Since I’m usually traveling and moving around, I’ve been celebrating my birthday in different parts of the world each year. This year was the first time in five or six years that I celebrated my birthday around family and friends, which was nice for me. I did a morning hike with my parents, ate some great homemade New York Cheesecake and had a beer with a great friend who I hadn’t seen in a while. It was also nice to get outside, explore the city and do some hiking to waterfalls and lakes over the past weekend. Time definitely flies by when you are not quarantine. Who knows where I will celebrate my birthday next year. Hopefully somewhere in Europe.

This weekend, I will be looking out for Comet Neowise in the northern part of the night sky. It should be pretty easy to find with the naked eye once you escape the city lights but I would bring binoculars to get a closer look. You can find more information about it here. Enjoy the rest of the week folks!

Anyways...onto Flakes.

Frosted Flakes

Nebraska Running Back Dedrick Mills Named to Doak Walker Watchlist | Football | Corn Nation

In one of the first watchlist releases, Nebraska running back Dedrick Mills has been named to the Doak Walker Award watch list. The senior running back certainly earned a nod as he finished the 2019 season strong with the highlight being his magnificent performance against Wisconsin.

Ryan Held on Running Backs: ‘Best I Have Felt Since I Have Been Here’ | Football | Hail Varsity

Mills is one of five scholarship runners Held has to work with in 2020. The other four are either redshirt freshmen (Rahmir Johnson, Ronald Thompkins) or true freshmen (Marvin Scott III, Sevion Morrison). Still, that’s depth Held hasn’t previously had.

Mailbag: How Many Football Games in 2020? | 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.

Padding the Stats: Basketball is Back | Basketball | Hail Varsity

On Tuesday night, The Basketball Tournament (TBT) concluded in thrilling fashion as the Golden Eagles, a Marquette alumni team, took down Sideline Cancer 78-73 on ESPN. The 22-team, 11-day event went off with only a few small hitches.

Former Husker Jordan Burroughs Announces Plans for 2021 Olympics and Beyond | Wrestling | Omaha World-Herald

“My body is strong. My mind is sharp. I lover this sport, and I’m not finished,” Burroughs wrote. “I will continue.” Now with the Paris Olympics set to take place three years after Tokyo, Burroughs’ career could continue.

Most Intriguing Huskers: Junior DL Jordon Riley | Football | Lincoln Journal Star

Riley is among a few key candidates to replace the solid work threat Darrion Daniels did inside for Nebraska last year. With the elder Daniels brother off to the NFL, Jordon Riley and Junior Damion Daniels seem like the logical starting point.

Huskers Sign Four Baseball Players | Baseball | Huskers.com

Nebraska Baseball Head Coach Will Bolt and his staff announced the signing of four student-athletes on Wednesday who complete the team’s late spring roster additions. Newcomers Chance Hroch, Luke Sartori, Max Anderson and Cam Wynne join junior college transfers Jake Bunz and Koty Frank, who signed with the Huskers on April 16.

Travels

Does Travel Really Increase Cultural Understanding? | Travel | National Geographic

Whether seeing the world actually opens travelers’ minds—that it makes travelers more empathetic—is up for debate. In a 2018 Harris Poll of 1,300 business travelers, 87 percent said that business trips helped them to be more empathetic to others

The Travel Ban’s Immeasurable Impact on Students Who Are Just Discovering Travels | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

The global pandemic has threatened summer travel plans for families everywhere, but one group that’s been especially impacted are the students who benefit from nonprofits like Oliver’s, which fund international youth trips that combine education, language immersion, and volunteering for lower-income middle and high school kids.

How Guided Tours Across the South Are Addressing Confederate Monuments | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

In 2019, the Southern Poverty Law Center launched an interactive map that displays where Confederate monuments are located. As of early June, nearly 1,800 symbols of the Confederacy—including statues, monuments, or street signs—still stood. There are 771 of these monuments in the United States; half of them are found in the states of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina and Texas.

Six U.S. Cities That Are Full of European Charm | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

There are a handful of places right here in the United States—perhaps even within driving distance of your own home—that can offer a distinctly European fix, thanks to their quaint city squares, rich architecture, and Old World food scenes.

These Are the Concerns Travelers Have About Coronavirus and Air Travel | Travel | Lonely Planet

A new report has shed a light on the concerns that travelers have around air travel in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, conducted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), demonstrates that their willingness to travel is being tempered by concerns over the risks of catching the virus during air travel.

Where in the World Are People Planning to Travel in 2021? | Travel | Lonely Planet

Drawing on Google data, the study was revealed by travel company Kuoni, who mapped the most searched for and most popular 2021 holiday destinations for 131 countries around the world. The study showed a clear demand for future travel, with Google Trends indicating that searches for “2021 holiday” increased by 124% when compared to the end of March.

Uber Eats Data Revealed What Americans Were Really Craving During the Pandemic | Food | Travel and Leisure

As Americans hunkered down and quarantined in many cities across the country, Uber Eats saw requests for “extra sauce,” “sauce on the side,” “no onion,” and “no cucumber” all increase. Conversely, quarantine made people a little more indulgent as requests for “no bacon” and “dressing on the side” both decreased.

New Mummies Discovered in Egypt May Hold Clues to Finally Finding Cleopatra’s Tomb | Food | Travel and Leisure

The two mummies found in the tomb are believed to have lived during Cleopatra’s time, The Guardian reported. They were also originally wrapped in gold leaf, denoting that they were probably very important individuals and may have interacted with the queen herself. The mummies, a male and a female, could have been priests who were important to the pharaoh.

Basel: The Birthplace of Hallucinogenic Science | Travel | BBC

SD’s discovery came during research by pharmaceutical firm Sandoz (now part of Novartis) to find plant-derived circulatory and respiratory stimulants. Hofmann’s job was to isolate, purify and synthesize potentially interesting compounds from ergot, a rye fungus. Several of these involved lysergic acid, including one Hofmann discovered in 1938 – the one filed away as LSD-25.

Freiburg: Germany’s Futuristic City Set in a Forest | Travel | BBC

This picture-perfect medieval city is celebrating its 900th anniversary, but its innovative design makes it one of the world’s most sustainable and livable cities.

The Rest

The Future of Film: Can Cinema Survive Covid-19? | Film | The Guardian

Changing big film release dates is the industry equivalent of turning an oil tanker round. And, with a significant chunk of the marketing budget spent, the date change would be likely to leave the studio between $30m and $50m out of pocket – hardly small change, but better than the alternative of taking a Covid-19 broadside and losing out on an estimated $300m.

Competitive Hot Dog Eaters Nearing Limit of Human Performance | Food | The Guardian

A scientific analysis suggests competitive eaters have come within nine hot dogs of the limits of human performance. The theoretical ceiling has been set at 84 hot dogs in 10 minutes. The current world record, set by Joey “Jaws” Chestnut earlier this month, stands at 75.

What a Lockdown Looks Like in Afghanistan | Culture | HuckMag

The photojournalist chose to stay in Afghanistan, and explains in hindsight that his purchasing of $500 worth of rations, 400 litres of drinking water, a sack of flour and planting a vegetable patch in his backyard was, ultimately, overkill. “The way it all transpired was relatively civilised, despite the desperation for a lot of people here,” he says.

The Dark Side of the #PerfectFace Surgery Trend | Social Media | VICE

This rabbit hole led me to a photoshopping community morphing well-known faces until they look “perfect”. Active on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, a new digital trend of “fixing” celebrities has emerged: #perfectface.

The Accidental Invention of the Illuminati Conspiracy | Future | BBC

It’s the conspiracy theory to dwarf all conspiracy theories. A smorgasbord of every other intrigue under the sun, the Illuminati are the supposed overlords controlling the world’s affairs, operating secretly as they seek to establish a New World Order. But this far-fetched paranoia all started with a playful work of fiction in the 1960s.

How a Fake Baby is Born | Technology | The Atlantic

The primary evidence for these claims is usually a blurry photo or two in which a baby bump appears “deflated” or “shifted.” A visible wrinkle in a shirt can be deemed evidence of a prosthetic. An expecting mother who disappears from the public eye during her pregnancy can easily be accused of hiding something.

One Last Thing