Neatorama

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• A City of 42 Million People
• Kitty Midnight Madness!
• Autobot Info
• Crime Scene Scarf
• Quantum Water Inside a Carbon Nanotube
• Bacon: The Gateway Meat for Vegetarians
• Bacon Cabin
• Looking for Mr. Right, Inc.: Woman Wants to Marry a Corporation
• Interstellar Spam
• The Religiosity Gene
• Even Babies Know That Size Matters
• NanoSail-D Solar Sail
• The Best Time to Buy Airplane Ticket: 3 P.M. Tuesday
• Spam Killed Would Be Terrorist Bomber
• Strange Beastfellows
• Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel: "What Is Internet?"
• Haminal
• Russian Ripoff of Mystery Science Theater 3000
• A Full Day Photographed
• My First Dalek
• 17x17x17 Rubik's Cube-Type Puzzle
• Celebrity Portraits Made from Their Own Trash
• Be Proud Merit Badges
• Motoi Yamamoto's Salt Labyrinths
• Star Wars Cantina Band Performance on 2 Pianos
• Set Phasers on Spud
• Kitten Doesn't Understand "Transparent"
• Bomb-detecting Plants
• World's Weirdest Phobias
• The Secret of The Sound of Music

A City of 42 Million People Posted: 29 Jan 2011 05:09 AM PST China plans to merge nine cities along the Pearl River into one huge mega-city that will cover an area twice the size of Wales and initially have a population of 42 million people. The new mega-city will cover a large part of China’s manufacturing heartland, stretching from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and including Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing. Together, they account for nearly a tenth of the Chinese economy. Over the next six years, around 150 major infrastructure projects will mesh the transport, energy, water and telecommunications networks of the nine cities together, at a cost of some 2 trillion yuan (£190 billion). An express rail line will also connect the hub with nearby Hong Kong. “The idea is that when the cities are integrated, the residents can travel around freely and use the health care and other facilities in the different areas,” said Ma Xiangming, the chief planner at the Guangdong Rural and Urban Planning Institute and a senior consultant on the project. The new mega-city does not yet have a name. Nearby Hong Kong, with another seven million people, will not be included in the new mega-city. Link -via Metafilter

Kitty Midnight Madness! Posted: 29 Jan 2011 05:06 AM PST (YouTube link) Find a cat just right for covering up that hole in your couch! Scratch and dent models available! They’ve got girl cats, boy cats, and “used-to-be-boy” cats! The Winnipeg Humane Society adapted hard-sell local advertising techniques to finding homes for cats, with the help of Andy Hill from Kern Hill Furniture Co-op in Winnipeg. The midnight madness event is not real, but the Winnipeg Humane Society is, and will be glad to accommodate you during regular hours. -via Digg

Autobot Info Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:37 PM PST Cars are a huge part of geek culture, and nowhere is this more evident than the Transformers franchise, a comic/toy/movie line that has spent the last few decades dazzling us with stories of cars that turn into frickin’ robots and then pound the motor oil out of one another. You’ve got your good guys, the Autobots, and then there are the bad guys, the Decpticons. The folks at carinsurance.org – you might be familiar with their work on the Evolution of the Batmobile infographic – are once again doing their part to ensure that cars get as much attention from the fans as sexy starlets, this time by means of a complete rundown of the cars that comprised the first-generation of Autobots – the ones from the original Transformers animated series. It’s been noted by some diehard Transformers fans – myself included – that there are one or two inaccuracies here.  The Batmobile infograph, it should be noted, wasn’t perfect either – but it was super-cool and the most accurate information on the subject to date, and the same is true of this. Link -via slashfilm

Crime Scene Scarf Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:05 PM PST Is your girlfriend so hot, she’s practically criminal? Well, this Fuzz Crime Scene Scarf ($17.95) from the NeatoShop will definitely make her the center of attention while keeping her warm in these cold weather days: Link See also: Neat and geeky Valentine’s Day Gifts

Quantum Water Inside a Carbon Nanotube Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:04 PM PST A few years ago, I wrote a post on Neatorama that became one of my favorites: 5 Really Weird Things About Water. Actually, there are a lot more than 5 weird things about good ol’ H2O. Like this newly discovered quantum properties of water in carbon nanotubes, for instance: It turns out that the protons in this nano-confined water at room temperature behave in an entirely different way to those in bulk water. Protons are known to be sensitive to the electronic fields around them. So when these fields form into unusual electronic networks, it’s no surprise the protons behave differently. "The departures of the momentum distribution of the protons from that of bulk water are so large, that we believe that the nano-confifined water can be properly described as being in a qualitatively different quantum ground state from that of bulk water," they say. They even suggest that there could be some kind of quantum coherence that spreads out through the electronic network. Link

Bacon: The Gateway Meat for Vegetarians Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:02 PM PST Ah, bacon. Is there anything it can’t do? Add this to the incredible power of bacon: it’s the gateway meat for vegetarians! [Johan Lundstrom] a scientist who runs a lab at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. He studies how the brain processes sensory information, like smell, for a living. He also told us he had an ex-girlfriend who became an ex-vegetarian once she tasted bacon. Because bacon is one- to two-thirds fat and also has lots of protein, it speaks to our evolutionary quest for calories, Lundstrom says. And since 90 percent of what we taste is really odor, bacon’s aggressive smell delivers a powerful hit to our sense of how good it will taste. "There’s an intimate connection between odor and emotion, and odor and memory," Lundstrom says. "When you pair that with the social atmosphere of weekend breakfast and hunger, bacon is in the perfect position to take advantage of how the brain is wired." Link See also: NeatoShop’s Bacon Store

Bacon Cabin Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:02 PM PST And just one more bacon stuff to round out the theme … Behold, the bacon cabin by Caneyscud of Bradley Smoker forum: Link – via Bacon Today

Looking for Mr. Right, Inc.: Woman Wants to Marry a Corporation Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:01 PM PST If, according to the recent rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court on the subject of political contributions, a corporation has the same rights as people, then can a corporation get married? That’s what Sarah Steiner figured, so forget Mr. Right – she wants Mr. Right, Inc. Frank Cerabino of The Palm Beach Post wrote: Steiner, a former co-chair of the Green Party of Florida, said her perfect corporate husband would be environmentally conscious, socially responsible and "not evil." "I will be looking for how they behaved in past mergers," she said. [...] Steiner, who had a brief, human-on-human marriage during her teen years, figured that she might as well try to marry a corporation this time. "I’m looking for the same thing that any girl is looking for – a partner," she said. And a corporate partner has its advantages. "Are you planning to have kids?" I asked her. "Subsidiaries," she said. "Yes. Maybe even spinoffs." Link

Interstellar Spam Posted: 28 Jan 2011 10:59 PM PST If experience with our own communications is any guide, then the first interstellar message we’ll receive from aliens is undoubtedly going to be this: RE: YOUR COSMIC ASSISTANCE MOST URGENTLY NEEDED. Hello. I am Young Prince Yirjgun Betel from the Huxdurg-6 system and I wish to interstellar radio with astronomical objects in the Orion Arm in search of an honest and trustworthy life form to partner for most exciting business opportunity this galactic year. I decided to contact Earth because you are a very reputable planet that can assist in a confidential matter of immense benefit for us both. I want you and I to make a fortune out of a situation that I am obviously left with no better option. The issue I am presenting is that my sun was recently destroyed in a supernova that obliterated most life on my planet, but please do not weep for me: I believe everything happens for a reason. Before my father the Emperor was reduced to cinders he told me of mineral reserves in our solar system he deposited amounting to fifty billion (50.000.000.000) barrels of oil and one hundred thousand (100.000) tons of gold. Read more of Zachary Martin’s excellent piece about interstellar spam over at McSweeney’s: Link – via Nerdcore

The Religiosity Gene Posted: 28 Jan 2011 10:58 PM PST Quick: do you think that the future will be more or less religious? Robert Rowthorn, an emeritus professor of economics, likened religion as a gene (after all, you are most likely to "inherit" your parents’ religion) and came to an interesting conclusion: Rowthorn’s model shows that, even when the religious defection rate is high, the overall high fertility rate of religious people will cause the religiosity allele to eventually predominate the global society. The model shows that the wide gap in fertility rates could have a significant genetic effect in just a few generations. The model predicts that the religious fraction of the population will eventually stabilize at less than 100%, and there will remain a possibly large percentage of secular individuals. But nearly all of the secular population will still carry the religious allele, since high defection rates will spread the religious allele to secular society when defectors have children with a secular partner. Overall, nearly all of the population will have a genetic predisposition toward religion, although some or many of these individuals will lead secular lives, Rowthorn concluded. Link

Even Babies Know That Size Matters Posted: 28 Jan 2011 10:57 PM PST Regardless of what those hippie parents try to tell you, size matters and even babies know it. According to this intriguing study, psychologists found that infants less than one year old understand social dominance and how size factors into it: "Traditional kings and chieftains sit on large, elevated thrones and wear elaborate crowns or robes that make them look bigger than they really are, and subordinates often bow or kneel to show respect to superior humans and gods," says Thomsen, a research fellow in Harvard’s Department of Psychology and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Copenhagen. "Many animals, like birds and cats, will puff themselves up to look physically larger to an adversary, and prostrate themselves to demonstrate submission, like dogs do. Our work suggests that even with limited socialization, preverbal human infants may understand such displays." Link

NanoSail-D Solar Sail Posted: 28 Jan 2011 10:56 PM PST When rocket scientists decide to fly a kite in space, it kind of looks like this. Depicted in the artist’s concept above, NASA’s NanoSail-D spacecraft has unfurled its sail to become the first ever solar sail to circle our planet. "We’re solar sailing!" says NanoSail-D principal investigator Dean Alhorn of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. "This is a momentous achievement." NanoSail-D spent the previous month and a half stuck inside its mothership, the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology SATellite (FASTSAT). FASTSAT was launched in November 2010 with NanoSail-D and five other experiments onboard. High above Earth, a spring was supposed to push the breadbox-sized probe into an orbit of its own with room to unfurl a sail. But when the big moment arrived, NanoSail-D got stuck. "We couldn’t get out of FASTSAT," says Alhorn. "It was heart-wrenching—yet another failure in the long and troubled history of solar sails." Team members began to give up hope as weeks went by and NanoSail-D remained stubbornly and inexplicably onboard. The mission seemed to be over before it even began. And then came Jan. 17th. For reasons engineers still don’t fully understand, NanoSail-D spontaneously ejected itself. When Alhorn walked into the control room and saw the telemetry on the screen, he says "I couldn’t believe my eyes. Our spacecraft was flying free!" Link – via APOD

The Best Time to Buy Airplane Ticket: 3 P.M. Tuesday Posted: 28 Jan 2011 10:55 PM PST If you’ve ever tried to buy a plane ticket online, then you’d know that prices can vary greatly from one day to the next. But is there a secret to finding the best fares online? According to Wall Street Journal travel editor Scott McCartney, who writes the weekly The Middle Seat column, the answer depends on when you buy: So a ticket can be $199 certain days and $499 other days even months ahead of a flight. "There’s a lot of method behind the madness, a lot of rationality behind the moves for airlines," said Ike Anand, Expedia’s director of airline strategy. "But for consumers, it does seem crazy." Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, studied three years worth of airline prices and concluded that 3 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday was the best time to buy. "That’s when the maximum number of cheapest seats are in the marketplace," he said. A daily check of fares in 10 different markets for the past two weeks showed that the average of the lowest prices offered in those markets was often mid-week, while weekends were higher priced. In the days studied, there were no "mistake fares" at ridiculously low prices that could skew results. Link

Spam Killed Would Be Terrorist Bomber Posted: 28 Jan 2011 10:54 PM PST What good are spam, you say? How about saving the lives of hundreds of would-be victim of a terrorist bomber? The woman, dubbed "The Black Widow," who Russian authorities suspect was part of the same militant group that killed 35 people at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on Monday, was at a house preparing for the attack, which would have occurred on New Year’s Eve at Red Square. Instead, the woman’s mobile phone, which served as the device’s detonator, was activated hours early by a spam message wishing her a happy new year. She was killed, while a man and woman suspected of being accomplices escaped from the house. Russian security forces told The Telegraph that phones are usually kept off until the last minute for detonation, but in this case, "the terrorists were careless." Link

Strange Beastfellows Posted: 28 Jan 2011 09:59 PM PST Let’s just come out and admit it, shall we? The Internet is used to bridge geographical divides, to democratize the spread of information, to create and innovate new ways of entertaining ourselves – and to restore our faith in love by staring for hours at images of cute animals. In that spirit, then, I hereby declare that these twenty unlikely animal pals win at the Internet. In the Animal Kingdom, friendship often cross the lines of genus and species and results in some oddball inter-special relationships like this. Defying the laws of nature itself, animal odd couples forge friendships under the most peculiar circumstances. But in the process, they show us that humans aren't the only members of the animal kingdom to demonstrate complex emotions and traits. Link

Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel: "What Is Internet?" Posted: 28 Jan 2011 07:35 PM PST (YouTube link) This vintage 1994 Today Show clip features a snarky Bryant Gumbel and a bubbly Katie Couric – sporting a hairdo that looks like it should have been preserved in a time capsule – both completely mystified at the terminology of this wacky new Internet fad. And for that matter just “what is Internet” anyway? Can someone explain it to us? Because as we all know new technology is to be ignored and scorned, since network television as we know it is perfect and will never, ever be replaced or surpassed.

Haminal Posted: 28 Jan 2011 06:20 PM PST Confused with what to give to your ham-lovin’ love of your life on Valentine’s Day? How about this cute can-shaped plushy called Haminal? The cute and tasty* Haminal came to be when one day, while socializing over a campfire, artist Crystal Chesney-Thompson thought it would be so much easier for the ham cannery if there was a small, pink and tasty animal that’s can-shaped. So, all they have to do is pop them into a can, and voila – canned ham! Everyone loved the idea, and thus Haminal was born: Link *certainly cute, but Haminal plushy is not edible, nor is it considered tasty by most people. See also: Neat and unusual gifts for Valentine’s Day | More plush toys

Russian Ripoff of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Posted: 28 Jan 2011 06:06 PM PST (Video Link) Uhhh…. Allegedly, this is called “Project Popcorn” — a Russian version of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Crow and Tom Servo were replaced with a penguin and a dog. via Topless Robot

A Full Day Photographed Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:48 PM PST It kind of looks like the planets in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, doesn’t it? Photographer Chris Kotsiopoulos created this picture out of many photographs taken over the course of a day in Athens, Greece: I began the shooting the morning of December 30, 2010, taking photos with my camera on a tripod facing east. The day portion of this shoot is composed of a dozen shots covering the landscape from east to west as well as the Sun’s course across the sky, from sunrise to sunset. I recorded the Sun’s position exactly every 15 minutes using an intervalometer, with an astrosolar filter adjusted to the camera lens. In one of the shots, when the Sun was near its maximum altitude, I removed the filter in order to capture a more dramatic shot that showed the Sun’s "glare." After sunset, I took various shots with the camera facing west-northwest in order to achieve a more smooth transition from the day portion to the night portion of the image. The night portion is also composed of a dozen landscape shots but this time from west to east. After the transition" shots, I took a short star trail sequence of approximately half an hour duration, with the camera facing northwest. At 7:30, I turned the camera to the north and started taking the "all-night" star trail shots — lasting almost 11 hours. After accomplishing this, I then turned the camera to northeast and shot another short half an hour star trail sequence, and then finally, with the camera now facing east-northeast, I took a series of night-to-day transition shots. You can view a larger image at the link. Link via Geekologie | Artist’s Website

My First Dalek Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:32 PM PST Being a fan of comics and sci-fi means often coveting items that once would have been considered kid stuff, and spending your hard-earned pay at the toy store, or “collector’s boutique.”  Well this right here is a bona-fide children’s toy, and I want it more than life itself.  A blow-up Dalek that you can drive! I mean, come on! You really think these nihilist monster-bots were built with toddlers in mind?  These are for 20- and 30-somethings to drive around their neighborhood, running errands, and not being judged because it’s not creepy!  It’s awesome! (YouTube link)|Product Link

17x17x17 Rubik's Cube-Type Puzzle Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:16 PM PST Dutch puzzle maker Oskar van Deventer designed this mindblender. It’s like a Rubik’s Cube, but has 17 cubes on an edge instead of 3: When Oskar heard of the world records being set for twisty puzzles, like the 7×7x7, 9×9x9 and 11×11x11 by Panagiotis Verdes from Greece, he wanted to try his hand at setting a new record himself. With sponsorship from his close friend Claus Wenicker, Oskar set about designing and testing a number of prototypes, and his third attempt was printed successfully with Shapeways. Sorting and dyeing all 1539 pieces took Oskar 10 hours of work, followed by 5 hours of assembling. The result is an oversized (140 millimeter, 5.5 inches) and fully functioning “Over The Top” 17×17x17 puzzle. It currently sells for just over $2,000. Link via Technabob | Photos: Shapeways

Celebrity Portraits Made from Their Own Trash Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:11 PM PST Through uncertain methods, San Francisco-based artist Jason Mecier convinces celebrities to donate personal trash to them. He turns the individual contributions into portraits of each celebrity: He uses junk and discarded items donated by top stars, so yes…that Trojan condom box in the top left corner of Tina Fey's portrait actually came from Tina herself. Mecier has spent over 10 years creating outrageous portraits and is now so popular that stars contact him directly and pay $1,500 for a portrait, which he gladly makes from a bag of their junk that they provide. Celebs who have asked for the portraits include Chris Rock, Pink, Tori Spelling, and Chelsea Handler, whose portrait includes empty vodka bottles, a Snuggie box, Martini glasses, bottle opener, buttons, batteries, chapstick, dice, pens, badges and movie tickets. Link via Crackajack | Artist’s Website Previously: Jason Mecier’s Food Art

Be Proud Merit Badges Posted: 28 Jan 2011 04:40 PM PST Give the folks you know a little lift for the things they do with merit badges! The badges shown are for being drunk as a skunk, going out on a limb, having a bun in the oven, and bringing home the bacon. There are plenty more badges available from Etsy seller leemeszaros. Link -via Metafilter

Motoi Yamamoto's Salt Labyrinths Posted: 28 Jan 2011 03:58 PM PST After his sister died of brain cancer, Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto began constructing enormous, detailed labyrinths. They’re temporary installations made out of ground salt and reflect a special significance that his culture places on that mineral: In Japanese culture salt is not only a necessary element to sustain human life, but it is also a symbol of purification. He uses salt in loose form to create intricate labyrinth patterns on the gallery floor or in baked brick form to construct large interior structures. As with the labyrinths and innavigable passageways, Motoi views his installations as exercises which are at once futile yet necessary to his healing. Link via Dude Craft | Artist’s Website

Star Wars Cantina Band Performance on 2 Pianos Posted: 28 Jan 2011 01:34 PM PST (Video Link) Elizabeth Joy Roe and Greg Anderson are two master pianists who composed and performed a concert series called “Star Wars Fantasy”. It remixes and overlays the scores from classic Star Wars in a particularly lovely fashion. The above video is one sample that emphasizes the Cantina Band theme, but weaves in others. via Great White Snark | Official Website

Set Phasers on Spud Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:42 AM PST Judge me as you will, but this is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.  At long, long last, Star Trek Mr. Potato Heads are on the way!  I’m sorry, I’m going to need a minute. I’m getting all choked up. PPW Toys will release Star Trek Mr. Potato Head collectible figures in a series of TOS-centric sets, and they'll kick it off with Captain Kirk – going from stud to spud — and his old Klingon foe, Kor. Subsequent sets will include Mr. Spock and Lt. Uhura, for example, and they may also feature familiar TOS equipment and Enterprise components. Oh my God, Uhura Potato Head.  Valentine’s Day must have arrived early this year, because I am in love! Link

Kitten Doesn't Understand "Transparent" Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:35 AM PST (YouTube link) Caro the kitten is trying to liberate Miho from an invisible force field. Meanwhile, mama is glad to have a minute of peace and quiet inside the box! -via Arbroath

Bomb-detecting Plants Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:33 AM PST What if you could train plants for national security? A biologist at Colorado State University working with the Department of Defense is doing just that. Genetic engineering is making plants react to threats they never encountered in nature -for human benefit. Picture this at an airport, perhaps in as soon as four years: A terrorist rolls through the sliding doors of a terminal with a bomb packed into his luggage (or his underwear). All of a sudden, the leafy, verdant gardenscape ringing the gates goes white as a sheet. That's the proteins inside the plants telling authorities that they've picked up the chemical trace of the guy's arsenal. It only took a small engineering nudge to deputize a plant's natural, evolutionary self-defense mechanisms for threat detection. "Plants can't run and hide," says June Medford, the biologist who's spent the last seven years figuring out how to deputize plants for counterterrorism. "If a bug comes by, it has to respond to it. And it already has the infrastructure to respond." That would be the "receptor" proteins in its DNA, which respond naturally to threatening stimuli. If a bug chews on a leaf, for instance, the plant releases a series of chemical signals called terpenoids — "a cavalry call," Medford says, that thickens the leaf cuticle in defense. So far, plants have been produced that react to the presence of TNT, but other factors, such as light and movement, interfere with the process. Medford thinks a working plant is still three or four years away. Link -via Fortean Times

World's Weirdest Phobias Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:22 AM PST HealthGuru has a pretty nifty quiz to test your knowledge of the World’s Weirdest Phobias – and by weird, we mean really weird. Like arachibutyrophobia weird (that’s the specific fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth). Unless you’ve got a fear of taking a quiz, try this: Link | Or watch the video clip So, how did you do? I got 7 out of 10 – and thankfully my fear of failure isn’t flaring up today.

The Secret of The Sound of Music Posted: 28 Jan 2011 11:11 AM PST (YouTube link) The right music makes a world of difference. In this remixed movie trailer, the family musical The Sound of Music turns into a zombie Nazi thriller! -via Buzzfeed

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