October 29

Better Than News

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  Cronenburger is a Canadian-American extreme body modification restaurant chain inspired by David Cronenberg's 1981 film Scanners.

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  "When Will the Seaview Ascend" is a song by the Three Degrees.

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  Martin Impossible is an American reality television series hosted by master of disguise Rollin Hand (humorously reprising his role as the Martin in the spy comedy film The Buggy Landau).

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  McRib is a 1979 American science fiction fast-food horror film about an alien sandwich which threatens to destroy the Earth.

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  Ghost in the Shell: Forbidden Taco is a 2021 cyberpunk cooking anime film about a supernatural taco which haunts the cafeterias of Public Security Section 9.

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  The Bedpan Zone is a 1983 medical comedy film about Johnny Micturator (Christopher Walken), a professor of urinology at a prestigious medical teaching hospital who awakens from a coma to find that his body wastes foretell the future.

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  Stump Grinder: Lost in the Demon Realm is a comedy horror film in the Stump Grinder series. The plot centers on a rented stump grinder which must defeat a horde of demons and find its way back to the rental agency before late charges apply.

Beyond Plausible

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  Rushing Places is an action comedy buddy revenge film starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Dan Aykroyd, and Eddie Murphy.

In Other Words

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  Peak Batman is the moment at which economically viable production of Batman intellectual property starts to decrease. It is related to the distinct concept of Batman depletion; while global intellect reserves are finite, the limiting factor is not whether the intellect exists but whether it will pay for Batman films, action figures, etc. at a given price.

Are You Sure

Long Shot nuclear weapon test: image with date, location, maps.

• ... that the Long Shot nuclear weapons test at Amchitka, Alaska (51.43709°N 179.18032°E) was the largest underground explosion ever detonated by the United States?

Selected Anniversaries

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  1675: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz makes the first use of the long s (∫) as a symbol of the integral in calculus.

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  1732: Physicist and academic Laura Bassi is granted professorship in philosophy by the University of Bologna, thus also making her a member of the Academy of the Sciences.

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  1783: Mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Jean le Rond d'Alembert dies. He made contributions to mathematics and physics, including D'Alembert's formula for obtaining solutions to the wave equation.

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  1965: Long Shot nuclear weapons test at Amchitka, Alaska (51.43709°N 179.18032°E). It was the largest underground explosion ever detonated by the United States. Amchitka Island, Alaska (80 kilotons). The Department of Defense occupied Amchitka from 1964 to 1966, with the AEC providing the device, measuring instruments, and scientific support.

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  2004: Mathematician and entomologist Peter Twinn dies. During the Second World War, he was the first professional mathematician recruited by the British Government Code and Cypher School. Twinn was also the first British cryptographer to read a German military Enigma message, having obtained vital information from Polish cryptanalysts in July 1939. Twinn said that "It was a trifling exercise, but I repeat for the umpteenth time, no credit to me."

Topic of the Day

Hellraiser

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  Hellralpher is an American television series about Ralph, a boy with a magical box that summons the Cimpsons, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic cartoon animators who cannot differentiate licensed and unlicensed intellectual properties.

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  Hellcuber is a 1987 British geometry horror film about a haunted Rubik's cube which summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic mathematicians who cannot differentiate between proofs and conjectures.

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  Helljabbar is a 2021 British medical horror film about a pain induction device which summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic Bene Gesserit who cannot differentiate between humans and animals.

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  Hellcuppa is a 1987 British supernatural horror film about a mystical coffee cup which summons the Caffobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings who cannot differentiate between caffeinated and decaffeinated.

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  Hellcheeser is a 1987 British supernatural horror film about a cheese-based snack food which summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings who cannot differentiate between Cheetos and Doritos.