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2010/05/29

Neatorama

Neatorama

The Last Secret of the Moai

Posted: 29 May 2010 03:39 AM PDT

For many years it has been supposed that the inland moai of Easter Island were simply those giant monoliths that did not make it to the coast.  Either too heavy to move further or broken by the arduous journey using pulleys, they were simply abandoned.

A new team of academics from the United Kingdom have come up with an alternative suggestion – and perhaps the moai are finally to give up their last secret. The monoliths, it is now argued, played a pivotal role in the island's road system and were left in their places much more specifically than the old consensus ever suggested.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

Frazil Ice

Posted: 29 May 2010 03:37 AM PDT


[YouTube - Link]

In as odd phenomenon at Yosemite Falls, the mist generated from the waterfall forms ice in the upper, cooler atmosphere at night and falls with the water making a slushy mixture called frazil ice. This slush causes some dynamic changes in Yosemite creek mimiking lava flows in that it flows, blocks up, and then spreads around. Nature is such a beautiful and mysterious thing.

- via wimp

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by sshuggi.

Palettes of Famous Artists

Posted: 28 May 2010 11:02 PM PDT

In an essay at The Telegraph, photography critic and picture editor Lucy Davis muses about the palettes used by well-known artists.

Some artists mix every gradation of colour they will need for a painting before they start, others as they need them. "My freshly arranged palette, brilliant with contrasting colors, is enough to fire my enthusiasm," noted Delacroix in his Journal in 1850. The French artist was meticulous in his arrangement of colours, and when unwell, would take his palette to bed and spend the entire day just mixing new shades.

The actual palettes of Renoir, Seurat, Degas, Delacroix (above), Moreau, Gauguin, and Van Gogh are illustrated, accompanied by commentary on how the physical layout of colors on the board may influence the figurative “palette” of color choices used by the artist for his work.

Link.

The Graffiti of WWII

Posted: 28 May 2010 10:42 PM PDT

Victorious armies have employed graffiti to celebrate their conquests for millennia.  A photoessay at Poemas del río Wang utilizes images from the archives of LIFE magazine and other sources to document the extensive graffiti that characterized Berlin after the defeat of Hitler.

The inscriptions remained intact for fifty years in the closed and isolated Reichstag. It was only in the 90s that they were discovered by Karin Felix, a collaborator of the restorations. She prepared a first, complete catalog of the inscriptions and she has made inquiries about the persons and the stories behind the names.

During the restoration of the Reichstag, some of the graffiti was conserved as an item of historical interest.

Link.

Someday You May Be Able to Grow New Teeth

Posted: 28 May 2010 10:09 PM PDT

Dr. Jeremy Mao, a research physician at Columbia University, has developed a technique for regrowing teeth in a patient’s mouth.

An animal-model study has shown that by homing stem cells to a scaffold made of natural materials and integrated in surrounding tissue, there is no need to use harvested stem cell lines, or create an environment outside of the body (e.g., a Petri dish) where the tooth is grown and then implanted once it has matured. The tooth instead can be grown "orthotopically," or in the socket where the tooth will integrate with surrounding tissue in ways that are impossible with hard metals or other materials.

The procedure could eliminate the need for dentures and conventional dental implants.

Link, via Popsci.

Petri Dish Soap

Posted: 28 May 2010 09:47 PM PDT

Remember Petri dish cookies?  Now a clever artisan has come up with an interesting counterpart – Petri dish soap!  The soap is home-made on a coconut oil base, then colored to match the streak patterns of various bacteria on different types of agar, and packaged in a Petri dish.

Link.

Walking Across the United States

Posted: 28 May 2010 09:29 PM PDT

Matt Green is a 30-year old man who decided to walk across the United States.  He’s not doing this to raise funds for a charity or to call attention to a cause; it’s a “for the heck of it” adventure.  He intends to walk 3,000 miles, from Rockaway Beach, New York to Rockaway Beach, Oregon, pushing a cart which carries (among other items) his food, clothing, basic camping equipment, two books, pepper spray, and duct tape.

When I'm driving, I find myself saying "Oh, I should have stopped there" as I go flying by something that looks interesting. The idea of having to impede your progress, turn the car around, and find a place to park is such a mental barrier to exploring when you're driving. Even on a bike there's a hesitancy to stop and climb off the saddle to go check something out. But it's easy when you're walking. You don't have to stop what you're doing; you just walk in a different direction for a little and have a look around.

I'm very drawn to the simplicity of this whole pursuit. Each day I'll wake up, pack all my possessions back in my cart, and walk a little farther. That's it. That's the extent of my world. I'm just walkin'. I think everyone dreams about such a simple existence from time to time, when the worries and pressures of modern life start to accumulate. This is my chance to live that dream for a while, and see how the reality compares to the fantasy.

He is travelling without a support team, so to a certain extent he relies on the kindness of strangers, and he documents those encounters and his other experiences with photos at his very interesting website (including, to date, 24 “awesome mailboxes.”)

Previously on Neatorama: Walking Across America (with a Mule!)

Matt Green’s I’m Just Walking website.  Via the StarTribune.

8-Month Baby Hears for First Time

Posted: 28 May 2010 06:57 PM PDT


[YouTube - Link]


Baby Jonathan was deaf from birth, but received a cochlear implant at 8 months. The way his expression changes when the device is turned on and he hears his mother’s voice for the first time is pretty amazing. His father videotaped the moment.

– via holykaw

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Swiss Cheese from the Source

Posted: 28 May 2010 06:54 PM PDT

Dairies in Switzerland make many varieties of Swiss cheese, and only some kinds have the holes we associate with it. Gadling has a short course in Swiss cheese making from the Appenzeller cheese dairy in Stein, Appenzellerland, Switzerland.

Now, onto what you’ll learn about the 700 year old Appenzeller cheese, renowned as the “spiciest cheese from Switzerland:”

The dairy guys get to work at about 4 AM to receive and test the milk brought in by local farmers. They test it to ensure that the cows ate nothing but hay and meadow grass. If farmers bring in bad milk once, they get a warning; twice and they are banned.

To create a consistent product, part of the milk is skimmed, then slowly re-added to the whole milk to ensure an exact fat content. This is a practice older than most cheese dairies.

That’s only the very beginning of the process. If you are ever in Switzerland, you can take a tour of the cheese plant yourself! Link

Man Is World's First to Leave Hospital with Artificial Heart

Posted: 28 May 2010 06:42 PM PDT


(YouTube Link)

Charles Okeke of Arizona has an artificial heart the size of a backpack. It’s called the Freedom Driver and was developed by SynCardia Systems. With this device, Okeke was able to leave the confines of a hospital for the first time in two years:

The device requires pressurized air from an external machine called "Big Blue," and the bulk and size of the 190 kg machine has until now prevented recipients from leaving hospital. In the case of Charles Okeke a smaller 6.1 kg version of the pressurizing machine, dubbed "Freedom Driver," has been used, and this is small enough to fit in a backpack.

Okeke must wear the backpack at all times, but it has at least given him the freedom to leave hospital and go home, after already spending over 600 days in the Mayo Clinic wired up to Big Blue. Okeke's heart failed after a blood clot "destroyed his heart" and had a heart transplant that lasted around 10 years before his body rejected it.

Link via DVICE

Medical Study Reveals That Headbangers Are at Risk for Headbanging

Posted: 28 May 2010 06:35 PM PDT

A 2008 study published in The British Medical Journal suggests a causal link between the headbanging movements of heavy metal fans and head injuries:

Young people at heavy metal concerts often report being dazed and confused, possible symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury. Little formal injury research has been conducted on the world wide phenomenon of head banging, even though case reports indicate the inherent risks in this activity, especially in head and neck injury. Head banging is a violent activity associated with hard rock and various subgenres of heavy metal.[...]

Though exposure to head banging is enormous, opportunities are present to control this risk—for example, encouraging bands such as AC/DC to play songs like “Moon River” as a substitute for “Highway to Hell”; public awareness campaigns with influential and youth focused musicians, such as Sir Cliff Richard; labelling of music packaging with anti-head banging warnings, like the strategies used with cigarettes; training; and personal protective equipment.

Link via Nerdcore | Photo by flickr user Jesse Bikman used under Creative Commons license

The 50 Worst Inventions

Posted: 28 May 2010 06:27 PM PDT

Time magazine has a list of what its editors consider to be the worst inventions of, well, it looks like the last fifty years or so. Among them are crocs:

It doesn’t matter how popular they are, they’re still pretty ugly. The footwear, introduced in 2002, mostly takes the form of rubber clogs, but has seen transformation into high heels and loafers. The company also announced April 26 it would start making ballet flats. “If we make it a little bit more stylish, then we start to appeal to a larger audience,” said the company’s CEO. Which means they just might be attractive enough to do your laundry in.

What would you add to the list?

Link via io9 | Photo: David Silverman/Getty Images

A Short Film about an Extraordinary Light Switch

Posted: 28 May 2010 06:05 PM PDT


(YouTube Link)

Switch is a short film that Tyson Hesse made for his graduating thesis at the Savannah College of Art and Design. It’s about a young man who falls into a dark room that is empty except for one light switch. Whenever he toggles it, very appealing or very dangerous things appear.

via reddit | Hesse’s Blog

Scooter Armadillo Armor

Posted: 28 May 2010 05:58 PM PDT

Inspired by the armadillo, designer Marc Graells Ballve made this retractable armored shell for his scooter to protect it from theft. Do you think that it will work?

via OhGizmo! | Designer’s Website | Image: Marc Graells Ballve

Nicholas Cage Hair

Posted: 28 May 2010 03:28 PM PDT

Derek Eads created this cool game based on Nicholas Cage and his movies! Can you match the character’s hair (as portrayed by Cage) to the movie it appeared in? Link -via The Daily What

Give up? Here are the answers.

Annual Guilt-free Trysts

Posted: 28 May 2010 03:24 PM PDT

Once a year, in mountainous Ha Giang province of northern Vietnam, married people can get away and enjoy a couple of days with on old flame -and it’s considered okay! The participants gather in the village of Khau Vai on the 26th and 27th of the third month, using the lunar calendar, in order to rekindle lost loves from the past.

Legend has it an ethnic Giay girl from Ha Giang province fell in love with an ethnic Nung boy from the neighboring province of Cao Bang.

The girl was so beautiful that her tribe did not want to let her marry a man from another tribe and a bloody conflict ensued between the two tribes.

Watching tragedy unfold before them, the two lovers sorrowfully decided to part ways to avoid further bloodshed and to restore peace.

But to keep their love alive they made a secret pact to meet once a year on the 27th day of the third lunar month in Khau Vai. Thereafter, the hill village became known as a meeting place for all of those in love.

One married couple came to Khau Vai together, as both were meeting former lovers. Read more in this story by Nguyen Van Vinh. Link -via Gadling

(Image credit: REUTERS/Kham)

Janey Cutler: the Next Susan Boyle?

Posted: 28 May 2010 01:07 PM PDT

Move over Susan Boyle! Nipping at the heel of the unlikely singing sensation and Interweb star is 81-year-old mother of 7, grandma of 13 and greatgrandmother of 4 Janey Cutler. Here’s her rendition of "No Regrets" (Non, je ne regrette rien famously sung by Édith Piaf):


YouTube Clip

Thanks SparkS!

Previously on Neatorama: Lin Yu Chun Sings With William Shatner

Visual Puns by Michael Renouf

Posted: 28 May 2010 12:40 PM PDT

If you love visual puns, you’ll love the artwork of Michael Renouf of Non-Stick Plans. Michael’s been kind enough to lend a few of his artwork to the Neatorama Art Blog. Check it out here: Link | Many, many more at Michael’s official blog

Now, wouldn’t these make for great T-shirts or posters? ;)

Holiday Weekend TV

Posted: 28 May 2010 12:26 PM PDT

TV Tango has a list of everything special on TV for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. You wouldn’t want to miss a marathon showing of your favorite show, whether it’s The Andy Griffith Show, Spongebob Squarepants, Doctor Who, or America’s Next Top Model. There are also specials to remind us what Memorial Day is all about, with documentaries, war movies, and tributes to those who gave the last full measure. Link -via Interesting Pile

How The U.S. Government Killed The Safest Car Ever Built

Posted: 28 May 2010 11:37 AM PDT

When Ralph Nader wrote the book Unsafe at Any Speed, the US Government sat up and took notice. Highway deaths were unacceptably high, and someone had to do something about it. In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, a government program actually developed the RSV, a car that had many new safety features. The government tinkered with the design, the features, and tried to sell the idea of a safer car to the automobile industry and the public. What happened to this program? It’s a long story, but in the end, the RSVs were destroyed.

Then-NHTSA chief Jerry Curry contended the vehicles were obsolete, and that anyone who could have learned something from them had done so by then. Claybrook, the NHTSA chief who’d overseen the RSV cars through 1980, told Congress the destruction compared to the Nazis burning books.

“Junking those cars was a terrible idea,” said Kelley, who now teaches at Tufts medical school. “What is the benefit of keeping anything that’s historically important? The future wants to know more about the past, and when you destroy the past, you destroy the future’s access to knowing about it.”

“I thought they were intentionally destroying the evidence that you could do much better,” said Friedman.

Read the complete story at Jalopnik. Link -via Metafilter

The Clio Awards for Best Television Commercials

Posted: 28 May 2010 11:36 AM PDT


(YouTube Link)

The Clio Awards are given annually by the advertising industry for the best examples of advertising. One of the categories is for television, cinema, and digital works. The grand prize winner in that category was this commercial for Boag’s Draught, a beer brewed in Tasmania. It was created by the firm of Publicis Mojo in Sydney. The link will take you to videos for the other winners in the same category.

Link via Slate

Bi-King

Posted: 28 May 2010 11:34 AM PDT

Korean designer SungKug Kim made this bicycle and a couple of others which incorporate the shapes of antlers and horns and named the art project Bi-King. Link | Artist’s site -via Chris Tackett

Edible Crayons

Posted: 28 May 2010 11:21 AM PDT

The anonymous proprietor of the clothing and cuisine blog Luxirare uses dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and other edibles to make crayons you can eat.

All the crayons (she calls them health bars) are made with Fruity Pebbles (organized by color) and chocolate covered sunflower seeds. Luxirare then adds certain ingredients for particular colors: for red she adds goji berries plus freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries; for blue she uses freeze-dried peas and blueberries; green is a mixture of peas, green beans, dried kiwi fruit and dried pumpkin seeds.

She grinds up the ingredients into a powder and puts them in a pan of melted marsmallow with some water. Then she presses the mixture in a crayon-shaped mold, and allows the bars to air dry. The result: jewel-toned crayons that are also delicious.

Her photos are luscious too.

Link – via gizmodo

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Counting Calories

Posted: 28 May 2010 09:34 AM PDT

How well can you judge how fattening a food may be by looking at it? In this Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you’ll be presented with a pair of dishes. All you have to do is decide which one contains more calories. It’s not as easy as you might think; I scored only 59%. Link

5 Lesser Known Civil Wars

Posted: 28 May 2010 05:54 AM PDT

The US Civil War will always be one of the most studied parts of US History. But it hasn’t been the only civil war in the US. Cracked takes a look at five more wars that can really only be called ridiculous.

From the war between Michigan and Ohio over the city of Toledo (no one was killed but prisoners were taken) to a war over the Red River Bridge between Texas and Oklahoma (which all but stopped transit between the two states), these wars are relatively overlooked, and completely ludicrous.

Back on the Oklahoma side, Governor Murray decided the situation wasn’t anywhere near stupid enough yet, so he increased the dick move quotient in the skirmish by 75 percent and ordered the Oklahoma National Guard to block and demolish the road north of the private toll bridge, rendering the area impassable.

Then, he expanded his martial law order to both sides of the Red River bridge. And that was how Oklahoma National Guardsman wound up occupying land in Texas.

Link – via metafilter

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by nmiller.

8 Gadgets for Disabled Computer Users

Posted: 28 May 2010 05:54 AM PDT

A Braille PDA, a foot mouse, a breath-controlled device that allows computer users to move a cursor around a screen by blowing into a microphone.

There are several gadgets on the market right now, and more on the horizon, that make it easier for people with disabilities to use computers, and TakePart.com reviews some of their favorites.

You don’t have to be disabled to want the futuristic-looking, LED-lit, ergonomic Gravitonus work station (above), but it was designed for people who are paralyzed. Among its many features is a special attachment that aligns three screens with the user’s best field of vision in any body position. It also has surround-sound and a subwoofer built into the back of the seat so the sound is felt, not just heard.

Photo: Gravitonus.com

Link – via takepart

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Theft in Progress -or Not

Posted: 28 May 2010 05:54 AM PDT


[YouTube - Link]


All it takes is a hammer …and breakable glass! This reporter’s simple demonstration turned out to be anything but simple.

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Christophe.

Dinosaurs for sale!

Posted: 28 May 2010 05:54 AM PDT

Bonhams auction house in New York is held a unique auction on Thursday. On the block? Authentic dinosaur fossils and other artifacts from the ice age.

Among the things sold were skeletons, teeth, skulls, plants, and petrified trees. Most of the items were expected to go to museums, but private collectors also attended the auction.

Up for grabs are a Woolly Rhinoceros skeleton, a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth — and a stegodon skull. But don’t be tempted to go for the impulse buy — these items don’t come cheap, with experts warning a buyer could expect to pay anything up to and even over $200,000.

Link – via foxnews

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by nmiller.
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