Would You Try a "Snickle" . . . a Snickers Wrapped in a Pickle?
TikTok is obsessed with "Snickles" right now . . . that's a full Snickers bar wrapped in a PICKLE. I feel like this snack idea only exists because combining the two words is fun. It can't actually taste good, can it? It's not a totally new idea. The Snickle also went viral in 2018, and Snickers even did a video about it. You just cut a dill pickle in half . . . hollow out the inside with spoon . . . jam a Snickers in there . . . and enjoy. One guy who tried it couldn't find a pickle big enough to fully encase a Snickers bar. So it was more like a Snickers-pickle sandwich. And he did NOT love it, but said it's not as bad as it sounds.
Drinking a Lot of Coffee Might Help Fight Off the Coronavirus?
If we'd had this info a year ago, we might have been hoarding coffee like we hoarded toilet paper. A new study at Northwestern found that drinking a lot of coffee might lower your covid risk. Researchers looked at the eating and drinking habits of 40,000 adults. And people who averaged at least one cup of coffee a day had a 10% lower risk for Covid-19. Which seems weird, but apparently coffee has been linked to a lower risk for pneumonia before too. So it might be for the same reason. They're not sure why it seems to make a difference. But people who ate a lot of vegetables also had a lower risk of developing Covid-19 symptoms. And people who ate processed meat had a slightly HIGHER risk. More research is needed though.
The Most Expensive Game Ever Just Sold for $1.5 Million
A sealed copy of "Super Mario 64" for the Nintendo 64 just set the record for the MOST EXPENSIVE game ever sold. It went for $1.56 MILLION at an auction. (!!!) This record broke one that was JUST set last Friday from the same auction house. It was another Nintendo game . . . an unopened 1986 "Legend of Zelda" for the NES . . . sold for $870,000. FYI . . . don't go rummaging through closets for YOUR old copies of these games. The "Zelda" game is a very rare, original version and only a handful were made. So yours most likely ISN'T one of them. In the case of "Mario", less than FIVE copies are known to exist that are still sealed and in such excellent condition.
Jewelry Made Out of Human Teeth Is Now Something You Can Buy
It takes a special kind of person to think this is fashionable. A jewelry company in Australia is in the news, because they make jewelry out of your loved ones' TEETH after they pass away. The company is called Grave Metallum, and they do everything from necklaces and earrings to rings with full molars. You just send them the teeth, and they turn it into jewelry for you. Prices range from hundreds to even thousands of dollars. They can also do it with kids' baby teeth . . . or your own teeth if you're into that. But the owner says she likes working with the teeth of loved ones who've passed away, because it helps people deal with their grief.
A New Toilet Pays You for Your Poop in Digital Currency
This gives "flushing money down the toilet" a new meaning: A university in South Korea is testing a new type of commode that turns your waste into DIGITAL CURRENCY. Or more simply . . . it pays you for your POOP. It's called the BeeVi toilet, and an engineering professor came up with it. It basically collects everyone's waste and turns it into methane and manure. Then the methane powers things in the building, and the manure is used in a nearby garden. Each time a student uses the toilet, they get paid in a digital currency the professor created called "Ggool," which means "Honey" in Korean. Then they can use that Honey to buy stuff on campus, like coffee and snacks. He says the point is to show how valuable our waste can be if we just think outside the box.
How Far from a Window Should You Put a Fan to Stay Cool in Summer?
If you don't have A/C, what's the best way to use a regular fan to get the best air flow? If you want to cool your whole place down, should you put a fan right next to a window, or farther away? And should it blow in or out? Some guy on YouTube tested it with two different fans . . . a box fan and a desk fan. And he measured the air circulation in a different room with something called an anemometer. (Pronounced an-eh-MOM-eh-ter) Here's what he found . . .
1. Box fans work better, which isn't too surprising. You just get a lot more airflow in general. But desk fans were fine too. Not a bad option if that's all you've got. 2. The fan should face OUT. So instead of pulling air into your home, you want to push it out to create the best circulation. Another window just has to be open somewhere else in your home to let air in. 3. Putting it right up against the window is NOT the best setup. It works okay. But he got much better airflow when he pulled the fan away from the window a little bit. TWO FEET got the best results. But even five feet away worked better than in the window, or right up against it. 4. He also found that if it's breezy out, you might be better off just opening ALL your windows and pointing the fan at yourself. A strong breeze from outside did more to cool his place down than any of the fan setups he tried.
Today's Showbiz Highlights
1. A list of celebrities who were unpopular in high school includes: Lady Gaga . . . Zac Efron . . . Ryan Gosling . . . and Halsey.
2. RICHARD BRANSON made his first space flight yesterday. He and a five-man crew went 53 miles above the Earth and achieved weightlessness for about three to four minutes. At 71, he's the second-oldest man in space, after JOHN GLENN . . . who went up in 1998 at the age of 77.
3. LAMAR ODOM called KHLOE KARDASHIAN a "hottie" after she posted a bikini photo on Instagram. And TRISTAN THOMPSON responded with what sounded like a threat. Lamar removed his comment.
4. EDDIE MURPHY's son Eric is dating MARTIN LAWRENCE's daughter Jasmin. Eric is 32, and Jasmin is 25. There's no word how long they've been together.
5. A sealed 1996 "Super Mario 64" set a record yesterday for MOST EXPENSIVE game ever sold. It was purchased for $1.56 MILLION during an auction.
6. Three men and a woman were arrested at a hotel in Denver with rifles, ammunition, and body armor. Major League Baseball All-Star festivities are in full swing, and authorities think the suspects may have been planning a Las Vegas-style shooting from their 8th-floor room.
7. "Black Widow" made $80 million in its opening weekend, which is a pandemic-era record. It also took in $60 million from its simultaneous release on Disney+, where subscribers had to pay an extra $30 to watch it.
8. KATIE THURSTON is challenging her "Bachelorette" contestants to refrain from getting handsy with themselves. She said she wants to, quote, "make it a little hard for them . . . make it VERY HARD for them."
9. STEVEN SEAGAL's band opened for SAMMY HAGAR in 2006 for $1,000. He arrived with a large entourage, and carried two pistols, which he was carrying because he was on the mafia's hit list.
10. CHARLES KELLEY came down with appendicitis, so LADY A canceled their show on Saturday in Minnesota. It's too early to know when he'll be ready to get back onstage.