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Over the next two decades, the world’s population is expected to grow on average by more than 100 million people a year. More than 95 percent of that increase will occur in the developing countries, where pressure on land and water is already intense. A key challenge facing the international community is, therefore, to ensure food security for present and future generations, while protecting the natural resource base on which we all depend. The potato will be an important part of efforts to meet those challenges…
Among the planned acxtivities will be a global forum on “Potato science for the poor” in Cuzco, Peru on 25-28 March 2008. Link -via the Presurfer
PETA has compiled a list of US prisons that best cater to the diets of vegan and vegetarian inmates.
We get calls all the time from inmates who want to make a positive change in their lives by going vegetarian, and in the course of responding to these individuals, we’ve assembled the following list of the top 10 vegetarian-friendly prisons in the United States as a tidbit for curious citizens, a resource for prisoners’ rights groups, and, well, a menu for future inmates.
Link -via mental_floss
If you have some Christmas cash burning a hole in your pocket, this book sounds great:
Opening with a written forward by Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and introduction by the Ames Bros, the 264-page hard cover book features 229 posters designed by Ames Bros and Pearl Jam artist Brad Klausen. Pearl Jam vs Ames Bros features over 80 comments on individual posters from all five members of Pearl Jam and running commentary from the poster designers — offering insight into the inspiration, concepts and process of poster creation.
Along the same lines, I’ve previously mentioned James Jean’s print book Process Recess.
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The Google image results are far more amusing than the Yahoo ones. Via We Are All Angry.
If failure’s your thing, read about 4 Utopian Communities That Bombed Miserably.
Ravi Baichwal was on-air live during the 10PM newscast Sunday at channel 7 in Chicago, when a minivan crashed through the studio wall! The interruption became the news as it happened. Link -via Arbroath
Odd Shoe Finder is a site to match up shoes that can’t be used by their owners. Many people have feet that are different sizes, and some people only have one foot. Users can list odd shoes for sale or trade to others who can use them. The site also has links to other resources for odd shoes. Link -via J-Walk Blog
Top Gear is into remote-controlled vehicles in a big way. In this race, it’s a full-size R/C car against a toy-sized model. And treachery is not out of the question. -via Unique Daily
When we think of statues and buildings of the classical period, we tend to imagine white marble; scientists in recent years have discovered that it is in fact most likely that many of the buildings and statues were painted and probably adorned with jewelry. The Vatican Museum has recently put on an exhibition of some of the most famous antiquities from the era with reproductions painted as close to the originals as they can – this is possible because many statues contain trace amounts of pigment from their original coats of paint.
Listverse has photographs of ten classical statues as they are, and as they have been recreated in color. Link -via Cynical-C
How would you like a batcave in your basement, complete with a bat-theater? A retired naturalist has just that! DC Audio Video Systems of New Hampshire set up a complete home theater in her cellar.
The set-up includes prop bats which hang from above, a motorized 110 16:9 Stewart Electriscreen, Triad Silver THX Speakers, and a Sony G90, a $36,000 commercial 1080p 2500 x 2000 CRT projector. The room also features eight black, motorized leather recliners and a LiteTouch LC5000 System for Lighting Control.
It has stalactites, too! It’s the “battiest” place to watch any of the Batman films. Link -via Unique Daily
Curious Expeditions takes a look at some of the holiday customs of Europe, including the arrivals of Krampus and Black Piet, building the Hungarian Luca Chair, and burning Jack Straw to ring in the New Year. Link
1,500 year old murals survive in a series of Buddhist temple caves carved out of a mountain in central India. The 30 caves at Ajanta were abandoned hundreds of years ago and rediscovered in 1819. Recently, Benoy K. Behl succeeded in photographing the ancient murals using available light, thus preserving their original appearance. National Geographic features these pictures in their January 2008 issue. Link -via Metafilter
(image credit: Benoy K. Behl)
The two keys are a big blanket and ruthlessness – - the video portrays pretty accurately how pleased the typical newborn is to be swaddled. Here’s some more tips on swaddling a baby.
This commercial for Virgin Mobile answers the important question “What would the Christmas story be like if there had been breakdancing at the Nativity?” It’s really amazing what you can discover when you go back to the original Greek and Hebrew. 1 min., 36 sec.
Via Jim Parsons
Hello everyone! I’d like you to say hello to the most wonderful Christmas present my lovely wife has ever given me: our new son, baby Zachary Graham, who was born just a few days ago.
The past few months had been a blur of activities preparing for the arrival of baby Z or Ziggy, as his grandparents love to call him. If you were wondering why I hadn’t been posting on Neatorama, answering your emails and link suggestions, or had been missing regular collaborations (sorry, guys!) you’re looking at the (very cute) reason!
Given that this is our first son, I’d appreciate any nugget of advice that you could give (yep, I’ve already been "sprayed" a couple of times while on diaper duty). And yes, before you point it out, let me say that I suck at making a baby burrito…
I probably won’t be posting much for a while, so please have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Just because you live in an Airstream trailer is no reason you can’t synch your Christmas lights to music via computer. -via Fark
Pedro Toala is paying the price of a prank. A group of kids tipped over a portable toilet in a park while Toala was inside. He was left with a broken back, permanently paralyzed, yet he forgave those who did this to him. Cher Przelomski, co-owner of the Planning Factory International, was inspired by Pedro’s story and began a project involving many businesses in the Wilmington, Delaware area. They remodeled Toala’s split-level home to turn it into an accessible dream house. The Pedro Project was completed in time for Toala and his family to return home on December 15th. Link to story. Link to a slideshow of the finished project. -via Fark
(Photo credit: Suchat Pederson/The News Journal)
I haven’t seen 300 – and I hate cats, but I thought this video compilation of classic YouTube cat-moments was wacky fun!
It’s a Bug-Eyed Blackfaced Plushy-Hugger. They’re native to carnivals throughout the Deep South. Their diet consists of stale popcorn, peanuts, and the stuff that sticks to the sides of candy cotton machines. Late at night when the carnies are packing up, you can hear their plaintive cries of “M-m-m-m-yyyy plushie! M-m-m-m-yyyy plushie!”
Kina Grannis recorded this love song to Digg as an entry in the Dorito’s Crash the Superbowl contest. The lyrics are on her site. She’s now one of the final ten contestants. The reaction from Digg is best summed up in this comment:
Cute girls on digg? Video or it didn’t happ– oh, I see what you did there. Well played, girls.
See the other nine entries in the running at the contest MySpace page. Link -via the Presurfer
It certainly looks suitably creepy. Here’s Coraline at Wikipedia if you’re unfamiliar. The movie is by LAIKA Entertainment, which was recently profiled by Fast Company. Via Drawn, which offers some related links.
Kitty cats Musashi, Leo, Luka, Seri, and Marble sing Jingle Bells. Link to Musashi’s website (in Japanese) -via Viral Video Chart
Cyclists collide during a high speed race in Australia.
Initially two cyclists competing in a 2000m dash in Melbourne, Australia, collided at high speeds, resulting in a domino effect pile up. The collision caused other riders to crash with some travelling through the air. But all escaped serious injury.
Nine out of the 18 riders were involved in the pile up at the velodrome.
Source & Video: Reuters
California ground squirrels and rock squirrels chew on discarded rattlesnake skin, then smear it on their fur. The result is that they smell like rattlesnake instead of squirrels, which may protect them from snake attack. The journal Animal Behavior published a new study from a team led by Barbara Clucas.
Clucas, a graduate student in animal behavior at the University of California, Davis, said she first noted this behavior in 2002.
She saw rock squirrels at Caballo Lake State Park in New Mexico licking themselves to apply chewed snake skin to their flanks, tails, and rear ends, which gave them the pungent, musky scent of a rattlesnake.
In 2003 she saw California ground squirrels at Lake Solano County Park in California doing the same thing.
Santa Claus originated far away from Japan, and sometimes the details get lost in translation. Or is it just creative liscence? Inventor’s Spot presents the Top Ten Strange Santas from Japan, including versions from monster movies, martial arts, anime, and of course, Hello Kitty! Link -via the Presurfer
More on Christmas in Japan.
After a 95-year ban, absinthe is legal again in the United States. But there are a lot of myths surrounding the drink, such as its madness-inducing properties. Absinthe was a favorite among 19th century French artists, who were sometimes mad already. It is not particularly addicting, and does not make you hallucinate any more than other liquors. Salon magazine debunks these and other myths in the article Everything you know about Absinthe is Wrong. Link
The YouTube page says, “Welcome to Official YouTube Channel for the British Monarchy.” Queen Elizabeth of England has just launched her official YouTube channel. It already contains historical film footage and broadcasts, and the first new video will be the palace’s Christmas Day greeting.
Announcing the launch of the channel, a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen “always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people”.
She added: “She has always been aware of reaching more people and adapting the communication to suit.
“This will make the Christmas message more accessible to younger people and those in other countries.”
Link to story. Link to YouTube channel. -via Metafilter
(image credit: Mr. Jez)
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