Neatorama

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• Nairobi's Wonderful Elephant Orphanage
• 15 Awesome Pop Culture Paper Dolls
• Make Your Own Crystal Egg Geodes
• 6 Seriously Strange College Courses
• Help Cold Chickens Cover Up
• Oliver Akuin's Art Is A Cartoon Delight
• Cubies Go to Oktoberfest
• Neapolitan Cephalopods
• Batman Coffee Table
• Star Wars Embroidery Says "Sad Wampa Is Sad"
• Science Says Smoke Later If You Smoke At All
• Recreating Recipes From The Simpsons
• The Stupidest School Safety Measures
• The 14 Best Pet Halloween Costumes
• 7 Geniuses Who Were Completely Insane
• Rediscovered Bioluminescent Fungus
• As Seen on TV: Infomercial Fails
• Jurassic Mother from China
• Technicolor Roses
• Parrot Confused by Laser Pointer
• The World's Oldest Person Turns 115
• Salar de Uyuni - The Salt Flats of Bolivia
• 10 Classic Hollywood Screen Tests
• Life Rafts Serve as Hotel Rooms
• Monkey Carved from a Peach Pit
• BeetleCam
• This Week at Neatorama

Nairobi's Wonderful Elephant Orphanage Posted: 28 Aug 2011 02:33 AM PDT I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for touching animal stories and this National Geographic article about the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust an elephant orphanage in Nairobi. The stories in the article are a must-read for any animal lover. The nursery takes in orphan elephants from all over Kenya, many victims of poaching or human-wildlife conflict, and raises them until they are no longer milk dependent. Once healed and stabilized at the nursery, they are moved more than a hundred miles southeast to two holding centers in Tsavo National Park. There, at their own pace, which can be up to eight to ten years, they gradually make the transition back into the wild. The program is a cutting-edge experiment in cross-species empathy that only the worst extremes of human insensitivity could have necessitated. Be sure to read the whole thing to learn all kinds of fascinating information about the group, the elephants and the amazing people working to improve the lives of these majestic creatures. Link

15 Awesome Pop Culture Paper Dolls Posted: 28 Aug 2011 02:24 AM PDT If you’ve been looking for some paper dolls to play with that are actually designed for adults instead of kiddos, then BuzzFeed has a great collection of them for your paper-playing pleasure. Time to get printing! Link

Make Your Own Crystal Egg Geodes Posted: 28 Aug 2011 02:13 AM PDT I know school’s about to start (if it hasn’t already), but just in case you want to provide them with a few last educational activities at home, this geode egg project is a good way to get them interested in the science of crystallization. Link Via Craftzine

6 Seriously Strange College Courses Posted: 28 Aug 2011 02:07 AM PDT We’ve already linked to Mental Floss’ list of weird college courses, but if you can’t get enough of these strange course listings, then you probably ought to head over to Cracked and read about six more of these classes including Super Smash Bros. Melee Theory and Practice. Link

Help Cold Chickens Cover Up Posted: 28 Aug 2011 02:00 AM PDT The Little Hen Rescue is a chicken rescue group in Norfolk, England. Because many of their chicks are missing feathers and get cold in the winter months, the group uses jumpers to help keep the birds nice and warm. You can help by knitting an adorable jumper and sending it to the group or by donating funds to them. For those interested in donating jumpers, the pattern can be found over at the link. Link

Oliver Akuin's Art Is A Cartoon Delight Posted: 27 Aug 2011 11:57 PM PDT If you have ever seen Adventure Time on Cartoon Network, then you are already familiar with Oliver’s surreal and quirky cartoon style. If you love cartoons but have never seen Adventure Time then you’re missing out on a great show! Oliver tackles pop culture icons from cartoons, video games, and the movies and brings his own stylistic simplicity to the characters, then his bold use of color  completes each piece and really makes them pop. In the age of digital art Oliver is keeping it old school! Check out the artist’s blogsite for many more examples of his cute and unique style. Link -via ComicsAlliance

Cubies Go to Oktoberfest Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:39 PM PDT (YouTube link) Cubies are German 8-bit characters: a cow, a chicken, a sheep, and a robot “toy.” In this silly but catchy video, they sing about going to Oktoberfest. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

Neapolitan Cephalopods Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:36 PM PDT If you like octopuses and squids, you’ll love this collection of marine lithographs from the collection “I Cefalopodi!” at the the Biodiversity Heritage Library on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution. See nine pieces of the collection at BibliOdyssey. Link

Batman Coffee Table Posted: 27 Aug 2011 05:06 PM PDT A Webshots user who goes by the name gothamtradingcompany makes high-quality tables with popular themes. He’s made a few Batman tables, one featuring the Scottish lion, and several with the logos of American sports teams. Link -via Walyou

Star Wars Embroidery Says "Sad Wampa Is Sad" Posted: 27 Aug 2011 03:35 PM PDT Etsy seller Love & A Sandwich is currently sold out of these cute works of embroidery and appliqué, but she still has available a hoop featuring Beast from the X-Men. Still, I have my heart set on the Fuzzball hoop. Link -via The Mary Sue

Science Says Smoke Later If You Smoke At All Posted: 27 Aug 2011 03:08 PM PDT It goes without saying that smoking is bad for you, but as it turns out, when you smoke can affect just how much of a health impact a cigarette could have on your body. Two new studies have shown that smokers who light up first thing in the morning are more likely to get lung, neck and head cancers than those who wait to take the first puff. Link Via Geekosystem

Recreating Recipes From The Simpsons Posted: 27 Aug 2011 02:57 PM PDT If you’re a regular Simpsons viewer, then you already know that the show occasionally features some utterly disgusting foodstuffs. If you’ve ever wondered how to make a Tom Collins pot pie or some corn nog, then Warming Glow has you covered with a great list of horrendously disgusting recipes. What Simpsons foods would you want to try? Personally, I’m curious about tomacco. Link

The Stupidest School Safety Measures Posted: 27 Aug 2011 02:50 PM PDT I’m sure we can all agree that it’s important to keep kids safe from the big dangers of this world, but there is certainly a line between safety and stupidity and many schools these days have jumped right over that border. Cracked ha a great list of the most idiotic things schools are doing in the name of safety, including making them wear electric tracking bracelets, banning all photography and preventing all physical contact. Read about the rest over at the link. Link

The 14 Best Pet Halloween Costumes Posted: 27 Aug 2011 02:44 PM PDT I know Halloween is still two months away, but it’s never too early to enjoy some ridiculously cute pictures of critters in goofy costumes. InventorSpot has a great list of the best costumes released this year, but I have to say that this dinodog is definitely my favorite. Link

7 Geniuses Who Were Completely Insane Posted: 27 Aug 2011 02:37 PM PDT If you’re a regular Neatorama reader, then you probably already know that Nikola Tesla was certainly a bit strange, but when you really look at his eccentricities, you’ll quickly realize that he really was utterly insane. For example, he refused to touch anything that was round and insisted on walking around a building three times before entering it. Cracked has a great list of other insane geniuses for your reading pleasure, reminding us that sometimes it’s nice to just be average. Link

Rediscovered Bioluminescent Fungus Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:50 AM PDT A bioluminescent mushroom was discovered in Brazil in 1840 and named Agaricus gardneri (in honor of botanist George Gardner, who discovered it). The species was not observed again until 2009! I read that and thought. “How could they not see it? It glows in the dark!” Then I realized that the Brazilian rainforest must be an intimidating place in the dark. That turned out to be the true story. To catch the green glow of the bioluminescent mushroom, Desjardin and his long-time research partner in Brazil, Dr. Cassius Stevani, had to “go out on new moon nights and stumble around in the forest, running into trees,” he recalled, wary of nearby poisonous snakes and prowling jaguars. But he said advances such as digital cameras have made it easier to track down bioluminescent fungi. New cameras allow researchers to photograph mushrooms that they suspect might be bioluminescent in darkened rooms and analyze the photos for a glow (sometimes one that’s not visible to the human eye) within a few minutes, compared to the 30 to 40 minutes required of regular film exposure. The brave mycologists brought back photographs of the same mushroom, now renamed Neonothopanus gardneri. Read more about it at Science Daily. Link -via Metafilter (Image credit: Cassius V. Stevani/IQ-USP, Brazil)

As Seen on TV: Infomercial Fails Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:39 AM PDT No one’s worse at living a normal life than the people in infomercials, as evidenced by this supercut of “you’re doing it wrong” moments from product ads. Seriously, how hard is cling wrap, really? And unless you’re trying, it’s hard to imagine a situation in which a cracked egg might land right in the burner plate. via pleated-jeans

Jurassic Mother from China Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:22 AM PDT Fossils of a 160-million-year-old mammal found in China show us a placental mammal that is 35 million years older than any found before. This tiny animal is named Juramaia sinensis, or “Jurassic mother from China.” With forepaws adapted to climbing trees, the newfound eutherian scurried about temperate Jurassic forests feasting on insects under the cover of darkness. This diet allowed J. sinensis to tip the scales at around half an ounce (15 grams), making the creature lighter than a chipmunk. “The great evolutionary lineage that includes us had a very humble beginning, in terms of body mass,” said Zhe-Xi Luo, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, who led the team that discovered the fossil. Although this discovery helps us fill in the blanks of mammals’ evolutionary timeline, the reason for the split between placental mammals and marsupials is still a mystery. Link -via The Caudal Lure (Image credit: Mark A. Klinger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History)

Technicolor Roses Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:22 AM PDT It looks like a ’shopped-up version of your average garden rose, but it’s not: that’s the Rainbow Rose, and you can make them yourself using cut flowers and some heavily tinted water. And if you aren’t a rose fan, you can use the same technique for cut Chrysanthemum and Hydrangea as well. Link | via Mental_floss

Parrot Confused by Laser Pointer Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:05 AM PDT (Video Link) YouTube user simplydreaming had some fun with his mom’s parrot, Kiwi. I wonder if there is any human equivalent to what animals experience when they encounter a laser pointer’s red dot. -via Urlesque

The World's Oldest Person Turns 115 Posted: 27 Aug 2011 09:55 AM PDT To be 115 when the best life expectancy rates in history hover around 78 (for a person born in 2009!) is no small feat. Besse Cooper, currently the world’s oldest person, just celebrated her 115th birthday in Georgia state. It was a smallish affair, with about 15-20 friends and family. Her daughter-in-law Edith Cooper said the group gathered at a Monroe nursing home, where Besse Cooper enjoyed two small slivers of her birthday cake and nodded with approval as musician Mike Cronic sang “Tennessee Waltz.” Cooper was born in Tennessee and moved to Georgia during World War I to find work as a teacher. She has 12 grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Her husband, Luther, died in 1963. Cooper was declared the world’s oldest in January. In May, Guinness learned that Maria Gomes Valentin of Brazil was 48 days older. Valentin died June 21. Link|Image: AP Photo/David Goldman

Salar de Uyuni - The Salt Flats of Bolivia Posted: 27 Aug 2011 09:44 AM PDT Space travel doesn’t yet allow for planet-hopping, so to see a place that is truly alien-looking should be on any traveler’s bucket list. Personally, I suggest heading to Bolivia, where you’ll find Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat on Earth. Twelve-thousand square kilometers of the smoothest, most reflective land on the planet, rich in gypsum, lithium and halite–and when it rains, the entire plain mirrors the sky. What’s not to love about that? Check out the beautiful photo essay on Kuriositas. Link Image: Las fotos Claras

10 Classic Hollywood Screen Tests Posted: 27 Aug 2011 09:24 AM PDT Behind-the-scenes footage of anything is usually interesting (if you’re interested in that sort of thing), but these screen tests from classic movies are more fun than most. Above, a probably-intoxicated Judy Garland testing for the role of Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls. She won the role, but was replaced by Susan Hayward after coming to the set drunk. Check out nine more on Flavorwire. Link

Life Rafts Serve as Hotel Rooms Posted: 27 Aug 2011 08:53 AM PDT These pods are moored in a canal in The Hague. They used to be oil rig life rafts, but now they serve as hotel rooms. Except for an exterior lock and a chemical toilet, they remain in their original state. This way, you can get the true life raft-in-a-canal experience! Denis Oudendijk, the owner, established this business in 2004 as an art project. He plans to expand it to include pods in Amsterdam and Nantes. Link -via The Presurfer | Photo: Unusual Hotels of the World

Monkey Carved from a Peach Pit Posted: 27 Aug 2011 08:43 AM PDT The father of redditor BronyaCovooper carves monkey sculptures out of dried peach pits. All it takes him is a pocket knife and thirty minutes of work. Link -via Nerdcore

BeetleCam Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:15 AM PDT (YouTube link) Wildlife photographers (and brothers) Will & Matt Burrard-Lucas created the BeetlCam. It’s a remote-control 4-wheel-drive miniature vehicle (toy) with a remote-control camera mounted on top, designed to take pictures of dangerous wild animals. Here we see the gadget in action in Tanzania. It appears to work very well! -via Laughing Squid

This Week at Neatorama Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:02 AM PDT Sometimes it takes me a long time to get around to introducing new authors here at Neatorama, but you know what they say, better late than never! You may have noticed some posts from Joanna Ong, who is interning here at Neatorama. Jo is a student from Southern California. In her free time she plays tennis, dances to Teaser and the Firecat alone in her room, and ponders about where people would be at their best. Theoretically, as time goes on, her “senses will rise.” Welcome Joanna! If you didn’t catch all our exclusive feature articles this week, we’ll make it easy for you to find them. Jill Harness continued her series on Disneyland attractions with Neatorama Facts: Splash Mountain. And she also brought us 4 Famous Sets of Sisters Who Changed History. Meet Omar Shamshoon was about the Arabic version of the TV show The Simpsons, from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. The Annals of Improbable Research gave us Hand Sanitizing: An Informal Look. On Friday, we had some Flowery Bits from mental_floss magazine. At NeatoBambino, we saw new videos this week that were astonishing (a pregnant mom doing pullups), funny (grandma reading Go the F*%k to Sleep), and relatable (a baby care time-lapse). You really should make a point to check it out every day! In this week’s What Is It? game, the picture indeed shows us the inside of a Red Box DVD vending machine. The What Is It? Blog posted the video that the image was taken from. Marty McGuire knew the answer right off, but didn’t select a t-shirt. The funniest answer came from Muno, who said this is one of the droids we were looking for! He wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop. When you’re caught up on everything from this week, you can access past feature articles at The Best of Neatorama. And have a great weekend!

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