Neatorama

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• Head on Brain in Brain
• Gumbasia
• Bank Robber Stops for Lunch Nearby
• The True Origins of Pizza
• The Seven Deadly Keys
• Google Celebrates Art Clokey’s Birthday
• Male Pole Dancing
• X-Ray Stained Glass
• Married, But Already Cheating
• Dora The Explorer, All Grown Up
• Car Jumping Rope
• Tinker Belle Needs a Shave
• Teaching Calculus with Chocolate
• Shopdropped Cereal Boxes
• Drunk Man Tries to Use Taco as ID, Police Reject It
• Shark Fin Banned in California
• A Chicken Roasted in Clay
• Television Shows as 8-Bit Pixel Games
• Kamikaze Ant
• Warning: Balloon TARDIS Is Not Indestructible
• Creepy Face Mask of Yourself
• Megavirus: Virus So Large You Can See It with a Light Microscope
• Greenhouse Lamp
• Remember That Drink?
• Dr. Pepper's New Manly Drink is Not For Women
• What Exactly Is a Sandwich?
• The Temple of Muses
• Up The Stairs
• Old Shoes Found
• The Delectable Kaleidoscope of Candy Bars

Head on Brain in Brain Posted: 12 Oct 2011 05:19 AM PDT Henry Head, in a photograph taken in 1914 or in some other year, the documentation being unclear. by Marc Abrahams, Improbable Research staff Nowadays not many people read Brain on Head in Brain. That could change, because this year is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Russell Brain's mostly-admiring six-page essay called "Henry Head: A Man and His Ideas," which celebrated the 100th anniversary of Dr. Head's birth. Which means that this year we are all of us entitled to celebrate the 150th anniversary of that happy event. Dr. Brain—who was also Lord Brain, Baron Brain of Eynsham—was editor of the journal Brain. It would have been surprising had he not written that essay about Dr. Head. That's because Head preceded Brain (the man) as head (which is to say, editor) of the journal (the name of which, I repeat for clarity, is Brain). Head headed Brain from 1905 to 1923. Brain became head in 1954, dying in office  in 1967. No other    editors    in    the journal's long history (it was founded in 1879) could or did boast surnames that so stunningly announced their obsession, profession, and place of employ. One of Dr. Brain's final articles,  in 1963, is called "Some Reflections on Brain and Mind." "Some Reflections on Brain and Mind," Lord Brain, Brain, vol. 86, no. 3, 1963, pp. 381-402. Dr. Head wrote many monographs, some quite lengthy, for Brain. The first, a 135-page behemoth, appeared in 1893, long before he became editor. In it, Dr. Head gives special thanks to a Dr. Buzzard, citing Dr. Buzzard's generosity, the nature of  which is not specified. Dr. Russell Brain Reading Dr. Brain's Brain tribute and other material about Dr. Head, one gets the strong impression that Head had a big head, and that it was stuffed full of knowledge, which Dr. Head was not shy about sharing. Brain writes that "Some men… feel impelled to impart information to others. Head was one of those." Brain then quotes Professor H.M. Turnbull as saying: I had the good fortune when first going to the hospital to meet daily in the mornings, on the steam engine underground railway, Dr. Henry Head. He… kindly taught me throughout our journeys about physical signs, much to the annoyance of our fellow travellers; indeed in his characteristic keenness he spoke so loudly that as we walked to the hospital from St. Mary's station people on the other side of the wide Whitechapel Road would turn to look at us. Brain says that Head "would illustrate his lectures by himself reproducing the involuntary movements or postures produced by nervous disease, and 'Henry Head doing gaits' was a perennial attraction." In 1904, at the age of 42, Head married a headmistress: Ruth Mayhew of Brighton High School for Girls. Brain assures us that she was "a fit companion for him in intelligence." Brain, though respectful of Head, suggests that his predecessor may have been over-brainy: "He had many ideas: he bubbled over with them, and perhaps he was sometimes too ready to convince himself of their truth". Head's Heady Experiment, in (of course) Brain Head's most nervy experiment involved (although not exclusively) his penis, about which he presented a surprising amount of detail, in a lengthy monograph in Brain, helping to enliven a new century. "A Human Experiment in Nerve Division," W.H.R. Rivers and Henry Head, Brain, vol. 31, no. 3, 1908, pp. 323–450. Henry Head, in a photograph taken in or near 1914. The account is too lengthy to reproduce here, except for the following snippets: We then discovered that the glans penis responded to cutaneous stimuli in that peculiar manner with which we were already familiar from our study of the first stage  of recovery after nerve division. On turning to von Frey's account of the glans penis ([9] p. 175) we found a brilliant description of a part endowed with protopathic and deep sensibility only. We can add nothing material to this remarkable description, but shall attempt to show how exactly in the case of H. the response of this organ to cutaneous stimuli corresponds to that of the highly protopathic area, which remains on the back of his hand…. [An] interrupted current almost painless on the normal skin causes an aching, tingling sensation over the glans which is extremely unpleasant. The characteristic "whirring" sensation is absent and is replaced by a slowly increasing diffused pain. The most remarkable peculiarities are shown in the behaviour of the glans to heat and cold. In the case of H., there appear to be no heatspots except in the neighbourhood of the corona; the body and tip of the glans are entirely insensitive to heat. But cold- spots abound and paradox-cold can be as easily evoked… We therefore made a number of observations in the following manner. The foreskin was drawn back, and the penis allowed to hang downwards. A number of drinking glasses were prepared containing water at different temperatures. H. stood with his eyes closed, and R. gradually approached one of the glasses until the surface of the water covered the glans but did not touch the foreskin. Contact with the  fluid was not appreciated; if, therefore,  the temperature of the water was such that it did not produce a sensation of heat or cold, H. was unaware that anything had been done… 1923—A Brain- and Brain-filled Year  of Lasts and Firsts The year 1923 was a historic year for Head and for Brain, and one could argue, especially for Brain. First,    Brain's first article in Brain appeared. Though brief, it was and remains one of the few well-regarded medical studies that includes the phrase "cracked-pot" in its title: "Clinical Meeting Held May 10, 1923: Case of Right Frontal Tumour; Cracked-pot Percussion Note over Right Frontal Bone; Left Palmar Reflex,"   Dr. George Riddoch and Dr. Russell Brain, Brain, vol. 46, no. 2, 1923, p. 246. Then, just months later, came Head's last article in Brain: "Speech and Cerebral Localization," Henry Head, Brain, vol. 46, no. 4, 1923, pp. 355–528. Thus there was a brief but documented period in which both Head, as head, and Brain, headed to eventually become head, were officially part of Brain. References and Notes The full citation for Brain on Head in Brain is: "Henry Head: The Man and His Ideas," Russell Brain, Brain, vol. 84, no. 4, December 1961,  pp. 561–6. The title of Head's first article in Brain alluded only indirectly to the head and brain: "On Disturbances of Sensation with Especial Reference to the Pain of Visceral Disease," Henry Head, Brain, vol. 16, nos. 1-2, 1893, pp. 1-133. Brain itself eventually produced a small essay about Head and Brain and other editors of Brain. "Editorial," Alastair Compston, Brain, vol. 127,  2004, pp. 1689–90. _____________________ This article is republished with permission from the September-October 2009 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift! Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

Gumbasia Posted: 12 Oct 2011 04:57 AM PDT (YouTube link) Gumbasia was Art Clokey’s first film, made in 1955 at the University of Southern California. It was a parody of Disney’s Fantasia, using stop-motion clay figures. This short film led to funding for his first Gumby film. Link

Bank Robber Stops for Lunch Nearby Posted: 12 Oct 2011 04:54 AM PDT The Wells Fargo Bank in Yuma, Arizona was robbed on Saturday. The alleged robber, 56-year-old Henry Elmer, “fled the scene” and went all the way across the parking lot before he stopped for a pizza and a beer. Employees at the pizza parlor noticed that their new customer looked “agitated,” but were not otherwise suspicious. He ordered a beer and some pizza, and then had a seat in the back of the dining room. According to an employee, “As he sat down a cop walked in and saw the guy. Then the cop asked me if the guy had been here that long, and I told him 10 minutes tops…. That’s when the rest of the cops came in.” You may be thinking, that’s a pretty good response time. It is, but on the other hand the cops did not have too far to travel, since the Yuma police station is basically also right next door to the bank: The story is very similar to another robbery in San Francisco, which you can also read about at Lowering the Bar. Link -via Boing Boing

The True Origins of Pizza Posted: 12 Oct 2011 04:51 AM PDT (YouTube link) This video is an ad for the Korean chain Mr. Pizza. Viewers said this must be a product of a US agency, as Korean advertising is rarely humorous or self-deprecating. It seems they are right. Link -via Metafilter

The Seven Deadly Keys Posted: 12 Oct 2011 04:49 AM PDT The seven deadly sins, as illustrated by the keys on your keyboard. And why not? Many of us live our lives through a keyboard! By Christiann MacAuley at Sticky Comics. Link -via The Daily

Google Celebrates Art Clokey’s Birthday Posted: 12 Oct 2011 04:48 AM PDT Animation pioneer Art Clokey was born 90 years ago today. Clokey gave us Gumby and Pokey and later Davey and Golliath. In honor of the occasion, Google has an animated Gumby-themed doodle. The Gumby Doodle — which starts off with several clay balls and a child's wooden block — was created by top animator Anthony Scott ("Coraline," "Corpse Bride") and puppet/prop maker Nicole LaPointe-McKay for the Clokey Productions Premavision studios. (Click on each ball or block and a figure springs to life — including the galloping Pokey, Prickle the yellow dinosaur, the Blockheads and Goo, the flying blue goo-ball mermaid. Or click on Gumby himself and he bounces into a ball, a block and then a heart. Because, as the theme song says: "If you've got a heart, then Gumby's a part of you.") Link -via the Presurfer

Male Pole Dancing Posted: 11 Oct 2011 08:24 PM PDT If I say the words "pole dancing," what image comes to your mind? Scantily-clad women gyrating on a pole? Helloooo! It's the twenty first century, people - where's your sense of gender equality? Thankfully, a small group of (very agile) men are out to change the image of pole dancing: Spinning upside down around a tall silver rod here last weekend, an Australian fellow named Matty Shields stared down a panel of women judges, a mainly female crowd and decades of stereotypes. He hoped to become a gender pioneer: the world's first official king of pole dancing. Mr. Shields, 26 years old, was one of seven men who were the first male competitors in the annual World Pole Dance finals. In a white vest festooned with feathers, ripped open to expose his chest, Mr. Shields wooed a skeptical crowd with moves like "the body flag," in which he gripped the pole with his hands and stretched his body out horizontally. With its roots in strip clubs and bedrooms, pole dancing has been dismissed as a misogynistic playground in which women contort themselves for the viewing pleasure of men. But lately some women have fought to transcend titillation by rebranding it as fitness. Some have even petitioned the International Olympic Committee to make it an Olympic sport. Link

X-Ray Stained Glass Posted: 11 Oct 2011 06:51 PM PDT Belgian artist Wim Delvoye is not one to, shall we say, hold himself back. He expresses his artistic impulses regardless of how other people might respond. Like tattooing pigs and, uh, anal kisses. His latest installation takes the form of a Seventeenth Century Flemish baroque church filled with stained glass, mostly images pulled from x-rays. Pictured above is a close up view of one panel. You can see more at the link. Link -via Boing Boing | Artist’s Website

Married, But Already Cheating Posted: 11 Oct 2011 06:24 PM PDT A redditor got married and his groomsmen entered the Konami Code to get his marriage off to the right start. What sort of power-ups will this enable? Link -via GeekDad

Dora The Explorer, All Grown Up Posted: 11 Oct 2011 06:23 PM PDT Every parent who has little kids would appreciate this: "Dora The Explorer" for adults, a spoof by Greenstorm Film. The Fiesta Trio would've approved. But don't let your kids watch this, hmm? For reasons of gory violence and premature termination of childlike innocence. Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Accordion Guy See also: Inception Spoof Featuring Dora The Explorer | Dora the Explorer Episode Written by a 4-Year Old

Car Jumping Rope Posted: 11 Oct 2011 06:10 PM PDT (Video Link) This viral ad for Original Penguin menswear shows a lowrider with hydraulics so powerful that the car can jump off the ground — even jump rope! Ah, but can it do a criss-cross? -via Doobybrain

Tinker Belle Needs a Shave Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:57 PM PDT And someone take that beer away from Sleeping Beauty. She’s underage. Ethan Trewhitt found these Disney Princesses at Dragon*Con. Pocahontas is actually fairly convincing. Link -via Walyou (warning: auto-sound)

Teaching Calculus with Chocolate Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:42 PM PDT Tim Chartier, a math professor at Davidson College, found a way to express a principle of calculus using the best of all possible source materials: chocolate. He created a series of enlarging charts featuring a growing number of chocolate chips: If you count carefully, we use 83 milk chocolate chips of the 121 total. This gives us an estimate of 2.7438 for ?, which correlates to an error of about 0.378. [...] What do you notice is happening to the error as we reduce the size of the squares? Indeed, our estimates are converging to the exact area. Here lies a fundamental concept of Calculus. If we were able to construct such chocolate chip mosaics with grids of ever increasing size, then we would converge to the exact area. Said another way, as the area of the squares approaches zero, the limit of our estimates will converge to ?. Keep in mind, we would need an infinite number of chocolate chips to estimate ? exactly, which is a very irrational thing to do! Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!

Shopdropped Cereal Boxes Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:33 PM PDT Something’s just a bit different about these cereal boxes created by Ron English, but I can’t put my finger on it. But seriously, last week I discovered that Lucky Charms are totally awesome for supper. Think outside the box, you know. Link -via Super Punch Previously by Ron English: Dissected Captain America Illegal McDonald’s Billboard

Drunk Man Tries to Use Taco as ID, Police Reject It Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:17 PM PDT A man passed out in the drive-through lane at a Taco Bell in Jensen Beach, Florida. When police arrived and asked for ID, the suspect pulled a taco out of his pocket and offered it to the officer: A deputy awoke Falkner and then asked for his ID. Falkner said no before reaching into his bag and presenting the officer with a taco. Another deputy clarified they were asking for an ID, not a taco. Falkner chuckled and began eating the taco. The suspect is just ahead of his time. In the future, a Taco Bell taco will carry weight in society. Link -via Dave Barry | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user LindsayT….

Shark Fin Banned in California Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:11 PM PDT Despite having a high mercury content and being harvested in a way considered cruel by animal groups, shark fin is popularly used in a Chinese soup consumed for birthdays, weddings, and other special occasions. Now, it’s officially banned in California. Shark fin soup is a Chinese delicacy; walk into certain restaurants in San Francisco’s Chinatown, and you’re guaranteed to find it–but not for much longer. Last week, California governor Jerry Brown signed a law banning the sale of shark fins. It’s a move that is being celebrated by environmentalists, but some Chinese Americans are complaining that the law is an attack on their culture. The process of shark finning is brutal, to say the least–fisherman catch sharks, slice off their tails and fins, and toss the sharks back into the water, where they quickly die. The practice has caused shark populations in some areas to drop by up to 90%. It’s especially prevalent in California, where 85% of U.S. shark fin consumption occurs. And when sharks die, it disrupts entire ocean ecosystems. Sharks are one of the top predators controlling fish populations, so when they’re gone, there is an out of whack relationship between fish and plankton. “We applaud Governor Brown for signing AB 376,” writes Bill Wong, a member of the Asian Pacific American Ocean Harmony Alliance and creator of a petition on Change.org that helped lead the charge for the law. “It puts California at the forefront of the global effort to save sharks led by a broad coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, conservationists, animal rights activists, commercial fishermen, business leaders and artists. The passage of this bill may just be the tipping point that will preserve the shark species and the ocean ecosystem.” We contacted Wong for further comment, but have yet to hear back. California’s new law may be one of the last chances to save sharks, but it’s provoking ire from Chinese American restaurant and shop owners, who claim that the ban will put a big dent in their business. Dried shark fin sells for over $2,000 a pound, and it’s considered both a status symbol and a way to celebrate big occasions. One Chinese restauranteur tells the L.A. Times that his main business is dishing out shark fin soup, and that everything else is secondary. He is closing his restaurant at the end of the year. Link | Image credit Relgar

A Chicken Roasted in Clay Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:01 PM PDT It never occurred to me before, but it makes sense: if you can roast a chicken in a clay oven, such as a tandoor, why not just wrap the bird in clay and stick it in the oven? Tasteologie has a video and pictures of chefs showing you how it’s done. Link | Photo: Williams-Sonoma

Television Shows as 8-Bit Pixel Games Posted: 11 Oct 2011 04:44 PM PDT Vimeo link. Animated for the Italian channel FOX Retro, the animated video features popular 80s TV show characters in classic video game environments. The game was beat with Wonder Woman being saved by Fonzie from Happy Days. Then I inserted another coin to replay. -via Laughing Squid

Kamikaze Ant Posted: 11 Oct 2011 04:22 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a species of kamikaze ant in the jungle of Borneo that blows itself up in a suicide attack in order to save the colony: Several south-east Asian species of ant in the Camponotus cylindricus group (i.e. carpenter ants) have enlarged mandibular glands that extend into their gaster (the bulbous posterior portion found in bees, wasps and ants). When disturbed, the ants rupture the membrane of the gaster, causing a burst of secretions containing chemicals – the largest gland reservoirs yet known in ants – that immobilize small insect attackers and kills the ant. Or, as the folks at Newscientist.com put it, “The ants of Borneo go out with a bang, thanks to a body built to blow up during a suicidal death grip.” In other words, the six-legged blast-ended ant grabs onto the invading enemy and squeezes itself to death, literally blowing itself up and shpritzing a deadly sticky yellow goo everywhere, killing both intruder and ant. And these little suicide bombers operate on a hair-trigger; their abdomen walls ruptured even when researchers lightly touched them! Link - via Cliff Pickover's Reality Carnival

Warning: Balloon TARDIS Is Not Indestructible Posted: 11 Oct 2011 03:29 PM PDT A balloon artist named Kristy made a nearly full-size (at least on the outside) TARDIS. It materialized in an ideal location, don’t you think? Link -via The Mary Sue

Creepy Face Mask of Yourself Posted: 11 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Image: REAL-f This Halloween, go as yourself while wearing this super realistic 3D "face mask" by a Japanese company called REAL-f. The mask is so uncanny (the company claims to be able to accurately reproduce the details like the iris, blood vessels, and skin pigmentations), that I predict there's going to be a Hollywood movie starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage masquerading as each other. Oh, wait. Link (in Japanese) - via TechCrunch

Megavirus: Virus So Large You Can See It with a Light Microscope Posted: 11 Oct 2011 12:02 PM PDT Meet Megavirus chilensis, a virus so big that it's actually larger than some bacteria: The particle measures about 0.7 micrometres (thousandths of a millimetre) in diameter. "It is bigger than some bacteria," explained Prof Jean-Michel Claverie, from Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France. "You don't need an electron microscope to see it; you can see it with an ordinary light microscope," he told BBC News. In the lab experiments conducted by Professor Claverie and colleagues, in which they infected fresh-water amoebas, Megavirus was seen to construct large trojan organelles - the "cells within cells" that would produce new viruses to infect other amoebas. Link

Greenhouse Lamp Posted: 11 Oct 2011 11:40 AM PDT I love the idea of growing your own food, so this greenhouse lamp is a cute idea for herbs and other small plants. The price tag is $1,900 though, so I’m going to try filling an empty Sprite bottle with moss and tape it to a ceiling lightbulb. It will work. Link -via Colossal

Remember That Drink? Posted: 11 Oct 2011 10:22 AM PDT This week, mental_floss welcomes guest quizmaster Hillary Buckholtz of the blog I’m Remembering for series of nostalgic Lunchtime Quizzes! Today you are challenged to remember bygone drinks. This coffee drinker scored miserably -only 40%. You will do better! Link

Dr. Pepper's New Manly Drink is Not For Women Posted: 11 Oct 2011 10:02 AM PDT Image: Dr Pepper Snapple Group Real men don't drink sissy diet sodas, no siree! So to reach out to these untapped macho population for its new diet drink, Dr. Pepper decided to harness the power of mysogynistic advertisement. Behold, the drink that's not for women: To appeal to men, Dr Pepper made its Ten drink 180 degrees different from Diet Dr Pepper. It has calories and sugar, unlike its diet counterpart. Instead of the dainty tan bubbles on the diet can, Ten will be wrapped in gunmetal grey packaging with silver bullets. And while Diet Dr Pepper’s marketing is women-friendly, the ad campaign for Ten goes out of its way to eschew women. For instance, there’s a Dr Pepper Ten Facebook page for men only. And TV commercials are heavy on the machismo, including one spot that shows muscular men in the jungle battling snakes and bad guys and appear to shoot lasers at each other. "Hey ladies. Enjoying the film? Of course not. Because this is our movie and this is our soda," a man says as he attempts to pour the soda into a glass during a bumpy ATV ride. "You can keep the romantic comedies and lady drinks. We’re good." Link

What Exactly Is a Sandwich? Posted: 11 Oct 2011 09:50 AM PDT It seems like a simple enough question, right? One even a very small child could answer. Unfortunately, there were no children on staff at Panera Bread in 2006, when the company sued Qdoba Mexican Grill for building a restaurant near one of theirs–a restaurant which happened to be protected by a “sandwich shop” location exclusivity contract. In other words, Panera sued Qdoba, makers of fine burritos since 1995, for selling “sandwiches” too near their sandwiches. The judge presiding over the case used “common sense” and “a dictionary” to determine that, no, a burrito is not a sandwich. (The “Is Panera trying to look ridiculous?” case was resolved out of court.) The burrito question may well be determined, but the definition of a sandwich leaves plenty of wiggle room for interpretation. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, a sandwich comprises “two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between,” but then continues to include “one slice of bread covered with food.” This would indicate that hotdogs, bruscetta, and even biscuits and gravy are sandwiches. Let’s take a look at the difference in sandwich conservatives’ and liberals’ opinions on the matter. In the right corner, we have the “two pieces of bread with filling, no variation” group. This excludes commonly accepted sandwich derivatives like stuffed pitas. On a technicality, they also must include the quesadilla unless the decision is made to restrict the sandwich definition to include only leavened bread. A self-described Sandwich Orthodox friend explained to me that any food which requires cooking before sandwiching is not a sandwich, even a hamburger–”If it can’t be made in the woods, it isn’t a sandwich.” What about grilled cheese, dude? On the other side, there are those who, like Ian Chillag of NPR’s Sandwich Monday, will accept any “protein wrapped in carb.” A close inspection tells us this would be sweeping enough to qualify sushi, fried cheese and those bizarre egg-and-cheese toaster strudel as sandwiches, in addition to any burrito, taco, this thing or Hot Pocket, while excluding traditional sandwiches (like jelly or veggie). How is a hotdog a sandwich if a veggie sub isn’t? If your definition relies on portability or hand-to-mouth eatability, then out go the Dagwood, Merriam-Webster’s second definition and anything messy enough to require a fork. Likewise, any number of clearly non-sandwich foods could be included here. Consider also the breadless sandwich: lettuce wraps, vegetable substitutes and *shudder* the KFC Double Down. They’re sandwiched, yes, but are they sandwiches? Neatoramanauts, settle this debate: What is your definition of a sandwich, and what is definitely not a sandwich? Sources: Is a Burrito a Sandwich? Wikipedia: Sandwich That’s a Wrap: The Truth Behind the Great Sandwich Debate Burrito not a sandwich, judge rules in Panera-vs.-Qdoba tiff Merriam-Webster: “sandwich” Is a quesadilla a sandwich? Image

The Temple of Muses Posted: 11 Oct 2011 09:08 AM PDT In 1733, French illustrator Bernard Picart produced a book called Neueröffneter Musen-Tempel, (Temple of the Muses) with 60 copperplate engravings, mostly illustrating stories from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The image here shows Hercules fighting the Hydra. See 16 of those engravings at BibliOdyssey. Link

Up The Stairs Posted: 11 Oct 2011 09:06 AM PDT (YouTube link) In Japan, the goal of a TV game show is not so much to win, but to entertain the audience. This show that challenges players to climb a slime-ridden staircase is a case in point. Commenters at YouTube assure us that the stairs are made from a relatively soft material, so it doesn’t hurt as much as you’d think to fall on them. -via The Daily What

Old Shoes Found Posted: 11 Oct 2011 08:55 AM PDT Construction workers digging a foundation for a supermarket in Camelon, Scotland, ran into what is now an archaeological site. Around 60 pairs of discarded footwear that once belonged to Roman soldiers was found. The 2,000-year-old leather footwear was discovered along with Roman jewelry, coins, pottery, and animal bones at the site, which is located at the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The cache of Roman shoes and sandals—one of the largest ever found in Scotland—was uncovered recently in a ditch at the gateway to a second century A.D. fort built along the Antonine Wall. The wall is a massive defensive barrier that the Romans built across central Scotland during their brief occupation of the region. In what will most likely prove to be a garbage dump, archaeologists are finding clues to life in one of the “most important Scottish excavations in the last decade.” Link (Image credit: Martin Cook)

The Delectable Kaleidoscope of Candy Bars Posted: 11 Oct 2011 08:19 AM PDT A new poster print from Pop Chart Lab connects ingredients to candy bars, or alternatively, tells you what flavors are in your favorite candy bars, in a pleasing kaleidoscopic graphic. See how it all comes together by enlarging it at the site. Link -via Laughing Squid

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