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The National Trust is encouraging their gardeners to urinate on bales of straw. A three-meter-long “pee bale” has been established at Wimpole Hall; gardeners visit the bale when nature calls (and when visitors are not present, because “we don’t want to scare the public.”) The bales are later added to the compost heap.
Only male gardeners are participating, in part because of some dubious claims regarding gender-based differences in urine: “There are obvious logistical benefits to limiting it to male members of the team, but also male pee is preferable to women’s, as the male stuff is apparently less acidic.”
A secondary benefit is anticipated in terms of water conservation:
“An average flush of the lavatory can use anything from four and a half to nine litres of water each time, but what people may not realise is that this water is treated to the same standard as drinking water and shouldn’t be wasted.” Urinating outdoors or in the shower is advocated by environmental activists, including Cameron Diaz, as a way of tacking climate change by saving water and energy.
They are tentatively encouraging the public to follow their lead: ““Adding a little pee just helps get it all going; it’s totally safe and a bit of fun too.”
Links for the Telegraph and the BBC (where there is an explanatory video).
David Thorne is at it again. The guy who tried to pay a bill with a picture of a spider and suffered through a surprise apartment inspection now has overdue video rentals. The correspondence between Thorne and Blockbuster Video goes about as you’d expect (if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance…), but there is a delicious twist at the end.
Dear Megan,
With the possible exception of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, the movies were not worth watching let alone stealing. In Logan’s Run, for example, the computer crashed at the end when presented with conflicting facts and blew up destroying the entire city. When my computer crashes I carry on a little bit and have a cigarette while it is rebooting. I don’t have to search through rubble for my loved ones. The same programmers probably designed the Blockbuster ‘returned or not’ database.
Tonight’s event is predicted to be “strong” with a couple dozen meteors per hour visible in the United States, several hundred per hour in Asia. This pales in comparison to some historic Leonid displays -
The meteor storm of 1833 was of truly superlative strength. One estimate is over one hundred thousand meteors an hour, but another, done as the storm abated, estimated in excess of two hundred thousand meteors an hour over the entire region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains.
One favorable factor tonight is that the moon is in its new phase, allowing better detection of the fainter meteors. The best viewing will occur between 1 a.m. and daybreak.
On November 15, 1959, Herb and Bonnie Clutter and two of their four children were murdered in Holcomb, Kansas. This crime was later chronicled in Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood and in four movies. The Guardian takes a look back at the crime, the book written about it, and how the town of Holcomb has dealt with its notoriety for 50 years. Some of the townspeople welcomed the attention; others wish everyone would stay away. Bob Rupp, the last townsperson to see the Clutters alive, and who erected a memorial plaque honoring the family, has his own opinion.
Bob Rupp has a third view. He says he has never read In Cold Blood, nor seen the movies, and never will. But he believes that Capote was unfair to the Clutters, because he left to posterity a memory of them that is dominated by the gruesome manner of their deaths rather than the wonderful accomplishments of their lives. He still thinks about the Clutters often, hence his idea for the memorial.
Link -via Metafilter
Some of these are obvious – cell phones, satellites and the atomic bomb – but I had no idea that Home Theaters and EBook readers had anything to do with scifi.
Probably the most famous scene in the second Aliens movie is when Ripley saves a little girl using a hydraulic exoskeleton. Someone in the military seems to have taken notice, since engineers recently unveiled an exoskeleton that helps a person lift 200 pounds like it was nothing at all. One inventor in Japan even went the extra mile and developed a functional suit almost identical to the one in the movie.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by 
This amateur video shows us how small everything is compared to the mighty Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by 
Photo: geishaboy500 [Flickr]
Neatorama’s own Johnny Cat has got the best idea concerning the Olympics that I’ve heard in a long time. Here it is, in his own words:
After some dull moments in beach volleyball, I realized the Games could use a little perk in athleticism, namely the greatest new sport/subversive activity: Parkour
Sure beats skateboarding. IOC, are you listening? And if you don’t know what Parkour is, here’s the founder performing a Super Mario Parkour [Google Video]
Forget the whoppee cushion. Pranking has gone hi-tech with this USB Computer Prankster that will turn caps lock on and off, make random mouse movements, and type out random text:
Handily, the Prankster features a time delay setting, so that after installing it, you can make your getaway safely before it startmisbehaving.
The Prankster is highly annoying, but itll never activate the Enter key or close or save documents, so it’s mostly mischievous, not super-dangerous.
From Totally Absurd Inventions, which lists "America’s Goofiest Patents," here is the Gerbil Shirt:
The Gerbil Shirt wraps your torso in plastic tube passageways, making your bod a super highway of fun for Binky and Bart. The interior surfaces are textured for traction and have air vents for easy breathing.
The inventor suggests you can clean the Gerbil Shirt by attaching it to a faucet (remove pets first please), and you should avoid collisions and falls that could cause pet panic.
In
her blog 11D, Laura McKenna wrote about how
the blogosphere has changed since she started blogging six years ago.
The post is from July 2009, but many of her points are still relevant
(and will be for a very long time, I suspect). For example:
3. Norms and practices. Bloggers have undermined the blogosphere. Bloggers do not link to each other as much as they used to. It's a lot of work to look for good posts elsewhere, and most bloggers have become burnt out. Drezner and Farrell had a theory that even small potato bloggers would have their day in the sun, if they wrote something so great that it garnered the attention of the big guys. But the big guys are too burnt out to find the hidden gems. So, good stuff is being written all the time, and it isn't bubbling to the top.
Many have stopped using blogrolls, which means less love spread around the blogosphere. The politics of who should be on a blogroll was too much of a pain, so bloggers just deleted the whole thing.
Neatorama's own John Farrier (where I found out about McKenna's post) wrote:
McKenna notes the decline of linking and blogrolling. I think that this is because of the staggering size of blogosphere. It's no longer a community in any sense, and only very specific niches can maintain a sense of community, where people know each other beyond blog name in the header.
four years ago, when I taught classes on blogging, I said "Blogging is a communitarian activity. Don't just write stuff and expect people to link to you unless you link to them. Don't expect people to read you unless you read them. Don't expect people to blogroll you unless you blogroll them."
To an extent, this is true. And it's especially true for new bloggers who have yet to develop an audience. But eventually, the monkeysphere grows too large and interesting content matters more than relationships. [...]
... there has been a decline in hat tipping. At least, that is my assessment from a very limited perspective. In a more niche communitarian model (such as the Methoblogosphere), not hat tipping will hurt a blogger's reputation. In a commercial model, hat tipping hurts your bottom line by suggesting that readers visit your competitors.
Neatorama did away with blogroll a long time ago. In our early days, we happily blogrolled those who asked, but that quickly turned into more of a linking scheme than a true list of interesting blogs.
I think Neatorama still maintains a healthy habit of "hat tipping" or providing via links (by the way, this is my pet peeve about social networking websites like digg and reddit and image hosting services like imgur which rarely provide them) but I did notice a decrease in diversity of post type as well as via links, especially in my own posts. Back in the days, I used to roam the blogosphere looking for interesting small blogs. I don't do that anymore because of two big reasons: 1) it was very time consuming (Browsing the web after having kids? Forget about it!) and 2) I've developed a list of "go to" blogs that always have great content. Going to these blogs give more bang for the buck when looking for neat things to post on Neatorama.
Nevertheless, I think the lack of diversity can hurt this blog in the long run. For one, it decreases "uniqueness" - if you see the same posts on Neatorama as you did on Boing Boing, Gizmodo, Huffington Post, digg, or reddit, then why visit?
Perhaps it's time for me to hit a reset button and change something in my routine. I'd be most interested to hear your opinion about what we can do to make Neatorama better in this respect.
(Photo: the Internet visualized by the Opte Project)
I love this crochet Jägermeister bottle made by crafter Yummy Pancake. You can find more crochet goodness at PlushYou! where Kristin Rask of Schmancy posted an interview with the crocheter (a pharmaceutical project manager by day and uber crafter by night, mind you): Link – via Rue the Day and Craftzine
Billy Mays may be gone, but the spirit of salesmanship lives on. For instance, just take a look at Glen "Amazin Blaze" David Thornton of Heatin’ ana Beatin’ Welding Service.
By the end of this short video clip, I was so ready to fork over my wallet to buy whatever it is he’s sellin’: Link [embedded MySpace video]
Previously on Neatorama: 5 Strangest Products Pitched by Billy Mays
For some reason, the good people of Spain really like horned, charging mammals involved in their sports. From the classic (yet controversial) bullfighting matches to the Running of the Bulls, and now an old tradition revived- Bull Leaping! At Oddity Central, Spooky writes:
Teams of 5 to 7 bull leapers gather each year in cities like Valencia or Barcelona, to take part in a performance that many compare to the Russian roulette. Each team may face up to three bulls in the ring, at once, taunting and jumping over them just when the beasts prepare to impale them.
And, as he points out, no animals needlessly die during the events.
Video of the action. Link to story/more pics. | Photos by Ojodigital.
The Kids In The Hall were probably most successful at pulling off the female disguise, although they weren’t trying to fool anyone. Their skits occasionally needed women characters, and their delivery was a perfect blend of self-awareness and application.
Many times in movies and other forms of entertainment, the contriving plot demands someone dress like a woman and fool other people, ostensibly people who aren’t blind. OMG Lists compiled ten of the worst offenders, from White Chicks to Bosom Buddies. It’s a pretty accurate list, despite my affection for Tootsie.
It may be surprising, but that is a modified iPod, with a working dock and speaker. ”Dr. Grymm” designed the steampunk modification, and has more photos on his Flickr set.
Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, he has used a motley mix of materials (old typewriters, formed brass and steel, leather and quartz crystals) to put together a contraption that you wouldn’t have envisaged even in your wildest dreams – a gigantic eye popping out from the iPod controller section, and a crystal ball (?) replacing the comparably delectable screen; all resting on a steampunk victrola base with a blaring horn (we certainly hope there are no eerie tunes played for the additional effect). Good news, though. It plays like your regular iPod so you can handpick your own tunes.
How else would one propose marriage to the woman with the world’s largest Pokemon collection? Especially if you met her at a Pokemon competition? JC Fletcher writes for Joystiq:
When Chris Herbert decided to pop the question to his girlfriend of three years, Belle Starenchak, he picked the most romantic place he could think of: Anime Weekend Atlanta, with both dressed as Pokemon. It … kind of makes sense for them.
Belle, or “PikaBelleChu,” is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records: Gamer Edition for her massive Pikachu memorabilia collection, and Herbert met her by staging a Pokemon auction. So while we might be tempted to laugh, it would seem that the pursuit of ‘em all is a major component of this couple’s lives.
Link via Geekologie
The online clothing store Tobi lets you upload a picture of yourself and then try on different outfits superimposed on that image. In Fast Company, Kit Eaton writes:
It has been redubbed Fashionista (much better than the original Webcam Social Shopper) and it works pretty much how you’d think it would: When you’ve chosen an item of clothing you like the look of, you print out a special AR barcode-like tag and hold it up in front of you while you stand before your Webcam. Zugara’s software then displays an image of the clothing you’re interested in superimposed on your body. By maneuvering the AR tag around you can position the apparel exactly how you want it to match your body–so you get to see a rough image of what you’d look like wearing the actual garment.
It doesn’t stop there: You can take a snapshot of what you look like, and the system includes motion-capture so you can make gestures and selections by waving your arms, much as you do when using Sony’s Eye toy on the PlayStation. You can also give the clothes a thumbs up or thumbs down so it can recommend more for you–something a bit like a physical version of Amazon’s “you might also like” service (or a live personal shopper). And, of course, you can buy the items you select. Not content with using one hot-topic technology, Zugara has also given Fashionista a dash of social media interactivity–you can post the snapshots you take onto Facebook, presumably to garner the opinion of your friends. Or you can add them to your profile on the site where your shopper friends can comment.
Company Website via Fast Company
This throne, according to Internet rumor, is seven feet tall, can be found in Tokyo, and is made entirely of Nintendo game cartridges.
To be really useful for gamers, it needs to have a built-in toilet and a soda dispenser.
Noise for Airports has a gallery of early sound amplifier/locator technologies. He quotes a 1939 issue of Science News Letter about these efforts:
The picturesque triple or quadruple sets of horns, looking like gigantic versions of old-fashioned ear trumpets, that are used by listeners for airplanes, are only artificial external ears that can be cocked in the direction of suspected approach, just as a rabbit or a donkey can tun his ears. Only they are more nearly perfect, mechanically, than any animal ear, because they were made to order along mathematically calculated lines, not slowly evolved out of folds of flesh.
During the World War, many blind men, with ears trained to special acuteness in compensation for loss of sight, volunteered for this service in Britain, and it is likely that such sightless soldiers are again helping their companions to locate enemies in the dark.
Anyone who takes digital pictures gets a real kick out of how crime investigators on the CSI TV shows use their computers to zoom in and enhance photographs, as if you could really zoom in to just a few pixels and see a legible image. Now you can! The CSI Image Enhancer lets you zoom in on a photograph just by typing furiously and saying “enhance!” Well, really, all you have to do is type furiously. Try this one as an example. Upload your own photos to make a personal enhancement of your own. Link -via b3ta
(image found at Arbroath)
Most people outside Scandinavia would have a hard time naming more than two Vikings if you asked them. Sure, you’re familiar with Eric the Red and his son Lief Ericson, but have you ever heard of Egil Skallagrimsson, who killed many but still found time to write poetry? Or how about Freydis Ericsdottr, who held her own with the male warriors? Then there’s Ivar the Boneless, who invaded England to avenge his father’s death.
I should mention that Ivar the Boneless got his sweet nickname because he had a degenerative disease that left him unable to stand, and not because he needed to talk to his doctor about Cialis or anything like that. However, as a badass medieval sea-raiding shitwrecker, Ivar wasn’t going to let a little thing like “not being able to use his legs” stop him from raining death on his enemies at every turn.
In this manner, Ivar killed two kings and captured a large part of the British Isles. Link
Image: Rainbow HandicraftCharlie Jane Anders of io9 has assembled a gallery of sixteen velvet paintings with science fiction themes, such as Yoda/Elvis, Kim Jong-Il as a Sleestak, and the great Wesley Crusher.
Would you like for Admiral Ackbar to decorate your home?
For over a century, space exploration enthusiasts have proposed building an elevator into low earth orbit using a very long cable stretching from the surface of the earth into space. Huge technical (particularly material) obstacles have prevented this dream from becoming a reality. But technology marches on, and some researchers have made progress:
Funded by NASA and the Spaceward Foundation, the yearly contest offers a $2 million first prize to any group whose machine can quickly climb a kilometer-long ribbon tethered to a helicopter, while receiving power remotely from the ground. On Tuesday, LaserMotive became the first team in competition history to qualify for the $900,000 second prize.The LaserMotive machine consists of a motor that pulls the device up the 2,953-foot-long ribbon, photovoltaic cells that power the motor, and a ground-based laser that provides the light for the cells. LaserMotive set a new record for the competition, and became the first team to ever reach the top of the ribbon. However, they had to settle for the $900,000 second prize, as securing the $2 million first prize requires not only reaching the top of the ribbon, but doing so at an average speed of 11 miles per hour. Sadly, the LaserMotive machine ran slightly slower than that mark.
Link | Image: NASA
A few years ago, British designer Jason Taylor created a furniture set made to look like bristle brushes. So far, he’s made two tables and a trio of stools using this theme.
Link via Make | Official Website
The Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt, an example of the spontaneous crowdsourced humor in the Amazon.com comments, has spawned many parodies, including Virginia Woolf, Worf, and Rowlf. Josh Rachford of Urlesque has compiled nine such parodies for your viewing pleasure.
Link | Image: Amazon.com
Sure, the boring facts about states have been drilled into you by teachers and history books over the years. You might even remember all of the state capitals. But here are 50 trivia tidbits that you probably didn’t learn in second grade.
1. Alabama. New Orleans might be the hot spot for Mardi Gras these days, but it was actually started as a sedate tradition in what is now modern-day Mobile, Alabama.
2. Alaska. The Alaskan flag was created by a 13-year-old-boy in 1926. For his efforts, Benny Benson received $1,000 and an engraved watch. Picture from Alaska.edu.
3. Arizona. London Bridge – yes, the London Bridge – was shipped stone by stone and reassembled in Lake Havasu City. It was meant to be a tourist attraction in the retirement community and was rebuilt over land, not water.
4. Arkansas. Sam Walton started a little store in Bentonville, Arkansas – today, it’s known as Walmart. However, Bentonville is also home to the headquarters of a lesser-known company: The Whistler Group, a company that makes radar detectors.
5. California. We all know Cali is known for its wine and grapes – but it’s also home to the self-proclaimed Avocado Capital of the World (Fallbrook), the Raisin Capital of the World (Fresno) and the Artichoke Capital of the World (Castroville). In fact, Marilyn Monroe was the first Artichoke Queen in 1947.
6. Colorado. Although the cheeseburger wasn’t invented in Colorado, a Denverite held the copyright to the word for a while. In 1935, Louis Ballast, owner of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In, applied for and received the copyright to a food he didn’t invent. That distinction goes to Lionel Sternberger of Pasadena, California.
7. Connecticut. PEZ is made in Orange, Connecticut.
8. Delaware. There’s no National Park System unit of any kind in Delaware – no park, no historic site, no battlefield, no memorial or monument. It’s the only state that doesn’t have something denoted by the National Park System (you can check out other National Park units here, though).
9. Florida. The first ATM designed just for rollerbladers resides in Miami. Of course.
10. Georgia. The sweetest onion in the world, the Vidalia, can only be grown in specifc Vidalia and Glennville areas of Georgia – only 20 counties in total. The Vidalia Onion is Georgia’s state vegetable.
11. Hawaii. Back in 1874, the village of Kalaupapa on the Island of Molokai was once a leper colony. The act naming the village such wasn’t repealed until 1969.
12. Idaho is the only state that might have been named because of a hoax. A lobbyist suggested the name in the 1860s, claiming that it was an old Shoshone word meaning “the sun comes from the mountains” or “gem of the mountains.” After the name was adopted, the lobbyist admitted he made the word up.
13. Illinois was once home to the largest city in the United States – no, not Chicago. Up until about 1800, Cahokia, Illinois, had more than 40,000 residents in the area thanks to its strategic spot near the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois Rivers. Philadelphia outgrew it sometime near the turn of the century.
14. Indiana. Santa Claus, Indiana, gets more than half a million letters from kids during the holidays. “Santa’s Elves,” a group of local volunteers, makes sure that each letter gets a reply from the man himself.
15. Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are totally formed by water – the Mississippi on the east and the Missouri on the west. It’s also the only state whose name begins with two vowels.
16. Kansas. Amelia Earhart was from Atchison, Kansas.
17. Kentucky. The song “Happy Birthday to You” was written by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill, Louisville residents. The women were kindergarten teachers who wrote the song as a ditty called “Good Morning to All” that would be easy for young kids to remember and sing.
18. Louisiana. There used to be more to Louisiana. Prior to 1856, there was an island southwest of New Orleans called Last Island. On August 11, 1856, it was completely and utterly destroyed by a category four hurricane. It was hit with such force that the island was split into five smaller islands. Everything on the island – which had been a popular resort destination – was gone. When the water levels went down five days later, the only evidence that there had been human life on the island was a wrecked steamer sent to save the people on the island at the time. More than 200 people died.
19. Maine. Up until a couple of years ago, a vast majority (90 percent) of the toothpicks used in the United States were made in Maine.
20. Maryland. Residents of Saint Michaels found out that the British were going to attack in 1813, so they strategically placed lit lanterns at the tops of ships and on high tree branches and cut all sources of light from the usual places on the ground. It confused the British and they overshot the town, hitting just one single house.
21. Massachusetts is home to the first U.S. zip code ever – 01001 in Agawam.
22. Michigan makes cars, yeah, you already knew that. But it also manufactures the most magic supplies in the world. The little town of Colon (population: 1200) was where magician Harry Blackstone made his home, including his headquarters and magic workshop. He invited other magicians to his abode, and the town eventually sprouted Abbott’s Magic Company, the world’s biggest producer of handmade illusions, and Abbott’s Magic Get-Together, an annual four-day convention. The high school nickname is “The Magi” and their mascot is a rabbit (rabbit out of the hat, get it?).
23. Minnesota. Minneapolis has 52 blocks of skyway – more than five miles – so people who work downtown in the frigid Minnesota winter can get around without getting frostbite.
24. Mississippi was the last state to end prohibition. Even though nationwide prohibition had ended more than 30 years earlier, Mississippi didn’t repeal it at a state level until 1966.
25. Missouri. With more than 200 fountains, Kansas City claims to have the most fountains of any city in the world, with a single exception: Rome.
26. Montana. The Montana Yogo Sapphire is the only North American gemstone to be included in the the royal Crown Jewels.
27. Nebraska. Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings, Nebraska. It was made in inventor Edwin Perkins’ mother’s kitchen and originated as a liquid called “Fruit Smack.” When he needed a cheaper way to ship it, Perkins figured out how to remove the liquid and leave only a powder, creating Kool-Aid.
28. Nevada. The first casino to open on the Las Vegas Strip (before it was the Strip) was called the Pair-O-Dice Club. It opened its doors in 1931.
29. New Hampshire has its own Stonehenge. “America’s Stonehenge” has had charcoal pits carbon dated to 2000 BC to 173 BC, potentially making the site 4,000 years old. It allegedly inspired H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror.”
30. New Jersey has the most diners in the world – and the most shopping malls in one area (seven major malls in a 25 square mile radius).
31. New Mexico. The cub that became known as Smokey the Bear, the National Fire Safety Symbol, was found trapped in a tree in New Mexico’s Lincoln National Forest when it caught on fire in 1950. The black bear was chosen to be the official state animal in the little guy’s honor 13 years later.
32. New York isn’t home to Dorothy Gale – that’s Kansas, of course – but it does call her creator, L. Frank Baum, a native. In Chittenango, his hometown, yellow brick sidewalks lead to Oz-themed businesses, and you can go to the yearly Oz-Stravaganza every June.
33. North Carolina can boast that they had the first child born in America to English parents. Her name was Virginia Dare and she was born in Roanoke.
34. North Dakota is a great state to drive through if you can manage to make the Enchanted Highway part of your route. It’s a 32-mile stretch of highway with giant sculptures. This one, called “Theodore Roosevelt Rides Again,” is 51 feet tall and weighs more than 9,000 pounds. Photo from EnchantedHighway.net.
35. Ohio, so far, has been the home state of seven U.S. presidents, making it the state that has produced the second-most Commander in Chiefs (Virginia wins that title with eight). In case you’re wondering, they are: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding.
36. Oklahoma is where the first-ever parking meter was installed. Oklahoma City was the first to start charging for prime parking real estate in 1935.
37. Oregon has the most ghost towns of any U.S. state, with 18 spots officially designated as such.
38. Pennsylvania is where you’ll find the Mutter Museum, a museum dedicated to medical oddities (for educational purposes, of course). Exhibits include a woman whose corpse turned to soap, famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, and the tumor removed from Grover Cleveland’s hard palate in a top-secret operation the world didn’t know about until years later.
39. Rhode Island claims the oldest, still-operating tavern in the U.S. The White Horse Tavern was built in 1673.
40. South Carolina. In case you’re interested in the first boll weevil ever found in South Carolina, don’t worry – you can still see it. The insect is on display at the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum.
41. South Dakota has the world’s only Corn Palace, a building entirely decorated in different varieties of corn kernels and cobs. Exterior murals on the palace are redesigned every year.
42. Tennessee has the largest underground lake in the United States (and the second-largest in the world). It’s part of Craighead Caverns in Sweetwater and is known as The Lost Sea.
43. Texas has the only hotel in North America entirely built over water. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston juts out 1,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico.
44. Utah has a hotspot known as “Little Hollywood” – Kanab earned the nickname because so many movies and T.V. series have been filmed in the area. Which ones, you ask? To name a few: Gunsmoke, Planet of the Apes, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Lone Ranger and Stagecoach
45. Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, is the only state capital that lacks a McDonalds.
46. Virginia is where you’ll find a couple of Presidents’ mansions, including Jefferson’s Monticello, which is on the back of the $2 bill. Incidentally, the gift shop at Monticello is probably one of the only establishments in the country to routinely give $2 bills as change.
47. Washington is the only state named after a president.
48. West Virginia had a hand in the invention of billboards and outdoor advertising. A tobacco company there started painting barns and bridges with their slogan, “Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch.”
49. Wisconsin. Love mustard? Then you’ll love Mount Horeb, which is where you’ll find the world’s largest collection of prepared mustards at the Mustard Museum. It is run by Barry Levenson, who used to be the Assistant Attorney General for the state.
50. Wyoming was the first state that gave women the right to vote.
Walter Beckett, a junior CIA agent, receives a briefcase that controls a nuclear missile. The hand-off goes smoothly, until a pigeon gets trapped inside. Pigeon: Impossible is a six-minute short film by Lucas Martell. It is his first animated film, and it took him almost five years to complete it.
Official Website via The Presurfer
His friends call him “the man with the bionic bottom.” Ged Galvin permanently lost control of his colon after a motorcycle accident. But surgeons moved one of his knee muscles to his colon and attached electrodes to it. He can clench or unclench it with a remote control that he carries in his pocket:
“They call me the man with the bionic bottom, but that doesn’t bother me. My gratitude to the surgeons is endless because what they have done is a miracle.”Mr Galvin, who had previously endured the indignity of carrying a colostomy bag, added: “I thought that in these days of modern medicine surely there was something they could do. They’d mended everything else – why not this? Anything was better than a colostomy bag.
“The operation changed my life and gave me back my pride and confidence. Because of the remote control I can lead a normal life again.”
Link via Geekologie | Image: SWNS
Scientists are working on unconventional methods for controlling neurons in the brain. In one such experiment, a mouse’s behavior was controlled by shining a light directly on its brain! But this was no ordinary brain -the mouse had DNA from algae inserted into its neurons, which made them responsive to light. The crucial part of these experiments is making the new genes active in only certain types of neurons, depending on the outcome we are looking for. Stanford psychiatrist Karl Deisseroth and his team are experimenting with optogenetics to help victims of Parkinson’s disease, starting with mice.
Many experts had thought the cure was to stimulate certain kinds of cells within the subthalamic nucleus, which coordinates motion. But when they tried that, it had no effect whatsoever. Then two of Deisseroth’s grad students began experimenting with a dark-horse idea. They stimulated neurons near the surface of the brain that send signals into the subthalamic nucleus — a much harder approach because it meant working at one remove. It was as if, instead of using scissors yourself, you had to guide someone else’s hands to make the cuts.
Their idea worked. The mice walked. In their paper, published in April 2009, they wrote that the “effects were not subtle; indeed, in nearly every case these severely parkinsonian animals were restored to behavior indistinguishable from normal.”
Other experiments on rhesus monkeys show promise. The team is now designing ways to make optogenetics safe and effective for humans. Link
(image credit: Justin Wood)
