Emotional labor watch: "Closers" flirt on behalf of men who use Tinder

Closers are paid $1.45/session to log into (usually) men's dating-app accounts and flirt with the women in their queue for 10 minute stretches, as part of a gig-economy company called Vida (Virtual Dating Assistants). (more…)

Bill Cosby explains why people go to prison

"Somewhere along the way, they did something wrong, something dumb... Maybe they even got away with it first and thought they'd never get caught."

Hey, hey, hey?

The world's oldest known spider has died

This female trapdoor spider, named Number 16, was the world's oldest known spider. A lifelong resident of the Australian outback, she has just died at age 43. From Curtin University:

The research, published in the Pacific Conservation Biology Journal, suggests the 43-year-old Giaus Villosus trapdoor matriarch, who recently died during a long-term population study, had outlived the previous world record holder, a 28-year old tarantula found in Mexico.

Lead author PhD student Leanda Mason from the School of Molecular and Life Sciences at Curtin University said the ongoing research has led to new discoveries about the longevity of the trapdoor spider.

“To our knowledge this is the oldest spider ever recorded, and her significant life has allowed us to further investigate the trapdoor spider’s behaviour and population dynamics,” Ms Mason said.

“The research project was first initiated by Barbara York Main in 1974, who monitored the long-term spider population for over 42 years in the Central Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.

“Through Barbara’s detailed research, we were able to determine that the extensive life span of the trapdoor spider is due to their life-history traits, including how they live in uncleared, native bushland, their sedentary nature and low metabolisms.”

Stressed-out students can now break down in the Cry Closet at the University of Utah

School isn't always fun. In fact, during the weeks of back-to-back midterms and finals it can make you want to scream – or break down and have a good ol' fashioned cry. Enter the Cry Closet, Utah University's therapeutic stand-alone tiny room complete with cute plushies you can cuddle with while you let it all out.

Rules posted on the Cry Closet include:

Knock before entering
Only one person in the closet at a time
Limit your time in the closet to no more than 10 minutes
Turn lights and timer off before leaving
Use #cryclosetuofu if posting on social media

The Cry Closet wasn't built or funded by the university, but instead is a student project. According to Oddity Central:

Created by University of Utah student and visual artist Nemo Miller in woodshop class, the cry closet is lined with a black interior, and features plush stuffed animals inside that students can hug and squeeze as they cry. Whether it’s midterm exams, getting dumped via text message or just having a bad day, students can cry in peace, at least for 10 minutes.

Check out these photos tweeted by @aJackieLarsen:

so my school installed a cry closet in the library LMFAOOOOOOOOO what is higher education pic.twitter.com/6rGcJv9qjr

— jacks (@aJackieLarsen) April 24, 2018

Image: pxhere