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2014/01/04

Neatorama

Neatorama

Rapping Eggs

Posted: 04 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST

(YouTube link)

How could you possibly eat a breakfast that sings for you? This fine example of pareidolia was first uploaded with a different soundtrack. I think this one fits just right. -via Tastefully Offensive

Amish Ice Harvesting

Posted: 04 Jan 2014 02:00 AM PST

(Photo: John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal)

This sled-mounted power saw cuts through thick ice on the lakes of Wisconsin. Lynn Miller of the town of Markesan uses it to harvest blocks of ice, which he keeps in an insulated icehouse. It’s a popular practice among the Amish communities in the area. If properly maintained, an icehouse can keep ice solid for 2 years. Barry Adams writes in the Wisconsin State Journal:

The 1,500 blocks cut Saturday will be used to keep food cold year-round and helps make ice cream in the summer. A few blocks in a deep freeze box, which sometimes are old, non-working chest freezers, can last four to five days. There is no central ice warehouse. Instead, each Amish family has its own icehouse that can hold 200 to 250 blocks of ice. Built with well-insulated walls more than a foot thick, ice has been known to keep for two or even three years in an icehouse.

Saturday’s event, just over an hour drive north from Madison, was one of more than a dozen ice harvests that have been or will be held this winter in this Amish enclave that speaks Pennsylvania Dutch and includes the communities of Kingston, Dalton and Manchester.

“It’s interesting to watch it,” said Edna Eicher, 64, whose son, Amos Eicher Jr., owns the 12-foot-deep pond. “No matter how warm the summer is, we have ice. We’ve thrown 2-year-old ice out.”

You can view a slideshow of photos demonstrating the process here.

-via TYWKIWDBI

The Story Behind the Photo That Inspired Walter Mitty’s Journey

Posted: 04 Jan 2014 12:00 AM PST

In the new movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, our protagonist goes on a journey to find a missing photograph, which was taken (in the movie) by a photographer played by Sean Penn. In reality, the photo was taken by National Geographic photographer Marcus Bleasdale. Sonia Harmon talked to Bleasdale about his career and how a picture he took in Congo ended up as a major plot point in a movie.

Were you surprised when they contacted you?

Most of the process went through my agent so actually, I only found out when my photo editor at National Geographic contacted me to say she’d seen a preview of the film and she thought that they were using some images of mine. That was the only notification that I had, really. I didn’t know that my photo was going to be the one that entices Walter Mitty to do what he does, which is very cool.

Have you ever lost a negative?

I have not lost one, but I’ve had them confiscated in eastern Congo by the authorities. Four rolls of film. I still remember it and I have nightmares closing my eyes, thinking of the images that are on those rolls of film.

Bleasdale's life, like that of many NatGeo photographers, would make a pretty good movie in itself. Read the rest of the interview at NatGeo's Pop Omnivore. -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

(Image credit: Marcus Bleasdale)

Wonder Woman Fleece Cozy

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 11:00 PM PST

Wonder Woman Fleece Cozy

Stay warm, cozy, and looking as beautiful as Aphrodite with the Wonder Woman Fleece Cozy from the NeatoShop. This fantastic blanket with sleeves makes you look like your favorite superheroine. Lasso a Wonder Woman Fleece Cozy for yourself today.  

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Winterwear. 

Link

Chain Reaction of DUI Arrests

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 11:00 PM PST

(Photo: Scott Davidson)

Police arrested a woman in Readington Township, New Jersey for drunk driving. They took her back to the police station. She called a friend to come pick her up.

When that friend arrived, police discovered that she was drunk, too. She had driven to the station, so they arrested and cited her.

Now the two ladies summoned a third friend to pick them up from jail. When he arrived at the station, police noticed that he, too, was drunk and had driven to the station. So they arrested and cited him.

Eventually, a sober friend drove to the police station and took all three drunks home.

-via Ace of Spades HQ

Making Puns with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 10:00 PM PST

How many common idioms have the word "rock" in them? Redditor MariettaLittlelamb has (or actually had) a life-size cardboard cutout of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. She took a series of photographs that illustrate a long list of visual puns using the word "rock" -and there are a lot of them! I was particularly drawn to Rock Paper Scissors because all three elements work together so well.

Oh sure, you could think of more rock puns, but MariettaLittlelamb explained that the cutout is no more- he went to too many Christmas parties and never came home. He was definitely Party Rock. -via Uproxx  

Town Councilman Writes Resignation Letter in Klingon

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 08:00 PM PST

I cannot say qapla' (success), but neither can I say jey (defeat). Sometimes the best victory is to walk away from a bad situation. That may be how David Waddell is looking at it. Until four days ago, he was a town councilman in Indian Trail, North Carolina.

He got fed up with how politics was conducted, so he resigned. His letter was short, to the point and written in Klingon--a language spoken in the Star Trek universe.

General Martok (left), who is currently an elected official in Ulysses, New York, could not be reached for comment.

-via 22 Words

Disney Princess Lingerie

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 07:00 PM PST

The Japanese retailler Bellemaison is offering Disney Princess lingerie. No, it's not for children, but for grown up Disney Princess fans. So far, only four versions are offered: Bell (sic), Cinderella, Aurora, and Rapunzel. It's not clear whether these are officially-licensed Disney products, but an article at Jezebel casts doubt in its list of 9 Things Wrong with this underwear. My biggest reaction is that they do not look comfortable, but let's be honest, they are not marketing to me. Adult Disney Princess fans in the U.S. would demand more variety in the styles, more accurate Disney colors, and the expanded lineup of Princesses. Each set costs around $38.

-via Daily of the Day

Man Arrested for Assault with a Banana

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 06:00 PM PST

Police in Pasco County, Florida arrested a man accused of assaulting his girlfriend with a banana. It was a complicated case. She accused her boyfriend of throwing a banana at her. He, on the other hand, claimed to be the true victim of the banana attack. The police engaged in detective work:

According to the arrest affidavit, the arresting deputy noticed the victim's face was slightly red where she said she was hit by the banana. That deputy also observed the banana in the garbage and parts of the peel were on the ground near the couch where she was sitting. When the deputy attempted to arrest Smolinsky, he resisted and was then pepper-sprayed and taken into custody.

The students in this Monty Python sketch didn't take the banana threat seriously. They did not believe their instructor when he warned them criminals might attack them with bananas. They were fools.


(Video Link)

-via Nerdcore

Octopus Chandelier

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:00 PM PST

This awesome stained glass octopus chandelier was made by Mason Parker of Mason’s Creations. Each of the tentacles is detachable, and the entire octopus is four feet across. You can adjust the lighting by illuminating just the center, just the tentacles, or all of it together. The octopus is a one-of-a-kind handmade work of art, but it's been sold. Parker says he will make another, but considering the craft involved, that may take some time! See more pictures at Mason's Creations. -via Laughing Squid

Does Being Cold Make You Sick?

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST

(YouTube link)

"You'll catch your death of cold!" Grandma says when you show up with just a sweater on in the winter. So you once again explain to her that you aren't allowed to wear a coat in class because of security rules and there's no place to put one where it won't be stolen. But does cold weather make you sick? No. And yes. AsapSCIENCE explains the nuts and bolts of winter weather and colds and flu.

Put another way, cold weather makes me sick. Sick at heart when I have to venture out to start the car early. And sick to my stomach when I think of the heating bills. And I think it might affect my arthritis a bit, too. -via Geeks Are Sexy

Building the Perfect Snowman

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST

Building a snowman is a traditional method of showing off your stamina and abilities, and a way to celebrate having enough snow to do it. If you do it right, a snowman will last long after the rest of the snow has melted. If you do an outstanding job, your work could go viral on the internet. What's the best way to build one? There are thousands of YouTube videos that will tell you how, but an engineering class who published a classic how-to says that your materials are most important. In other words, you've got to start with the right snow.

Professor Roy Pruett, who was responsible for the plans, told Quartz: “The snow has to be somewhere right around 30°F (-1 °C), where there’s just a little moisture in it. It can’t be too cold or not cold enough.”

Temperature is paramount, says Pruett. Too high a temperature and the snow will be wet and lack strength. If the snow is too cold and dry, it will be too powdery to form stable snowballs, which are then built out into the base, torso, and head of the snowman. You’ll need a lot of this good quality snow: the engineers’ ideal snowman—standing 6 feet tall—takes almost 19 cubic feet of compacted snow. Proportion—the ratio of each segment to the next—is important for stability. The engineers suggest diameters of 3 feet, 2 feet, and 1 foot for the foundation, torso, and head, respectively.

There's more to it, which you can read at Quartz.  -via Digg

The Extraordinary Voyage of the CSS <i>Shenandoah</i>

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 02:00 PM PST

(The Monitor vs. The Merrimac by Louis Prang & Co.)

During the American Civil War, the US Navy blockaded Southern ports and largely cut the Confederacy off from the rest of the world. But the South did have some successes at sea. Some fast ships were able to slip through the blockade. The Confederate Navy built an ironclad that held its own against a Federal ironclad. But perhaps the most effective naval effort of the South was the warships that it sent far out to sea to capture and destroy Union shipping. These ships damaged the Union economy and forced the North to use warships to chase the Confederates.

(The Shenandoah destroying whalers in the Arctic via the US Naval Historical Center)

Among these Confederate commerce raiders, the most far-ranging was the CSS Shenandoah. During its year-long voyage, it traveled as far as Australia and the Bering Sea. It was the only Confederate warship to circumnavigate the globe.

Confederate agents purchased it in Britain and, in September 1864, sailed it out unarmed to the Portuguese island of Madeira. There it met another vessel which had been shipped with cannons and a crew. The crew of 73, led by Captain James Waddell (left), raised the Confederate ensign and went hunting.

(The Shenandoah in drydock in Australia via the US Naval Historical Center)

Waddell and his colleagues took 6 prizes before sailing into Melbourne, Australia in January of 1865. After a few weeks in drydock for repairs, Waddell sailed into the Pacific in search of American whalers. The Shenandoah found the most prey in the Aleutians, where at one point it took 7 prizes in an 11-hour period.

By then, it was June of 1865. General Lee had surrendered his army. President Davis had been captured. General Johnston was negotiating the surrender of his army. For all practical purposes, the Confederacy had ceased to exist. Captain Waddell encountered these reports, even far away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

He didn’t believe them and sailed on. This time, he turned south, planning to strike at the coast of California. Finally, in August, a British merchant captain convinced him that the war was truly over. Without a government to fight for, the Shenandoah could not legally continue to wage war. So Waddell dismantled the cannons, hauled down the Confederate colors, and sailed to Britain. He surrendered the ship to British authorities on November 6, 1865.

(Map of the Shenandoah's voyage by Doug Coldwell)

Over its year-long voyage, the Shenandoah took 38 prizes costing the United States $1.36 million—all while unsuccessfully hunted by the US Navy. It was the last Confederate military unit to surrender.

Stuck in a Washing Machine

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST

Eleven-year-old Trinity Rhoades of South Jordan, Utah, played a game of hide and seek with her sister and cousins Tuesday. Trinity decided to hide in the washing machine, but once in, she couldn't get out.

Her sister and cousins tried remedies they recalled from cartoons. First they used butter to lubricate her legs. Then they tried using peanut butter. Then they resorted to ice, which only left the girl cold, so they then poured warm water over her. The children finally called Trinity's mom, who called emergency services. They found the girl not only stuck in a washing machine, but "wet, cold, and covered with condiments."

They eventually had to cut the dryer from the top of the combo unit, and Trinity was freed. She has some bruising on her legs, but is otherwise uninjured. -via Arbroath 

Crab Tries to Steal a GoPro Camera

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:00 PM PST

(YouTube link)

Diederick Ryan set a GoPro camera near a crab's burrow to see what would happen. The curious crab emerged and took a liking to the camera. Ryan barely made it before his camera disappeared into the hidey-hole forever! And that would have made such an impressive gift to his significant other. The action picks up at about 1:20 into the video. -via Tastefully Offensive

Mighty Marvel Calendar From 1975 Works For 2014

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST

If you’re tired of putting up calendars featuring cute animals, last year’s big trends or the same old classic works of art and photography then we have good news for you- the Mighty Marvel Calendar for 1975 syncs with 2014!

So dust off your old box of calendars and search for those dated 1975 and they will magically work for 2014, and the best looking one of the bunch is, of course, the Mighty Marvel Calendar featuring illustrations by Barry Smith, John Romita Sr. and many other Marvel alum.

Each page has been carefully scanned by Chicago-based cartoonist Mark Anderson, who realized the calendars synced just when he was about to throw out this 1975 edition he had hanging on his wall all these years. I guess if you wait 28 years to change your calendar you’ll never have to buy a new one!

Via Dangerous Minds

Untold Stories from the Beatles' Legendary North American Tours

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST

The 50th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America is this year. To mark the occasion, a huge two-volume chronicle of The Beatles’ official American tours by Chuck Gunderson will be published this month, called Some Fun Tonight: The Backstage Story of How The Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964-1966. When you think back on those days, it's hard to believe that three short years of touring America left such a mark felt a half-century later. Collectors Weekly has excerpts from the book, in which each city has its own chapter. Kansas City was not on the original tour schedule.

But Charlie Finley, who owned the Kansas City Athletics baseball team, had promised his city a Beatles concert, so he started working on the band’s manager, Brian Epstein, from the moment the tour began in San Francisco. Finley was prepared to pay top dollar to bring The Beatles to Kansas City, which is saying a lot, since they were already the best-paid act in show business.

“At that time,” says Gunderson, “the big stars were Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland, who were each getting between $10,000 and $15,000 a show. When The Beatles came around in 1964, Brian was getting them anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 per show. Finley offered $100,000, and Epstein essentially said, ‘No. They’re having a day off; the tour is booked. Go away.’”

Used to getting his way, Finley was not so easily brushed off. “His ego was huge,” says Gunderson, “and he had the money to spend. So he went to Brian again when The Beatles were in Los Angeles to play the Hollywood Bowl and wrote out a check for $150,000. Reportedly, Brian took it to this private mansion in L.A. where The Beatles were staying and said ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ And they basically said ‘We’ll do anything you want.’ And so The Beatles were booked to play Kansas City on the 17th of September, at just under $5,000 a minute.”

After all, the Beatles only played for about a half-hour during each concert. Read more such stories about the Fab Four on tour at Collectors Weekly.

Hot Cocoa and 3 Musketeer Brownie Bites

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:30 AM PST

What's better than a brownie? How about a one with a Hot Cocoa 3 Musketeers baked right in the middle? Inside BruCrew Life has the recipe and it looks utterly fantastic.

I hadn't even heard of Hot Cocoa 3 Musketeers yet, but apparently they have marshmallow mixed in with the classic candy bar you love. If you really want to class up the brownie bites, then follow the blog's idea and put some cool whip, sprinkles and mini marshmallows on top.

Of course, if you love caramel and chocolate, you can always use a Milky Way in place of the 3 Musketeers bar. 

The President Of France Is Bad At Shaking Hands

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST

Poor President Francois Hollande, he’s beloved by the citizens of France and yet can’t seem to get a handshake from anyone else he meets!

He’s always left hanging when he reaches out to take the hand of an esteemed leader or high profile figure, and his handshaking skills are so bad they’re going to name a form of solitary greeting after him, called the Hollande Handshake, which will consist of people waiting awkwardly for a few minutes before shaking their own hand.

It’s unclear whether it’s simply a matter of timing that makes Francois look the fool whenever he goes to shake someone’s hand, or if his hands are so clammy that nobody wants to touch them, but one thing’s for certain-his handshake failures make for hilarious photo ops!

Via 22 Words

TARDIS Coasters

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST

TARDIS Coasters

Are uncivilized beings leaving rings on your table? Exterminate the behavior with a set of TARDIS Coasters from the NeatoShop. This fabulous set of 4 coasters look like your favorite piece of advanced technology capable of traveling time and space. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Doctor Who items items. 

Link

Should Wealthy Students Be Required to Do Low-Wage Jobs?

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST

An article at The Atlantic looks at a program at L'Ecole de Gouvernance et d’Economie, an expensive private economics college in Rabat, Morocco. Students are required to complete an internship at a regular job. In the case of Sawsene Nejjar, who grew up in a wealthy family, that meant selling furniture.

“I had my nail polish, my hair done, my makeup done. I felt good, but everyone was looking at me like, ‘Who’s this bourgeoisie coming here? Why is she talking in French every time she’s talking on the phone? Why is she always smiling?’” said Nejjar, who is currently in her third year.

Her co-workers were different than she was. Mostly members of the middle class, they did not attend private school, if they attended post-secondary school at all. They didn’t talk to each other in French. (The official language is the Moroccan dialect of Arabic, though private school teaches French at a young age and public school teaches it a few years later.) The way they spoke the Moroccan dialect of Arabic was different, too.

The purpose of the internship is to expose wealthy students to people of various classes, who they've been insulated from for most of their lives. It's a peek at "how the other half lives," so to speak. What if such a program became common in America? The United States has more income inequality than Morocco. Would spending every day with coworkers and customers outside their experience create a more egalitarian view among privileged students? After all, in any comment thread about tipping, you see that those who once worked for tips tend to leave tips faithfully because they've been there.

But there's no guarantee that such a program will result in changed attitudes. Walking in someone else's shoes for a year is far different from walking in them for a lifetime. And sadly, in poor economic times, even low-status internships may be taking Mcjobs away from people who really need them. As it is now, the ability to take low-pay or unpaid internships that lead to elite jobs is restricted to those who don't have to earn a living. What do you think?      

(Image credit: Flickr user _BuBBy_)

POLL: Should private colleges require students to hold a temporary low-status job?

  • Yes, it would be good experience for certain majors.
  • No, it wouldn't make any difference in the long run.
  • I don't know, just show me the results.

Cute Ceramic Figurines Wearing S&M Gear

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

Nobody ever thinks about what cute cartoon characters do in their off time, when they’re not running around chasing each other with mallets or serving as mascots for fast food restaurants, but if you believe artist Richard Ankrom then they’re all into some pretty naughty stuff!

Richard’s sculptures are full of juxtapositions between cute and kinky, innocent and sadomasochistic, and his works somehow manage to look adorable even though most of the figures are sporting zipper mouthed gimp masks.

Looking through a collection of Richard’s works will make you wonder why the two totally contrasting themes have never been mashed up before, since his tongue-in-cheek works are playful without straying too far over to the dark side and somehow seem visually quite compatible.

Via Beautiful/Decay

Mosley in the Snow

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 07:30 AM PST

(YouTube link)

What could we bring you today that would make you smile instantly? How about a greyhound frolicking in the snow while wearing his Batman pajamas? Although in his everyday life he is known as Mosley, today he is BATDOG! -via Daily Picks and Flicks

Strange Visions Of Human-Animal Hybrids From The 1930s

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

Surely some mad scientist has been hard at work trying to splice animal and human genes in order to create an army of ravenous rabbit men, or lazy three toed sloth people, but nothing currently known to science looks as far out as these images from the 1930s that imagine what human-animal hybrids might look like.

Mantis man is a very efficient farmer, and one heck of a climber, while firefly man is able to picnic in the middle of the night, which may be a dream come true for a nocturnal lover of outdoor dining. These fantastic images come to us courtesy of artist Lucian Rudaux, who would have been so disappointed to find out the future is devoid of the insect men and flying cars he so loved to draw for various publications in the early 20th century.

This series in particular was envisioned by his good friend Professor Rene Thevenin, who really believed scientific advancement would have made these monstrosities a possibility by the 21st century. Lucky us they're still well outside the realm of possibility!

What Made The Strange Web Towers In The Amazon

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 06:30 AM PST


A few months ago, we showed you this strange structure found and photographed by graduate student Troy Alexander in the Peruvian Amazon. As far as we knew, no one had ever seen anything like it before. Was it built by an insect, a spider, a fungus, or space aliens? Researchers at the Tambopata Research Center kept observing this and other structures like it until they figured it out.

8 Amazing Sci Fi Inspired Houses and Rooms

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST

Think your pad is pretty futuristic because you managed to link it up with your iPhone? You've still got nothing compared to these amazing homes and rooms featured on Homes and Hues. From Stargate to Star Trek to Doctor Who, some of the greatest sci fi shows and movies are featured in the article and you won't  believe how much some of these homes look like they belong in the franchise that inspired them.

Many of the rooms included are home theaters, which makes sense when you consider that if there's anywhere in your home you want to be immersed in futuristic tech and an otherworldly atmosphere, it's the place where you watch movies.

If you love these sorts of futuristic and geeky home designs touches, don't miss this great article on the best Star Wars furniture around. 

My Little Raptor- A Series About Cute Critters Who Like To Eat Ponies

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:30 AM PST

They're cute, in a flesh eating, mouth full of fangs kind of way, and they're the answer to all those who are totally over the whole Bronie trend.

The My Little Raptor series by artist Cherry Garcia shows us that just because a cartoon character has more of an edge, and likes to eat cute little ponies for lunch, doesn't mean they can't be adorable. Just don't try to give them a hug, or brush their hair, and you'll survive the encounter with your limbs intact.

I wonder what our resident My Little Pony fan John Farrier would do if his massive collection of MLP memorabilia was suddenly replaced by products featuring these carnivorous cuties?

Via Geeks Are Sexy

Decoding Einstein's Brain

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST

The physicist's gray matter has been sitting in a cookie jar for half a century. What does it really reveal about human genius?

After suffering an aortic aneurysm on April 13, 1955, Albert Einstein became the subject of an international deathwatch. He succumbed to internal hemorrhaging at 1:15 AM on April 18. His body arrived shortly thereafter at a hospital in Princeton, New Jersey, for a routine autopsy. That's when the pathologist on duty, Thomas Harvey, faced a stark choice.

Any one of us might have been tempted the same way- who wouldn't want to know what in Einstein's brain made him Einstein? The genius himself expressed interest in having his mind studied and analyzed after he died, and he even sat for brain scans. In the end, though, he decided against preserving the best part of himself because he loathed the thought of people venerating it, the 20th-century equivalent of a medieval Catholic relic. But as Harvey arranged the scalpels in his autopsy room that night, he knew humankind had just one chance to salvage the gray matter of the greatest scientific thinker in centuries. By 8 AM the next morning -without next-of-kin permission and against Einstein's wish for cremation- Harvey had, shall we say, liberated the physicist's brain and released the body to the family without it.

The disappointments started immediately. Einstein's brain weighed 43 ounces, at the low end of normal. And before Harvey could measure anything more, word of the relic spread. During a discussion about Einstein in school the next day, Harvey's son, normally a laconic lad, blurted out, "My dad's got his brain!" A day later, newspapers across the country mentioned Harvey's plans in their front-page obits. Harvey did eventually convince the remaining Einsteins, who were understandably peeved, to grant permission for further study. So after measuring its dimensions with calipers and photographing it for posterity, Harvey sawed the brain into 240 taffy-sized hunks and lacquered each one in celloidin. Soon, he was mailing the blobs in mayo jars to neurologists, confidence that the forthcoming scientific insights would justify his peccadillo.

But over the course of the next 40 years, neurologists ended up publishing only three papers on Einstein's brain. Most found nothing extraordinary. Harvey kept soliciting scientists to take another look, but the brain chunks mostly just sat around, wrapped in cheesecloth and tucked into wide-mouthed glass cookie jars of formaldehyde broth. The jars themselves sat in a cardboard box in Harvey's office, tucked behind a red beer cooler. When Harvey lost his job and took off for greener pastures in Kansas (where he was neighbors with William S. Burroughs), the brain rode shotgun in his car.

In the past 15 years, though, Harvey's persistence has been justified, a little. A few cautious papers have highlighted some atypical aspects of Einstein's brain, on both microscopic and macroscopic levels. Coupled with research into the genetics of brain growth, these findings may yet provide some insight into what separates human brains from animal brains and what pushes an Einstein a few standard deviations beyond that.

Early attempts to find the biological basis of intelligence were based on the idea that bigger was better: More brain mass meant more thinking power, just more muscles meant more lifting power. This theory had its shortcomings; sperm whales and their 17-pound brains don't dominate the globe. Today, the obsession with overall brain size had given way to obsessing over the size of various parts of the brain. Primates have particularly beefy neuron shafts (called axons) compared with other animals and can therefore send information through each neuron more quickly. Even more important is the thickness of the cortex, the outermost brain layer, which promotes thinking and dreaming and other flowery pursuits. Scientists know that certain genes are crucial for growing a thick cortex, partly because it's so sadly obvious when these genes fail. And Einstein's cortex had a few unusual features.

One study found that, compared with normal older men, Einstein had the same number of neurons and had the same average neuron size. However, his prefrontal cortex was thinner, which gave him a greater density of neurons tucked into the space. Closely packed neurons may help the brain process information more quickly -a tantalizing find considering that the prefrontal cortex orchestrates thoughts throughout the brain and helps solve multistep problems.

Further studies examined certain folds and grooves in Einstein's cortex. As with brain size, it's a myth that simply having more folds automatically makes a brain more potent. But folding does generally indicate higher functioning. Smaller and dumber monkeys, for instance, have fewer corrugations in their cortexes. So do newborn humans. That means that as we mature from infants to young adults and as the genes that wrinkle our brains start kicking in, every one of us relives millions of years of human evolution! Scientists also know that a lack of brain folds is devastating. The genetic disorder "smooth brain" leaves babies severely underdeveloped, if they even survive to term. Instead of being succulently furrowed, a smooth brain looks eerily polished, and cross-sections of it, instead of showing scrunched-up brain fabric, look like slabs of liver.

But what about the fact that Einstein often though about physics mostly through pictures? He famously declared, for example, that he formulated relativity theory in part by imagining what would happen if he rode around bareback on light rays. Perhaps that's due to the unusual wrinkles and ridges in the cortex of his parietal lobe, a region that aids in both mathematical reasoning and image processing. The Parietal lobe also integrates sound, sight, and other sensory input into the rest of the brain's thinking. Einstein once said that abstract concepts only achieved meaning in his mind "through their connection with sense-experiences." Indeed, his family remembers him practicing his violin whenever he got stuck on a physics problem. An hour later, he'd often declare, "I've got it!" and return to work. Auditory input seemed to jog his thinking. The parietal ridges and wrinkles in Einstein's lobes were steroid thick, 15 percent bigger than normal. And whereas most of us mental weaklings have skinny right parietal lobes and even skinnier left parietal lobes, Einstein's were equally buff.

Strangest of all, however, is the fact that Einstein seemed to be missing part of his middle brain, the parietal operculum; at the very least, it didn't develop fully. This part of the brain helps produce language, and its absence might explain why Einstein didn't speak until age two and why until age seven he had to rehearse every sentence he spoke aloud under his breath. But there might have been compensations. This region normally contains a small gap, and our thoughts have the ability to get routed the long way around. This quirk in Einstein's brain might have meant that he could process certain information more speedily, by bringing two separate parts of his brain into unusually direct contact.

All of which is exciting. But is it exciting bunkum?

Einstein feared his brain becoming a relic. But have we done something equally silly and reverted to phrenology? To be certain, Einstein wasn't the first autopsy of a celebrity. Doctors set aside Beethoven's temporal bones in 1827 to study his deafness, but a medical orderly nicked them. The Soviet Union founded an entire institute in part to study Lenin's brain and determine what makes a revolutionary a revolutionary. Similarly, and despite the body being mutilated by mobs, Americans helped themselves to half of Mussolini's brain after World war II to determine what makes a dictator.



Einstein's brain has deteriorated into chopped liver by now (it's even the same color), which forces today's scientists to work mostly from old photographs, a less precise method. And not to put a too fine point on it, but Thomas Harvey coauthored half of the various studies on the "extraordinary" features of Einstein's brain, and he certainly had an interest in science learning something from the organ he purloined. It's possible that Einstein's features are idiosyncratic and had nothing to do with genius; it's  hard to tell with a sample size of one. Even trickier, we can't sort out whether usual neuro-features (like thickened parietal folds) caused Einstein's genius or whether his genius allowed him to "exercise" and build up those parts of his brain. But even if Einstein's genius remains enigmatic, scientists have sussed out a lot about the everyday genius of humans.

For example, they now know that a mutation in humans a few million years ago deactivated a gene that bulked up our jaw muscles. This probably allowed us to get by with thinner skulls, which in turn freed up precious space in the skull for brain expansion. Another surprise was that apoE, the gene that made us meat eaters, helped the brain manage cholesterol, which is major component of myelin. To function properly, the brain needs to sheath its axon in myelin, which acts like rubber insulation and prevents signals from short-circuiting or misfiring.

Even more fascinating is the fact that scientists have recently detected 3,181 base pairs of "junk DNA" in chimpanzee's brains that got deleted in humans. This region helps stop out-of-control neuron growth, which can lead to big brains, obviously, but also brain tumors. Human, it turns out, gambled in deleting this DNA, but the risk paid off, and our brains ballooned. Today, the breakthroughs in neuroscience are coming faster and faster. And while scientists still can't pinpoint what makes an Einstein an Einstein, they do know that with DNA it's not always what we gained that makes us human; sometimes it's what we lost.

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The article above, written by Sam Kean, is reprinted with permission from the September-October 2013 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!

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