News and Updates from WonderHowTo: Page 12

The presence of certain bacteria can indicate whether the vaginal tract is healthy or not. It could also impact the likelihood of acquiring certain sexually transmitted diseases, like HIV, a new study suggests.

Since the 1960s, bacteria have been hopping a ride into space on space vehicles and astronauts, and have been cultivated within experiments on space shuttles and the International Space Station (ISS). The extreme growing conditions and the low gravity environment on the Earth-orbiting vehicles offers a stable research platform for looking at bacteria in a different light.

When Kaci Hickox, a Doctors Without Borders nurse, returned to New Jersey from working with Ebola patients in West Africa in 2014, she was surprised by her reception. Instead of a quiet return to her home in Maine after four weeks on the front line of Ebola treatment, she was quarantined by the State of New Jersey in Newark. She later filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for violation of her civil rights, false imprisonment, and invasion of privacy.

The mention of Zika can strike fear in the hearts of pregnant women. With infections increasing around the world, including in the US, researchers are fighting the clock to figure out how the virus can have such horrific effects in some people.

For anyone who has spent an entire afternoon attempting to assemble a set of IKEA chairs, these wooden masterpieces probably seem pretty appealing.

Leave it to some lazy college kids to attempt to figure out a way to brew a pot of coffee without leaving the couch.

The story of Helicobacter pylori is a real testament to the tenacity of medical researchers to prove their hypothesis. It took decades before the scientific world would accept that the bacteria H. pylori caused ulcers.

Frosty the Snowman is a fairy tale they say, but this microscopic snowman is very real and just broke the record for the world's smallest snowman. (Though, it's not Guinness-official yet.)

You just sat down, coffee in hand, and the day is ready to start. Now that you have taken a few sips, let me pose a question: What is living in that coffeemaker of yours? The answer might make you dump that coffee down the drain pronto.

Alphabet's moonshot factory, X (formerly "Google X"), is a secretive place, but it seems that when they are close to graduating a project, then they need to staff it up quickly. Watching for these job ads is one easy way to know they're close to budding off a baby.

With the height of the flu season ahead, there are some good reasons to keep a flu vaccination in mind.

Last week it was announced that Waymo, the former Google Self-Driving Car project, had graduated from Alphabet's X innovation center. This graduation had been in the cards for many months with senior members of the project team and X hinting that it would be soon.

Google's former Self-Driving Car project, now graduated from Alphabet's X division as Waymo, has found a collaborator and potential new partner in Honda. This is an interesting turn of events given traditional automakers' reluctance to work with driverless-car startups over the years.

The force is strong with this project.

I truly don't understand why anyone would pay $10.99 for a case of carbonated water just to feel like a Midwest mom on a diet. Every time I talk about LaCroix, pronounced La-CROY (rhymes with enjoy), it's like I take all the money I spent on my French major and light it on fire.

The Last Supper, or L'Ultima Cena, is a muralpainted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1498. It is considered one of the greatest paintings of all time, and if you live in the San Antonio, Texas area, or are willing to travel, you can get it shaved into the back of your head.

Just over a month ago, the Rubik's Cube world record was smashed by Mats Valk, a Dutch speedcuber, during the Jawa Timur Open 2016. Valk was able to shave 0.16 seconds off the previous record of 4.90 seconds, which was a pretty impressive feat.

In 4.74 seconds, I can barely bend over to tie my shoes, and somehow this guy managed to crush the human world record for solving the Rubik's Cube in that time exactly.

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: GEOPHAGY [n]

The winter holidays are right around the corner and that can only mean one thing—dessert. Leave it to the French pastry chefs to come up with something totally unique, like this glittery, chocolate Slinky by Amaury Guichon of Jean Philippe Patisserie inside the ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Design Sponge has posted some very pretty, tiny terrariums and air plants to brighten up these cold winter months. Buy them through Etsy seller Tortoise Loves Donkey or make your own. Scroll down for Design Sponge's terrarium how-to.

Dalton Ghetti has been carving teeny, tiny pencil tip sculptures for 25 years.

You're all kale-d out, you've had it up to here with golden milk, and you're on the prowl for the next superfood. Well, get ready for some unicellular goodness: the next superfood is an algae named Spirulina, also known as Blue Majik. (Kudos to the marketing exec that came up with that, am I right?)

Want a tattoo that's daytime work-safe (invisible), but nighttime party-friendly (UV blacklight)?

When most people say, "Damn, look at that rock," regarding an engagement ring, they're usually not referencing an actual rock—let alone a space rock.

Essentially, the Anti-Griddle does exactly what its name promises: it turns things almost instantaneously cold when you drop them on its "grilling" surface. Unlike home methods of flash freezing, its staggeringly low temperatures (-30°F/-34.4°C) allows ingredients that normally can't be frozen—like oil or alcohol—to turn into solids in the wink of an eye. As you might imagine, this allows chefs to play with textures and tastes in a way that was previously unimaginable.

Seriously, what's with all of the candy corn hate? I don't care what anyone says, candy corn is and always has been the perfect Halloween snack for me.

Every recipe on the face of this planet (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration there) ends with the same six words:

In the Western world, the only time you'd associate food with cockroaches is health code violations. And while other cultures and countries are more open to cooking with and eating these and other little buggers, insects are probably not a food trend that will be adopted by the West anytime soon.

Since the dawn of time—well, that maybe a slight exaggeration, but let's roll with it—sly entrepreneurs have been swindling the general public with inferior products for the sake of saving a few cents. Nothing is sacred when it comes to saving money: caviar, cheese, or even baby formula. Hell, there's even an entire book dedicated to the history of food swindling.

Where you lead, Gilmore Girls, I will follow.

Guys, this has got to stop. It's not funny anymore.

Meat tenderizers are absolutely necessary when dealing with leaner, tougher cuts like flank or skirt steaks. And while fruit like papaya, kiwi, and pineapple contain enzymes that can tenderize meat, the results can be hit-or-miss, and impart a fruity flavor that you may not always want.

Cooking with animal blood is as old as civilization itself. I promise that your ancient ancestors, no matter where you're from, didn't have the luxury of throwing away any part of the animal, including the very lifeblood that used to run through it. Animal blood, along with everything but the skin, would invariably end up in the stew.

There are a ridiculous number of onion varieties, so choosing the right onion can make my head spin sometimes. With four distinct types of "green onions" that all look almost the same, I'm guessing you have the same issue—but not once you know the secrets to identifying and properly using each of these green onion types.

The mere mention of "cupcake" conjures up visions of frosting-topped treats served to partygoers and birthday-havers by the dozens. After all, how many cupcake pans have you seen with less than 12 spots? Sixers are fairly common, yes, but what if you just want to bake one or two cupcakes to enjoy alone or with a pal?

"You can even eat the dishes," claims the song "The Candy Man Can" from 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The idea of edible cups, even back then, grabbed my attention—any kid would much prefer to eat her dish instead of clean it afterward, of course!

Why, for the love of God, do people keep inventing ridiculous devices that make the simplest things more complicated in the name of convenience? This may be a rhetorical question that will forever go unanswered—because these crazy gadgets just keep rolling out, one after the other.

I recently wrote about fast food fakeouts you can make at home, but people cannot live off fast food alone. Sometimes you need to step up your game a little and enjoy the fare at a popular chain restaurant with a bit more variety to its menu.

You may have caught our prior list of excellent egg hacks. Well, we've rounded up 10 more awesome tips and tricks to perfect your egg game. Check 'em out below.