Bald Hedgehog
Remember the bald bear we featured on Neatorama yesterday? Well here’s another case of unusual baldness – this time it’s a bald … hedgehog?
A bald hedgehog abandoned by his mother in a garden in Norfolk is being treated at a wildlife rescue centre in a bid to encourage his spikes to grow.
Baldrick, named after the character from the television programme Blackadder, was brought to Foxy Lodge wildlife rescue centre, Great Yarmouth.
He is now being cared for by Tonia and John Garner in the hope he can be eventually released into the wild. Treatment includes antiseptic scrubs and baby oil massages.
I’d suggest a laser comb to stimulate those spike follicles, but what do I know?: Link
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Swine Flu: Fear vs. Knowledge
Infographic: Raj Kamal
Raj Kamal of MintLife has a pretty nifty infographic about swine flu. Eye candy aside, I’m not going to take it completely at face value. For one, the graph lists graphjam.com (LOL!) and squidoo.com as source. This particular portion show above, however, looks logical enough to me 
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Peacock Spider
Photo: Jurgen Otto
This is a kind of jumping spider, and it’s only about 5mm in size. The males have a colorful pattern on flaps that extend from their abdomen during breeding/mating. In addition to this, they raise their back pair of legs and dance from side to side to win over their plain brown females.
Only found in Australia, they were classified as species Maratus volans because people originally thought the flap was for gliding after jumping. Wiki
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13 Other Leaning Towers
Hey, it’s hard to keep a tower on the straight and narrow! The Leaning Tower of Pisa may be the most famous, but there are towers that lean all over the world. Web Urbanist looks at thirteen of them, including the Round Tower of the Kilmacduagh Monastery in Ireland pictured. It leans 1.5 feet, but is in no danger of falling over. And its door is 26 feet off the ground! Link -via Unique Daily
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Animal Mummies
Thousands of mummified animals have been recovered in Egypt over the past hundred years. They include gazelles, shrews, rams, crocodiles, hawks, fish, dung beetles, and of course, cats. In the early days of excavation, they were considered unimportant, as things to be pushed aside in order to get to the treasure. Scientists are now studying them in detail for clues about the way ancient Egyptian humans lived. National Geographic looks at how the animals were preserved, and why. Link
(image credit: Richard Barnes)
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You Must Drive to the Recycling Center
David and Katie France of Dorset County, England thought they were being eco-friendly when they walked to dump to dispose of their recyclables. But they were met at the gate by an employee who told them they would have to bring their bags in by car! He cited safety concerns and warned the couple they may be hit by a vehicle. David France walked the 400 yards back to their home, got the car, and drove to the gate where they loaded their bags of scrap metal and took them into the center.
Mr France said: “It was farcical. I thought we were being doubly green by taking our recycling there on foot.
“But whatever good we did in recycling our waste was probably counteracted by the CO2 emissions we used up in our car.”
The council responsible for tip said that because there is no “dedicated pedestrian access point” it was unsafe for people to walk there.
Link -via Arbroath
(image credit: Flickr user hugovk)
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A Common Nomenclature for Lego Families
Children are rarely familiar with the names the LEGO company gives its various bricks and accessories. Giles Turnbull was delighted to find his son had his own terms for each piece. So he gathered more children, four in all, to find out what names they used, and assembled those names in a handy chart. Link -via Buzzfeeed
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Man Shows Up at His Funeral
The family of 59-year-old Ademir Jorge Goncalves of Santo Antonio da Platina, Brazil identified his body after a fatal traffic accident. The funeral was held the next day, which is customary in Brazil. Imagine their shock when Goncalves himself appeared at the funeral service!
What family members didn’t know was that Goncalves had spent the night at a truck stop talking with friends over drinks of a sugarcane liquor known as cachaca, his niece Rosa Sampaio told the O Globo newspaper. He did not get word about his own funeral until it was already happening Monday morning.
A police spokesman in the town of Santo Antonio da Platina said Goncalves rushed to the funeral to let family members know he was not dead.
“The corpse was badly disfigured, but dressed in similar clothing,” said the police spokesman, who talked on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to discuss the case. “People are afraid to look for very long when they identify bodies, and I think that is what happened in this case.”
The victim has since been identified and the remains sent to the correct family. Link -via reddit
(image credit: Flickr user Hipolito Luiz)
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What Is It? Game 114
W00t! It’s time for our collaboration with the always awesome What is it? Blog. This week’s entry is this strange looking object to the left: can you guess what it is?
Two prizes this week: the first person to guess correctly and the funniest (but ultimately wrong) guess will win a T-shirt from the Neatorama Shop.
Contest rules are darned easy: place your guess in the comment below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you’d like. Post no URL or web links – let others play (doing so will forfeit your entry).
For more clues, check out the What is it? Blog. Good luck!
Update 11/6/09 – the answer is:An exercise club, the 1897 patent says it was “for the purpose of testing the strength of the wrist and forearm”, additional weights could be attached to the bottom of it, patent number 578,230. Commonly known as Indian clubs, these can be found in a wide variety of sizes and weights.
Congratulations to Mr. Weaver who got it right first and to huh? for the um, very funny entry that I won’t repeat here. 
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VideoSift Clips of the Week
(Links open in a new browser window/tab)
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I Can Has Swine Flu: H1N1 Virus Infected Pet Cat
Can your pet get sick from swine flu? The answer turns out to be yes. Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine has found a cat that contracted the H1N1 virus and got sick with swine flu:
On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported the first confirmed case of H1N1 in a house pet, a 13-year-old domestic shorthaired cat. The animal likely contracted the virus from its owners, veterinarians say, since two of the three family members living in the cat’s household had recently suffered from influenza-like illness. Late last week, when the cat came down with flu-like symptoms — malaise, loss of appetite — its owners brought it to Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine for treatment. The family mentioned to the vet that they had also recently battled illness, which led to testing the pet for H1N1.
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7-Eleven Wine
These days, it seems like everybody and their uncle are making their own wines. Even 7-Eleven (yes, that 7-Eleven). Here’s "Yosemite Road," the company’s brand of affordable Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon:
And, whoa, Yosemite Road is quite the bargain: Says the press release, both the Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon will sell for $3.99 a bottle. Who needs a Trader Joe’s, anyway?
"We prefer to think of it as value," says 7-Eleven spokesperson Carole Davidson, when Unfair Park said of the Napa Valley-produced product, "Wow, that sure is cheap." She also laughed. "But, yes, it is inexpensive. …
$3.99? Apparently, they’ve never heard of Two Buck Chuck! Link
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I, For One, Welcome Our New Furniture Overlords
Voices from the off 1 (2008) by Julian Göthe
Is that an alien being disguised as furniture or is it artwork by Julian Göthe?
This wonderful piece is part of Julian Göthe’s exhibition "Events during Flood" at the Galerie Buchholz in 2008 but just in case I’m mistaken let me just say I, for one, welcome our new furniture overlords: Link
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Denver to Singapore (and Back) in 5 Minutes
David D’Angelo took snapshots of his trip from Denver to Singapore via Chicago, Los Angeles and Tokyo (and back) and stitched them into a mesmerizing 5 minute video clip:
The creator put a ton of effort into filming as much of his trip as possible, and included some highlights like the automatic beer machine at the Tokyo lounge (at 3 minutes 50 seconds).
Gadling has the video clip: Link [embedded Vimeo clip]
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The Official Shotgun Rules
I have four kids who all want to sit in the front passenger seat as I drive. There is an elaborate set of rules they must follow to decide who gets the honor of “riding shotgun”.
You must say the word “Shotgun” to stake your claim on Shotgun. This must be done clearly and loud enough so that at least one other to-be occupant of the vehicle can hear you. No variations of this word are acceptable. After you have rightfully called Shotgun, you have exclusive rights to Shotgun for that ride. However, if no one hears you call Shotgun it is still fair game for everyone.
But that’s just the beginning! There are many more rules to learn, such as the importance of having your shoes on when you yell “Shotgun!” and the crucial “hand on the door” rule. Link -via Bits and Pieces
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A Counterfeit Penny Made of Gold
Seattle artist Jack Daws made eleven pennies by casting them from 18 karat gold and plating them with copper. One of those pennies was sold for $1,000 as a work of art. Another penny was spent at a news stand in Los Angeles. Yes, Daws sent one of the pennies into circulation in 2007 as a counterfeit -on purpose. He expected never to see it again. Over two years later, a graphic designer from Brooklyn noticed a golden gleam on a penny she was given as change. She put it away to investigate later, as she was a fan of unusual coins.
Then recently, while doing research about a 1924 Mercury-head dime, she remembered the penny and typed “gold penny” into Google, which returned information on science experiments to give a penny a gold color. She added “1970” and found an item about how Mr. Daws had put a 18-karat gold penny, dated 1970 with no mint mark, into circulation. It was heavier and smaller than a real penny.
In disbelief, she weighed the penny on a digital scale. It came in at three grams, one gram more than similar pennies from 1970. And it was slightly smaller than a normal penny, owing to the shrinking after the casting process.
She traced Mr. Daws’s phone number through the gallery and left him the message. When he called back, he knew it had to be his penny as soon as she described it to him.
Reed will keep the penny as a work of art. How many other hands did the gold coin pass through before she found it? We will probably never know. Link -Thanks, Bill!
(image credit: Lynn Rogan)
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The Redundant Photography of Fred Lebain
Photo: Fred Lebain
French photographer Fred Lebain took a trip to New York City and took a series of photos around town. He then revisited those sites after printing out huge poster versions of his shots. Then he carefully re-aligned the shots to incorporate his previous image into a new, dynamically interesting one.
these postcard images show lebain’s preference for particular areas of the city,
telescoping his views – a time parallax representing the days which separate the two shots -
and superimposing his vision of new york. hands, feet or a pair of jeans can be seen…
like surrealistic winks, indicating that the photographer is not alone in his mission.
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Pop Culture Alignment
This chart shows the moral alignments of nine pop culture characters using the Dungeons & Dragons alignment system. Rorschach as Chaotic Good? I think that Chaotic Neutral is more likely. And Neutral Good for John Locke at best.
Top row, left to right: John Locke of Lost, Dwight from Sin City, Rorschach of Watchmen.
Middle row: Indiana Jones, Niko Bellic of Grand Theft Auto 4, Tyler Durden of Fight Club.
Bottom row: Darth Vader, Anton Chigurh of No Country for Old Men, and the Joker.
I’m not sure who’s responsible for this chart — it’s been floating around the net. I’ll edit with a photocredit when someone claims responsibility.
via Popped Culture | Explanation of Alignment System
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Iron Age Gold Treasure Found in Scotland
A young man, using his metal detector for the first time, walked about seven steps from his car and got a signal.
The four gold Iron Age neck ornaments, or torcs, date from between the 1st and 3rd Century BC and are said to be worth an estimated £1m… The find is the most important hoard of Iron Age gold in Scotland to date.
Neatorama has previously posted stories about a Viking hoard and an Anglo-Saxon hoard found in the British Isles. One factor that favors the discovery and preservation of these archeological treasures is the Treasure Act of 1996, an Act of Parliament that requires treasure hunters to turn in their finds to local authorities, but then guarantees them monetary compensation based on a market value of the treasure. In many countries without such laws, finds such as these would be sold on the black market or melted down for bullion, destroying the remarkable artistry of the pieces. The Treasure Act does not apply in Scotland, where this was found, but indications are that this fellow will be richly compensated in order to encourage others to report their discoveries.
At the BBC link the other pieces can be seen in a brief video.
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Sticky Note Chair
Photo: razy2
The Polish design team razy2 made a chair that’s built like a stack of sticky notes. The Q-Book is composed of sheets of paper, carefully cut, that are attached on one side. If you need something to write on, just tear off a sheet.
Artist’s Website via Make
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Luggage That Turns Into a Couch
Photo:dezeen
Dutch designer Erik De Nijs created Suited Case — a collection of four functional suitcases that can be linked together in the form of a couch. His goal was to give travelers a taste of home while away:
This concept came from a research on nostalgia during travelling. When a familiar object from home is taken with you on a trip you feel much more at ease. And which object is more familiar then your own comfortable couch.
The fabrics which are used to cover the suit cases emphasize the homely feeling. I searched for a combination of fabrics which amplify each other and which create a prominent image. By using prints on the large luggage and the pad on the hand luggage I tried to put down a lively picture.
The work will be on display at the upcoming Dutch Design Week in Eindoven. You can view more pictures at the link.
Link via Geekologie | Dutch Design Week | Artist’s Website
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TRAX STI Snow Car
Just in time for snow season! DC co-founder Ken Block teamed up with Subaru to design and produce the world’s fastest cat-track snow car. Primarily for reaching alpine backwoods to engage in some fresh boarding, the vehicle is also built for fun as a standalone toy.
Prepared by Vermont SportsCar, performance modifications include 400-hp and features Group N competition rally dampers made by EXE-TC and a KAPS 5-speed close-ratio dog-engagement gearbox. Under the hood sits a 2.5 liter, 4-cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled STI engine tuned with a MOTEC M800 ECU.
Not seen is a trailer that will haul up to four boarders and equipment. More info here.
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Neatorama's Last Mystery Sale
Hello everyone! As you can probably tell by the banners on the blog, we’re having a Mystery Sale on Neatorama. The proceeds help support the blog and our fledgling shop (thank you!)
For those of you who don’t know anything about it, the Mystery Sale offers an item you can buy for $9.95. What is it? We won’t tell you – that’s the whole point of the sale!
But we can tell you that it’s going to be a physical product (or combination of products) worth AT LEAST $9.95. It’ll be new and a fun "Neatorama" item.
You can buy more than 1 Mystery Item in a single order, in which case we’ll make sure that you get different items. You can even get them gift-wrapped so you can cross Christmas shopping off your list early this year.
We’re working on a new platform for Neatorama’s online shop, and the new one probably won’t be compatible with future Mystery Sale. I’m 99.9% sure that this will be the last Mystery Sale we’ll have (if not ever, then for a very long time) so grab yours today before it’s gone!
Link
Update 11/5/09 – Time’s up! Thank you to everyone who participated!
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Man Stabbed Self to Hide Skateboarding Accident
Aaron Siebers, 27, had a problem. He was skateboarding one afternoon, fell, and ripped his Blockbuster-issued khakis. Worried about getting "written up," Aaron hatched a criminally (not so) brilliant plan:
Instead of just calling in sick, he stabbed himself in the leg and showed up at work claiming to have just been attacked by three Hispanic males. Siebers, who told cops he was assaulted as he walked toward the Blockbuster in Edgewater, had a deep stab wound in one leg and several other minor cuts on his face and stomach. As investigators began hunting for the assailants, they reviewed surveillance video from outside a Target store where Siebers claimed the attack occurred. The footage, however, showed no such assault. Confronted by cops, Siebers, pictured in the below mug shot, admitted that he had stabbed himself. He told investigators about the skateboarding accident, the resulting ripped pants, and how "he did not want to lose his job so he stabbed himself in the leg," according to an arrest affidavit sworn by Officer Shawna Naumann.
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The Blue Sun
Image: Alan Friedman of Averted Imagination
Alan Friedman, a greeting cards-maker by day and astronomer by night, took this amazing photo of the Sun. APOD explains why it’s blue:
Our Sun may look like all soft and fluffy, but it’s not. Our Sun is an extremely large ball of bubbling hot gas, mostly hydrogen gas. The above picture of our Sun was taken last month in a specific red color of light emitted by hydrogen gas called Hydrogen-alpha and then color inverted to appear blue. In this light, details of the Sun’s chromosphere are particularly visible, highlighting numerous thin tubes of magnetically-confined hot gas known as spicules rising from the Sun like bristles from a shag carpet. Our Sun glows because it is hot, but it is not on fire. Fire is the rapid acquisition of oxygen, and there is very little oxygen on the Sun. The energy source of our Sun is the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium deep within its core. No sunspots or large active regions were visible on the Sun this day, although some solar prominences are visible around the edges.
For a larger pic, be sure to check out APOD: Link
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How An American Soldier Is Made: The Story of Ian Fisher
Photo: Craig F. Walker / The Denver Post
What does it take to create an American Soldier? Denver Post Photojournalist Craig F. Walker tracked Ian Fisher from his high school graduation through basic training, assignment to Colorado’s Fort Carson, and deployment in Iraq:
His decision to join the Army grew out of many things. The opportunity to fight for his country. The desire to add to a family legacy. The need to point his young life in a productive direction. In the spring of 2007 and at the depths of the Iraq war s unpopularity, Ian Fisher graduated from Lakewood s Bear Creek High School and, two weeks later, shipped out to basic training. There, he began the challenging process of becoming an American soldier – and outgrowing the trappings of youth. Like many recruits, he would struggle, learn, make mistakes and rebound. His training prepared him for violent conflict in a foreign land. Nothing prepared him for the war within.
Photo Gallery at Denver Post’s Captured Photo Collection Blog | The Story | Flash Page
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The 15 Best Man Caves on the Internet
A man cave is a place for a man to get away from the rest of the family and the problems of the world and to engage in his favorite pastimes. The best man caves get posted to the internet, and BroBible.com selected 15 awesome setups for this collection. Some are centered around sports, some take up the entire basement, and almost all feature an elaborate entertainment center. The garage pictured also has a bar and room for motorcycle parking. Link -via Gorilla Mask
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Dancing Ferrets
A group of ferrets dance for your entertainment. The music is a cover of Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” arranged by The Moog Cookbook. Animation by Sandro Cruz. -via Buzzfeed
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Calf Gets Prosthetic Legs
Nancy Dickenson of Ocate, New Mexico and her stepdaughter Martha found an 11-month-old calf on a neighbor’s ranch that was suffering from severe frostbite. The black angus heifer had lost the use of her back legs and hooves. What to do? Obviously, the answer is to give her prosthetic legs!
The Dickensons have rescued dozens of animals and wanted to give Meadow a chance to walk normally again. They located the calf’s owner and bought Meadow, and convinced veterinarians and students at Colorado State University to help her.
Doctors amputated a portion of Meadow’s hind legs in August and fitted her with the prosthetics, a rare procedure done on livestock typically destined for the food supply. Meadow is believed to be the first bovine calf fitted with double prosthetics, Colorado State veterinarian Dr. Robert Callan said. He based his claim on discussions with other veterinarian clinics and schools.
Nancy Dickenson said the family decided to pay what she expects will cost “thousands of dollars” for the procedures because Meadow has become another family pet.
Meadow is no longer in any danger of becoming beef. Link -via Fark
(image credit: Colorado State University)
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Energy-Harvesting Rocking Chair
Photo: Design Boom
Rochus Jacob designed and built the Murakami Chair. As the user rocks back and forth during the day, the chair charges a battery that powers the lamp. Jacob writes:
I was looking for opportunities to generate energy through activities we naturally do. The final result is a rocking chair that enables the user to experience production and consumption of electricity in a gentle and rewarding way. An abstract process becomes tangible and eventually cultivates natural awareness. Complexity is covered by simplicity. Advanced nano-dynamo technology which is built in to the skids of the chair and more efficient light sources such as the newly developed OLED generation makes it possible to build a rocking chair with a reading lamp running on electricity generated from the rocking motion. During daylight the energy gets stored in a battery pack. The construction of the flat and bendable organic light emitting diodes allows new form factors such as using the traditional shape of a lamp but instead of having a light bulb the lampshade himself turns out to be the light source. To have a drastic reduction of consumption the big challenge will be to make consuming less feel like getting more.
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