Neatorama

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• An Atom Undressed
• World's First Bird
• Tortoise and the Hare Race [no. 992 - @koalaslament]
• The Ultimate Book Club Cupcakes
• Lentil Gets His Surgery
• Cannibal! The Wine
• Metal of Heaven: Ancient Egyptians Got Iron from Meteorites
• My Arc Reactor Belongs to Tony
• The Cake Of Dragons
• Pizza Racer
• Electricity Usage in the United States, 1921
• There's No Justice for Dogs
• Chemical Reaction Caught in the Act!
• Ranch Dressing Soda Exists
• Brainteaser: Colorful Clothing
• Giant Hot Pink Slug
• Masters of Their Domain
• Orange Recall
• Happy Birthday Walt Whitman
• PBS Ads Terrify Us with Thankfully Fake Reality TV Shows
• Iron Man Beanie Ballz Key Clip
• The Economist Who Wrote the Academic Paper "Why I Don't Have a Girlfriend" Got Engaged
• Batman Officiates at a Wedding
• Extreme Barbie Jeep Racing
• The Longest Running Gags In Movies and TV

An Atom Undressed Posted: 01 Jun 2013 04:00 AM PDT There's no privacy anymore. Not even for an atom now that scientists have a quantum camera: AN ATOM'S electrons are an ever-shifting quantum melee, but it turns out you can still take their photograph as if they were standing still. A quantum-style microscope has imaged the hydrogen atom's wave function, the equation that determines its electrons' positions – and in turn the atom's properties. [...] how on earth do you make an image of such an object? Measuring the position of a single electron "collapses" the wave function, forcing it to pick a particular position, but that alone is not representative of its normal, quantum presence in the atom. "Wave functions are difficult to measure. They're exquisite quantum objects that change their appearance upon observation," says Aneta Stodolna of the FOM Institute AMOLF in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her team decided to make a picture using a technique dreamed up 30 years ago that can be thought of as a quantum microscope. Rather than taking an image of a single atom, they sampled a bunch of atoms. This removes the quantum nature of each individual atom's electron, forcing it to choose a particular location from those it is allowed to reside in. Do it with enough atoms and the number choosing each spot will reflect the quantum probabilities laid out by the wave function. Lisa Grossman of New Scientist explains: Link

World's First Bird Posted: 01 Jun 2013 02:00 AM PDT Image: Masato Hattori Move over, Archaeopteryx - there's a new (well, actually older) dino in town that claims to be the world's first bird: An archaic bird known as Aurornis xui, described this week in the journal Nature by paleontologist Pascal Godefroit and colleagues, is the latest entry in the debate over which animal qualifies as the first bird and how birds evolved. The delicately preserved specimen, which includes fossil remnants of feathers, was discovered in the roughly 160-million-year-old rock of China's Tiaojishan Formation. While Aurornis lived about ten million years earlier thanArchaeopteryx, and very far from the prehistoric European archipelago thatArchaeopteryx inhabited, the new study found that the two plumage-covered creatures were close relatives at the very base of bird evolution. Brian Switek of National Geographic explains: Link

Tortoise and the Hare Race [no. 992 - @koalaslament] Posted: 01 Jun 2013 12:00 AM PDT I try and avoid picking up turtles on the side of the road. Just in case they're in the middle of a race. — No Friends Nige (@koalaslament) May 9, 2012

The Ultimate Book Club Cupcakes Posted: 31 May 2013 11:00 PM PDT Victoria's Kitchen in West London made these amazing book cupcakes featuring a variety of modern and classic book titles. My question is, do the Twilight cakes taste like blood...or barf? Link Via Book Patrol

Lentil Gets His Surgery Posted: 31 May 2013 10:00 PM PDT While he hasn't been featured on Neatorama yet, Lentil is a precious little French bulldog who was born with a cleft palate. He soon became an internet superstar (he now has over 80,000 Facebook fans) and generous donors everywhere chipped in to help the little guy get a much-needed surgery that would allow him to eat without human assistance. He received the surgery on the 28th and he's already looking world's better and is already eating kibble all by himself! You can read all about the surgery at the link or keep up on his recovery on his Facebook page. Link

Cannibal! The Wine Posted: 31 May 2013 09:00 PM PDT The Alamo Drafthouse might just be the most famous independant theater chain in the world and that isn't going to change any time soon, especially now that they started making limited edition signature wines based on The Silence of the Lambs. Personally, I'm particularly interested in "The Cannibal," which is said to pair very well with liver and fava beans. Link Via Laughing Squid

Metal of Heaven: Ancient Egyptians Got Iron from Meteorites Posted: 31 May 2013 08:00 PM PDT The Gerzeh Bead, an ancient Egyptian iron bead derived from a meteor (c. 3300 BC) Photo: The Open University / The University of Manchester The name for iron in ancient Egyptian is "metal of heaven," and they're not kidding! Researchers from The Open University and the University of Manchester have proven that ancient Egyptians used meteorites to make iron beads accessories for their dead. Dr Joyce Tyldesley is a Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at The University of Manchester and worked on the research. She said:  “Today, we see iron first and foremost as a practical, rather dull metal. To the ancient Egyptians, however, it was a rare and beautiful material which, as it fell from the sky, surely had some magical/religious properties. They therefore used this remarkable metal to create small objects of beauty and religious significance which were so important to them that they chose to include them in their graves.” Link - via Nature

My Arc Reactor Belongs to Tony Posted: 31 May 2013 07:00 PM PDT Well, Tony does have an arc reactor near his heart, so maybe he can relate to this more than the more traditional version of the phrase. Etsy seller kayleeksauvey sells these in every women's size available, so for the ladies who are constantly jealous of Pepper Potts, this might be a great way to tell Tony how you feel. Link

The Cake Of Dragons Posted: 31 May 2013 06:00 PM PDT Better not light too many candles on this birthday cake or those eggs might hatch...and while that would make a pretty sweet birthday present for Reddit user Trustysidekick, it could also be a major party killer when the guests start to flee out of fear. Link

Pizza Racer Posted: 31 May 2013 05:00 PM PDT Pizza Racer Are you hungry for a new way to serve-up your favorite meal. Get your meal off to a flying start with the Pizza Racer from the NeatoShop. This adorable double-bladed pizza cutter is shaped like a race car and driver.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Kitchen Stuff.  Link

Electricity Usage in the United States, 1921 Posted: 31 May 2013 05:00 PM PDT This map by General Electric shows, by relative size, the proportion of electrification among the United States: New York ranks first, having an electrical population (served by central stations) of 8,620,700, or 78.7 per cent of its actual population. The second largest state is Pennsylvania, with an electrical population of 6,330,000, or 68.8 per cent of the actual population; third, Illinois, with 5,150,000, or 79.8 per cent; fourth, Massachusetts, with 4,030,000 or 97,8 per cent; fifth, Ohio, with 3,550,000, or 66.1 per cent, and sixth, California, with 2,827,000, or 86.5 per cent. At the bottom of the list is Nevada, squeezed into a tiny circumference on the map, because it has only 66,300 persons served by central power stations, which, however, is 54.3 per cent of its actual population.  Note the size of the District of Columbia on the map. Link -via TYWKIWDBI

There's No Justice for Dogs Posted: 31 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT Ah, the great dilemma of canine theodicy. John McNamee lays out the terrible problem that saddens all dogs. Link

Chemical Reaction Caught in the Act! Posted: 31 May 2013 03:00 PM PDT Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory got a neat surprise when they were trying to develop a new method of making graphene. They managed to capture a chemical reaction in the act, atom by atom, bond by bond: “We weren’t thinking about making beautiful images; the reactions themselves were the goal,” says Fischer, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division (MSD) and a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. “But to really see what was happening at the single-atom level we had to use a uniquely sensitive atomic force microscope in Michael Crommie’s laboratory.” Crommie is an MSD scientist and a professor of physics at UC Berkeley. What the microscope showed the researchers, says Fischer, “was amazing.” The specific outcomes of the reaction were themselves unexpected, but the visual evidence was even more so. “Nobody has ever taken direct, single-bond-resolved images of individual molecules, right before and immediately after a complex organic reaction,” Fischer says. Link

Ranch Dressing Soda Exists Posted: 31 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT Awesome! This is a great addition to the Lester's Fixins line, which includes sweet corn, bacon, buffalo wing and peanut butter and jelly flavors. But I prefer blue cheese soda. That's the right combination of creamy and tart. What unusual soda flavor would you like to taste? Company Website -via That's Nerdalicious! (Photo: Rocket Fizz of Campbell, CA)

Brainteaser: Colorful Clothing Posted: 31 May 2013 01:00 PM PDT (Image from the NeatoShop) Mr. Red, Mr. White, and Mr. Blue met at a coffee shop. One man was wearing a red suit, one a white suit, and one a blue suit. After a short while, Mr. White exclaimed, "Why, I just noticed that none of us is dressed in the same color as his own last name." "Really?" remarked the man in the red suit. "So?" Can you figure out what color suit each man was wearing? Continue reading for the answer, but try to figure it out on your own first! Show Answer Mr. Red is wearing white, Mr. White is wearing blue, and Mr. Blue is wearing red. ___________________ This brainteaser was reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

Giant Hot Pink Slug Posted: 31 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT Photo: National Parks and Wildlife Services Photo: Michael Murphy Got slugs in your garden? Betcha not like this giant pink slug in Australia! National Parks ranger Michael Murphy shares with us some photos of the giant, hot pink slug in Mount Kaputar, New South Wales: ''It's just one of those magical places, especially when you are up there on a cool, misty morning,'' said Michael Murphy, a national parks ranger for 20 years, whose beat covers the mountain top. ''It's a tiny island of alpine forest, hundreds of kilometres away from anything else like it. The slugs, for example, are buried in the leaf mould during the day, but sometimes at night they come out in their hundreds and feed off the mould and moss on the trees. They are amazing, unreal-looking creatures.'' Locals had long reported seeing bizarre pink slugs after rainfall in the area, but it was only very recently that taxonomists confirmed the slugs, Triboniophorus aff. graeffei, as well as several of the snail species - which prey on other vegetarian land snails - were unique to the mountaintop. Ben Cubby of The Sydney Morning Herald has the story: Link

Masters of Their Domain Posted: 31 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT The Domain: Wife Carrying The Master: Estonian "athlete" Margo Uusorg is probably the world's greatest wife carrier. At the annual Wife Carrying World Championship in Sonkajärvi, Finland (where first prize is the wife's weight in beer!), Uusorg has emerged victorious five out of the past seven years (his brother Madis won in 2004) . He's also the only man to have won with three different female partners (you don't have to carry your own wife, see). Uusorg and his fellow Estonians are so dominant in the sport, which involves sprinting with wifey across various surfaces and water obstacles, that their technique has come to be known as "the Estonian." So, what is the Estonian? A position that's definitely not in the Kama Sutra, it involves a spouse hanging upside down with her arms around her husband's waist while her legs are clutching for dear life to his neck. (Image credit: Flickr user Steve Jurvetson) The Domain: World Records The Master: Ashrita Furman currently holds 33 Guinness World Records, including the record for having the most Guinness World Records. In his record-setting career, which began after he dropped out of Columbia University in the mid-1970s, 51-year-old Furman has set or beaten more than 100 records, including longest continuous pogo sticking (23.11 miles), most completed hopscotch games in 24 hours (434), fastest 10 km sack race (1 hour, 22 minutes, 2 seconds), and the longest period of continuous juggling underwater (48 minutes and 36 seconds). And he's single, ladies! On the downside, Furman is a devoted follower of the Indian philosopher Sri Chinmoy, who preaches strict celibacy. The Domain: Eyebrow Plucking (YouTube link)  The Master: Known as "The Eyebrow King," Damone Roberts has plucked and sculpted the world's most famous eyebrows, from Paula Abdul to Amanda Peet to the Backstreet Boys. A visit to Damone's Beverly Hills salon will cost you $60, but it's well worth the expense. After all, he's America's only eyebrow sculptor to have registered his own name as a trademark! Now that's classy. The Domain: Enigmatology The Master: Will Shortz. It's no contest, really, because Shortz is the only person in human history to graduate college with a degree in enigmatology (the study of puzzles). After receiving the honor from Indiana University in 1974, Shortz went on to a career in puzzles, and in 1993, he landed the best job in the business, editor of TheNew York Times crossword puzzle. His work there is legendary among crossword enthusiasts, as is Shortz's 20,000-strong collection of puzzle books and magazines. As historian of the National Puzzlers' League, Shortz goes by the nickname WILLz, which puzzlers will recognize as a rebus puzzle that translates to Will Short "z." The Domain: Collecting AOL CDs (a surprisingly competitive field) The Masters: Collectors of the infamous AOL "free hours" CDs are legion. In fact, there are dozens of "rare" AOL CDs auctioned on eBay every day. But the masters of the AOL CD collecting domain are undoubtedly Jim McKenna and John Lieberman, two Californians who started collecting the discs back in 2002. Since then, they've amassed more than 385,000. (By the way, if you stacked those suckers up, they'd be taller than the Empire State Building.) When they get to the 1 million mark, they plan on returning the whole lump sum to AOL and asking the company to stop mailing unsolicited CDs. The Domain: Chessboxing Titschko is on the right. (Image credit: Reuters) The Master: Bulgarian Tihomir Titschko is currently the European chessboxing champion—and, because the sport hasn't really spread to other continents, that makes him the de facto world champ. Chessboxing starts with a four-minute round of chess, followed by a two-minute round of boxing, and then it's back to the chess. A judge decides the winner after 11 rounds (six of chess and five of boxing), unless the match is stopped first by a knockout or checkmate. And if you're thinking Lennox Lewis could probably beat Bobby Fischer at chessboxing, you're right. While it's important to be not horrible at chess, it's more important to know how to survive in the ring. The Domain: High School Badminton The Master: Miller Place High School in New York. Between 1973 and 2005, the Miller Place High School badminton team won 504 consecutive games. Sadly, the streak ended on April 12, 2005, when they were beaten 10-5 by Smithtown High School. But fret not, high school badminton fans! Miller Place is back to its winning ways and has already started racking up the trophies again. The Domain: Pitching Professionally While Under the Influence of Drugs (YouTube link) The Master: Dock Ellis was a pretty eccentric baseball player, which befits a man who now claims he never played a major league game sober. On May 1, 1974, for instance, Ellis attempted to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds' lineup. In the first inning alone, he pelted Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Dreisen. Tony Perez dodged four pitches and walked, but after Johnny Bench was nearly beaned twice, Ellis was removed from the game. But by far, Ellis' oddest accomplishment came on June 12, 1970, when (per his autobiography) he became the only major league player ever to pitch a complete game no-hitter while tripping on acid. Luckily, Ellis sobered up after his retirement and now works as a drug treatment counselor. __________ The article above appeared in the Scatterbrained section of the November-December 2006 issue of mental_floss magazine. It is reprinted here with permission. Don't forget to feed your brain by subscribing to the magazine and visiting mental_floss' extremely entertaining website and blog today!

Orange Recall Posted: 31 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT Orange Recall by Di.Jay Like Ahnold said, get your ass to Mahs, preferrably wearing this awesome Orange Recall T-shirt by Di.Jay. Check out more of the duo's awesome T-shirt designs over at their Facebook page, then head on over to the NeatoShop to get 'em: Link - Your purchase helps support indie artists as well as this blog. Not Now Chewie No More Kicking The Watching Dead Apocalypse Tour View more Di.Jay's shirts | More Funny T-shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Happy Birthday Walt Whitman Posted: 31 May 2013 09:57 AM PDT Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819, which means he would have been 194 today. Sometimes, when I see photos of him, I actually think he looks like he's 194, living the simple life in Portland or something. It would be silly to say that Breaking Bad has renewed my interest in WW, but I must admit I have pulled out my copy of Leaves of Grass, gearing up for the finale starting in July. (SO excited!) Meantime, here's a great 36-second snippet from a wax cylinder recording of what is thought to be Whitman's voice reading four lines from the poem "America." America: center of equal daughters, equal sons, All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old, Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich, Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love, A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother, Chair'd in the adamant of Time.

PBS Ads Terrify Us with Thankfully Fake Reality TV Shows Posted: 31 May 2013 09:00 AM PDT Don't get even more depressed! These promotional posters are for shows that don't exist. The ad agency CHI & Partners NY made them to promote programming on PBS. Because PBS doesn't have reality TV shows, right? Please tell me that they haven't succumbed to that genre. You can view two more posters at the link. Link -via Daily of the Day

Iron Man Beanie Ballz Key Clip Posted: 31 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT Iron Man Beanie Ballz Key Clip The summer travel season is almost here. Are you looking for a fun way to personalize your carry-on luggage? You need an Iron Man Beanie Ballz Key Clip from the NeatoShop. This fantastic backpack clip is shaped like a little round Iron Man.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Iron Man items and great Plush Toys. Link

The Economist Who Wrote the Academic Paper "Why I Don't Have a Girlfriend" Got Engaged Posted: 31 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT Three years ago, Peter Backus of the University of Warwick released a paper explaining why, mathematically, it was almost impossible for him to find a girlfriend. His calculations were premised upon the Drake equation: The equation in question, written in 1961 by radio astronomer Frank Drake, was initially used to estimate how many alien civilizations exist in our galaxy. Backus used it to determine how many women he could meet in London who fit his age, educational and physical preferences. And the odds were slim: He calculated there were only 26 women in the entire United Kingdom who could be his potential girlfriend. "So, on a given night out in London, there is a 0.00034 percent chance of meeting one of these special people, about 100 times better than finding an alien civilization we can communicate with," Backus wrote in his paper. "That's a 1 in 285,000 chance. Not great." But fortune was with Mr. Backus. He found love: Two years after publishing "Why I Don't Have A Girlfriend," Backus cracked his own code: he met Rose, a London woman who satisfied all his criteria, and fell in love. "I met her at a dinner with some friends in London," Backus said. "It was just a chance meeting, just a friend of a friend." This weekend, Backus and Rose will tie the knot, and he says that despite the initial odds, there are plenty of ways to best the Drake equation. His advice to the lovelorn: "Keep looking, and spend a lot of time hanging out in places where other people who satisfy your criteria hang out. Go to bars, go to music shows, go to places where people hang out and increase the probability. That's what the equation shows." Link -via Glenn Reynolds (Photo: Peter Backus)

Batman Officiates at a Wedding Posted: 31 May 2013 07:00 AM PDT "I now pronounce you Robin and wife. You may interrogate the bride." -via Pleated Jeans (Photo: unknown)

Extreme Barbie Jeep Racing Posted: 31 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT This sport is, like, real! Participants race downhill in Barbie-branded Power Wheels cars. The competitions are cutthroat and few drivers even reach the finish line. But the winners gain glory to last for generations. At the link, you can watch four videos of these races. Link

The Longest Running Gags In Movies and TV Posted: 31 May 2013 05:00 AM PDT Can you imagine going through a whole Marvel movie without seeing Stan Lee? Or a whole season of Doctor Who without someone asking "Doctor Who?" This list of the longest running gags on i09 will certainly make you nod your head as you remember all of the stupid jokes. Sure these jokes have become cliche and over-played, but that only makes them funny in other ways. Link

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