Neatorama

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• Spiked Ice Tray
• Regret
• Prehistoric Human Ancestor that Walked like a Chimp and Smiled Like a Man
• Antique Articulated Gold Skeleton Action Figure in a Silver Sarcophagus
• The Metropolitan Museum of Butts
• Almost The Doctor
• Modern Armor for Police Horses
• Mr. Blobby's House
• Elephant Poop Beer
• Puppy and Popcorn
• Convertible Napping Desk
• Pinocchio Eraser
• 8 Cures That Did More Harm Than Good
• One Dress, One Woman, One World
• Knitted <i>Adventure Time</i> Tablet Sleeve
• Stay Puft Marshmallow Cat
• Inflatable Hand Anime Body Art
• Amanda McKittrick Ross: The World's Worst Novelist
• The Spirit of the Masks
• A Knitter Down on Her Luck
• North Korea Targets Colorado Springs
• Superhero Eye Makeup
• Robottle Corkscrew
• This Week at Neatorama

Spiked Ice Tray Posted: 14 Apr 2013 04:00 AM PDT Spiked Ice Tray Spiked drinks = Bad. Spike shaped ice made from the Spiked Ice Tray = Good.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more dangerously fun Ice Trays.  Link

Regret Posted: 14 Apr 2013 04:00 AM PDT When things that are hard to describe appear right there in 3D, they are often not pretty. This disturbing comic is from Lunarbaboon. Link

Prehistoric Human Ancestor that Walked like a Chimp and Smiled Like a Man Posted: 14 Apr 2013 02:00 AM PDT Photo: Brett Eloff/Lee R. Berger/University of Witwatersrand One sunny morning in 2008, nine-year-old Matthew Berger was chasing his dog Tau near his father's dig site in the Malapa Nature Reserve, Johannesburg, South Africa, when he stumbled upon a fossilized bone. He ran to his dad, paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, who came over and cursed widly. Matthew mistakenly thought his father was angry because he had done something wrong, but Lee was just excited. "Sticking out of the back of the rock was a mandible with a tooth, a canine, sticking out. And I almost died," Lee said. The boy had just discovered a new hominid species. Lee R. Berger, with his son Matthew and dog Tau, at the Malapa site where they discovered the hominid species. Photo: Benedicte Kurzen/NY Times Fast forward to today, where 6 new research papers on the two-million-year-old fossils were published in this week's edition of Science: The new analysis shows this species - Australopithecus sediba - had a human-like pelvis, hands and teeth, and a chimpanzee-like foot. [...] In six separate research reports, scientists probed further into the anatomy of a juvenile male skeleton, commonly referred to as MH1, a female skeleton, known as MH2, and an isolated adult tibia or shinbone, known as MH4. [...] Scientists think the female and male could well have been mother and son. It seems they died together in some tragic accident that saw them either fall into the cave complex or become stuck in it. After death, their bodies were washed into a pool and cemented in time along with the skeletons of many other animals Composite reconstruction of Au. sediba (middle), as compared to modern human (left) and chimpanzee (right). Credit: Lee R. Berger/University of Witwatersrand Amongst the findings are suggestions that Au. sediba walked like a chimp and smiled like modern day humans: Link

Antique Articulated Gold Skeleton Action Figure in a Silver Sarcophagus Posted: 14 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PDT If you were a filthy rich kid in Russia a century ago, this would have been the ultimate toy. The famous goldsmith Israel Rouchomovsky made it between 1892 and 1906 with all the features a child could want: the fully articulated human skeleton in a velvet-lined coffin chased around on each side with three panels showing the course of life, one end with attributes of the arts, the other with attributes of war,  the removable cover with the journey in the footsteps of the Angel of Death, surrounded by the faces of infants alternately laughing and crying. See? It's educational as well as fun. Link -via Nerdcore (Photo: Sotheby's)

The Metropolitan Museum of Butts Posted: 13 Apr 2013 11:00 PM PDT A new Tumblr blog, The Metropolitan Museum of Butts, is dedicated to the curation of fine art posteriors. It's statement of purpose: Gay or straight, man or woman... everybody likes butts. And everybody has a butt. Each butt is identified, like the one above, "Marble statue of a bearded Hercules, Roman, Flavian period, A.D. 68 - 98." So far, only statues and crockery are represented (three pages of them), but maybe the selection will expand to paintings in the future. Site contains art nudes. Link -via Pleated-Jeans

Almost The Doctor Posted: 13 Apr 2013 10:00 PM PDT Image via the headspace Two Doctors? Well, it has happened before but this photo above is what happened when Almost The Doctor, a 25-year-old graphic designer named Matt Elliott who happens to look just like the 11th Doctor's Matt Smith, actually met the Doctor. Question is which is which? View more of Matt Elliott's cosplay photography over at his Tumblr and Facebook page, then checkout the Doctor Who parody video by Not Literally, starring Matt (which one? We can't tell!) himself: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Geeks Are Sexy

Modern Armor for Police Horses Posted: 13 Apr 2013 09:00 PM PDT According to some redditors, these are Chilean police officers. Their horses are armored, like those ridden by medieval knights. But the armor is thoroughly modern. A 2012 article from the Chicago Sun-Times describes that city's police horse armor: The solicitation specifically requests: leather nose guards — 22 inches long and five inches wide — with “impact-absorbing foam”; clear, wrap-around visors to protect the horse’s eyes; 17-inch-long rear leg shields and 11-inch-long front leg shields, both made of “high-impact plastic” and soft foam; and “training aids” for horses, including a “crowd control training ball set.” The mounted unit has 30 horses, 30 officers and an annual budget of nearly $2.7 million. Police Department spokesperson Melissa Stratton said all 30 horses will be equipped with the new riot gear. She noted that the horses are “great crowd control tools” expected to provide “significant support to officers on the ground” during the summits. Reddit Thread and News Article -via Super Punch (Photo: unknown)

Mr. Blobby's House Posted: 13 Apr 2013 08:00 PM PDT British children of the '90s may recall the character Mr. Blobby from the BBC series Noel's House Party. A couple of theme parks were constructed around Mr. Blobby, but they didn't operate for long. One, in Cricket St. Thomas, Somerset, still exists, but it is closed and decaying. Abandoned Footprints, a member of the 28DaysLater forum, posted photographs of the site taken during an urbex expedition. Link -via Everlasting Blort

Elephant Poop Beer Posted: 13 Apr 2013 07:00 PM PDT Do you remember the coffee made from coffee beans that have been, uh, organically processed by elephants? For April Fools' Day, Sankt Gallen, a brewery in Kanagawa, Japan, briefly sold a stout made from that coffee. The staff at Rocket News 24 snagged a few bottles before they sold out. Here's how it tastes: I cracked open a bottle of Un, Kono Kuro to give it a try. I sniffed at the bottle’s neck and my nostrils were greeted with a faint bitter aroma, a little like roasted coffee just giving me a sense of what’s to come. When I poured it into a glass the coffee-like aroma continued to build it was relaxing like an easy Sunday morning. After taking my first sip there was an initial bitterness that got washed over by a wave of sweetness. Following that, a mellow body rolled in and spread out through my mouth. [...] Usually people talk about aftertaste when drinking beer but with Un, Kono Kuro the word afterglow is much more appropriate. After downing the last drop, slowly rising from my throat and mouth was that afterglow. The combination of bitter and sweet stayed fresh and lingered in my head. It was a familiar aroma that accompanied me through the entire beer. Link -via Foodbeast (Photo: Rocket News 24)

Puppy and Popcorn Posted: 13 Apr 2013 06:00 PM PDT (YouTube link) Hey, Jude, don't be afraid! Jude is a very attractive 3-month-old Beagle. He's never seen popcorn before. Is this something to eat? To play with? To be afraid of? He handles the novel experience the best he can! -via Blame It On The Voices

Convertible Napping Desk Posted: 13 Apr 2013 05:00 PM PDT The only thing better than a refreshing nap on your desk at work is a nap under it! Behold the napping table by Studio NL in Greece. Via Lost at E Minor

Pinocchio Eraser Posted: 13 Apr 2013 04:00 PM PDT Pinocchio Eraser  Do you dream of doing great things, but you worried that all those little white lies and teeny tiny fabricated stories are going to get you in big trouble? Erase your past with the Pinocchio Eraser from the NeatoShop. This delightful set of two erasers looks like the head of your favorite wooden boy. Now you can take pleasure in whittling away his nose as you gently scrub your paper and your conscience clean.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Office Supplies.  Link

8 Cures That Did More Harm Than Good Posted: 13 Apr 2013 04:00 PM PDT Once upon a time, and not all that long ago, the medicine you took had more to do with advertising and wishful thinking than with scientific testing of its effectiveness. The latest miracle cure would be discovered, sweep the country, and then die out when it turned out to not work. But worse, many of the cures could kill you.   “The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off” has to be one of the best Wall Street Journal headlines of all time. The “radium water” in question was called Radithor, and the jaw in question belonged to one Eben Byers: industrialist, socialite, and amateur golf champion. Radium and radiation were all the rage around the turn of the 20th century. People who went to natural hot springs seemed “invigorated and renewed,” and scientists noted that many of these natural springs were high in naturally-occurring radon. The radon seemed to be to water what oxygen was to air; without it, water was “dead.” Looking to profit off of this discovery, companies first bottled water directly from the springs, and later produced “invigorating” crocks (containing internal radon discs or coatings) to irradiate water. Just fill the crock before you go to sleep, and have healthy, stimulating water all day long! Things did not work out well for Eben Byers, who drank three bottles of radon water every day. Read about his case and seven other dangerous "cures" at mental_floss. Link

One Dress, One Woman, One World Posted: 13 Apr 2013 03:00 PM PDT Most women only get their wedding dress photography sessions when they get married, but if you're married to a photographer, you get to do it over, and over, and over again! In 2008, photographer Jeff Salvage married his wife Jennifer on a volcano crater on Easter Island. There, they did three photo shoots around the island and an idea was born: why not recreate the wedding gown photo shoot around the world? Since then, the couple have traveled over 135,000 miles around the world. And at each exotic location, Jennifer dons her original wedding dress for another fantastic photo shoot for their project One Dress, One Woman, One World. Michael Zhang of PetaPixel has the story and more marvelous photos | Visit Jennifer and Jeff's official page: Link

Knitted <i>Adventure Time</i> Tablet Sleeve Posted: 13 Apr 2013 02:00 PM PDT The blogger behind It's Pie Time made this cute tablet computer sleeve that looks like Jake from Adventure Time. But can it shapeshift like Jake? Link -via Play with Your Yarn

Stay Puft Marshmallow Cat Posted: 13 Apr 2013 01:00 PM PDT Fluffy is ready for his turn in front of the camera for an all-cat remake of Ghostbusters! If you know who originally took this picture, please let us know. -via Geeks Are Sexy

Inflatable Hand Anime Body Art Posted: 13 Apr 2013 12:00 PM PDT Hands down, this is the best body art featuring One Piece manga and anime hero Monkey D. Luffy's unique fighting style where he inflates his fist into gigantic proportion. You may not have read the manga or seen the animation, but surely you can appreciate the visual cleverness: Link - via reddit

Amanda McKittrick Ross: The World's Worst Novelist Posted: 13 Apr 2013 11:00 AM PDT Are you a bad writer? Do people react to your prose as they would to Vogon poetry? You still have nothing to boast of. Amanda McKittrick Ross (1860-1939), according to some literary critics, was the worst published novelist in the history of the English language: In this literary sub-genre, Irish writer Amanda McKittrick Ros reigns supreme. "Uniquely dreadful," proclaims the Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. "The greatest bad writer who ever lived," says author Nick Page. Ros, who died in 1939, abused (some would say, tortured) the English language in three novels and dozens of poems. She refers to eyes as "globes of glare," legs as "bony supports," pants as a "southern necessary," sweat as "globules of liquid lava" and alcohol as the "powerful monster of mangled might." The Oxford literary group "The Inklings," which included C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, held competitions to see who could read her work aloud longest while keeping a straight face. Mark Twain considered her first book, Irene Iddesleigh, as "one of the greatest unin­tentionally humorous novels of all time." Consider this passage: "Speak! Irene! Wife! Woman! Do not sit in silence and allow the blood that now boils in my veins to ooze through cavities of unrestrained passion and trickle down to drench me with its crimson hue!" [...] Ros' husband, a train station manager in a small Northern Ireland town, financed the publication of Irene Iddesleigh as a tenth wedding anniversary present. A reader sent a copy to humorist Barry Pain, who in an 1898 review called it "a thing that happens once in a million years." Initially entertained, he soon "shrank before it in tears and terror." In the preface to her next book Ros attacked Pain as a "clay crab of corruption" and a "cancerous irritant wart." Like many novelists, she believed her critics lacked the intellect to appreciate her talent and came to believe that her growing legion of detractors conspired against her for revealing the corruption of the ruling class—thereby disturbing, as she put it, "the bowels of millions." Who would you nominate as the world's worst novelist? Link -via TYWKIWDBI | Photo via Odd Books

The Spirit of the Masks Posted: 13 Apr 2013 10:00 AM PDT Italian photographer Anthony Pappone attended FESTIMA (Festival International des Masques et des Arts) in Dédougou, Burkina Faso. The week-long festival draws people from Burkina Faso and other West African countries to show off their elaborate traditional masks and costumes. music and dances are performed throughout the day and the night, there are also clothes made ​​of leaves, fiber feather dresses, white dresses, suits and straw animal skins. The masks belong to the tradition animist and come out at the end of the dry season to ask for rain. See more gorgeous pictures of festival participants at Pappone's Behance post. Link -via Everlasting Blort

A Knitter Down on Her Luck Posted: 13 Apr 2013 09:00 AM PDT Don't enable her. The only way to help her stop crafting is to get all of that yarn completely out of her system. -via Makin'ology | Image: unknown

North Korea Targets Colorado Springs Posted: 13 Apr 2013 08:00 AM PDT The latest propaganda video released by North Korea threatens specific targets in the US: Washington, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Colorado Springs. Except they don't know where Colorado Springs is. The only problem is that the video, released by the state-run media organization Uriminzokkiri, misidentifies Colorado Springs’ location by about 1,000 miles. As the voice-over excitedly discusses North Korea’s plan to launch a missile at the home of a number of important military installations, as well as the U.S. Air Force Academy, a dot on a map meant to indicate the city actually appears somewhere over the deep south. You can hear the narrator mention Colorado Springs at about 1 minute, 20 seconds into the video, as a scary-looking line is shown shooting out from North Korea and landing somewhere in the vicinity of Shreveport, La., a 900-mile drive southeast from the intended target. Like other recent North Korean videos, the intended effect is probably to solidify internal support. Any actual missile routes from North Korea to the US would be polar. Their KN-08 missiles mentioned in the video are so far untested. See the entire video at the Washington Post. Link -via reddit

Superhero Eye Makeup Posted: 13 Apr 2013 07:00 AM PDT As you can see at the link, Kirsty Childs is an outstanding makeup artist. And I mean a lot more than just her eye work. She can create realistic zombies and other ghastly ghouls to haunt your days and nights. But I'm especially impressed with her homages to superheroes, including Batman, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man. Link

Robottle Corkscrew Posted: 13 Apr 2013 06:00 AM PDT Robottle Corkscrew Meet the Robottle Corkscrew from the NeatoShop. Is he retro or is he futuristic wine bottle opener? We will let you decide. The only thing we can say for sure is that he is very, very cool. The Robottle features an extra-long steel corkscrew. He is engineered from durable plastic and is dishwasher safe. Conveniently hidden inside is a  razor-blade for stripping off foil.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Barware & Cocktail items.  Link

This Week at Neatorama Posted: 13 Apr 2013 06:00 AM PDT Excuse me if I get a little personal for a minute here -it doesn't happen often. I just now realized that yesterday was the three-year anniversary of the day that Alex announced I'd been promoted to managing editor here at Neatorama, after four years as a contributing author. Since then I've been so busy I didn't realize how long it had been! But the community of Neatoramanauts has made it a pleasure so far. This coming week is full of milestones for me as a mother. My first baby is taking the ACT today, as she is totally focused on getting scholarships for college in another two years. Next week she tries out for color guard, turns sweet 16, and will test for her learner's permit. Where did all the time go? That's much too big of a question to ponder, so let's just focus on what's been happening this past week at Neatorama, starting with our feature articles. From Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, we learned about The Amazing Dr. Baker. The Search for Tycho Brahe's Nose came from the Annals of Improbable Research.   Eddie Deezen gave us TV's First Interracial Kiss. With video evidence. And Sex & Death in the Afternoon: An Oral History of the American Soap Opera came from mental_floss magazine. We had three Brainteasers from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader this week: How _____ Got to Japan, Haystacks, and Three Pills. In the What Is It? game, the mystery tool is a traveler, or tire measuring wheel, according to the Dictionary of American Hand Tools it was used to measure the length of flat strap required for making a new wagon tire, further explaned at the What Is It? blog. The first correct answer came from Berhard, who wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest answer came from Rodney McDonald, who said it is "a moral compass with a handy grip!" That's good enough for a t-shirt, too! Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who played this week.  The most comment-provoking post of the week was Zero TV, followed by TV's First Interracial Kiss and Machiavellian Mom. But those were nothing compared to THREE provocative posts from last Friday that really got everyone going after last week's update: 1. High School Student Bitterly Responds to College Rejections 2. Costumes Are Not Consent 3. Students Fight to Integrate Prom All those conversations are still open if you've got something to say. The comment(s) of the week was this punny little exchange at the How _____ Got to Japan post. Both Stephen Cowell and Alan...yes THAT Alan alluded to their answers without giving their answers. The most popular post of the week was Seven-meter Wasp Nest. Some things you just cannot explain. Other popular posts were 10 Things On The Internet We Don't Understand, But Enjoy Tremendously and Do Not Disturb. Since those were early in the week, they may eventually be overtaken by more recent posts. Honestly, the most consistantly popular post still going strong is from about six weeks ago. Three Exotic Necktie Knots to Try: The Eldredge Knot, The Trinity Knot, and The Cape Knot is on track to be the biggest post of the year, as it keeps being passed around on Facebook and other social sites. The post that received the most ♥s this week was Short Film: A Zombie-Bitten Father Struggles to Save His Infant Daughter, followed by Ferrets in Packing Peanuts. Tied for third place was Spinning Seal Spins and and 7-Year Old Cancer Patient Scores 69-Yard Touchdown. Remember, the ♥s you click are another way we keep up with what kind of posts you want to see more of on Neatorama. Over at the Neatorama Facebook page, we've got extra stuff you won't find here at the main site, like this punny mashup of Dr. Seuss and Star Trek. Check it out every day! And the NeatoShop has been adding new items left and right, like the Zombie Hunter shirts by Chris Murphy. Those of you who shop there regularly can pull up the newest items added here. Don't miss the opportunity to snag the perfect gift, or something for yourself!

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