Neatorama |
- Heh, Heh, Heh. You Said “Uranus”
- Oh No! It’s Lola the Talking Dog
- Rear Window Timelapse
- The Perfect Compliment to Your Wookie Cookie
- Mass Effect As A Saturday Morning Cartoon
- The Cutest Renditions of the Saddest Comic Book Moments Ever
- If Your Favorite Characters Were Fonts
- You Will Obey the Dalek Relaxation Tape
- Pumpkin Spring, an Arsenic Pool in the Grand Canyon
- Spiffzaya
- Totoro Piggy Bank
- Periodic Table SYMBOLS in Order Song
- Homemade Automatic Floppy Disk Archiver
- Grilled Cheese Ice Cream
- Pro/Con Journal
- Chess Voltron Would Be an Awesome TV Show
- Penguin Poop Can Be Seen from Space
- Japanese Invention Lets You Kiss a Real Live Girl, Sort of
- Cheesecake-Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs with Passion Fruit Yolk
- Ashton Kutcher to Play Steve Jobs
- Orphaned Baby Manatee Just Wants Hugs
- How to Track Lice with Nail Polish
- Driving the John Deere Home
- Lesser-Known Punctuation Marks
- Teen for Rent
- Where Would You Go?
- Shiro Has a New Friend
- Skyscrapers
- 10 Awesome Office Pranks For Late April Fool’s Day
| Heh, Heh, Heh. You Said “Uranus” Posted: 03 Apr 2012 05:04 AM PDT
Stop that. You’re not 13 anymore. And besides, Uranus is possibly the best planet ever. Really. LOOKING AT URANUS Gaze for a moment, if you will, on the featureless disk that is Uranus (stop that). The discovery of Uranus ranks as one of the top scientific finds of history. (I mean it. Don’t make me come back there.) In fact, we can safely say that science today would be entirely different, if it wasn’t for Uranus… I can wait until you’re done, you know. WHERE URANUS CAME FROM “Uranus,” of course, has nothing at all to do with your terminal excretory sphincter. First off, it’s pronounced “yooor-ah-nus,” not “yer-anus,” as folks are so wont to do. Second, the word refers to one of the oldest characters in Greek mythology, the personification of the heavens, who with Gaia, the personification of the Earth, sired the Titans, a.k.a. the Elder Gods. They in turn sired the Olympians gods, whose names (in the Roman versions) grace the other planets, excepting Saturn, who was the most important Titan, and our own little Earth, the most boringly named, probably from the Olde English “earthe,” meaning “earth.” THE IMPORTANCE OF URANUS When Uranus was given its name, it was to imply the majesty of the vast reaches of the universe. Its present status as the butt of butt jokes is an unfortunate and cruel irony.
It had to wait until 1781 to be discovered. English astronomer William Herschel was doing a survey of the night sky, looking for stars down to the eighth magnitude of brightness (about five times dimmer than most humans can see with the naked eye) when he came across a disk just plopped down there in the middle of a star field. Stars are too far away to present a disk shape, and since it had no tail and a slow, regular motion across the sky -it had to be a planet. And so it was. The discovery of Uranus led directly to the discovery of the next planet, Neptune, after discrepancies in Uranus’s orbit suggested there was just another planet out there. Neptune’s discovery in turn suggested the existence of yet another planet -Pluto. It was like getting three planets for the price of one. URANUS LOOKS FUNNY This would be enough to qualify Uranus for the Best Planet Ever -but wait, there’s more. Every member of our solar family had its odd quirks: Venus has a day that’s longer than its year, Jupiter has its Red Spot, Saturn, its rings, and Earth -well, Earth’s got us. But Uranus has got some truly freaky things going on. First, the planet’s axis of rotation is tilted some 97 degrees, which means that, relative to all the other planets (whose axes are more or less perpendicular to their orbits), Uranus is on its side. It’s fallen down and it can’t get up. Its magnetic poles are skewed by nearly 60 degrees from the rotational poles, and -get this- the magnetic core of the planet is offset from the actual planetary core by 30 percent. So don’t bother to bring a compass. OTHER STRANGE THINGS ABOUT URANUS And there’s more, like the fact that Uranus produces anomalously small amounts of internal heat for a gas giant, and the fact that spectral analysis reveals the planet to be mostly various types of ice. But you get the point: Uranus is just a big mess. If any planet in the system could be a metaphor for the frfeakish, off-kilter, and frankly inexplicable universe we all live in, this would be the one. And if we end up making fun of it because of its name, well, it’s just that kind of universe, isn’t it? ___________________
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!
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| Oh No! It’s Lola the Talking Dog Posted: 03 Apr 2012 04:18 AM PDT |
| Posted: 03 Apr 2012 04:08 AM PDT Jeff Desom stitched together footage from the courtyard in the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window to show us everything that was going on in the building, in chronological order. Whether you’re a fan of the movie or not, you have to admit this panorama took a lot of work! See larger pictures and find out how he did it at the project site. Link -via Metafilter |
| The Perfect Compliment to Your Wookie Cookie Posted: 03 Apr 2012 03:12 AM PDT A chocolate-filled chocolate Millennium Falcon? Yum! The good news is that you can eat all you want because you weigh nothing in space. Link Via Geeks Are Sexy |
| Mass Effect As A Saturday Morning Cartoon Posted: 03 Apr 2012 02:53 AM PDT This retro styled Mass Effect cartoon short was created by animator extraordinaire Harry Partridge, who demonstrates how ME would have looked on a Saturday morning in the 1980s, complete with main characters that like to rock out. It’s funtastic, even on a Tuesday! –via Comics Alliance |
| The Cutest Renditions of the Saddest Comic Book Moments Ever Posted: 03 Apr 2012 02:01 AM PDT Don’t you hate it when all of your loved ones die? Well, it could be worse, in the words of the adorable skateboarding kitty poster I had as a child “at least I look cute.” All of these precious little creations showing the saddest moments in great comic books, all drawn by Tony Fleec, certainly have that distinction at least. Fleec also has the distinction of being the artist responsible for those great comic book teen novel covers John posted last week. |
| If Your Favorite Characters Were Fonts Posted: 03 Apr 2012 01:00 AM PDT G is for Gonzo P is for Pepe and U is for Uncle Deadly. I don’t know about you guys, but I desperately need to download this font. Of course, if you prefer Harry Potter, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Pixar movies, then there are other alphabets that you might suit you better. Link Via Geekosystem |
| You Will Obey the Dalek Relaxation Tape Posted: 02 Apr 2012 05:52 PM PDT (Video Link) You must relax! Your stress will be exterminated! Exterminated! Breathe in and out as this Dalek commands or suffer the consequences. And thank Peter Serafinowicz of BBC 6 Radio for bringing us this gem of a video. -via Boing Boing | Serafinowicz’s Twitter Feed |
| Pumpkin Spring, an Arsenic Pool in the Grand Canyon Posted: 02 Apr 2012 02:40 PM PDT Pumpkin Spring is a geological oddity is a limestone formation off the Colorado River. Some water spills over the top, but that which remains has a deadly mixture of arsenic, copper, zinc and lead. It’s dangerous, but beautiful. View more pictures at the link. Link | Photo: Flickr user al_hikesaz |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 02:30 PM PDT This woman, who goes by the online name Spiffzaya, must be a full-time cosplayer, as she has over 100 pictures of her various costumes online. That’s enough to give her the title of Cosplayer of the Week at Unreality magazine! Check out a gallery of her best looks. The costume pictured here is Captain Hans from Hellsing. Link |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 02:28 PM PDT The keeper of the forest can keep your money safe. Flickr user Mariana Rojas added this adorable color scheme to a piggy bank. Link -via Offbeat Home |
| Periodic Table SYMBOLS in Order Song Posted: 02 Apr 2012 01:04 PM PDT This song does what it says in the title, and will make you laugh. It was meant as a study aid, but it didn’t help me memorize the elements at all. How about you? Oh yeah, in case it went a little fast for you, the lyrics at the YouTube page …or on any periodic table of elements. -via Metafilter |
| Homemade Automatic Floppy Disk Archiver Posted: 02 Apr 2012 12:47 PM PDT (Video Link) Ozzy Dweller has about 5,000 old 3.5 inch floppy disks. He’d like to back them up, but doing so manually, he found, was just too tedious. So he built a machine that loads them into a computer, copies them, then ejects them onto the floor. |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 12:33 PM PDT
I’d give it a pass. Link -via Fark |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 11:56 AM PDT Pro/Con Journal – $10.95 Are you overwhelmed by life? Do you have trouble making decisions with confidence? You need the Pro/Con Journal from the NeatoShop. This specialty journal lets you make decisions with systematic satisfaction. Writing things down has its pluses. Now you can review all past decisions with 20/20 hindsight. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fun with Stationary. |
| Chess Voltron Would Be an Awesome TV Show Posted: 02 Apr 2012 11:53 AM PDT The element of surprise is a tremendous advantage in battle. Similarly, taking an opponent by surprise can lead to a quick victory in chess. And what would be a greater surprise than for your pieces to combine into a giant fighting robot that sweeps the board in a single move? Cymon of Thingiverse has designed a chess set that will let you do just that. |
| Penguin Poop Can Be Seen from Space Posted: 02 Apr 2012 11:46 AM PDT |
| Japanese Invention Lets You Kiss a Real Live Girl, Sort of Posted: 02 Apr 2012 11:40 AM PDT (Video Link) Why wasn’t this around when I was a teenager?! You kids these days are so spoiled by your newfangled technology. Researchers at Keio University developed an interactive poster of a popular singer that responds (favorably!) when you try to kiss her. This video was posted on April 1. It could be an April Fools’ Day prank. But if so, it’s a completely believable one. -via DVICE |
| Cheesecake-Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs with Passion Fruit Yolk Posted: 02 Apr 2012 11:26 AM PDT Need a break from those Cadbury creme eggs? You can fill up after about a dozen of them in one sitting. For variety’s sake, try these cheesecake eggs made by Steph of Rasberri Cupcakes. You can find her recipe at the link. Link -via Tasteologie |
| Ashton Kutcher to Play Steve Jobs Posted: 02 Apr 2012 11:14 AM PDT Ashton Kutcher has reportedly been cast as the star of a planned independent film biography of Steve Jobs. The reaction from Apple fans has been mixed. You have to admit there is a strong resemblance, and an actors’ personality doesn’t have to match their role if they are good at what they do. What do you think? Link |
| Orphaned Baby Manatee Just Wants Hugs Posted: 02 Apr 2012 11:12 AM PDT Friends of the Manatee, a Brazilian conservationist group, rescued this 2-month old Amazonian manatee near the body of its mother. Right now, caretakers are keeping it healthy and preparing to return it to the wild. At the link, you can see a photo of this baby being bottle-fed. Content warning: dangerously high level of cuteness. Link -via Karen Grossman | Photo: Friends of the Manatee |
| How to Track Lice with Nail Polish Posted: 02 Apr 2012 10:26 AM PDT
You can read what they learned from this study at Discoblog. But you can’t help but picture what it’s like to camp in the forests of Madagascar, with a toothpick of nail polish in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other, painting each louse on a five-inch lemur. For science! Link -via Not Exactly Rocket Science |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 09:49 AM PDT Be assured that the tractor did not originally go as fast as the video does. This pleasant taste of country living is accompanied by the music created for the South Park “Jewelry Polka” sequence. Which will be in your head the rest of the day. -via reddit |
| Lesser-Known Punctuation Marks Posted: 02 Apr 2012 09:21 AM PDT You know period, comma, semicolon, asterisk, etc. but there are a lot more punctuation marks. Can you name some that we don’t use all that often? Easier still, can you match the punctuation mark with its proper name? That’s the challenge in today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental Floss. I am embarrassed to tell you I only got 3 out of 10 correct. I’m sure you can beat that! Link |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 08:36 AM PDT As I have a houseful of teenagers, this Twaggie really strikes home. It was illustrated from a Tweet by @Fallun_Angel. In fact, the entire past week of Twaggies seem to have a theme of laziness! You can see a new Twaggie every day at GoComics. Link |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 07:34 AM PDT
Disregarding the fact that you would go to the closest shelter in the event of a zombie attack, which of these refuges would you like best? Link |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT Shiro, Japan’s most laid-back cat, has reached a level of fame in which fans can buy their own version of him (but only in Japan). Watch Shiro test the new toy to show how authentic it is. The plushie is almost as patient and tolerant as Shiro is! Link to pictures. Link to video. -via Buzzfeed (Image credit: kagonekoshiro) |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2012 06:40 AM PDT The latest video from OK Go features a lot of wardrobe changes and probably some extensive location scouting, but the results are quite colorful! And the song -oh, there was a song with this? -via Nag on the Lake |
| 10 Awesome Office Pranks For Late April Fool’s Day Posted: 02 Apr 2012 05:11 AM PDT I know April Fool's Day was yesterday, but since most people don't go to work on Sundays, today is certainly the best day to pull off any office pranks you've had planned. Admittedly, most good office pranks take a bit of time and preparation to pull off, so it might be too late to do something super outrageous if you haven't already planned it, even so, these might at least give you some inspiration for April 1, 2013. LEGO CarAt LEGOLAND, employees quickly learn that anything can be remade with legos…including the vehicles of their co-workers. So naturally, the team stole another employee's car, moved it and forklifted in a LEGO version of the same vehicle. The doppelganger car weighed 2,934 pounds and took 201,076 LEGOs to build. Of course, being a LEGO-lover himself, the victim couldn't help but be impressed. Office BathroomNo, these clever pranksters didn't do anything to the office bathroom –that kind of potty humor is too immature for a workplace environment. Instead, they turned their co-worker's office into a bathroom. This one takes a lot of time, money and effort, so make sure you're ready to commit to the project before diving in….also, make sure the victim isn't dumb enough to actually try using the toilet after you put it in her office. I don't know about you guys, but I've had a lot of bosses I wouldn't trust not to use it. Turn A Keyboard Into A PlanterWho doesn't love having some live plants growing at their desk? Oh yeah, someone who has a keyboard full of cress. To try this prank out for yourself, simply remove the keys of a keyboard and place down some cotton. Sprinkle in some cress or grass seeds and water, and then replace the keys. Spray lightly with water a few times a day and in a few weeks you'll have a healthy baby garden ready to confuse your victim. Just switch out his keyboard when he's not looking, and you're done! Booby Traps!It might not be the safest or most grown-up prank out there, but let's face it, turning your co-worker's desk into a booby trapped mess is certainly one of the most fun pranks out there. If you want to build your own, Instructables user PocketSized has all the guidance you need to create a tripwire-activated booby trap. Of course, you have to be careful as you don't want to shoot anyone's eye out with a poorly aimed push pin. Trolling A Computer
I know I already posted this one, but it's just such a great prank that I had to include it again here. Tin FoilThis is the one prank on this list I've actually participated in. Back when I worked at a social media start up, we did this to our CEO when he left on his honeymoon. While it didn't take too long for him to remove the foil, the look on his face was priceless. And for the environmentalists out there, don't worry, all the foil was recycled afterward. Alternatively, wrapping paper and newspaper also work well. Post-It NotingThe best thing about this prank is the vibrant colors decorations you can get with all these Post-Its. And, while your victim will have to remove the ones from the computer monitor, keyboard, and other daily essentials, chances are she will leave up most of the Post-Its until she needs to use them for actual notes. That's a nice bonus as it means your prank will probably be visible for at least a few weeks more. Packing Popcorn BonanzaThere are actually two ways to do this prank. The first, seen in the picture above involves simply placing paper along the windows of an office and then filling the gaps with packing peanuts so the whole thing looks like it's filled up. Instructables user jetgrrl has all the steps you need to make an office look like it's stuffed to the brim with peanuts. Alternatively, if you want to annoy a cubicle dweller, simply cover their cubicle doorway with packing tape and then go wild filling their entire cubicle with packing peanuts. The true hilarity ensues when you see them pull the tape away as an avalanche of Styrofoam buries their feet. Of course, if you do this one, don't be a jerk –help them clean up the mess afterwards. The Important PackageHere's another great use for extra packing peanuts. Fill the largest box you can find with peanuts, seal the box and make sure to attach fake mailing slips. Next, email or fax your co-worker to let them know an important package should be arriving for them. When they're gone to the bathroom or lunch, leave the box at their desk. Watch as they furiously try to discover the important contents of the box that never actually existed. For more detailed instructions, check out this great Instructable by user butterbeans. Summer Barbecue CubicleI don't know about you guys, but if someone did this to my office, I'd probably just leave it. It has to be way more cozy and relaxing than a boring, regular cubicle. After all, every day at work would feel like a summer day spent relaxing in your backyard…just make sure not to actually use that grill indoors. The Office Office PranksOf course, if you still need some more inspiration for office pranks, may I recommend The Office. Between embedding Dwight's stapler in Jell-O, copying his identity and wrapping Dwight's entire desk in wrapping paper piece by piece, Jim has some great ideas for harassing your irritating office mates. The NeatoshopOver at the Neatoshop, we also have a few great pranks for your co-workers. While the delightful 100 Ways to Get Revenge At Work card set is currently out of stock, the Revenge CD and Ear Plugs set is a great way to harass the employee that always play terrible music everyday. Have any of you ever done any of these pranks? More importantly, did any of you do any good pranks today? Share your most pranktastic stories in the comments! |
The following is an article from the book 
Uranus is Really Big
What's That Mysterious Spot on Uranus?
The Dark Side of Uranus
Uranus is Tilted
The article above was reprinted with permission from 
Grilled Cheese Ice Cream won’t be on the permanent menu at Tom Wahl’s restaurant in Rochester, New York, but you can make your own from the instructions in the story. The concoction was an April Fool’s Day special. The eatery serves up a different strange ice cream flavor every year for the holiday.
Yes, I said “track,” not “kill.” This is a method scientists used to track the spread of lice among brown mouse lemurs.
Where are the best places to hide from a zombie attack? We know from watching TV that the CDC in Atlanta is no help; neither is a bucolic farm. But there are some really fortified landmarks that could shelter you from the undead. Fort Knox is the closest sanctuary to me, but for aesthetic interest, I’d prefer Fort Boyard off the west coast of France.
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