Sunday 9th June 2024

HBO Just Quietly Released the Most Surreal Dystopian Sci-Fi Show of the Year

Have you ever wondered why there isn’t a clear crayon? Or what Timothée Chalamet would look like if he were a beautiful pearl? Those are the questions pondered by Julio Torres, the comedian behind Saturday Night Live classics like “Wells for Boys” and “Papyrus.” After leaving the show, he created some indescribable works for HBO, like his comedy special My Favorite Shapes and the canceled-too-soon Los Espookys, while making his mark on the movie landscape with his indie darling Problemista.

But Torres’ latest work is far more abstract than anything he’s done before, and the result is a meandering, often otherworldly, look at day-to-day life that’s far more daring than even the most lofty sci-fi shows.

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These 5 Sleep Science Breakthroughs Might Help You Get Better Rest

Twenty-six years. That is roughly how much of our lives are spent asleep. Scientists have been trying to explain why we spend so much time sleeping since at least the ancient Greeks, but pinning down the exact functions of sleep has proven to be difficult.

During the past decade, there has been a surge of interest from researchers in the nature and function of sleep. New experimental models coupled with advances in technology and analytical techniques are giving us a deeper look inside the sleeping brain. Here are some of the biggest recent breakthroughs in the science of sleep.

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25 Years Later, One 'Acolyte' Scene Fixes The Laziest Part of Star Wars Canon

The Trade Federation has never been the most interesting or explicable part of the larger Star Wars canon. In The Phantom Menace, they mostly just exist to get tricked into sparking a galactic conflict, and by Revenge of the Sith this group of corrupt space capitalists is easily overshadowed by their fellow Separatists from the Techno Union, at least when it comes to silly Star Wars character design. For 25 years, the Trade Federation has been a strange and slightly embarrassing part of the Republic era of that faraway galaxy.

But in The Acolyte —the latest Star Wars show on Disney+ and one set a hundred years before the events of the prequels — we finally learn something interesting about the Neimoidian aliens who make up the Trade Federation. And this revelation helps justify their entire existence.

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'Dune: Awakening' Wildly Changes Everything We Know About Dune

In all versions of Dune, there are many possible futures that protagonist Paul Atreides can see with relative clarity. But once he locks himself into a certain path, he can see “a narrow way through” that brings victory to his family and the Fremen on the planet Arrakis. Paul’s decisions come with a great cost, of course, because once he ascends to the throne, the fate of the universe is nearly set in stone.

It’s widely known that Paul is the most important character in the first two Dune novels, and thus, the central figure of the major movie adaptations to date. But what the new MMO game Dune: Awakening asks is...what if he wasn’t? A new cinematic has been dropped by developer Funcom, which outlines a massive canonical shift for the big Dune game. And it literally changes everything we know about Dune, by setting the game in an alternate timeline.

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Should You Feed Your Dog A Raw Meat Diet? Veterinarians Explain the Forgotten Risks

We know that dogs love to sneak a piece of meat from our plates. But a corner of TikTok has taken this gesture one step further: Dog parents on the app are broadcasting themselves filling puzzle bowls with raw animal protein and organ meat for their pups to eat.

They choose this diet for the purported health benefits that supposedly come from uncooked animal products over commercially available kibble and wet food. One video even claims that a raw meat diet improves digestion, strengthens the immune system, increases energy levels, and makes aesthetic changes like better-smelling breath and a shinier coat.

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You Can Already Play This Nintendo Switch Frog Pet Sim And More Wholesome Direct Highlights

Wholesome Direct is a showcase specializing in cozy games, including slow-paced life sims, heartfelt stories, and pretty much anything full of cute animals. And when you think of cuddly animals you’d like to play a game about, one probably comes to mind first — frogs! No? Fair enough, but this year’s show (which aired on YouTube and Twitch) features a cozy, frog-filled farming sim that may change your mind, as well as a few other highlights to keep your eye on.

One of this year’s most adorable Wholesome Direct-featured games is Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge. In Kamaeru, you play as Cleo, a woman who heads to her more rural childhood home to recover from burnout from her corporate job and falls into the much more soothing world of frog-raising as a result. If only we could all be so lucky.

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55 Cool Things for Your Backyard That Seem Expensive but Are Cheap AF on Amazon

As the days grow longer and the weather warms, there's no better time to upgrade your outdoor living space. Whether you're cultivating a lush garden or revamping your patio, the right products can transform any backyard into a personal oasis. From ingenious gardening tools to cozy deck enhancements, I've curated a list of top-rated products from Amazon that promise to elevate your exterior without hurting your wallet.

Elevate your grill game with the ultimate grill grate cleaner, a must-have for every BBQ enthusiast. Designed to effortlessly scrape both round and V-shaped grates, this tool is suitable for any grill, smoker, or oven. With its sturdy metal construction and a long leather handle, it ensures your hands stay cool and safe from the heat. With a built-in bottle opener and a bonus recipe book, your post-BBQ cleanup just got a whole lot more rewarding.

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60 New Things Trending on Amazon That Are So Damn Genius

As a shopping writer, whenever I see a product gaining popularity, it grabs my attention. My favorite part is sharing what I’ve found with others, especially when I come across genius products that are trending because they make life easier in one way or another. And so I’ve gathered some of the best new products that are trending on Amazon because they’re clever and worth every penny. On this list, you’ll find a bunch of new, genius life upgrades that shoppers on Amazon are loving — and you will, too.

Tired of cords falling behind furniture? These magnetic cord organizers will prevent that from happening. They’re designed to hold your chargers and cables in place with a magnetic closure. Plus, they can stick to walls, furniture, and more with adhesive pads so your electronics will stay put and organized. Don’t worry; the adhesives won’t leave behind residue if you need to remove them.

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Why Phone Cameras Are the Hidden Secret to Taking Amazing Photos of the Northern Lights

Smartphone cameras have significantly improved in recent years. Computational photography and AI allow these devices to capture stunning images that can surpass what we see with the naked eye. Photos of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, provide one particularly striking example.

If you saw the northern lights during the geomagnetic storms in May 2024, you might have noticed that your smartphone made the photos look even more vivid than reality.

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19 Years Later, The Oldest Sci-Fi Show's Weirdest Easter Egg Brings Back an Old Trick

Doctor Who Season 1 has explored the past, the present, and the far-off future, and so far basically every episode has stood alone. You can watch episodes like “Dot and Bubble” or “73 Yards” like they are separate entries in an anthology that only share a couple of characters. However, there’s much more to this season than just a collection of one-off adventures. There’s a massive Easter Egg hiding right in plain sight, and soon we’ll get to learn exactly what’s going on — almost two decades after the show attempted it the first time.

Doctor Who is the perfect example of a “semi-episodic” series. While most of the episodes are episodic and stand-alone, there are some common throughlines that keep coming up over and over again. Who exactly is Ruby Sunday? Why does it keep snowing when she’s around? Who left her on Ruby Road all those years ago? But one of the biggest questions has been hiding right in plain sight: who is the mysterious woman who keeps appearing in these adventures over and over, all the way back to “Wild Blue Yonder”?

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