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Harald Wolf at the University of Ulm, Germany and colleagues wondered how desert ants can find their way back home. (Previously, scientists found that ants use the sun as a compass, but this would be useless in the desert). When they shortened the ants’ legs, the insects have trouble finding home. When they put stilts on the ants’ legs, the insects traveled further and had to backtrack looking for home. So, Harald and colleagues concluded that ants have an internal pedometer: they "count" (well, kind of) their steps!
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Duo, the two-nosed dog Staffordshire bull terrier, is homeless and can’t find a home:
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Take a look at photos of these giant sculptures of Lord of the Rings characters in Australia New Zealand. Link – Thanks Vurdlak! Update 6/30/06: Thanks to Neatorama readers Kiwi JD and Erueti, we now know that this is on top of the Embassy Theater (which Peter Jackson [wiki] helped restore) in Wellington, New Zealand – not Australia. Mea culpa, New Zealanders! |
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Given the advances in inkjet technology, Gregory Daigle reviewed the exciting possibilities of "printing" your own battery, communication, display, and artificial muscle to create a "printable" robot.
Link – Thanks gdaigle! |
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In 1889, psychologist Joseph Jastrow asked this question: which one of the two bars are larger? Easy – the bottom one, right? Wrong (or else it wouldn’t be an illusion now, would it?) Find out the right answer: Link – Thanks Walt! |
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Can you find seven birds in this picture? Link |
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Photo: Calum MacLeod |
Rain during the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Heaven forbid! Well, not wanting to leave it to chance, the Chinese government is taking proactive steps to control the weather!
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The Hidden Door Company specializes in making secret, hidden doors for your house! They come in various guises like wine racks, bookshelves, cabinets and so forth… |
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From the Atlas of Plucked Instrument, a wonderful website dedicated to string musical instruments, comes this weird contraption called a "ramkie" from Southern Africa:
See much, much more at Atlas of Plucked Instrument |
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From Improv Everywhere, the folks who brought you the infamous Best Buy Prank, is this clip Meet a Black Person, where a black guy opened a stand in Aspen, Colorado, where the population is 94.9% white and just 0.44% black. |
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Amongst many other weird novelty items, Stupididiotic sells these silly looking Black Bars sunglasses to give yourself that coveted "censored" look. Link – Thanks Daniel Morvec! |
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Neatorama reader Craig Conley wrote us about Do-Re-Midi: the Funkamentals of a Text-Based Musical Notation:
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Archaeologist Mariana Petry Cabral of the Amapa State Scientific and Technical Research Institute and colleagues working in the Amazon have discovered what could be a centuries-old astronomical observatory dubbed the Brazilian Stongehenge.
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Former test pilot Larry Neal of Boyd, Texas created this awesome flying machine called the Super Sky Cycle (basically a flying bike – technically a cross between a motorcycle and an autogyro). The flying bike goes as fast as 70 mph in the air and 60 mph on the road, and sells for around $25 grand! |
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A fantastic list of funny shope names from Shop Horror: the Best of the Worst in British Shop Names: Link via the Presurfer |
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Devorah Sperber built this life-sized replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper from 20,763 thread spools strung onto aluminum ball chain. As if that’s not awesome enough, when seen through the sphere, the familiar image of Jesus and his disciples come into focus … Link – Devorah Sperber’s other thread spool artworks, via Jaf Project |
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Barcodes are ubiquitous … and boring. But not anymore, thanks to the Japanese company Design Barcode. Link | Cannes Lion Live 2006 – Thanks Rohin! |
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That Christopher Gilbert guy sure is really talented with photoshop… Link [some are NSFW] Update 6/29/06: Neatorama reader Uw Moeder pointed us to the right guy: Christophe Gilbert, a very talented Belgian photographer. Link |
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No one knows who built this 40-foot sculpture of Transformer’s Optimus Prime [wiki] in Yunnan, China – or why. From the website:
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Yes – that’s right, a single serving of pork brain in milk gravy has 3,500 mg of cholesterol or 1,170% of the daily recommended intake! Found at Jeff Kay’s West Virginia Surf Report. |
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Voffka has this interesting photo collection of everyday life in old Soviet: Link [banner NSFW] – via Error 101 Update 6/30/06: Neatorama reader Peter Vasilyev pointed that Vladimir Rolov (the photographer) has a website |
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These red metal bookshelves, designed by Studio de Lange and made from laser cut metals, are like clothesrack, but for books! |
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Brookstone has got this unusual globe fan that circulates air 360° all around the room:
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Jason Hackenwerth is a balloon artist – actually, he’s like a balloon artist on steroids! See his amazingly complex, fantastic, sci-fi inspired balloon creations at Site Project, The Proposition, Little John Contemporary, Savannah College – via Drawn! |
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Mary Wales Loomis makes her own shoes from scratch – here’s how: Link – via Information Junk |
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Pump It Up is like Dance Dance Revolution, and this guy named smidget plays it very, very well. Hit play or go to Link [YouTube], another Link [YouTube] – via Bifurcated Rivets |
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Phyllis Smith is waging a war with worms in her tomato garden. She’s clearly losing the battle, as she recently found a "hi" message from the worms on one of her tomatoes:
Link – via Bits & Pieces |
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Joan C. Gratz is an artist and animator who pioneered the animation technique called claypainting. In this technique, bits of clays were used as if they were oil or acrylic paint and the effects are marvelous.
Hit play or go to Link [Google Video], Joan’s website – Thanks Ajit! |
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Do you remember those Cracker Jack "winkies"? You know, the lenticular images that magically change as the view angle changes. Well, Barry Wood found this neat guitar with this winkie – must be for those scary metal bands! |
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Seattle has pigs, Chicago has cows, Riverside has … oranges? Yes – giant oranges are now on display in Riverside as a street art project. A orange-tastic post at grow-a-brain: Link |

