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The Fermi Paradox is this: if the universe is massive and aliens exist, and if aliens are all over the universe (once a common thought), then why aren’t aliens here? There are a lot of solutions to this paradox, ranging from aliens just don’t want to deal with us to we have been quarantined by aliens.  This video looks at some of the most unsettling answers to the Fermi Paradox. For example, it is conceivable that we live in a massive, alien-run simulation, and in this simulation there are no aliens. 

Let’s not bury the lede: “There is no evidence there has been any breach or fraud in voter registration or voting, election officials said.” That being said, it definitely does not look great that Maryland’s “voter registration system and other online systems operate on a software platform owned by a Russian-financed firm.” With the recent spate of Mueller indictments, it looks especially bad that a U.S. State would use anything linked to Russia in its voting systems. 

Everyone knows about data mining now, thanks largely to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which Facebook data was used to manipulate United States elections. That scandal has given data mining a bad name. This video teaches you how data mining works, what it is, and what benefit it has to you. For example, it helps pick the music that appears on your Spotify suggested playlists. It can even predict massacres in the Congo!

High culture is dead and the era of the public intellectual is over, Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa lamented in his Notes on the Death of Culture. Something strange has been quietly fomenting in the past few years, however, proving that Vargas Llosa was wrong. A psychology professor at the University of Toronto has gained mainstream success without resorting to shilling snake oil on daytime TV or otherwise compromising his integrity. Jordan Peterson’s fame has skyrocketed in the past year. His avuncular demeanor and hardline stances on social issues, his oratorical poise and his densely-layered lectures have endeared him to fans and perplexed critics. But who is Jordan Peterson? Is he the alt-right demagogue his critics claim? Or is he the champion of disaffected young men, unsure of their places in a politically correct world that has turned its back on them?

Peterson has become so controversial that I think it best to open with a disclaimer. I have been listening to Peterson’s lectures (via his podcast) for a year. At first, I thought he was verbose and obtuse. As a PhD in religious studies, however, I thought I should slog through his psychological interpretations of the Genesis stories. Once I adapted to his extemporaneous speaking and psychological jargon, I was hooked. I write this piece, therefore, as something of an apologia for Peterson and his saner fans, both of whom have been on the receiving end of vitriolic and, in my view, grossly inaccurate pop-journalism pieces. I am not asking any reader to become a Peterson fanatic or to adopt his way of thinking. Rather, my goal here is to explain why the Peterson phenomenon makes sense to those for whom it might appear baffling and to encourage cynics to take Peterson’s ideas more seriously in order to elevate the level of public debate.

Karma is the Hindu and Buddhist principle of cosmic momentum. Basically, if you tend to do bad things to people, you create bad momentum for yourself and bad things will happen. If you do good things, then good things will tend to happen. You often hear about it in the context of spirituality, but it’s quite logical. Take, for example, these thieves in Australia. They tried to steal gas from a bus, but immediately suffered retribution when they got a mouthful of poo-water. 

Vikings––you know, the guys with the big horned helmets who were all about raping and pillaging. Except they didn’t really wear those helmets, and instead wore helmets made of simple leather or metal. You’ll learn about how the viking used those helmets––and their swords, and their oared-ships––to spread terror around Europe and beyond. You’ll also learn how we know about the Vikings, which is through the writings of the poor monks who were often the victims of Viking raids. 

It happened to Alec Baldwin. It happened to Dog the Bounty Hunter. And now it’s (finally) happened to John Schnatter. Who’s that, you ask? You might know him better as his company name, Papa John. Schnatter has long been accused of racism, sexism, and so on. According to the article, “acknowledged using a racial slur during a May conference call. He also apologized following a media report that said he had graphically described violence against minorities.” Schnatter has stepped down as chairman of the board, but he will remain on the board. He controls 30% of the company. 

You Suck at Cooking (yeah, you totally suck!) is back again with another installment. This time, they teach you not only how to make scones, but give you an idea of the different kinds of scones. First, you will learn about American scone, which has fruits and flavors added to it. Then, you will see the British and Scottish scones, which are a little planer and used to spread jam and cream on. 

Captain Jack Sparrow was, in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, famously marooned on a desert island with a gun with only one bullet. Is this something out of the movies, or did pirates really maroon traitors and victims on islands? As it turns out, this is not a bit of Hollywood storytelling. Instead, pirates really did maroon people. In fact, marooning was actually written into pirate codes as one of the kind of punishments possible.

You don’t even have to be a history nerd to get excited about this story. Egyptian archeologists have recently discovered something very rare: a sarcophagus that’s as ancient as it is untouched. See, the problem with Egyptian archeology is that most of the finds aren’t exactly finds, they’re refinds. Most tombs have long since been looted by grave robbers. This sarcophagus, however, was protected by a layer of mortar. This means that archeologists have the possibility to study something extremely rare. 

There are a lot of cool railways in the world. One of the most popular and well known is the route between Oslo and Bergen, Norway (a video of which you can watch below, if you have seven and a half hours to kill). An equally impressive railway––but for different reasons––is the Sahara Railway. It’s among the longest, heaviest trains in the world and it runs through the most extreme conditions you can imagine hauling iron.

It might be hard to believe, but Flint, Michigan has been struggle with a water crisis since 2014. Twelve people died in the aftermath, and thousands have been poisoned. Although much of the water has been fixed, according to the city, Flint residents still don’t believe their water is safe to drink. Enter Elon Musk, who has promised to fund a fix for residents who are still experiencing problems with their water and have filters installed.