The wackiest headlines from the week as they would appear in a Classifieds section.

Careers

TRASH VANQUISHERS: A group of volunteer actors clean trash off the Tokyo sidewalks 3x a week, but they do it in fun outfits and with cool moves. The group calls themselves “Gomi Hiroi Samurai”(trash-collecting samurai). You don’t want to be a cigarette butt in their path.

FELINE MARKETER: A clever volunteer at a shelter in Georgia advertised adoptable cats on Instagram in a way that mimicked the used car site Carvana. The post, titled “Catvana,” was a hit and led to a follow-up post showing potential adopters the “Catfax.”

Personal

ISO SAFE WAFFLE MAKER: About 450,000 PowerXL Stuffed Wafflizers were recalled after reports of the Belgian-making beauties spurting out piping-hot batter blobs and burning users. You know what breakfast would never burn you? A piece of leftover pizza from the fridge.

TURN TO DUST: A Dutch inventor created eco-conscious coffins made from mushroom-like structures and hemp that will decompose within 45 days of burial. The worms are ECSTATIC to have fast-food options.

For sale

THIN SHRIMP: A new species of shrimp was discovered in Australia after a fisherman caught a whole buttload of them in his net. The new and most definitely not improved shrimps are nicknamed “skeleton shrimp” because they are thin, spindly, and taste horrible in a risotto.

COLD BREW, NEW ICE: Starbucks will start freezing out its old ice machines in some stores to introduce new “nugget” ice. The chain said its focus groups preferred the bite-sized ice chunks over the big old boring cubes.—MM

Here are some illuminating scientific discoveries from the week to help you live better and maybe even save a grizzly bear.

Racecar drivers have a blinking schedule. Formula One racers can have their eyes shut for 20 meters of driving when they blink, which is probably why they do it selectively when behind the wheel. Unlike non-racecar-driving humans who blink randomly, competitive speed demons close their eyelids during the same parts of each lap, researchers have discovered. Data from eye trackers attached to helmets showed that racers avoid blinking while changing speed or rounding corners—they save the moistening of their corneas for straight parts of the track.

Train a dog, save a bear. As humans and bears cross paths more often, a Finnish breed of fluffy puppy is increasingly being used to save grizzlies’ lives from lethal methods of protecting people. The Karelian bear dog is made for this: Historically they were used as hunting dogs and are known for facing large mammals fearlessly. Now, the canines are being trained to chase bears off of inhabited land, where they’d probably be killed if they got too close to people. Studies suggest this scare tactic is more effective than rubber bullets or loud noises. Black bears in Lake Tahoe, California, became more nocturnal and visited urban areas less after getting scared off by the dogs.

👁 There’s a reason we’re suckers for slo-mo. People engage more with videos that are in slow motion because our brains process slowed-down movement better than when it’s at normal speed, researchers found. We’re simple creatures who like things that are easy to understand, and it shows: In entertainment, marketing, and on your TikTok and Instagram feeds, short-form videos with a slo-mo component get more likes and boost brand image—especially when the video features complex movement, like a GoPro-recorded pogo stick trick.—ML

“Give me your tired, middle-class, huddled masses” seems to be the new motto of airport lounges.

As lounge access has become a typical credit card perk, economy travelers are gleefully flashing their plastic to revel in the standard spoils of the lounge life: free buffet, open bar, strong wi-fi, and copious outlets. As a result, lounges are becoming common scenes of mayhem reminiscent of Black Friday at Walmart, especially during peak travel times.

If you flew anywhere this weekend, you probably noticed overcrowding in those fancy waiting rooms or even a line to get into one. It’s possible you also spotted a legacy patron (likely a businessperson with a briefcase and a cigar) wistfully looking into the distance and remembering when the lounges were bastions of premium travel exclusivity.

How lounges became for the people

Back in the day, airline lounges resembled snooty gentlemen’s clubs reserved for VIP business travelers and folks willing to pay top dollar to fly first class.

Things began to change in 1985 when American Express introduced the first credit card that came with access to private clubs around the world as a way to lure traveling customers. This paved the way for the democratization of airport lounges a couple of decades later as travel cards began to adopt complimentary access as a perk.

The advent of networks like Priority Pass, which began in the 1990s, and Centurion Lounges, launched by American Express in 2013, allowed people to access airport lounges without having to commit to flying with a specific airline. These networks offer subscription plans, and some lounges allow people to enter on a pay-per-visit basis.

Many savvy travelers find a $99 annual charge and a $35 entry fee for Priority Pass to be financially prudent, given how eye-poppingly high airport food prices tend to be. And options for getting in abound: Today, Nerdwallet lists 19 different cards available in the US that open lounge doors, one even coming with a no-annual fee intro offer.

Meanwhile, the number of lounges has swelled to 3,000 around the globe, many of them operated not by airlines but by the credit card companies themselves. Yet demand for these pleasant preboarding hangout spots has far outstripped supply. And the flight delays and cancellations that have plagued aviation for the past couple of years mean many folks are spending longer waiting around…and taking up lounge space.

But there’s a counterrevolution happening

Airlines still rely on first-class passengers for much of their revenue. As travel continues to recover from the Covid slump, these businesses need to make sure that prized customers have a superb experience not only on the plane but also when they’re waiting to board—and trying to sip a preflight martini while being swarmed by sweaty plebes isn’t going to cut it.

So, companies are taking pains to make lounge air rarefied again:

• Delta announced last fall that only frequent fliers could purchase Sky Club lounge privileges.
• Lounge operators are also limiting the number of hours passengers can spend in them and charging for any guests who want to tag along.

For now…though lounges are becoming more exclusive, travel execs are saying that this summer might be the busiest air travel season on record, so don’t expect the lounges at your local airport to stop resembling sardine cans any time soon.—SK

Meal prep: Mark the start of summer with these messy, loaded Danger Dogs from Danny Trejo’s new cookbook.

Book rec: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. The Scorsese-directed, DiCaprio-led film adaptation arrives in October, so you have plenty of time to read this acclaimed book first.

Twitter follow: The Art But Make It Sports account unearths the finest Renaissance painting to pair with an NBA bench.

Music rec: Why recommend a Spotify playlist when we can recommend a subreddit that will recommend the best Spotify playlists?

Pod rec: You love to spill tea, and so do the hosts of Defector’s pod, Normal Gossip. Start with the latest episode, or throw it back to this one about a scandal in a neighborhood knitting circle.

It’s cooler time: What’s worse than a warm Corona? Time to up your drink’s digs with this cooler bag, which is on sale. (The answer is a cold Modelo, btw.)

Good vibes only: Rock both your worlds with Tenuto 2, the only doctor-recommended FDA Class II vibrator clinically proven to combat ED—and designed for powerful, 2-person pleasure. Save 20% during their Memorial Day sale.*

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On the surface, Monaco and Indianapolis do not have a lot in common. But when you dig deeper…okay, they still don’t have a lot in common.

So, what links this Midwestern capital with a tiny country on the French Riviera? And why are we discussing both in the same section?

Open-wheel racing is the answer

Today, Indianapolis and Monaco will host two of the most famous auto races on the calendar: The Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. Let’s “pit” the two races against each other across several categories.

Party scene: While the Indy 500 is known to have epic tailgates, Monaco has the edge because it’s synonymous with high society. A-list celebs and DJs throw exclusive parties on yachts docked at the marina, plus expensive Champagne > warm light beer.

Size: Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the largest sports facility on the planet, with a capacity of nearly 400,000 people across the property. Meanwhile, Monaco is the second-smallest country by area in the world. No contest.

Layout: The two track layouts could not be more different. At the Indy 500, cars will zoom around a sprawling 2.5-mile oval for 200 laps. In Monaco, they’ll snake through the winding, historic streets of Monte Carlo. Although the twisty Monaco track leads to notoriously boring races, it wins for the scenic backdrop along the Mediterranean.

Speed: Both IndyCars and Formula One cars can hit ludicrous speeds. The top recorded speed for an IndyCar is 236 mph, while the fastest recorded speed for an F1 car is 231.4 mph. However, F1 cars have better acceleration. This one’s a tie.—NF

Last week we asked: What is the best day of a three-day weekend: Saturday, Sunday, or Monday? Here are our favorite responses.

• “Monday, for sure. There’s nothing like setting your alarms like usual, just for the joy of waking up, smiling impishly to yourself, turning it off, and rolling over until who knows when!”—Alex from Minnesota
• “How does Friday not get any love? It’s got the anticipation of the long weekend ahead mixed with the excitement of the half-empty office because colleagues are either taking the day off or just leaving early anyway.”—Anonymous
• “As a full-time retail worker, very rarely do I get three days in a row off (unless I request it). So, I would say Monday, because getting regular pay on top of holiday pay makes for a happy paycheck!”—Anna from Raleigh, NC
• “Sunday. Summer = BBQ (over indirect heat, not a gas grill!), which takes hours (all day for a brisket). Start the pit, trim the brisket, drink a bloody mary (with Tito’s vodka, of course). Put the meat on the smoker, wife gets up, mimosas. Spritz the brisket and add ribs to the smoker, pop a beer. Spritz the brisket and ribs, have a beer. Wrap the ribs, have a beer. Wrap the brisket, have a beer. BBQ for dinner on Sunday, leftover BBQ on Monday...and all day Monday to relax and enjoy a cold beverage or 2.”—Mark from Missouri City, TX

This week’s question

With a busy summer travel season expected ahead of us, we want to know: What is the best car game to play during a long road trip?

Matty’s answer to get the juices flowing: “My friends play this game where someone comes up with a music category, such as ‘If your life were a movie, this song would play at the final credits,’ or ‘First dance at your wedding.’ Everyone in the car queues up a song that fits the category and we listen to all of them all the way through.

Share your favorite car game here.

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