I posted four years ago about a motorcycle produced for the British Army during World War II. The Welbike was sufficiently small that it could be air-dropped with paratroopers, who could then use the motorbikes to travel far faster than they would be able to on foot.

The 98cc-powered minibike continued in production after the war as the Corgi. When exported to the US from the UK, it was named the Papoose under the Indian brand. Various amenities added to it, such as a headlight, added to the weight but also made the bike more useful.

This particular beauty, lovingly preserved for decades, recently sold on Bring a Trailer.

-via Jalopnik

We eat other living things, which are likely to contain parasites. Plant parasites don't worry us much because they are usually only dangerous to plants. But meat, on the other hand, sometimes has parasites that can survive inside us. Commercial meat producing facilities have made great strides in reducing parasites. Wild animals are more likely to contain them, but we don't worry about it because we cook our food.  

But then there's sushi and sashimi, which are more popular than ever. Can you get parasites from eating raw fish? Yes, if you catch your own fish and take it home and slice it into your own fresh sashimi. Fish vendors, food processors, and restaurants have strict procedures to kill parasites before you have a chance to consume them. MinuteFood goes through the process, so you can stop worrying about it. I've never worried about it because I don't like fish and would never eat it raw anyway. This video is seven minutes long; the rest is an ad. -via Geeks Are Sexy 

The English language we use today is different from the language we used 100 years ago. And 200 years ago. But we still read books that are a couple hundred years old, even if the vocabulary and style are a little different. How about 400 years ago? Sure, we can still read a King James Bible. But as you go further back,  English begins to resemble a different language entirely. The Dead Language Society presents a challenge in the form of a fictional blog. Each post uses the language of 100 years earlier than the one before. How far back can you understand what these posts are saying? 

Most people seem to hit a wall at around the year 1400 or 1100. The fictional blog text is followed by an explanation for each of the posts so you can learn a bit about why English changed so much during each century. Read all of it -or as much as you can- at the Dead Language Society. -via Metafilter 

Up until 552 AD, Europe paid dearly for a luxurious fabric from China called silk. It was lightweight but strangely strong, felt good against the skin, and came in amazing colors and patterns. What was it made of? How did they produce such beautiful fabric with it? That was a mystery that ancient China was careful not to reveal, because they were making a ton of money sending silk along a trade route that became known as the Silk Road. They kept the existence of the silk worm, and the food it ate, a secret. But they also had some really advanced technology for fabric production that worked on principles that eventually made their way into our modern computers. However, travelers from Europe made their way into China and back eventually. 

This simple video of the silk making process is more interesting than it has any right to be. There's a 70-second skippable ad at 4:07. -via Damn Interesting 

I love this simple but ingenious idea. Feuerwasser, a company in Austria, manufactures outdoor bathing products, including hot tubs. The heat source is the most natural and primal of combustibles: wood.

The company now offers a stainless steel shower set up with a wood-fired boiler for the water. Imagine beginning your day with the tactile contrast of hot water and chill winds as the sunlight and water bathe your body.

It would probably make me want to serenade my neighbors. As this is an Austrian product, yodeling would be appropriate. Yodeling is also a Texan tradition, so it transplants well.

-via Nag on the Lake

The Sycamore Gap Tree was planted in the late 19th century next to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England. The tree became famous when it was featured in the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It became a popular tourist attraction and has been called "the most photographed tree in England." The sycamore even won the England Tree of the Year award in 2016. Then in September of 2023, someone cut it down in the middle of the night. 

The British were enraged, and the story made international news. Eventually, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were arrested for the offense, which was charged as "criminal damage." The case was elevated to the High Court due to the publicity, but it seemed strange because that court normally deals with only the most heinous crimes, and many of those involved couldn't really see what this offense was. The trial was a circus, the defendants weren't at all believable, and some elements of the crime seemed to come directly from Grimm's Fairy Tales. Read about the bizarre aftermath of the death of a tree at Harpers.  -via Nag on the Lake 

(Image credit: Gordon Leggett) 

Brothers and sisters can be best friends or serious rivals, often both in a single day. Families do their best to make their children get along, because they'll be related for life. It doesn't work that way in all families, and can be quite opposite in some non-human families. 

Living species have varying reproductive strategies. Plants and insects produce as many offspring as possible because most of them will not survive. Mammals produce fewer offspring, but devote lots of time and energy to keeping them alive. Then there are some species, like certain fishes and birds, that nurture their young while not getting too attached to them. They depend on sibling rivalry to cull the herd, so to speak, and keep only the fittest as their surviving progeny. MinuteEarth introduces us to some species that actually encourage offspring to kill each other. It seems a cruel strategy, but nature is only interested in what works. The video is only 2:25; the rest is an ad. 

The Boston-based company Frigid Dynamics is the developer of the E-XC, which consists of a pair of motorized skis. These electric-powered machines have treads in the back that push the skier along the powder at high speed.

A set of these machines can propel a user up to 20 miles per hour for 10 miles. They can climb grades as steep as 20°. Users control them with a wireless device in one hand and a ski pole in the other.

Imagine this invention in the hands (or, rather, on the feet) of mountain rescue personnel or ski troops.

-via Toxel

Look at the eyes on this kitten! She can't be real, can she? Dorito is a five-month-old black kitten in Minnesota who looks like she's been Photoshopped or is a product of AI. But she is very much real, and has those hypnotic eyes as a result of illness. Her swollen eyes are a rare symptom of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). 

Dorito and her sister Cheeto were found behind a dumpster and came into the care of the Bitty Kitty Brigade. Both kittens were ill, but Dorito's eyes began to swell as they were treated. A veterinary ophthalmologist diagnosed her with FIP and she has undergone treatment. She is now disease-free and the pressure in her eyes is back to normal, but no one knows if they will ever return to a normal size. Dorito and Cheeto have been adopted by their foster family. Dorito has limited eyesight, and requires eyedrops because she can't fully close her eyes even when sleeping. See more of Dorito, including videos. -via Fark 

(Image credit: The Bitty Kitty Brigade) 

The trend these days is away from having a bar of soap in your shower or on your bathroom sink, and more toward a bottle of liquid soap or shower gel. Younger people see a communal bar of soap as dirty, with an ick factor of imagining other people touching it. However, soap in a solid bar is more environmentally-friendly, less expensive, and lasts longer. Plenty of liquid soap users don't think about any of these factors because using liquid soap out of a pump bottle is just what's done in the modern world. 

Dan Kois will defend bar soap until the end. He writes about the history of soap, including his personal history with Irish Spring, and the advantages of a simple bar in your bathroom. In preparing for this extensive essay, he even engaged a microbiology lab in testing the bacteria on soap and the poufs people use with liquid soap. Read all about the simple bar of soap and why we should be bringing it back at Slate. Here's an alternative link if that one doesn't work. 

(Image credit: Dwight Burdette) 

Most people become disgusted when they find a foreign object in their food, and even more so when that object is alive. Musician Simon Curtis, on the other hand, didn't lose it when he found a frog in his lettuce. Making a simple salad in the middle of the night turned out to be an adventure he never expected. He kept the frog in the lettuce container because it was too cold to put it outside. Well, Tony, as he named the frog, didn't want to stay in the plastic box. He didn't just get out of the box, he wandered from room to room exploring his new home, and getting pretty dirty in the process. You have to admire Tony's adventurous spirit, but you also don't want to step on a frog just walking through the house. Simon went from simply not wanting the frog to die to showering his new pet with everything a little frog could want in life. Tony lucked out!

How often do you fart? Is that more or less than the average healthy human? Who knows? Scientists aren't quite sure, yet, but that could change with new technology. Brantley Hall of the University of Maryland led a team in developing a special device to answer the question. It attaches to your underwear and then detects certain gases that indicate flatulence. They named the device "Smart Underwear," even though you have to provide your own underwear. One could imagine they had plenty of other possible names that were rejected. "Fart Finder" comes to mind. 

They've tested the device on volunteers, first to see if it worked at all, then to see if the device will detect changes in the amount of farting when the person's diet is changed. Smart Underwear seems to work just fine, and Hall has applied for a patent. So far, they've found a wide variation in the number of farts per day and the amount of gas expelled, and hope to expand their experiments among the population. They are particularly looking for outliers, meaning people who fart very little or an awful lot. Read more about fart research and what they've found so far at Scientific American. -via Damn Interesting 

Design Boom introduces to us this delicious handbag made by Esenes Worldwide, a fashion house in New York City. Control your hunger because it's not edible unless you're really committed. The company is selling 150 of these unusual purses priced at $150 each.

The leather has been carefully shaped while hot to give it the same wringled and irregular texture of a dumpling. Each bag is thus unique in its precise shape. A fabric lining creates the impression of a vegetable filling. It can conceal, as Esenes's video proves, actual dumplings. So the bag can serve as a novel lunch box.

The original Toy Story hits theaters in 1995, so an entire generation has grown up and produced their own children since then. But there have been three main story sequels and few spin-off films too, so everyone knows the toys in Toy Story. They've learned to deal with children growing up and leaving them behind, only to find new children to play with. But what happens when a child decides regular toys aren't fun anymore because they now have an iPad? Excuse me, this device is a "Lilypad" in the new movie Toy Story 5. Can the toys tear Bonnie away from her screen long enough to play with them anymore? You know Woody, Buzz, and the gang will come up with a scheme or two to make that happen. This trailer offers several contenders for the most memorable quote from a movie that isn't even here yet. Toy Story 5 will open nationwide on June 19. 

This unassuming building in Millmont, Pennsylvania, looks like nothing more than a garage specializing in oil changes. But it's listed as a single family residence with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and 5,800 square feet of living space -and nine acres of land. You can't see it because most of it is underground. This home has regular utilities, but also a backup generator, fuel storage, well water with a water filtration system, air filtration, and multiple heat pumps. Continue reading to see more.