weak corn and soybean harvests. But it’s not just Britain; these very same trends are being mirrored all around the world. The US Department of Agriculture released a report in August of 2012that accurately predicted that hog farmers would cut production in order to minimise their losses, which had the potential to be great thanks to 2012′s Midwest drought. Additionally Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea Virus, or PED, is taking down piglets in 15 states. And as of now, there’s no vaccine in the US just yet.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that bacon will be disappearing entirely any time soon, but prices are certainly going to reflect the diminishing stock. So if you’re looking to keep spending down, it might be time to start cutting the B out of your BLT.

[MIKA27]

Australian Scientists Accidentally Discover Incredible Bacteria-Killing Surface

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you never had to worry about germs crawling around on your kitchen countertop? Well, thanks to a new discovery by Aussie scientists, that could soon be a reality. And it doesn’t require a drop of disinfectant.

It’s called black silicon. While the material itself was discovered back in the 1990s by some Harvard guys, scientists only recently stumbled across its antibacterial properties after studying the wings of cicadas and dragonflies. They discovered that nanostructures shaped like little pillars on the wings effectively shreds and kills any bacteria that tried to settle there. With spikes that are just 500 nanometers high, black silicon (pictured above) has the same property. Bacteria literally can’t land on the surface without being destroyed by the spikes.

Now for the potential downside. While useful for camera sensors and solar cells, black silicon hasn’t really been commercialised, so we don’t know how expensive it would be to produce it on a large enough scale to replace kitchen countertops across the nation.

The scientists who discovered black silicon’s antibacterial properties are optimistic that they can produce synthetic nano-materials that will have the same effect. Now if they could only figure out an easy solution to our antibiotic problem.

[MIKA27]

Science Confirms That Old People Really Do Have A Smell

Think back to when you were a child visiting your grandparent’s home. Do you recall a distinct scent when you walked through the door? Many people do and it turns out, it’s not just in your head.

Gerontologist and author of A New Wrinkle: What I Learned from Older People Who Never Acted Their Age, Dr. Eric Shapira, says it is difficult to pinpoint the cause or one main reason for the smell; it is a process of what happens to the body as we age. Many studies show that the body’s chemistry changes from within as we get older producing a certain scent. Some may describe it as musty. Some may call it stale. Maybe a bit medicinal.

Here’s the surprising part: Grandma or Grandpa may smell different. But, they don’t smell BAD. A recent research study done by Johan Lundström of the Monell Chemical Senses Center published in PLOS ONE tested the odours from the underarms of middle-aged adults and the elderly. The result? Middle-aged men smelled the worst, according to those surveyed. The good news?

Grandpa was considered second-best, and actually pleasant smelling. Middle-aged women came out on top of the list of most-enjoyable body odours.

The study was conducted by attaching absorbent pads to the lining of the armpits of shirts. The shirts were then worn by volunteers of various ages for five consecutive nights while they slept. In order for other smells not to seep when the shirts weren’t being worn, they were stored in sealed plastic bags during the day. The volunteers were also required to use scentless soaps and shampoos during the experiment and not to eat or expose themselves to strong smelling external things like perfume or cigarette smoke.

After the five days were up, the pads were collected and placed in sealed jars ready to be opened and sniffed by other volunteers to judge the smelliness and to see if people could correctly identify the general age of the person who wore the pad (young, middle-age, and old-age).

The results? The volunteers were able to correctly identify which pads were worn by old people most of the time, though that was about the extent of the accuracy. While they did also detect a distinct difference between the middle-aged and young, they were not able to accurately identify which was which in most cases.

So what exactly is thought to be causing this change in smell as we age? It’s still somewhat up for debate, but it is thought that there are many factors involved. One factor, according to the aforementioned physician, Eric Shapira, is simple dehydration. Older people tend to be less thirsty, which results in them being predominately more dehydrated and shedding more dry skin. Dead skin cells can carry a musty smell. In addition, Shapira notes that older people see a decline in oral hygiene over the years due to less efficient brushing. Oral hygiene, of course, can also affect one’s scent.

A more scientific approach to this question was taken by a team of Japanese researchers in 2000. They discovered that a concentration of the chemical 2-nonenal, which is an odoriferous substance found in sweat and on your skin, increased as people aged, with people in their 70s having as much as three times as much of it as middle-aged individuals. It’s thought that the extra 2-nonenal is coming from the breakdown of more prevalent omega-7 fatty acids on our skin as we age. (Interestingly, besides being perhaps a major culprit in the smell of an elderly individual, 2-nonenal is also a key component in the smell of beer.)

An elderly person’s living environment is also thought to be a factor. How many of us know a relative who keeps, or hoards, everything from years gone by? Brenda Thompson of Tri-Country Home Nursing says,

All those old books and papers, old linens and clothes — they all harbour dust and dampness and give off a musty odour that can pervade the whole house. If you moved into that house in 1945, those books may have been there for 60 years. I’ve seen drapes that have been there that long, too.

Here’s another odd thing about the changing of how we smell as we age: as we grow older, nearing age 80, males tend to smell more and more like women, with this change thought by some to be hormonal based, though exactly what’s going on isn’t yet perfectly clear.

In the end, scents are a funny thing. We get a whiff of cologne walking through the mall and it can take us back to an ex in high school. The smell of leaves burning or grills fired up in the backyard can bring back memories of good times with friends and family. The smell of an elderly person, which has now been proven to be different but not bad, leaves us with an invisible question mark hanging over our head. Will we smell that way one day? Will our grandchildren wonder as they hug us what exactly is that scent? Will our grandchildren’s clothes smell like us after staying over for a night?

Yes, yes and yes.

Having a distinct odour as an older person seems to be a part of the human cycle of life. It’s what happens. Our grandparents experience it. Our parents will, we will, and so will our children. The best we can do is embrace it, be kind about it and take pride in knowing that it’s not the worst scent out there. Remember, that ‘honour’ went to middle-aged men.

Let’s hear it for Grandpa.

Bonus Facts:

• The Japanese have a word for old person smell: kareishuu.
  
• Similarly, scientists have known for years that a broad range of animal species, including mice, deer, otters, rabbits, and monkeys, undergo changes in body-odour as they age. The animals use these scent changes to help select mating partners.
  

[MIKA27]

Beef Jerky Business Cards Let People Chew On Your Credentials

Though slowly becoming antiquated, the business card is still the easiest way to make a great first impression with a new contact. Your choice of design, fonts, even paper says a lot about you. So imagine the impression you’ll leave when you hand someone your contact details laser-etched onto a piece of beef jerky — you’ll soar up that corporate ladder.

Available from a website aptly named Meat Cards, the tokens of impending corporate communications will survive and are actually edible for up to a year — perfect for those strategy meetings that stop you from getting lunch. Pricing is apparently completely negotiable, but you can expect a set to run similar to what supermarket beef jerky will run you. As for flavours, it’s up to you to decide if an upcoming merger is teriyaki-worthy or not. Meat Cards

[MIKA27]

Rocks Rain Over Sumatra As Terrible Volcano Keeps Erupting

The situation in Sumatra is getting worse: Mount Sinabung erupted eight times in just a few hours on Sunday. The volcano’s continuing eruptions cover everything with ash and now officials have reported rocks raining down over a large area, forcing thousands to flee their homes. These new images show the ongoing drama.

The Indonesian government has called for people living within five kilometres of the volcano, on the northern tip of Sumatra Island, to evacuate their homes as the volcanology agency raised the alert level for the volcano to the highest point on a four-stage scale. Top photo: Binsar Bakkara/AP.

[MIKA27]

There's No Better Use For Cup Holders Than This R2-D2 USB Charger

Your dream of cruising around your local galaxy with your feisty astromech droid by your side simply isn’t going to happen in your lifetime. It will be years before robots can even pick up a wrench and remove a bolt by themselves. But ThinkGeek’s got the next best thing. It won’t fix your warp drive, but perched in your cup holder this tiny version of R2-D2 will keep your phones and tablets charged.

This $US50 must-have accessory for any self-respecting vehicle-owning Star Wars fan includes LED lights that indicate charging status, sound effects, and a spinning dome. A pair of 2.1 amp USB ports means this little droid can top off two tablets at the same time, and don’t worry if your car has Big Gulp-sized cupholders; Artoo’s arms extend and retract so he sits securely inside no matter the size. Say hello to your new co-pilot. [ThinkGeek]

[MIKA27]

How Airlines Know If It's Safe To Fly

As a Nor’easter heads towards the east coast of the US just in time for the busiest travel day of the year, you’re probably wondering how bad it has to get before a plane gets grounded. Well, as a new National Geographic feature explains, figuring that out is more an art than a science.

Suffice it to say, these decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

Aeroplanes are built to fly in pretty serious conditions, but it’s the combination of bad conditions that keep planes from taking off. Planes can fly in crosswinds as high as 25 knots, for instance, but if there’s ice on the runway, that figure is much lower. Snow’s not a problem unless there’s some serious accumulation. What planes can’t handle, NatGeo explains, is freezing rain. So, weirdly enough, you might just want to wish for flurries.

Head over to National Geographic for the full in-depth look at what’s keeping you grounded this week.

[MIKA27]

Deer Stand And Deliver: The Hunting Blinds Of The US Midwest

If you’ve ever spent time in the far reaches of the US, you’re probably familiar with the deer stand — a uniquely improvised, homemade shelter that gives hunters refuge, warmth, and a clear view. Though they’re designed to be inconspicuous, photographer Jason Vaughn seeks them out, finding and photographing dozens of the structures across rural Wisconsin.

Vaughn is a Madison, Wisconsin-based fine art photographer whose work focuses on life in the Midwest. For a project called Hide, he wanted to document the unique architecture of deer stands around the state — from haphazard plywood shacks to snug, fully-outfitted homes on stilts. “It began as a commentary on Wisconsin’s hunting tradition, using deer stands as a metaphor for the changing values of the sport,” he explains.

Hunting is declining in Wisconsin and across the Midwest — and with it, so are the often very elaborate deer stands that have been passed down through families for generations.

But midway through the project Vaughn, then 32 and the father of a three month-old child, was diagnosed with Leukemia — and Hide began to take on other dimensions.

Some people described building the stands as something permanent that could be passed to the next generation, especially sons who would inherit the land… Having to face mortality to unexpectedly made me come back to the project with a new perspective on the ideas of permanence and impermanence. Ultimately, Hide became my reflection on legacies and family, my homage to the state that has become my home, and a narrative about accepting change.

Hide is on view at the 2013 Wisconsin Triennial until January, if you’re in the area — in the meantime, check out some of the series highlights below.

[MIKA27]

Billionaire: What The Hell Happened To Larry Hilblom, Anyway?

Larry Hilblom was the mega-rich founder of shipping company DHL. He mysteriously disappeared in a plane crash in 1995, leaving behind possible heirs and more questions than answer. The 2009 documentaryBillionaire is his story — one of those horrifying things you just can’t stop watching.

Hilblom lived on the south Pacific island of Saipan — partially for tax reasons, and partially because he could do whatever the hell he wanted. And whatever the hell he wanted meant traipsing around the region in one of his many planes, for the explicit purpose of engaging in sexual tourism. That glaring detail is enough to make you sick, but the story gets even weirder.

As soon as Hilblom disappeared (and we do mean disappeared, because his body was never recovered) several possible heirs came forward, kicking off a long, drawn out legal battle, as well as a quest to find out who the enigmatic Larry Hilblom actually was.

And that’s an answer that differs, depending on who you ask, and even this doc doesn’t necessarily answer.

[MIKA27]

The Military Is A/B Testing The Future Of Warfare

Down some spookily-lit corridor at the Pentagon, there are surely soldiers dreaming about the future of warfare. But, at the National Defence University, some of the nation’s top brass are actually playing out the scenarios. In fact, a group of generals just finished a rather innovative year-long wargame.

ArmyTimes has all the details. The exercise actually introduced the same war scenario to two armies of the future — or rather, two different versions of what our military could become. It’s similar to how web designers might A/B test two different button designs to see which one people click on more. Lance Bacon describes the military’s own A/B test:

The war game took place in 2025, and with good reason. Two separate teams independently responded to the same scenario. The first, called the “Evolution Group,” was equipped with current and planned capabilities and structures. The second, called the “Innovation Group,” was equipped largely with nonexistent but technologically feasible gear and used a variety of unique strategies and force structures.

The results were telling.

It’s kind of an A/B test for the future of warfare. SPOILER: The Innovation Group obviously wins — and the details of how and why a radically different army could work better than what we actually have planned are fascinating, from 4D printing to “molecular changes” in soldiers’ armour.

[MIKA27]

Look at These Amazing Old Pics of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

A clown floats through New York City in the 1940 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Image: Macy's Inc.

The gigantic inflatable cartoon characters of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are perfectly at home in today’s sanitized, candy-colored Times Square. So while it’s fun to see Snoopy glide slowly past the M&M’s World, it doesn’t exactly feel like a novelty. Which is precisely what’s so great about these scenes of floats being pulled through the black-and-white New York City of yore. In each, there’s some strange admixture of everyday levity and historical gravity. It’s like seeing Fiorello La Guardia do jumping jacks.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started in 1924, though then it was called the Christmas Parade. In its earliest years, entertainment came in the form of animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. The first float, Felix the Cat, appeared three years later in 1927. At that point, after the parade was done, officials would just release the tethers and let the balloons float away; there was a $100 prize awarded to anyone who could find and return one to Macy’s. That event was discontinued in 1933 after a guy crashed his plane trying to secure a runaway balloon.

This dachshund was a staple in early years

By 1937, there were already over 20 floats in the parade, including popular characters like Mickey Mouse and Pinocchio. A huge Uncle Sam balloon made his debut in 1938. In 1939, the year Wizard of Oz came out in theaters, a huge Tin-Man floated through the streets of Manhattan, proving that extravagant Hollywood cross-promotion is not a recent phenomenon. In all the years of the parade, there’s only been one balloon modeled after a live person: Eddie Cantor, a radio star and actor, whose likeness floated through the streets in 1940.

The parade was suspended from 1942 until 1944, as the war effort led to a shortage of helium and rubber. By 1946, the parade drew a crowd of 2 million. The next year, in 1947, was the first time the parade was televised nationally. Snoopy made his first appearance in 1968. This year’s parade will see a new Snoopy balloon–his seventh dirigible incarnation.

It’s interesting to consider how the earliest years of the parade coincided with the waning days of the Golden Age of airships. The Empire State Building, completed in 1931, included a mast for docking dirigibles, and there was a full decade between the introduction of Felix the Cat, in 1927, and the explosion of the Hindenburg just 70 miles away at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, in 1937. That event irrevocably shook the world’s confidence in travel by balloon. By then, however, the sight of the things barreling down Broadway in the form of the famous characters of the day was already a New York tradition.

[MIKA27]

Army Scores a Super-Stealthy Drone That Looks Like a Bird

The big problem with drones is they look like, well, drones. It makes them easy to spot, and easy to target. The Army has a solution to this problem: make them look like birds.

A microdrone that resembles a bird would be harder to spot, the thinking goes, rendering them almost as invisible to the enemy as the soldiers controlling them.

Maveric has a bird-like profile with flexible wings, giving it the appearance of a raptor in flight. The drone, made of composite material, can fly as high as 25,000 feet and zip along at between 20 and 65 mph, making it just the thing for reconnaissance missions. And those super-stealthy guys in Special Operations.

“There was a Special Operations requirement for a plane that had a natural, biological look — it wasn’t supposed to look DoD-ish,” Derek Lyons, vice president of sales and business development at Prioria Robotics, told Flightglobal.

Earlier this fall, the Florida robotics company won a $4.5 million contract from the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping Force to produce 36 Maverics for an urgent, but undisclosed, need. Training the Joint Special Operations Task Force to use Maveric started earlier this month, according to Prioria, and fully-equipped delivery is expected in December.

Maveric weighs just 2.5 pounds and can be contained within a 6-inch tube. There’s no assembly required to prepare it for use, and it can be launched in less than 5 minutes by a single soldier. Once it reaches 100 meters, it’s silent to those on the ground. The battery’s only good for about an hour, but it takes just 30 seconds to swap a dead pack for a fresh one and have it ready to fly again. The drone is retrieved with a net.

The drone’s retractable gimbaled camera is flexible enough to capture footage from almost any angle, and it is said to be so good it can work in the most inclement weather.

Going from contract to delivery in less than six months is remarkable, and The Army considers its prompt acquisition of Maveric a very big deal, given some acquisition efforts take years to achieve.

“As the REF procures emerging capabilities to meet urgent Soldier requirements, we are often inserting technologies for the first time and assessing operational performance,” said REF project manager Tami Johnson, in a statement. “It demonstrates our ability to validate a unique requirement, canvass emerging commercial-off-the-shelf and government-off-the-shelf technologies, and partner with other Army organizations to quickly place capabilities into the hands of Soldiers.”

[MIKA27]

Don’t Like the American Way of Meat? Blame That First Thanksgiving Meal

Americans are the world’s champion meat eaters. For that we can thank (or not) our colonial ancestors.

Back in the old country, England, meat was for the upper ruling classes, who ate it with great gusto, but most Brits were consuming next to no meat at all. But the first settlers, people of low birth and meager circumstance, transformed their new home into a paradise of domestic livestock and meat-centric diets. We can understand why by looking at the event that would later become known as the first Thanksgiving.

In late 1620, a small band of English travelers dropped anchor offshore what is now Massachusetts. Weak from their journey and taken aback by the harsh weather, the voyagers remained on board their cramped vessel until spring of 1621. Once ashore, the settlers encountered an otherworldly abundance. A “great store of fruits” hung ripe for the taking, marveled one man, and “great flocks of turkey, quails, pigeons and partridges” abounded. Waterways teemed with fish and turtle, beaver and otter, and the woods were thick with squirrel, fox and deer. The natives — savages, the English called them — taught the newcomers to hunt game and introduced them to the wonders of corn.

In late autumn 1621, the whites celebrated their first year in the New World with a three-day feast rich with meat: enough fowl to feed everyone for a week and five venison carcasses contributed by the natives who joined the festivities. Thanks to the “goodness of God,” wrote one celebrant, “we are … far from want.”

And it’s a safe bet that he and his fellow colonists also begged God to spare them a repeat of that humiliating experience of having to hunt wild animals for meat. In England, hunting had two strikes against it. English law defined the activity as a sport reserved for landowners. Anyone else who dared go a-hunting was a poacher, a lawbreaker. But poachers poached because they lacked their own meat and so they were also, by definition, people who failed to practice livestock husbandry. In English eyes, that bordered on sin. Domestic livestock, especially hogs and cattle, ensured supplies of the beef and pork that marked the diet of civilized people. Livestock represented not just tangible wealth and nutritional security, but civilization itself.

The new settlers may have come from circumstances where they rarely enjoyed meat, but they believed it their task to civilize the New World wilderness by populating it with livestock. Colony governor William Bradford urged them to do so: Because the natives hunted wild animals and kept neither cattle nor hogs, he decreed, they had no claim to the land. It belonged to the English.

Over the next few decades, whites systematically forced natives deeper into the interior and replaced them with cattle and hogs as well as laws and fences aimed at protecting both. By the eve of independence, Europeans had transformed the Eastern seaboard into a carnivore’s paradise where even indentured servants expected regular servings of meat. One awed visitor reported that “in the humblest and poorest houses, no meals are served without a meat course.” When the revolution ended, Americans expanded their carnivorous cornucopia, streaming into the interior to claim still more millions of acres for themselves and their livestock. A century later, Americans boasted built a continent-wide, meat-making infrastructure that ensured plenty of meat for rich and poor alike.

These days, the American way of meat is under attack. Critics complain that meat-centric diets are killing us. They charge that Big Ag’s factory-like livestock-feeding facilities wreak havoc on air, land and water. Meatpackers propel carcasses along high-speed processing lines that all but ensure that much of the resulting meat is tainted by bacteria.

Not everyone agrees with that critique, of course. But blaming corporate villains for what ails meat in America won’t help us understand how we got to where we are today. This Thanksgiving, let’s rethink the meaning of that first feast and our own role in shaping and sustaining the American way of meat.

[MIKA27]

BRAVEN 710

New sleek speaker by Braven, the Braven 710 is the newest addition to their wireless speaker collection. Braven 710 is the ultimate portable water resistant Bluetooth wireless stereo speaker, beautifully crafted from aircraft-grade aluminum, the sleek speaker is equipped with a built-in noise-cancelling speakerphone and is capable of charging USB devices with its integrated power bank. It is capable of 12 hours of continuous wireless playback, has a range of 33 ft. operating distance, a microphone for hands-free calls, and features a splash-proof design. watch the video

Available in Europe here.

[MIKA27]

2014 LUCRA L148

US car manufacturer Lucra has revealed first details on their all-new L148 supercar. The super aerodynamic L148 features a one piece carbon fiber body and is powered by a 4.7 liter LS7 V8 engine, spitting out approximately 700hp and capable of accelerating from 0-60 time in around 2.5 seconds.

The Lucra L148 is expected to make it’s first public debut in Spring 2014, no official price has been been announced as yet.

[MIKA27]

BLINKER GRIPS

The multiple award winning BlinkerGrips are innovative bicycle grips for active road safety. They feature integrated LEDs that are activated by pressing a button on the grip itself, the LED will flash for about 15 seconds when turning corners and will then turn off automatically. BlinkerGrips also incorporate a steady light function for enhancing your visibility as well as broadening your own angle of vision. watch the video

BlinkerGrips are available in the US through Ebay, and in Europe at Amazon

[MIKA27]

SANCTUARY4 | BY BLUELOUNGE

BlueLounge have updated their popular Sanctuary!

The new Sanctuary4 has been completely reengineered, it now features a 4-amp charger allowing you to charge up to four devices simultaneously. The simple and compact design conceals a universal charger with four USB ports for connecting your mobile devices. It also features an adjustable tablet stand, and a rubberized tray to keep your devices neatly in place.

Get it in Europe here

[MIKA27]

Sennheiser Orpheus HE90 – Most Expensive Headphones

It was created by Thomas Heyerdahl of Heyerdahl Jewellery, also the person behind iDiamond iPod, and was constructed in a series of 1, 000. The piece is carefully designed, bundled with a tube amplifier (HEV90). Each of the total six tubes is covered by a metal casing.

The electrostatic earpiece also features glass and gold, shining metal, soft brown leather, a dedicated volume control set up range of 7 to 100, 000 hertz, which offers hearing beyond what human ears are capable of. Other headphones only offer a frequency response of only 60-20, 000 hertz. And as an electrostatic headphone, it is renowned for accuracy and speed.

Sennheiser Orpheus HE90 offers clarity beyond belief, thank to its large comfortable ear-cups lined with wood. The sound detail is so sharp and the vocals are natural, realistic and staggering. It is design with utmost comfort that you can wear it for a long period of time without having to experience ear fatigue after.

What is unique about this headphone is it needs to warm up before being used.

Sold for $16, 000, this blinged item is only available in limited 300 pieces and may require a large investment.

Sennheiser Orpheus headphones debuted in 1991.

[MIKA27]

China sends warplanes to newly declared air zone

China has sent warplanes to its newly declared air defence zone in the East China Sea, state media reports.

The vast zone, announced last week, covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

China has said all planes transiting the zone must file flight plans and identify themselves, or face "defensive emergency measures".

But Japan, South Korea and the US have all since flown military aircraft through the area.

The new dispute in an already tense region has raised concerns it could escalate into an unplanned military incident.

China's state news agency Xinhua quoted air force spokesman Col Shen Jinke as saying several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft had been deployed to carry out routine patrols as "a defensive measure and in line with international common practices".

He said the country's air force would remain on high alert and would take measures to deal with all air threats to protect national security.

In Xinhua's Chinese language version of the article, the colonel said the aircraft would "strengthen the monitoring of targets in the air defence zone and do their duty".

'Destabilising'

The controversial air defence identification zone (ADIZ) includes islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, which are claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.

Japan controls the islands, which have been the focus of a bitter and long-running dispute between Japan and China.

The zone also covers a submerged rock that South Korea says forms part of its territory.

China says the establishment of the zone was "completely justified and legitimate", but it has been widely condemned.

America, which called the move a "destabilising attempt to alter the status quo in the region", flew two unarmed B-52 bombers through the zone unannounced on Tuesday.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said on Wednesday that it had made "already tricky regional situations even more difficult to deal with".

Seoul said one of its military planes also entered the zone on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Japan said its aircraft had conducted routine "surveillance activity" over the East China Sea zone, but did not specify when.

"Even since China has created this airspace defence zone, we have continued our surveillance activities as before in the East China Sea, including in the zone," said Japan's top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga.

"We are not going to change this [activity] out of consideration to China," he added.

South Korea and China held talks on the zone on Thursday, but failed to reach any agreement.

[MIKA27]

Victorinox Swiss Army Alpnach Watches

With a name inspired by the famous Alpine helicopter base used by the Swiss Air Force, you know you can count on the Victorinox Swiss Army Alpnach Watches ($2,500-$3,700) to endure just about anything. And with a stainless steel case coated in black PVD, a triple-coated, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, and water resistance down to ten atmospheres, these watches definitely live up to their name. They feature self-winding swiss mechanical movement, luminous hands and hour markers, a nylon strap with a deployant clasp, and a four-blade-rotor second hand alluding to the Cougar AS 532 helicopter.

[MIKA27]

Salami Of The Month

If you like your meats cured, fermented, and dried, then odds are, the Salami of the Month Club ($140-$385) was made for you. This is some of the best salami you can find — it's hand butchered from fresh Northwest pork to 100% lean, and only then is hand-cut fatback added for marbling. All the ingredients, including garlic and spices, are freshly chopped and ground in-house, so you know you're getting the best stuff possible. Depending on what you order, you can get one, two, or three salamis delivered to your doorstep each month, selected from an available 12 varieties. Included with each order are detailed tasting notes, meant to give you guidance on the best way to enjoy each one.

[MIKA27]

Goose island Bourbon County Barleywine Beer

For shoppers, Black Friday means waking up early and standing in line awaiting the best bargains on Christmas gifts.

For beer dorks, there may be lines and even some early wake up calls, but it's not bargains we pursue, it's Bourbon County. Bourbon County Barleywine ($20) is one of the newest offerings in an already famous line of barrel aged beers released by Goose Island brewing. The first four packs will hit store shelves on Black Friday, and those lucky enough to purchase some will be treated to a 12.1% English-style Barleywine aged in the third-use barrels that were once home to Kentucky bourbon and then Bourbon County Stout.

[MIKA27]

1964 Chevrolet Cerv II Concept

While these days mid-engine and four-wheel-drive sportscars are somewhat less than remarkable, in the 1960s, they were pretty novel ideas.

To say that the 1964 Chevrolet CERV II Concept ($1.1 million) was ahead of its time, might be a bit of an understatement.

As CERV stands for Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle, this was really more of a proof of concept than anything ever slated for production. But as it stands, this V8-powered 550-horsepower 1,900-pounder is a thing of beauty, and a marvel of midcentury American engineering might. And while the price tag might be steep, there's no questioning the historical importance of this one-of-a-kind car.

[MIKA27]

Deadly Cookii Monster Discovered In Australia

It’s been more than a century since this huge and deadly Crambione Cookii jelly fish was spotted by American scientist Alfred Gainsborough Mayor, off the coast of Queensland. It was presumed extinct until now, when a scuba diver discovered one in the same waters.

Great. Another thing Australia has that can kill you to death.

http://youtu.be/oYchVo_q5Po

[MIKA27]

Moose-eating shark rescued in Newfoundland harbour

Greenland shark either bit off more that it could chew or was just enjoying a big meal

Two quick-thinking men on Newfoundland's northeast coast managed to save a Greenland shark from choking to death on a large piece of moose hide this past weekend.

Derrick Chaulk said he was driving down a road by the harbour in Norris Arm North this past Saturday when he saw what he thought was a beached whale.

When Chaulk went closer to investigate, he realized it was a shark, which he estimated was about 2.5 metres long, and weighed about 115 kg.

The animal was still alive and had a large chunk of moose hide protruding from its mouth.

"It [the moose] had the fur and all the liner on it — it was about two feet long, maybe."

Two-part rescue effort

Chaulk said another local man, Jeremy Ball, arrived on the scene and starting pulling on the moose chunk.

Jeremy Ball of Norris Arm North, N.L., moves the beached shark into deeper water.

"A couple yanks and it just came right out."

The two men then set about getting the shark back in the water.

Ball tied a rope around the shark's tail, and Chaulk got ready to push.

"He pulled the rope, and I pushed with my boot," said Chaulk, "and between the two of us we got him out into deeper water."

Chaulk said the shark lay in about 30 cm of water for a few minutes.'

"Then all of a sudden, the water started coming out of his gills and he started breathing,"

Rare sight

Greenland sharks are rarely seen on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. It is a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites feeding on its corneas.

They are scavengers, and they feed on food found in shallow water. While their diet is usually fish, they have been found in other jurisdictions to have eaten animals that found their way to the water, from polar bears to reindeer.

The creature goes long periods without food, so when it comes across even a discarded carcass, such as a moose, it will gorge itself to near suffocation.

Chaulk said people clean and gut moose on a nearby bank of land and throw the scraps of the butchered animals into the harbour.

Chaulk speculated that the shark bit off more than he could chew.

"He swallowed and got it halfway down and couldn't cough it back up and couldn't get it all down, and then I think the tide brought him in."

Shark may have been OK, says scientist

A scientist said the shark may not have been in as much danger as the two men thought.

Jeffrey Gallant, the president and lead scientist at the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group, said the beached shark may have just been enjoying a large meal.

Gallant added that Chaulk and Ball did the right thing, although he would not have yanked out the moose bits.

"When you're man-handling a shark like this and trying to get it back in the water, the fact that its mouth was otherwise pre-occupied by chewing on the meat, you reduce the risk yourself of getting bit accidentally."

Chaulk said after the shark started breathing again, the animal lay in the shallow water for about 30 minutes, then headed out to sea.

"There was a few people up on the bank watching and once that shark swam out and lifted his tail, and then swam all the way out, everybody just clapped," said Chaulk.

"It was a good feeling to see that shark swim out, knowing that you saved his life."