A town in Belgium has banned the artwork of David Cerny called Saddam Hussein Shark (inspired by Damien Hirst’s shark).

The mayor of Middelkerke, Michel Landuyt, said the work could "shock people", including Muslims.

Link (with larger picture)

Eloysa Vasquez, who is 3 feet tall, weighs 37 pounds before being pregnant and suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, gave birth to a baby boy.

Judging from her son’s long fingers and toes, Vasquez said, "I think he’s going to be a tall boy."

Her husband, Roy, said his wife’s small stature can be deceiving: "She’s a strong lady."

According to the university, one in only 25,000 to 50,000 births are to a mother with osteogenesis imperfecta, and even fewer involve moms with the severe Type 3 form.

Congrats, Eloysa & Roy! Link

Doctors removed a growth from a 35 year old Igor Namyatov that turned out to be the embryo of his unborn twin brother. Igor’s neighbors thought it was an alien, instead!

Namyatov’s fellow villagers doubted the explanation given by the doctors. Some even surmised the object removed from Namyatov’s body was an extraterrestrial organism. “It is a pity they have removed it. They should have waited to see what would become of it later on. That would have been a great scientific find,” one of the villagers said.

Link

Andrew Martin from the Institute of Technical Zoology and Bionics in Germany, and colleagues, discovered the secret to a spider’s climbing ability:

Martin said:

"We found out that when all 600,000 tips are in contact with an underlying surface the spider can produce an adhesive force of 170 times its own weight. That’s like Spiderman clinging to the flat surface of a window on a building by his fingertips and toes only, whilst rescuing 170 adults who are hanging on to his back!"

Link

Neatorama reader PT Ford said:

In celebration of the french national cheese day, which is april 8th, the association of regional cheeses in france has released a calendar of cheeses. each month features 12 mademoiselle and different cheeses. these "poster girls" get cheese some attention because the girls are either nude (but "tastefully" and strategically covered) or in french lingerie. thought readers would like a peek at that it makes cheese fun!

Yes, indeed – what can be better than cute girls and cheese? Link (Thanks PT Ford!)

From the website:

Automatic Camera situated 7 miles from blast with 10 foot lens. Shutter speed equaled 1/100,000,000 of-a-second exposure. Joshua tree’s near base get vaporized in just microseconds.

Link | More Edgerton Photos.

Archaeologists from the University of Memphis discovered an intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings – the first since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.

Bob Partridge, of the Ancient Egypt Society, said it could possibly be the tomb of Queen Nefertiti, who co-ruled Egypt between 1379 and 1358 BC. Her tomb has never been found.

If it is Nefertiti’s tomb, then it’s a very major find indeed! Link

Fed up with gangs of youth smoking pot in public, the Amsterdam authorities put up No Toking signs around the city, and found that they’re stolen the next day.

So, they decided to sell them as souvenirs instead!

Hundreds of people from countries around the world have asked for a sign at a price of EUR 90 (£62).

"About 75% of the requests come from the United States," said a spokesman for the De Baarsjes council.

USA? Somehow I’m not surprised. Link