Tag: MentalFloss

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How Harry Houdini Might Have Pulled Off His Most Daring Trick

If being buried alive is your biggest fear, you might want to stop reading now. 

Still with me?

In 1915, Harry Houdini performed a trick in Santa Ana, California, that saw him buried beneath six feet of earth. It didn’t exactly go off without a hitch, however: He clawed his way out—but it nearly killed him.

Stunt expert Steve Wolf considers the buried alive illusion Houdini’s most daring trick. Wolf is one of the stars of the new Science Channel show Houdini’s Last Secrets, alongside Houdini’s grand-nephew George Hardeen and magician Lee Terbosic. In each episode, the trio explores how the notoriously secretive Houdini may have performed his most famous tricks, as well as some of the many mysteries of his life—including whether the magician may have served as a spy, and whether his sad death on Halloween in 1926 was truly an accident.

Read the rest on Mental Floss 

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The Golden Girls Are Being Turned Into Action Figures

Grab some cheesecake—Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia are coming home.

Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund, Blanche Devereaux, and Sophia Petrillo have long been heroes for fans of the iconic 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls. Now, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA)—purveyor of fine pop culture collectibles—is giving them the action figure treatment with a brand-new line of 8-inch-tall figures that will look perfect on your desk, encased in theft-proof glass, or simply hanging out under the lanai on a warm summer’s day.

Read more on Mental Floss http://bit.ly/2mHs6lC

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Drink Up: New Study Concludes Wine Can Offset Dementia

The study, which appears in Scientific Reports, shows that wine has an effect on one’s glymphatic function, or the way the brain removes toxins. To clear itself of damaging and accumulated proteins like tau and beta amyloid, which are often linked with dementia, the brain pumps in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) to act as a flushing solution. All sorts of variables can influence the glymphatic system’s operation, including trauma, stroke, and excessive alcohol intake.
When researchers dosed the mice in the study with moderate alcohol—amounting to 2.6 drinks daily—the glymphatic system was more efficient, removing more waste and exhibiting less inflammation than the teetotaling control mice.
As is usually the case when it comes to booze, you can have too much of a good thing. When mice got the equivalent of 7.9 drinks daily, their glymphatic system grew sluggish until the overindulging was terminated.
“Studies have shown that low-to-moderate alcohol intake is associated with a lesser risk of dementia, while heavy drinking for many years confers an increased risk of cognitive decline,” lead study author Maiken Nedergaard, of the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a press statement. “This study may help explain why this occurs. Specifically, low doses of alcohol appear to improve overall brain health.”
from Mental Floss

To summarize:

  • Wine = brain health
  • Three glasses a day = “low-to-moderate alcohol intake”
  • Science is great
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