Motersho

Think about this next time you are in a hurry and are pushing the walk button like crazy to cross the street and nothing seems to be happening.

A placebo button is a push-button that appears to do something, but actually has no effect, like a placebo. They exist to give the user an illusion of control.^[1]

Many walk buttons at pedestrian crossings in New York City were once functional, but now serve as placebo buttons.^[2] Many door close buttons in elevators are placebo buttons.^[1][3] Office thermostats may also function similarly.^[4]

Via Wikipedia

This is pretty interesting.

Once it reaches sexual maturity, Turritopsis looks like a tiny, transparent, many-tentacled parachute (only about 5mm in diameter) that floats freely in warm ocean waters. But when times get tough, Turritopsis can turn into a blob, anchor itself to a surface, and undergo a sort of reverse methamorphosis back to its youthful form as a stalk-like polyp. That’s like a butterfly turning back into a caterpillar. Scientists, who first described this phenomenon [pdf] in the 1990s, believe Turritopsis can repeat its life cycle indefinitely.

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