Neatorama

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• Some When Where Why of Dogs Barking
• Family Wraps an Entire Greenhouse around Their Home to Keep it Warm
• Politician Tried to Campaign on Tinder
• Scientists Grow a Living Human Ear on a Rat
• What If Hollywood Rebooted NickToons From The 90s?
• Giant Dog Takes Vet Tech for a Rodeo Ride
• What a Trainwreck: Vintage Photos of Steam Train Accidents
• Scottish Chef Invents Guinea Pig Haggis
• One Page - Choose Your Own Adventure
• Guide To New York City Dog Owners
• A Lizard Napping in a Rose
• Video From 1980 Proves Some Mormons Live In Constant Fear Of Coffee
• Snow Maze for Dogs
• The Real Black Chefs Who Taught Americans to Cook
• Back Brace Gets Steampunked
• A Collection of Memorable Movie Dance-Offs
• <i>Dumb and Dumber</i> Presented as a Drama is Funnier Than the Real Thing
• You Are Dog Now
• A Map Of The Most Popular Fictional Characters From Every State
• Awakening The Darkside Wax Pack Series 2 - Comes With Cardboard Bubble Gum
• This Looks Riskier Than It Is
• 18 Pagan Masquerades from Europe
• Take the Snow Challenge!
• Photographer Camouflages Painted Models In Psychedelic Space
• Guitar Hero “Bark at the Moon”
• Russian Artist's Dolls are So Realistic it's Frightening
• My Dog Has PhDs

Some When Where Why of Dogs Barking Posted: 26 Jan 2016 05:00 AM PST The following is an article from The Annals of Improbable Research, now in all-pdf form. Get a subscription now for only $25 a year! Research in, on, or about barking by Nan Swift, Improbable Research staff Molnar’s Barking Dogs in Review “Barking in Family Dogs: An Ethological Approach,” Péter Pongrácz, Csaba Molnár, and Ádám Miklósi, Veterinary Journal, vol. 183, no. 2, February 2010, pp. 141-147. The authors, at Eotvos Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, report: Although it is one of the most conspicuous features of dog behaviour, barking has received little attention from ethologists or from an applied perspective. In this review, an ethological look is taken at the communicative aspect of dog barking. Emerging new research has indicated that in the repertoire of dog vocalisations, barking has unique features in showing wide ranges of acoustic parameters, such as frequency, tonality and rhythmicity. Barking has been shown to be context dependent, and provides information for humans about the inner state of the dog although there are few indications that barking is used for intra-species communication. It is assumed that dog barking emerged through selective processes in which human preferences for certain acoustic aspects of the vocalisation may have been paramount. A more experiment-oriented approach is required for the study of dog vocalisation that could shed light on the possible communicative function of these acoustic signals. Detail from the study “Barking in Family Dogs: An Ethological Approach.” Molnár’s Method to ID Dogs by Bark Identification (2005) “Human Listeners Are Able to Classify Dog (Canis familiaris) Barks Recorded in Different Situations,” Péter Pongracz and Csaba Molnár, Adám Miklosi, and Vilmos Csanyi, Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2005, vol. 119, no. 2, 136–144. The authors, at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, report: The authors investigated whether human listeners could categorize played-back dog (Canis familiaris) barks recorded in various situations and associate them with emotional ratings. Prerecorded barks of a Hungarian herding dog breed (Mudi) provided the sample. Human listeners were asked to rate emotionality of the vocalization and to categorize the situations on the basis of alternative situations provided on a questionnaire. The authors found almost no effect of previous experience with the given dog breed or of owning a dog. Listeners were able to categorize bark situations high above chance level. Emotionality ratings for particular bark samples correlated with peak and fundamental frequency and interbark intervals. The authors did not find a significant effect of tonality (harmonicto-noise ratio) on either the emotionality rating or situation categorization of the human listeners. Molnár’s Method to ID Dogs by Bark Identification (2006) “Can Humans Discriminate Between Dogs on the Base of the Acoustic Parameters of Barks?” Csaba Molnár, Péter Pongrácz, Antal Dóka, and Ádám Miklósi, Behavioural Processes, vol. 73, no. 1, July 2006, pp. 76-83. The authors report: We tested the often suggested claim that people are able to recognize their dogs by their barks.... Our findings were consistent with the previous studies: human performances did not pass the empirical threshold of reliable discrimination in most cases.... The contexts... affected significantly the listeners’ performances: if the dog barked at a stranger, listeners were able to discriminate the vocalizations better than if they were listening to sounds recorded when the dog was separated from its owner. It is rendered probable that the bark might be a more efficient communication system between humans and dogs for communicating the motivational state of an animal than for discrimination among strange individuals. Molnár’s Machine-Learning Classification of Dog Barks “Classification of Dog Barks: A Machine Learning Approach,” Csaba Molnár, Frédéric Kaplan, Pierre Roy, François Pachet, Péter Pongrácz, Antal Dóka, and Ádám Miklósi, Animal Cognition, vol. 11, no. 3, July 2008, pp. 389-400. The authors, at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, and at Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris, France, report: In this study we analyzed the possible contextspecific and individual-specific features of dog barks using a new machine-learning algorithm. A pool containing more than 6,000 barks, which were recorded in six different communicative situations, was used as the sound sample. The algorithm’s task was to learn which acoustic features of the barks, which were recorded in different contexts and from different individuals, could be distinguished from another. The program conducted this task by analyzing barks emitted in previously identified contexts by identified dogs... the efficiency of the algorithm was tested in a classification task in which unknown barks were analyzed. The recognition rates we found were highly above chance level: the algorithm could categorize the barks according to their recorded situation with an efficiency of 43% and with an efficiency of 52% of the barking individuals. Dog Growling and Perception of Dog Size “Cross-Modal Perception of Body Size in Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris),” Anna M. Taylor, David Reby, and Karen McComb, PLoS ONE, vol. 6, no. 2, 2011. The authors, at the University of Sussex, UK, report: While the perception of size-related acoustic variation in animal vocalisations is well documented, little attention has been given to how this information might be integrated with corresponding visual information. Using a crossmodal design, we tested the ability of domestic dogs to match growls resynthesised to be typical of either a large or a small dog to size-matched models. Subjects looked at the size-matched model significantly more often and for a significantly longer duration than at the incorrect model, showing that they have the ability to relate information about body size from the acoustic domain to the appropriate visual category. Our study suggests that the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms at the basis of size assessment in mammals have a multisensory nature, and calls for further investigations of the multimodal processing of size information across animal species. Progress in Dog-Bark Silencing “Sound Attenuation Devices for Dogs Barking (Estimation of Aperture Ratio and Experimental Study of Silencer),” Shuichi Sakamoto, Yuichi Toyoshima, Nobuaki Murayama, Toru Miyairi, Akira Hoshino, and Takatsune Narumi, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications, vol. 2, no. 1, 2014, pp. 18-24. The authors, at Niigata University, Niigata, Japan, report: This study is related to the use of natural ventilation silencers for the howling and barking (hereafter referred to as ‘barking’) of dogs.... [We] present the results of silencing by throttle effect using tail-pipe. ‘The Bone is Mine’ “‘The Bone is Mine’: Affective and Referential Aspects of Dog Growls,” Tamás Faragó, Péter Pongrácz, Friederike Range, Zsófia Virányi, and Ádám Miklósia, Animal Behaviour, vol. 79, no. 4, 2010, pp. 917-925. The authors, at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary; Universität Wien, Austria; and the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition, Austria, report: We provide the first experimental indication that domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, rely on context-dependent signals during interspecific agonistic encounters. We recorded several sequences of growls from dogs in three different contexts: during play, guarding a bone from another dog, and reacting to a threatening stranger. We analysed the acoustic structure of the growls and additionally performed playback tests in a seminatural food-guarding situation. We found that play growls differed acoustically from the other two (agonistic) types of growls, mainly in their fundamental frequencies and formant dispersions. Results of the playback experiment showed that food-guarding growls deterred other dogs from taking away a seemingly unattended bone more effectively than growls recorded in the threatening stranger situation. We ruled out an effect of the signaller’s body weight on the subjects’ responses. Detail from the study “‘The Bone is Mine’: Affective and Referential Aspects of Dog Growls.” Some Aspects of Excessive Barking in the Dog “Assessment and Treatment of Excessive Barking in the Domestic Dog,” Soraya V. Juarbe-Diaz, Veterinary Clinics of North America, vol. 27, no. 3, 1997, pp. 515-32. The author, at Cornell University, includes much advice for dog owners, including this: A dog’s vocalization sometimes may be difficult to explain. Examples are howling or barking that occurs in response to a particular melody or other auditory stimulus. In addition, any of these vocalizations can be performed as a learned behavior, either taught by the owner, or acquired by the dog secondary to an inadvertently provided reinforcer.... Owners’ opinions concerning the point at which barking becomes problematic are highly variable.... An unintentional mistake on the part of some owners is verbal or physical reassurance of the barking dog, in an attempt to explain, as one would to a fellow human, why the dog need not bark in a particular situation. An explanation to the dog that all is well: “It is only the newspaper being delivered,” for example, spoken in a soothing, soft tone of voice, serves only as a reinforcer. Barking Mad “Aggressive Behaviour in English Cocker Spaniels and the Personality of Their Owners,” A.L. Podberscek and J.A. Serpell, Veterinary Record, vol. 141, no. 3, July 1997, pp. 73-6. (Thanks to Reto Schneider and Stephen Budiansky for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, who are at University of Cambridge, UK, explain that: The aim of the study was to determine whether there is an association between the personality of the owners of English cocker spaniels and the expression of aggressive behaviour by their dogs. Two hundred-and-eighty-five owners of purebred English cocker spaniels completed the Catell 16 Personality Questionnaire.... Analyses of the data using unpaired t-tests revealed that the owners of high-aggression dogs were significantly more likely to be tense, emotionally less stable, shy and undisciplined than owners of low-aggression dogs. _____________________ The article above is from the July-August 2015 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift! Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

Family Wraps an Entire Greenhouse around Their Home to Keep it Warm Posted: 26 Jan 2016 04:00 AM PST (Images: Kirsten Dirksen) Charles Sacilotto and Marie Granmar of Stockholm, Sweden, found a novel way to keep their summer house warm all year around, even during brutal Scandinavian winters. They built an entire greenhouse around the outside of their home. The 4-militmeter thick glass keeps it toasty inside. Sacilotto says “At the end of January it can be -2°C outside and it can be 15 to 20°C upstairs.” This means that the couple can do a lot with their home that normally isn’t possible in Sweden. The outside of their (inside home) is a garden, with tomatoes, peppers, grapes, and other plants growing throughout the extensive deck system. There’s even a goldfish pond and an internal sewage system. You can read more about it at the San Francisco Globe. -via Daily of the Day

Politician Tried to Campaign on Tinder Posted: 26 Jan 2016 03:00 AM PST Greggor Ilagan is running for state senator in Hawaii. The 29-year-old politician understands how important it is to reach out to potential voters on social media, so he employed Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tinder. Except Tinder is a dating app, and those who use it have very different expectations. Ilagan set up a profile and asked users to swipe right so they could talk about issues and “get to know each other.” And they did. At first, I put both genders — male and female,” he said. “But because it’s a dating site, there were actually a lot of guys that were hitting on me. I was always having to direct people back to the main focus. “They asked me, ‘Oh, can I have a date?’ And I said, ‘Well, we can have a meeting and we can talk about government and maybe you can help out on the campaign,'” he said. Ilagan learned why politicians don’t campaign on Tinder. He deleted his Tinder profile and continues to campaign on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. -via The Daily Dot

Scientists Grow a Living Human Ear on a Rat Posted: 26 Jan 2016 02:00 AM PST (Photo: University of Tokyo and Kyoto University) People may lose their ears in accidents or are born with disfigured ears. For these unfortunates, there’s a new hope: artificially-grown ears. Scientists at the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University took human cells and grew them in an ear-like shape with a mold. This ear form was then implanted on the back of a living rat and left to grow, nourished by the rat’s body, for 2 months. The result is a living human ear measuring about 2 inches long. Discovery reports on the development of tissue engineering: So-called tissue engineering is being explored to grow other kinds of body parts, too, including noses and windpipes. The Japanese researchers say because their ear is a living part, it would develop as a child grew. They hope to start clinical trials in about five years. -via Dave Barry

What If Hollywood Rebooted NickToons From The 90s? Posted: 26 Jan 2016 01:00 AM PST The 90s are all the rage with the kids these days, which means those NickToons we all loved when we were young(er) will inevitably be rebooted hard by Big Hollywood someday soon. Directors like Michael Bay, Quentin Tarantino and Judd Apatow are lining up to take a crack at a NickToon reboot, yeah I said Judd Apatow, who else could possibly direct the dark rom-com update of Hey Arnold!? Illuminating illustrator Mady G. created these guaranteed to be better than the actual reboot movie posters and I have to admit she has sold me on the idea of a gritty CatDog reboot... See If Hollywood Rebooted Nicktoons here

Giant Dog Takes Vet Tech for a Rodeo Ride Posted: 26 Jan 2016 12:00 AM PST Dexter is a Boerboel, a working and guard dog of South African origin. At 175 pounds, he’s a lot for the vet techs to handle. Here he is at the veterinary clinic getting his nails trimmed. Two techs appear to have him under control while the third works on his nails. But when a 175-pound dog decides to leave, nothing is going to stop him. Dexter bolts and one tech rides him like he’s a bucking bronco at a rodeo. (Video Link) The remaining vet tech appears to crack up laughing. -via Tastefully Offensive

What a Trainwreck: Vintage Photos of Steam Train Accidents Posted: 25 Jan 2016 11:00 PM PST Steam locomotive was the original method of train power. The first steam train ran on February 21, 1804, its high-pressure steam operation developed by British inventor Richard Trevithick. The historic route ran from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales to Abercynon in South Wales. The United States relied upon exports from Britain until 1830, when the first U.S.-built steam train, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Tom Thumb, was demonstrated. Mainly due to the high costs of maintenance of the steam engines, by the middle of the twentieth century, electric and diesel took over the industry. The linked grouping of photographs documents steam train accidents during their years of operation. A few pictures are featured here; see the entire collection at Vintage Everyday.

Scottish Chef Invents Guinea Pig Haggis Posted: 25 Jan 2016 10:00 PM PST (Photo: The Telegraph) January 25 is Burns Night, an annual celebration of the works of Scottish poet Robert Burns, as well as all things Scottish. To participate, you should prepare a haggis dinner. Ideally, you should catch your own wild haggis and cook it yourself. But as wild haggis are rare in an increasingly urbanized Scotland and the animal has never been successfully domesticated, then you may use a common substitute: the ground heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep boiled in its own stomach. Or you can get creative, as chef Paul Wedgwood did under the tutelage of Peruvian chef Mitsuhara Tsumura. Guinea pigs may be pets elsewhere, but in some parts of South America, they're also a food source. The chefs found a way to make haggis using guinea pigs. The Telegraph reports: Wedgwood, who prides himself of "raising haggis up to new gastronomic levels", decided to deviate from the traditional sheep's-pluck-and-oats  dish after travelling in South America and tasting local dishes. He joined Peruvian chef Mitsuhara Tsumura (one of Latin America's best chefs) at his restaurant to make the twist on a traditional haggis, using a popular Peruvian food, guinea pig. Wedgwood said: "The whole experience was amazing and the haggis tasted awesome." -via Dave Barry

One Page - Choose Your Own Adventure Posted: 25 Jan 2016 09:00 PM PST One Page by Machmigo They say the best way to start a trip is with the first step, and the same can be said about writing the story of your life- it all begins with one page. The first page is always the hardest, as our minds struggle to figure out where we're going and where the entire trip will end, but as we start to move about and see new people in new places the pages seem to write themselves. And next thing you know you'll have an entire book full of memories and life experiences to share with those who have yet to finish writing their first page. Spread some words of wisdom from St. Augustine with this One Page t-shirt by Machmigo, it's one mighty inspirational tee! Visit Machmigo's Facebook fan page, Twitter and Tumblr, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more thought provoking designs: Hissy Fit Starlight Puff Girls Catflix Green Plumber View more designs by Machmigo | 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 and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Guide To New York City Dog Owners Posted: 25 Jan 2016 09:00 PM PST Dogs come in different breeds, and so do dog owners. Comic artist David Ostow (previously at Neatorama) took note of different kinds of dog owners he saw and categorized them in a series of comic panels. Excet for the “New Yorkie,” which is a location specific type, the dog owners he describes can be found in any dog-friendly urban park. If there's one you don't recognize among your dog-owning friends, you may be that type. See all ten types at Buzzfeed.

A Lizard Napping in a Rose Posted: 25 Jan 2016 08:00 PM PST The daughter of Imgur member Cymcherrytree picked a rose. There was a special gift hidden inside: a little lizard taking a nap. Noting that it was a special moment, she remarked “As long as I live I will probably never see this again.” You can see more photos here. -via Messy Nessy Chic

Video From 1980 Proves Some Mormons Live In Constant Fear Of Coffee Posted: 25 Jan 2016 07:00 PM PST Evil comes in all shapes and sizes, from the mighty demons that crawl out of sinkholes and destroy whole towns to that wicked cup of coffee you drink in the morning. That's right- we're all starting our days with a steaming hot cup of sin, at least according to the Mormon church, and if you think their views on polygamy are a gas get a load of this riveting short film showing how evil is brewing around every corner. (YouTube Link) Miss Robinson may have avoided temptation and stayed in the Mormon church's good graces, but what hope do the rest of us have if we can't get going without a cup of pure black evil in the morning? Thanks a lot Hard-To-Find Mormon Videos, now I regret selling my soul to Folgers! -Via Boing Boing

Snow Maze for Dogs Posted: 25 Jan 2016 06:00 PM PST It’s snowing heavily wherever redditor anneewanee lives. Her two dogs want to play outside, so she shoveled and shaped the snow in her yard into a maze. The dogs are really enjoying it! For a while, they ran head-first into walls before they realized that some paths had dead-ends. You can see more photos here. -via Boing Boing

The Real Black Chefs Who Taught Americans to Cook Posted: 25 Jan 2016 05:00 PM PST Aunt Jemima, the pancake icon, was the best known of many stereotyped cooks used to sell food products during the Jim Crow era. Her image evolved, but up until 1989, she was obviously a servant and a racist caricature. Toni Tipton-Martin, author of The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, wants to separate the image of black chefs as slaves and servants, mindlessly and joyfully cooking for others, from the actual contributions that African-American made to American cuisine. It’s not easy, as the origins of many dishes are attributed to slave owners, no matter who did the cooking. Tipton-Martin tells us about how 20th-century cookbooks featuring recipes developed by slaves suffered a split between those written by white women for white readers and those written by actual black cooks. Emma and William McKinney led the way in 1922, publishing a book inspired by his “mammy,” Caroline Pickett, called Aunt Caroline’s Dixieland Recipes. While the standard Southern recipes had ordinary names, those thought as ethnic dishes made with poverty foods had caricatured names to emphasize their blackness: Mammy’s Graham Muffins, Aunt Caroline’s Corn Bread, Uncle Remus Mint Julep, and Pickaninny Cookies. The recipes were, the McKinneys write, “drawn from the treasured memories of Aunt Caroline Pickett, a famous old Virginia cook, the ‘pinch of this’ and ‘just a smacker of that’ so wonderfully and mysteriously combined by the culinary masters of the Southland have been carefully and scientifically analyzed and recorded in this volume.” “These artificial barriers were set up so that dishes that required the most affluent resources are attributed to white cooks, and the black cooks are given ownership over the food that you make with more humble ingredients,” Tipton-Martin says. “Aunt Caroline’s Dixieland Recipes is a good example of the confusion.” Meanwhile, real cookbooks by black authors have existed since at least 1827, when Robert Roberts wrote a directory for house servants. Black-authored cookbooks in the 20th century presented recipes from their training and personal experience in a dignified manner. Tipton-Martin gives us a fascinating account of these parallel versions of Southern cooking at Collectors Weekly.

Back Brace Gets Steampunked Posted: 25 Jan 2016 04:00 PM PST If you have to wear a post-surgical device, such as a cervical collar, the look at it not as a burden, but a chance to get creative! That's what Maddie did when she learned that she had to wear a back brace following surgery for a fractured T12 vertebrae. She and a friend used their theater design skills to make the brace into an elegant, steampunk-style accessory. You can see more photos at Epbot.

A Collection of Memorable Movie Dance-Offs Posted: 25 Jan 2016 03:00 PM PST A dance-off, or dance battle, is a great way to introduce a little one-upmanship into a movie. It’s entertaining without being violent, and still advances the plot in most instances. That entertainment may come from serious dancers with serious chops, or the comedy of wannabes. TVOM has collected nine of the best dance-offs from all kinds of movies, from Breakdance the Movie, You Got Served, Once Bitten, Zoolander, National Lampoon’s European Vacation, and more.

<i>Dumb and Dumber</i> Presented as a Drama is Funnier Than the Real Thing Posted: 25 Jan 2016 02:00 PM PST And for those who found themselves smirking at the screen whenever they were informed of a "very special episode" coming up, this clip is a recut of the trailer for Dumb and Dumber. A very special recut. One in which the movie is supposed to be a drama about two brave underdogs overcoming the odds. Mashable does this idea justice. Even the bad bangs are put to good use. Via Vulture

You Are Dog Now Posted: 25 Jan 2016 01:00 PM PST .@lolacoaster You Are Dog Now pic.twitter.com/95DGyczKak — YouAreDogNow (@YouAreDogNow) January 24, 2016 Have you ever wanted to be a dog? What dog would you be? You might find out by submitting a picture to the Twitter account You Are Dog Now. .@annabmoore You Are Dog Now pic.twitter.com/SivfFuMKlz — YouAreDogNow (@YouAreDogNow) January 24, 2016 The person or persons behind it will go to great lengths to find a dog image that matches your appearance, expression, position, location, accessories, and whatever else it takes to make you a dog. .@CiarahValendez You Are Dog Now pic.twitter.com/YtjKQEgCcC — YouAreDogNow (@YouAreDogNow) January 23, 2016 It can’t be a bot, because the results are too good. And yes, there are celebrities in there, too. .@icecube You Are Dog Now pic.twitter.com/OCDWaajxZV — YouAreDogNow (@YouAreDogNow) January 21, 2016 -via Metafilter

A Map Of The Most Popular Fictional Characters From Every State Posted: 25 Jan 2016 12:00 PM PST You probably already know Marty McFly is from Hill Valley, California and Family Guy's Peter Griffin is from Quahog, Rhode Island, but did you know Rambo is from Bowie, Arizona? Charlie Brown is from Minnesota because that's where creator Charles Schulz is from, and Chilly Willy is from Alaska because of course he is. But this map created by Playboy showing The Most Popular Fictional Characters From Every State claims Barbie is from New York. That's presumably because she made her first appearance at the American International Toy Fair in New York, but the official Barbie site lists her hometown as (fictional) Willows, Wisconsin. Next you'll be telling me Hannah Montana isn't even from Montana...oh wait, it says here she's originally from Tennessee... See full sized version of map here -Via DOSE

Awakening The Darkside Wax Pack Series 2 - Comes With Cardboard Bubble Gum Posted: 25 Jan 2016 11:00 AM PST Awakening The Darkside- Wax Pack Series 2 by Captain RibMan Remember those wax packs of trading cards you used to buy at the bodega or comic book store, the mystery packs you couldn't wait to tear open as soon as you got home? Well, they aren't back yet, but hopefully kids in the 20th century will appreciate how cool it was collecting cards with the stars of our favorite franchises printed on them and bring the trend back! We used to get into schoolyard wars over which cards were the most valuable and which were a worthwhile trade, and some kids built an empire collecting and trading cards on the playground. Isn't it about time they brought our beloved wax packs back?! Add some force awakens flavor to your geeky wardrobe with this Awakening The Darkside-Wax Pack Series 2 t-shirt by Captain RibMan, it's more durable than a trading card yet every bit as collectible! Visit Captain RibMan's Facebook fan page, official website and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more mighty geeky designs: Chrome Trooper BeeBee Ate SCIENCE Coexist Fartruvian Man View more designs by Captain RibMan | 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 and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

This Looks Riskier Than It Is Posted: 25 Jan 2016 11:00 AM PST Norwegian physicist Andreas Wahl goes way out of his way to demonstrate how physics work. Here he is, experimenting on himself for the TV program Life on the Line. I didn’t quite understand what he was doing when I first watched, and I must admit, it made my stomach drop a little when the stunt became clear. It didn't drop 14 meters, though, like he did! (YouTube link) The point of his stunt is that “things rotate faster when they approach a central point.” It’s explained a little more in this article.  -via Viral Viral Videos

18 Pagan Masquerades from Europe Posted: 25 Jan 2016 10:00 AM PST (Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis) These aren't mutant ewoks. They're Kukeri--ceremonial protectors from Bulgaria who annually drive out evil spirits. On January 23, men don these elaborate, hairy costumes and set about the task of combating dark forces (note the red swords that look like light sabers) in order to protect the fertility of their towns. The Kukeri are one of many wild men of Europe--old pagan shamanistic traditions that endure to this day. Photographer Charles Fréger, who previously showed us the painted elephants of India, explores this continent-wide tradition in his book Wilder Mann: The Image of the Savage. You can see photos of 18 of these wild men at Flashbak.

Take the Snow Challenge! Posted: 25 Jan 2016 09:00 AM PST I challenge EVERY swimmer to go out and do this today, #snowchallenge A video posted by COURT (@courtney_marie_02) on Jan 23, 2016 at 12:50pm PST Instagram user courtney_marie_02 took the plunge -literally- off the railing into the snow on Saturday. I don’t think she, nor the videographer, released she would disappear under the depths! Hers is only one of many people who are donning swimsuits and swimming and diving in the snow left by winter storm Jonas. You can see more Instagram videos tagged with #snowchallenge, and see a selection of the best videos by crazy people swimming in the snow at Uproxx. They're going to need a lot of hot chocolate.

Photographer Camouflages Painted Models In Psychedelic Space Posted: 25 Jan 2016 08:00 AM PST Body painting is no longer just about enhancing the look of the physical form or expressing a motif- it's about transforming the person sporting the paint into something else entirely. Illusion has become a big part of the body painting game, and sometimes the optical trickery can be used to terrify as well as amaze. When photographer Alex Markow heard the Primary Projects building in Miami was slated to be demolished he saw an opportunity to make a big mess and snap some amazing pics at the same time. Alex brought artist Magnus Sodamin on board to create an immersive, and totally psychedelic, art installation called "infinity split", then he let some body painted models get "lost in infinity split". See more images from this totally trippy photo series here

Guitar Hero “Bark at the Moon” Posted: 25 Jan 2016 07:00 AM PST YouTuber GuitarHeroFailure was quite proud that he completed the Guitar Hero song “Bark at the Moon” by Ozzy Osbourne with 100% accuracy, all the way through. So he uploaded the video sequence. Then it was pulled over copyright infringement. What to do? He found a workaround. (YouTube link) Yes, he replaced the music by singing it. Not the lyrics, but every note played by the Guitar Hero game. He gets tired of singing at about 2:38 and starts to get a little weird. And he does his own heartfelt lyrics toward the end. But if you really want weird, turn on the captions. The machine-captioned scat is hilarious! -via reddit

Russian Artist's Dolls are So Realistic it's Frightening Posted: 25 Jan 2016 06:00 AM PST Michael Zajkov is a Russian artist who crafts these chillingly realistic dolls' faces and bodies out of polymer clay. The dolls' eyes are handpainted German glass, and their hair is French mohair. The combination results in the creations pictured here, which I'd never allow in my house for fear I'd catch sight of one in my peripheral vision and have a heart attack. But your mileage may vary, as they say! See a huge grouping of photographs of these stunning dolls in every stage of production at Michael Zajkov’s Instagram account.  Via: Dangerous Minds | Images: Instagram

My Dog Has PhDs Posted: 25 Jan 2016 05:00 AM PST The following is an article fromUncle John's Fully Loaded 25th Anniversary Bathroom Reader. These true stories of accredited canines show that you really can get anything online- even a college degree for your dog. ASSOCIATES DEGREE Applicant: Wally. Story: In 2004 Peter Brancato, a reporter with the Schenectady, New York, television station WRGB, filled out an application for a degree from Almeda University for his dog, Wally. Brancato wrote that Wally "plays with the kids every day" and "teaches them responsibilities, like feeding the dog." Result: Wally received an associates degree in Childhood Development …and a transcript certifying that he’d completed courses in European culture, algebra, and public speaking. (Ruff!) After WRGB aired the story, Almeda University issued a press release accusing the station of weaving a "smear campaign" against them. The "university," which is still in operation, gives its location as Boise, Idaho,  but its headquarters are actually on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Update:  In 2008 Wally was featured in a political cartoon showing him with a thought bubble that read, "I graduated with Bill Chesen." Chesen, a candidate for mayor of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, had listed a degree from Alameda University on his resume. Chesen accused his opponent of defamation, but the district attorney took no action. (And Chesen won the election.) MBA Applicant: Chester Ludlow, a pug. (Image credit: Chester Pug Ludlow at Facebook) Story:GetEducated.com is an organization that monitors online universities. In 2009 the company decided to test one of its subjects, and had "Chester Ludlow" -a pug belonging to one of its employees- apply to Rochville University. Result: Just days later, Chester received his MBA. It came from Dubai with a letter stating he’d graduated with a 3.19 grad-point average and passed "with distinction" in Finance. It also congratulated Chester for having been a member of the Rochville University student council. GetEducated.com made a video about it. (YouTube link)   MEDICAL DEGREE Applicant: Sonny, a golden Labrador retriever. Story: On a 2007 episode of the hit Australian TV show The Chaser’s War on Everything, co-host Chas Licciardello announced that he’d submitted an application for a medical degree to the online Ashwood University, which offered degrees for "what you already know," meaning you can graduate without actually taking classes. The application wasn’t for Licciardello -it was for Sonny, his golden Labrador retriever (no last name, just "Sonny"). Under "work experience," he wrote that Sonny "has eaten out of hospital rubbish bins for five years" and "has significant proctology experience sniffing other dogs’ bums." Licciardello submitted the application -with the $450 fee- and waited. Result: A week later, Sonny received a framed certificate proclaiming him the recipient of a medical degree. Not only that, according to his transcript he’d earned As in Immunology and Oral Communication and Presentation Skills. So where is Ashwood University? An investigation failed to determine its exact location, but noted that Sonny’s degree was mailed from Pakistan. (YouTube link) HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA Applicant: Molly, a Basset hound. Story: In 2012, KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas, began investigating companies that use a state law meant to prevent discrimination against homeschooled kids to hand out high school diplomas to just about anyone who pays the hefty fee. KHOU sent one such company, Lincoln Academy, an application in the name of Molly -a dog belonging to one of their cameraman- and found that in addition to the fee, Lincoln required all applicants to pass a test. Sample questions: A triangle has how many sides? and The president lives in the White House- true or false? Result: Molly got an email that read: "Dear Molly, you have truly reached a milestone in your educational career. Sit back and enjoy your new life of being a high school graduate from Lincoln Academy." KHOU aired their report, along with the story of a young lady who got a similar diploma -for $600- believing it would allow her to fulfill her dream of joining the U.S. Navy, only to have a Navy recruiter tell her the diploma was no good. [Ed. note: Lincoln Academy was ordered to shut down in 2014.] (Title image credit: Flickr user annie:malahus) _________________________ This article is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Fully Loaded 25th Anniversary Bathroom Reader. Get ready to be thoroughly entertained while occupied on the throne. Uncle John has ruled the world of information and humor for 25 years, and the anniversary edition is the Fully Loaded Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

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