Graffiti Discovered in Historic Apollo 11 Space Module

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, graffiti is the most common type of property vandalism, seen in 35% of all cases. In fact, it’s so common that apparently it’s even made its way to outer space.

Staff from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Smithsonian’s 3D Digitization Program have discovered writing on the interior of the walls of the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia.

The astronaut graffiti, which as gone unseen for the last 50 years, was written by the crew on their historic mission to the moon in July of 1969. The writing on the walls gives a unique insight into that world changing mission, crewed by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins

Allan Needell, curator of space history at the museum, commented about the module that “This isn’t just a piece of machinery, it’s a living artifact.”

Curators at the Space Museum have been working with the Smithsonian’s 3D Digitization Program to create a high resolution and interactive model of the entire spacecraft. The model will be used in an interactive display in the museum’s exhibition “Destination Moon,” which is scheduled to open in 2020.

The graffiti includes notes, figures and a calendar, and will allow the museum’s curators to compile a more accurate account of how the missions were conducted.

The Smithsonian 3D team brought in its technology partner, Autodesk Inc, to help with the production of the complicated and detailed scan. Autodesk used specially designed equipment to scan the space craft and processed the complex data from multiple 3D capture devices to create one highly detailed and accurate model.

Vince Rossi, a 3D imaging specialist with the Smithsonian, commented that “We want to allow anyone with an internet connection the ability to experience what it was like to sit in the cockpit of the Apollo Command Module.”

Gizmodo reports that the analysis is still ongoing, so it’s possible that the team may make more discoveries about Apollo 11 soon.

New Loan Program Offers San Francisco Residents $2 Million Mortgage With No Down Payment

San Francisco continues to prove itself as one of the least affordable cities in the country for the middle class and any individuals falling below that line. In early December, the San Francisco Federal Credit Union’s newest offering went live on their site. Called the “POPPYLOAN” (Proud Ownership Purchase Program for You), this loan is not for everyone — rather, it’s only right for people who can afford a monthly mortgage payment on a $2 million house.

Naturally, this excludes a great deal of people.

“We have programs to help low-income people, but for the vast majority of young professionals, there is no hope or no help for this middle-class band in San Francisco,” said Rebecca Reynolds Lytle, San Francisco Federal Credit Union’s senior vice president and chief lending officer. Currently, the credit union has 34,000 members.

In order to qualify for the loan, the borrows must have a job in either San Francisco or San Mateo County, and must be utilized for purchasing a primary residence.

Under its stipulations, it cannot be used for refinancing. Unlike other housing loans, there is no mortgage payment required. It is a 5/5 adjustable rate offering — this means it can only be adjusted every five years, unlike most that change annually.

Over the past decade or so, real estate in San Francisco has skyrocketed. According to cnbc.com, the median home price in San Francisco was $1.1 million, an 11% increase from just one year prior. Additionally, it is around five times the median of national value.

“What we would pay here for a down payment you could take to another market and pay cash for a house,” Lytle added.

But again, these loans are not for just anyone. Larger banks in the area have a larger and more diverse customer base, and offer products catered to lower-income demographics. There are also lending options, such as FHA K loans, that offer down payments as low as 3.5%.

Yet many San Franciscans would argue with the notion that their city has become largely unaffordable. In a recent San Francisco Examiner article, Peter Cohen and Fernando Marti argue that the city is experiencing the most massive urban construction era since the urban renewal. To boot, more than half of what is being built should be “affordable housing to keep up with job growth.”

They add, “According to the San Francisco General Plan Housing Element, about 4,100 total homes should be constructed annually to fully meet The City’s growing population needs at all income levels. Of that total, 57 percent of new homes (about 2,330 units per year) should be affordable to low- and moderate-income San Franciscans (aka, below market-rate).”

So whether you’re jonesing for a $2 million mortgage for a lender’s loan, or are seeking affordable housing, it seems there’s something for everyone popping up in San Francisco.

German Man Uses Wife’s Head Encased in Concrete to Drown Himself in Austria

Austrian authorities are still investigating a disturbing incident in which an elderly man murdered his wife and drowned himself using her remains.

According to DW.com, police believe a 72-year-old man had strangled and beheaded his 71-year-old wife before encasing her head in concrete and using it as a weight to drown himself.

The husband’s remains, along with the concrete block, were found outside of Gmunden, Austria in Traunsee Lake on Monday. Local residents found most of the wife’s dismembered body in a suitcase.

After citizens reported the woman’s remains to authorities, a police dive was organized to search for her missing head. The head of the woman, encased in cement, was found tethered to her husband’s arm.

A coroner said that the woman likely died between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The incident is believed to be a murder-suicide because the man’s body displayed no signs of violence or struggle.

Several Austrian media outlets have reported that the couple is from Frankfurt, Germany. However, police are still gathering more details before releasing such information to the public.

About one in five people who die from drowning are children 14 and younger, but this gruesome incident is one of several recent tragedies in the water that resulted in the death of an elderly person.

According to The Telegraph, an English man in his 70s drowned on New Year’s Day when he tried to retrieve a ball, which had floated out to sea, for the family dog.

A 50-year-old woman had waded through the crashing waves of Cornish cove to get her dog’s favorite ball when her mother’s elderly partner decided to help. The woman survived, but the man drowned after he could no longer stay afloat.

As for the couple in Austria, police have yet to establish a motive for the crime.

Health Experts Still Recommending Vaccination Shots Despite Slow Start to Flu Season

Sick Woman. Flu. Woman Caught Cold. Sneezing into TissueA mild flu season is leading many people to forego their annual vaccination shot, but public health officials are still urging people all over the world to protect themselves.

According to the Calgary Herald, influenza experts are taking advantage of the flu season’s slow start to remind people that transmission of the disease usually peaks in mid-January.

“We’re reminding people now to get their flu shots because it takes about two weeks for immunity to build to the flu shot when you do get it,” said Jason Chan-Remillard, manager of a Canadian pharmacy.

“So we kind of want to be ahead of the game, getting our flu shots just before that spike in the flu season hits,” he continued.

Only 99 cases of the flu were reported in Calgary from Aug. 30 to Dec. 26. This marks a drastic decrease from last year, when 1,400 cases were reported during that same period of time.

The Provincial Laboratory for Public Health noted that the number of flu cases typically reaches its peak during the third week of January each year. Despite the unseasonably mild weather, experts still expect this trend to hold strong.

“You don’t really think of the flu when it’s warm outside, and I think that’s led people into thinking they don’t need a flu shot this year,” Chan-Remillard added.

About one in three people still go to work after falling ill, and protecting employees during flu season is a major point of emphasis for many employers.

This year’s slow start may have some feeling safe, but American health officials are joining Canadian experts in their effort to convince more people to get a flu shot.

According to the San Diego Tribune, San Diego has experienced a 37% drop in confirmed flu cases this season compared to last year. However, with three influenza-related deaths already tallied, health officials aren’t taking any chances.

“You can feel that this year’s season is more mild than last year’s, but it’s still early. We just don’t know yet how it’s going to go next month and the month after that. People should realize that the flu is very unpredictable from season to season,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County’s public health officer.

Health officials are also taking this time to dispel the myth that vaccines can actually give recipients influenza.

While no vaccine is 100% effective, numerous studies have shown that the severity of an illness can be reduced with immunization.

Airlines Begin Offering ‘Last Class,’ an Experience as Bad as It Sounds

Steward and passengers on commercial airplane.Air travel is an already infamously unpleasant experience, and some airlines will soon offer an even more terrible way to fly. American Airlines and Delta Airlines are now offering what USA Today describes as a “fourth class of service.”

In 2016, American Airlines will begin selling “no frills” tickets, an equivalent of the “basic” tickets Delta already offers. The name for this new airborne experience is “last class.”

Both operate similarly to the way low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier do, offering “no changes, refunds, upgrades, or advance seat reservations,” so if something goes wrong with your travel plans, customer service isn’t going to be much help.

“The airlines used to brag about flying the friendly skies,” consumer advocacy group FlyersRights.org’s Kendall Creighton told USA Today. “But that happy slogan has been corrupted into flying the abusive skies.”

Perhaps worst of all, these last class flyers are also placed in seats that have even less space in between them than ever before, an age old problem that’s been made even worse.

Previous research has found that 41% of airline passengers said adding more legroom would be the biggest improvement that airlines could make. A TripAdvisor poll from earlier this year found that uncomfortable seats and limited legroom were the most hated parts of traveling, as 77% of poll participants stated.

In other words, rather than improving, airlines have made things worse in an effort to compete with low-cost airlines.

“Last class exists because the airlines are a business,” Phil Derner, Jr., founder of the industry news site NYCAviation, told USA Today. “The airlines that really need to meet their bottom line in a big way are going to push the limits of what they can get away with, and those particular airlines do so because their passengers allow it by patronizing them.”

NYC Officials Realize They Have an Affordable Housing Crisis, 10 Years Too Late

Manhattan Skyline with ReflectionsNew York City is undergoing an affordable housing crisis, and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recently announced plan to alleviate that crisis is being condemned by residents on all sides of the political divide.

The affordable housing program, if approved, would go into effect over the next decade. In total, the mayor wants to create and maintain 200,000 affordable housing units for working class residents already being pushed out of a gentrifying city.

Critics, however, say that the plan offers too little, too late to address the city’s rapidly rising rents and housing prices, while offering too many concessions to developers interested in developing luxury housing.

To reach the 200,000-unit goal, the city is easing some restrictions on developers under the condition that they set aside a portion of their units for affordable housing, according to Alicia Glen, the deputy mayor for housing and economic development and the mayor’s point person on the housing project.

“We are in a true housing crisis, and we can’t just sit by and do nothing as market pressures change the city,” she said.

Of course, most critics agree that the de Blasio administration is about 10 years too late. While the recession and mortgage crisis rocked real estate prices nationwide, New York City was immune to this effect, instead seeing some of the highest prices in the country.

Most experts define affordable rental housing as housing that costs 30% of less of a household’s income. For families looking to buy, Ellie Mae data reveals that successful mortgage borrowers have a debt-to-income ratio of about 24%, on average.

In 2016, New Yorkers are expected to pay up to 65.4% of their income just to afford the median rent, and that’s up from 58.7% in 2015. For the vast majority of New York residents, the median home price is completely out of reach.

Meanwhile, de Blasio also announced a new effort to address the city’s growing homeless population by creating Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement Street Action Teams. Homeless researchers agree that a scarcity of affordable and low-income housing creates homeless populations, and the city has thousands of homeless residents on the streets, not counting the thousands more living in shelters.

The homeless action teams will track the chronically homeless and perform outreach; the mayor hopes to have the teams active by next March.

Kohl’s Opens Its Stores for 7 Straight Days Before Christmas

More businesses are beginning to take an anti-consumerism, anti-Black Friday approach to the holiday shopping frenzy, instead urging customers to enjoy time outside and with their families. But not Kohl’s. No, the major retailer has just announced that it’s extending its store hours up until Christmas Day so that every customer can find time to shop.

Keep in mind, last year the store kept most of its locations open for five straight days before Christmas.

This year, Kohl’s is keeping stores open for 170 hours straight — seven days — so that consumers can drop in anytime between 7 a.m. Dec. 17 to 6 p.m. Dec. 24. According to The Consumerist, this is the third year that Kohl’s has pulled multiple all-nighters to serve last-minute shoppers.

Many people are wondering, though, why is Kohl’s even bothering to do this at all? The stores are having some sales promotions, but they’re not offering rock-bottom sales prices or selling items that can’t be found anywhere else. Plus, the likelihood of getting bursts of customers at 4 a.m. on a Tuesday morning is unlikely — but the company still has to staff its stores fully all night, just in case.

TIME and the Washington Post have speculated that Kohl’s is attempting to compete with online retail giants like Amazon. It’s no secret that online shopping has become widely popular (and even more successful) than in-store sales, and it’s expected that at least 200 million Americans will make at least one purchase online by the end of the year.

Of course, Kohl’s does have an online store, but any avid online shopper already knows that Amazon is the place to go for fast two-day shipping (especially because Prime members get it for free).

According to the management team at Kohl’s, it began seeing an influx of shoppers coming in late at night and coming in at the last possible minute on Christmas Eve, so it decided to take a risk and see if there would be enough last-minute sales to cover the costs of a seven-day shopping bonanza.

It seems to have worked the past two years — but will it work in Kohl’s favor again this year?

Fact Check: Is Biodegradeable Plastic Really Bull****?

Environment pollutionA new headline from Vice News shouts, “Biodegradable Plastic Is Bullsh*t.”

Biodegradable plastics have been around for decades, and they were originally hailed as a breakthrough development for nascent recycling and marine environmental movements.

But almost as soon as biodegradable plastic came on the market, it became a source of controversy. In one 16-month period in the early 1990s, more than 48 legal actions were taken for false advertising related to biodegradeable plastics, which weren’t so much biodegradable as they were compostable — sort of.

The American Society for Testing and Materials developed new standards for advertising these materials more honestly. In 2011, even those standards were withdrawn after certain manufacturers took advantage of the new rules.

A new report from the United Nations Environmental Programme explains why biodegradable plastics have failed to live up to their name. Many of these so-called green plastics can be broken down, but only if they are placed in a composter that is then heated to 122 degrees Fahrenheit for a prolonged period of time. The UN report looked at how biodegradable and compostable plastics react in the ocean, and determined those compostable conditions are “rarely if ever met in the marine environment.”

Even worse, biodegradable plastics cause problems for recycling programs that have been proven to work. Plastic containers and packaging make up 39.9% of the material recycled by consumers, the largest category of recycled goods. But consumers are ironically less likely to recycle biodegradable plastics, and even if they do, those materials can cause major problems for recycling plants.

“The real bottom line is that biodegradable plastics aren’t going to be a solution for reducing the impact of marine litter,” said Peter Kershaw, the report’s author. “When you see ‘biodegradable’ on a plastic bag, for example, does that mean if you drop it in the streets, it’s just going to disappear? No, it doesn’t.”

Ultimately, the UN report concluded that biodegradable plastics could do more harm than good. For consumers looking to keep plastics out of the ocean, the prescription remains the same as it ever was: reduce, reuse, recycle.

How Gigster is Changing the World of Software Development

Website under constructionHave you ever had a brilliant idea for an app? Now, it’s as easy as sending your blueprints over to Gigster and receiving the completed app. No coding is necessary, nor is seeking out a team of software developers.

This is big news for the software development industry. So big, that Andreessen Horowitz, the $4 billion venture capital firm, is investing $10 million Series A for the company, despite its relatively recent launch.

Andreessen Horowitz was astounded by the 18-week-old company’s AI engine, which converts clients’ application proposals into a plan that includes the price of development based on the product proposal. From there, the artificial intelligence engine sends the plan to Gigster’s team of remote engineers and software developers, providing them with pre-made code blocks that will help them build the applications.

In the perspective of Andreessen Horowitz, Gigster’s capabilities are a prime example of the current state of software development, how “software is eating the world,” and fitting Marc Andreessen’s partner Chris Dixon’s thoughts regarding “software eating software development.”

So far, Gigster has over 50 projects in the works, including a dating app for Muslim millennials and an app that helps individuals in the developing world buy electricity.

“The turn-key service model — no one is doing it exactly like we are. Gigster democratizes software development,” said co-founder and CEO Roger Dickey in an interview with Tech Crunch.

Gigster was founded in 2014 by Dickey and co-founder and CTO Debo Olaosebikan. After leaving Zynga and trying to prototype his own apps, he realized how difficult it was to recruit software developing freelancers.

Software developers are coding professionals who create web functionality tools, operating systems, video games, and more.

As a developer himself, Dickey sought to create a solution that would help to take the difficulties out of app innovation. From there, Gigster was born.

After the first 18 weeks of running, Gigster already has $1 million in sales booked, and now seeks to expand its business from smaller clients to larger enterprises.

Studies Say Massages Help Physical Ailments

Fisioterapia XIWhile many people look forward to the holidays for spending time with family and the overall festive fun it brings, it is also one of the most stressful times of year overall. Dr. Nancy Babbitt from the Creekside Medical Clinic says that tension and stress may be best relieved with a nice massage.

“Massage is generally considered to be part of the world of complementary and alternative medicine, but more and more there are studies showing many medical benefits to massage therapy,” Babbitt told Rapid City, SD, Fox affiliate KEVN. “Especially in the area of reducing stress, reducing musculoskeletal pain, and reducing muscle tension. One of the most common reasons why I refer patients for massage therapy is for tension headaches.”

Babbitt says those tension headaches usually start in the shoulder or neck and work their way up until they sit right behind the eyes to cause the headache. While they can be caused due to poor neck posture at night, they are also caused when someone is stressed for long periods of time, causing them to hunch up their shoulders.

About 92% of consumers responding to a survey agreed that massages are effective in reducing pain, which Babbitt concurred.

“Massage therapy works very well and a good massage therapist will know how to find and use the right amount of pressure treating the area of the neck and shoulder strain,” she said. “They do have to go through special licensing and be certified. And it’s important to make sure that your massage therapist is certified.”

Massages usually last for 30 to 60 minutes, usually following a medical questionnaire with a licensed massage therapist. They feature quiet and relaxing environments, and many aspects of a massage can be tailored to fit the consumer’s comfort level.

Recent studies have found that massage therapy is useful beyond just typical relaxation as well. In fact, it is often used as a preventative treatment for ailments or a rehabilitative treatment for injury.

Reliance on painkillers for back pain, for example, is proven to be reduced by 36% of more, and massages are more effective than both spinal modification and acupuncture. The therapy may also be used to manage headaches, promote better sleep, decrease instances of depression and anxiety, and decrease swelling in problem areas.

Overall, studies in recent years have proven the efficacy of massage therapy in those suffering from chronic pain, and those who simply lead an active lifestyle.