Thursday Flakes: Bagels, Self-Driving Cars and Immortality

Bagels have been around for centuries but in 1610, they were first mentioned in the written records of Krakow, Poland. Bagels were later brought to New York City by Polish immigrants in the late 19th century but didn’t become popular in the Big Apple until the 1970s. Of course, bagels can be now be found in many shops in many different types of flavors.

I used to eat bagels a lot for breakfast when I was in high school. My Mom would go to the grocery store right when it opened, grab a huge bag of them in the discount bin and bring it home in time for breakfast. The chocolate chip bagels were always my favorite but nowadays they are a bit hard to find anywhere. I never added any spreads to the chocolate chip bagels because it took away a bit of that chocolatey goodness. If it was a regular bagel, I might have added some cream cheese depending on the mood.

Nowadays, bagels are a bit hard to find especially when traveling in Panama or around Central America but there are plenty of delicious breakfast options to choose from over here.

What is your favorite kind of bagel? Toasted or untoasted? Do you add any cream cheese, butter, jam or Nutella to your bagel? Let’s hear it down below. Anyways…onto Flakes.

Nebraska WBB Wins 72-61 vs Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament | Basketball | Corn Nation

Three Huskers, the usual suspects, scored in double figures, Haiby (19), Cain (16) and Bourne (14). The team captains also led Nebraska in rebounds Haiby (8), Bourne (7) and Cain (6). Whitney Brown finished with six assists while Cravens, Scoggin and Haiby each had three. Kate Cain blocked two shots and Bella Cravens one.

Early Nebraska Lead Evaporates in 72-66 Loss Big Ten Tourney Loss to Penn State | Basketball | Corn Nation

For 20 minutes, the Nebraska Cornhuskers played like a team eager to stay for a while in Indianapolis; then halftime hit, and for the next 20 minutes they played like the 14 seed in the 14-team Big Ten Tournament, giving away a 14-point halftime advantage in a season-ending 72-66 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions on Wednesday night.

Dedrick Mills NFL Draft Scouting Report | Football | Corn Nation

Dedrick Mills came to Nebraska after a stretch that saw him play a fullback type role for Georgia Tech’s triple-option and then a strong stint at Garden City. His two seasons at Nebraska saw him have 745 yards and 10 touchdowns during his junior season before an injury took out a chunk of the 2020 season. Here is a look at how Dedrick Mills projects forward into the NFL.

Nebraska Recruiting: The Importance of Camp Season Potentially Returning | Football | Hail Varsity

There seems to be momentum gaining for the dead period to end in some fashion in June. Back in February the latest extension of the dead period was announced. I mentioned something that caught my attention. The NCAA included language about being prepared to take the next steps to find new solutions.

Mailbag: Breakouts and Step-Backs in the Upcoming Big Ten Football Season | Sports | Hail Varsity

Hail Varsity staff members Mike Babcock, Jacob Padilla, Greg Smith, Erin Sorensen and Brandon Vogel tackle your questions about the latest news in Husker Nation.

Sipple: Osborne Doesn’t Expect a ‘Thank You,’ But Former Players Make It a Point | Football | Lincoln Journal Star

Wednesday, a group of former Nebraska players led by Veland and Josh Davis organized a “thank you” celebration at Mike Osborne’s Husker store, Best of Big Red, in the Haymarket. Davis, a running back in the early 2000s, created the Alumni CAP Foundation as a way to recognize all Husker student-athletes who lettered. Davis also arranged for Osborne to watch 30 “thank you” videos from former players, including Neil Smith and Grant Wistrom. Osborne seemed genuinely touched, saying relationships with players and others in the program tend to trump all else.

Plan for NCAA Volleyball Tournament in Omaha Taking Shape | Volleyball | Lincoln Journal Star

About 4,500 spectators are expected to be in attendance when the college volleyball national championship match is played in Omaha next month. The championship match is scheduled for April 24 at the CHI Health Center Omaha, with the semifinals two days earlier under the same capacity limitations.

Freshmen, Fresh Faces Give Nebraska Baseball a Deep and ‘Impressive’ Roster | Baseball | Omaha World-Herald

“It’s incredible,” junior starting pitcher Shay Schanaman said Wednesday. “It’s huge for us. You never know with freshmen. You have an idea of what they might be like throughout the fall and the winter, but you never truly know what they’re made of until you take the field. I was super impressed as I think we all were with those guys who stepped up when it counted.”

Keonilei Akana Has Become a Key Contributor For Husker Volleyball’s Defense | Volleyball | Omaha World-Herald

Akana has emerged as a key contributor to the Huskers’ back-row defense. But perhaps the best adjustment she made after moving to Nebraska was buying a new parka right away. “The winter really got me, for sure,” Akana said. “I was very shocked with the winter.” On the court, Akana has had a smoother transition. She said the biggest differences are the increased speed from the attacks. During the fall, Akana said she focused on being more aggressive with her serve and bonding with her teammates.

20 Influential Women in the Travel Industry | Travel | Travel Pulse

We want to highlight women who have done and are doing so much to affect change in the travel industry. They’re leading as examples, pushing forth initiatives, and calling on the travel industry to do better, to be better. We hope this piece inspires you to connect with and uplift these women and those like them, and ultimately be an ally and champion for women’s equality in the travel industry.

10 Best Women’s History Sites in the USA | Travel | Lonely Planet

In January 2021, the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act was passed in US Congress, solidifying plans to build the National Women’s History Museum on the National Mall.

Should Influencers Be Traveling Right Now? | Travel | Lonely Planet

Pandemic fatigue is well and truly taking its toll; but why aren’t some travel influencers, bloggers and writers at home and facing the same lockdowns their audiences are enduring?

Thailand Launches a ‘Yacht Quarantine’ Plan to Boost Tourism | Travel | Lonely Planet

Following on from a pilot scheme originally announced in November, around 100 yachts are now expected to take part in the program, which is currently taking place in Phuket. Travelers are required to wear a smart wristband that monitors their location and vital signs, including temperature and blood pressure. The watch can transmit information at sea, within a 10km radius.

12 Mistakes to Avoid When Redeeming Airline Miles | Travel | Travel + Leisure

Continue racking up rewards by using an airline credit card for everyday purchases, shopping through various airlines’ online portals, and other activities. When you’re ready to board again, here are 12 common mistakes to avoid when redeeming airline miles for flights.

What Fully Vaccinated Travelers Need to Know Before Planning a Trip | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

“The safest thing is to only travel with people that are vaccinated,” says Freedman. Studies have pointed to vaccinated people carrying a lower viral load of coronavirus, and scientists could reach a definitive conclusion about vaccinated transmission within months.

I’ve Been Fully Vaccinated. Here’s Why I’m Still Not Rushing to Book My Next Trip Abroad. | Travel | The Boho Chica

I thought I would present a counter to this above article from a travel blogger friend of mine who recently got vaccinated in the UAE on why she hasn’t made any new travel plans.

My Mongolian Guide: Walking With Her Was a Joy | Travel | The Guardian

It was clear on meeting Oyunaa, however, that she was not your average guide. She had just turned 20 and had an infectious love for her country. For my part, I had wanted to visit Mongolia for as long as I could remember and was beyond excited to be there.

50 Movies Set in Every Single State | Entertainment | Conde Nast Traveler

Nebraska: Election (1999). Alexander Payne was born in Omaha, and he went on to direct several feature films set in the Cornhusker State (including About Schmidt and Nebraska). But Election may just be his most entertaining venture.

The Best Bagels in America | Food | Food & Wine

Perked up and paying attention, I traveled back and forth across the country, eventually finding other new bagel shops that had quietly worked their way onto the landscape, many of them far outside the usual comfort zones. Seattle, Minneapolis, Cambridge, you name it; everything was happening, change was coming.

New Algorithm Breaks Speed Limit for Solving Linear Equations | Mathematics | Quanta Magazine

By harnessing randomness, a new algorithm achieves a fundamentally novel — and faster — way of performing one of the most basic computations in math and computer science.

How Astrogeologist Eugene Shoemaker Came to Be the Only Person Buried on the Moon | Space | Insider

American astrophysicist and geologist Eugene Shoemaker became the first person to have his remains taken to the moon when a portion of his ashes was carried there by NASA’s Lunar Prospector in January 1998. A polycarbonate vial carrying an ounce of his ashes slammed into a moon crater and he remains the only person to be buried there.

Quantum Mechanics, the Chinese Room Experiment and the Limits of Understanding | Science | Scientific American

Like great art, great thought experiments have implications unintended by their creators. Take philosopher John Searle’s Chinese room experiment. Searle concocted it to convince us that computers don’t really “think” as we do; they manipulate symbols mindlessly, without understanding what they are doing.

The Race to Teach Sign Language to Computers | Technology | The Economist

The World Health Organisation counts 430m people as deaf or hard of hearing. Many use sign languages to communicate. If they cannot also use those languages to talk to computers, they risk being excluded from the digitization that is taking over everyday life.

The 25-Year-Old Billionaire Building the Future of Self-Driving Cars | Technology | The Verge

Austin Russell is the 25-year-old founder and CEO of Luminar, a startup in Silicon Valley that makes LIDAR sensors for self-driving cars. LIDAR technology had been used for short-distance mapping, but Luminar claims to have a functioning LIDAR that works at 250 meters, which is a breakthrough. Luminar recently went public, making Austin today’s youngest self-made billionaire.

Is Immortality Possible? Dyson Sphere Could Resurrect Humans Back From the Dead | Technology | The Verge

Here’s how it will go down: A megastructure called a Dyson Sphere will provide a superintelligent artificial agent (AI) with the enormous amounts of power it needs to collect as much historical and personal data about you, so it can rebuild your exact digital copy. Once it’s finished, you’ll live your whole life (again) in a simulated reality.

The pride of Newman Grove and Corn Nation’s Patrick Gerhart participated in an interesting chat featuring a group of wonderful bank industry leaders/Community Heroes.

This is the most insane drone video I have ever seen.