when the top-half is concealed

More and more vultures eat their prey butt first […] That approach exposes a vulture to even more bacteria than they’d get from regular old rotting meat. […] A recent study found that vultures have tons of microbes on their faces (528 different species, on average) but shockingly few in the gut (around 76 types). In fact, the only bacteria that survive in a vulture’s gut are the really nasty ones.

Unattractive faces are more attractive when the bottom-half is masked, an effect that reverses when the top-half is concealed

Hahahahaha, Duuuuude, Yeeessss! The dynamics of mistypings and misspellings […] strengthen the meaning (e.g., ‘huuuuuge’), imply sarcasm (e.g., ‘suuuuure’), show excitement (e.g., ‘yeeeessss’), or communicate danger (e.g., ‘nooooooooooooo’). We will refer to words that are amenable to such lengthening as ‘stretchable words’.

A neurologist, at age 55, developed an irrepressible urge to rhyme after a series of strokes and seizures. His pronounced focus on rhyming led him to actively participate in freestyle rap and improvisation. More: How a Stroke Turned a 63-Year-Old Into a Rap Legend

Why Is Everyone Smoking Toad Venom? […] Bufo is the venom of the Sonoran desert toad, Bufo alvarius, which contains the molecule 5-MeO-DMT, one of the most potent psychotropic drugs ever discovered. Related: Dogs that have attacked toads have suffered paralysis or even death.

Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile […] For protection against enemy divers, dolphins will swim up to the infiltrator, bump into them and place a buoy device on their back or a limb using their mouth. The buoy then drags the outed diver to the surface for easy capture.

Facebook’s Libra is still dead — Diem to be sold off for spare parts [Diem was the rebranding of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project] The intellectual property will consist of some trademarks, a website and the open-source code for a mediocre permissioned blockchain and various helper projects.

I’m the author of the best-selling book System Design Interview-An Insider’s Guide. 11 days ago, two fraudsters hijacked the “Buy Now” button on Amazon, fulfilling all orders with a different book.

How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)