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Photo: Amihai Mazar / Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Archaeologists discovered a 3,000-year-old beehive as well as other evidence for an ancient beekeeping industry in Israel:
Archaeologists digging in northern Israel have discovered evidence of a 3,000-year-old beekeeping industry, including remnants of ancient honeycombs, beeswax and what they believe are the oldest intact beehives ever found.
The findings in the ruins of the city of Rehov this summer include 30 intact hives dating to around 900 B.C., archaeologist Amihai Mazar of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University told The Associated Press. He said it offers unique evidence that an advanced honey industry existed in the Holy Land at the time of the Bible.
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Minuscule is a fantastic animated series created by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud of French studio Futurikon. The series revolve around the daily lives (and crazy shenanigans) of insects, and are like a cross between a Tex Avery cartoon and microcosmos.
In this clip above, Szabo and Giraud updated the classic Aesop’s fable The Tortoise and the Hare, with insects (and mollusk, to be technical about it): Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] | If you like that, there are more Minuscule clips on YouTube – Thanks Chris!
Why ride a boring ol’ limousine to your wedding when you can ride … a Tank Limo, by UK company Tanks-A-Lot (really!): Link – via Blue’s News
Chimps are impulsive animals – they can suddenly throw a hissy fit with loud screeches and throwing things. But recently, a new study suggests that they also know how to control their urges and avoid temptation: by reading National Geographics!
The researchers tested four adult chimpanzees with a candy dispenser, which steadily delivered enticing sweets every 30 seconds. As soon as the apes reached to get the accumulated candy, the dispenser stopped delivering any more. This meant that if the chimps resisted their impulses, they would earn a greater award.
Here’s where the self-distraction came into play.
The chimpanzees also were sometimes given a set of toys, such as magazines, toothbrushes and rubber tubes. They were significantly better at coping with temptation when they could entertain themselves with toys.
"The magazines included some National Geographic, Entertainment Weekly, and Atlanta food and wine circulars, among others. The chimps would slowly page through the magazines, probably looking at the pictures—research suggests that they perceive pictures as real objects like humans do," Evans told LiveScience. "They used the toothbrushes as we would. They appeared to enjoy the bristle texture in their mouth and on their teeth."
Without toys, the chimps only held out for six-and-a-half minutes on average to get about 11 candies, but with toys, they waited 50 percent longer on average to get roughly 17 candies.
Link – Thanks Marilyn Terrell!
A well-preserved Incan mummy named "la Doncella" or "the Maiden" is on display for the first time in a museum. The serene look of the mummy belies the gruesome condition of her death: stranded on top of a mountain and frozen to death as a sacrifice.
Hundreds of people packed a museum in Salta, Argentina, to see "la Doncella" — Spanish for "the Maiden" — a 15-year-old girl whose remains were found in 1999 in an icy pit on Llullaillaco volcano, along with a 6-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy.
Scientists believe the so-called Children of Llullaillaco were sacrificed more than 500 years ago in a ceremony marking the annual corn harvest. Dressed in fine clothes and given corn alcohol to put them to sleep, the victims were then left to die at an elevation of 22,080 feet.
Link – Thanks Sara!
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Photo: Jill McLane Baker/Kalamazoo Gazette
It’s as if it were done by Neatorama:
A street near Northwood Elementary in Kalamazoo, Mich., has the word ‘school’ misspelled on the pavement. Crews were expected to correct the mistake Thursday.
The 14th Century keep was made famous as Castle Anthrax in the 1975 classic film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Tickets have been restricted to 500 for the event near Stirling, which sees fans taking to the castle’s battlements to enact scenes from the famous film.
Other activities include the Coconut Conga and a talent contest. Link -via Puppies and Flowers
It’s Day 55 of Neatorama reader Rich B.’s Great American Roadtrip, and here’s where he is at: the Paper House in Pigeon Cove, Massachusetts.
Elis F. Stenman, with the assistance of his family, began the construction of the Paper House in 1922. For the next twenty years, the Stenmans layered and and pasted and rolled approximately 100,000 newspapers to use in the creation of their two-room dream home.
Links: The Paper Piano | Paper Fireplace inside the Paper House | Official Website – Thanks Rich!
Will wonders never cease? Here’s the world record of number of bananas snapped in half in one minute WITH HIS BARE HANDS!!! OMG!!!!1!!!
Chuck Norris would be proud: Hit play or go to Link [Google Video] – via Hey Floyd and mentalfloss
After a long and hard day’s work in the kitchen, your spoon wants to rest, so lay down its weary head and keep your kitchen counter clean with this pillow spoon rest…
Link – via Crib Candy
Hacker Zen blog has the DIY guide on how to make a video game pixel art t-shirt using a few household items and acrylic paint:
Those aren’t real ants attacking an walking stick insect – rather they’re the amazingly lifelike origami (technically kirigami, I think as the paper was cut) creations of a Japanese artist named Taketori.
Link to Gallery (click on the link in Japanese right below "kaguyahime" to see the thumbnailed images) – via Pink Tentacle, Thanks Okfuture!
This is an amazing program for image editing. I can’t wait for this to be included in a version of photoshop.
