Intel 12/16: This Brooklyn Coffee Shop Doesn’t Want Your Money & Finally, a Bacon Emoji

Anete Lūsiņa

Apple’s Latest Emoji Update Includes Bacon, Avocado, Falafel & More

Apple

In its latest iOS update, 10.2, Apple has released several updated and new emojis that include more diverse avatars, expanded job choices, expressions that now include nausea and drooling, and even one in the act of taking a selfie. This time around, the emoji keyboard also features bacon, an avocado, a falafel, paella, and a salad with well-defined slices of tomato, cucumber, and onion. Notably, this update also includes an emoji for a wide-smiling clown, which suggests that Apple thinks the creepy clown sightings of 2016 could continue into the new year.

Chef’s Table, the Only Three Michelin-Starred Restaurant in Brooklyn, Has Left Brooklyn

Instagram / @abelchlam

In a move that was only announced to staff and guests with a reservation, Chef’s Table, the only restaurant in Brooklyn to have received three Michelin stars, has moved to Hell’s Kitchen, in a space attached to Brooklyn Fare’s 37th Street location. The plans to move had been rumored since earlier this year, but chef César Ramirez opted not to share the decision publicly. According to Eater, the relocated Chef’s Table has 18 seats at a counter and four tables, and the tasting menu consists of 13 courses. As of now, the Brooklyn location is considered “temporarily closed,” though it is not clear what will become of the space.

Your Money’s No Good at This Brooklyn Coffee Shop

Taylor Franz

A hip and effortlessly cool Williamsburg coffee shop where the coffee is free sounds more like a pipe dream than a real business plan — and yet, one man is making it happen, right this minute. Open from now through March 30, the Museo de Los Sures gallery on South 1st Street will be hosting a pop-up coffee shop called the Aridoamerica Winter Plan, where a barista will serve you coffee for any amount you’d like to give, including nothing at all. Patrons are also encouraged to barter goods or services in exchange for coffee, and what that means is up to each customer. The magnanimous man behind this unusual coffee cooperative is Fran Ilich, a Mexican-born artist who now lives in the Bronx.

“I think we have to remember that it’s not about material things — happiness is something different,” Ilich told the Brooklyn Paper. “I want to tell the story that goods or foods can exist outside of the market.” The shop has received part of its funding from the New York State Council of the Arts, and as such, Winter Plan will be able to stay open on as little as 25 cents per cup. You won’t be able to make this an everyday thing, however. The shop is only open four days a week: Thursday-Friday, 4-7pm; and Saturday-Sunday, 10am-2pm.

Decline in American Life Expectancy Puzzles Researchers 

Life expectancy for American citizens is on the decline for the first time since 1993, according to a new study released by the National Center for Health Statistics. In 1993, HIV-related deaths were at their height, whereas doctors today cannot pinpoint why, in 2015, American life expectancy was recorded at 78.8 years, down .1 from 2014. That figure represents 1.2 percent more deaths in 2015, or 86,212 people. The decline, which one doctor described to The New York Times as a “uniquely American phenomenon,” has not been traced to one specific factor, but figures point to higher death rates in eight of the top 10 causes of fatality, including diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease. Cancer-related deaths, meanwhile, are actually down 1.7 percent from 2014.

Apparently There Are At Least 59 Different Types of Obesity

At last count, there are at least 59 different types of obesity, according to Dr. Lee Kaplan, the director of the obesity, metabolism, and nutrition institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. Previously, there were thought to be just six different iterations of the disease. This new, substantially higher figure may explain why diets and weight-loss strategies continue to be confusing and ineffective for so many dieters, and why, according one Harvard professor, “some people lose 50 pounds on a diet while others on the same diet gain a few pounds.” Though this updated research doesn’t exactly make the goal of curing obesity any easier, it does suggest that treatments, diets, and drug therapies will vary widely for individuals — and that a New Year’s resolution to get in shape might be much easier for some people in your group chat than others.

Experts Warn of a Holiday Whipped Cream Shortage

Flickr/Steven Depolo/CC BY

An “industrywide shortage of canned whipped topping, such as Reddi-wip” is poised to hit the country as the holiday season rapidly approaches, according to ConAgra, the major food company which manufactures Reddi-wip, as well as brands like Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, and Slim Jim. The real culprit is a shortage of nitrous oxide, essential to the propulsion of the whipped topping from the can, as the result of a fatal explosion at a nitrous oxide plant in August. “It’s in stores now, but we’re encouraging people to buy it early,” a ConAgra spokesperson said. “There will be a shortage if people buy at the typical levels during the holidays.” Of course, if you have a stand mixer or strong forearms and lots of determination, you can always make your own whipped cream.