Neatorama

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• A Baby Polar Bear's Mighty Struggle to Roll Over
• Auto Mechanics Recreate Famous Renaissance Paintings
• The Hand That Feeds - Aliens Ate My Skateboard
• The Dinosaurs Were Not Alive
• These Australians Want to Rename Their Currency the Dollarydoo
• Alaska’s Giant Vegetables
• Congressman Loses Bet, Forced to Sing Song on the Floor of the House
• Elderly Cat
• Statue of Lenin Replaced with Darth Vader
• Parachuting Beavers
• Fifteen Flesh Crawling Facts About David Cronenberg's <i>The Fly</i>
• Vintage Advertisements That Would be Banned Today
• Beautiful, Delicate Glass Animals
• Ghosts And Gadgets: Communicating with the Spirits
• Free Rick Sanchez - You Can't Hide Your Schwifty Eyes
• People Share Some Of The Most Creative Ways They Have Been Hit On
• An Honest Trailer for <i>Back to the Future</i>
• Guinea Pig Gets a Wheelchair
• A Preacher Dressed Up As The Devil Warns People About Halloween
• At the Crossroads of a Genetic Puzzle
• Gear Up For Halloween While You Still Can With These 25 Ghoulishly Good T-Shirts
• 7th Annual Riverside Halloween House Light Show
• Improbable Research Goes Digital
• Couples Costumes You Can Feel Good About Wearing On Halloween
• Seven Things You May Not Know About the Original <i> Ghostbusters</i>
• Doc Brown - Great Scott! - Gonna Go Back In Time
• <i>Death and the Afterlife</i> by Cliff Pickover

A Baby Polar Bear's Mighty Struggle to Roll Over Posted: 24 Oct 2015 04:00 AM PDT YouTube Link Watching this painfully cute polar bear cub try to turn over brought out, as those on the internet are wont to say, "all the feels." The longer I watched his frustrating struggle, the more I began to lay blame. Where's the mother? Why is he indoors in this little box? Where is his ice and fish and chilly polar bear beverage in a frosty mug? Finally when he turned over, looking exhausted enough to pass out from the exercise, I felt the polar relief. You? Or is it just me because polar bears are one of my favorite animals? Via Daily Dot

Auto Mechanics Recreate Famous Renaissance Paintings Posted: 24 Oct 2015 02:00 AM PDT Freddy Fabris, a photographer, has long wanted to pay homage to the Renaissance masters. But until recently, he was unable to find the right way to do it. When he visited an old auto repair shop in the Midwest, inspiration suddenly hit him: he would cast mechanics in their workspace as the figures in great works of Renaissance art, such as Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam. Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson Photos of the paintings by Eugene a, Sailko, and the University of Edinburgh, respectively. -via Jeremy Barker

The Hand That Feeds - Aliens Ate My Skateboard Posted: 24 Oct 2015 12:00 AM PDT The Hand That Feeds by Jehsee They were skating along the edge of the universe, riding high after recent victories and feeling like the most radical military unit ever. But then came the screaming which could be heard half a galaxy away, terror growing in the pits of their stomach as the unit members discovered they were being stalked like prey. The xenomorphs were like nothing they'd ever seen before, and the sight of them made the screams come whether you willed it or not, your body's knee-jerk reaction to coming face-to-face with the galaxy's ultimate killing machine... Aliens have never been so radical! Bring home this The Hand That Feeds t-shirt by Jehsee and watch the faces of your fellow fans melt with envy! Visit Jehsee's Facebook fan page, official website and Tumblr, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more dark and geeky designs: Masquerade Donald (Red) Dark Violation Ravenous Again View more designs by Jehsee | More Horror T-shirts | New T-Shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

The Dinosaurs Were Not Alive Posted: 24 Oct 2015 12:00 AM PDT The traveling zoo show named Dinosaurs Live! ended up on par with the band that named themselves Free Beer. It looks good on a marquee, but some people expect to get exactly what the sign says. According to this newspaper clip from Bad Newspaper, a few folks in Memphis were disappointed that the dinosaurs were not actual, living dinosaurs.

These Australians Want to Rename Their Currency the Dollarydoo Posted: 23 Oct 2015 11:00 PM PDT (Image: Shannon Molloy) In the Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Australia," we briefly see a scene (embedded below) in which an Australian father berates his son for accruing a long distance phone charge of 900 dollarydoos. This is not the actual currency of Australia, which is crocodile teeth of different sizes. But there is now a petition of concerned citizens who wish to rename that nation's currency the dollarydoo in order to stimulate the Australian economy. That's a smart monetary policy. So far, more than 60,000 Australians, which is roughly half the population, has signed the petition. If it reaches the goal of 75,000 signers, then a letter that effect will be sent to the Prime Minister. (Video Link) -via Lost at E Minor

Alaska’s Giant Vegetables Posted: 23 Oct 2015 10:00 PM PDT We’re used to seeing giant pumpkins, but look at the size of that cabbage! It look like Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors. Alaska is known for its giant vegetables. You’d think that it would be hard to grow giant crops in such a northerly latitude, but the latitude is exactly what causes the growth. Alaska typically has a very short growing season, only 105 days, on average. For comparison, California’s growing season lasts nearly 300 days. However, the Alaskan growing season does not have long dark nights. The state is located close to the north pole where it enjoys up to 19 hours of sunshine each day, during summer and at the peak of the growing season. The extra hours of sunlight allows Alaskan crops to just keep growing and growing. Even through the growing season is months shorter than the rest of the country, Alaska’s gardeners grow some of the largest vegetables in the world. The photosynthetic boost also makes the produce sweeter. Alaskan carrots, for instance, spend nearly 3/4th of the day while the sun is available making sugar, and only the remaining 1/4th of its time is spent turning that sugar into starch. Plants like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, radishes, turnips, potatoes, beets, carrots, spinach, and lettuce all grow very well here. A friend of mine moved to Alaska for a few years and told us how the sun came up at 3AM and went down at midnight at the height of the summer. Then in winter, they only had a few hours of daylight. Either would be hard to adjust to, but gardeners who live in Alaska take advantage of the summer sun to go for award-winning giant vegetables. Read about them and see more pictures at Amusing Planet. Incidentally, the cabbage pictured here only won second place. -via the Presurfer (Image credit: Flickr user Travis)

Congressman Loses Bet, Forced to Sing Song on the Floor of the House Posted: 23 Oct 2015 09:00 PM PDT (Video Link) Rep. Adam Schiff of California roots for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. His colleague, Rep. Steve Israel of New York supports the New York Mets. They had a wager over the outcome of a game between their two teams. The Mets won 3-2 and, as a result, Schiff had to sing the song "Meet the Mets" on the floor of the House of Representatives. My favorite line: "Mr. Speaker, please tell me my time has expired." Rep. Schiff must also send a supply of gourmet popcorn to Rep. Israel as a result of his defeat. -via Dan Lewis

Elderly Cat Posted: 23 Oct 2015 08:00 PM PDT Webcomic artist Alison Wilgus (previously at Neatorama) drew a tribute to her elderly cat, Julien Bashir. Julien is 22 years old, which is extremely old for a cat. It’s pretty straightforward, because like all creatures, Julien has his own personality and his own individual charms, habits, foibles, and challenges. This is just one panel of Julien’s life story; the rest is at Wilgus’ site. The way she simply appreciates him for who he is will make you want to hug your own kitty. -via Metafilter

Statue of Lenin Replaced with Darth Vader Posted: 23 Oct 2015 07:00 PM PDT (Photo: VG) For decades, a statue of Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin stood in Odessa, Ukraine. But now it has been replaced with the image of Darth Vader, a Ukrainian politician. It was made of gypsum, which had been decaying for a while. Lord Vader replaced the head and added decorative flourishes to the original, as well as a titanium cover to strengthen the structure. It's invulnerable, except for an insignificantly small exhaust port. The head is a WiFi hotspot, which Lord Vader hopes will attract visitors to his statue and his cause. -via Klaas Meijer

Parachuting Beavers Posted: 23 Oct 2015 06:00 PM PDT Back in the 1940s, people were moving into Idaho, and the new landowners didn’t mix well with beavers. Meanwhile, Idaho's Chamberlain Basin could use some beavers to help maintain the environment. Moving the beavers was the ideal solution, but getting them to Chamberlain Basin was a problem. There weren’t any roads there, and carrying beavers by mule was difficult because mules don’t like beavers. The Idaho department of Fish and Game came up with a different idea: drop the beavers from a plane! They developed a special box for the beavers that would open on impact, and used surplus World War II parachutes. They dropped 76 beavers; 75 of them survived and flourished. Read more about the beaver drop at Boise State Public Radio.  We told you the story a few years ago, but it sure sounded like a tall tale, although a dam interesting one. Then just recently, an educational film that included the 1948 beaver drop was discovered called “Fur for the Future.” It had been mislabeled in the archives. So there's real proof that the beaver drop actually happened. You can watch the whole thing, but if you just want to see the beaver drop, skip ahead to about the seven minute mark. (YouTube link) (Image credit: Idaho Fish and Game)

Fifteen Flesh Crawling Facts About David Cronenberg's <i>The Fly</i> Posted: 23 Oct 2015 05:00 PM PDT David Cronenberg took the frightening scientific theories presented in the original version of The Fly and ran off into a dark corner with them, adding horrifying special effects to a tale that was already especially horrible to imagine. The 1986 version of The Fly isn't like other reboots because it actually improves on the original film, and the disturbing special effects by Chris Walas, who won an Oscar for his work on the film, are still horrifying to behold nearly thirty years later. (YouTube Link) Speaking of horrifying, Geena Davis was so horrified while filming the scene where Seth's ear falls off that her look isn't acting, because she was genuinely disgusted by the effect. Now that's Oscar worthy! Read 15 Fun Facts About David Cronenberg's The Fly at GeekTyrant

Vintage Advertisements That Would be Banned Today Posted: 23 Oct 2015 04:00 PM PDT Even as recently as the 1970s and '80s, advertisements that wouldn't be conceived of today were released to little or no backlash. In today's age of political correctness, as outrage and righteous indignation seem to be the norm, much less is tolerated by the public in all forms of media.  Have a laugh at how things have changed with this Vintage Everyday collection of ads that would likely never be published — much less given the nod at any ad agency — today.

Beautiful, Delicate Glass Animals Posted: 23 Oct 2015 03:00 PM PDT Ukranian artist Nikita Drachuk uses the lampworking glass technique, which involves only colored glass rods, a torch, and hand tools, to shape images of animals. They have the same vibrant colors that nature provides and remarkable precision, considering the fragility of the material. -via Colossal

Ghosts And Gadgets: Communicating with the Spirits Posted: 23 Oct 2015 02:00 PM PDT Brandon Hodge collects gadgets and devices that were used in different times to communicate with the dead. He has what is probably the biggest private collection of planchettes ever. Hodge explains some of the history behind the use of these devices in seances. (YouTube link) You’ll also see a “spiritoscope,” a spirit trumpet, ouija boards, and more in this video from the Morbid Anatomy Museum. -via Digg

Free Rick Sanchez - You Can't Hide Your Schwifty Eyes Posted: 23 Oct 2015 01:00 PM PDT Free Rick Sanchez by Outlawalien If you're traveling around the galaxy or whatever and you come across the gross looking old dude in this holofeed fight the urge to puke and report a Rick Sanchez sighting to the authorities. Seriously, this guy is a total menace who should be locked up because he's always taking my brother, I mean his grandson, on seriously messed up adventures that seem to be messing with the fabric of time. Spread the word about the schwiftiest individual in the entire space-time continuum with this Free Rick Sanchez t-shirt by Outlawalien, wear his crimes like a badge of glory without all the guilt! Visit Outlawalien's Facebook fan page, official website, Instagram and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more mighty geeky designs: Schwifty Enchantment Under The Sea Yeah, I Workout- Washed Out Print Variant Boris View more designs by Outlawalien | More Cartoon T-shirts | New T-Shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

People Share Some Of The Most Creative Ways They Have Been Hit On Posted: 23 Oct 2015 01:00 PM PDT The art of seduction is full of subtle physical cues, subtly probing conversation and subconscious chemistry tests, or you can just skip the song and dance and drop a pickup line on whomever you like. This method has a very low rate of success, but the recipient of your fabricated flirtation will definitely remember your attempt, no matter how feeble. People took to the Reddits and shared some of the most creative ways they've been hit on, which generally involved some sort of "smooth" line that earned the line dropper a permanent place in the recipient's memory banks. Talk may be cheap, but at least it's free. -Via Cheezburger

An Honest Trailer for <i>Back to the Future</i> Posted: 23 Oct 2015 12:00 PM PDT Screen Junkies dissects the three movies of the Back to the Future trilogy, and comes to the conclusion that they are all the same except for the window dressing. Great Scott! (YouTube link) Of course, it’s never a good idea to deconstruct a time-travel movie (or series of movies) too thoughtfully. You could end up with a headache. Or Primer. -via Gamma Squad

Guinea Pig Gets a Wheelchair Posted: 23 Oct 2015 11:00 AM PDT (Photo: Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary) This is Estella, a guinea pig that lives at the Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary in French Camp, California. She's lived there since she and her mate Pip were found abandoned by the side of a road. Estella can't move the back end of her body. So after a successful fundraiser for the project, the staff built a custom wheelchair that permits her to walk around. You can see more photos of her and Pip at the Huffington Post.

A Preacher Dressed Up As The Devil Warns People About Halloween Posted: 23 Oct 2015 10:00 AM PDT Halloween doesn't corrupt young minds or threaten the moral fabric of our society, and yet those who feel threatened by Halloween keep trying to convince us that the holiday is inherently evil. Those who oppose Halloween because of their religious beliefs present an especially zealous portrayal of Halloween as a Satanism gateway drug, which the fearful eat up like candy. A Chicago preacher dressed up like the Devil created this cautionary video warning "dumb Christians who have Halloween parties in their churches" (his words, not mine) about the evils of Samhain, the Devil's holiday. (YouTube Link) The preacher's performance could use some work, but the Halloween inspired piano soundtrack is to die for! -Via Dangerous Minds

At the Crossroads of a Genetic Puzzle Posted: 23 Oct 2015 09:00 AM PDT The most high-tech advances in genetic research are happening in the most unexpected place- the heart of Quiet Amish country. (Image credit: Clinic for Special Children at Facebook) Holmes Morton was wrapped up in a medical mystery. It was spring 1988, and Morton, a fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, had recently opened the case of Danny Lapp, a 6-year-old Amish boy with a condition that baffled doctors. Danny was born healthy, but at 14 months, he caught what seemed to be a routine stomach bug. It wasn’t: The illness had left him paralyzed and brain-damaged so badly that his limbs flailed uncontrollably and he could communicate only by rolling his eyes. The doctors chalked it up to cerebral palsy and moved on. But another doctor Danny saw had been skeptical. Something about that diagnosis didn’t fit, so he sent a urine sample to Morton, a specialist in pediatrics and biochemical genetics. Now the results were in, and Morton drove through the quilted patchwork of farmland surrounding Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to meet with Danny’s parents. The Lapps suspected their son’s condition might be permanent, but they were glad to hear what Morton had to say. They were relieved to have a real diagnosis. But as they talked, the Lapps revealed something shocking, something that would shed light on a rare disease and change the course of genetic research for years to come. Danny, they said, wasn’t the only one. The son of a West Virginia coal mine engineer, Morton was a high school dropout working on a Great Lakes freighter when he first became intrigued by genetic disorders after reading an article in a scientific journal. Before long, he’d move from working in a boiler room to an independent study program at Trinity College and then on to Harvard Medical School. Dr. D. Holmes Morton (Image credit: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation/CC-BY) Morton’s specialty included genetic conditions caused by dangerous enzyme deficiencies, so when he tested Danny’s urine, he looked for enzyme irregularities. What he found was so unusual that, at first, he didn’t believe it. But the results did not lie: Danny’s urine was laced with glutaric acid. Everyone’s body produces glutaric acid, but in healthy people’s urine, it’s undetectable. The fact that it showed up in Danny’s sample indicated that he didn’t have cerebral palsy at all: He had a gene mutation called glutaric aciduria type 1 (GA1), a disorder that prevented his body from properly processing certain organic acids. While healthy kidneys can flush glutaric acid from the brain and other organs, routine illnesses—like chicken pox, the flu, or, in Danny’s case, a simple bout of diarrhea—can interfere with this process. In children, it triggers stroke-like episodes that irreparably damage the brain. “I was hopeful that by discovering his problem and treating him we would see some improvement,” Morton remembers. But Danny’s brain damage was too severe. “Once the damage is done, you lose the opportunity to change the outcome.” Morton had solved the mystery: Danny was a textbook case of GA1. But the thing was, there was no textbook. At the time, the scientific literature noted only eight known cases of GA1. Doctors, even those dealing with the rarest diseases, barely knew about the condition. No one at Children’s Hospital had ever seen it. The fact that there were other Amish children like Danny was alarming. Morton’s mind raced. Was it possible that this disease—a condition so rare it existed only in the margins of medical literature—was rampant among the Amish? Morton spent that summer driving around Lancaster County, knocking on farmhouse doors, asking about the health of each household’s children. By the end of August 1989, he had identified more than 20 Amish children with what appeared to be GA1—all of them disabled like Danny. While GA1 is incredibly rare, it fits a pattern. GA1 reminded Morton of another inherited disease, phenylketonuria, or PKU, a disorder that prevents children’s  bodies  from  breaking  down  an  amino acid. Much like GA1, the accumulating chemicals can cause brain damage. And although the effects can be devastating, very few children actually suffer from it. Newborns are routinely screened for enzyme deficiencies at birth: If they have it, they’re put on a low-protein diet that keeps their amino acid levels in check and prevents PKU from ever becoming a problem. Morton wondered whether he could develop a similar protocol for treating children afflicted with GA1. If he could just test babies for glutaric acid at birth, he might have a shot at preventing more children from ending up like Danny. “I became convinced it could be treatable,” he says. Morton’s first instinct was to apply for a grant to test his theory. Medical research was already happening in Lancaster County, and researchers have long known that inherited disorders are common in Amish and Mennonite communities. The populations there stemmed from a small group of Swiss and German Anabaptists who settled down in the area in the early 1700s Generation after generation had intermarried, protecting their culture but also increasing the odds of passing down hereditary illnesses. Researchers had been swarming Lancaster County to collect blood samples for decades, hoping to better understand the disorders. Their studies helped pinpoint gene mutations responsible for dozens of diseases. But Morton couldn’t find funding—there wasn’t much support for rare diseases. What’s more, little of the research done around Lancaster actually went to helping locals. Researchers would come in, draw blood, and leave. To Morton, it amounted to “medical tourism.” “That’s when we decided to do this on our own,” he says. The Plain People, the collective term for the Mennonites and Amish, have a complicated relationship  with  technology. Both groups cautiously debate the effect a new technology may have on the community before accepting it or rejecting it. The Mennonites are more lax, while the stricter Amish don’t own cars, computers, or cell phones. But both groups accept modern medicine. It’s just sometimes hard for them to access. They pay for health care themselves. Hospital care is expensive, and the Amish can only travel short distances by horse and buggy. But because some Amish children are dreadfully sick, those families have no other choice but to give modern hospitals a shot, a situation that puts families in a tough financial position. Morton realized he had to provide home visits. But what the area really needed, he thought, was a clinic that could both study and identify diseases and provide on-the-ground services. Morton and his wife, Caroline, began planning to move their three kids near Lancaster. They wanted to be in Amish country, where they would apply for a second mortgage and get a nonprofit off the ground. In 1989, The Wall Street Journal reported on the Mortons’ dream of opening a clinic. Donations flooded in, including a large check and a generous equipment donation from Hewlett-Packard. Support came from the Amish too. A local farmer donated some land for the clinic. Some of his grandchildren were afflicted with GA1. A year later, a team of Amish carpenters and farmers raised the roof on the medical center—a post-and-beam structure joined in traditional barn style, with pegs and no nails. There, two worlds merged: horse-hitching posts lined the plain exterior while state-of-the-art research equipment was housed inside. The community embraced the clinic, auctioning off quilts and handicrafts to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cause. The Clinic for Special Children was born: one of the world’s few free-standing health facilities specializing in treating kids with genetic diseases. (YouTube link) Before the clinic doors even opened, Morton began collecting urine samples, screening newborn babies for GA1 and a similar mutation that causes Maple Syrup Urine Disease, another serious metabolic disorder, in Mennonites. If the babies had either mutation, he put them on a low-protein diet—limiting their intake of breast milk or formula and supplementing it with a protein-free formula that could pack on calories. The precaution was somewhat effective. The early intervention and low cost made the treatment straightforward, but it wasn’t perfect. When Kevin Strauss, a young Harvard-trained pediatrician, joined the clinic in 2001, two-thirds of the children with GA1 were being protected. But a good number were still suffering. Strauss was on the job no more than five months when he witnessed the disease first-hand. “It was one of the most horrible experiences of my life,” he says. “A child who was getting ready to walk, doing re ally well, and then became abso lutely devastated over the course of about an hour.” The doctors were stumped. “Even with all the research we had done, we were just missing something with this disease,” Strauss says. The preventive diet wasn’t enough. Could there be a way to halt glutaric acid from building up in the brain altogether? Morton and Strauss doubled down and synthesized a formula that provided the ideal balance of amino acids. In 2006, they launched a clinical trial, treating 10 babies from the time they were born until they reached 18 months. The results seemed too good to be true. During the two-year trial, none of the children suffered catastrophic injuries. The formula did more than just help: “It was a 100 percent success rate,” Strauss says. Today, they have successfully treated all 22 patients in the study. GA1 has become “almost a perfectly treatable disease,” says Strauss. Now testing for it is routine in hospitals across the country. Of the roughly four million babies born each year in the U.S., approximately 1 in every 30,000 to 40,000 newborns—and one in every 300 Amish babies—tests positive. But with proper treatment, they can all avoid brain injury. Of course, GA1 is just one disease among many. To date, Morton’s clinic has identified roughly 150 rare illnesses in Plain People—all caused by a single gene mutation. About half of the disorders affect the nervous system; the others cause things like kidney disease, heart disease, limb malformations, and immune system disorders. Newborn testing and therapy has made it possible to cure about 40 percent of these conditions. Another 40 percent are treatable but not curable. The rest are a mystery. Unique genetic diseases are not exclusive to the Plain People. They’re found all over the world—India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Italy, Israel—wherever a small population grows and expands but essentially stays in place. But outside Lancaster County, there are few facilities specializing in treating such diseases. “These are the things that mainstream medicine doesn’t care about, because they’re rare,” Strauss says. “But if it’s the child sitting right in front of you, it’s not rare. It’s in the room.” (YouTube link) Morton is determined to build more clinics in places where rare diseases occur, particularly where more Amish and Mennonites live. So far, five other clinics have been built, and although the diseases each clinic specializes in are rare, the impact of their research is far-reaching. In July,the clinic Morton founded, along with a number of academic partners, published a paper examining genes possibly associated with bipolar disorder in the Amish. The study size was small, but the clues written in the DNA may help researchers understand a mysterious mental illness that afflicts millions. Strauss  envisions  a  day  when pinpointing  these  kinds  of  gene mutations will be as easy as taking someone’s temperature. “Imagine if you could actually know that a person’s going to get bipolar disorder and prevent it. That’s an idea that will make most psychologists fall over in their chairs. Well, why isn’t it possible? Bipolar’s a genetic disease.” It’s the same with other inherited illnesses, he says—heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s. It may not be a long way off. After all, only a couple of decades have passed since Morton first drove through the rolling farmland of Amish country to meet a boy with a rare hereditary illness. And now there’s a cure. Sometimes, real progress happens in places where time seems to stand still.  __________________________ The above article by Rene Ebersole is reprinted with permission from the October 2014 issue of mental_floss magazine. Don't forget to feed your brain by subscribing to the magazine and visiting mental_floss' extremely entertaining website and blog today for more!

Gear Up For Halloween While You Still Can With These 25 Ghoulishly Good T-Shirts Posted: 23 Oct 2015 08:30 AM PDT Harvest Droid by Djkopet Halloween is right around the corner, so if you haven't prepared for that one frightfully fun night of the year now's the time to get geared up, and the NeatoShop is here to help! With thousands of designs, including hundreds of Halloween themed designs, you're sure to find something in the NeatoShop that will make you the toast of Halloweentown come October 31st. And the NeatoShop offers expedited shipping options, so you still have time to grab some shirts before the big night! Some people spend all year preparing for Halloween Dagger of Darkness by Jehsee And when October rolls around they do nothing but prepare for the big night Jack's Scary Toys by DeepFriedArt Every day is Halloween for these freaky folks Halloween Creep by JARHUMOR And the entire year revolves around the night when the Pumpkin King comes out to play JACK-LLOWEEN by KARMADESIGNER They are the people who preserve the spirit of Halloween A Treasure For Halloween by Domadraghi Keeping the traditions of All Hallow's Eve alive Halloween Hand by Demonigote They embody the essence of that fright-filled night The Dancing Deads by Berserk7 And love to get dressed up, even if they're just running out to grab some more toilet paper Mummyooki by Arinesart They love wearing creepy monster masks Halloween Monsters by Nyeland (Although some Halloweenies don't even need a mask to look creepy) Legend Of The Black Lagoon by Chip Skelton Enjoy watching dark tales of horror and dread Stan Carpenter's The Thing by Raz City Playing video games with morbid themes GHOST CHASER!- PACMAN by ALIENBIKER23 And generally living that Halloweenie lifestyle The Vampire Queen by Anderson Green Devil As they anxiously await the big night The Pumpkin King by Ruwah When costumed kids will take to the streets Salt Of The Dead by Dann Matthews And creepy folks who look like they're wearing a costume but aren't will fit right in Say My Name! by Sean Tiffany Even our pets like to get dressed up for Halloween night Doge Burton by DauntlessDS And those who don't look right are allowed to be seen in public Bird Attack by Fathi Halloweenies happily carve jack-o-lanterns for their doorstep Halloween by eltronco Get their haunted house decorations in order Little Patch Of Horrors by LinesXOfXFury And prepare for the onslaught of trick-or-treaters about to bang down their door Trick Or Treat by Gilles Bone Some will head to a groovy Halloween party, leaving them feeling dead on their feet the next day Zombie Nouveau by Megan Lara Others will shutter the windows, dim the lights and take in a creature feature or two Tips For A Cool Afterlife by Letter-Q Artwork Before turning in and dreaming dark dreams about Halloween costumes to come! Rosie In LV-426 by JCMaziu Make Halloween a fun and colorful night to remember by wearing a NeatoShop t-shirt or hoodiewith your costume. With thousands of geeky designs, including those that would make great costumes on their own, you're bound to find the perfect design for Halloween night at the NeatoShop!

7th Annual Riverside Halloween House Light Show Posted: 23 Oct 2015 08:16 AM PDT Kevin and Amber Judd of Creative Lighting Displays have once again set up a friend’s house to entertain passers-by for Halloween This year’s show features the songs “Ghostbusters,” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” “This is Halloween,” and Bobby Pickett’s “Monster Mash.” (YouTube link) Thousands of color-changing LED lights are accompanied by strobe lights, flood lights, and two Matrix boards, as well as tombstones and hand-carved pumpkins. My favorite new feature is the flames in the windows. If you can get to Riverside, California, here are the particulars for the show. -via HuffPo

Improbable Research Goes Digital Posted: 23 Oct 2015 08:00 AM PDT After 21 years of publishing paper magazines, The Annals of Improbable Research (the folks who bring us the Ig Nobel prizes every year) is converting to digital. The November-December 2015 issue will be the final on printed paper. To celebrate the big changeover, Marc Abrahams tells us that new subscriptions can be had for only $15 a year, if you sign up before the end of October (they will be $25 a year after that). Also, get back issues on paper while they last! Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

Couples Costumes You Can Feel Good About Wearing On Halloween Posted: 23 Oct 2015 07:00 AM PDT (Image Link) Couples costumes can be a super cute and creative way to share the Halloween fun with a loved one, or they can be a sad example of how little control a person can have over their own life. And since guys and gals are always being talked into wearing couples costumes they hate simply to appease their partner couples costumes now have a really bad reputation. But don't despair, duos! (Image Link) You can feel good about dressing in matching costumes, and if you need some ideas check out this collection of 31 Two-Person Costumes Guaranteed To Up Your Halloween Game and delight in dressing alike!

Seven Things You May Not Know About the Original <i> Ghostbusters</i> Posted: 23 Oct 2015 06:00 AM PDT YouTube Link CineFix presents seven facts you may not know about the original Ghostbusters films. Learn about topics from the casting of Sigourney Weaver to Aykroyd's inspiration for the Slimer to the construction of the script for the sequel and more. Via Uproxx

Doc Brown - Great Scott! - Gonna Go Back In Time Posted: 23 Oct 2015 05:32 AM PDT Doc Brown- Great Scott! by zer0patollo Doc Brown never thought he'd see the day when he lived to see that day when he and Marty arrived in the Hill Valley of the future, October 21st, 2015. There was something very different about the real life future day that truly set it apart from the future day they experienced after traveling nearly thirty years into the future, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But then he saw a gaggle of hipsters twisting their moustaches and guffawing as they walked down the sidewalk, and a kid nearly took out Doc's legs with his skateboard on wheels. Doc Brown exclaimed "Great Scott!" as he realized the biggest difference between the real future day and the one they'd seen- no Biff! Take your style back to the good old days of sci-fi cinema with this Doc Brown - Great Scott! t-shirt by zer0patollo, and let your shirt do all the exclaiming for you! Visit zer0patollo's Facebook fan page and Instagram, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more inspirationally geeky designs: Stormtrooper- Star Wars Killer Cupcake Stormtrooper- Star Wars No Future Version 2 Alien Invaders UFO Attack View more designs by zer0patollo | More Movie T-shirts | New T-Shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

<i>Death and the Afterlife</i> by Cliff Pickover Posted: 23 Oct 2015 05:00 AM PDT Cliff Pickover's new book is Death and the Afterlife: A Chronological Journey, from Cremation to Quantum Resurrection. Death is the one thing we all have in common, and it's been that way ever since humans have been around. Not only have people in every historical era wrestled with the knowledge of one's own impending death, but each era and culture has developed its own customs, mythology, and folklore surrouding our ultimate fate and what may come after. Some of these ideas are universal; others are unique to the time and place. Death has been studied in the context of religion, psychology, biology, physics, philosophy, medicine, and art. Death and the Afterlife follows the format of Pickover's earlier projects The Math Book, The Physics Book, and The Medical Book, in that items about the history of beliefs and customs surrounding death are laid out in chronological order, with a page devoted to each. Accompanying each page is a gorgeous, but often terrifying illustration on the subject at hand. You can easily skip around to subjects that catch your fancy, or read them in order, a little at a time, or all at once. The 100 entries tackle diverse ideas such as funeral rites, heaven and hell, reincarnation, autopsies, ghosts, premature burial, cryonics, abortion, ossuaries, kamikaze pilots, vampires, hospice, capital punishment, near-death experiences... all the way to the end of the universe and beyond.   1550 BC: Egyptian Book of the Dead. The ancient Egyptian ritual of “opening of the mouth” described in the Book of the Dead is performed so that the deceased can eat and drink in the afterlife. In this c. 1300 BCE papyrus, the jackal-headed god Anubis is shown supporting the mummy of the scribe Hunefer while three priests carry out the ritual. From the introduction to Death and the Afterlife: I have had a longtime fascination with death, dying, consciousness, the afterlife, and topics at the borderlands of science. Some of my interest was rekindled after reading freelance writer Greta Christina’s 2005 essay “Comforting Thoughts about Death That Have Nothing to Do with God.” Greta writes, “The fact that your life span is an infinitesimally tiny fragment in the life of the universe, that there is, at the very least, a strong possibility that when you die, you disappear completely and forever, and that in five hundred years nobody will remember you . . . [this] can make you feel erased, wipe out joy, make your life seem like ashes in your hands.” And then I sigh. Greta admits that she doesn’t know what happens when we die, but she doesn’t think this essential mystery really matters. She reminds us that we should be happy because it is amazing that we even get a chance to be alive. We get to be conscious: “We get to be connected with each other and with the world, and we get to be aware of that connection and to spend a few years mucking about its possibilities.” Her essay ends on a bright note as she enumerates items that contribute to her happiness, such as Shakespeare, sex, five-spice chicken, Thai restaurants, Louis Armstrong, and drifting patterns in the clouds. As you read through Death and the Afterlife, remember that even if we may consider some of the ideas and rituals surrounding death unscientific, these are all still worthy areas of study. And the subjects we address are not all depressing. Our rituals and myths are, at minimum, fascinating models of human understanding and creativity—and of how we reach across cultures to understand one another and learn about what we hold sacred. Our brains may be wired with a desire for magic, unseen forces and a need to exert control over the universe and have our deepest fantasies fulfilled. Perhaps our brains and cultural evolution operate in a way that predisposes us to believe in the soul, spirits, and the afterlife to foster community cohesion and create a sense of peace as the deaths of family members, and of ourselves, approach. The reasons for our fascination with death and the rituals we use to make sense of death are buried deep in the essence of our nature. Ideas about death, religion, mythology, and the afterlife are at the edges of the known and the unknown, poised on the fractal boundaries of psychology, history, philosophy, biology, and many other scientific disciplines. Humans need to make sense of the world and will surely continue to use both logic and mystical thinking for that task. What patterns and connections will we see as the twenty-first century progresses? How will we continue to cope with death—or elude death—in the future? Check out some examples of the subjects and their accompanying artwork from Death and the Afterlife. 80 CE: Outer Darkness. The Ladder of Divine Ascent, a twelfth-century painting at St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt. The monks are tempted and pulled down by demons, while angels encourage them to continue their ascent to the top of the thirty-rung ladder, where Jesus is waiting for them. At the bottom of the painting, the gaping mouth of the Devil is visible. 100 CE: Ghosts. This illustration by famous Japanese painter and printmaker Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) shows an enormous ghost reciting a poem outside the study of the poet Minamoto no Tsunenobu (1016–1097). 1424 CE: Grim Reaper. This illustration in Le Petit Journal (December 1912) shows the Grim Reaper bringing death by cholera to the masses. c. 1805: Jacob’s Ladder. Jacob’s Dream (c. 1805) by English painter William Blake. 1880: Walking Corpse Syndrome. People with Cotard’s Syndrome believe that they have lost organs or are animated corpses. Shown here is a walking corpse with missing viscera from Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis (1749) by German-born anatomist Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697–1770). 1896: The Garden of Death. The Garden of Death (watercolor and gouache) by Hugo Simberg. 1968: Brain Death. Created for the use of a monk, this ivory pendant (c. 1600) at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore illustrates the fuzzy line between life and death. For example, brain-dead people still have organs that function, wounds that heal, and reactions to stimuli. Death and the Afterlife by Clifford A Pickover is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or a bookstore near you. It'll make great reading for yourself, and a great Halloween or Christmas gift for any thoughtful reader. Visit the author at his website and at Clifford Pickover's Reality Carnival. You can follow him on Twitter.

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