Neatorama

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• Will We Ever… Live on the Moon?
• Bryant Park Marriage Proposal
• This Is One Gnarly Skateboarding Video
• Transform Your Wine Tasting Party With This Robotic Rack
• Picasso’s Guernica, Starring the X-Men
• Scene from a School Restroom
• 10 Reasons Why Getting A Garfield Tattoo Is A Terrible Idea
• Ray Clay Wedding Intro
• Adventure Time Meets Studio Ghibli
• Volcanic Lightning
• Star Trek Themed Home Theater
• The Kiss of Death
• Beware The Wrath Of The #1 Dad
• Hello Kitty Spa
• Spherical Flying Machine
• Tube Made With Magnetic Tape from VHS Cassettes
• Cracking Open an Egg 60 Feet Underwater
• Why Justin Bieber is Much Bigger Than Kurt Cobain
• Are Bicyclists Menace to Society?
• 1986 World Series Game 6 … in Kenya
• Dog Desperately Wants to Be Friends with Penguin
• Swimming Pool
• Apartment Complex Designed Specifically for Motorcyclists
• Domino Chain Reaction
• Bears Can Count
• Quilled Beard
• Batman Robot Vinyl Invaders
• This Week at Neatorama
• Lisa Frank’s Alien
• Deep-Fried Breakfast Cereal

Will We Ever… Live on the Moon? Posted: 17 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT What are the chances that humans will return to the moon with a more permanent mission? Dr. Phil Plait believes it will happen, but the real questions are when, how, and why. The Apollo missions were an expensive race against the Soviets, but with the proper technology and investment, a permanent moon base could actually be profitable. One scenario is mining and manufacturing. Asteroids are full or resources that can be exploited for space travel, such as oxygen and water, plus other valuable materials we can use. The moon comes in handy for this plan. A critical aspect of this is being able to mine asteroidal material and process it, which Nasa and its contractors are studying. One line of thinking is that mined metals can be used to build structures in space that would be very difficult and pricey to construct on Earth and launch. Examples abound, including big spacecraft to use for crewed exploration of the planets, giant telescopes in orbit, space stations, and more. While the cost of the International Space Station (ISS) is estimated to be $100bn, much of that was simply getting previously-built components into space in the first place. If you already have those pieces in space, the cost is far less. Smelting material in the near-weightless environment of an asteroid is one thing, but creating complex components of spacecraft is another. Manufacturing is likely to be easier in gravity, and the Moon is a perfect compromise for this. Getting the materials to the Moon is not hard from an asteroid mining operation. And once built, getting even massive components off the Moon's surface is far, far easier than it would be from Earth due to lower gravity and lack of air (it took a tremendous Saturn V rocket full of fuel to get to the Moon, but only the tiny Apollo ascent module to get back off). Building vehicles and other space-based structures on the Moon is vastly easier and less expensive than it would be here on Earth. From there, the rest of the solar system is an easy trip. And that’s just one reason we might go back to the moon. There’s lots more to read at the BBC’s Future blog. Link -via mental_floss (Image credit: Small Artworks)

Bryant Park Marriage Proposal Posted: 17 Jun 2012 03:46 AM PDT (YouTube link) Craig Jones has raised the bar for elaborate, theatrical, public marriage proposals. He spent $9,000 and made all the arrangements himself. But Alison said yes, so I guess it was worth it! The wedding is planned for March 2013. Link

This Is One Gnarly Skateboarding Video Posted: 17 Jun 2012 01:44 AM PDT (YouTube Link) The skater featured in this exciting video is Aaron “Jaws” Homoki, and I have a feeling he’ll be looking to get on a leg bone transplant list after taking so many dangerous drops! He makes leaping from such great heights look easy, although I’m sure his slam video is incredibly painful to watch. –via Stuff I Stole From The Internet

Transform Your Wine Tasting Party With This Robotic Rack Posted: 17 Jun 2012 12:48 AM PDT This is the coolest looking wine rack I’ve ever seen, made out of junk auto parts to resemble some sort of Transformer-Terminator hybrid bot. I’m sure this metal sculpture looks every bit as awesome in person, but the photographer really should have moved the shoes and exercise ball(?) out of the shot, because it makes him look like some sort of robotic sneaker guardian. I wonder if he’s fueled by alcohol like his cousin Bender? Link

Picasso’s Guernica, Starring the X-Men Posted: 16 Jun 2012 11:44 PM PDT What would Picasso do to get back in the spotlight if he were alive today? Why, add the Uncanny X-Men to his classic mural Guernica,  of course! This piece was created by Cynthia Rodgers for the Comic Book Resources contest The Line Is Drawn, where contributors were asked to imagine radical re-designs for classic comic book characters. I’d say this piece definitely qualifies as radical! Link  –via i09

Scene from a School Restroom Posted: 16 Jun 2012 11:00 PM PDT Redditor TypicalTacos attends a school in Barrie, Ontario. This mysterious figure made from black duct tape was found in a restroom there. Your assignment is to explain its meaning. Show all of your work. Link -via Geekosystem

10 Reasons Why Getting A Garfield Tattoo Is A Terrible Idea Posted: 16 Jun 2012 10:50 PM PDT The people whose limbs are featured in this photo collection obviously felt strongly about sharing their love of Garfield with the world, so much in fact that they permanently tattooed themselves with his likeness. If you, or a friend, are thinking about getting a Garfield tattoo please take a look at this gallery first and sleep on it, so you can avoid any unnecessary embarrassment or costly laser tattoo removal down the line. Link

Ray Clay Wedding Intro Posted: 16 Jun 2012 10:00 PM PDT Here's a wedding introduction that puts all other wedding introductions to shame. Jacquette and Perkins got Ray Clay, the announcer for the Chicago Bulls in each of their six championships, to do the intro. Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

Adventure Time Meets Studio Ghibli Posted: 16 Jun 2012 09:43 PM PDT In terms of cuteness this Adventure Time X Studio Ghibli mashup by illustrator Deighvid rates 100% on the adorability scale. This mashup series looks like it was meant to be, because the character design styles from both series mesh together so well. And the most impressive bit about these fun illustrations- they were drawn by a seventeen year old! Link  –via Super Punch

Volcanic Lightning Posted: 16 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT Photo: Carlos Gutierrez/Reuters It looks like a scene straight out of the movies, but that volcanic lightning is quite real. Photographer Carlos Gutierrez took this amazing photo of lightning bolts over the plume of Chile's Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano in 2011: The water and frozen-ash particles, said [volcano seismologist Steve McNut]t—who's found volcanic plumes to be surprisingly water rich—rub against each other. As with shuffling shoes on carpet, the contact produces static charges. "That's what happens in ordinary thunderstorms" too, McNutt said. Link - via Yahoo!

Star Trek Themed Home Theater Posted: 16 Jun 2012 08:51 PM PDT This Star Trek themed home theater setup boldly goes where no man has gone before, light years ahead of any other Star Trek home theater I’ve ever seen in terms of comfort and kitsch. With seating for nine space travelers and a style that won’t lower the value of your home, this home theater will make watching any movie an adventure. Anyone up for a Star Trek movie marathon? Link  –via GeekTyrant

The Kiss of Death Posted: 16 Jun 2012 08:00 PM PDT Photo: SantiMB/Flickr Eugene of My Modern Met pointed us to this wonderful piece of Memento Mori artwork, titled the Kiss of Death in Barcelona's Poblenou Cemetery: According to the story, in 1930, the Llaudet family was mourning the death of their son and created this sculpture for his tomb. The epitaph bears famous verses by one of Catalan's greatest poets, Jacint Verdaguer: “And his young heart can not help; in his veins the blood stops and freezes and encouragement lost faith embraces fall feeling the kiss of death” More pics over at My Modern Met: Link

Beware The Wrath Of The #1 Dad Posted: 16 Jun 2012 07:54 PM PDT (YouTube Link) Father’s Day has never been so action packed, or so deadly… Watch as the #1 Dad gets revenge on the baddies who ruined his barbecue, one fatherly task at a time. But can he defeat the mad toolbox skills possessed by the Carpenter? –via TDW

Hello Kitty Spa Posted: 16 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT The cat that has everything just got another amazing thing. I'm talking, of course, about Hello Kitty and the world's first Hello Kitty Spa in Dubai. Gizmodiva wrote: This wonderful spa offers treatments specially designed for both young girls and older women, namely the “Princesses” and “Queens”. The Princess program includes the Kitty-cure, Toe-Tally Perfect, Kitty Glam facials, among many other cutesy themed treatments. Link Can't make it over there? Soothe your Kitty envy with the Hello Kitty stuff from the NeatoShop.

Spherical Flying Machine Posted: 16 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT [YouTube Clip] It may not yet teach train young Jedis to use the Force, but you've got to admit that the spherical flying machine developed by Japan Ministry of Defense is pretty cool: The drone can hover like a helicopter and take off and land vertically while maintaining an ability to propel itself forward with wings flying at speeds up to 40 mph. There are three gyro-sensors embedded into the drone to maintain altitude and autopilot even if it's flight path is disrupted. And probably most frightening, it can hit the ground and roll in any direction, then immediately pop back up into mid-air. The cost of parts for the machine is approximately US$1400, and the lead engineer Fumiyuki Sato explained that the parts were purchased off the shelf. Link

Tube Made With Magnetic Tape from VHS Cassettes Posted: 16 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT Your fancy schmancy DVD and digital videos can't do this: Lithuanian artist Zilvinas Kempinas created "Tube", an 80-foot long tunnel using magnetic tape from VHS cassettes. See more at Laughing Squid and Trinagulation Blog

Cracking Open an Egg 60 Feet Underwater Posted: 16 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT What happens if you crack open an egg 60 feet underwater? Geeks Are Sexy has the mesmerizing video clip: Link [embedded YouTube]

Why Justin Bieber is Much Bigger Than Kurt Cobain Posted: 16 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Can't argue with that logic! Via Buzzfeed

Are Bicyclists Menace to Society? Posted: 16 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT There are many more pedestrian fatalities involving cars, but the recent death caused by an allegedly negligent bicyclist who ran a red light and plowed into pedestrians crossing the street in San Francisco and actually killing one man raised heat rhetoric over the behaviors of some cyclists and the question of who owns public space: The bicyclist was zipping south on Castro Street at the end of his twice-weekly ride to the Marin Headlands, blowing through red lights and stop signs. But the Market Street crosswalk was filled with pedestrians, and Chris Bucchere, 36, allegedly was riding too fast to stop. So he aimed for the least populated spot and plowed on through. "In a nutshell, blammo," a blogger purporting to be Bucchere wrote that March day. The man he hit, Sutchi Hui, 71, died four days later. Bucchere was charged Thursday with felony vehicular manslaughter and is scheduled to be arraigned next week. Post-crash commentary, angry and profane, didn't just call for Bucchere's head, although there was plenty of condemnation for him and the rest of the Lycra-and-toe-clips set. Instead, the conversation became a fight about who owns public space — a scarce resource in the second-most dense city in America, where bike use is soaring and many motorists decry a war on cars. Maria L. La Ganga of the Los Angeles Times has the story: Link Previously on Neatorama: Are Urban Bicyclists Snobs?

1986 World Series Game 6 … in Kenya Posted: 16 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT [YouTube Clip] Dan Freiman, a Canadian volunteer and baseball fan, knows that his students, a group of orphaned Kenyan children, love two things: going to the field to play sports and making movies. So he decided to combine the two and filmed the kids re-enacting the 1986 World Series Game 6: Growing up in Toronto, my friends and I used to re-enact Joe Carter's World Series home run during recess. I thought it'd be fun to have them do the same thing. The students and I ran through a couple of possibilities, including the Music City Miracle, but the kids liked the Buckner clip because of the huge pileup at the plate. They kept laughing at it. Although the students understood the basic concept and rules of baseball they didn't know anything about the Red Sox or Mets when we first started shooting. Kevid Kaduk of the Big League Stew has the story and interview with Dan: Link

Dog Desperately Wants to Be Friends with Penguin Posted: 16 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT (Video Link) Theirs was a forbidden love, separated by the speciesist rules of society and a glass wall. It was not to be. It’s for the best, pup. She was totally friendzoning you. -via Blame It on the Voices

Swimming Pool Posted: 16 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT (vimeo link) A lonely city-dweller goes for a late night swim and (literally) runs into a kindred spirit. The Czech short film by Alexandra Hetmerová won the Best Animation award in 2010 at the International Student Film Festival, and quite a few other awards. -via Everlasting Blort

Apartment Complex Designed Specifically for Motorcyclists Posted: 16 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT For some people, time spent not straddling a motorcycle is time wasted. If that’s your lifestyle, then the new NE Apartment complex in Tokyo is perfect for you. It’s designed to provide garage space in each apartment as well as other amenities a motorcyclist would appreciate: Residents of this three-story Japanese apartment complex can revel not only in the ample room for their bikes to roam, which even allows enough space for a full rotation, but the innovative architectural design that gives the sense of a larger living space. Link | Architects: Akiyoshi Takagi, Yuji Nakae, and Hiroshi Ohno. Photo: Hiroyasu Sakaguchi

Domino Chain Reaction Posted: 16 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT (Video Link) A falling domino releases enough stored energy to tip over another domino about 50% larger than itself. Dr. Stephen W. Morris of the University of Toronto illustrates this by using a 5 millimeter high domino to knock over a 1 meter high domino. There are 13 dominoes in Dr. Morris’s line. If he had 29 dominoes, the last one would be as tall as the Empire State Building. -via The Presurfer | Morris’s Website

Bears Can Count Posted: 16 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Let’s keep up the pace, humanity. Other animals are starting to catch up: Scientists trained three American black bears (Ursus Americanus) to discriminate between groups of dots on a touchscreen computer: Two bears learned to pick the group with fewer dots, while the third learned to choose the group with more dots. In some trials, the group with fewer dots took up more space; in others, the dots moved. All three bears could use the number of dots to guide their choices, but the bear trained to pick groups with more dots performed better on its tests and could also discriminate with moving dots, researchers report online this month in the journal Animal Behaviour. Overall, the bears’ performance matched those of monkeys in previous studies, suggesting that animals can evolve impressive cognitive abilities without living in large social groups. Next, they’ll probably learn how to make and use fire. News Story -via DVICE | Photo: Jennifer Vonk

Quilled Beard Posted: 16 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT Sarah Yakawonis is a master of paper quilling — the art of curling and coiling strips of paper to create images. Here’s one of her more playful pieces. Link -via Colossal

Batman Robot Vinyl Invaders Posted: 16 Jun 2012 06:38 AM PDT Batman Robot Vinyl Invaders – $39.95 (sold individually) Holy sushi Batman! It’s the Batman Robot Vinyl Invaders from the NeatoShop. Attention Batman fans. Behold the fantastic Batman Robot Vinyl Invader. This fantastic action figure is stylized to look like a Japanese Batman robot. It comes with movable arms and neck and is packed in a collectible box. You know you want one! Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more  Batman fun! Link

This Week at Neatorama Posted: 16 Jun 2012 06:01 AM PDT Hey, you know what would be a great last minute (or bonus) Father’s Day gift? Bookmark Neatorama on his computer! That is, if he doesn’t already visit us regularly. You’ll be sharing neat stuff with Dad every day! Otherwise, I hope you’ve got plans to make Dad feel like it was all worth it raising you on the one day a year set aside for such honors. We had a neat thing happen this week -Neatorama set a new record for the response to a single Facebook post. Thanks to everyone who liked, shared, and/or commented on it! And congratulations to our social media editor David Israel, who not only promotes the best stuff from Neatorama, but also shares extra non-blog internet treasures with those who follow our Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest sites. The What Is It? game is still open for your entries. Rob from the What Is It? blog is traveling, so we will post our winners shortly after he posts his official answers. In the meantime, there are t-shirts up for grabs, so get your entry in! Update: the winners have been chosen. See them here. And we had some fine features this week, but you may not have had a chance to read them yet, so let’s review: Eddie Deezen brought us the story of Disney's Folly: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. David Israel wrote The 6 Types of People Who Watch/Don't Watch HBO's Girls. From mental_floss magazine, we saw 7 Tiny Books That Packed a Big Punch. The Sad Tale of Centralia was from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. And from The Annals of Improbable Research, we got Cosmic Headlights and the Origin of Gamma Ray Bursts. The post that drew the most comments this past week was The The 6 Types of People Who Watch/Don't Watch HBO's Girls, followed by Game of Thrones Put George W. Bush's Head on a Spike. Nothing else came close this week. If you need yet more reading material to get you through the weekend, you’ll find a complete listing of our long feature articles archived at The Best of Neatorama. Have a Happy Father’s Day!

Lisa Frank’s Alien Posted: 16 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT It was 1979. Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger was unavailable to help create the movie Alien. But Lisa Frank, maker of bright, cheery stickers and school supplies for tween girls, was. That is the disturbing alternate history imagined by deviantART member GalenaLarkin. Link -via io9

Deep-Fried Breakfast Cereal Posted: 16 Jun 2012 05:14 AM PDT It’s summer time, and that means new deep-fried fair fare from "Chicken" Charlie Boghosian, who brought us Deep-Fried Kool-Ade last year. At the San Diego County Fair going on now, Chicken Charlie’s is offering Deep-Fried Breakfast Cereal. In addition to Trix, you can select Cinnamon Toast Crunch and possibly others, depending on who stocked up on cereals for the day. Link (Image credit: Shauntel Lowe for Imperial Beach Patch)

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