6 people who might show up in the ‘Game of Thrones’ Age of Heroes prequel

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HBO announced today that the first Game of Thrones prequel to be picked up to pilot will take place during the Age of Heroes, a period thousands of years before the events of the current show. 

While the Age of Heroes is a very long and mysterious period of Westerosi history, and although HBO hasn’t said much more about what the story will be, it’s not too early to speculate about which legendary heroes may turn up as characters on the show. 

SEE ALSO: ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel will explore the White Walkers’ OG beef with Westeros

Bran the Builder

Bran the Builder was the founder of House Stark. He’s known as the builder because he’s the guy who managed to build the Wall that separates Westeros from the Lands of Always Winter, which went up after the first war with the White Walkers, called The Long Night. Since the prequel promises to show the origins of the White Walkers, it’s likely that Bran will be there to answer any audience questions about how the magical Wall was made in the first place.  Read more…

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How to bring hope and compassion to conversations about suicide

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This week the world lost Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade to suicide. 

As the heartbreak over their deaths has turned into wide-ranging conversations about mental health and self-harm, it’s critical to remember that such exchanges have the power to reinforce stigma or push people closer to seeking help. 

SEE ALSO: ‘You’re not alone’: Famous men are talking about mental health, and it could save lives

“These two examples [of Bourdain and Spade] are people who are so universally loved that it becomes an opportunity to have better discussions than we have in the past,” says Julie Cerel, president of the American Association of Suicidology

If you want to talk about suicide online or in-person, consider the following four strategies:  Read more…

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‘Game of Thrones’ prequel will explore the White Walkers’ OG beef with Westeros

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Game of Thrones prequel news alert! HBO announced that the network has picked up to pilot one of five potential prequel series to their hit show, and going by the description it’s going to be a packed with violent Westerosi fun. 

SEE ALSO: What the ‘Game of Thrones’ leaks tell us about Season 8

The series will take place during the “Age of Heroes,” thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones. HBO stated that the show will reveal “the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to [and] the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.” Read more…

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Lizard’s bright UV tongue helps to scare off predators

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The blue-tongued skink, also known as a blue-tongued lizard, is already fascinating due to its colourful gob, but researchers have discovered its secret power.

Ordinarily when threatened, the lizard uses its tongue as a warning to predators.

SEE ALSO: Meet the tardigrade…the world’s most ‘indestructible’ animal

But it’s the final throes of the skink’s defence that has excited researchers: As a last-ditch attempt, it shows the back of its tongue, which is more UV-intense and luminous compared to the front. 

That could be a useful defence against its main predators, such as birds, snakes, and monitor lizards, who are thought to have UV vision.  Read more…

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Drop everything, Solange is collaborating with … Ikea

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Clear out your living rooms and get ready for an upgrade: Solange is collaborating with Ikea. 

Saint Heron, the art collective founded by Solange Knowles, announced the collaboration on Thursday. According to the announcement, the collection will explore “architectural and design objects with multifunctional use.” 

SEE ALSO: Hold onto your youth, Ikea sells skateboards now

The announcement didn’t include any photos or release date, but the kaleidoscopic video accompanying the tweet might hint at the aesthetic Saint Heron has in the works. 

Saint Heron is excited to announce an upcoming creative collaboration with @IKEAtoday, exploring architectural and design objects with multifunctional use. Stay tuned for more information! #saintheron pic.twitter.com/hNsWUPk28c

— SAINT HERON (@SaintHeron) June 7, 2018 Read more…

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Forget the Vegas drive-thru wedding: Get hitched inside a driverless shuttle

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Your wedding venue search is over. Who needs a wedding chapel when there’s a perfectly functional driverless shuttle bus roaming the streets of Las Vegas?

That’s the venue the American Automobile Association is offering a lucky couple looking to get hitched in Las Vegas. The regional office is holding an essay contest to find the perfect twosome to take part in the first wedding aboard a AAA autonomous vehicle. AAA has a self-driving shuttle pilot program that launched in Las Vegas at the end of last year. The all-electric, eight-seat Navya shuttles run on a .6-mile route through the city. In a few weeks, one of them will become a designated marriage mobile. Read more…

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NASA finds organic matter on Mars, but sorry, that doesn’t mean it’s aliens

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More than 3 billion years ago, Mars was a very different place. 

It wasn’t the rusty, dead seeming world we see today. Instead, lakes, rivers, and deltas likely covered much of the planet’s surface. Thanks to previous NASA research, we know that at least some parts of the planet were, in fact, capable of supporting microscopic life as we understand it. 

But who knows what once lurked within Martian waters. 

SEE ALSO: Say it ain’t so: 6 Mars hoaxes you keep falling for

Over the years, we’ve sent robotic missions to Mars to try to figure out the answer to this very question, and on Thursday, NASA announced that its Curiosity rover brought us another step closer toward figuring out if life once existed on the red world.  Read more…

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Instagram update lets you re-share Stories posts from friends — but there’s a catch

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Instagram just added one of its most-requested features to Stories: the ability to re-share a post from friends.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the feature is limited to posts you’ve been tagged in — you won’t be able to just re-share any Stories posts to your own account.

SEE ALSO: Instagram reveals the secret sauce powering its algorithm

Still, the feature should be welcome news to Instagram fans who’ve long relied on a various assortment of third-party apps to repurpose other users’ Instagram posts. 

Here’s how the new Stories feature works: When a friend tags you in their Story, you’ll get the same notification you’ve gotten in the past, which lets you view the image or video in your Direct inbox.  Read more…

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Angry alligator knocks out trapper with a headbutt

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A trapper that captured an alligator was knocked out cold with a headbutt from the gator. 

In a video captured by a local NBC affiliate, the alligator was restrained by zip ties. It had been wandering through a central Florida neighborhood, endangering the kids who play outside.

“There’s gators everywhere,” one person in the video can be heard saying. “And they’ll be on the road and I literally have to get off the bike and walk around them.” 

SEE ALSO: We tested Google Lens at a Corgi meetup and it failed

The trapper in the video seemed to tease the gator, whose mouth is taped shut. The trapper smacked the gator’s snout, tapping it as it squirmed away from him. It’s unclear if this is a tactic used to calm the gator, but it did not seem to enjoy the tapping.  Read more…

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