Archive for May 2nd, 2008
Raspberry Duet
(YouTube link)
Flapping lips are a lot funnier in slow motion. And the music just adds to it! -via b3ta
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White-nose Syndrome
Bat Conservation International (BCI) is an organization dedicated to our flying mammal friends. They are mobilizing in response to a bat affliction known as white-nose syndrome {wiki} that has killed thousands of bats.
Entire bat species are potentially at risk if scientists cannot solve this puzzle soon. White-nose syndrome (WNS), named for a white fungus found on the faces of some affected bats, has been reported since the winter of 2006-7 in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and possibly Pennsylvania. Mortality rates of up to 95 percent have been documented in some populations hit by WNS. Five bat species are affected by the syndrome, with little brown myotis hit the hardest. Endangered Indiana myotis also are taking losses.
The cause remains elusive. (Few scientists believe the fungus is the source of WNS.)
BCI is co-sponsoring a meeting of scientists in June to discuss white-nose syndrome. You can help by joining BCI or by making a donation. Or just read to find out more. Link -Thanks, Thor!
(image credit: josdiiri)
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Baby Car Logo
Dentsu ad agency in Brazil created a series of clever advertisement for Minichamps, a diecast miniature car collectible: "baby" version of the logos!
Link – thanks Haendel Dantas!
Previously on Neatorama: Evolution of Car Logos
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IDOT Failed to See the Humor in Stop (in the Name of Love) Signs
Last year, Mayor Dave Heilmann of Oak Lawn, Illinois, added humorous signs to the city’s stop signs in attempt to get drivers to obey.
The Illinois Department of Transportation, however, wasn’t amused: they ordered the mayor to take the signs down:
"I thought that was a very harsh response to an effort to promote safety," Heilmann said. "I truly believe the signs were making an impact. They were around schools and heavily trafficked areas. The community loved them, and we heard from all over the country about how thinking outside the box was a good way to reinforce the message that people need to stop."
Heilmann launched his public safety campaign to cut down on speeding through stop signs in September. He added slogans such as "and smell the roses" and "means that you aren’t moving" to 50 stop signs.
Link – via Fogonazos, thanks aberron!
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The Origin of Booze
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A historical look at the stuff that gets us hammered. Who’s ready for the first round? BeerTo quote Homer Simpson, is there anything it can’t do? Most likely invented in Persia circa 7,000 B.C.E., beer’s gone on to become hugely important in almost every ancient society it’s touched. Back in Sumerian culture, the drink was considered positively divine – a fact confirmed when archaeologists dug up the 4,000-year-old "Hymn to Ninkasi." The ode to the goddess of brewing actually doubles as a recipe for a barley-based beverage The epic of Gilgamesh tells us a similar tale; one of the main characters, Enkidu, is said to have had "seven cups of beer, and his heart soared." After seven rounds we can definitely see why. In ancient Egypt, wages were often paid to the poor in beer, or as they called it, hqt. It was sort of light beer, apparently, and not very intoxicating, which explains how construction workers of the day managed to drink three daily rations of it and still build their masterpiece: the not-at-all-leaning pyramids of Giza. WineA wine snob will happily tell you, for hours on end, how difficult it is to make a decent wine and how many complicated steps are involved. This may be true, but it’s ridiculously easy to make basic wine. The beverage in its roughest form probably goes back thousands of years to primitive cultures who mistakenly left grapes in the sun for too long and then attempted to eat them. As it turns out, all the yeasts needed to ferment grapes actually grow on grape skin. (No additives necessary!) Around 5,000 B.C.E., the people of present-day Georgia and Iran started making wine in clay pots. By the time of ancient Greece, wine had acquired a religious significance; perhaps in homage to Dionysus, the Greeks planted vines in all their colonies, including France and Egypt. (We’d love to know what the French make of the fact that they have the Greeks to thank for their vaunted grapes.) California winemakers should also praise God, literally, for the fruits of their labor: when Christian missionaries arrived there, they planted the region’s first vines so they’d have something to transmogrify into ChampagneAs you probably know, bubbly comes from the Champagne region of France, a longtime center of trade (and also a region in the path of rampaging hordes: Attila the Hun, among others, left footprints there). As you may also know, Dom Perignon was in fact a real person – his first name was Pierre – and, in a sense, he’s the inventor of the sparkly stuff. A Benedictine monk, the Dom served as treasurer of an abbey in the Champagne region starting in 1688. The region had slightly chilly weather that year, and the growing season was unusually short anyway – which meant grapes spent less time fermenting on the vine and more time fermenting in cellars. Essentially, it was this process that led to carbon dioxide being trapped inside the bottles. At first the Dom was horrified; this was a sign that he’d failed in his duties as treasurer (which included, for some reason, winemaking). Try as he might, he couldn’t get rid of the bubbles. Finally, resigned to dealing with them, he blended grapes to make a light white wine, which suited the effervescence far better than a heavy red. He also realized he’d have to solve another problem caused by trapped carbon dioxide: a considerable number of his bottles exploding. So, instead of stopping them with wood and oil-soaked hemp, he started using a soft material from Spain: cork. This lovely story, by the way, doesn’t sit so well with the natives of Limoux, France. They allege that they were making sparkling wine in their backyards as early as the 1500s, and that Perignon stole their idea. We’ve got to side with the Dom on this one: After all, the guy was a monk. VodkaBelieve it or not, the name really does come from the Russian word for "water," which is "voda," and the Russians have a pretty good claim to inventing the stuff. Production from grains has been documented there as far back as the 9th century. It wasn’t, however, until around the 14th century that vodka became known as the Russian national drink, and for good reasons; it was served everywhere, even at religious ceremonies. Poland likes to boast that its own vodka production goes back even further than Russia’s, to the 8th century, but what was going made in that region at the time was more like grappa or brandy. Later Polish vodkas were called "gorzalka," or "burnt wine," and were used as medicines, as were all distilled liquors in the Middle Ages. Vodka was also used as an ingredient in early European formulations of gunpowder. By the way, for those of you who turn your noses up the fruit-infused vodkas that have recently hit the market: they’re the original. Early vodkas were not quite as palatable as your average Grey Goose, so makers often masked the taste with fruits and spices. GinIf you’re unsurprised that vodka used to be given as medicine, you probably won’t be shocked to learn that gin was invented specifically for that purpose. 14th-century Europeans distilled juniper berries in hopes of fighting the plague (then again, almost everything they did was in hope of fighting the plague). But gin as we know it didn’t come along until the mid-1600s. That’s when one Dr. Sylvius concocted the first formulation in the Netherlands, hoping it would serve as a primitive type of dialysis for kidney patients. (We’re guessing he didn’t particularly care about its effect on the liver.) By the end of the century, gin had become popular in Britain because it was sold at cut-rate prices, despite a very widespread rumor that it could induce abortion, which lead to it being nicknamed "mother’s ruin." Later, when the Brits started to occupy India, they found it useful in yet another medical mixture: the gin and tonic. The quinine in the tonic water was effective in fighting malaria. TequilaAs vodka was to Russia, tequila was to Mexico; it’s been made there since at least the 16th century and was originally used in religious rituals. (Having drunk a little too much tequila once, we can testify to its ability to cause drinkers to beseech God for mercy.) The name comes from a town founded in 1656. And while José Cuervo didn’t exactly invent the drink, he was the first to commercialize it. As for its migration northward, a fellow named Cenobio Sauza brought the stuff to the U.S. in the late 1800s; we can’t help but wonder if this is why frat boys on spring break still refer to this stuff as "the sauce." RumYo-ho-uh-oh and a bottle of rum – the drink tastes great, but its history isn’t so sweet. The story, as far as we can tell, starts in India, where in 300, B.C.E., Alexander the Great saw some sugarcane and memorably called it "the grass that gives honey without bees." All well and good, until Christopher Columbus went and brought sugarcane to the Caribbean. There, it flourished and became the engine of the slave trade. Africa sent slaves to the Caribbean, which sent sugar to New England, which sent rum and other goodies to Africa, which sent more slaves to the Caribbean. Known as the triangular trade, pondering the implications of it all is enough to make a person want a stiff drink. But not, preferably, one steeped in rum. |
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The article above was reprinted with permission from mental_floss‘ book In the Beginning. From Big Hair to the Big Bang, here’s a Mouthwatering Guide to the Origins of Everything by our friends at mental_floss. Did you know that paper clips started out as Nazi-fighting warriors? Or that cruise control was invented by a blind genius? Read it all in the book!
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The Most Polluted Cities in the United States
Yay for Los Angeles! The City of Angels no longer holds the dubious title of the Sootiest City in the United States. That honor is now held by Pittsburgh (though LA is still the most polluted other measures).
The American Lung Association’s State of The Air 2008 report ranked metropolitan areas according to their ozone, year round and short-term particle pollution (Data [PDF])
The most polluted cities, according to the short-term particle pollution measure are:
1. Pittsburgh – New Castle, PA
2. Los Angeles – Long Beach – Riverside, CA
3. Fresno – Madera, CA
4. Bakersfield, CA
5. Birmingham – Hoover – Cullman, AL
6. Logan, UT – ID
7. Salt Lake City – Ogden – Clearfield, UT
8. Sacramento – Arden – Arcade – Yuba City, CA – NV
9. Detroit – Warren – Flint, MI
10. Washington – Baltimore – Northern Virginia, DC – MD – VA – WV
The most polluted cities, by year-round particle pollution:
1. Los Angeles – Long Beach – Riverside, CA
2. Pittsburgh – New Castle, PA
3. Bakersfield, CA
4. Birmingham – Hoover – Cullman, AL
5. Visalia – Porterville, CA
6. Atlanta – Sandy Springs – Gainesville, GA – AL
7. Cincinnati – Middletown – Wilmington, OH – KY – IN
8. Fresno – Madera, CA
8. Hanford – Corcoran, CA
8. Detroit – Warren – Flint, MI
8. Cleveland – Akron – Elyria, OH
The most polluted cities, by ozone pollution:
1. Los Angeles – Long Beach – Riverside, CA
2. Bakersfield, CA
3. Visalia – Porterville, CA
4. Houston – Baytown – Huntsville, TX
5. Fresno – Madera, CA
6. Sacramento – Arden – Arcade – Yuba City, CA – NV
7. Dallas – Fort Worth, TX
8. New York – Newark – Bridgeport, NY – NJ – CT – PA
9. Washington – Baltimore – Northern Virginia, DC – MD – VA – WV
10. Baton Rouge – Pierre Part, LA
I find it amazing that for all its environmental-consciousness, California leads the nation in having the most polluted cities.
Link – Thanks MoonCake!
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Bizarro: Are You Faster Than a Fifth Grader?
You’ve probably heard of Fox’s hit game show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" but Dan Piraro of Bizarro has a better idea: "Are You Faster Than a Fifth Grader?"
For more Bizarro, check out Dan’s website and blog.
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Nutzapper and Other Really Dirty Racehorse Names
Just in time for Kentucky Derby, here’s a list of dirty, names of racehorses:
Earlier this year, a man named Andy Hillis decided to christen his racehorse Nutzapper. A Tonight Show guest had used the term when referring, jokingly, to a male contraceptive; since his horse had been gelded, Hillis thought he had a good fit. But naming a Thoroughbred isn’t as simple as coming up with a good double-entendre. The Jockey Club, the 103-year-old organization that holds the reins to the Sport of Kings in North America, has to sign off on every moniker. Hillis explained to the registry poobahs that as a young boy in Canada, he loved to zap walnuts in boiling oil and sprinkle them on salads. Satisfied that the name had a tasty, not tasteless, origin, the Jockey Club approved Nutzapper. Hillis, unable to contain his glee, boasted about the name to a Daily Racing Form reporter. "I’ve never even been to Canada," he said. "I just made the whole thing up on the spot."
Hillis shouldn’tve boasted – the Jockey Club barred his name afterwards. But Slate has found some really dirty and weird names that apparently went under the association registrars’ noses. For example:
You want explicit commands? How about Blow Me (1945), Get It On (both 1971 and 1986), On Your Knees (1977 and 2005), Spank It (1985), or 1963’s Go Down, whose sire, of course, was Service. Like ‘em young? Embarrassingly enough, Jail Bait (1947 and 1983), Barely Legal (1982 and 1989), and Date More Minors (1998) all made it into the staid registry.
A Slate article by T.D. Thornton: Link – via FanIQ, thanks Geoff Bough!
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David Wasserman's Tin Can Art
Neatorama reader Steven Wasserman told us about his dad’s tin can art:
My father, David Wasserman was a successful commercial artist. In his spare time, he created monumental and beautiful works of metal collage depicting a variety of subjects, using small pieces cut from tin cans & soda cans. He never exhibited his works during his lifetime, but since his death I have been able to arrange museum, university, and gallery shows, & this website is another way to introduce him & his achievements to the world.
Check it out – they’re amazing! Link – Thanks Steven!
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Lesbos Islanders Mad About the Word "Lesbian"
People of the Greek Island of Lesbos [wiki], the original Lesbians, are suing gay organizations from using the term "lesbian" to mean a homosexual woman:
The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.
He says it causes daily problems to the social life of Lesbos’s inhabitants.
By the way, the word "lesbian" is derived from the erotic poems of the ancient Greek poet Sappho [wiki], who was born around in the 7th Century BC in the island of Lesbos.
Link – Thanks CheeseDuck!
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Let It Ride Coffee Table
Neatorama reader Hugo Brown told us about a coffee table he designed and made: a Let It Ride board game coffee table complete with stormtrooper, unicorn, and karma. No words on how the game is played, though.
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King of the Hypermilers: 59 MPG in an Old Honda Accord
With gas prices climbing towards $4/gallon (I was in San Francisco last week, where gas prices had already passed that level a while ago), it’s no surprise that people are trying to maximize their car’s MPG.
But Wayne Gerdes takes it to the very extreme: he’s the king of the hypermilers, and can get 59 MPG in a plain old Accord.
But you may not want to try it … here’s why:
I’m thinking that hypermiling consists of driving like a 90-year-old in a mobile sweat lodge, but I’m about to find out I’m wrong. Really, really wrong.
"Buckle up tight, because this is the death turn," says Wayne. Death turn? We’re moving at 50 mph. Wayne turns off the engine. He’s bearing down on the exit, and as he turns the wheel sharply to the right, the tires squeal—which is what happens when you take a 25 mph turn going 50. Cathy, Terry’s wife, who is sitting next to me in the backseat, grabs my leg. I grab the door handle. As we come out of the 270-degree turn, Cathy says, "I hope you have upholstery cleaner."
Here’s an interesting article by Dennis Gaffney for Mother Jones: Link – Thanks MoonCake!
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