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2016/04/23

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The Simpsons Disney-style Couch Gag

Posted: 23 Apr 2016 04:00 AM PDT

Get a head start on Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons with a sneak peek at this week's guest animator couch gag! This time, it’s a taste of different eras of Disney.

(YouTube link)

Animator Eric Goldberg has worked for both Disney and for Warner Brothers. For this couch gag, he cast Marge as Snow White, Lisa as Cinderella, Maggie as Steamboat Willie, Homer as Baloo, and Bart as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. -via Tastefully Offensive 

Finally! A Steve Buscemi Adult Onesie

Posted: 23 Apr 2016 02:00 AM PDT

Dangerous Minds appropriately calls this outfit the "holy grail" of fashion. Fashion designers might as well pack it in because the long quest for the perfect, every day, all day outfit is now finally complete. Rage On sells an adult onesie covered with faces of actor Steve Buscemi's movie characters.

Minor problem: there's no flap in the back. You could probably cut one, though.

The Pyramids of King Sneferu

Posted: 23 Apr 2016 12:00 AM PDT

When we see the great pyramids of Egypt, we are in awe of how they built such wonderful edifices so big and long-lasting. We rarely see the early attempts, the pyramids on the short side of the learning curve. They are still standing. We just don’t see them front-and-center in movies or documentaries, and even those touring Egypt are given little explanation about them. These are the pyramids of King Sneferu.

When King Sneferu came to the throne of Egypt, the cool thing that all the pharaohs had was a Step Pyramid, like the original one built by King Djoser and designed by Imhotep (not the mummy).  King Sneferu could easily have had one one because his predecessor King Huni had died before his could be finished. All Sneferu had to do was step in and put the last few blocks on.

But King Sneferu had a vision.  He didn’t want any old Step Pyramid.  He was going to build Egypt’s first smooth-sided pyramid, and make King Huni’s pyramid way taller in the bargain.  It didn’t work.  The core of Huni’s pyramid couldn’t handle the modifications and nowadays the Step Pyramid at Meidum looks like this:

It’s not on a hill - that’s the outer layers of the pyramid that have fallen down all around it.  The name of the structure in Arabic is Heram el-Kaddaab, which means something like The Sort-Of Pyramid.

And that was only his first attempt. There would be others, with their own problems. Bitey Mad Lady tells the story of Sneferu’s pyramids in a truly amusing way. 

-via Metafilter

Turtle Trap - Beware Of Boxes Bearing Pizza

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 11:00 PM PDT


Turtle Trap by Manikx

Shredder spent years trying to come up with some master plan to trap the Ninja Turtles and make turtle soup out of them, but all he really needed was a cardboard box, a stick, a string and a fresh slice of pizza. It seems those teenage mutants are a lot like regular teenagers in that they can't resist the taste of a cheesy slice of pizza pie, and their hunger will actually override their logical minds when they smell that fresh pizza. But just so we're clear- this trick will not necessarily work on normal turtles, since they have yet to be introduced to the cowabunga power of pizza...

Captivate your fellow fans with this Turtle Trap t-shirt by Manikx, it's the adorable way to show love for the TMNT and regular old non-ninja turtles at the same time.

Visit Manikx's Facebook fan page, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more delightfully geeky designs:

Hungry Hungry Ninja TurtlesR.O.U.S. HuntersBob's DreamZombie Mathematics

View more designs by Manikx | 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!

10 Easter Eggs in Hidden Superhero Movies

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 11:00 PM PDT

In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the clock tower strikes 1:21 and Gwen Stacy falls to her death. This is a reference to the 1973 issue #121 of the comic book series in which Gwen dies.


(Video Link)

That's 1 of 10 impressive Easter eggs hidden discreetly in superhero movies, including the 1978 Superman and the 2008 film The Dark Knight. Learn about all of them in this new video by Screen Rant.

Fantastically Freaky Comic Strips By Joan Cornellà

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 10:00 PM PDT

You don't have to be daft, dorky or deranged to draw comic strips, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

And those artists who are able to channel their particular brand of madness into their medium often become known for their fantastically freaky view of the world.

Spanish cartoonist Joan Cornellà has no problem letting his freak flag fly in his twisted (and often NSFW) comic strips, and looking at the world through Joan's eyes means finding magic in every nook and cranny.

Joan Cornellà's comics have earned him a place in the hearts of people who like to stare at funny stuff then laugh about it later when they see a shape or shadow that reminds them of his offbeat strips!

-Via JazJaz

The Mermaid Bed

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 09:00 PM PDT

Circu is a Portugese company that makes "magical furniture" with a creative flair. The whole catalog is worth exploring. There you can see sofas that look like hot air balloons and chairs that look like rockets. They're fantastic starting points for imaginative play.

I'm especially taken with this clamshell bed fit for a mermaid princess. It's made of fiberglass and built with internal lighting.

The website neglects to mention the dimensions of the bed, which is a serious oversight. I don't want to buy a bed that I can't fit in.

-via Home Crux

The Adele/Bieber Passover Mashup

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:00 PM PDT

Except for possibly the west coast, Passover has begin, and will run until the 30th.  

(YouTube link)

Aish tells the Passover story to the tunes of Adele’s “Hello” and Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself,” using clips from The Ten Commandments, starring Charleton Heston and Yul Brynner. Does that sound weird? It is. But it’s clever and rather well done.   

The Ancient Samurai Personality Test You Can Take By Making A Fist

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 07:00 PM PDT

Most personality tests require the participant to answer all kinds of questions in order to somewhat arbitrarily categorize them according to societal norms.

But these kinds of tests take too long to complete and are never truly tested for consistency, so you should find out what kind of person you are the Kobushi Shindan way- by making a fist.

Kobushi Shindan is a method samurai used to read people's personality types that translates to "fist analysis", defining who you are by how you make a fist.

If your thumb rests on your pointer finger when you make a fist then you're a strong leader who wants to feel needed by others and is fiercely loyal to your loved ones.

If your thumb rests on your middle finger then you're kind and sociable but scared to try new things and have a hard time starting relationships.

And if you tuck your thumb into your fingers when you make a fist then you're a sensitive introvert who hates conflict and therefore excels at having long relationships.

These are just brief snippets of what your fists says about you, but you can read more about Kobushi Shindan here

Terrifying Workplace Safety Video Is a 4-Minute Horror Movie

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 06:00 PM PDT


(Video Link)

This is Will You Be Here Tomorrow?, a 1994 workplace safety video sold by the United Safety Council. It imagines the worst case scenarios for industrial and warehousing jobs. It is extraordinarily blunt, using somewhat subpar visual effects to illustrate nails being driven into eyeballs, severed limbs, crushed skulls, and, at the 2:10 mark, a acetylene tank turned into a missile.

I worked in a warehouse to put myself through graduate school. It was filled with sleep-deprived people driving 13,000-pound forklifts as fast as they could to make impossible production quotas. It's amazing that people weren't killed there every day. Perhaps it's funny, but I could also see this safety video making an effective impression on workers.

Content warning: nearly non-stop blood and gore.

-via Atlas Obscura

How Close are We To Having Robotic Maids in Our Homes?

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 05:00 PM PDT

It’s the 21st century, and the closest thing we have to a robot maid is a Roomba. If you’ve always dreamed of having Rosie the Robot take care of your home like in The Jetsons,  there is still hope. Robotics companies are branching out in all directions to design robots, including many to help us with domestic chores.  

First, there’s the Alpha 2, which is the brainchild of UBTECH Robotics. Don’t let his diminutive size fool you. Alpha 2 may only stand 17 inches tall and nine inches wide, and he may only weigh in at five pounds, but this is a remarkable little robot.  He can shoot video of your family or take still pictures, check your voice mail for you, read and send emails or texts of your behalf and control any equipment in your home that is WiFi enabled.

He can also post to your Facebook or other social media accounts using voice commands. Finally, his twenty servo motors allow him an incredible range of motion, so he can actually follow you around the house as you go about your business, pitching in when and where he’s able.

There’s also robots in the works to carry our shopping, wash our windows, order a pizza, and even socialize our kids. Read about them all at Housely.

Why 19th Century Scientists Didn't Think the Platypus Was Real

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 04:00 PM PDT

(Image: George Shaw and F.P. Nodder)

When European explorers wandered the most remote regions of the world, they brought back stories of strange creatures. One of those stories was of a bizarre hybrid animal from Australia that appeared to be part bird, part mammal, and had venomous spurs.

The platypus was just made-up, like unicorns and dragons, right? Natalie Zarrelli writes at Atlas Obscura:

In his laboratory study in 1799, biologist George Shaw stared down at his new specimen in disbelief. The creature from the colony of New South Wales came preserved in pungent alcohol, and he carefully snipped the thick, brown pelt around the creature’s beak, sure he would soon reveal the stitches where an expert taxidermist had fused the bird and beast together. It was like nothing he had seen before: the creature had the body of a furry brown cat, four short legs and sharp claws over webbed feet; the tail of a beaver, but the beak of a duck.

Shaw had met his first platypus, and did not for a moment believe it was possibly real.

Despite the preserved specimens returning from Australia, many scientists continued to believe that the platypus was a hoax. Some suspected that it was an accident of nature brought about by breeding between species. It would be a century before they definitely confirmed that the platypus was indeed real and, in fact, a mammal:

In the late 1800s, Scottish zoologist William Hay Caldwell finally managed to dissect fresh platypus eggs and confirmed once and for all that the animal did in fact lay them, though the embryos partially developed inside the platypus’s body, which also nursed its young. The platypus was classified as a mammal—one of five that are known to lay eggs, in the order Monotremata.

3-Year-Old Zep Fan Plays Name That Tune

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 03:00 PM PDT

Matthew Canning is a rock ’n’ roller, and so is his three-year-old daughter Lily. They recently played a game of Name That Tune with Led Zeppelin songs, which are her favorites.

(YouTube link)

Lily ends the game with a request, a dance, and a sing-along. It took me longer than three years to learn the names of all those songs when I was much older than Lily, but to be fair, their releases were separated by more than three years. -via Arbroath

Internet Reacts To Harriet Tubman Replacing Jackson On Twenty Dollar Bill

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 02:00 PM PDT

You can't announce earth shattering news online and expect the internet community to keep quiet, but sometimes their reactions are truly priceless.

Take these reactions to the news that Harriet Tubman will be replacing Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill- they're some of the best reactions money can buy but they're free for an (un)limited time!

Seriously though, who doesn't enjoy seeing a new face on their hard earned funds? Oh wait...

See The Internet's Funniest Reactions To Harriet Tubman Landing On The $20 here

Double Trouble - Wonderland Will Soon Weep

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:00 PM PDT


Double Trouble by LadyTank Studios

Oh my, it appears these two lovely ladies have fallen head over heels into a strange and wondrous land full of psychedelic dangers and surreal strangeness, what ever will they do to survive? The one they call Alice appears to have already gone to work and stained her pretty dress and boots with some poor soul's blood, and that knife she's wielding looks mighty sharp. And Harley certainly knows how to handle herself, laughing fear in the face or simply smacking it around until it goes away, but how long will she be able to hold out before she goes totally batty?

Your fellow fans will lose their minds when they see you wearing this Double Trouble t-shirt by LadyTank Studios, it's one crazy cool design!

Visit Lady Tank Studio's Facebook fan page, Twitter and official website, then head on over to her NeatoShop for more scary good designs:

Power Suit KoopasThe Walking RaSplathulhu

Belcher Line Up

View more designs by LadyTank Studios | 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!

One Tat to Rule Them All

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 01:00 PM PDT

Redditor djambithechocolates found a picture of The Lord of the Rings cast showing off the new tattoos they got when filming was completed in 2001. The tattoo is of the word “nine” written in Elvish. Yes, the little girl got one, too, although hers was inked on top of her skin with a pen instead of a needle. That’s Alexandra Astin, Sean Austin’s daughter, who appeared as Samwell’s daughter at the end of the trilogy. She’s nineteen years old now. No word on whether she ever got a permanent tattoo. Sean Bean also got the tattoo, but he was off doing other things by the time this picture was taken. See the tats a little clearer in pictures here.

Japanese/English Phrasebook Is Absolutely Hilarious

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 12:00 PM PDT

Rocket News 24 tells us about English Vocabulary Not on Any Test. This is a new guide for native Japanese speakers who would like to learn English as it is actually used in conversation in the Anglosphere. The book describes ordinary people in daily activities, using both English and Japanese. You can view more pages here. They are, I cannot understate, extraordinarily funny.

Strange Video Shows Off The Latest In Feline Firearm Technology

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 11:00 AM PDT

Cats are used as pillows, napkins, backscratchers, lap warmers and free entertainment by their humans, and it's only a matter of time before humans figure out another use for freeloading felines.

But if the cats aren't careful, if they reveal their super secret sonic meow attack and show the humans that their canned food can be used as a grenade, then the cats will be forced into open warfare.

(YouTube Link)

This strange and mysterious video shows what it's like to mew-mew-mew with a feline firearm in the game Special Force II, a weapon that has the cutest reload animation of all time!

This is exactly what first person shooters have been missing all these years...

-Via Laughing Squid

Compassionate Judge Sentences Veteran to 24 Hours in Jail, Then Joins Him behind Bars

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 10:00 AM PDT


(Photos: Fayetteville Observer)

Sgt. Joseph Serna of the US Army Special Forces served 3 combat tours in Afghanistan. He had a very rough time there, experiencing the full horrors of war.

When Serna got out of the Army, he took those horrors with him.

Serna was arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He got probation and entered a treatment program. He had to regularly report to the court on his treatment. During one of those court appearances, he confessed to Judge Lou Olivera that he had lied about a recent urine test.

Judge Olivera was himself a veteran, having served during the Gulf War. He understood that though Serna had broken the law, he was not a criminal by nature.

But he had to do his duty, so Judge Olivera sentenced Serna to spent 24 hours in jail. Then he took off his robe and joined Serna in his cell for the full 24 hours. The Fayetteville Observer reports:

"Where are we going, judge?" Serna asked.

"We're going to turn ourselves in," Olivera said.

"He said he was going to stay with me," Serna said. "I couldn't process a judge being my cellmate.

"They take me to the cell, and I'm sitting on my bunk. And, then, in walks the judge.

And then the two veterans talked:

Mostly, from five in the afternoon on April 13 until 6:30 a.m. the next day, the judge and the veteran talked about their respective military service, Serna's post-traumatic stress disorder from three tours of duty in Afghanistan and how the inmate could turn around his downward spiral that had resulted in a driving-while-impaired charge and other serious traffic offenses. […]

"We talked for hours about our families and our military service," Olivera says. "Our dreams for us and our families, and the road to take us there."

The judge wanted to help Serna climb out of the hole:

"I thought about a story that I once read," Olivera says. "It talked about a soldier with PTSD in a hole," he says. "A family member, a therapist and a friend all throw down a rope to help the veteran suffering. Finally, a fellow veteran climbs into the hole with him.

"The soldier suffering with PTSD asks, 'Why are you down here?' The fellow veteran replied, 'I am here to climb out with you.'

-via Glenn Reynolds

High School Athlete Revealed to be 30-year-old Refugee

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 09:00 AM PDT

They say it’s never too late to go back to school, but Jonathan Nicola took it a step too far. He signed up at Central Catholic High School in Windsor, Ontario, on a student visa from South Sudan. But an investigation revealed that Nicola is not 17 years old as he presented himself, but 30.

According to the Windsor Star, 30-year-old South Sudanese native Jonathan Nicola was a star center for the Central Catholic Comets throughout the 2015-16 season. The 6-foot-9, 202-pounder spent the previous months during the academic year living with Central Catholic basketball coach Pete Cusumano as part of the Canada Homestay program while he lived in the country on a student visa.

That visa is now likely to be terminated as a result of the large discrepancy in his Nicola’s age.

Nicola is now in a detention center awaiting an immigration hearing. School officials stress that he posed no danger to other students. There’s no word yet on how the scandal will affect the basketball team’s record. -via reddit

These Science Fiction Themed T-Shirts Are Frakkin' Funny!

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 08:00 AM PDT

HasselHOTH by Captain RibMan

You can usually tell a fantasy fan when you see them, or spot someone who is obsessed with anime or horror, but science fiction fans come from all walks of life and aren't so easy to identify.

That's why the sci-fi shirts sold at the NeatoShop are so popular- because the designs appeal to everyone while allowing the wearer to express their individual interests within the genre.

Give me a funny sci-fi shirt any day, because they're often unique and original

Etch-A-Skeksis by Pixhunter

And they never go out of style!

That's Not Honey by Ed Harrington

Taste in sci-fi shirts varies from geek to geek

Boba Fink by Poopsmoothie

Some like super subtle humor that makes people puzzle over the reference

Shy Obedience by Artistic Dyslexia

Some like to keep their clothing's sense of humor super silly

Epic Combo 23 Wade Version by Biotwist

But everyone can agree that seeing a funny sci-fi shirt brightens up your day!

The Vulcaning Hand by OPIPPI

And whether you like sci-fi silliness based on classic literature

So Long And Thanks For All The Fish by Droidloot

A design where baddies from classic cartoons and video games get all mixed up

Wakrang by BetMac

Or mashed up madness bringing totally different things together in a ridiculously funny way

Tenderloin Meat Juicy Burgers by Rocky Davies

There's a shirt in the NeatoShop that'll suit your taste no matter where or when you come from

Scientific Paradox Goes Boink by Djkopet

A fresh graphic that makes your fellow fans go gaga is pure love

Han & Chewie by NibiruHybrid

And those super silly designs that blow minds might earn you some fashion fans

H8RS GONNA BB-H8 by DauntlessDS

Because a great t-shirt design can make you the star of the show

Oh Hey There by Matt Sinor

And while you're rockin' the world with the power of hirsute happiness

Protocol Blues by Stationjack

People will beg you to tell them where you got such a cool shirt

In Gems We Trust by JozVoz

You can either keep your geeky secret weapon to yourself

Xenofloss by Hillary White

Or hit your fellow fans with the info about the coolest shirt shop on the planet- the NeatoShop!

Fresh Punch by Diego Pedauye

Where life changing geeky t-shirt designs are made to order

Maid To Clean by Jehsee

And the prints are so spectacular they'll make you a believer!

I WANT TO BE LEAVING by BeastPop

Sci-fi fans should search for their smile inducing shirts at the NeatoShop, because there you'll find hundreds of designs that will scream you- often in an alien language, but still!

Every NeatoShop sale supports your fellow sci-fi fans who create the designs that drive fans wild, so bring home a NeatoShop shirt to suit your fantastically far out sense of humor today!

Paint on a Drum

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 07:00 AM PDT

The Slow Mo Guys come up with some odd ideas, but their aim is to show us neat stuff in slow motion, so it really doesn’t have to make sense in the real wold. Would a drummer put powdered paint on drum heads? Maybe, if it would make the show more interesting, but what a mess! But Gav and Dan have no problem with a mess.

(YouTube link)

They go on to try variations, like drumming from underneath and using a cymbal. What they’re demonstrating is the powerful vibration response, but it all just looks neat. -via Viral Viral Videos

Dapper, Geeky Hats for Every Fan

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 06:00 AM PDT

What do you need to complete your look before heading out for that first date? Perhaps it's a fez that looks like the TARDIS because fezes are cool. Or maybe it's BB-8 top hat or a Wonder Woman crush cap. Whatever your fancy and your fanbase, the Etsy shop The Blonde Swan can accomodate you. It makes leather and felt caps for a vast variety of interests and fashions.

-via Geekologie

10 Hidden Talents of the Octopus

Posted: 22 Apr 2016 05:00 AM PDT

Octopuses1 are complicated creatures: vulnerable but strong; slimy, but also kitten-like. And they're full of remarkable secret powers.

(Image credit: Flickr user Aoife Cahill)

1. THEY’RE THE ANIMAL KINGDOM’S BEST ESCAPE ARTISTS

Aside from its beak and braincase, an octopus is entirely squishy, meaning that a 100-pound giant Pacific octopus can squeeze through a hole about the size of a cherry tomato. They can also undo latches, untie knots, and open locks, all of which makes them extremely difficult to keep in captivity. In his 1973 book Octopus and Squid: The Soft Intelligence, Jacques Cousteau tells this charming story: “Our friend Gilpatric ... brought an octopus home and put it in an aquarium, which he then covered with a heavy lid. A short time later, the aquarium was empty, and Gilpatric found the octopus going through his library, book by book, turning the pages with its arms.”

2. THEY’RE SCARY SMART—AND KEEP THEMSELVES BUSY

Given their love of libraries, it’s no surprise that octopuses are the smartest invertebrates. They can solve puzzles, recognize human faces, navigate mazes, and even open childproof Tylenol bottles. In the 1990s, biologist Roland Anderson gave plastic pill bottles to the octopuses in his lab. Once they learned the bottles weren’t edible, all of the octopuses lost interest- except for one. A female octopus used her funnel2 to push the bottle to the opposite end of her tank. The water current pushed it back, and again, she pushed the bottle away. After repeating the move 18 times, Anderson had no doubt: The octopus was playing a game of bouncy ball.

3. THEY BUILD AWESOME FORTS

(YouTube link)

Since they move around to find prey, an octopus must find a new home every few days. The ideal pad is hidden, dark, and just a little larger than the octopus’s body, so octopuses will often hide in the crevice of a rock, an old seashell, the hull of a shipwreck, or a stubby brown bottle. (“If you’re determined to litter at sea but still want to keep the little octopus in mind, I suppose Red Stripe bottles might be the way to go,” writes Katherine Harmon Courage in her book, Octopus!) Once the octopus selects a house, it uses its funnel to blow debris out of the den, and then barricades the entrance with rocks to keep out unwanted visitors.

4. THEY'RE SKILLED DECORATORS

(Image credit: Sylke Rohrlach)

Octopuses are careful housekeepers and spend time each day cleaning the sand, gravel, and the remains of last night’s dinner from their house. Divers have learned to spot octopus dens by looking for a trash pile just outside the entrance. Female octopuses are also skilled interior decorators: They lay their eggs in long strings and attach them to the ceiling like translucent beaded curtains.

5. THEY CAN WALK ON DRY LAND

(Image credit: Brocken Inaglory)

Some shallow-water species occasionally come ashore to hunt. Some have even been caught eating seagulls. But walking is just the beginning: To the chagrin of some scientists, these cephalopods can run. As a pre-veterinary student, Alexa Warburton had the tricky task of scooping octopuses out of their tanks. The stubborn animals would hide or squeeze into the tank’s cracks to avoid being removed. As a last-ditch effort, some octopuses would trampoline off the net, leap to the floor, and take off zig-zagging around the lab. It’s “like chasing a cat,” Warburton told Orion magazine.

6. THEY CAN VANISH INTO THIN WATER ...

(YouTube link)

In less than 0.3 seconds, octopuses can change their color, texture, and shape to blend in with their surroundings—transforming their skin to mimic algae-covered rocks, a sandy seabed, or fronds of kelp. (Special cells let them display different pigments, while bumps on their skin called papillae can create textures.) It’s astonishing, considering that scientists believe octopuses are colorblind. But that’s just the first act: If a predator still isn’t fooled, some species can deploy a pseudomorph—a life-size self-portrait made from a cloud of ink and mucus. The specter distracts and irritates the predator and allows the octopus to jet away.

7. ... AND THEY DO GREAT IMPRESSIONS

(YouTube link)

The mimic octopus, a smaller species that lives in the Indo-Pacific, uses its shape-shifting skills for a mind-boggling defense. Instead of convincing would-be predators that it has disappeared, T. mimicus instantly changes shape to look and act like venomous creatures, including flatfish, spiky lionfish, jellyfish, and sea snakes.

8. A SHARK IS NO MATCH FOR THEM

Concerned for the octopus’s safety, Seattle Aquarium staff were hesitant to house dogfish sharks and a giant Pacific octopus in the same tank in 2001. They did it anyway, and for a while, everything seemed calm. Then partially eaten sharks began turning up on the tank’s floor. A video camera captured the perpetrator—the octopus—following unhealthy sharks around the tank, grabbing them, and chowing down. Octopuses will also rip the stinging tentacles off a Portuguese man-o’-war and wield them like a weapon.

9. THEY’RE INNOVATIVE FOODIES

(Image credit: Делфина)

Deep inside its rubbery mantle, an octopus has a sharp beak and a toothed, tongue-like ribbon called a radula. When its super-strong arms aren’t enough to pry apart a tasty clam’s shell, the octopus uses its radula to drill a small hole in the shell, then injects a neurotoxin into the opening. The clam goes limp, the shell opens, and lunch is served.

10. THEY GET CREATIVE IN THE BEDROOM

The couch potato of the sea, octopuses will go to great lengths to avoid leaving the house. Fortunately, the male’s sex organ is at the end of one arm, so mating doesn’t have to be intimate. While some opt for the traditional mounted technique, others prefer what scientists call the “distance position.” Male and female Abdopus aculeatus adults will even find houses near one another so that the male only has to stretch his hectocotylus—or sex arm—out his front door and into the female’s house. Everybody stays safe indoors, and nobody has to buy dinner.

1. It's true! The most acceptable English plural is octopuses, not octopi. The classic Latin plural -which adds the i- is great for Latin-based words. Problem is, octopus isn't Latin! It's Greek. Octopodes, the Greek form, is also acceptable but a little archaic.

2. The funnel is nature's great jet propulsion system, helping some octopuses dart through the water at 25 mph.

__________________________

The above article is reprinted with permission from the May 2015 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!
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