i learned about Shiniuzhai, a convenience store hanging on a cliff in Hunan, that’s been nicknamed “most inconvenient convenience store” in China (x)

Today I learned that the term "sugarloaf" is not figurative; until the late 19th Century, sugar was most commonly sold in enormous cone-shaped masses, some up to three feet in length and thirty pounds in weight, and in order to use it you had to break off a piece of the desired size using a specialised pair of iron pliers called "sugar nips".

Today I learned that @neil-gaiman—among others who I was happily surprised to see—modeled for a book of knitting patterns called Geek Knits (2015) by Joan of Dark [Toni Carr] with photographs by Kyle Cassidy (ISBN 9781250051387 for those of you interested in the patterns!).

The wild things you can find in your public libraries lmao.

The pattern modeled below is the Baker Street Hat by Joan of Dark (pp. 138–41)

The Tallest Trees in the World

TIL there are 164 fics on AO3 in hieroglyphics 

I’m mentally unwell.

Generally, I have a grudging detente with anything wasp-shaped. I know we need them, they serve an important role in various ecosystems, and so forth, but I've been stung enough times that a yellow-and-black-striped buzz will set my heart racing. Ugh.

So imagine how I felt when I saw something that looked like a massive mutant wasp next to me on a walking path. My brain went AAA GIANT HORNET even though we don't have those in the Midwest. It was huge. I wasn't sure if I should even walk past it.

However...I've been absorbing a lot of bug positivity from @onenicebugperday lately. So I stood there for a minute and watched the mega-wasp.

It didn't act aggressive. It crawled along the curling tendrils of one flower head, then buzzed over to check out another one. I slowly took out my phone and snapped a picture. (From a reasonable distance. Photo cropped for detail...)

Looked it up online when I got home, and it appears to be Sphecius speciosus, the Eastern cicada killer, which is actually super chill when it comes to humans.

Various entomology sites inform me that if it's a guy wasp, he has a pointy butt, but no stinger. He might fly around someone threateningly, but he's basically saying "Hey, get outta my turf." If you leave, he won't follow. If it's a lady wasp, she has a stinger, but she'd rather not waste it on a human unless they do something aggressively stupid like try to catch her. She'd rather save her stings for cicadas to feed to her (eventual) kids. TIL!

"It's actually not a dress"👀🤯⁉️

Hey did you guys know that the fly agaric (the red and white spotted mushroom often on human fairytale books) got its name because ancient humans used to use them as a nonlethal fly trap? Humans would put cut pieces of the mushroom into shallow dishes with milk, and the flies would come drink the milk and then get stuck TRIPPING THE FUCK OUT ON PSYCHEDELIC MUSHROOM MILK

I just find this fascinating.

TIL: You can get custom Hershey wrappings-

TikTok came from here

And also for context, the fanart by Mozg wasn't stolen!

i learned that there's a Japanese beetle that when eaten by a frog will haul ass through its digestive system and escape out the back end unscathed (x)

Today I learned that in Romania they don't call you a bookworm, they call you a Library Mouse (un şoarece de bibliotecă).

And that is just adorable.

Today I learned you can see Ignis has stubble!

I've played nearly 1000 hours of this game, I've stared at his face for hours and out of the hundreds of photos I've taken of him, I just noticed it last night!

I still prefer him shaved though 🤭

Guide To Beekeeping ---

Source: "The Book"

demon catshark 👉👈

DYK…

demon catshark is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae found only in deep water in the East China Sea. its length is up to 40 cm.

demon catsharks conservation status is least concern and the reproduction of this catshark is oviparous

demon catsharks don’t actually have a lot of information about them online :(

I don't know why it didn't occur to me before now, but I wondered if it was possible to change a sim's scuba diving outfit to get rid of the gear. Turns out it is, at least if you use Stylist from NRaas Master Controller! The changes you make "stick," too. You still get the sound effects, and the bubbles from the rebreather, and they still move their legs like they have fins attached to them, but at least there's no tank and rebreather. And possibly, the fins could be CASted to look like they're made out of more primitive materials.

So, I can now feel better about using scuba diving for non-merfolk sims in my more primitive saves. I can just pretend they're freediving. Yeah, sure, they won't go up and down to breathe like they would if they were really doing that, but it'll be less immersion-breaking than primitive sims wearing scuba gear, at least.

Just thought I'd share.