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Super Nintendo World opened in Universal Studios Hollywood.
The theme park opened in February. Highlights include dining at Toadstool Cafe, riding in an augmented reality Mario Kart course, and playing challenges to win coins, like Mario Party without the danger of ending friendships. Maybe.
The original voice of Mario retired …
The Super Mario Bros. Movie came out in April 2023 with Chris Pratt as the title character. Charles Martinet, the original voice actor for Mario, made a cameo appearance. However, in August, Martinet announced that he would be retiring from voicing the beloved red plumber.
WELCOME TO PAGE 345 - 2023 CONTINUES !!!
… but took on a special new role.
But Nintendo announced that Martinet would be granted the unique, official title of “Mario Ambassador.” His responsibilities are “traveling around the world sharing the joy of the Mario family and being able to continue meeting with all of you wonderful fans who I absolutely cherish the most.”
We found out the best time to go to the bathroom on an airplane …
If you get nervous about going to the bathroom on long flights—with the horror of walking down the cramped aisle and finding the tiny toilet occupied, then forced to stand there awkwardly as flight attendants squeeze by you—we have good news. In 2023, a former flight attendant gave her advice for the ideal times to plan your bathroom trip with no competition. She recommends going right when the pilot turns the seatbelt sign off, or, right before the beverage service starts. According to her, you’ll be in the clear.
… And how to avoid awkward odors.
Her second piece of advice? Ask the flight attendants for a packet of coffee grounds. If you hang them up in the bathroom, they will soak up any uncomfortable smells.
Research published in 2023 suggests that our brains may perceive silence and sound the same way.
For the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers adapted common auditory illusions to test how people reacted to stretches of silence. The quiet illusions had the same effect as the noisy ones, which could mean the brain processes a lack of noise as if it were sound.
The Siberian Tiger
Siberia is home to the critically endangered Siberian tiger, also known as the Amur tiger. With only about 500 individuals remaining in the wild, efforts are being made to protect and conserve this magnificent species.
The Yakutsk Permafrost
Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha Republic in Siberia, holds the record for being the coldest city on Earth. The region experiences permafrost, where the ground remains permanently frozen, with temperatures averaging -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter.
Disposable diapers were used as a building material.
Researchers in Japan have discovered the benefits of using disposable diapers in the construction of concrete houses. Apparently shredded diapers can replace a large chunk of the sand used in concrete construction without reducing its strength. This actually has great implications for the environment, including reducing the waste of non-recyclable diapers and hopefully cutting down on the carbon emissions from concrete construction.
Siberia’s Rich Natural Resources
Siberia is a treasure trove of natural resources, including vast reserves of oil, natural gas, minerals, and timber. These resources play a significant role in Russia’s economy, attracting investment and contributing to its overall development.
Stunning Landscapes
Siberia boasts diverse and awe-inspiring landscapes. From the snow-capped peaks of the Altai Mountains to the vast tundra expanses in the north, and from the taiga forests to the stunning Lena Pillars, Siberia captivates with its breathtaking natural beauty.
The Remote Putorana Plateau
The Putorana Plateau, located in northern Siberia, is a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its unique geological formations, pristine ecosystems, and stunning waterfalls. This remote and untouched region offers a glimpse into a world untouched by human interference.
A recipe for space yeast was nearly perfected.
In an attempt to solve the problem of supplying food for long-term space missions, it was found that the secret ingredient for making yeast while in space is … astronaut breath. “Astronaut breath, water, yeast starter, electricity, a rolling pin and we can make it happen,” Stafford Sheehan, a finalist in the NASA-sponsored Deep Space Food Challenge, told NPR. The challenge’s goals were “create novel and game-changing food technologies or systems that require minimal inputs and maximize safe, nutritious, and palatable food outputs for long-duration space missions, and which have potential to benefit people on Earth,” according to its website.
We found out what seismic activity sounds like.
A scientist and a musician teamed up to create music out of Yellowstone’s seismic data, and now you can listen to it. The scientist, Domenico Vicinanza, is a particle physicist who developed a computer program that takes the data from seismic activity generated by the supervolcano and turns it into sheet music, and flutist and musicologist Alyssa Schwartz plays that music.
Ötzi the Iceman may have been bald.
Ötzi, a roughly 5300-year-old mummy found in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, may have had more in common with many of today’s middle-aged men than we thought. Researchers recently resequenced the ancient man’s genome and discovered that he carried gene variations for male-pattern baldness. That doesn’t prove that Ötzi actually went bald during his lifetime, but there is some compelling evidence to support the theory: Although his remains were in remarkably good condition when unearthed, there was barely any hair on his head.
The face of a passenger who died on the Vasa was reconstructed.
The Swedish warship Vasa would have been one of the most beautifully constructed and powerful royal vessels in history—if it hadn’t sunk before it even left Stockholm Harbor in 1628. About 30 people died in the disaster. But just as the Vasa was raised from the water to become a popular tourist attraction, the face of one of its victims has been recreated by artist Oscar Nilsson. DNA was sequenced from bones recovered from the shipwreck to find clues to the person’s appearance. The facial reconstruction reveals a pale-skinned woman with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a strong jaw. The Vasa museum team nicknamed her Gertrud.
In 2023, scientists found what may be evidence of ancient cannibalism.
A 1.45 million-year-old shin bone of a Homo sapiens relative unearthed in northern Kenya had nine cut marks on it that were confirmed to be from a handmade, stone tool. “The information we have tells us that hominins were likely eating other hominins at least 1.45 million years ago,” paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner said. “There are numerous other examples of species from the human evolutionary tree consuming each other for nutrition, but this fossil suggests that our species’ relatives were eating each other to survive further into the past than we recognized.” According to a press release about the discovery, the cuts alone aren’t enough to unequivocally declare this a case of cannibalism, but the researchers do think that’s the most likely explanation.
Also, it might not technically be cannibalism at all because, as the press release notes, “cannibalism requires that the eater and the eaten hail from the same species” and because the scientists can’t determine which species of hominin this shin bone belongs to, “it is also possible this was a case of one species chowing down on its evolutionary cousin.”
A 50-year-old shipwreck was discovered in April 2023 ...
In October 1973, Blythe Star—a coastal freighter en route to King Island from Hobart, Australia—began taking on water. The crew of 10 abandoned ship and spent more than a week adrift in an inflatable raft before the survivors landed on the Forestier Peninsula in Tasmania. Three of the men wandered around in the jungle until they came across a person who was able to take them to a nearby town. Seven of the crewmembers survived the ordeal, but the Blythe Star was lost without a trace until researchers studying underwater landslides confirmed the location of the wreck off the coast of southwest Tasmania in April 2023.
… And a much older wreck was found in July.
Just a couple months later, in July, researchers found an Ancient Roman shipwreck near the port of Civitavecchia. The wreck dates back to the 1st or 2nd century BCE and its cargo hold is full of hundreds of sealed amphore. The researchers think the ship might have originated in Spain, in which case those amphore may be full of things like olive and figs. They’re currently making plans to conduct more research.
Archaeologists discovered the “Stonehenge of the Netherlands.”
In June 2023, Dutch archaeologists announced that, over five years of digging in a town called Tiel, they’d discovered what they dubbed “Stonehenge of the Netherlands”: a religious site created 4000 years ago that included three burial mounds, the largest of which measured 65 feet in diameter and served as a burial mound-slash-solar calendar. They also found a single glass bead in one of the graves, which is a big deal—glass wasn’t made there at the time, and further analysis showed that the bead had come all the way from Mesopotamia. According to University of Groningen professor Stijn Arnoldussen, “Things were already being exchanged in those times. The bead may have been above ground for hundreds of years before it reached Tiel.”
We may have found the oldest known phallic object.
We’ve known that the ancient Romans wore phallic objects for good luck, but in 2023 we may have discovered the oldest known phallic object. A 42,000 year old vaguely penis-shaped object was dug up in Mongolia back in 2016, but scientists finally examined it closely in 2023 and noticed specific carvings and grooves that convinced some that it’s supposed to represent a phallus. Others think it’s more of a blob.
The grave of one of Maryland’s earliest colonists was opened.
In 2023, archaeologists working in Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland, opened the grave of one of the first Europeans to colonize the future state: a 5-foot-tall boy, probably around 15 years old, with a broken leg. He may have come on the Ark or the Dove, which came to the future Maryland in 1634. Finding the remains was a pretty big deal, according to Travis Parno, director of research and collections, who told The Washington Post that “This is someone who was here in the first years of the settlement, the vanguard of the Colonial invasion … Someone nobody wrote about. It’s a period that we have such little documentation on.”
We found out some disturbing information about ticks.
Few creepy-crawlies can terrorize people as much as the humble tick, the tiny parasite that can transmit Lyme disease to humans. They can’t jump or fly, so we thought that they were very limited in how they could find prey. But a new study published in Current Biology in July demonstrated that ticks can travel through the air via static electricity, meaning they can latch on without needing to crawl on us first. They can clear under an inch, which for a tick is like several flights of stairs for a human.
Humans aren’t the only animals that like to get dizzy.
You probably spent time as a kid whirling around and around until you’re too dizzy to walk. Turns out humans aren’t the only ones to chase that head-spinning feeling. Great apes, such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, also enjoy a good dizzy spell. It’s thought they could be chasing the high of an altered mental state.
Some species of jellyfish can learn.
A sign of intelligence in animals is being able to learn from past experiences and change behavior. Generally, this requires a brain. Jellyfish with no central brain would seemingly not have this skill, but in 2023, it was discovered that they do, in fact, learn and adapt from past experiences. Caribbean box jellyfish have figured out how to avoid obstacles. Sounds like an iPhone app in the making.
Gators who live near golf courses are at a disadvantage.
If you think that alligators who live in and around golf courses are the upper crust of gators, you’re sorely mistaken. A 2023 study from the University of North Florida found that alligators who live on golf courses have very different eating habits than those in natural environments, which can negatively affect them. In addition to the main result, which was that the golf course juvenile gators were eating more insects and arachnids, the gators living near golf courses were found to have ingested things like canned corn and a cheeseburger with fries. All of that, while tasty, is probably not great for gator health. Not to mention, the alligators living near golf courses are likely exposed to way more man-made chemicals.
Indigenous Peoples and Cultures
A resident of the tundra, The extreme north, Yamal, the pasture of Nenets people,
Siberia is home to numerous indigenous peoples, each with its unique culture and traditions. From the Yakuts to the Evenks and Nenets, these communities have preserved their heritage and offer a glimpse into the rich tapestry of Siberian cultures.
Siberia’s Rich Cultural Heritage
Siberia has a diverse and vibrant cultural heritage. From ancient shamanistic practices to traditional music, dance, and art forms, the region’s cultural tapestry is as varied as its landscapes.
AI had a big year.
ChatGPT—which stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformers, by the way—was technically launched in November 2022, but it really took off in 2023. It also accelerated the development of other large language model-based (LLM) AI tools, such as Google’s Bard, Baidu’s Ernie Bot, and Meta’s LLaMA. Whether or not it will replace all workers someday is still up for debate.#