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2011/10/01

Neatorama

Neatorama

Two Climbers and Thumb Rescued from El Capitan

Posted: 01 Oct 2011 03:59 AM PDT

Monday, one of two Austrian climbers on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California took a fall. He didn’t fall to the ground, but his safety rope snapped off his right thumb. The thumb landed on the ledge that the climber’s partner was on, so he saved the severed digit. The climbers had a phone with them, and called for help. YOSAR (Yosemite Search and Rescue) made a difficult and dramatic retrieval of the injured man from the cliff face, as you’ll see in an account from climber and photographer Tom Evans.

I couldn't believe it… they were going to send up Rangers Jeff Webb, and Dave Pope, on the end of a 100ft line hanging from the bottom of the NPS Fire chopper, and somehow have the climbers pull them into the belay!  I have never seen such a mission on an EC rescue as the chopper would be awfully close to the face and it isn't that easy to pull people hanging on a rope 30 or so feet into a stance.  The late afternoon light was fading fast so they send the chopper, flown brilliantly by Richard Shatto, up to take a look and judge if the wind conditions were within limits.

After the initial flight the Rangers were attached to the long line and the mission was on.  The chopper lifted up and the men were soon riding the rocket to the face of ElCap!  Impressive to say the least!

Evans took plenty of breathtaking photographs of the rescue operation. Oh yeah, the thumb was surgically reattached. Link -via Metafilter

Bacon Candy

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 08:21 PM PDT

Bacon Candy – $5.95

Is your sweet tooth demanding something smoky, meaty, and sweet? Satisfy your inner beast with Bacon Candy from the NeatoShop.  Each delightful tin contains 12 bacony treats. Yummy!

Be sure to check out the Bacon Store for more bacon fun!

Link

Star Trek: The Next Generation Quiet Book

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:37 PM PDT


Children are never too young to be properly introduced to Star Trek, and a crafter named Julie Bell is getting her kids off to the right start. She’s made a cloth book filled with age-appropriate activities that introduce the Enterprise-D crew and life onboard. Pictured above is a zippered turbolift door that opens to reveal finger puppets of the major characters. You can also do bat’leth training with Worf, reconstruct Picard after he was rescued from Borg assimilation, separate the saucer section, and more. Just go ahead and look at this simply delightful work at the link.

Link -via blastr | Previously by Julie Bell: Star Wars Quiet Book for Kids

Single Gene Turns Subservient Mouse into Boss Mouse

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 06:15 PM PDT

Two mice meet in a narrow plastic tube that's not wide enough for both of them. That sounds like the opening of a really bad science joke, but stick with me. The punchline is downright amazing:

One of them must give way. In their earlier encounter, the first mouse exerted its dominance by forcing its rival to reverse down the tube. This time, things are different; the second mouse pulls rank and the first one backs down.
Mouse hierarchies don’t change this readily, but the second mouse has been given a boon by Fei Wang at the Chinese Academy of Science. By injecting a single gene into one part of its brain, Wang turned the subordinate animal into a dominant one.

The gene that gave the mouse a burst of social mobility is GluR4. It creates part of a protein called the AMPA receptor, which allows signals to flow quickly between two neurons. By injecting extra GluR4 into a mouse’s brain, and producing more AMPA receptors, Wang strengthened the connections between its neurons. The effect is like building expressways between two cities overnight – you can have a much larger and faster flow of traffic between them. [...]

By manipulating this signalling, he could push mice up or down the social ladder. With an extra dose of GluR4, the mice gained social standing. When they confronted other mice in a cramped plastic tube, they were more likely to force their rivals to retreat, even if they had previously given way. With their new rank, they were also more likely to court female mice with high-pitched ultrasonic songs.

Link

The World Record for Riding a Unicycle Down a Line of Beer Bottles

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:41 PM PDT


(Video Link)

Lutz Eichholz has accomplished the impossible. He previously set the world record for riding a unicycle down a line of beer bottles (a highly competitive event) at 7.99 meters. Now he’s smashed that record by riding 8.93 meters at the Unicycle Israel Convention in Tel Aviv.

Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!

Company Offers to Invent Fake Girlfriend Who Will Tweet You

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:28 PM PDT

It’s a common problem: you’d like to have a girlfriend. So you go out and meet women. And that’s when it all pretty much goes downhill.

Now there’s a solution, brought to you by software engineer Ricky Robinett. His service sends you tweets from an apparently female person who not only tolerates your company, but actually likes you. Customers can receive messages like these:

“I miss you, honey. xoxo. (:”,
“When are you going to come see me?!?! I miss you! :0)”,
“I’m lonely ;) ;) hehehe”,
“Why don’t you leave the boys and come hang out with me?”,
“I wish I was with you!!! (0:”,
“I just need someone to talk to… Call me?”,
“Thanks so much for the pics ;) I’ll send some soon (:”,
“I <3 you. xoxoxoxo. <3 <3 <3 <3",
"Oh hai! (0:",
"THANKS FOR THE FLOWERS!!!"

Link and Company Website -via Gizmodo

Mexico City Considers Marriage Licenses That Expire after Two Years

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:20 PM PDT

Divorces can be messy, so legislators in Mexico City are considering a way to prevent them. They want to allow couples to set expiration dates on their marriages. If a couple decides not to renew, their marriage simply dissolves after as little as two years:

The minimum marriage contract would be for two years and could be renewed if the couple stays happy. The contracts would include provisions on how children and property would be handled if the couple splits.

“The proposal is, when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends,” said Leonel Luna, the Mexico City assemblyman who co-authored the bill.

“You wouldn’t have to go through the tortuous process of divorce,” said Luna, from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, which has the most seats in the 66-member chamber.

Link -via Dave Barry | Photo by Flickr user habi used under Creative Commons license

Mind-Reading Cars from Nissan

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:16 PM PDT

Self-driving cars haven’t made it to the streets yet, but they may already soon become obsolete. Nissan is working with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne on a mind-controlled car that reads the driver’s brain activity, eye movement, and environment to run. There is no release date set and, as you can imagine, a whole lot of kinks to work out.  -Link

Did Life on Earth Begin at Deep Sea Smokers?

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:13 PM PDT

How did life on Earth begin? Well, there are a few hypotheses.

In the beginning, for example, there's the 6-day theory. Then came the Aristotle and his readily observable truths that flies came from decaying matters and that crocodiles came from rotting logs and so on. Then - fast forward a few hundred years - in Soviet Russia, primordial soup creates you.

But now, some scientists say we owe life on Earth on a white smoker (no, not that one though arguably he was old enough to have been the first living thing on this planet):

Scientists, disenchanted with an 80 year old theory that life began in a "primordial soup," are focusing on deep-sea pressure cookers that were unknown just a couple of decades ago. Life may wemall have begun in tiny "chimneys" in a green rock that is common on earth, as well as other celestial bodies, when the ocean was 100 times more acidic than it is today, and the planet was much warmer.

Serpentine, California's official state rock, is on center stage today as a possible major player in generating the first life on Earth, more than 3.8 billion years ago.

This green stone, which looks a lot like jade, could have been a "rich incubator" of the unicellular life that first flooded the earth so long ago, according to geophysics professor Norm Sleep of Stanford University. Sleep didn't invent the idea of serpentine as an incubator, but he set out to learn if the theorizing of biologists could survive a geological inquiry. Were the geological conditions of early Earth compatible with life originating in serpentine?

Link

Mid-Car Airbag Inflates to Prevent Passenger-Driver Collisions

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:12 PM PDT

GM has developed an airbag that inflates from between the front two seats. It’s designed to protect the driver and passenger during side impacts which may drive them into each other, or onto the far side of the car. At the link, you can watch a slow-motion video of one inflating with a crash test dummy.

Link -via DVICE | Photo: GM

The Secret of Immortality Is to Become a Noun

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:05 PM PDT


(Video Link)

Do you want to live forever? You can do that, in a sense, by turning your name into a noun. The French doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin invented the guillotine. James Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, is known for his now famous sweaters. Jules Léotard lives on in common dancewear. That’s the key! You’ve got to become an object, immortalized forever in the dictionary. Robert Krulwich and Adam Cole explain how it works in this catchy tune.

-via Nag on the Lake

Scantron Art

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 02:13 PM PDT


Image: Echo Eggebrecht

Hate standardized test? First, blame a 7th century Chinese emperor named Yang of Sui. See, he invented the world's first standardized test which lasted up to 72 hours. Yours may not have lasted that long, but it sure felt like it, didn't it?

Then, go on and read a few things about it over at Good Magazine:

As standardized testing plays an increasingly central role in education, school districts from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., have been rocked by cheating scandals. Adults at dozens of schools in both cities are suspected of changing students’ answers on multiple-choice tests. But these scandals have done little to derail the testing juggernaut. Nor have policy makers heeded the sage advice of psychometricians like Harvard’s Daniel Koretz, who concluded after decades of research that “we usually cannot distinguish between real and bogus gains” on standardized exams.

Pay attention because there will be a quiz on this tomorrow, mmkay? Link

Burger King Toppled, Replaced with Burger Democratic Republic

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:11 PM PDT

First it was the Arab Spring, then came revolution in the fast food empire with the latest casualty of the monarchy Burger King (the creepy King is dead, long live the creepy King).

The Smew (yes, like The Onion) reports:

Continued peaceful protests by Moncton youth and menu higher-ups alike—including Whopper Jr., long considered the heir apparent to the burger throne, and Tendercrisp Chicken, an advisor revered for his ability to see seemingly contradictory sides of any question at the same time—have led the Mountain Road Burger Monarchy to abdicate the throne, leaving the way open for the creation of a Burger Democratic Republic.

“We’ve spent hours—days, even—demanding our rights to equal burger representation, to a flat-top that expresses the needs of the people, whether they be stoned teenagers or fat, sad divorcés,” said Brad Wilkinson, 16, one of the leaders of the rebel movement. “No more will we live under the benevolent tyranny of, ‘Have it your way.’ Today, all our hard work has finally paid off.”

Link - via digg

The Alnwick Poison Gardens

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 10:51 AM PDT

Deadly Gates

The Alnwick Poison Gardens in Alnwick, England was established in 2005 by the Duchess of Northumberland. The grounds contain nearly 100 deadly plants that produce poisons or hallucinogens. Some are so dangerous, they are displayed only behind glass. And yes, there are opium poppies, cannabis, and magic mushrooms as well, but you can’t get close to them. Read about the poison gardens and other strange gardens that are (or once were) open to the public around the world in a list called Gardens of Death and Other Horticultural Marvels at Atlas Obscura. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Jax60)

Who's the Culprit?

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 10:49 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

One of the dogs got into the trash. Was it Jed, Xena, or Tank? I think they are all guilty, but one was not smart enough to get rid of the evidence! -via Arbroath

Baby Sharks Birthed in Artificial Uterus

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 10:07 AM PDT

An artificial uterus sounds like a scene from Brave New World. In reality, scientists at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute in New South Wales, Australia, have so far only nursed six embryos of a wobbegong shark through their last 18 days before birth successfully in a souped-up aquarium with delicately balanced chemicals, filters, and monitors that copy a shark’s womb. The ultimate goal is to incubate embryos of the endangered grey nurse shark throughout their gestation. What’s really strange is the reason they need to do it. The grey nurse shark is endangered in part because of its weird way of reproducing:

After mating, a female produces as many as 40 fertilized embryos, separated between two separate wombs. The embryos take nearly a year to fully develop, but they begin hunting long before that. After about two months, their own yolk sacs go dry. Hungry, they start eating their brothers and sisters. After the rampant in utero cannibalization, only one shark — the biggest and strongest — is left in each womb.

At birth they're three feet long and experienced hunters, with a good chance of survival. But the tiny brood size, nearly year-long gestation period, and relatively restricted maternal capacity — after giving birth, mothers must wait a year to reproduce again — limit the number of young sharks.

Read more about this research in artificial shark gestation at Wired Science. Link

(Image credit: Port Stephens Fisheries Institute)

Orca Talks to a Motorboat

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:22 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

A killer whale named Luna was separated from his family and lived off the coast of Vancouver Island until his death in 2006. He was friendly with people in boats who went out to visit him, but did he like the people or the boats? In this video, he is imitating the sound of a boat motor. Was he trying to communicate with the boat? Read more about the orca at Wikipedia. Link -via Buzzfeed

Cookie Bowls

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 08:57 AM PDT

This. Changes. Everything.

It never occurred to me to make tart crust out of cookie dough, but here it is. Just shape cookie dough around the outside of your muffin tin and bake with the tin upside down. Then use your imagination for what you can put in the bowls: fruit, yogurt, pudding, ice cream, whipped cream, or nothing at all! Link

(Image credit: Wilton)

A Character's Awful Realization

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 08:55 AM PDT


(College Humor link)

In most films, the audience knows who is going to survive way before the plot makes it obvious. It takes the characters a little longer to figure out how important they are. -via Buzzfeed

Unicorn Costume

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 08:44 AM PDT

Unicorn Costume – $26.95

Do you dream of having your own rainbow pooping unicorn? Make your dream a reality this Halloween with the Unicorn Costume from the NeatoShop.  Just combine one rainbow pooping baby or toddler with this incredibly adorable Unicorn Costume and live out the fantasy for one glorious night.

If you can’t locate a rainbow pooping baby consider faking it with the Rainbow in My Room rainbow projector. See photo below.

Rainbow in My Room – $29.95

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Dress Up fun!

Link

Ironclad Alibi

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 08:34 AM PDT

Justin Lee of Auckland, New Zealand, received a speeding ticket in the mail in 2004. He noticed a typo in the facts that stated the offense took place in 1974. Since that was a long time ago, he asked his mother for his alibi details. Then Justin wrote back to let the police know exactly where he was on June 23rd, 1974.

Firstly, the ‘date of offence’ is listed as the 23rd of June 1974 with the time being at or around half past six in the evening. This is of grave concern to me because I was not issued a drivers license until sometime in 1990 and I have no desire to be charged with driving while not legally licensed. I do not have a clear recollection of very much at all before I was three and a half years old, so I rang Mum to see if she remembered what I was doing that day. She said that – coincidentally – I was born that day!!

Mum mentioned that I was born at around five o’clock in the evening on that day in Porirua, which is not far from Wellington. She also said Porirua was a bustling suburb of young, low-income people who were trying to get ahead. Back in the 70’s, people were coming to terms with oil shocks, high-inflation and wage freezes, but that’s not important right now.

There’s more to his entertaining letter. And how did this episode turn out? Find out the final disposition of the case at Letters of Note. Link

Hearing Herself for the First Time

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:02 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

YouTube member sloanchurman was born deaf. Now 29 years old, her husband recorded the moment her hearing implant is activated. She explained in the YouTube comments:

“I had an implant put in 8 weeks ago called The Esteem Implant by Envoy Medical. I was born deaf and have worn hearing aids from the age of 2, but hearing aids only help so much. I have gotten by this long in life by reading lips. This was taken as they were activating the implant.”

-via reddit

Previously: 8-Month Baby Hears for First Time
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