Neatorama

---

• Can You Blow a Doughnut-Shaped Soap Bubble?
• Oz The Great and Powerful
• Rikku Doesn't Like Walks
• Fleams, c. 1850
• Just On a Walk With My Monkey
• Taxiderpy
• Married For 20 Years By Accident
• Someone Loves Cucumbers
• Gollum Plush
• Lego New York
• How Old is Old? When You Stop Shopping
• The 10 Manliest Funerals Of All Time
• Chart of Twitter Profiles
• Ten Ridiculous Japanese Monsters
• Fire Tuba
• The Law & Order Database
• Ink Calendar
• The Good Giraffe
• Top 10 Most Read Books In The World
• Woman Ran Over Husband for Not Voting
• Snow White Flocked Floral Handbag
• The Oldest Living Tree Tells All
• Rogue Planet
• Mr. Dogbert Looks Elegant Today
• On Becoming Trendy
• Nick Offerman - It Gets Fuller
• Exploring the Paris Metro’s Eerie Ghost Stations
• Spot the Differences
• Life Advice from a Cat
• The Carrot Rebellion

Can You Blow a Doughnut-Shaped Soap Bubble? Posted: 15 Nov 2012 05:00 AM PST The following is an excerpt from Why Are Orangutans Orange?  We're giving away two hardcover copies, too — leave a comment on this post to enter. Good luck!   Soap on a Hope Is it possible to blow a toroidal soap bubble (one shaped like a ring doughnut)? And if it is, would it collapse immediately to a sphere? Could its life be prolonged by spinning its surface, as with smoke rings? Peter Gardner, Blawith, Cumbria, UK A soap bubble is the minimum surface which encloses a given volume. If a toroidal bubble were created, it would not provide such a minimum surface and would therefore tend to contract to reduce its surface area until it collapsed into a bubble which would then burst because of the forces created at the disappearing hole in the torus. This situation differs from that in a solid torus such as a bicycle inner tube, because soap bubbles can transfer part of their surface from the inner to the outer part of the torus as they shrink. A temporary toroidal bubble could perhaps be created by sticking spherical bubbles in a ring and collapsing their shared walls, but the inner ring would undoubtedly degenerate as the number of bubbles decreased. Soap bubbles are different from smoke rings, which have no surface but are composed of solid particles suspended in air. These are stable because different parts of the body can rotate at different speeds without causing degeneration. Jerry Humphreys Bristol, UK As a mathematician who studies soap bubbles, I knew that a toroidal soap bubble was, under normal circumstances, impossible. The only stable equilibrium shape for a soap bubble is the sphere that most people easily recognise – a torus bubble should not even exist in unstable equilibrium. So when the famous performer Tom Noddy (known as the Bubble Guy from the US TV show Tonight) told me that he once blew a toroidal bubble, I didn’t actually believe him until he showed me the photographic proof (below). The bubble didn’t last long, but it did exist briefly. Visit www.tomnoddy.com to see some further interesting examples. Torus bubbles do occur in unstable equilibrium in double soap bubbles: an outer bubble wrapped around another at the centre, as in the diagram below – a copy of a computer simulation created by John M. Sullivan, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois. More of his images are online at http://torus.math.uiuc.edu/jms/images/. Frank Morgan Williams College Massachusetts, US We've got two copies of Why Are Orangutans Orange? to give away! To enter, leave a comment on this post. We'll choose two winners by random drawing. Good luck!  Illustrated for the first time, with eighty full-color photographs showing the beauty, complexity, and mystery of the world around us, here is the next eagerly awaited volume of science questions and answers from Mick O’Hare and his team at New Scientist. From ripples in glass to “holograms” in ice, the natural world’s wonders are unraveled by the magazine’s knowledgeable readers. Six years since its debut, this magnificent series still rides high in the international bestseller lists, with well over two million copies sold. Popular science has never been more absorbing or more enjoyable. Mick O’Hare is the production editor of New Scientist. O'Hare's collections of answers to burning science questions include Will We Ever Speak Dolphin?, Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? and Does Anything Eat Wasps? Why Are Orangutans Orange? is available as an ebook and in print from Open Road Integrated Media, Amazon and bookstores near you. Authors and publishers: Want to feature your book in front of millions of readers for free? Email info AT neatorama DOT com for details on Neatorama's Book Excerpt feature. (Top image credit: Flickr user Xtream_i)

Oz The Great and Powerful Posted: 15 Nov 2012 04:00 AM PST (YouTube link) Look! Dorothy's dream has a backstory! No, nobody expects the fantasy of the land of Oz to make sense, and why should it? The prequel about the wizard from Kansas has a full trailer, to get us excited about the movie Oz The Great and Powerful, which will not be in theaters until March. -via The Week

Rikku Doesn't Like Walks Posted: 15 Nov 2012 03:00 AM PST Rikku doesn't like to walk. My dog is the same way. Unlike Rikku though, he loves to run. He is either standing still - sniffing some poop, or sprinting ahead full speed. If only he were a little bit more like Rikku. -Via Daily of the Day

Fleams, c. 1850 Posted: 15 Nov 2012 02:00 AM PST Yes, these are fleams. What's a fleam, you ask? Why, just step right up, my friend, and I will tell you. Fleams are the latest thing in bloodletting. Are your humours out of balance? Got too much blood in your body? Put those leeches away. They're positively medieval! Fleams are the answer. Baldness? Impotence? Bloating? Chicken pox? Foul moods? Trouble with your in-laws? Thrown from a horse? Get yourself a set of fleams and go to work. You need fleams, yes you do. Probably coming soon to the NeatoShop, I expect. They're the perfect Christmas stocking stuffers. Step right up and get your set! Don't take my word for it! Commenters, share how fleams changed your lives. Link -via Wunderkammer | Photo: Alex Peck

Just On a Walk With My Monkey Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:00 AM PST From redditor Daviddesousa we get this beautiful picture of a girl walking her monkey. There isn't much information out there about the picture, its location, or the girl, but people of the internet seem to think it is Mumbai. I have always wanted to go to Mumbai, or well India in general. Anyone been? See the large version of this picture here. -Via Reddit/r/pics

Taxiderpy Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST Taxidermy is an art, but the problem is that so many non-artists think they can do it. The results are sometimes so funny you can't believe they are unintentional. See a collection of hilarious attempts at Uproxx. Link

Married For 20 Years By Accident Posted: 14 Nov 2012 11:00 PM PST You might recognize the woman in the photo as Janeane Garofalo (photo: Andrew H Walker/Getty Images). She has been in great films such as Dogma and Half Baked. Janeane Garefalo was recently surprised to learn she is married- for 20 years in fact. In the early 90's her and Rob Cohen, producer of The Big Bang Theory, were drunk together in Las Vegas. So inebriated were the two that they went through a drive-through chapel, pronounced man and wife, only to forget about for... well, 20 years. It was only discovered when Cohen's lawyer was going through legal records preceding his second marriage. Wouldn't that be one interesting phone call? I wonder how the lawyer broke it to him. "Well sir, unless you plan on converting to Mormonism... you are going to have to get a divorce before you can get married." Update: Apparently they were listed on Wikipedia as married all this time. Both Garofalo and Cohen thought it was a practical joke on them and not in any way true. -Via The Week

Someone Loves Cucumbers Posted: 14 Nov 2012 10:00 PM PST (Video Link) The music is cute, but it needs to be louder and made into a remix to go along with this adorable little one's voracious appetite. Via Cute Overload

Gollum Plush Posted: 14 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST Gollum Plush - $11.95 Are you looking for the perfect gift for your favorite The Hobbit fan? You need the Gollum Plush from the NeatoShop. This precious little fellow is so powerfully tempting you may desire one of your own.  You wants it, you needs it. You must have this plush.  Bilbo Baggins Plush and Gandalf Plush also available. Buy all 3 and make it a wondrous set.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Plush Toys.  Link

Lego New York Posted: 14 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST Lego New York by artist JR Schmidt is exactly that: a model of New York City made of Lego bricks. Schmidt used satellite images, pixelated them to scale correctly for Lego bricks, and built the city. And a good piece of New Jersey as well! See more images at Cargo Collective. Link -via The Daily What

How Old is Old? When You Stop Shopping Posted: 14 Nov 2012 08:00 PM PST How old is old? According to a study by Michelle Barnhart of Oregon State University, whether someone is "old" depends not on age, but on ability to do things, like shopping, for example: New research finds that for most Americans, old age is not heralded in by a particular birthday, but rather by how a person acts. In particular, people who still shop for themselves or take care of their own household chores are less likely to be perceived as old, new research shows. [...] "When people in their 80s or 90s exhibited characteristics that society tends to associate with people who are not old, such as being aware, active, safe or independent, they were viewed and treated as not old," Barnhart said. "In this way, they were able to age without getting old." LiveScience has the article: Link So head on over to the NeatoShop and stop getting old by shopping for neat stuff (like the Older Than Dirt and close to 500 other Funny T-shirts

The 10 Manliest Funerals Of All Time Posted: 14 Nov 2012 07:00 PM PST You might think it would be a manly sendoff to have your coffin carried to the graveyard in a Harley Hearse. And you can do it, but how much more manly is it to drive a motorcycle to your own funeral? That's what David Morales Colón did. Sort of. After a mortician pumped him full of formaldehyde, the 22-year-old Puerto Rican motorcycle enthusiast rode his beloved Honda F4 one last time. (Another guy, Julio Lopez of Philadelphia, had a similar motorcycle wake.) Not many journalists could resist "Ghost Rider" puns. A considerably less disturbing option: the "Harley Hearse," offered by a handful of funeral homes across the nation. For when the Harley-Davidson motto "Live to Ride, Ride to Live" no longer applies to you. How could you have a more manly funeral than that? Well, there are many ways that men have pre-planned an unforgettable funeral, and you can read about them at MTV's Guy Code blog. Link

Chart of Twitter Profiles Posted: 14 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST I can tell you I am not the biggest enthusiast of Twitter, but I have to agree with this chart. Of the people I see on Twitter, most of them seem to fall into the "think they're stand up comedians" section. That or the "misused / over simplifying inspirational quotes" section. Okay that one isn't on the chart, but it should be. If I have to read another "live life like there is no tomorrow" quotes on Twitter... ...I will send you research and documents proving why and how exactly there wil be a tomorrow. So yeah, take that. Oh and follow us on Twitter by the way. Hopefully we are in the "good information" section, but then again we probably fall into "zombie" section. -Via Blame It On The Voices

Ten Ridiculous Japanese Monsters Posted: 14 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST Sometimes when tales told around the campfire get passed around, details are added along the way that make you scratch your head. The Geekout rounded up the weirdest monsters from Japanese folklore for a list that will make you more likely giggle than cower in a corner. Pictured here is the Akaname, a monster that will come into your bathroom at night and …clean it up! Really! That's the kind of monster I'd really like to have around, wouldn't you? Link-Thanks, Sebastian!

Fire Tuba Posted: 14 Nov 2012 04:00 PM PST While waiting for the bus in London, YouTube user FakieLeatherman came upon a tuba player being asked (harrassed?) to "just blow the bastard" by a passer-by. So, the busker complied ... in style! Meet Christopher Werkowicz AKA Fire Tuba guy, as interviewed by Emma Spedding of Streets Got Talent: With a fire horn I always come across a council officer or police that say it’s dangerous. It helps me explain that I do special effects for film and theatre for many years that the elements of which I built this devilish invention are certified and come from stores. They all say that the next time I’ll meet you here-prison. But a little adrenaline in the life of a Busker is good! Link | YouTube - via Arbroath

The Law & Order Database Posted: 14 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST It's been almost two years since we told you about the Law & Order Database that Overthinking It was working on. But now they have finally finished up all the data from all 20 seasons of the show! The database results can be downloaded if you want to study them. Meanwhile, Overthinking It has some interesting graphs dealing with the disposition of cases on the various seasons, compared with real-life crime and with Neilsen ratings. Over the entire run of the show, more than a third of all the episodes ended in Guilty verdicts, while another third ended in plea bargains. 80% of episodes ended in solid wins: either Guilty verdicts, plea bargains, or implied victories. That’s not too shabby, considering that the actual NYPD has a homicide clearance rate of about 50%. (Although you have to figure Law & Order isn’t meant to represent every case these detectives investigated; in 20 seasons, I don’t think there was a single murder that didn’t result in an arrest.) Now are they going to start on SVU and Criminal Intent? Link Also: Slate has graphs generated from the database information about which of your favorite characters were most successful in case disposition. Link -via Metafilter

Ink Calendar Posted: 14 Nov 2012 02:00 PM PST This is my kind of calendar. The ink is absorbed into the paper day by day. The asthetic sort of reminds me of Harold and the Purple Crayon. The piece was created by Oscar Diaz. Ink Calendar is a cleverly designed prototype of a self-advancing calendar by London-based artist Oscar Diaz. The basic idea behind the inventive day tracker is that a vial of ink is absorbed by a trail of paper cut into sequential numeric values—like a row on a calendar... ...By the end of the month, the calendar's numbers are designed to be fully soaked in color. -Via My Modern Met

The Good Giraffe Posted: 14 Nov 2012 01:30 PM PST After seeing a man suited up as a gorilla and playing the drums, Armstrong Baillie also decided to dress up. He chose giraffe and performed random acts of kindness across Scotland: During the past six months Armstrong has handed out free bananas and water to runners at the Edinburgh Half Marathon, cleaned up litter on Portobello Beach and given away £10 vouchers to mothers in hospitals. He has also been seen handing out free coffee to cold passers-by and cleaning cages at cat and dog homes. Unemployed, Mr Baillie, said he busks using his kazoo and djembe drum then uses the donations to pay for the kind deeds. He hitch-hikes to reach his destinations - but is only being able to be picked up by convertibles due to his long-necked suit. Angie Brown of BBC Scotland has more: Link (Photo: Kenneth Gray)

Top 10 Most Read Books In The World Posted: 14 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST Illustration: Jared Fanning I had an inclination that The Bible would be number one, but I had no idea by how much. I think it is a little skewed because of the chosen statistics. For one, it is over the last 50 years - which is a long span of time. The firstHarry Potter book wasn't published until 1997. The Da Vinci Code was published in 2003. I will not bother to look up Twilight. Ew, Twilight. Also this is based on books sold, I am sure The Bible does a whole lot of selling to churches and what not. I would love to see this with just the last 10-12 years. I am not sure what other metric could be used besides sales but it would be worth looking into. -Via Bits and Pieces

Woman Ran Over Husband for Not Voting Posted: 14 Nov 2012 12:30 PM PST We all know that voting is important, but who knew that failing to vote could (almost) cost your life? Upset that her presidential candidate did not win the election, a 28-year-old Arizona woman blamed her husband for not voting and ran him over with the family car: Holly Solomon, 28, was arrested after running over husband Daniel Solomon following a wild chase that left him pinned underneath the vehicle. [...] Police said Daniel Solomon told them his wife became angry over his "lack of voter participation" in last Tuesday's presidential election and believed her family would face hardship as a result of Obama winning another term. Witnesses reported the argument broke out on Saturday morning in a parking lot and escalated. Mrs Solomon then chased her husband around the lot with the car, yelling at him as he tried to hide behind a light pole, police said. He was struck after attempting to flee to a nearby street. Link

Snow White Flocked Floral Handbag Posted: 14 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST Snow White Flocked Floral Handbag - $59.95 Are you looking for the perfect gift for someone you find utterly enchanting? Behold the dreamy Snow White Flocked Floral Handbag from the NeatoShop. This spellbindingly beautiful purse has exquisite embroidered details. Snow White adorns the front and a red apple is featured on the back. It is the perfect bag for frolicking around town.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Bags & Totes and delightful Snow White items.  Link

The Oldest Living Tree Tells All Posted: 14 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST Neatorama readers know that the bristlecone pine tree is the oldest non-clonal living species (clonal tree species reproduce by spreading and splitting, sort of like bacteria, but older parts eventually die off). How did we first find this out? In 1964, Donald Rusk Currey, a graduate student of geology, discovered the tremendous age of a Great Basin bristlecone pine, after he had it cut down.   By the time of Currey’s survey, trees were typically dated using core samples taken with a hollow threaded bore screwed into a tree’s trunk. No larger than a soda straw, these cores then received surface preparations in a lab to make them easier to read under a microscope. While taking core samples from the Prometheus tree, which Currey labeled WPN-114, his boring bit snapped in the bristlecone’s dense wood. After requesting assistance from the Forest Service, a team was sent to fell the tree using chainsaws. Only days later, when Currey individually counted each of the tree’s rings, did he realize the gravity of his act. Currey downplayed the discovery in a dry essay for Ecology magazine in 1965, in which he stated, “Allowing for the likelihood of missing rings and for the 100-inch height of the innermost counted ring, it may be tentatively concluded that WPN-114 began growing about 4,900 years ago.” Though its exact age is still debated, the Prometheus tree was certainly the oldest single tree scientists had ever encountered. The Prometheus tree’s felling made it doubly symbolic, as the myth of its namesake captures both the human hunger for knowledge and the unintended negative consequences that often result from this desire. Though members of the scientific community and press were outraged that the tree was killed, Currey’s mistake ultimately provided the impetus to establish Great Basin National Park to protect the bristlecones. The death of the Prometheus tree also helped to change our larger perception of trees as an infinitely replenishing resource. “It’s not going to happen again,” says Shoettle. “But it wasn’t something that I think they struggled with at the time, because it was just a tree, and the mindset was that trees were a renewable resource and they would grow back. And it didn’t seem like it was any particularly special tree.” Collector's Weekly tells the whole story of Prometheus, plus the science of tree dating, and theories on why the bristlecone lives so long. Link (Image credit: Nick Turland)

Rogue Planet Posted: 14 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST Back in 1998, astronomer David J. Stevenson of Caltech theorized that there are planets that roam the vast expanses of cold interstellar space. (The technical term here is actually "planetary-mass objects", since "planet" has strict definition by the International Astronomical Union - just ask Pluto - but for laymen, planets will do.) Such planets do not revolve around any star. Astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii and the Very Large Telescope in Chile have spotted one such rogue planet, giving credence to the hypothesis that rogue planets may be common: "This object was discovered during a scan that covered the equivalent of 1,000 times the [area] of the full moon," said study co-author Etienne Artigau of the University of Montreal. [...] The team believe it has a temperature of about 400C and a mass between four and seven times that of Jupiter - well short of the mass limit that would make it a likely brown dwarf. What remains unclear is just how the planet came to be - the tiny beginnings of a star, or planet launched from its home? Study co-author Philippe Delorme of the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble, said that the latter implied a great many planets like it. "If this little object is a planet that has been ejected from its native system, it conjures up the striking image of orphaned worlds, drifting in the emptiness of space," he said. Link

Mr. Dogbert Looks Elegant Today Posted: 14 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST It certainly is not Mr. Dogbert. He looks so regal, I bet he gets all the ladies. I don't actually know if this is a male or female dog at all, I just usually assign gender based on my instinct. I also made up the name Mr. Dogbert, feel free to use it in the future. -via Fun Elf | Daily Picks and Flicks

On Becoming Trendy Posted: 14 Nov 2012 10:30 AM PST Photo: Juliana Jimenez Jaramillo for Slate Justin Peters wasn't trendy, but since he's a journalist (he's an editor at the Columbia Journalism Review) and he lives in Brooklyn, it's just a matter of time before he becomes hip. It's inevitable, actually. Thanks to his keen journalistic insticts, Justin realized that his transformation from a plain ol' guy to a trendy one is a journey that should be shared with the world. Here's his experience in trendy sleeping with dozens of pillow on his bed: “A Nation Lulled to Sleep”: A true trendsetter is trendy even when he rests his head. I sleep on an inexpensive Ikea bed frame, with a flower-print comforter, sheets purchased by my mother, and four sweat-stained pillows. Four pillows always seemed like a good amount to me—one for each limb. Oh, how wrong I was. “How did we go from a country that longed for a chicken in every pot to one that requires 14 pillows on every bed?” the Times asked earlier this year. I didn’t know the answer, but I wanted in. After all, there are 14 pillows on every bed. Just to be safe, I scrounged up about 30 pillows of all shapes and sizes, and threw them on my bed until you couldn't see my bed. When night fell, I realized that there is no good way to sleep on a bed containing 30 pillows. Either you sleep on top of them and spend the night writhing like the poor insomniac in The Princess and the Pea, or you sleep under them as if buried in the world's softest avalanche. I eventually arranged them so my body was touching the mattress while being walled in by pillows on all sides, like the victim in some lesser-known Edgar Allan Poe story. And yet I slept surprisingly well, so much such so that I spent the entire next day bragging about my pillow-y bed and looking forward to sleeping there again. Unfortunately, the second night's sleep was horrible, perhaps because it was really hot in my apartment. I tossed, turned, and thrashed, and ended up flinging most of the pillows to the floor so I could sleep without being awakened by the rising tide of my own sweat. Still, it was worth it. You can't spell "painfully trendy" without "pain." Slate has the full story: Link

Nick Offerman - It Gets Fuller Posted: 14 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST Where was this video a week ago!? Nick Offerman I needed you then. I caved, I have to admit it. I shaved - my beard was weird. I was probably somewhere in between a dirty hipster and a cheesy adult film actor. Not a good look for me. If only I had known it gets fuller. To start over or not? Oh, thehumanity, these decisions are killing me. How are you guys doing on your Movember challenge? Still going strong or did you cave like I did? For those of you loving it, remember there is life after Movember. Like Decembeard. -Via Tastefully Offensive | Flavorwire

Exploring the Paris Metro’s Eerie Ghost Stations Posted: 14 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST Quite a few subway stations underneath the City of Lights were closed when trains became bigger, and the city found it easier to build new stations nearby instead of redoing the old stops. Many of these are not accessible to the public, and there are even more of us who cannot get to Paris at all! The next best thing is to see these lost Metro stations through the photographs of French urbex photographers. See more pictures, and read about the abandoned Paris Metro places at Urban Ghosts. Link-Thanks, Tom! (Image credit: Flickr user vincent desjardins)

Spot the Differences Posted: 14 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PST (YouTube link) Rhett & Link made a music video in split screen, with a contest attached in which you are challenged to spot the differences between the two takes. That gimmick is for their sponsor, who is giving away prizes on Facebook (details at the YouTube link). If you don't want to jump through the necessary hoops to enter, you'll still enjoy the creepy song about common nightmares. -via Geeks Are Sexy

Life Advice from a Cat Posted: 14 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST If Dear Abby were a cat, what kind of advice would you get? Jeff Wysaski at Pleated Jeans gives us seven typical questions and the feline wisdom to deal with them. Link

The Carrot Rebellion Posted: 14 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST Spain recently raised the value-added-tax (VAT) on cultural activities to 21%, which didn't sit well with theater owners. One theater in Bescanó staged a revolt by using carrots! Theater owner Quim Marcé explains: "We said, 'This is the end of our theater, and many others.' But then the next morning, I thought, we've got to do something, so that we don't pay this 21 percent, and we pay something more fair," says Marcé in Spanish. He looked out his window at farmland that surrounds this village, two hours north of Barcelona, and suddenly had an idea: Instead of selling tickets to his shows, he'd sell carrots. "We sell one carrot, which costs 13 euros [$16] — very expensive for a carrot. But then we give away admission to our shows for free," he explains in Spanish. "So we end up paying 4 percent tax on the carrot, rather than 21 percent, which is the government's new tax rate for theater tickets." Classified as a staple, carrots are taxed at a much lower rate and were spared new tax hikes that went into effect here on September 1. Theater patrons love the idea, and bought plenty of carrots. Marcé also has the support of the local mayor, but other officials say the scheme is plainly tax evasion. Link -via Arbroath (Image credit: Quim Marcé)

You are subscribed to email updates from Neatorama To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610