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This excellent documentary takes a look at the career of Steven Spielberg [wiki] .
Click Play or go to Link [YouTube] .
Question > What’s your favorite Spielberg film ?
Ammonites (AKA snakestones) are quite common around Whitby in the north of England where folklore has it that they are the remains of snakes turned to stone by St. Hilda, the 7th century abbess of Whitby:
The fact that Whitby snakestones generally do not have a head is supposedly due to a convenient beheading curse issued by another Christian martyr, St Cuthbert. However, to make snakestones more saleable, and to reinforce the legend of their origin, serpents’ heads were sometimes carved onto them, especially in Victorian times. (From a collection of ammonite folklore on the British Natural History Museum’s web site).
Via Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society
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This is the memorable and humorous version of Puttin’ on the Ritz [wiki] (performed by Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle) used in Mel Brooks’ 1974 film Young Frankenstein [wiki] . The scene in the film is itself a parody of Fred Astaire in Blue Skies.
Click Play or go to Link [YouTube] .
Ransom Riggs recently made a short film (and we mean short: 68 special effects filled seconds!) called "Portable Living Room"
The clip is about a young boy who got stuck at Grandma’s house for the weekend, with only one way out: his imagination.
This film is nominated for an Independent Film Channel Award. It’s a fun and inventive clip, worth a look see (and if you like it, hopefully you’ll vote for it): Link – via mentalfloss, Thanks Will!
There are 5 main channels on VideoSift: music, comedy, cute, geek and politics. Today, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting video clips of the politics channel:
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So probably everyone knows that Bill Clinton plays the saxophone, but do you know that Nixon is a piano player? Here’s a clip of him playing his own composition (Nixon Piano Concerto #1) in 1963. |
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Now, something from 1946: a documentary about the atomic bomb test in the Bikini Atoll on July 8, 1946. The scary sight of the mushroom cloud is strangely contrasted with the upbeat and cheerful background music! |
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In 2003, US fighter jet mistakenly fired on a UK vehicle on the ground. For years, both US and UK government denied the existence of a cockpit video of this friendly fire tragedy, until it showed up on YouTube and on VideoSift. |
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"Welcome to North Korea, leave everything you know behind." BBC This World 2004 documentary about North Korea called "Access to Evil" provides a (frightful) glimpse to the strange and dangerous life in the Hermit Kingdom. Link [60 min] |
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Let’s end on a funny note: In 1990, a Conservative Party member Bill Galbraith sparked a scandal when he called a fellow Tory John Taylor a "bloody n*gger". When reporters showed up on his doorstep, Galbraith decided not to face the cameras but out came his wife, who defended him in a very funny way. |
By the way, it’s nice to see that VideoSift, named best video aggregator site by PC World, continues to grow fast. In January, the website had a record month for participation and traffic. So, congrats, Sifters!
For more the web’s most interesting videos, check out: VideoSift.
Here’s our weekly collaboration with Bizarro. I think Dan Piraro nailed it with this strip: today’s newcasts are filled with bad news, followed by worse news: war, crime, and natural disasters. No wonder news readership is down, even for the previously-thought-to-be-bulletproof morning shows.
For more Bizarro-goodness, check out Dan Piraro’s website: Bizarro.
Sure, you know these five creatures as stinging, biting merchants of death. But isn’t it time we put aside our differences and embrace the positive?
It Could Kill You: For the most part, scorpions use their toxins to capture prey, ward off competitors during mating season, and defend themselves against larger predators. Unfortunately, humans count as larger predators. A sting by some species can leave you with a number of potentially deadly conditions, including heart and lung failure.
But It Just Might Cure You: Medical researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have discovered a new use for scorpion venom – in cancer medication. Each year, some 9,000 Americans are diagnosed with malignant glioma, a form of brain cancer that kills about half its victims within a year of diagnosis.
Glioma cells work a lot like cockroach muscle cells. And while that fact is pretty disgusting, it also got UAB researchers thinking about the giant Israeli scorpion, whose venom is harmless to humans but deadly to its cockroach prey. Doctors found that when they injected a drug derived from the venom of giant Israeli scorpions into cancer-infected human brains, the poison destroyed the glioma cells and left surrounding, healthy cells alone. The treatment is still in the early stages of development, but researchers remain optimistic.
It Could Kill You: Thanks to their unique colors and intricate patterns, cone shells look like they’d make great beach souvenirs. But watch your fingers; they’re actually home to one of the world’s deadliest creatures. Cone shell snails come equipped with an extendable “arm” – complete with a sharp, venomous tooth – that they use to immobilize and kill prey. And while the venom certainly helps the slow-moving hunters from going hungry, it can also paralyze, or even kill, victims. The good news: Death by cone shell is completely painless.
But It Just Might Cure You: Cone shell venom, called conotoxin, has incredible potential as a painkiller, with one added bonus: Unlike many current anesthetics, conotoxin isn’t addictive. In 2005, Ireland-based Elan Pharmaceuticals became the first company to market a drug made from the venom. Called Prialt, the drug is pumped into the fluid around a patient’s spine to relieve chronic pain and is believed to be up to 1,000 times more powerful than morphine. Meanwhile, at the University of Melbourne, a research team headed by Professor Bruce Livett is currently developing another conotoxin-based painkiller called ACV1, which was first tested in the summer of 2005. Unlike Prialt, however, ACV1 doesn’t affect a patient’s blood pressure and can be injected under the skin, making it a lot less intimidating. Plus, ACV1 is believed to be as much as 10,000 times stronger than morphine.
It Could Kill You: You know an animal is bad news when its sweat was once considered a state-of-the-art military technology. Meet the poison dart frog, which secretes a highly dangerous neurotoxin, called batrachotoxin, through its pores. In fact, various Latin American tribes used to collect the stuff (carefully) to poison the tips of their arrows for hunting and warfare. Interestingly, however, the frogs don’t produce their own toxin. They get it from eating insects that most likely picked up the poison from the plants they consume. The same frogs, if raised in a laboratory rather than the rain forest, aren’t poisonous at all.
But It Just Might Cure You: Before batrachotoxin stops your heart, its speeds it up. Consequently, medical experts believe it might be possible to tweak elements of the frog’s toxin to bring patients out of cardiac arrest and potentially save lives. And because it also deadens nerve endings, batrachotoxin has potential as an ingredient in anesthetics. Studies into other uses of the toxin are still in the early stages, but the frog’s medical benefits bolster the argument for preserving the rainforest. Most scientists believe we’ve only just begun to grasp the pharmaceutical possibilities of some of the world’s rarest and deadliest creatures.
It Could Kill You: Most vipers are scary enough as it is, but jararaca vipers are venomous to boot. But what’s truly fascinating is the unique way their venom works. Unlike a traditional toxin, viper venom functions by preventing the blood from clotting, meaning the snakes actually kill their victims by causing them to bleed to death.
But It Just Might Cure You: Lucky for us, slow-clotting blood isn’t always a bad thing. Researchers have found that small doses of viper venom can prevent arteries from hardening, thus stopping the kinds of blood clots that commonly occur in cardiac patients. In fact jararaca viper venom (or at least a synthesized version of it) is a key ingredient in most of today’s ACE inhibitors. Introduced in 1981, ACE inhibitors work by slowing down the body’s angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). When left untreated, the enzyme can produce a peptide that causes muscle constriction around blood vessels. That kind of constriction can set off a chain reaction whereby a person’s blood vessels narrow and his or her blood pressure shoots through the roof, leading to greater risk of heart attack and other ailments. Because the ACE inhibitors can stop this domino effect, they’re frequently used to treat millions of men and women with high blood pressure.
It Could Kill You: One of only two species of venomous lizards, the Gila monster is native to southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Unlike other deadly critters, Gila monsters don’t inject venom directly into their victims. Instead, poison oozes from the lizard’s teeth into the open wounds of its prey, usually while the Gila monster is chewing. Because of this, human fatalities from Gila monster bites are rare, but a bite can cause intense pain, nausea, swelling, fatigue, dizziness, and chills – none of which is particularly fun.
But It Just Might Cure You: In addition to all those nasty side effects, Gila monster venom stimulates insulin production and slows down glucose production, which is great news for diabetics. Byetta, a drug manufactured by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Company to treat Type 2 diabetes, uses a manufactured form of Gila monster venom as its main ingredient. Approved by the FDA in April of 2005, Byetta is injected before meals to help their bodies produce the right amount of insulin at the right time – the best part being that it doesn’t cause the mood swings often associated with traditional insulin regimens.
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The article above was written by Maggie Koerth-Baker and Laurel Mills, and is reprinted from the March – April 2007 issue of mental_floss magazine, featured on Neatorama in partnership with mental_floss.
Be sure to check out mental_floss‘ fantastic website and blog:
This guy uses candles as pixels in a stop motion animation of Tetris, Pacman, Pong and Space Invaders.
Link to Youtube video | Link – via Devilducky
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The picture shows a group of young Lebanese driving through a South Beirut neighborhood devastated by Israeli bombings. The picture was taken on 15 August 2006, the first day of the
ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah when thousands of Lebanese started returning to their homes. Link
Special pair of socks by the aNYthing gang . Found at Drooghi .
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Cookie Monster [wiki] is a popular muppet character on the children’s television show Sesame Street. He is covered with blue fur and has “googly eyes”, but he is most known for his voracious appetite. He can (and often does) eat anything and everything, but his favorite choice of food above everything else is cookies, hence his name. (Chocolate-chip cookies are his favorite kind.) The character has been performed by Frank Oz and David Rudman.
The above item is a collaboration between Kangol [wiki] and New York’s Alife . Found at Sold Out . Kinda reminds me of the Cookie Monster . What do you think ?
LA-based artist Mike Kelley, one of the most influential contemporary artists today has collaborated with Perks and Mini and Medicom Toys from Japan to create this soft, cuddly and strangely insecure talking creature.
Throughout his career, Kelley’s work has involved confrontational crochet and stuffed animal arrangements, as you have probably seen on the cover of Sonic Youth’s 91 release Dirty. Would Little Friend be an indication of what those toys would say if they had a voice?
Full of creepy lines such as “I watch youâ€, and “hurt me…I don’t mind!â€, Little Friend isn’t exactly your average, comforting bedside friend. For fans, there is only a limited edition of 800 made, so to avoid disappointment, get in quick.
Found at ThreeThousand . Image via Medicom Toy .
This is the perfect pair for Valentine’s Day [wiki] .
As seen on Sold Out .
Comments Off The TMNT portable pizza thrower toy has ‘an adjustable aim and motorized pizza throwing action’. Listen to what Shredder says in the commercial.
Click Play or go to Link [YouTube] .
Dreams do come true. You can finally get that Willy Wonka coat you’ve been dreaming about. Yes, that’s right! The coat comes in three sizes (S, M, L) and if you’re not sure which size you should get click here .
The website says ‘We will not accept the order from the outside of Japan, and will not deliver this to abroad’ so call one of friends in Japan and get them to order it for you.
Click here for more info.
Found at Medicom Toy Life Entertainment , image via Zozo .
A few weeks ago, Neatorama reported on Troy Hurtubise’s full body armor, dubbed “The Trojan”. Now Troy has decided to sell his combat ready suit and shield, with resale rights, on eBay to the highest bidder. Bidding ends Valentine’s Day around midnight (current bid is $22,100). link [eBay]
Techworld is reporting that D-Wave, a heavily funded Canadian company, plans to debut a “quantum computer” next week. This computing device “can carry out 64,000 calculations simultaneously (in parallel ‘universes’), thanks to a new technique which rethinks the already-uncanny world of quantum computing.”
Parallel Universes? Sounds like Star Trek to me, but judge for yourself at D-Wave’s website – if nothing else they have some neat pictures. link
