News: Out Damn Spot! Researchers Discover Microbes Are the Reason for Stains on Ancient Scrolls
This is a tale about microbes, a man who became a hermit, and the parchment that carries both of their stories.
This is a tale about microbes, a man who became a hermit, and the parchment that carries both of their stories.
What do Leo Tolstoy (writer), Beethoven (composer), Paul Gaugin (artist), and Adolf Hitler (politician) have in common? They are all considered to have suffered from the sexually transmitted disease syphilis.
Welcome back, my novice hackers! You have probably heard of the Panama Papers hack by now. This was a hack of the servers at Mossack Fonseca, a major law firm in Panama. This law firm specializes in assisting the rich and powerful to hide their wealth from taxes and scrutiny by creating tax havens overseas.
Watch this winds tutorial video to learn how to play a common Irish hornpipe, "The Boys of Blue Hill," on the tin whistle. This instructional video is intended for intermediate whistlers who are able to pick up songs just by listening. Intermediate tin whistlers will see their technique improve after watching this helpful how-to video and learning how to play "The Boys of Blue Hill" on tin whistle.
Watch this winds tutorial video to learn how to play the common Irish song "Star of the County Down" on the tin whistle. This song is great for learning new techniques and ornamentation, particularly tonguing. Beginning tin whistlers will find this instructional video very helpful in learning how to play "Star of the County Down" on the tin whistle.
This pizza is tasty any time of the year, but its green color makes it a fun treat for St. Patrick’s Day. Especially if your family turns up their noses at corned beef and cabbage! Check out this Howcast video tutorial on how to make green pizza.
In the late nineteenth century, the advent of the motion picture wowed audiences with a new storytelling medium. Nearly a century and a half later, augmented reality is establishing a new frontier in film.
You probably don't give much thought to buying yogurt in the store. You have your favorite brand, or maybe you like trying new varieties each week; either way, you just grab it and go.
Ah, the joys of bottomless brunch. Paying a flat rate for endless mimosas while having a long gossip over eggs Benedict is exactly how many of us love to spend our Saturdays. However, in practice, this isn't the sophisticated affair we all like to imagine. After refill number four we sway in our chair, doze off into our porridge, and end up tipping 50% because math is too hard. In short, not a very successful brunch.
Doing a shot is more art than science. Here's one way to hone your barroom style. You Will Need
Going to a party tomorrow? Why not try making some delicious pudding shots. Its a great alternative to jello shots.
Aging paper is a great way incorporate learning about antiquities from the past while doing a fun hands on project in the classroom. It's easy and really adds something special to projects or even to do just for fun in your spare time.
If you're Christian or Catholic you're probably familiar with the infamous Hail Mary prayer. It doesn't require much. Just memorize the prayer and the next time you find yourself in need you will know just what to say.
If you've ever been asked to find the GCF, or Greatest Common Factor, of a series of numbers or algebraic expressions, check out this video to learn how.
Homemade biscuits are great. But coupled with homemade gravy, they’re irresistible! Follow this Howcast recipe guide to learn how to make country style gravy.
Turn your dining room table into the eighth wonder of the world by shaping your napkins into pyramids. Learn the art of napkin folding, perfect for entertaining guests!
The first step in any sewing project is threading a needle. Here's how to do it—no headaches involved. Check out this Howcast video tutorial on how to thread a needle by hand.
In the world we live in now — a world of complete data overload — new ways to sort through that data moves well past "nice-to-have" and firmly into the needs category. Mind mapping has been one tool that allowed someone to break down large problems into like components and help visualize the problems in different ways. Now thanks to Data Experts gmbh's Windows Store release Holo-Mind, we can do that in 3D on the HoloLens.
Esports — and, subsequently streaming it — are possibly some of the more surprising products of the 21st century so far. Who would have thought that people would be watching professional gamers play, the same way we've watched pro sports players on TV for more than half a decade?
Before I get ostracized by all of you whisky lovers who live and die by whisky served neat, let me say my piece.
With fragrance-filled sprays, scented candles, diffuser sticks, and other air-freshening products, the scent lasts just a few minutes and doesn't always mask what you were hoping to cover up. When it comes to the bathroom, scented toilet paper might sound like a terrible (and silly) idea, but it's best at eliminating stinky smells over a long period of time.
Any beer aficionado who's been to Ireland will always talk about how the Guinness there "just tastes different." But save your eye rolls, skeptics: it turns out your favorite lagerhead actually has a valid point.
Bearded women are typically more freaky than scary—yet when it comes to American Horror Story, nothing is as it seems.
Sometimes, when it comes to Halloween costumes, the easiest ones to make are the best. They require little effort, but can pack a punch and look even more authentic than complex character replications.
Video: . Extraterrestrial life is life that does not originate from Earth. It is also called alien life, or, if it is a sentient and/or relatively complex individual, an "extraterrestrial" or "alien" (or, to avoid confusion with the legal sense of "alien," a "space alien"). These as yet hypothetical forms of life range from simple bacteria-like organisms to beings far more complex than humans. The possibility that viruses might exist extraterrestrially has also been proposed.
Classic party games like Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare, immensely popular in the '80s and '90s, seem to have been long forgotten and abandoned by today's youth. Today, new forms of party games are all the rage, a prime example being Cards Against Humanity. Yes, CAH is hilarious and fun, but the classics can still be appreciated, as long as we catch them up to the times.
Photographers have been using the Pepper's Ghost Illusion for over a century to play up the level of creepiness in their photos. Many of the pictures that claim to be real "sightings" use this technique to project a ghostly figure into the background of their images. Today, it's still used in theatre, "scary" rides at amusement parks, and haunted houses all over the world, which makes it a great photography trick for Halloween time. As shown in the tutorial below by Make's Jason Poel Smith, t...
Throughout history, almost every superstition dealing with evil has had something to do with left hands. In the seventeenth century, it was thought that the Devil himself baptised his followers using his left hand. Today, studies show that left-handed people are more likely to be schizophrenic, alcoholic, delinquent, dyslexic, have Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and a slew of other medical problems. To top it all off, left-handed people have an average lifespan that is 9 years shorte...
The cell phone has come a long way. The very first "mobile devices" were made and used by the military in the late 1930s, with the first commercial mobile telephone service introduced by Bell in 1946. These devices were hardly what we'd call mobile today—some took up the whole trunk of a car, and others had to be carried on your back in a heavy bag.
Halloween is less than a couple weeks away, so it's about that time you start thinking of cool ways to decorate your house (if you haven't already), and pumpkins are an obvious choice. Pumpkins are one of the cornerstones of Halloween celebrations, dating all the way back to the early 19th century. Carved jack-o'-lanterns are a great way to add some spookiness around the house, but that takes time, skill, and effort. Creating cool glow-in-the-dark pumpkins requires no carving at all—and looks...
If you're too old to trick-or-treat (are you ever really?), throwing a Halloween party is the next best thing. You could always just serve beer and jungle juice like most other people will be doing, which will certainly get the job done, but where's the fun in that? Instead, impress (or gross out) your guests with one of these gruesome drinks.
If there ever was a day to eat green candy, St. Patrick's Day would be it. But is there something better than the banality of green candy swarming the streets on St. Patty's Day? Yes—glowing green candy, and Instructables user BrittLiv wants us to show you how it's done.
In Italian, the word affogato means "drowned." Kind of a morbid name for such a delicious goodie, right? But there's a reason it's called that.
Step aside, vodka—whiskey will soon be the best-selling hard liquor in the United States. The whiskey renaissance has been largely attributed to the current trend for locally- and artisan-produced goods. Local whiskey distilleries are rapidly increasing in number across the nation while bars in every state are including the old-fashioned cocktail on their menus in an attempt to capitalize on the trend (which we can probably thank Mad Men for).
Coro Costume Jewelry, created by Emanuel Cohen and Gerald Rosenberg in the early 20th century, is prized for its intricate floral motifs and use of rhinestones for extra bling.
In this video you can watch two people dance the classical pavane. The pavane was a common dance from the 16th Century, popular all over europe. This video is more of a demonstration of the slow, classical dance, however, and less an instructional how to.
Check out this how-to video to play the board game "Goa." Goa is for two to four players and lasts for ninety minutes. In Goa, each character takes on the role of a 16th century Portuguese spice trader (pretty specific, huh?) To win, you have to be the most efficient at growing your spice export business.
This video is a demonstration of how to paint a traditional Japanese Sumi-e subject in the plum tree. Plum or ume blossoms tells us the spring has come. "Plum blossom, recall me, When it blows in the spring ---" 9th century politician and poet, Michizane Sugawara recites in his famous poem or tanka.
Check out this video to learn the Tarashikomi technique of Sumi-e painting. The Tarashikomi technique, originated by Sotatsu Tawaraya, a 17th century painter, is a good technique for short hair animals like dogs, horse, or bulls. In this video the technique is used to paint a dog.
Wanting curly hair is nothing new, which is why curling irons have been around for centuries. Join the club, whether you're looking for bouncing ringlets or flowing waves.