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When people think of bugs they generally think of gross pests that need to be kept at a distance. The farther away, the better. But insects, especially flying ones, have a strange, gross beauty to them upon close inspection. Dr. Adrian Smith, the Head of the Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab at North Carolina’s Museum of Natural Sciences, shows us that unique aesthetic in a new slow-mo video of flying insects.

Laughing Squid picked up on Smith’s video, which is one of many on the YouTube channel, Ant Lab. Smith hosts the videos on the channel, and his soothing voice matches the featured insects flying in slow motion perfectly. (Really, though, have you ever felt more soothed after watching a bunch of bugs fly around?)

Ant Lab

In this new video Smith shows off 15 different types of flying insect species. The insects include everything from the Carolina Mantis to the ambrosia beetle, and they’re each mesmerizing to watch in their own right. Especially at 6,000 frames per second; a speed that perfectly reveals how their tissue paper wings grab hold of the air to carry them away.

It’s hard to pick which flying insect takes the trophy for cleanest takeoff, but each one has its own slightly ridiculous method. Smith notes, for example, that many weevils use a “tripod” method for takeoff. Using this style, the bugs ready themselves with their middle legs up, their back legs down, and one front leg raised. They then proceed to leap into the air like the Karate Kid walloping somebody with a Crane kick.

Ant Lab

Unfortunately, even fascinating, beautiful grossness is… still pretty gross. About half way through the video Smith shows how mites like to attach themselves to flying insects in order to travel from place to place. A phenomenon that’s very intriguing but also makes us want to wash our eyes out with hand sanitizer.

The post Insects Flying in Slow Motion Reveal a Gross Kind of Beauty appeared first on Nerdist.

Afronerd Radio can now be heard LIVE courtesy of Apple Music/Itunes

Don't worry citizens, The Grindhouse returns today and it's going to be alright!   Welcome to the umpteenth edition of Afronerd Radio's Grindhouse, airing this Sunday at 6 p.m. eastern on the BTalk 100 internet broadcasting platform.  Listen to your highly-favored AFROnerdist hosts unpack their thoughts concerning the following topics:  the return of Milestone Media forges ahead with the latest issue of Reginal Hudlin's Icon & Rocket: Season One.  And this issue answers the question, what would happen if a Black ubermensch decided to eradicate crime on a global scale?  The crew shares their thoughts...; Sony's Venom 2 debuted this weekend and it appears that it's off to a great start considering the purported 90M post-pandemic box office takedown;  the fan-favorite defunct Marvel Netflix series, Daredevil, appears to be gearing up for a revival with much of the same cast still at play but will the gritty show be a correct fit for the family-friendly Disney+ streaming channel?: we finally get a chance to discuss some the upcoming video games featuring prominent black male and female protagonists/antagonists like Vampire: The Masquerade and Deathloop:

Because it is news...let's banter about The R. Kelly tragedy...briefly (it is what it is); and then there's sports news. instead of adults, now we have children spewing racist taunts at Black soccer players; and what about that recent Brandon Brown NASCAR win that turned into an anti-President Joe Biden event?  I thought politics wasn't supposed to be a part of sports?  Black Panther returns with a new #1 issue and scribe, noted screenwriter, John Ridley:

And as excited as Dburt is to see someone of Ridley's status writing this new iteration of Panther, he does beg to ask, when will marvel employ an African (distinct from FBA) writer to craft a Wakandan tale?  And lastly, Dburt tripped over Ms. Bohemian Soul's "HGTV" style YouTube tiny home channel and, he "begs to ask AGAIN"...shouldn't we have our own Black culture home living universe and/or presence?

One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF

Call us LIVE at 508-645-0100. AFTER CLICKING ON THE HIGHLIGHTED LINK, GO DIRECTLY TO AFRONERD RADIO!!! 

or This link below.....

Also, Afronerd Radio's podcast format can be heard via BTalk 100 Pandora, Spotify and,  IHeartRadio....more formats to follow!

It seems all the horror icons of our youth are making a big comeback. Michael Myers in Halloween Kills, Candyman, and soon, Chucky. The evil “Good Guy” doll has been terrorizing horror fans since Child’s Play in 1988. And making us laugh. Now, SYFY and USA are bringing the tiny terror back in a new TV series. And there are a lot of familiar faces, including Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany, Chucky’s true love. And of course, Brad Dourif as the voice of the titular demonic doll. You can check out the new Chucky trailer right here:

You can also read the series’ official description below:

“In the new television series, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos after a vintage ‘Good Guy’ doll turns up at a suburban yard sale. Soon, everyone must grapple with a series of horrifying murders. Ones that begin to expose the town’s deep hypocrisies and hidden secrets. Meanwhile, friends and foes from Chucky’s past creep back into his world. They threaten to expose the truth behind his mysterious origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster.”

SYFY/USA Networks

Not only is Chucky’s original creator Don Mancini the series showrunner, but he’s also directing the first episode. Original Twin Peaks writer Harley Peyton is also on board as executive producer. And Devon Sawa, who has quite the horror pedigree thanks to cult classics like Idle Hands, Final Destination, and Casper, is also recurring. In October, Chucky will also feature in the upcoming Shudder series Behind the Monsters, along with his cinematic slasher buddies. A Child’s Play remake hit theaters just a couple of years back, with Mark Hamill voicing Chucky. But as great as Mark may be, nothing beats the original.

The first episode of Chucky airs on SYFY and USA on October 12 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The post CHUCKY Comes to Life in Brand New Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Hi everyone! Today I want to talk about one of my predictions I got right and wrong from last week. So, I predicted that the Cardinals would beat the Jaguars 38-17, but the final score was 31-19 Cardinals over the Jags. A pretty close prediction there! The Cardinals made the game interesting because they were shooting themselves in the foot in the first half after they have scored a touchdown to be up 7-0 on the Jags. The kick return by the Jags after the kicker Matt Prater tried to hit a 68-yard field goal attempt was something that the Cardinals did not want to happen going into half because it allow the Jags to take the lead 13-7 right before half time. But in the second half, the Cardinals played a lot better after the quarterback Kyler Murray threw an interception and he was trying to force the ball down the field in the endzone. The Cardinals came back from being down 19-10. The play of the game that shifted momentum for the Cardinals was that the cornerback Byron Murphy had a pick six and the Cardinals finished the game with another touchdown to go up 31-19 on the Jags. So, the Cardinals are 3-0 for the first time since 2015.

I predicted that the Broncos would beat the Jets easily 38-17, but the final score was 26-0 Broncos over the Jets. I predicted that the Cowboys would beat the Eagles in a close game 33-30, but the final score was 41-21 Cowboys over the Eagles in a blowout. I was not expecting a blowout, but I was right that the Cowboys were going to beat the Eagles. The Eagles’ offense was just not good and so was their defense. The Cowboys offense moved the ball very well and kept running down the clock. I predicted that the Bucs would beat the Rams 24-21, but the final score was 34-24 Rams over the Bucs. The Rams were just a little too much for the Bucs to overcome. I predicted that the Seahawks would beat the Vikings 17-13, but the final score was 30-17 Vikings over the Seahawks. The Vikings were able to keep Russell Wilson off the field for a long time by taking a lot of time off the clock. I predicted that the 49ers would beat the Packers 38-35 in a shootout, but the final score was 30-28 Packers over the 49ers. The kicker Mason Crosby kicked a game-winning field goal. The 49ers should not have let Aaron Rodgers have time to go down the field to win the game because he is really good doing that. The 49ers player should have at least slide down before he got into the endzone because if he did, then Aaron Rodgers would not have time to go win the game. So based on my predictions, I got 3 out of 6 picks right! Now let’s get started on week 4 picks, shall we?! The first game I will predict is the Browns @Vikings game. Both of these teams are coming off with the win last week. I think the Browns are going to win this game over the Vikings 30-20 because they are going to run the ball a lot to Nick Chubb and he has been really good because the offensive linemen are getting him good lanes to run. I just think the Vikings defense is going to have a hard time stopping the run. You can’t win games if you can’t stop the run. The next game I will predict is the Giants @Saints game. The last time these two teams played was in 2015 that the Saints won the game in a shootout 52-49 over the Giants. I do not expect that to happen again tomorrow. I think the Saints have the edge over the Giants 36-17. The next game I will predict is the Chiefs @Eagles game. Both of these teams are coming off with losses last week. Nobody expected the Chiefs to start off the season 1-2. I do believe the Chiefs can bounce back with the win over the Eagles 37-26 because I think they are desperate to win this game and they need to win this game to keep up with their divisional rivalries. The next game I will predict is the Panthers @Cowboys game. Both of these teams are coming off with their wins last week.

The Panthers are unstoppable so far. I think that this will be a great game. I think the Panthers will stay undefeated by beating the Cowboys 31-27 in a close game. The Cowboys might rally late in the fourth quarterback, but it probably won’t be enough. I could be completely wrong, but this is what I believe. The next game I will predict is the Seahawks @49ers game, the divisional rivalries. Both of these teams are coming off with their losses last week. The Seahawks are 1-2 and the 49ers are 2-1. I am going to give the edge to the 49ers over the Seahawks in a close game 32-24. The Seahawks have been blowing some games that they should not be blowing and if they want to win this game, they need to find a way to finish the game if they get the lead on the 49ers. The next game I will predict is another divisional rivalry Cardinals @Rams game. Both of these teams are coming off with their wins last week. These teams are 3-0. Who is going to lose their first game of the season? The Cardinals have to be ready to play these Rams and not shoot themselves in the foot because if they do that again, then they will lose. They cannot allow too many penalties, they cannot get off to a slow start, allow Aaron Donald to make Kyler Murray feel uncomfortable, but he can run away from him, they need to pressure Matthew Stafford because he is going to look for his wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Desean Jackson. Don’t let these guys get 150 plus receiving yards on you, don’t kick too many field goals, score touchdowns, don’t go three and out too much, take a lot of time off the clock if you need to, stop the run and more! This is going to be a huge test for the Cardinals in order to come away with the win. Sean McVay is 8-0 vs the Cardinals. When the Rams have the lead going into the half, the Rams are 40-0!!! That is ridiculous!! It will be hard for the Cardinals to win this game. Well, I hate to do this, but I think the Rams might barely pull it off over the Cardinals 30-27 in a close game. I hope I’m wrong, but it seems to be likely. The Rams just have an edge because they are at home. Hard choice to pick because I needed to be honest.

The next game I will predict is the Steelers @Packers game. The Steelers are coming off with the unacceptable loss to the Bengals and the Packers are coming off with the historic win over the 49ers. I think the Packers will beat the Steelers 33-24. The Steelers might be a little better, but it won’t be enough to beat the Packers. Aaron Rodgers seems to have an edge when he is at home. The next game I will predict is the Ravens @Broncos game. I think the Ravens may give the Broncos their first loss of the season in a close game 35-30. The next game I will predict is the Buccaneers @Patriots on Sunday Night Football. Tom Brady is going to be coming back to stadium which he used to play for, the Patriots. He is going to get a standing ovation from the Patriot fans and may boo them for trading him. I think Tom Brady and the Bucs will pull this one off over the Patriots 37-20. The Bucs defense is still pretty good and the offense is still good as well. The last game I will predict is the Raiders @Chargers game, the divisional rivalry. I think this is going to be a great game to watch. I think the Chargers will come away with the win and give the Raiders their first loss of the season in a close game 30-24.

So, what do you guys think about the week 4 prediction match ups?! I would love to hear lots of comments, thoughts, opinions, concerns, or questions down below!

Stay tuned for prediction updates.

The post Week 3 Prediction Updates and Week 4 Picks! appeared first on The Nerd Element.