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2021/10/03

Neatorama

Neatorama

Watch a Paint Flinger in Slow Motion

Posted: 03 Oct 2021 04:19 AM PDT



I don't know if they still do it, but those paint flinging contraptions were pretty popular at school carnivals when I was a teenager. For a quarter, you could take home your own original piece of psychedelic art. I suppose they aren't as common as they once were, because Gav and Dan, the Slow Mo Guys, made their own. They also put the paper under the disc instead of on top, and added paint before the flinging begins. What's the fun in that? The fun is in their slow-motion videography, as we can see how paint moves and creates gloriously colorful swirls, globs, and messes. They way they spun the background to stabilize the view of the disc makes it much easier to see what's really happening with the paint. Cosmic.

Permanently Startled Cat & Other Neat Posts

Posted: 03 Oct 2021 12:04 AM PDT

🐱 This cute permanently startled cat looks like it's always surprised ... and no surprise, it's a social media star!

🚗 Imagine driving down the highway and seeing the truck in front of you start twirling its hydraulic truck bed around.

👀 Psst! Here's the secret to having a more engaging conversation: it's all how you make and break eye contact.

😵 In the world's biggest pinball machine, you are the ball.

🍙 Now you can make a real life monster rice balls from The Legend of Zelda

⚡ Someone has re-created the lightning mushroom from Disney's Ratatouille. Hmmm, lighting-y!

🐼 Who will win the cleaning war between panda cubs and their nanny?

💀 Skullpot is a toilet shaped like skulls. For real.

Image above: @fedja_kot/Instagram

This neat-o post is brought to you by our new sites Supa Fluffy, Laughosaurus, Pictojam, Infinite 1UP, Pop Culturista and Homes & Hues. Thank you for taking a look!

Continuous Sidewalks: Why Dutch Sidewalk Design Is the Best in the World

Posted: 03 Oct 2021 12:03 AM PDT

YouTuber Not Just Bikes is really excited about the Dutch approach to urban design. In this video, he explains why the way that sidewalks in the Netherlands are optimal for pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

The key feature is called "continuous sidewalks." In the United States, the most common design for an intersection between pedestrian and motorized traffic is a crosswalk in which the sidewalk lowers and then disappears into the road. People walking across a street are entering the territory of cars.

In the Netherlands, it's far more common for the sidewalk to remain at the same level and for the road to rise to the sidewalk. Cars crossing are entering the territory of pedestrians. Because there's a rise, the sidewalk acts as a speedbump so that drivers are encouraged to slow down.

-via Nag on the Lake

38 Notorious Projects Born of Spite

Posted: 03 Oct 2021 12:03 AM PDT

The origins of many property regulations come about because someone pushed the limits of common sense long ago. And we still see examples of someone flouting those regulations because the resulting buildings were grandfathered in, or may even be the cause of a certain regulation. We've read tales of spite houses, but there are more of these than you might know, as Mental Floss' latest collection shows. The grander a spite construction, the more likely it is to have survived, and the stories behind them can be fascinating. Mess with someone's property, and feel their wrath. A typical spite building is one built on a piece of land thought too small, due to government seizure of part of a plot or by a seemingly unfair inheritance. Or, in the case of the Montlake House, shown above, a divorce settlement.    

Whatever the origins of the wedge-shaped Montlake House in Seattle, Washington, built in 1925, spite is baked into its blueprint. According to one story, a woman walked away from a nasty divorce with an awkwardly-laid-out piece of land. Instead of leaving it empty like her ex-husband must have hoped for, she built a pie-slice-shaped home that fit perfectly onto the property. Another legend says that the structure went up when someone down the road offered to buy the land for an insultingly low amount. The owner got their revenge by erecting the odd building to block their neighbor's view. Today, the spite house—which is 15 feet wide on one end and 55 inches at the other, just wide enough for a door—is a treasured Seattle landmark. In 2018, it hit the market for $600,000. —M.D.

But it's not just houses. Or even hotels or castles, although those are included. There have been entire manufacturing companies founded out of spite, some that are now household names. There's also a sad tale that may be the origin of the phrase "cut off your nose to spite your face" in this mega-list at Mental Floss.

(Image credit: Joe Mabel)

The Scientific Battle Against Diphtheria

Posted: 03 Oct 2021 12:03 AM PDT



In the 18th and 19th centuries, children died of diphtheria in astonishing numbers. Adults contracted the disease, too, but were less likely to die. The name of the disease is based on the Greek word for leather, because those infected developed a tough leathery buildup of dead cells in the throat that obstructed swallowing and ultimately, breathing. There was nothing anyone could do about the disease, until 1883 when a unique bacterium (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) was discovered in a victim's throat tissue. That discovery began a fascinating chain of event involving doctors and scientists living in far-flung nations. Years later, another doctor found that the bacterium did not cause the disease, but it produced a poison that did. Others used the toxin to create antibodies against the toxin, a truck learned from research on tetanus. This antitoxin would not stimulate a victim's immune system, but it could treat diphtheria, which is why Balto and many other sled dogs ran through Alaska in 1925. Eventually, a vaccine was developed by refining the antitoxin to stimulate a child's own immune system.

Today, diphtheria is almost unknown in the US, with only six cases recorded since 2000. There are only a few thousand cases worldwide every year, mainly in countries where the vaccine program has been disrupted. Read the amazing story of the 40-or-so year period when the race to defeat diphtheria brought the world of medical science together at Smithsonian.  

Crocodile Snatches Drone out of Midair

Posted: 03 Oct 2021 12:03 AM PDT

Recently, Dane Hirst, a cameraman with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, gathered crocodile footage at a crocodile park in northern Australia.

Nota bene: crocodile parks are a thing in Australia. Don't ask me why.

Anyway, he piloted a drone over the surface of the water of a lagoon when one of the crocodiles leaped out of the water and snatched the crunchy drone out of the air.

The crew was able to recover the drone. It will not be serviceable again, but the video card was fine. The footage is invigorating to watch and a reminder to stay out of Australia.

-via Dave Barry

The Surreal Ceramics of Keiko Masumoto

Posted: 03 Oct 2021 12:03 AM PDT

There's something otherworldly about the pottery of Keiko Masumoto. This Japanese artist, who studied and worked in Kyoto, has become famous around the world for her groundbreaking ceramic sculptures that break out of traditional forms for pots and plates. Other creatures and structures erupt from them, often showing entire tiny worlds within inanimate pots.

Masumoto explains to the Victoria and Albert Museum that she has been inspired by traditional Japanese and Korean ceramics, especially traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.

I'm especially struck by this writhing octopus teapot, which almost seems to be moving, so fluid is its shape.

-via Nag on the Lake

Who is Tom McCleod, and Why the Sign?

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 11:19 AM PDT

This sign, simply saying "Tom McCleod Slept Here," appears on Interest 5 near Bakersfield in California. There are no buildings nearby, and no people to ask about it. It's been there since at least 2009, when it was captured on Google Street View. People have written about the sign, but everyone has the same question. Who is Tom McCleod? SFGate looked into the mystery, and found an urban legend with no evidence to support it -which may have been made up on the spot. They also found four men named Tom McCleod. The four Toms had heard about the sign, and have seen it, but none ever slept near that patch of highway.   

The fourth Tom McCleod they got hold of lives in Texas, and provided about the only intriguing piece of information they ever got.

While he's familiar with the sign on I-5, living on the border of Texas and Arkansas means he's seen stretches of road that few Californians have driven.

And "Tom McCleod slept here" signs are in Texas and Arkansas, too, he says. Louisiana and Mississippi, as well.

But he has no idea who the guy is.

From that information, I have to believe that Tom McCleod is a sign maker. Or the pseudonym of a sign maker. Is this a "social experiment" or some kind of art? Could it possibly be advertising? It might just be a prank, one that others have emulated in other parts of the country. Read about the sign and the search for Tom McCleod at SFGate. -via Strange Company

(Image credit: Flickr user Joe Mud)

The Women Imported to America for Wives and Alcohol

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 11:18 AM PDT

When the British came to America, the explorers paved the way, and settlers came afterward, but the categories were blurred for a while. The earliest settlers were almost all men looking for adventure and possible riches in the New World. The Virginia Tobacco Company supported settlements in the Chesapeake Bay area while their crops were being developed. The men there suffered from a lack of women, so the company brought some over from England. The first shipment of brides was a disaster, as the woman who volunteered had little to offer, and apparently traveled to America out of desperation. The company needed to impose some standards, but still attract women ready for the unknown.

The Virginia Tobacco Company began to recruit women who knew how to make alcoholic beverages: beer, cider, and liquor. After all, it was an honest skill, and the settlers were suffering from a lack of grog. They didn't know how to make it because that was women's work. The women who were brought to the colonies in the 1600s were in high demand, not only as wives, but as providers of a stiff drink. It wasn't easy, as the materials available in the New World were different from what they were used to, but the women found a way to make it work. Read their story at Atlas Obscura.

US Navy Develops Weapon That Gets People to Shut Up

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 11:18 AM PDT

New Scientist (paywall) reports that the US Navy has acquired a patent for a handheld device called AHAD. This invention has a long-range microphone that picks up people's speech and plays it back at a slight time delay which can disrupt the target from speaking intelligibly.

The delay--which is 200 milliseconds long--is timed in such a way that is not simply annoying to the speaker, but also, as a neuroscientist explains, actually prevents the target from being able to communicate verbally.

The range is limited to about 30 meters. It can affect only a small target area, which means that listeners may not understand why the speaker has become unintelligible.

I can't wait until this invention reaches the civilian market!

-via Dave Barry | Photo: US Navy

Full Face Sunglasses Are the New Look This Season

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 11:18 AM PDT

This mask design is now going viral and Sora News 24 is on the case. It combines the modern pandemic aesthetic of covering one's face while providing eye protection from bright lights. The shiny mirror exterior looks futuristic, which I guess is good enough until we get the flying cars that we were promised.

The unit slips onto your face with earpieces, just like a pair of glasses.

Sora News 24's reporters purchased a particular brand on Amazon. But a casual perusal of that retail site suggests that it has many competitors offering similar face shields with different colors. Most, but not all, have a mirrored surface that will hide your awkward facial expressions from the rest of the world, which is something that we all need.

The Nightmare of Finding Yourself Legally Dead

Posted: 02 Oct 2021 11:18 AM PDT

Occasionally we run across a story in which the government lists someone as dead when they are not. It's a nightmare for an individual who is suddenly thrust into a battle with a massive bureaucracy. And it happens more than you think- about 12,000 people a year are incorrectly listed as dead in the US alone! When the Social Security administration thinks you are deceased, everyone else does, too, including the DMV, your bank, your credit card company, etc. etc. Trying to prove you're alive by showing up in person doesn't cut it, because you could be an identity thief. Who are they going to believe, you or government documents? Half as Interesting explains the problem, but the "solution" is really just a punch line. -via Digg
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