Neatorama

Cadbury Creme Egg Deaths Posted: 27 Mar 2009 07:26 PM PDT My sweet tooth must be in full effect tonight because I somehow keep stumbling upon posts about donuts and cupcakes and Cadbury Creme Eggs. Last year, Cadbury held a contest for fans to submit videos of the delicious chocolatey goodness going splat. They called it their “Here today, goo tomorrow” campaign, and some of them are pretty awesome. Check out this Rube Goldberg contraption - it’s really complicated. My favorite part is the Smashing Eggs But fans of Andy Samberg and SNL digital shorts will appreciate this one - it’s a tribute to the “Dear Sister” short. Via Cakespy

Delectable But Deadly Cupcakes Posted: 27 Mar 2009 07:06 PM PDT Craftster user Lethargic made these back in October for the season premiere of Dexter, but other clever Craftsters immediately came up with lots of other uses for them (divorce party). The actual cake is red velvet (my favorite, yum) with butter cream icing tinted to look flesh colored, and the little knives are made out of piped white chocolate. Genius. And Crafter member Choleblack made these simple yet brilliant cupcakes for Halloween. You could also use them for a Twilight party (not my thing, but have at it if it’s yours) or a True Blood premiere party. Or just for fun if you’re kind of creepy like me. Links: Dexter and Vampire

How Your Vocal Cords Make Sound Posted: 27 Mar 2009 01:03 PM PDT This one is fascinating, though if you’re a little squeamish about human anatomy, this isn’t for you. Here’s a video clip of Dr. Christopher Chang performing a transnasal fiberoptic stroboscopy to evaluate the vocal cords. (Plain English translation: here’s how your vocal cords make the sound that’s comin’ out of your mouth!) Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

Science Explains Why Toddlers Don’t Listen Posted: 27 Mar 2009 11:50 AM PDT After determining the biological basis of why teenagers don’t like doing chores, science turns it attention to another of life’s great mystery: why toddler don’t do what they’re told. Are you listening to me? Didn’t I just tell you to get your coat? Helloooo! It’s cold out there… So goes many a conversation between parent and toddler. It seems everything you tell them either falls on deaf ears or goes in one ear and out the other. But that’s not how it works. Toddlers listen, they just store the information for later use, a new study finds. "I went into this study expecting a completely different set of findings," said psychology professor Yuko Munakata at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "There is a lot of work in the field of cognitive development that focuses on how kids are basically little versions of adults trying to do the same things adults do, but they’re just not as good at it yet. What we show here is they are doing something completely different." Link

Jane Elliott’s Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Experiment on Racism Posted: 27 Mar 2009 11:49 AM PDT Photo: Charlotte Button After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, school teacher Jane Elliott wanted to teach her third-grade class about racism. Rather than a lengthy discussion about it, she decided to show the 8-year-olds what racism is all about in a famous "experiment": With King shot just the day before in Memphis, Elliott encouraged her third-graders to discuss how something so horrible could happen. "I finally said, ‘Do you kids have any idea how it feels to be something other than white in this country?’ " The children shook their heads and said they wanted to learn, so Elliott set the rules. Blue-eyed children must use a cup to drink from the fountain. Blue-eyed children must leave late to lunch and to recess. Blue-eyed children were not to speak to brown-eyed children. Blue-eyed children were troublemakers and slow learners. Within 15 minutes, Elliott says, she observed her brown-eyed students morph into youthful supremacists and blue-eyed children become uncertain and intimidated. Brown-eyed children "became domineering and arrogant and judgmental and cool," she says. "And smart! Smart! All of a sudden, disabled readers were reading. I thought, ‘This is not possible, this is my imagination.’ And I watched bright, blue-eyed kids become stupid and frightened and frustrated and angry and resentful and distrustful. It was absolutely the strangest thing I’d ever experienced." Corina Knoll of the Los Angeles Times has the story: Link

Ghost Images Posted: 27 Mar 2009 11:47 AM PDT University of Hertfordshire psychologist and researcher Richard Wiseman (he wrote The Luck Factor book featured previously on Neatorama here) is interested in scientific research into the paranormal. So he asked people to submit their "ghost" photographs in an effort to find scientific explanation of the mysterious, "ghostly" images found in them. Here’s the preliminary result, a list of 10 most remarkable ghost photos as voted by web users: Link (This one above is the Tantallon Castle Ghost, as taken by photographer Christopher Aitchison) Previously on Neatorama: 15 Famous Ghost Photos | Ghostly Angel

Cow Pee Cola? Posted: 27 Mar 2009 11:06 AM PDT It doesn’t sound very appetizing.  But the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Sawyamseval Sangh wants to make a cola from cow urine, claiming that the soda would taste good, be healthy and could cure diseases, even cancer.  The drink is undergoing lab testing in Lucknow and the group hopes to have it on the market by the end of the year. Dr. Donald Hensrud, chairman of the Division of Preventive Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, remains skeptical of its supposed health benefits. “I think I’m perfectly comfortable in saying that I’m aware of no data that cow’s urine– or any other species’ urine– holds any promise in treating or preventing cancer.” – Dr. Donald Hensrud, Mayo Clinic Link - via growabrain From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Miniatur Wonderland: World’s Largest Model Railway Posted: 27 Mar 2009 11:05 AM PDT [YouTube - Link] Miniatur Wonderland in Hamburg, Germany is the largest model railway in the world. With 7 miles of tracks in an area of over 16,000 sq ft, 200,000 people, 4,000 cars, 800 buildings, it features 6 geographic regions including America. It’s a work in progress (!) with a goal of more than 13 miles of tracks. The builders have already clocked in more than 500,000 hours of work. This video is a presentation of this amazing attraction; make sure you watch the ’small’ control room @ 3:35. From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Christophe.

Crabs Feel Pain and Remember It Posted: 27 Mar 2009 11:01 AM PDT Not so good news for crustacean lovers.  According to a research from Queen’s University Belfast researchers, crabs not only feel pain, but also remember it.  Professor Bob Elwood and Mirjam Appel, whose study was published in the journal Animal Behavior,  used electric shocks on hermit crabs to determine their response to unpleasant external stimuli. Wires were attached to shells to deliver the small shocks to the abdomen of the some of the crabs within the shells. The only crabs to get out of their shells were those which had received shocks, indicating that the experience is unpleasant for them. This shows that central neuronal processing occurs rather than the response merely being a reflex. Crabs that had been shocked but had remained in their shell appeared to remember the experience of the shock because they quickly moved towards the new shell, investigated it briefly and were more likely to change to the new shell compared to those that had not been shocked. Professor Elwood said: “There has been a long debate about whether crustaceans including crabs, prawns and lobsters feel pain. “We know from previous research that they can detect harmful stimuli and withdraw from the source of the stimuli but that could be a simple reflex without the inner ‘feeling’ of unpleasantness that we associate with pain. “This research demonstrates that it is not a simple reflex but that crabs trade-off their need for a quality shell with the need to avoid the harmful stimulus. “Such trade-offs are seen in vertebrates in which the response to pain is controlled with respect to other requirements. Link From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.

Victorian Flea Circuses: A Lost Art Form? Posted: 27 Mar 2009 10:08 AM PDT The flea circus sounds funny, but it was once a serious (if strange) performance type. The fleas are actually trained to ‘behave’ and ‘perform’ in certain ways - even harnassed with tiny wires. Of course, for every such sensation there are its detractors - and perhaps with good reason. In this day and age, there are some who say that a flea circus constitutes animal cruelty. Either way, these images and this history are amazing. A flea, with legs finer than a human hair, can pull up to 700 times its own weight! A flea can lift up to 60 times its own weight! A flea can jump over 150 times its own height! When we build circuses on Mars, or asteroids one day, then we’ll perhaps witness similar dexterity, but for now - consider a humble flea: Link From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Urbanist.

More New Math Posted: 27 Mar 2009 09:07 AM PDT Craig Damrauer uses math equations to illustrate concepts that aren’t math. For example: Cleanliness = Godliness - 1 Crazy = Talking to oneself - ( cell phone + ear piece ) Nagging = reminding + reminding + reminding Link -via Metafilter

Serial Killer Mystery Solved Posted: 27 Mar 2009 06:28 AM PDT Hundreds of detectives in Germany spent two years trying to track down a mysterious female serial killer whose DNA was collected at 39 different crime scenes. When no progress was made in the cases, police offered a 300,000 euro reward for information leading to the killer. It’s no surprise the money was never claimed, however, because the so-called 'phantom killer' was a complete myth! Detectives had apparently been tracking the DNA of a factory worker who packaged cotton buds used by the police to collect samples, according to 'Stern.de'. Link -via reddit

8 of the Manliest Sports Posted: 27 Mar 2009 06:26 AM PDT This list of manly sports include a couple I’ve never heard of, including Calcio Fiorentino. This Italian sport originated in 16th century Florence. Called Bareknuckle Football, it's a manlier version of, well, everything. Punching, head-butting, and choking are all legal. In 50 minutes each team tries to score as many points (cacce) as possible. In simpler terms this means that whichever team beats up the other more effectively will win. The closest thing we have to modern day gladiatorial combat. Seriously, they used to release prisoners to perform. Manly. Most of the sports listed are violent or injury-inducing, but not all. Link -via the Presurfer

Fast Food in Asia & Australia Posted: 27 Mar 2009 06:24 AM PDT Continuing the series begun with Fast Food in Europe (previously at Neatorama) HealthAssist takes a look at fast foods found in Australia and various Asian countries. In Indonesia: In most cities it is common to see Chinese dishes such as bakpao (buns), bakmi (noodles), and bakso (meatballs). Though, pork is not used since the majority of Indonesians are Muslims. Another popular Indonesian street foods and snacks are siomay (mackerel fish meat served with peanut sauce, pempek (fish and sago), bubur ayam (chicken congee), bubur kacang hijau (green beans porridge), satay (diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef or fish), nasi and mie goreng (fried rice and fried noodle), gorengan (Indonesian assorted fritters). Link -Thanks, Karen!

Movie Trivia: The Goonies Posted: 27 Mar 2009 05:36 AM PDT Who hasn’t seen The Goonies at least five times? It’s one of the best movies ever. Even though I’ve seen it a million times (and consider myself somewhat well-versed in movie trivia), I learned a ton of new stuff by watching the commentary. Here’s what I learned… and if you have your own tidbit to contribute, leave a comment! The actress who played Harriet Walsh, Mary Ellen Trainor, married Robert Zemeckis. She was in four of his movies - Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future Part II, Death Becomes Her and Forrest Gump. They divorced in 2000. Corey Feldman memorized all of the Spanish for the scene where he purposely mistranslates all of Mrs. Walsh’s instructions for the maid. If you recognize the housekeeper, by the way, it may be from Selena - she played Selena’s killer Yolanda. It took them two days and more than 100 takes to shoot the scene in the attic where the kids discover One Eye Willy’s map. One Eye Willy’s full name is William B. Pordobell, by the way. Mouth’s real name is Clark. The cast said they were all terrified to shoot the Cyndi Lauper video “Goonies R Good Enough” because all of the wrestlers (Rowdy Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant) intimidated them. The guy who played Sloth is John Matuszak. Have you ever noticed that he’s wearing an Oakland Raiders t-shirt in part of the movie? That’s a little inside joke - Matuszak actually played for the Oakland Raiders. His nickname was the Tooz. He died from a heart attack just four years after The Goonies came out at the young age of 38. It’s widely assumed it was caused by his massive steroid use. Sloth took about five hours of makeup every day. His eye was operated by remote control off camera. Photo from Goonies.org, which is a really neat place to visit if you like Goonies trivia. At about 40:30, (they’re in the Fratellis’ hideout), Sean Astin and Josh Brolin are arguing. Sean Astin accidentally finishes up one of his exclamations with “Josh!” instead of “Brand!” Check it out. I was kind of delighted by this one. When rocks are falling from the cave ceiling and Data yells “Holy S-H-I-T,” it’s not because that’s the line that was scripted. It’s because Jonathan Ke Quan promised his mom he wouldn’t say any curse words in the movie. Robert Davi, who plays Jake Fratelli, the singing brother (AKA, the Fratelli who isn’t Joey Pants), is really a trained opera singer. The Goonies are called the Goonies because they all come from the “Goon Docks” neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon. Do they explain that in the movie somewhere? I swear I’ve watched this movie about 30 times and I’ve never noticed an explanation. Maybe I’m really unobservant. When Chunk is sobbing while being interrogated by the Fratellis, he was really crying - he said he thought of his mother dying. Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk, stopped acting around 1991. He’s now an entertainment lawyer in L.A. He says he ran for class President at U.C. Berkeley with the slogan “Chunk for President,” which is pretty smart. I would have voted for Chunk. Word is that he used to do the Truffle Shuffle at football games. I love that he has a sense of humor about it. Goonies never say die… which means don’t count Goonies 2 out. Rumors about an animated sequel have been floating around for years - some actors have said it’s not even being discussed, and others say it’s nearly a certainty. The guy that plays Troy, Andy’s boyfriend before she and Brand hook up, is Steve Antin. Not only is he a writer, his whole family is pretty famous - his brother is the celebrity hair stylist Jonathan Antin, his sister Robin Antin created the Pussycat Dolls (the burlesque act, not the group), and his other brother Neil Antin is also an actor. Steve dated David Geffen for a while in the late ’80s. The kids hadn’t seen the pirate ship set until the moment you see in the film, so if they look particularly awed, that’s why. Corey Feldman claimed he and Sean Astin saw it before the fact, but none of the other actors would believe him. Sean Astin had slipped out of the commentary by this point so he didn’t have any backup. Sadly, the pirate ship was just junked afterward - they tried to donate it to an amusement park or another movie, but no one would take it, so it was destroyed. Wow, random bit of information: Martha Plimpton, who plays Stef, is Keith Carradine’s daughter (and David Carradine’s niece). “Plimpton” is her mother’s name. Richard Donner said that after the kids wrapped for the day, the rest of the cast and crew would sometimes go back in and turn the water jets on so they could ride the slide in the caves where the Goonies flew down to get to the pirate ship. Richard Donner still has the head of One Eye Willy in his office. If you’re ever in Oregon and want to go on your own Goonies tour, check out TheGoonies.org - it lists all of the locations the movie was shot at and what still exists today. You can still go do your own Truffle Shuffle in front of the Goonie House - the owners don’t mind. When the kids escape from the pirate ship and are thrashing about in the water, they encounter an octopus. You don’t see this in the movie because it was cut, but Data still references it when he’s telling his mom about their adventures at the end of the movie. And I was very pleasantly surprised to see that all of the kids - even Josh Brolin - came back to do the commentary for the film. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to watch your child self for two hours… I think it’s hard enough just looking at pictures in passing. The ’80s were not kind to most children (and I definitely do not exclude myself). Do you have a movie you’d like to know some behind-the-scenes info on? Leave me a Tweet and let me know!

Pixel Cars in Honda Ad Posted: 27 Mar 2009 05:25 AM PDT (YouTube link) Honda’s new ad features pixels made of car headlights! W+K's Amsterdam office one-upped the Sheep LED ad spot with this one. There is no CG here! This was put together the good old fashion way, with laser sights, GPS, and a land surveyor! It's a good thing all those cars are hybrids! Directed by Erik Van Wyk. -via booooooom From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by diskursdisko.

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