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Bored Ape Yacht Club was not the biggest crypto phenomenon, but it was one of the top beneficiaries of celebrity hype. The Bored Apes — a computer-generated collection of 10,000 cartoons — were being presented as a status symbol, membership in an exclusive club. Yuga sued Ripps for trademark infringement, and argues that his maligning of the Yuga apes is nothing more than a profiteering tactic. Hickman, who is Black, thought the Bored Apes looked like stereotypical portrayals of Black people as stupid or lazy. He said he thought this would be obvious to most people the second they saw an image of a Bored Ape.

But Mr. Musk’s Twitter feed is often an echo chamber. 48 hours of Elon Musk’s tweets Circles representing Musk’s tweets are sized by the total retweets, likes, replies and quote tweets in response to what he posted. A chart of Mr. Musk’s original tweets, replies and quote tweets over a two-day period in November. A website tracking Mr. Musk’s private jet movement suggested that he traveled away from San Francisco around that time. Shareholders are now also seeking billions of dollars in damages in a lawsuit after Mr. Musk’s takeover proposal never materialized.

☆ What’s Next In Menswear? 6 Standout Trends From the Latest Runway Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Jamie Waters | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

TRYING TO SPOT casual clothes at the recent menswear shows was a bit like playing “Where’s Waldo?” Sober, dressier items so outnumbered once-dominant streetwear staples on the catwalks that if you spied a hoodie, jeans or flashy sneakers, you felt like you’d won a game. This season belonged to investment pieces: sharp-shouldered suits, chunky polished-leather shoes, heirloom-quality coats. Guys bored of schlubby sweats and wary of splashing out money on overly loud, quick-to-date clothes when the cost of living is wincingly high. Less clear: How they will fare in the real world, when they hang off average-size mortals, not long-limbed models. One stylist friend announced, half-seriously, that he feared these coats would make his shorter clients look like kids who’d raided their dads’ closets.

☆ Disney World closed Splash Mountain after allegations of racism. Not everyone's happy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Walt Disney World has closed its famous Splash Mountain water ride, the Magic Kingdom attraction that for years had been criticized for having racist roots. Goodbye, Splash Mountain,” read the caption of one video that had more than 1,300 likes Tuesday afternoon. The website for Tokyo Disneyland does not indicate if or when its Splash Mountain ride will close. A representative for Walt Disney World did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday. Splash Mountain is no stranger to controversy: In 2018, it made headlines when Walt Disney World banned a man who rode it while holding up a "Trump 2020" sign.

☆ Premier League talking points
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 15 (Reuters) - Talking points from the latest round of Premier League games:RAMSDALE PROVES HIS WORTH TO KEEP GUNNERS ON TRACKGoalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has had his critics at Arsenal but the 24-year-old proved his worth in the league leaders' 2-0 victory at rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, making a string of fine saves to keep Spurs at bay. "We showed the other face when we had to dig in, we needed some big moments from Aaron," coach Mikel Arteta said. Manchester United's dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over rivals Manchester City on Saturday was not without its fair share of controversy. Rashford was deemed not to have interfered and the goal stood, before the in-form England forward went on to score the winner. "I understand he (Rashford) doesn't touch the ball but he's running for 30 metres until the last second.

☆ Why a new autism diagnostic aid leaves me conflicted as a scientist and a mom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Sarah Gundle | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Now a new test is being developed that can help clinicians spot autism in children earlier than ever. For kids whose needs are far greater — those who are more deeply impaired by their autism — interventions can alleviate real suffering. While it’s still in the early stages and will need federal approval, as a scientist, I am tremendously excited by this news. Any breakthroughs in the science of autism are welcome after decades of stumbling in the dark. And for kids whose needs are far greater — those who are more deeply impaired by their autism — interventions can alleviate real suffering.

Li's predicament underscores challenges for China's economically crucial services sector as it bets on a post-COVID revival. With the virus spreading unchecked across the country now, representatives from the services sector say frequent lockdowns have left them without money to expand. "There is still a shortage of labour in the services sector in the big cities, and the loss of productivity is quite obvious," said Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China. CONSUMPTION REVIVALRetail sales, a key gauge of consumption, dropped 5.9% in November from a year earlier, and catering fell by 8.4% amid broad-based weakness in the services sector. Some in the service sector say there remains some hope.

☆ A scientist's recordings reveal turtles coo, squeak, and croak. Listen to their rarely-heard calls.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Researcher Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen recorded surprising vocalizations from 50 turtle species. Listen to 13 of these seldom-heard turtle sounds, from croaking and squealing to cooing and purring. They were making sounds, too — like the creaking clicks in the clip below. Jorgewich-Cohen recorded 50 different turtle species. The sounds of not-so-silent creaturesJorgewich-Cohen suspects that people don't notice turtle sounds very often because it's hard to hear them through water.

Here are 12 of the weirdest and most fascinating animal behaviors scientists spotted in 2022. Here are 12 bizarre and amazing things animals were spotted doing, some of which had never been seen before. It turned out that at least 12 species of primates had been reported doing so, a review published in the Journal of Zoology in October found. A dolphin swallowed 8 venomous sea snakesA sea snake (indicated with pink arrow), moments before it is captured and eaten by a Navy dolphin. Though animals have often been spotted using tools, these usually are used to give the animal a clear survival advantage.

☆ Glass act: Scientists reveal secrets of frog transparency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Their delicate, greenish transparent forms don’t cast shadows, rendering them almost invisible to birds and other predators passing overhead or underneath. But when northern glass frogs wake up and hop around in search of insects and mates, they take on an opaque reddish-brown color. “When they’re transparent, it’s for their safety,” said Junjie Yao, a Duke University biomedical engineer and study co-author. A male glass frog photographed from below using a flash, showing its transparency. “Transparency is super rare in nature, and in land animals, it’s essentially unheard of outside of the glass frog,” White said.

☆ How a See-Through Frog Hides Its Red Blood From Predators
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At first glance, you might miss the glass frog of the Costa Rican rainforest. Apart from a lime green smear across its back, its skin, muscle and other tissues are see-through. In a study published in the journal Science on Thursday, researchers report that when a glass frog falls asleep, almost all of its red blood cells retreat into its liver. In addition to revealing another remarkable adaptation in nature, the discovery could lead to clues for how to prevent deadly blood clots. Like people, glass frogs rely on hemoglobin, a colored protein in red blood cells that delivers oxygen around the body.

The U.S. House’s Jan. 6 committee has performed its task with a dignity that verges on parody. They are doing criminal referrals while Rome burns. I think the criminal referrals are completely appropriate and, if anything, fail to capture the true scope of his malfeasance. He said as much himself in response to the Jan. 6 committee referral. One of the strongest grounds for prosecuting Trump for Jan. 6 is that only accountability will prevent something like it from happening again.

☆ Frogs freeze their bodies and platypuses detect electric fields: Here are 10 incredible ways animals survive treacherous environments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Molly Sequin | Yelena Dzhanova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Wood frogs freeze their bodies. Nikola SolicTo survive the winter, up to 60 percent of Alaskan wood frogs' bodies freeze solid. This allows them to survive temperatures as low as -80 degrees Fahrenheit. To achieve this semi-frozen state, the frogs build up high concentrations of glucose (up to 10 times the normal amount) in their organs and tissues. The sugar solutes act as "cryoprotectants," preventing their cells from shrinking or dying.

☆ Explainer: What the world's nature-rich nations want out of a global conservation deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File PhotoMONTREAL, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Tangled expanses of Amazon rainforest, high mountains of the Himalayas, and cloud-shrouded forests are just some of the unique landscapes contained within the world's most nature-rich nations. Governments are trying to work out a new global agreement to guide conservation and wildlife protection through 2030 at a U.N. summit in Montreal this week. Of the nearly 200 countries assembled, five are considered to be among the world's most biodiverse nations — measured in the number of unique species. That's more than a third of all the world’s flowering plants, and more than half of all bird and mammal species on Earth. Here's what some of the world's most nature-rich nations want to happen at the talks.

☆ Former Twitter employees launch Spill, a refuge for 'Black Twitter,' after hate speech soars under Elon Musk's leadership
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The former Twitter employees are catering to "culture drivers," especially Black and queer creators. Terrell told TechCrunch. Since Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October, hate speech and slurs against Black users have skyrocketed and popular users from Black Twitter have used comedy to mourn the loss of their online community. Following the announcement of the app, Terrell tweeted that Spill had received 20,000 reservations for handles within 12 hours. Terrell, Brown, and Spill advisors April Reign, DeRay Mckesson and Dantley Davis did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | Lauren Leatherby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

In many places, poverty, powerful interests and a lack of law enforcement make habitat loss especially hard to address. Because animals there often have smaller ranges to begin with, habitat loss hits them especially hard. “That's the ultimate challenge of forest conservation globally.”Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Est. habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCARThis is the 2001 habitat of the white-headed lemur, a primate that eats fruit and flowers. Of the many targets being negotiated, the one that has gotten the most attention seeks to address habitat loss head on.

☆ Tesla investors tell Elon Musk to stop wasting time on Twitter as his erratic tweets prompt them to sell shares
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's tweets about politics and memes have dented some investors' confidence in him. The business analyst from Kansas City, Missouri told Bloomberg that he recently sold Tesla shares worth $30,000. He now says that Musk's erratic behavior is too much to deal with, and only kept a handful of Tesla shares. "It's almost like he's abandoned us in favor of his new mission," Goodwin told Bloomberg. He told Bloomberg that he's defended Musk online like many of the billionaire's acolytes, but the latest episode "has lost a lot of us."

☆ Move over kiddo. Teens and grownups want their own teddy bears
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNNBusiness —We know young kids love teddy bears and cute cuddly stuffed animals. But Build-A-Bear Workshop says older consumers can’t resist them, either. Shoppers can stuff a teddy bear or another furry animal and personalize it with clothes, accessories and their own voice-recorded message. Among the older shoppers are collectors and gift buyers. Courting teens and older customers has benefits.

☆ 4 one-minute habits that helped me stop procrastinating and get more done every week
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Akshad Singi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Working on your hardset task first thing each day leaves you time and energy to get more done later. Courtesy of Akshad SingiHere's why it works wonders:It eliminates the procrastination that stems from trying to decide "when" to start working. If you decide when to start working in real-time, procrastination is inevitable. You might think that you'll start working in five minutes — but those five minutes will turn into an hour without you realizing it. If it's already decided that you'll start working at two o'clock the next day, the chances of procrastination are reduced massively — if not completely.

☆ Netflix 'Christmas Carol' reboot 'Spirited' misses Elon Musk irony
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The Americanized “Spirited” is available on Apple TV+, while the British-based “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” debuted on Netflix on Friday. Originally published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was that era’s equivalent of a bestseller, with 13 editions published in the first year of print alone. (“The Muppet’s Christmas Carol,” for example, cast perpetual hero Kermit T. Frog as Cratchit rather than Scrooge.) The animation is vibrant, capturing the feel of the old Claymation-style Christmas TV specials. It is a bizarre and somewhat grotesque rewriting of the story’s moral; it's “A Christmas Carol” seen through the lens of bothsiderism.

☆ Elon Musk is the head of 5 companies that need strong leadership. Instead, he's starting Twitter wars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk has made headlines for his recent tweets, which include posts about guns and Apple. Critics say the Twitter CEO's use of the platform could further endanger the struggling company. There's also been discord at SpaceX, the rocket company Musk operates. In a story for New York Magazine, Kevin Dugan wrote that Musk is unlikely to change his ways anytime soon. "It's now been a week since Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, and one thing that's clear about his reign is that he will never, ever touch grass."

☆ Some older workers have fond memories of sleeping at the office, but the Elon Musk-style 84-hour workweek is falling flat with younger Americans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Some Twitter employees are working 80-hour weeks and sleeping at the office. Some older workers have fond memories of sleeping at work, but younger Americans aren't on board. Americans are divided on what to make of this, and a workplace-culture expert believes the schism reveals a generational divide. But younger workers are unlikely to buy in, said the best-selling author and workplace well-being expert Jennifer Moss. While older generations worked through the dot-com craze and the rise of Silicon Valley hustle culture, younger workers are changing attitudes around how far you need to go for your job.

The Kremlin and Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to questions about Serdiuk's account or that of others Reuters spoke to in Kherson. 'PURE SADISM'Grim recollections of life under occupation in Kherson have followed the unbridled joy and relief when Ukrainian soldiers retook the city on Friday after Russian troops withdrew across the Dnipro River. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said two days later that investigators had uncovered more than 400 Russian war crimes and found the bodies of both servicemen and civilians in areas of Kherson region freed from Russian occupation. Vitaliy had been an underground resistance fighter since Russian troops seized Kherson on March 2, according to Lapchuk, and she became worried when he did not answer her phone calls. The soldiers, who identified themselves as Russian troops, threatened to smash out her teeth when she tried to berate them.

While some may be tempted to offer the Sonoran Desert Toad a kiss, the National Park Service urged visitors to leave the potentially deadly amphibians alone. In a Facebook post last week, the government agency warned visitors against licking the toads if they stumble across them. It's unclear whether there was a specific instance to prompt the advisory, but "here we are," the National Park Service wrote. People have exploited the toad's toxin as psychedelic, smoking it to experience euphoria and hallucinations, according to the Oakland Zoo. The Sonoran Desert toad, also referred to as a the Colorado River toad, is one of the largest toads native to North America and measures about 7 inches in length, the National Park Service said.

☆ The National Park Service warns visitors not to lick Sonoran Desert toads, whose psychoactive poison has been smoked by celebrities like Joe Rogan and Chelsea Handler
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The National Park Service told visitors not to lick toads or anything else they find in the parks. The Sonoran Desert toad, also known as the Colorado River toad, can grow to nearly 7 inches and is one of the largest toads in North America. The practice is dangerous and can make humans and animals sick, as the Sonoran Desert toads release toxins through glands in their skin as a powerful defense mechanism. The relevant psychoactive substance, 5-MeO-DMT, is illegal in the US and designated a Schedule 1 substance, but that hasn't stopped it from accruing fans. Some are concerned that the growing embrace of psychedelics and 5-MeO-DMT could threaten the existence of the Sonoran Desert toad due to illegal poaching and overharvesting, the Times reported.

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