The power of pop culture is resulting in changes to one aspect of the American prison system. No, it is not the plague that is for-profit prisons or the slave labor many inmates are forced to perform. Pop culture is spurring a change in jail uniforms. Sheriff William Federspiel at Saginaw County Jail in Saginaw, Michigan is transitioning his inmates …
Man Who Lost Hand To Flesh-Eating Bacteria ‘Lucky’ To Be Alive
A Rhode Island firefighter who got an infection after being pricked by a thorn has lost his hand to flesh-eating bacteria. Thirty-two-year-old Braden Leonard, of Newport, says he was biking in Ballard Park in June when he fell and a thorn pricked his right hand. The nine-year veteran of the Johnston Fire Department had inflammation, fever and fatigue, and his …
NASA Says Discovering Alien Life In Next 20 Years Is ‘Within Reach’
As NASA prepares to launch a powerful new satellite into space, a team of experts from America’s space agency said it’s increasingly likely that alien life will be discovered within 20 years. In a posting on its site, NASA said the new research tools will show that “finding life beyond Earth is within reach.” “I think in the next 20 …
Man Sets World Record With Most Homer Simpson Tattoos
To paraphrase Homer Simpson: If you want to remember something, get a tattoo. Lee Weir probably doesn’t need any more reminders of how awesome he is. The 27-year-old New Zealand man has set a Guinness World Record for “most tattoos of the same cartoon character tattooed on the body” with his Homer Simpson sleeve. According to Guinness World Records: Lee …
Avoid Phrases Like “I’m Swamped” to Keep Your Stress Level Down
Regardless of whether you’re actually busy at work, as soon as you get wrapped up in phrases like “I’m swamped” or “I don’t have time for that,” you almost certainly will be. As soon as we convince ourselves that we’re underwater, our stress levels shoot up to match our perceptions. Organizational expert Robert Krietner calls this the Pygmalion Effect, or …
Stop Your Tasks Right Before They Get Fun
When you’re working on a big project that’s going to take multiple sessions, it might feel intuitive to work until you aren’t enjoying it anymore. You might be better off, however, stopping right when you’re starting to have fun. If you stop right when the excitement and fun start to kick in, you leave yourself something to look forward to …
Giving Up Beef Can Do More To Save Planet Than Giving Up Cars
If you’re not going to give up all of the meat, scientists say, you at the very least should consider cutting down on your beef consumption. Researchers at Bard College, the Weizmann Institute of Science and Yale University calculated the environmental footprint of animal products in the U.S. food production system, from the resources needed to produce the feed that …