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If you've been too caught up this week to stay updated on the latest happenings, Mytour has you covered. Here, you can catch up on all the significant events unfolding in the world, and dive into the strange and fascinating stories that unfolded over the week.
Is cheese a fan of Led Zeppelin? Did the Gauls preserve the heads of their foes? Can a donkey perform opera? These are the intriguing questions we'll answer today. We'll also explore a US Navy LSD ring, a feud between Scouts, and some wild ideas about space.
10. End of the Dawn
On November 1, NASA revealed that the Dawn spacecraft's mission has concluded after depleting its hydrazine fuel. It is currently in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt.
Launched in September 2007, the Dawn space probe was initially slated for a nine-year mission. However, it outlasted expectations, operating for over 11 years. During this time, it achieved several groundbreaking feats, including becoming the first spacecraft to visit both Ceres and Vesta, the first to orbit two extraterrestrial objects, and the first to explore a dwarf planet.
This news came just two days after NASA confirmed that the Kepler space telescope had also completed its mission. The renowned planet-hunter ran out of fuel and could no longer adjust its orientation or send data back to Earth.
As if that weren’t enough, things aren’t looking promising for the Opportunity rover, which has been silent since June after being caught in a massive dust storm on Mars. NASA has been attempting to contact the rover since September, but its initial 45-day window for recovery has long passed.
Nevertheless, scientists remain optimistic that Martian winds might clear the dust from Opportunity's solar panels, potentially reviving the rover. They continue their efforts to re-establish contact and plan to reassess the situation in January.
9. Stairway to Dairy Heaven
In the Swiss town of Burgdorf, a cheesemaker named Beat Wampfler, fittingly, is exploring whether music can enhance the cheese-making process.
Wampfler has set up nine open wooden crates in his cellar, each containing a wheel of Emmental cheese. The cheese is still maturing and won’t be ready for tasting until next year, but its development features a unique twist.
Each crate is equipped with a set of speakers playing different music genres, ranging from the classical sounds of Mozart’s The Magic Flute to the contemporary beats of Led Zeppelin and A Tribe Called Quest. Wampfler is excited to see if the music influences the cheese's development, characteristics, or flavor.
The project has piqued the interest of the University of the Arts in Bern. Its music director, Michael Harenberg, was initially skeptical. However, he soon realized that this falls under the realm of sonochemistry, the study of how sound waves can influence chemical reactions.
The experiment will come to an end on March 14, when a group of expert tasters will evaluate all the cheeses to determine whether the music made any difference. Wampfler isn’t sure which one will stand out, but he’s hopeful that the hip-hop-infused cheese will prove to be the tastiest.
8. Donkey Xote of La Mancha
Harriet has gained quite a bit of attention online for her singing, which many have compared to sections from Madame Butterfly. She can hit a G note with nearly perfect vibrato. While that might not seem like much, there’s one key detail to note—Harriet is a donkey.
Harriet resides in Connemara, in the western part of Ireland. Stephen McGrath adopted her when she was just two years old, and she’s since become a local celebrity in her village for the “unusual” sounds she makes. Villagers say she could never manage a regular “hee-haw.” She’d try, but no sound would come out. Over time, she adapted and became the musical sensation we know today.
Martin Stanton, one of McGrath’s neighbors, has visited Harriet many times over the years but only recently decided to capture her performance on film. When the donkey saw him, the promise of a treat was enough to make her burst into song.
7. Pornhub Blows Leaves Away
Residents of Dutchess County, New York, were treated to a free leaf removal service, thanks to Pornhub.
Indeed, the online adult entertainment giant ran a three-day promotion offering free leaf removal to individuals and businesses in Dutchess County on a first-come, first-served basis. To make this happen, they teamed up with Dutchess Lawns, a company that proudly displayed the Pornhub logo on their uniforms and trucks.
The service was available from Wednesday to Friday. To participate, people simply had to send a request with their contact details to [email protected].
This isn’t the first time the adult entertainment company has run community service promotions. Last year, it offered to clear snow from roads in Boston and New York City after a snowstorm. It has also granted several college scholarships in recent years. This time, the company wanted to focus on an area known for its beautiful fall foliage. That’s why it randomly chose Dutchess County in upstate New York.
6. Should We Turn On The Porch Light?
A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) proposes that we could use lasers to capture the attention of aliens who may be searching for life in the universe.
The project, dubbed the 'planetary porch light,' could be executed using existing technology. It would involve a 1- to 2-megawatt laser channeled through a telescope with a diameter ranging from 30 to 45 meters (100 to 150 feet). Although no telescope like this currently exists on Earth, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is under construction in Chile and is set to be completed by 2024.
The concept is that a laser of this size would shine brightly enough to stand out against the Sun's background energy, effectively serving as a beacon. Any alien astronomer examining our solar system would notice that the light is not a natural phenomenon. Scientists also speculate that the laser could potentially send simple messages into space, much like Morse code.
James Clark, an astronautics graduate student and one of the researchers involved, emphasized that this was merely a 'feasibility study.' While it proposed that such a project could be carried out, it did not suggest that it would be a wise or practical idea.
5. Three Sheets to the Wind
A dozen sailors aboard the nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan have been implicated in a scandal involving an LSD ring.
The saga began with two sailors, Andrew Miller and Sean Gevero, who are facing court-martial for using and distributing the hallucinogenic drug. As the investigation unfolded, it became clear that many other sailors were involved. Ten have faced discipline over LSD-related offenses, and three more are awaiting charges. All those implicated worked in the ship's nuclear reactor department, with only one sailor from another division being disciplined.
Lieutenant Joe Keiley, a spokesman, stated that USS Ronald Reagan leadership assessed the work carried out by the men, potentially under the influence of LSD, but found no errors. He reassured that the nuclear reactors are secure. Since the carrier is stationed in Japan, local authorities have also launched their own investigation to determine if the sailors were supplied with LSD by Japanese citizens.
4. As Young As I Feel?
Emile Ratelband, a motivational speaker from the Netherlands, has embarked on a legal campaign to officially declare himself 20 years younger, aiming for increased success on the Tinder dating app.
At the moment, the 'positivity guru' is 69 years old, but he feels considerably younger. Ratelband claims his doctors have told him that his body is equivalent to that of a 45-year-old. As such, he is seeking to legally amend his birthdate from March 11, 1949, to March 11, 1969.
Ratelband is convinced that a younger age will unlock more opportunities for him, including access to new job prospects, the ability to purchase a different home, and driving a new car. More crucially, he hopes this will lead to more matches on Tinder.
In a court hearing in Arnhem, the speaker likened his request to change his birthdate to individuals who have legally altered their genders. The judge acknowledged that this represents a novel area of law that would have been unthinkable in the past. A decision is expected in the near future.
3. How To Get The Trademark Infringement Badge
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) is taking legal action against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for trademark infringement, following the BSA's decision to drop the word 'Boy' from its name.
As girls become eligible to earn the same ranks as boys in the Boy Scouts, the organization plans to change its name to Scouts BSA in February 2019. However, the Girl Scouts argue that this causes brand confusion and erosion. They claim that people, schools, and local communities are mistakenly being told that the Girl Scouts no longer exist or have merged with the Boy Scouts.
Though the BSA was founded earlier (in 1910), the GSUSA asserts exclusive rights to the 'Girl Scouts' and 'Scouts' trademarks, particularly for leadership development services aimed at girls. As a result, the BSA's recent 'Scout Me In' campaign is seen as harmful to the GSUSA's intellectual property and market position.
2. Oumuamua Back At It Again
This week, the scientific community was stirred by a controversial paper that suggested Oumuamua might be an alien probe.
The paper, written by researchers Shmuel Bialy and Avi Loeb from Harvard's Institute for Theory and Computation, examined Oumuamua's unusual acceleration, which defied typical expectations. The space rock garnered attention last year when it became the first interstellar object observed in our solar system. Since then, astronomers have been fiercely debating its true nature.
One of the most puzzling aspects of Oumuamua is its acceleration away from the Sun at a rate faster than anticipated. While the majority of the paper focuses on the possibility that solar radiation pressure could explain this anomaly, Loeb and Bialy also propose a more speculative scenario—suggesting that Oumuamua could be an alien probe sent to our solar system.
Unsurprisingly, this theory sparked widespread attention—much to the frustration of many in the scientific community. The controversy arose because the paper was a preprint, meaning it had been reviewed by experts but not yet subjected to formal peer review. Many scientists have rejected the idea, with even Bialy acknowledging that he doesn't believe it due to the lack of solid evidence.
1. A Gruesome Tradition Proven True
Recent research has verified a disturbing tale about the Gauls: they had a practice of embalming the severed heads of their enemies.
Following a victorious battle, Gaul warriors would decapitate their foes and display the heads by hanging them around their horses' necks for all to witness. Ancient texts suggest the Gauls took it even further, embalming the heads with cedar oil. This was once considered a myth, but evidence has now emerged. Scientists examined Iron Age skulls discovered at the French settlement of Le Cailar and found traces of conifer resin.
A team led by Rejane Roure from Paul Valery University of Montpellier tested 11 human skull fragments alongside animal bones from the region as a control group. They found typical substances such as fatty acids and cholesterol on all bones, but six skull fragments contained traces of diterpenoids. These compounds, absent from animal bones, suggest that the skulls were treated with conifer resin.
These accounts of embalming date back to ancient Greek historians like Strabo and Diodorus of Sicily. Although both mentioned the use of cedar oil, it's still uncertain whether that was actually the case, or if cedar trees even grew in that region of Europe at the time.
