Low-Risk Drinking Can Be Risky, Too

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

If you think that you’re safe from health complications that could be caused by alcohol consumption because you don’t drink that much compared to heavy drinkers (or you drink moderately), think again, as this recent study suggests that “even consuming alcohol within weekly low-risk drinking guidelines” could have health risks, too. The recent study is published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.


Moderate drinkers "are not insulated from harm," write researchers led by Adam Sherk, Ph.D., of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

The Canadian government's low-risk drinking guidelines state that women should consume no more than about 10 drinks per week and men no more than 15. (A "drink" is 12 oz. of beer, 5 oz. of wine, or 1.5 oz. of liquor.) These limits are slightly higher than those in the United States and exceed those of most other high-income countries.

In their research, Sherk and colleagues found that, in British Columbia, a significant portion of alcohol-caused death and disability was experienced by those drinking within these guidelines. For example, more than 50 percent of cancer deaths resulting from alcohol use occurred in people drinking moderately. Further, 38 percent of all alcohol-attributable deaths were experienced by people drinking below the weekly limits or among former drinkers.

[...]

Sherk suggests that guideline limits should be lowered to match those in the Netherlands: "Don't drink or, if you do, drink no more than one drink per day."


If there’s a drink that you should drink many glasses or bottles of, that would be good old water.

Via EurekAlert

(Image Credit: University of Victoria/ EurekAlert)

By Franzified

Twitter Doesn’t Have An Accessibility Team

(Image Credit: raphaelsilva/ Pixabay)

A Twitter developer named Andrew Hayward has brought a Twitter issue towards wider attention: the social media platform doesn’t have an accessibility team. For a social network company that has 4,000 employees (which means that it is big enough to create teams), it is a bit disappointing that Twitter doesn’t have a team dedicated to accessibility.


This is not to say that Twitter is a wasteland for accessibility features, though like any major platform it has a lot of room for improvement. But features that make a site easier for everyone to navigate — not just people who use screen readers or captions — require more than part-time input from concerned employees.

When people criticized Twitter’s new audio tweet feature for not having any kind of captioning, the official Twitter Support account said that it was an “early version of this feature” and that the company would be “exploring” ways to make it accessible, which didn’t help.

Hayward chimed in to say that he and the other “volunteers behind accessibility at Twitter” were “frustrated and disappointed” at the lack of consideration for people with disabilities, prompting astonishment that there is no dedicated team. He clarified that they are paid employees (not outright volunteers) but that “the work we do is notionally on top of our regular roles.” So the work he and everyone else has done has essentially been in their spare time.


It looks like it would be a long time before we see a Twitter that’s user-friendly towards people with disabilities.

We're sorry about testing voice Tweets without support for people who are visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing. It was a miss to introduce this experiment without this support.

Accessibility should not be an afterthought. (1/3) https://t.co/9GRWaHU6fR

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) June 19, 2020

By Franzified

This Fungal Pathogen Can Disable A Plant’s Defense System

(Image Credit:  Anna Schroll/ PHYS.org)

A pathogen invading your body is already bad enough on its own. A pathogen invading your body, while you remain helpless and without options, is much worse. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Pretoria a fungal pathogen that can disable the defense mechanism of cabbage plants, which allow them to spread unhindered. The said pathogen is a very dangerous one, capable of infecting hundreds of plant species.

(Image Credit: Jymm/ Wikimedia Commons)

Cabbage plants defend themselves against herbivores and pathogens by deploying a defensive mechanism called the mustard oil bomb: when the plant tissue is damaged, toxic isothiocyanates are formed and can effectively fend off attackers. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Pretoria have now been able to show in a new study that this defense is also effective to some extent against the widespread and detrimental fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. However, the pathogen uses at least two different detoxification mechanisms that enable the fungus to successfully spread on plants defended in this way. The metabolic products thus formed are non-toxic to the fungus, allowing it to grow on these plants.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a devastating fungal pathogen that can infect more than 400 different plant species. The main symptom of the disease called Sclerotinia wilt or white mold is wilting. Visible are also the white, cotton-like fungal spores that overgrow plant leaves and stalks. In agriculture, rapeseed cultivation is particularly at risk. The plant disease can affect other members of the cabbage family, and also potatoes, legumes and strawberries.



Learn more about this deadly pathogen over at PHYS.org.

By Franzified

When Brands Make Blunders Overseas

People love to expand their businesses into uncharted territory when their businesses get really big in their own country. Expanding into foreign lands, however, would mean that the business has to study a culture and a language very different from theirs.

Without the guidance of an expert, or a native, who thoroughly understands the culture and language of the foreign country, a business would most likely make blunders that would surely damage their reputation, and this is perhaps what happened in these businesses.

Cracked.com lists 15 brands which made fatal mistakes overseas. See them all over at the site.


All images via Cracked.com

By Franzified

Stunning 3D Origami Paper Sculptures by Faith C.

Check out these cute and adorable 3D origami paper sculptures made by Faith C. (@floblarinet), which she posts on Instagram.

Via Laughing Squid

(All images by Faith C. on Instagram)

By Franzified

Tennis Players Try To Control The Ball Via Telekinesis

Lots of factors should be considered when playing tennis. How fast is the ball? How hard should you hit back? Is it a topspin or a backspin?

These are just some of the things that goes into the mind of a tennis player, and all of these should be processed in less than a split second.

Sometimes, however, tennis players suddenly go into the Zone, and they suddenly unlock their telekinetic powers for a short time, making them capable of controlling the ball with their mind. It takes a lot of brain power, however, and a lot of face contortion.

Check out the other photos over at Sad and Useless.


All images via Sad and Useless

By Franzified

Japan’s Dog Mountain Castle Besieged By Cats

(Image Credit: ThorstenS/ Wikimedia Commons)

One of the most interesting things when studying the Japanese language is how easy it is to know the meaning behind the names of the country’s places. Tokyo, for example, literally means “eastern capital.” Yokohama, on the other hand, literally means “wide beach.” Then there’s Inuyama, which means “dog mountain”, where the “Inuyama Castle”, Japan’s oldest castle, can be found.

Unfortunately, the aforementioned castle just got invaded recently by none other than a pair of cats — the dogs’ archenemies — which is very poetic, if you ask me.

Like many samurai strongholds, Inuyama Castle has small openings in its walls for defenders to shoot arrows or fire muskets through. However, such openings are technically two-way in nature, and here we see a cat coming through one from the outside.

[...]

While casualties are generally a forgone conclusion when attacking a fortified position, @rimamofu points out that both cats were actually at the castle with their human owner/general, who had them on a leash, and that neither animal was so wedged into the opening that it couldn’t easily extract itself.


Thankfully, nobody was harmed during the invasion.


(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

犬山城猫挟まってる pic.twitter.com/Y4dmF33Q4U

— 夏が来た🌞りまま(26) (@rimamofu) June 7, 2020

See more details about this story over at SoraNews 24.

By Franzified

This Zoo Used Stuffed Capybaras In Their Restaurant

Social distancing might be a practice that will most likely be around for a long time. And let’s face it. This will be very difficult to implement in crowded places.

To make things easier for their patrons, the Izu Shaboten Zoo in Shizuoka, Japan, strategically placed stuffed capybaras in their restaurant to ensure that appropriate social distancing is maintained in the place.

...The Izu Zoo (we’ve been dying to write that) was closed as the pandemic swept Japan but recently re-opened on May 16. Several measures were put in place to unsure[sic] visitor safety, such as requiring masks, making hand sanitizer available, and of course using stuffed animal Capybaras to ensure enclosed spaces are never too full.

But why Capybara’s, you might wonder? The Izu Shabonten Zoo is actually a popular Capybara destination. It’s not only home to numerous Capybara-themed events but it’s also credited with inventing the Capybara hot bath.

This is cute and wholesome!

See the adorable photos over at Spoon & Tamago.


(Images Credit: Spoon & Tamago)

Someone Just Illustrated The Viral Monster Story

(Image Credit: jwitless/ Bored Panda)

In 2017, author kittenwiskers released a writing prompt, titled “#Case: 273402 Status: Disastrous,” on Tumblr. It tells a story of Charlotte Dower, a young girl who isn’t afraid of monsters that come to her bed at night, as there is a scarier monster in her life — her own father.

Now, Russian artist Natalya Sorokina illustrates the emotional story and turned it into an impressive comic strip.

Natalya, who goes by the nickname jwitless, said it’s her “first colored comics ever,” which made her feel slightly nervous.

See the full comic strip over at Bored Panda.

(Images Credit: kittenwiskers/ Bored Panda)

By Franzified

Don’t You Animal Again!

“Do not touch.”

“Do not smoke.”

“Do not block the driveway.”

“Do not stand here.”

And

“Do not use; Out of order.”

These are just some of the signs that we see everywhere — on fast food restaurants, on gates, buildings, on train stations, and on public bathrooms. But this sign definitely is one-of-a-kind.

Via Engrish.com

By Franzified

Surprising Bits of Wisdom From 7-Year-Olds

Oftentimes what we witness from 7-year-olds are silly, if not stupid, stuff. But sometimes they can spit out little gems of truth which come out from their little mouth, which have been processed in their little brains — bite-sized truths that catch us off-guard.

Bored Panda compiles 30 tweets where parents are surprised about what goes inside the brains of their 7-year-old sons and daughters. See them all over at the site.

(Image Credit: Pezibear/Pixabay)

(Image Credit: Bored Panda)

(Image Credit: Bored Panda)

(Image Credit: Bored Panda)