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2011/01/03

Neatorama

Neatorama

Cold Cases

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 05:06 AM PST

The following is an article from the book History’s Lists from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.

Rumor has it that Amelia Earhart and the grassy-knoll gunman have been found in a bar in Atlantis. Whew -three mysteries solved. Now, on to these.

1. THE BABUSHKA LADY


The Mystery: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Many people lined the motorcade route, filming the event with still and video cameras. In the days after the shooting, police and the FBI confiscated a lot of the footage, and someone interesting shows up in many of the images -a woman wearing what looks like a traditional Russian headscarf called a babushka tied underneath her chin. Her back is to the camera, but it looks like she is also filming the event, and even as the people around her run for cover or hit the ground when the president is shot, the woman stands her ground and continues to film. Who is she?

Solved? No. In 1970, a woman named Beverly Oliver came forward, claiming to be the babushka lady. She said that all the hoopla and conspiracy theories around Kennedy’s assassination scared her into silence. She also claimed to have handed over her video footage to some mysterious men who identified themselves as FBI and CIA agents.

Most investigators, though, think Oliver’s story is a hoax. Her account of the day contradicts those of other people there, and the model of a movie camera she claimed to have used wasn’t on the market in 1963. No one else has come forward.

2. NEW JERSEY SHARK ATTACKS OF 1916

Mystery: You did not want to be a swimmer along the New Jersey coast in July 1916. Over 11 days that summer, five people were mauled by sharks in three different seaside towns -four victims died. Then, like now, shark attacks were rare; fatal attacks even more so. But newspapers sensationalized the story -nicknaming the shark the “Jersey Maneater”- and rumors about the type of shark and number of sharks terrified vacationers into staying away from the beach towns… which ended up costing businesses along the coast more than $200,000.

Solved? No one is sure. On July 14, a fisherman named Michael Schleisser produced a 325-pound great white shark that he said he’d caught near the town of Matawan, where the last three victims were attacked. When he gutted the animal, Schleisser found human bones in its stomach.

Most people were satisfied that the Jersey Maneater had been caught, and indeed the attacks stopped after that. But as often happens, later research said “Not so fast.” In 2002, the National Geographic Society released a report that questioned the species of shark implicated in at least three of the 1916 attacks. Two people were killed in the open ocean, but the three victims in Matawan were attacked in a creek fed by the ocean. According to National Geographic researchers, it’s unlikely that the creek would have a high enough salt content to support a great white shark. Most sharks need to keep a constant level of salt in their bodies at all times, and a mixture of fresh creek water and salt water wouldn’t do the trick. So these scientists think that an unidentified bull shark was actually the culprit (bull sharks are unique in that they can move easily from saltwater to freshwater environments). Whatever the species, the Jersey Maneater remains part of American lore, and it inspired one of the most successful movies of all time: Jaws.

3. RONGORONGO

The Mystery: Spanish explorers first visited Easter Island in the South Pacific in the 1770s. After they left, the indigenous people who lived there developed a type of picture writing now called rongorongo (which means “to recite” in the native language). They carved this “text” onto hundreds of wooden tablets, but by the 1860s, their descendants had lost the ability to read the rongorongo writing. Only a few dozen of the tablets are left today.

Solved? No. Scientists have been unable to decipher the writing.

4. THE MARFA LIGHTS

Mystery: Unidentified glowing orbs in the desert might sound like something out of the X Files, but they’re very real to people in the town of Marfa, Texas. The fist recorded sightings of the lights came in 1883 when a ranch hand noticed them and thought they were Indian fires. On further investigation, though, he found no ash from any fires or evidence that anyone had been there at all. And the story has been like that ever since. The lights glow red, orange, and yellow, appear on most clear nights, and bounce like balls in the sky near where Highway 67 and Highway 90 meet. But no one can actually identify where they’re coming from.

Solved? Not really. People with an interest in ghosts and ghost stories claim that the Marfa lights are supernatural spirits (both friendly and harmful), while others claim that they are aliens. But the most likely explanation is that they are some kind of mirage produced when warm and cold layers of air meet and bend light. The fact is, though, that no one really knows. You can’t see the lights up close, only from far away, so no one have ever been able to truly identify what they are. Texas considers them a tourist attraction, and the highway department built a viewing area off Highway 90 so that curious visitors could see the Marfa lights for themselves.

(Image credit: Flickr user BrtinBoston)

___________________

The article above was reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader History’s Lists.

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts.

If you like Neatorama, you’ll love the Bathroom Reader Institute’s books – go ahead and check ‘em out!

John Kenn's Post-It Notes Monster Drawings

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 01:20 AM PST

John Kenn of Don Kenn Gallery, who writes and direct TV shows for kids, has quite the unexpected and fantastic hobby. He draws monsters … on Post-It Notes! As he says, "It is a little window into a different world, made on office supplies."

This one above, of Cthulhu rising from the sea, is my current favorite.

Link | Interview at My Modern Met – via Ectoplasmosis!

More: Cthulhu stuff from the NeatoShop

The Greatest College Prank Ever Pulled

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 01:18 AM PST

It’s been called the greatest college prank ever pulled: in 1961 Rose Bowl, a team of Caltech students altered the University of Washington’s halftime flip-card routine so it’d spell out "CALTECH."

Here’s how they did it, as told by the mastermind of the stunt (a then 19-year old student) Lyn Hardy:

"There was a lot of luck involved," the retired engineer says during an interview at his home in Torrance. "From a maturity of age looking back, what were the chances of pulling that thing off? I’d say zip. But you don’t know that when you’re 19."

Hardy, after learning that the Washington band and cheerleaders were staying in dormitories at Long Beach State, showed up posing as a reporter for the Dorsey High student newspaper. (Hardy, a Caltech junior at the time, was a Dorsey graduate.)

The cheerleaders, who organized the flip-card routine, willingly shared the technical details of how it worked.

"Three very nice guys . . . talked me through the whole thing, showed me where they kept everything," Hardy says.

Later, when the cheerleaders left for dinner, Hardy and another of Caltech’s so-called "Fiendish 14" broke into their room by picking the lock. Lifting a card-stunt instruction card, they took it back to Pasadena and had some 2,400 copies made.

Early on New Year’s Eve, while the cheerleaders were at Disneyland, Hardy’s group broke into their dorm room again, this time "borrowing" the master instructions.

Jerry Crowe of the Los Angeles Times has the story: Link (Photo: Wally Skalij)

Previously on Neatorama: Seven
College Pranks

Placebos Can Work Even Without Deception

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 01:16 AM PST

Placebos work because people who take it believe that they’re actually medicine, right? I mean, that’s the basic tenet of every modern medical studies, which use placebos as controls.

But can placebos work without any deception? Here’s an intriguing study from Harvard Medical School that discovered the surprising healing power of sugar pills:

"Not only did we make it absolutely clear that these pills had no active ingredient and were made from inert substances, but we actually had ‘placebo’ printed on the bottle," says Kaptchuk. "We told the patients that they didn’t have to even believe in the placebo effect. Just take the pills."

For a three-week period, the patients were monitored. By the end of the trial, nearly twice as many patients treated with the placebo reported adequate symptom relief as compared to the control group (59 percent vs. 35 percent). Also, on other outcome measures, patients taking the placebo doubled their rates of improvement to a degree roughly equivalent to the effects of the most powerful IBS medications.

"I didn’t think it would work," says senior author Anthony Lembo, HMS associate professor of medicine at BIDMC and an expert on IBS. "I felt awkward asking patients to literally take a placebo. But to my surprise, it seemed to work for many of them."

Link

Don't Panic and Take a Deep Breath? Bad Idea!

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 01:15 AM PST

Keep calm, don’t panic and take a deep breath … you’re about to learn that the age-old advice to stop yourself from panicking, namely taking deep breaths, is actually wrong.

Turns out, taking a deep breath for people people who are prone to panic attacks is actually a bad idea. Oops!

Panicking people are often told to calm down and "take a deep breath," Meuret said. But for someone hyperventilating during a panic attack, deep breathing is a bad idea. That’s because hyperventilation happens when people breathe so quickly and deeply that they expel an unusually high amount of carbon dioxide, which in turn causes symptoms like dizziness and numbness. Those symptoms tend to make people feel like they’re suffocating, so they breathe quicker and deeper, further exacerbating the problem.

"It’s not because they have a lack of oxygen, it’s because they’re exhaling too much air," Meuret said, adding, "’Take a deep breath’ is not a helpful instruction."

Link

The Sith Lord on Vacation

Posted: 03 Jan 2011 01:13 AM PST


Image: abell [Flickr]

In this vinyl collectible "Lord on Vacation" by Abell Octovan and Surya Sunburn, the Sith Lord will surely come back from his vacation all rested and ready to be disturbed in someone’s lack of faith.

Link

Amphibious Car on Sale on eBay

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 05:15 PM PST

Rick Dobbertin, a custom car builder, made this amphibious vehicle. The HydroCar is now up for auction on eBay. Tom Joslin of Jalopnik describes the car and explains why Dobbertin may have chosen to sell it:

The vehicle actually changes shape, lowering and extending pontoons when you switch it from land mode to water mode. The tunnel hulled HydroCar is propelled by a 572 Cubic inch Big Block Chevy that produces 762 horsepower.

While the HydroCar is clearly well built, after nine years and 18,800 hours, the custom vehicle is still not quite done. Several videos included in the auction show that while the HydroCar is improving as a result of testing, Dobbertin has been unable to get the boat to plane. Without being on plane the boat can’t come anywhere close to the estimate of the HydroCar’s 60 MPH water capability.

Link | Official Website | eBay Listing | Photo by eBay seller rick072800

Previously: The 10 Best Post-Apocalyptic Survival Vehicles

Lost Springs, Wyoming. Population: 1

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 05:04 PM PST

Lost Springs, Wyoming, lost 75% of its population between the 2000 and 2010 census. It now has, according to the federal government, only one resident. Dan Kaplan wrote about his visit:

There were a few buildings, including the post office/general store, a municipal building, and a small town park.

When we are about to leave, we see a woman drive into town. We find out that it is the postmaster. She doesn’t live in the town. A few minutes later, two other people show up. We find out that they are in the town because it is a convenient place for one to give the other a kitten. They don’t live there either. So there are five people in this town with a census population of ‘1′ and none of them live there!

The postmaster was able to tell us a little bit about the town. It turns out that the population is actually three. The mayor runs a catering business. One of the other residents is on the town council, but the other is not.

Link via J-Walk Blog | Photo by Flickr user Larry Page used under Creative Commons license

Totoro Toilet Paper Cozy

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 01:27 PM PST

Blogger Acornbud knitted a toilet paper roll cozy shaped like the titular character in the anime movie My Neighbor Totoro. At the link, you can view detailed instructions on how to make your own.

Link via Geek Crafts

Previously:
Totoro Cat Bus
Totoro Bento Box

Hi-Tech Japanese Vending Machine Uses 47-Inch Touchscreen Panel to Sell Drinks

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:20 PM PST

In a land of high-tech toilet and strange robots, a regular ol’ vending machine just won’t do. So behold, the vending machine in subway stations in Tokyo that uses 47-inch touchscreen panel to sell you drinks:

A 47-inch touchscreen panel dominates the front of this beast,
which shows two tall eyes when in sleep mode and switches to the storefront mode, which displays available drinks (and hides ones that are sold out, so that no ugly red "Sold out" buttons appear). Payment can be made in the traditional hard money method, as well as with a Suica or a FeliCa on a cell phone.

What makes this vending machine even more interesting is that there is a camera above the screen that determines the age and gender of a person standing in front of it, which the machine uses to "subtly" offer demographically-targeted drink selections, as well as collect marketing data based on customer's actual choices – no identifiable images or information are stored.

Akihabara News has the story (and video clip): Link – via Core77

Previously on Neatorama: Strange and Wonderful Vending Machines

Retro Camera Pencil Sharpener

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:18 PM PST


Camera Pencil Sharpener – $12.95

This Camera Pencil Sharpener from the NeatoShop does two things very well: first, it sharpens pencils (duh!) and second, it makes for a wonderful gift for the photography lovers in your family.

The retro pencil sharpener looks just like the classic twin-lens reflex camera like the Rolleiflex TLR. It’s wonderfully appropriate because using pencils that need sharpening is very retro! Link

See also: F-Stop Watch | More Gifts for Shutterbugs | Fun School Supplies

Who Invented the First Shovel?

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:17 PM PST

This one’s for the East Coasters, who undoubtedly have this thought in mind when they shovel their way out of mounds of glorious snow (California perspective here, folks): "Who invented the shovel, so I can thank them for such a wonderful invention, as I dig my way out of mounds of dreadful snow?"

Bjorn Carey of Life’s Little Mysteries did the detective work:

Like many East Coasters, I spent just a little bit of time digging out from this past weekend’s snow storm. As I stabbed my wood and aluminum shovel at a hip-high snow bank, I couldn’t help but marvel at the tool I was using. So simple, yet so useful.

The first known shovels, I found out in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, were discarded ox scapula (shoulder blades) that folks in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain used to move soil and rocks. 5,000 years ago, people probably didn’t need to clear a path through snow drifts to get to their car, but I’d bet that they used these tools to push around snow, too.

Link

My Blackberry Is Not Working!

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:16 PM PST

We’re late on this one, but if you haven’t seen it before, take a peek
at "My Blackberry Is Not Working" – a comedy sketch by Ronnie Corbett (who turned 80 just last month) and Harry Enfield of The One Ronnie, written by Dawson Bros.

Nobody does comedy quite like the Brits: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

IceCube Neutrino Detector

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:15 PM PST


Image: NSF/B. Gudbjartsson

What’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars and located under thousands of feet of ice in the South Pole? No, it’s not the lair of an evil scientist – rather, it’s the IceCube, a wonderfully named observatory that scientists will use to search for neutrinos:

Thousands of meters below the ice near the South Pole lies one of the most unusual observatories ever constructed. The instrument’s nervous system comprises 86 strands of light detectors, stretching down into the ice sheet like oversize strings of pearls. Each strand features 60 basketball-size detectors, spanning the depths from 1,450 to 2,450 meters below the surface. And the body of the observatory is the ice itself, an abundant medium with an astonishing natural clarity.

John Matson of Scientific American has the story: Link | Official IceCube website

Previously on Neatorama: The Wonderful World of Big Science

Snails Use Light To Defend Themselves

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:13 PM PST

Animals use a lot of things to defend themselves: skunks use bad odor, armadillos use their tough leathery armor shell, and porcupines use their sharp quills.

But scientists studying the clusterwink snail have discovered what could be the strangest defensive weapon used by an animal: light.

Dimitri Deheyn and Nerida Wilson of Scripps Oceanography (Wilson is now at the Australian Museum in Sydney) studied a species of "clusterwink snail," a small marine snail typically found in tight clusters or groups at rocky shorelines. These snails were known to produce light, but the researchers discovered that rather than emitting a focused beam of light, the animal uses its shell to scatter and spread bright green bioluminescent light in all directions.

The researchers, who describe their findings in the Dec. 15 online version of Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences), say the luminous displays of Hinea brasiliana could be a deterrent to ward off potential predators by using diffused bioluminescent light to create an illusion of a larger animal.

Link

See also: 10 of the Most Bizarre Animal Defense Mechanisms over at WebEcoist

The French Rolled Out World's First Luxury Condom

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:12 PM PST

There are luxury cars, houses, fashion – you name it. But what about luxury condoms?

Despite the age-old joke that the most expensive condom is the one that broke (the cost of raising children? $249,180), two French entrepreneurs identified an distinctly unfulfilled niche:

A pair of self-described French aristocrats have launched a high-end condom company that aims to offer customers protection — as well as an air of prestige.

The minds behind The Original Condom Co. say there is a demand for classier prophylactics in the same way there is a demand for luxury brands like Rolls Royce, Cartier and Dior.

"There [is] always a need for quality, good taste and beautiful objects," said vice president Count Gil de Bizemont, who co-founded the company with His Royal Highness the Prince Charles Emmanuel de Bourbon Parme after passing through the town of Condom, France.

Link

World's First Organ Donor Dies -56 Years Later

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 11:35 AM PST

Ronald Lee Herrick was 79 years old when he died Monday in a Maine hospital from complications of heart surgery. He did not die from kidney failure, even though he only had one, and his identical twin brother suffered from renal failure in 1954. That was the year Herrick donated a healthy kidney to his brother in an operation that had never worked before.

The successful surgery kept Herrick’s brother alive for eight years and was the first successful organ transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Lead surgeon Dr Joseph Murray went on to win the Nobel prize.

The operation proved that transplants were possible and led to thousands of other successful kidney transplants, and later the transplant of other organs.

Doctors around the world had tried a few transplants before the breakthrough operation, without success, said Murray, who went on to perform another 18 transplants between identical twins.

Despite arguments at the time about the ethics of taking an organ from a healthy body, Herrick insisted on donating to save his brother’s life. Link -via Not Exactly Rocket Science

(Image credit: Joel Page/AP)

Kitten and Spider

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 11:27 AM PST


(YouTube link)

A remote-control spider, a slick floor, and a kitten -what could be more fun? -via Buzzfeed

Marvelous Papercrafts

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 10:23 AM PST

Curious Collection, a maker of fine art papers, held a papercraft contest called Your Curious Story. At the link, you can view the winners of this contest, such as the above “The Girl in the Swing” by British student Frankie Lilley.

Link via Dude Craft | Artist’s Gallery

Turkey's Cotton Castle

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 10:15 AM PST

Pamukkale, which means “cotton castle” in Turkish, is a geological wonder in southwestern Turkey. In the second century B.C.E., the Hellenistic rulers of Pegamon built a spa at the hot springs located in this area. The site, dubbed Hieropolis by the Greeks and Pamukkale by the Turks, has been a tourist attraction ever since. Calcium carbonate deposits have created fascinating shapes and forms, as you can see at the link.

Link via The Presurfer | Photo by Flickr user nodomain.cc used under Creative Commons license

He Had to Steal to Pay for His Defense

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 05:59 AM PST

Michael Elias of San Antonio, Texas has been arrested several times for a string of burglaries over several months. His latest arrest was for two burglaries, one in June and the other in November.

Police said they recovered fingerprints from both locations that later proved to be Elias’s.

The affidavit shows that after his arrest, Elias told investigators how he had learned to commit burglaries using a crow bar to gain access to homes.

Elias also told investigators he had to keep committing the burglaries so he could afford to pay his attorney a $150 weekly fee to keep him out of jail.

Most people keep themselves out of jail by not committing crimes. Link -via Arbroath

(Image source: San Antonio Crimestoppers)

Neril Aminexil: A Love Story

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 05:56 AM PST


(YouTube link)

This is one of those ads in which you don’t know what’s being advertised until it’s over -but you’ll remember, once you stop laughing! From Publicis advertising agency in Indonesia. -via Dark Roasted Blend
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