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2012/06/12

Neatorama

Neatorama

The TARDIS Engagement Ring Box

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 04:01 AM PDT

If you believe that engagement rings are symbols of true love, then the ring box isn’t the only think that’s bigger on the inside.

Link Via The Mary Sue

New Driver Side Mirror Eliminates the Blind Spot

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Of course, you could have such a mirror already. It would just be curved enough to cover the blind spot to the rear and left of the driver. But that curve would also distort the image, leaving the driver uncertain about the location of objects in the mirror. Thankfully, Drexel University mathematician R. Andrew Hick’s patented new design solves that problem:

Hicks's driver's side mirror has a field of view of about 45 degrees, compared to 15 to 17 degrees of view in a flat driver's side mirror. Unlike in simple curved mirrors that can squash the perceived shape of objects and make straight lines appear curved, in Hicks's mirror the visual distortions of shapes and straight lines are barely detectable. [...]

"Imagine that the mirror's surface is made of many smaller mirrors turned to different angles, like a disco ball," Hicks said. "The algorithm is a set of calculations to manipulate the direction of each face of the metaphorical disco ball so that each ray of light bouncing off the mirror shows the driver a wide, but not-too-distorted, picture of the scene behind him."

Hicks noted that, in reality, the mirror does not look like a disco ball up close. There are tens of thousands of such calculations to produce a mirror that has a smooth, nonuniform curve.

Link -via OhGizmo! | Photo: Drexel University

6 Utterly Insane Video Games

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 02:45 AM PDT

If you’re like me, you think that Katamari is pretty crazy, but these 6 games make Katamari look like the suburban housewife of video games. Take, for example, LSD:

Bumping into anything or anyone will cause the screen to fade and teleport you to another random place. After a while, you might start seeing the same places again, so the game keeps it interesting by doing things like replacing doors with women’s faces or filling the walls with eyes that slowly follow you as you walk past.

Believe it or not, that’s not the craziest one on this list either.

Link

The Meat from This Grill Will Blow You Away

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 02:00 AM PDT

Welding students at Sandpoint High School in Sandpoint, Idaho made this amazing grill that looks like a Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver. The students built the 15-foot rig using materials donated by a local gun shop. Be sure to wear eye and ear protection before lighting it up.

Link -via Walyou | Photo: Craziest Gadgets

P.S. If you liked this, be sure to check out our grill megapost.

10 Good Reasons Not to Bring Someone Back From the Dead

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 01:35 AM PDT

Yes, we might not yet have the technology to bring people back from the dead, but even if we did, it still is probably something we won’t want to do. If you need a few reasons to leave the dead the way they are, then this io9 article should help remind you why it’s such a bad idea to mess with the dead.

Link

The Best Geeky Yo Mama Jokes Ever

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 01:00 AM PDT


(Video Link)

Yo mama’s so fat that she’s bigger than both the outside and the inside of the TARDIS. And don’t get me started on yo mama’s looks.

Geeks at the Alabama Phoenix Festival recited ten great and terrible yo mama jokes. They saved the best one for end.

-via The Mary Sue

Previously: Nerdy Yo Mama Jokes

Think Woodchips Are Scraps?

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 12:34 AM PDT

Artist Sergey Bobkov might get you to reconsider when you see his amazing artworks that have been created with woodchips:

Sergey Bobkov uses a self-developed technique to keep the chips from crumbling, soaking the woodchips in water for a number of days, which then makes them flexible enough to sculpt. He primarily works with cembra pine, but will use other wood as occasion demands, including Siberian cedar. Each piece takes about six months to complete. The statues themselves are a work of pure passion, and Bobkov has refused to sell any of his pieces, despite any number of generous offers.

Six months of work for something you’ll never sell? That’s a lot of dedication to your art.

Link Via BuzzFeed

Alien vs. Predator Wedding Cake

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Eventually, the Alien and the Predator patched up their differences. Really, all that fighting was just awkward sexual tension. Then they met for coffee. Then they went on a date.

You can figure out the rest. Tracey of the Little Cherry and Black Cherry Cake Company made this adorable wedding cake for them.

Link | Bakery Website

New Technology Lets You Project Your Facial Expressions onto an Anime Girl

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 11:00 PM PDT


(Video Link)

You will no longer have to content yourself with merely dressing as Miku on casual Fridays. Researchers at Keio University developed a system that tracks a user’s facial expressions and projects them in real time onto the face of a computer-generated avatar:

To detect and track faces, this system uses time-series signal processing. It tracks characteristic points, including the eyes, nose, and mouth, at high speed with high precision. The white dots on the screen show the points used to track the face, and the red line shows the orientation of the face. So you can see that the system is detecting the face appropriately, in line with the way it’s facing and the movement of the mouth.

Link -via Geekosystem

Hair Basket Weaving

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 10:00 PM PDT

This weave by Guido Palau is from last year, so once again I am behind the fashion curve. Hair weaving in a basket style is apparently technically simple but chemically demanding:

Palau divided models' hair into three sections before adding extensions over and under natural strands for a woven effect, ending each panel in a skinny braid. Back panels were folded flat against the head and pinned in place before the entire head was sprayed with Redken's Forceful 23 hair spray. Sixty bottles of hairspray were used to hold everything in place!

Link -via TYWKIWDBI | Photo: Hair on the Brain

Hitlar, The Pakistani Tale of the Lost Son of Adolf Hitler

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT

In the closing days of World War II, Adolf Hitler escaped Berlin and made his way to south Asia. There he sired a son, the magical and tyrannical Hitlar. Cyriaque Lamar of io9 has selected clips from this amazingly weird film.

I cannot fathom how alternate history master Harry Turtledove let this story slip past him.

Link

Optimus Prime Knitted Hat

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 08:00 PM PDT

It’s cold outside, but that won’t stop us. Autobots, roll out! Etsy seller BeeBeeKins knitted this non-transforming hat for those days when your antifreeze is low.

Link -via Fashionably Geek

Car Thief Tried to Steal Judge’s Car

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT

Ooh, the nerve of some people! Judge Lillian Sing of San Francisco released a convicted auto thief with some stern warnings, only to get this as payback:

Phillip Bernard was in Community Court on Tuesday for a check of his progress while on probation for an auto burglary conviction.

Bernard, who is homeless, had missed an earlier appearance and had failed to follow his probation requirements. "I wasn't too happy with him," Sing said.

But Community Court is set up to get people help, not send them to jail for minor infractions. So Sing let him off with a stern admonishment.

"I told him he had better get into a harm reduction program and get going with a job search," Sing said.

No sooner did Sing's gavel go down, however, than Bernard exited the Polk Street courtroom, went around to the alley in back, pulled out a weighted sock and smashed the rear passenger window of a car, police said.

As fate would have it, a couple of beat cops were passing by. They nabbed Bernard, ran the car's plate and bingo - up popped the judge's name.

Link

Transgender Tax Enforcers

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Forget straight-laced tax agents trying to intimidate you into paying taxes. That just won't work with hardened tax evaders of Pakistan, so they've come up with an alternative method: send in the transgender enforcers!

Armed with a bundle of paperwork, the 32-year-old raps on the gate of a mansion while a truck full of guards and tax officials remains at a distance.

The householder grins nervously at Nargis, who is a ''hijra'' - a member of Pakistan's increasingly assertive transgender community. With a sheepish look to see whether anyone is watching from the street, the owner meekly accepts a bill for outstanding property tax and municipal fees.

Given his effusive promises to pay, there is no need for what Qazi Aftab, the local head of tax collection, calls ''the nuclear option'' - clapping, shouting and generally making a scene. ''Because of the neighbours they get very embarrassed,'' he said. ''Usually just one minute of shouting is enough and then they pay up.''

Link

Winnebago of Mars

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT


Photo: James Ewing

We all know that NASA's budget ain't what it used to be, but sending a Winnebago to Mars is probably a bit much.

Actually, that's just an art installation by Tom Sachs, whose art "Space Program: Mars" reimagined NASA's space program in a slightly more homemade flavor. This one is the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF):


Photo: Genevieve Hanson/NYC

Looks cozy, doesn't it? SPACE.com has more: Link (Don't miss his version of the "Mars Roving Vehicle")

Previously on Neatorama: The Fake Adidas by Tom Sachs

What Americans Spend on Groceries

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT

Tired of high grocery bills? Quit griping! According to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans are actually spending less of our money on groceries than we did 30 years ago.

Lam Thuy Vo of NPR's Planet Money blog explains:

We now spend a much bigger share of our grocery money on processed foods, which includes things like frozen dinners, canned soups and snacks. We spend much less on meat, largely because meat is much cheaper than it was 30 years ago.

More at NPR's Planet Money Blog: Link 

The Butt Putt

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 03:56 PM PDT

The Butt Putt – $19.95

Father’s Day is June 17th. Are you still looking for the perfect gift for your golf loving Dad? Get Dad the Butt Putt from the NeatoShop. This hilarious practicing putter makes fart sounds whenever you make the shot. This gift is a real gas!

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fun Gag Gifts & Pranks!

Link

Pollution Turns Carnivorous Plants Vegetarian

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 03:29 PM PDT

Carnivorous plants like the pitcher plant, Venus flytrap, and sundew have evolved to get necessary nutrients from the bugs they eat, usually because the soil in their environments don’t have enough of them. But a new study shows that at least one kind of carnivorous plant, the common sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) will stop doing so when there is more nitrogen than usual in their soil, such as when nitrogen-rich acid rain falls.

A study published in New Phytologist shows that this artificial rain of fertilizer is now making carnivorous plants lose interest in insect prey. Plants in lightly-polluted areas got 57 per cent of their nitrogen from insects; in areas that receive more nitrogen deposition, that figure fell as low as 22 per cent.

“If there’s plenty of nitrogen available to their roots, they don’t need to eat as much,” explains Dr. Jonathan Millett from Loughborough University, the report’s lead author. Instead, they rely more on nitrogen absorbed through their roots.

How did the plants manage this rapid shift in diet? Millett says earlier experiments have suggested they can make their leaves less sticky, trapping fewer prey. He adds that a color change may also contribute; sundew plants in highly polluted bogs are much greener than those growing in nutrient-poor conditions. The latter typically have a red color that’s believed to attract insects. He even suggests that looking at the color of sundew plants could give ecologists a quick way to gauge how much nitrogen pollution an area has suffered.

That may be handy for us, but it may spell trouble for the species, which spent a lot of time evolving its specialized niche, and may not be so successful adapting to rapidly changing conditions. Link -via Geekosystem

(Image credit: Wikipedia user Migas)

Headbuttin’ Bumphead Parrotfish

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT


[YouTube Clip]

Biologists think that the giant bumphead parrotfish use their big, bumpy head to break corals into tiny chunks, but Roldan Munoz of the National Marine Fisheries Service has found another reason: headbutting rivals.

Ed Yong of Discover's Not Exactly Rocket Science wrote:

While watching the parrotfish at Wake Atoll, in the middle of the Pacific, Munoz’s team heard “loud jarring sounds”. They soon found that the males were smashing their heads together head-on, and then trying to bite each other in the flanks.

Link

The Paramount Picture

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 02:30 PM PDT

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Paramount Pictures, photographer Art Streiber assembled 116 movie stars into one picture. Shown here is just a section of the picture that appears in the July issue of Vanity Fair. You can mouseover the full, larger image at Vanity Fair to see the names. Link -via Buzzfeed

(Image credit: Art Streiber)

Crash! Stock Market Index in Glass

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT

Stock market crashes are a financial nightmare, but artist Luke Jerram (previously on Neatorama) was able to turn the gyrations of the New York Stock Exchange and the Dow Jones Industrial Average indexes into works of art.

Link - via Dark Roasted Blend (which has tons more cool glass artwork by various artists)

Fire Rainbow

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 01:30 PM PDT


Photo: Lisa Foss

Forget the Double Rainbow, there's a new celestial phenomenon that makes us yelp "OMG what does this mean?"

Lisa Foss of Ely, Minnesota saw this brilliant display of what some colloquially term a "fire rainbow" on Monday, while another show popped up in Edgewood, Texas on Saturday.

The rainbows are caused by ice crystals in the thin, distant clouds being at just the correct angle to refract the sunlight into the colors of the prism.

Meteorologist Scott Sistek of KATU has the post: Link - Thanks Tiffany!

Why Doesn’t a Woman’s Body Reject the Fetus in Pregnancy?

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT

It's the job of a human immune system to protect the body against foreign substances - so how come a woman's body doesn't reject the fetus in pregnancy?

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine made a discovery that helps answer the question of gestational immune tolerance:

“Our manuscript addresses a fundamental question in the fields of transplantation immunology and reproductive biology, namely, how do the fetus and placenta, which express antigens that are disparate from the mother, avoid being rejected by the maternal immune system during pregnancy?” explained lead investigator Adrian Erlebacher, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology and a member of the NYU Cancer Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. “What we found was completely unexpected at every level.”

The researchers discovered that embryo implantation sets off a process that ultimately turns off a key pathway required for the immune system to attack foreign bodies. As a result, immune cells are never recruited to the site of implantation and therefore cannot harm the developing fetus.

Link

Robot Fish Fools Zebrafish

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 12:30 PM PDT

The robocalypse is already happening ... if you're a zebrafish. Researchers at the Polytechnic Insitute of New York University and Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy, have created an artificial fertile female zebrafish that was accepted as a new robotic overlord by the real fishies:

The team fashioned their robotic fish to look like a fertile female zebrafish, which is attractive to both males and females in the species, and they painted it with characteristic stripes and yellow accents. [...] When the robotic fish with flapping tail was adjacent to an empty control section, both individuals and small shoals of zebrafish preferred to spend time in the vicinity of the robotic fish. In other words, fish were attracted by the robot.

Link 

The Boring Secret of Popular Tweets

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT

You'd think that the most popular tweet would be something funny and witty (like the ones illustrated at our pal Twaggies), but you'd be wrong.

Roja Bandari and colleagues from UCLA and HP Labs have cracked the (boring) secret to predicting the popularity of tweets [pdf], with a remarkable 84% accuracy. For example:

... emotional language doesn't seem to matter when it comes to predictable sharing. A tweet that calmly describes what you'll get by clicking on a link -- "Here is some news about Lady Gaga" -- will have about the same attentional impact as a tweet that HYPERBOLICALLY SHOUTS IT. Even within the tumult that is the Internet, when it comes to framing the news, objective language does just as well as emotional.

While that's unsurprising on the one hand, on the other it's its own kind of WHOA HUGE NEWS finding. Conventional wisdom -- and even our everyday experience of the web -- might suggest that emotion and overall WHOAness would trump other considerations. This is the operational logic of a site like Buzzfeed, whose brand is driven by little else beyond the WHOA.

The Atlantic has more: Link 

E.T. Phone Home!

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 11:30 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

On June 11, 1982, the Steven Spielberg movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial opened nationwide. For its 30th anniversary, Angie and Chad visited the locations where E.T. was filmed to see what they look like today and to record this song, to the tune of the Maroon 5 song “Payphone.” -Thanks, Angie!

Deflavorizer

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Maybe not your mom, but everyone knows someone who manages to cook all their lives and turn out dishes with no flavor to speak of. This Twaggie was illustrated from a Tweet by @resila. I hope your mother doesn’t see this, David! See more Tweets illustrated at Twaggies. Link

10 Bets You Will Never Lose

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 10:30 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

These tricks from Richard Wiseman look really neat, but you may have to go back and watch some of them over a couple of times to get them straight. I would advise playing these tricks on your friends one at a time, or your friend may end up completely shattered. -via Breakfast Links

Previously: More Bets You Can’t Lose

Bigfoot Air Freshener

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 10:16 AM PDT

Bigfoot Air Freshener – $2.95

Does your car smell downright beastly? Get rid of that monster of a smell with the Bigfoot Air Freshener from the NeatoShop. This great air freshener is pine scented. We think Sasquatch would approve.

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Car Accessories.

Link

Ferropolis

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Ferropolis (Iron City) is an open-air museum featuring huge industrial machines that are no longer in service. It has been open to the public in Gräfenhainichen, Germany, since 1995. If you can’t get there, see some awesome pictures at Socks Studio. Link -via the Presurfer

Previously: After visiting this museum, you’ll want to go to Männerspielplatz, the “men’s playground.”

Film Scenes, Kitty Edition

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT

From redditor haissam93, we get four iconic film images with a cat. For reference, see the originals. He assures us the cat hated every minute of it, and if there are more photos to come, he and his sister will have to use a different cat. Link  -via reddit

What Travel Guides Say About the USA

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 08:02 AM PDT

It’s always a good idea to brush up on local customs when you go abroad. Have you ever wondered what advice professional travel writers give to people about coming to the United States? A peek into these travel guides gives us an idea of how the US differs from the rest of the world. International visitors are warned that Americans like their personal space, consider it important to be on time, and are a little touchy about politics.

Politics get heavy treatment in the books, as do the subtleties of discussing them, maybe more so than in any other guidebook I’ve read (what can I say, it’s an addiction). Lonely Planet urges caution when discussing immigration. “This is the issue that makes Americans edgy, especially when it gets politicized,” they write, subtly suggesting that some Americans might approach the issue differently than others. “Age has a lot to do with Americans’ multicultural tolerance.”

Rough Guide doesn’t shy away from the fact that many non-Americans are less-than-crazy about U.S. politics and foreign policy, and encouragingly notes that many Americans are just as “infuriated” about it as visitors might be. Still, it warns that the political culture saturates everything, and that “The combination of shoot-from-the-hip mentality with laissez-faire capitalism and religious fervor can make the U.S. maddening at times, even to its own residents.”

What could possibly be a touchier subject for Americans than politics? Tipping, of course. And the guidebooks let visitors know about that, too. Link -via Boing Boing

(Image credit: Flickr user Jason Rogers)

Sleeping Kitten

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 07:31 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

Hey, little brother! Wake up and play with me! Wake up, or I’ll eat your face off! -via I Have Seen the Whole of the Internet

How an Undersea Eruption Created Jerome, Arizona

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT

You may hear jokes about “oceanfront property in Arizona,” but in the distant past, it really existed. In fact, 1.75 billion years ago, the area was undersea. However, there was a lot going on down there where tectonic plates were colliding.

I don't know if you can imagine an undersea caldera eruption. There's the sea floor, suddenly torn apart, with boiling clouds of ash billowing through the water. Had there been fish back then, they would have been tremendously inconvenienced; also, cooked. Fortunately for them, this was before the Age of Fishes. When the magma chamber emptied, the whole shebang came crashing down. A huge series of fractures propagated in a huge, irregular ring miles in diameter. Sea floor, seamounts, volcanic domes, newly-emplaced Cleopatra tuff and all fell into the chamber magma had so recently vacated.

But that was just the beginning of the turbulent geologic history that led to the settlement we know as Jerome, Arizona. The legacy of its volcanic history was a rich vein of valuable copper, which drew miners. Now the mines are an open record of the catastrophic events that created the place. Read a lot more of this story at Scientific America. Link -via Not Exactly Rocket Science

ATM

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 06:31 AM PDT


(vimeo link)

If you can suffer from “tiny button syndrome” as I do, you might be able to relate to this short and silly animation by Rikke Asbjoern, who made it for the Cartoon Network. -via Everlasting Blort
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