Neatorama

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• War Plan Red: The U.S. Plan to Invade Canada
• The 10 Best Murals of September
• Buffalo Chicken Chili Is A Perfect Snack for the Season
• Carpooling is Bad for the Economy
• The Harp Guitar
• The Leidenfrost Maze
• Skull Tangler
• Horrible Kitty
• Pretending to Be Normal
• Percussive Maintenance
• Great Comic Book Woman Cosplay
• Agent P In Real Life
• The Earliest Known Work of Norman Rockwell
• Decorating Pumpkins With An Eggbot
• Chemistry or Art?
• You Can Bring This Mother of All Swiss Army Knives to a Gunfight
• Dinosaur in Space
• Franky Vinyl Mask
• R2-D2 Pick Up Line
• The Breaking Bad Prediction Guide
• I'd Rather Watch Regina Than Miley Any Day
• Here Are 5 Fun Facts About Coffee For National Coffee Day
• 20 Things I Learned in North Korea
• Sweet Breaking Bad Cookies Just In Time for the Finale
• Seasonal Shopping
• Old and New Star Trek Characters Combined
• Russian Pontoon Bridge

War Plan Red: The U.S. Plan to Invade Canada Posted: 30 Sep 2013 05:00 AM PDT The following is an article from Uncle John's Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader.  (Image credit: Flickr user Library and Archives Canada) When this bizarre story surfaced a few years ago, it reminded us if this quote, attributed to Warren G. Harding: "I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends -they're the ones that keep me walking the floors nights." NORTHERN EXPOSURE If you had to invade another country, how would you do it? Believe it or not, the United States military spent a lot of time pondering that question in the late 1920s, when it came up with a plan to invade its closest neighbor, Canada. There was certainly a precedent for the two nations battling it out. The Continental Army invaded Canada during the American Revolution, and the U.S. Army made repeated incursions during the War of 1812. In 1839 the state of Maine only narrowly avoided a shooting war with the province of New Brunswick over a border dispute. Then, in 1866, about 800 Irish-American members of a group called the Fenian Brotherhood tried to occupy part of Canada for the purpose of using it as a bargaining chip to force Great Britain to grant independence to Ireland (They were quickly driven back across the U.S. border). That last invasion had an upside for Canadians: It convinced the last holdouts in the independent provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec that they'd be better able to defend themselves against the next invasion if they banded together to form the Dominion of Canada, which they did on July 1, 1867. Canadian soldiers in World War I. (Image credit: National Library of Scotland) TO THE DRAWING BOARD Of course, these skirmishes paled in comparison to World War I, which raged from 1914 to 1918. That war, which was precipitated by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, caught most of the belligerents by surprise. It also lasted longer and was far more costly in blood and treasure than anyone ever dreamed a war could be. None of the nations that fought in it wanted to be caught off guard again; many began planning for whatever war might be lurking around the corner. The American military drafted a whole series of color-coded war plans to cover just about every conceivable scenario: War Plan Black was a plan for war with Germany; War Plan Orange dealt with Japan, a rapidly growing power in the Pacific. Other colors included Green (Mexico), Gold (France), Brown (The Philippines), and Yellow (China). There was even a War Plan Indigo, in case the United States eve had to invade Iceland, and a War Plan White that dealt with civil unrest within America's own borders. SEEING RED War Plan Red was America's plan for going to war with the British Empire, in the unlikely event that Britain (code name: Red) decided to "eliminate [the United States] as an economic and commercial rival." Since Canada (code name: Crimson) was part of the Empire and shared a 5,527-mile border with the U.S., much of the plan dealt with invading Canada and knocking it out of action before the British could use it as a staging ground for attacks on the U.S. Here's how an invasion of Canada would have gone: * The United States (code name: Blue) would attack and occupy halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada's largest Atlantic port. The attack would deny Britain access to the rail and road links it would need to land troops in Canada and disperse than across the country. * Next, the U.S. Army would attack across the border along three fronts: Troops would attack from either Vermont or New York to occupy Montreal and Quebec City; from Michigan into Ontario; and from North Dakota into Manitoba. The effects of these attacks would be to seize Canada's industrial heartland while preventing similar attacks on America, and to further disrupt the movement of Canadian troops from one part of the country to another. * Troops would cross from Washington into British Columbia and seize Vancouver, Canada's largest Pacific port. The U.S. Navy would blockade the port of Prince Rupert, 460 miles to the north. Once the crisis passed and relations between America, Canada, and Great Britain returned to normal, the U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Canadian territory, right? No- "Blue intentions are to hold in perpetuity all Crimson and Red territory gained," the military planners wrote. "The policy will be to prepare the provinces and territories of Crimson and Red to become states and territories of the Blue union upon the declaration of peace." THE FOG OF WAR(S) (Image credit: Flickr user Prayitno) So how seriously was the United States considering invading Canada? In all probability, not very. War Plan Red doesn't go into nearly as much detail as War Plan Black (Germany) or War Plan Orange (Japan), which military planners correctly assumed were much more significant threats. The intent of the other color-coded plans may have been to make war plans involving Germany and Japan seem less controversial. Why the subterfuge? After the horrors of World War I, in which nearly ten million soldiers died, many people concluded that planning for wars only made them more likely. The U.S. military didn't feel this way, of course, and one way they may have gotten around public opinion was to come up with all kinds of improbable war plans to make the real plans more palatable. A public that would not have tolerated the idea of preparing for war with Germany and Japan would be less alarmed by the idea of the United States preparing for war with Germany, Japan, Canada, Iceland, Jamaica, Monaco, and Andorra. WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE… Any sting Canadians might have felt when War Plan Red was declassified in 1974 was offset by the knowledge that Canada had drafted its own plans for invading the United States, and had done so several years before War Plan Red was approved in 1930. "Defence Scheme No. 1," as it was called, was created in 1921 by James Sutherland "Buster" Brown, Canada's director of military operations and intelligence. In many respects it was the opposite of War Plan Red: In the event that an American attack was imminent, Canadian forces would strike first, attacking and occupying key cities such as Albany, Minneapolis, and Seattle. Unlike with War Plan Red, these cities wouldn't be annexed or even occupied for any longer than was absolutely necessary. The idea was to knock the U.S. off balance, then retreat back into Canada, blowing up bridges and destroying roads and railroads along the way in the hope of delaying the inevitable American counterattack until British reinforcements arrived. The plan received mixed reviews from the Canadian military: One general called it a "fantastic desperate plan that just might have worked"; other officers thought Brown was nuts. It remained on the books until 1928, when it was scrapped as impractical. The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader, a fantastic book by the Bathroom Readers' Institute. The 19th book in this fan-favorite series contain such gems like The Greatest Plane that Never Was, Forgotten Robot Milestones, Ancient Beauty Secrets, and more. 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!

The 10 Best Murals of September Posted: 30 Sep 2013 04:00 AM PDT (Photo: Banksy) Street Art News rounded up the 10 most popular murals that it published during September. My favorite is this one by the famous and mysterious Banksy. You can find this stencil work in Los Angeles. It's a part of his upcoming "Better out Than in" show in October. Some people think that street artists are just vandals. Some, by definition, are: they put their art on other people's property without permission. One of our regular commenters (Ted, I think) used to express this point occasionally. I don't know if that's the case with this work. But I think that Banksy is saying that street artists bring beauty into the world with their spay paint cans.

Buffalo Chicken Chili Is A Perfect Snack for the Season Posted: 30 Sep 2013 03:00 AM PDT Buffalo chicken wings are great, but they aren't exactly a meal. If you're looking for a better way to enjoy those flavors as a main course, whether for a good party treat or just for diner at home, this tasty treat by Closet Cooking combines the classic flavors of chicken, hot sauce (make it Frank's for the most traditional flavor) and blue cheese. Fritos would be a great crispy addition, especially since you don't want to dip fresh celery in it like you would if you were eating real buffalo wings.

Carpooling is Bad for the Economy Posted: 30 Sep 2013 02:00 AM PDT Don't be selfish! You know that carpooling is bad for the economy. Carpooling means fewer people driving their own cars. That means fewer car sales, and that leads to fewer people employed by car manufacturers. That also means less gasoline consumption ... just think of how many people employed by the oil and gas industry stand to lose their jobs! Fewer cars on the road will also make streets last longer. No more potholes? Your selfishness in driving with other people just cost the road maintenance crew their livelihood. Not to mention the car repair guys that count on you breaking your car's shock absorbers every now and then. And don't get me started on the car wash guys - many of which are poor immigrants trying to support their family back home. These poor immigrants are also likely to be minorities. So your carpooling habit is undeniably racist. San Francisco-based artist Brian Singer AKA someguy tells it like it is. In his 2010 art project, You are ___ for the Economy, he created a series of stickers that he affixed to various public places to plead with the public to do their part for the economy. Are you trying to lose weight? Don't! Obesity is good for the economy. More fat people means more food and job security for restaurant workers. Do you have high self-esteem? That's terrible! It's better for everyone if you have low self-esteem and are therefore compelled to try and fit in by buying the latest in fashion. Down with crime? Who'll feed the family of all those policemen, prosecutors, judges, and prison wardens? Take a look this art project over at Singer's website (using your newly purchased iPhone or the latest desktop cmputer, of course), then head on over to the shopping mall to do your part for the economy. Be sure to drive by yourself in your own car, mmkay?

The Harp Guitar Posted: 30 Sep 2013 01:00 AM PDT (Photo: Jessie Pearl) "Hey, you got harp in my guitar!" "Well, you got guitar in my harp!" I can't top that joke, so I'm just swiping it from Weird Universe, which directed my attention to this weird but beautiful musical instrument: the harp guitar. Instrument makers developed it from the classical European lute. By the 1790s, the basic form that you see pictured here was present. Though never popular, they survived until the present day. In the video below, you can see a performance of dozens of harp guitarists. This was the finale for Fifth Annual Harp Guitar Gathering on Oct. 27, 2007. Stephen Bennett, the founder of that annual event, introduces their performance of "The Water Is Wide," an old English folk song.  (Video Link)

The Leidenfrost Maze Posted: 30 Sep 2013 12:00 AM PDT (YouTube link) The Leidenfrost effect is when a liquid (in this case, water) comes in contact with a surface so hot (above the liquid's boiling point) that instead of evaporating in hurry, the water droplet becomes surrounded by a layer of water vapor, which slows down the evaporation. This is how cooks use water droplets to see hot hot a griddle is. In essence, the water droplet is hovering over the hot surface. This hovering droplet can be manipulated: for instance, when the hot surface is textured in a certain way, the drop will skitter in a predetermined direction.   Carmen Cheng and Matthew Guy used that principle to build a maze in which water droplets were directed along a winding path by the Leidenfrost effect. They use this maze to demonstrate the science, but it looks darn cool, too! -via Arbroath

Skull Tangler Posted: 29 Sep 2013 11:00 PM PDT   Skull Tangler (sold individually) Are you on the hunt for frightfully fun Halloween items? Head on over to the NeatoShop. There you will find the Skull Tangler. This creepy bendable spine with attached skull is perfect for adoring bannisters or posts. Adding a Skull Tnagler to your home is sure to turn heads.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Skull items.  Link

Horrible Kitty Posted: 29 Sep 2013 11:00 PM PDT Horrible Kitty by Alecxps You can't have a Freeze Ray, but you can get the next best thing: this awesome Horrible Kitty design by T-shirt artist Alecxps. Visit Alecxps at his Facebook page, then visit his NeatoShop page for more nifty designs. Despicable Kitty Alafinn Sane Illogical Talking Anatomy of a Human View more designs by Alecxps | More Funny T-shirts | New 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!

Pretending to Be Normal Posted: 29 Sep 2013 10:00 PM PDT We all go through that awkward phase. It's just for some of us, like Beth Evans, it begins at birth and continues indefinitely. Do your best to distinguish between the conversations inside your head and outside of it.

Percussive Maintenance Posted: 29 Sep 2013 09:00 PM PDT (vimeo link) If your gadget isn't working, your first instinct is to give it a good whack! That worked a lot better in the days of rust and shorted out wires than it does with your computerized electronics. The movies still do it, all the time! The technique is called Percussive Maintenance, or my circle referred to it as Impact Technology (we did a lot of this at radio stations). This supercut was edited by Duncan Robson with music by Joel Robson. -via Colossal

Great Comic Book Woman Cosplay Posted: 29 Sep 2013 08:00 PM PDT (Photo: merrypranxter) Whether it's a take on old comic books or Roy Lichtenstein's paintings about old comic books, I love this costume! Instagram member merrypranxter spotted her at DragonCon in Atlanta this year. Every part contributes to the theme: a comic book dress, dotted printing, hard black lines for accents and even an action-packed POW! Story idea: make this woman a character in a classically-drawn comic book. -via Daily of the Day

Agent P In Real Life Posted: 29 Sep 2013 07:00 PM PDT Five quickie facts about playtpus: 1. Yes, the platypus is weird. As any grade schooler can tell you, it's one of three mammals that lay eggs (the other two are two species of echidnas. See also: 5 Fascinating Facts About Echidna) 2. Platypus is venomous. The male platypus has a venom spur in its ankles. 3. It can sense electrical fields. The platypus has electroreceptors in its bill that let it sense electrical fields that is useful to detect electrical currents generated by the muscle contractions of its prey. 4. There's no agreed plural of platypus in the English language. Is it platypuses? Platypi? Platypodes? Or just plain platypus. There's also no collective noun for platypus, and there hasn't been a need for one because platypus is a solitary animal. However, should the need arise, the Australian Platypus Conservancy - an authority on all things platypus as far as we're concerned, suggests a "paddle" of platypus. 5. A baby platypus is called a puggle (like what we call a baby echidna). And it looks ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE in fedoras! Two junior Agent Ps reporting for duty! (Yes, I know it's photoshopped ... but did you know it's a reference to this popular cartoon character?)

The Earliest Known Work of Norman Rockwell Posted: 29 Sep 2013 06:00 PM PDT In his illustrations, Norman Rockwell showed American life, both idealized and troubled. He defined American childhood, particularly in his illustrations for the Boy Scouts. Rockwell demonstrated serious talent from an early age. Pictured above is his earliest surviving work, rendered at the age of 17. It's is a scene from "The Deserted Village," a 1770 poem by Oliver Goldsmith. In the Smithsonian magazine, Deborah Solomon describes it: It was incredible to see­—a marvel of precocious draftsmanship and a shockingly macabre work for an artist known for his folksy humor. Rockwell undertook it as a class assignment. Technically, it’s an illustration of a scene from “The Deserted Village,” the 18th-century pastoral poem by Oliver Goldsmith. It takes you into a small, tenebrous, candlelit room where a sick boy lies supine in bed, a sheet pulled up to his chin. A village preacher, shown from the back in his long coat and white wig, kneels at the boy’s side. A grandfather clock looms dramatically in the center of the composition, infusing the scene with a time-is-ticking ominousness. Perhaps taking his cue from Rembrandt, Rockwell is able to extract great pictorial drama from the play of candlelight on the back wall of the room, a glimpse of radiance in the unreachable distance. Rockwell had been taught in Thomas Fogarty’s illustration class that pictures are “the servant of text.” But here he breaks that rule. Traditionally, illustrations for “The Deserted Village” have emphasized the theme of exodus, portraying men and women driven out of an idyllic, tree-laden English landscape. But Rockwell moved his scene indoors and chose to capture a moment of tenderness between an older man and a young man, even though no such scene is described in the poem. Put another way, Rockwell was able to do the double duty of fulfilling the requirements of illustration while staying true to his emotional instincts. The thrill of his work is that he was able to use a commercial form to work out his private obsessions. -via American Digest

Decorating Pumpkins With An Eggbot Posted: 29 Sep 2013 05:00 PM PDT We've previously talked about Evil Mad Scientist Lab's Eggbot machine and while decorating eggs is certainly the main purpose of the Eggbot, it's not the only thing you can do with the great device. In fact, you can actually use it for decorating pumpkins and if you have the ostrich egg version, you can even decorate full-size pumpkins up to 6" in diameter (the original Eggbot only can handle pumpkins up to 4" in diameter).  They even have a great blog post showing exactly how to do it. Of course, if you prefer to limit your Eggbot for only eggs, you can always turn your eggs into adorable little ghosties like these for Halloween. Link

Chemistry or Art? Posted: 29 Sep 2013 04:20 PM PDT Mefite Rhaomi constructed an ASCII periodic table of the elements in which each elemental symbol is a link to something about Breaking Bad which contains the letters of that symbol. For example, the symbol K (potassium) leads to a compilation video of kills from the show. The symbol Xe (xenon) leads to a photo of Dean Norris (who plays Hank Schrader in the series) wearing a Xena Warrior Princess costume at Comic Con. Really. There are videos, articles, funny pictures, fan art, recipes, compilations, and things even the most rabid fan hasn't seen yet. This took a lot of work! What you see here is just a screenshot; you'll find the embedded links at Metafilter. Before clicking any of the symbols, set an alarm for the start of the finale. Remember, this table will still be there when it's over.

You Can Bring This Mother of All Swiss Army Knives to a Gunfight Posted: 29 Sep 2013 04:00 PM PDT Behold the Mother of All Swiss Army Knives that you can actually bring to a gunfight ... and win! The knife has 100 functions, including every types of blades imaginable. It has a serrated blade, dagger blades, shears and scissors, an auger, a corkscrew, saws, a lancet, button hook, cigar cutter, pens and pencils, mirror, and straight razor. You can even use this tool to tune a piano, as it has a piano tuner built in. Hungry? It's got a butter knife so you can butter your toast. But that's not all: This is a knife you can actually bring to a gunfight. It has a fully functioning .22 caliber five-shot pinfire revolver. And as if that ain't enough, the tortoise shell handle covers of the knife open up to hold picks, tools, and even mini folding knives.

Dinosaur in Space Posted: 29 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT It sure looks like someone Photoshopped their craft project onto a separate background, but this one is floating in space for real! The cute little dinosaur was made by hand by astronaut Karen Nyberg on the International Space Station. Nyberg has been living on the ISS for several months now, and unveiled her craft project on Pinterest. She took a sewing bag with fabric scraps up with her, but used found material for the toy. It is made from Russian food pouch liners with a discarded t-shirt for stuffing, Nyberg's three-year-old son Jack will have a truly distinctive souvenir of the time his mother stayed away so long. The dino is most likely the first stuffed toy made in space, but it is not the only stuffed toy on the space station. Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin brought a white dog and cosmonaut Oleg Kotov arrived at the ISS on Wednesday with a small black cat. Russian crews traditionally hang toys from their control panel to indicate when they reach orbit -that's when the toys begin to float. Flight engineer Nyberg is expected to return to earth November 11th.    -via Metafilter (Image credit: Karen Nyberg/NASA)

Franky Vinyl Mask Posted: 29 Sep 2013 02:00 PM PDT   Franky Vinyl Mask Halloween is approaching. Don't spend your days sifting through a sea of ordinary costumes and masks. Save yourself from hours of misery by quickly and quietly capturing the Franky Vinyl Mask from the NeatoShop. This beautifully designed Frankenstein style mask features amazing hand painted details.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Halloween items.  Link

R2-D2 Pick Up Line Posted: 29 Sep 2013 02:00 PM PDT (Photo: unknown) I C3 geeks more attractive than you. In the comments, give me your best Star Wars pick up lines. I'll put them to use tonight. -via Knitqueer

The Breaking Bad Prediction Guide Posted: 29 Sep 2013 01:00 PM PDT No one outside of the production team knows what will happen when Breaking Bad airs its series finale tonight. The show was never designed to be an ongoing series, but to tell a story that leads to an end. It won't fit into the standard syndication model as easily as, say, Law & Order, because showing episodes out of order would disrupt the narrative. With the finale tonight ("Felina"), the web is full of people who either want to call the results or fantasize about what they would like to see happen, no matter how implausible. Here are some of those predictions, ranging from the calculated to the outlandish. Since the blurbs may contain spoilers for those who are not current on the show, continue reading to see the roundup. Now, after five seasons, all the main characters are either dead, in hiding, or sinking into utter despair as their world falls apart. The only sure thing about the series ending is that this will be the final part.    First, some pop culture blogs lay out what might happen, or what they want to see happen. Warming Glow: Jesse escapes with Brock and the money and settles in Hawaii for a happy life. Entertainment Weekly: “Walt uses the ricin on Uncle Jack, frees Jesse, Jesse kills him. Last shot is Walt’s money flying away on desert wind a la Sierra Madre,” and other predictions. HuffPo TV: Jesse kills the nazis with laboratory fumes. Jesse tries to kill Walt, but commits suicide instead. Walt turns himself in to the DEA. Buzzfeed: Walt kills the nazis. Jesse, Skyler, and Flynn go into witness protection. Walt commits suicide. Hypable: A hit man kills Flynn. Walt saves Jesse. Lydia gets the ricin treatment in her tea. Jesse kills Todd and gets away with Brock. Wired: Seven Mind-Blowing Theories Updated. The A.V. Club: Walt dies; it doesn't matter how. Previously.tv: Marie kills Walt. Den of Geek: Walt funnels money to his family through the Elliott and Gretchen Schwartz Foundation. Jesse escapes by killing nazis with science. Walt commits suicide with the ricin. Heavy: Walt and Skyler die. Jesse takes over as Heisenberg to support Brock. She Knows: Walter saves Jesse. They and the White family escapes to an island, where Jesse grows a family. Todd finds them, kills everyone but Jesse, his daughter, and Walt. Jesse then kills Walt with the ricin. The Day: Marie, Skyler, or Flynn kills Walt. Jesse escapes, kills Todd, and takes Brock to raise as a responsible citizen. Hank rises from the dead. Saul saves Jesse. It gets weirder from there.  Some endings would be cooler than others, as you can see in this graph from Coolness Graphed. -Thanks, Craig L! There are entire websites devoted to the show. Here are what some of them are saying. Claim Your Cockamamie Theory: Walt kills the nazis, saves Jesse, and makes Jesse continue producing meth with profits going to Skyler. Meaning of Breaking Bad: Uncle Jack's compound explodes; all die except for Saul. Breaking Bad Predictions: Nazis kill Flynn. Walt kills the nazis. Jesse kills Walt, but then realizes Walt poisoned him with the ricin. The Key of Awesome: Flynn becomes the new Heisenberg. And finally, posts in which commenters post their theories or other internet predictions are collected. Reddit: Redditor predictions and more redditor predictions. New York Times: Twitter predictions. HuffPo: Predictions from various journalists and bloggers. Good Riddance: A Tribute (YouTube link)

I'd Rather Watch Regina Than Miley Any Day Posted: 29 Sep 2013 12:00 PM PDT (Video Link) Regina might just be Miley Cyrus' biggest fan (of the hedgehog variety) and this tribute really shows how much she loves the performer. Personally though, I'd rather watch Regina than Miley -even if it came down to twerking. Via Cute Overload

Here Are 5 Fun Facts About Coffee For National Coffee Day Posted: 29 Sep 2013 11:00 AM PDT Powered by Caffeine T-shirt Woohoo! Today, September 29, 2013, is National Coffee Day. It's a day where we celebrate and drink coffee ... waitaminit. That's every day. Heck, what is National Coffee Day for, then? How about some neat-o facts about coffee from Neatorama's archives while you're sipping that hot cup of joe? 1. Caffeine is the world's most popular psychoactive drug In the United States alone, over 90% of adults are estimated to consume caffeine every day. The alkaloid (that's the chemical classification of caffeine - a group of naturally occurring chemical compound containing nitrogen) is present not only in coffee, but also in soft drinks and energy drinks, food, and even chewing gums. What's inside a cup of coffee? You'd be surprised. Love caffeine so much that you want coffee that's 200% more caffeinated than normal? We've got you covered. 2. Forget civet poop coffee, here comes elephant poop coffee! By now, everybody knows that you can drink coffee processed from civet poop. But Neatoramanauts know something even better: coffee made from elephant poop. The Black Ivory Coffee aint' cheap though. It'll set you back $50 a cup. 3. A new way to "drink" coffee ... Image: TLC Is through your butt! A florida couple named Mike and Trina get their caffeine fix through the wrong end of their digestive systems: via coffee enemas. 4. Coffee ring formation is surprisingly complex University of Pennsylvania's Department of Physics and Astronomy shared this video microscopy of the Coffee Ring Effect. Wait, why did scientists even bothered to take that video anyhow? It's because scientists drink more coffee than anyone. They also probably spilled more coffee than anyone - well, enough anyhow that they bothered to investigate the physics of spilling coffee while walking. 5. Humans have been drinking coffee since the 15th century And as this advertisement from 1652 (yep, 1652) said about coffee, "It is known by experience to be better then any other Drying Drink for People in years, or Children that have any running humors upon them, as the Kings Evil. &c." Bonus Fact: Caffeine is plant's natural defense mechanism: it kills insects Image: Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy You wouldn't know it from this gorgeous award-winning scanning electron micrograph by Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy, but caffeine is pretty deadly ... to insects. Caffeine acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects that feed on the plant. Check out more Neatorama posts about coffee (we've certainly got a LOT of them!) and coffee-related items on the NeatoShop.

20 Things I Learned in North Korea Posted: 29 Sep 2013 10:00 AM PDT The blogger at Wait But Why went to North Korea as a tourist and gives his/her impressions. The post is full of black humor as it contrasts what is presented on the carefully orchestrated tour for foreigners with common knowledge of the way North Korea works. If you merged the Soviet Union under Stalin with an ancient Chinese Empire, mixed in The Truman Show and then made the whole thing Holocaust-esque, you have modern day North Korea. It's a dictatorship of the most extreme kind, a cult of personality beyond anything Stalin or Mao could have imagined, a country as closed off to the world and as secretive as they come, keeping both the outside world and its own people completely in the dark about one another—a true hermit kingdom. The "twenty things" are accompanied by links to videos taken during the tour, and photos and comics illustrating the points made. The writer totally oversimplifies the Korean War, which somewhat undermines the logical argument that North Koreans have it wrong, but otherwise it's an edifying account of one person's impressions of the country. Link -via reddit

Sweet Breaking Bad Cookies Just In Time for the Finale Posted: 29 Sep 2013 09:00 AM PDT We've seen a lot ofBreaking Badsweets before, but it's nice to see some that incorporate more than just blue rock candy -especially when we only have one last chance to enjoy goodies before the show ends for good. These cookies by Mike of SemiSweet feature RVs, crystal, Walt's birthday breakfast and even an ad for Saul Goodman -who we haven't seen the end of since the network announced a spin off based on his character. Link

Seasonal Shopping Posted: 29 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT I can relate. When I walk into a store this time of year, I am overcome by the desire to buy a table centerpiece and matching placemats, even though I've never used either one in real life. Or a comfy sweater, when I haven't even felt cold in several years. Or silk leaves, for some reason or other. And who can resist those bags of candy? Maybe fall shopping reminds me of my childhood, when school shopping meant new penny loafers and knee socks and plaid skirts and sweaters. Comic by Sarah See Andersen. Link  -via Pleated-Jeans

Old and New Star Trek Characters Combined Posted: 29 Sep 2013 07:00 AM PDT Beam me up Simon Doohan! Redditor ThatNordicGuy has been busy doing all kinds of face morphs including some featuring the old and new X Men cast members, but the most impressive series he's created are those showing the new and old Star Trek cast members. Here is Simon Pegg and James Doohan together in what is certainly the ultimate Scotty.  Link Via The Mary Sue

Russian Pontoon Bridge Posted: 29 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT (YouTube link) Have you ever driven over a floating bridge? They move, which is frightening enough, but here in America, they usually stay above the water. The good part of this video is from 1:20 to about 2:00 if you don't want to watch the whole thing. You may come away with a renewed respect for the inspections, restrictions, and regulations we have to put up with. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

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