
Happy Valentine's Day, Neatoramanauts! (Or to those who are married, Happy Tuesday!)
I thought that this clever "match art" by Russian IT Specialist Stanislav Aristov, which went viral last year (but as often the case, not attributed to him), is appropriate for today. See more beautiful examples of what you can do with fire, smoke, and matches at Stanislav's website: Link
See also: Fascinating Matchbook Art over at Dark Roasted Blend - Thanks Avi!

Anatomical
Heart Pencil Holder - $19.95
This Valentine's Day, give your loved one your heart ... Your Anatomical Heart Pencil Holder from the NeatoShop, that is.
This sculpted heart can serve as a vase for flowers or pencils and pens. It's an unforgettable Valentine's Day present that your loved one can use every day.
Link | View more Valentine's Day gifts | Unusual Pencil Holders


Heart Handbag Holder Hook – $11.95
Are you looking for a delightful Valentine’s Day gift that embraces both your practical and superstitious side. You need the Heart Handbag Hook from the NeatoShop. This compact metal heart easily twists apart to expose a hook so that a handbag can be hung from the table. Grandma always said, “A purse on the floor means money out the door.”
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Valentine’s Day fun!

Jeweled Heart Mouse – $19.95
Valentine’s Day is nearly here! What do you get the geekheart who has everything? The Jeweled Heart Mouse from the NeatoShop. This adorable wired computer mouse, shaped like a heart, is encrusted with acrylic rhinestones. Bling!
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more heartfelt Valentine’s Day gifts!
Key To My Heart Paperweight – $15.95
Does finding the perfect Valentine’s Day gift weigh heavy on your heart? Get your sweetie the Key to My Heart Paperweight from the NeatoShop. This adorable heart-shaped ceramic paperweight has a metal key that says “Key to My Heart.” This gift is useful and heartfelt.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Valentine’s Day fun!

There's something unusual about the X-ray above of a man who went to an Italian hospital's emergency room: he had two hearts, and he got double heart attacks!
It turned out that a few years earlier, the man had undergone a procedure known as a heterotopic heart transplant. Unlike an orthotopic transplant, in which one organ is removed and another put in its place, a heterotopic transplant pairs a new organ with a diseased one. [...]
In the case of the ailing Italian, reported in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, the transplant team had mated his new heart with his malfunctioning old one. Chambers and blood vessels of the two hearts were married so that the new heart could support the old one.
But there’s a risk, explained Vukmir. “You can develop two independent heart rhythms, especially in a scenario where one heart gets a little better,” he said.
Amanda Joyner makes fascinators and pillbox hats that she sells at her Etsy store. Several are modeled after candy message hearts that would be perfect for Valentines Day! Order yours early enough and you might be able to specify the color or message. Link
As it turns out, nature has its own method for transplanting stem cells. When a pregnant mouse has a heart attack, her fetus goes to work to help repair the damage! The experiment mated female lab mice with males who had the genes to produce green fluorescent protein (GFP). Around half the embryos produced also had the ability to produce the protein. This way, scientists could track fetal cells separately from maternal cells. Then heart attacks were induced in the pregnant mice.
When the scientists examined the female mice’s heart tissue two weeks after the heart attacks, they found lots of glowing green tissue—cells that came from the fetus—in the mom’s heart. Mice who had heart attacks had eight times as many cells from the fetus in their hearts as mice who hadn’t had a heart attack did, meaning the high volume of fetal cells was a response to the heart attack.
What’s more, the embryo’s stem cells had differentiated into various types of heart tissue, including cardiomyocytes, the rhythmically contracting muscle cells that produce a heartbeat.
Doctors have observed that women who experience weakness of the heart during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth have better recovery rates than any other group of heart failure patients. This study suggests that fetal stem cells may help human mothers, as well as mice, recover from heart damage. It may also explain another curious clinical observation: The hearts of two women who suffered from severe heart weakness were later found to contain cells derived from the cells of a male fetus years after they gave birth to their sons.
Laci Davis, an 8-year-old in Cincinnati, Ohio, accidentally ingested her necklace and heart-shaped locket, which lodged in her throat.
The third-grader was in excruciating pain.
“It felt like something was stabbing me right in the middle of my chest,” she said.
Doctors at St. Elizabeth sent her to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. It was the car ride that changed everything.
“We hit a pot hole and she looked at me and said, ‘oh mom, I feel better.’ I said what do you mean you feel better and she said ‘I don’t feel it anymore,’” Amanda Cullum, Laci’s mother, said.
The pothole dislodged the locket, which then dropped down into Laci’s stomach. The pain was gone, and Laci could breathe normally.
“It was my hero and I when I got home I was like thank you bump,” she said.
Doctors told Laci the locket will come back out “the old-fashioned way.” Laci says she’ll get a new locket instead retrieving this one. Link -via Fark
(Image source: WCPO/CNN)
In the comment of our last human hair embroidery post, Neatoramanaut Louisa alerted us to the fantastic series of "fiber-based" artwork by Kate Kretz.


Ebb, the hair embroidery of the sleeping eyes above, is deliciously done on a pillowcase.

The gorgeous Heart Center is a human heart with embroidered veins and arteries ...

And my favorite, Kate's Fertilization Purse, cleverly uses fake pearls fashioned as sperms!
Check out more of Kate Kretz' art at her Flickr photoset All Fiber-Based Work, website, and blog - Thanks Louisa!
My Zombie Family Car Stickers – $9.95
Do you have a zombieriffic family? Tell the world, or at least the guy stuck behind you in traffic, with the My Zombie Family Car Stickers by Adam “ape lad” Koford from the NeatoShop. This frighteningly fabulous set comes with 8 stickers:
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Zombie fun!
Don’t just settle for a heart-shaped paper sentiment–really unsettle the object of your obsession and send a heart-shaped vase. It’s great for corny Valentine’s puns, for sure. Or you can give it to your cardiologist that you’ve been crushing on (I know–he makes your heart go pitter-patter). It’s by Veneri Design and comes to you by way of Design Milk.
Link via Design Milk
Stephen put a lot of hard work into studying a “a particular cardiac arrhythmia” for his PhD. He is deservedly proud of achieving his diploma, but wanted something more interesting to display on his wall. This artwork is made up of words from his dissertation. Cool! Link -via reddit
As this emperor penguin chick matures to adulthood, his “bib” took the shape we are all familiar with. Wildlife photographer Sue Flood said this chick is the only one she’s ever seen with such markings. Link -via Arbroath
(Image credit: Sue Flood)
Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy Blog has a collection of astronomical images that display valentine heart shapes -which just goes to show you can find anything if you look heart, er, hard enough. This picture is of the W5 star-forming region taken by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The gallery ends with an extremely geeky bit of graffiti. Link
Heart (Anatomy) Keychain – $4.95
Are you afraid of giving someone your whole heart this Valentine’s Day? Give them the Heart – Anatomy Keychain from the NeatoShop instead. It’s like giving your whole heart, but in miniature and in plastic. Plus, if they manage to some how break this heart it won’t hurt that much.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more heartfelt gifts.
Tunes for Two - $11.95
The heart shaped Tunes for Two headphone splitter from the NeatoShop is the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for any music lover. They will love this gift so much that they might even allow you snuggle up close enough to “cop a feel.”
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Valentine’s Day foolishness.
Heart Spatula – $9.95
Valentine’s Day is almost here! Are you still looking for that perfect gift for your sweetie? Well, nothing says I love when you cook me dinner like the Heart Spatula from the NeatoShop.
Be sure to visit the NeatoShop for more kitchen fun.
Black Heart Plush – $24.95
Do you know someone who is having a wee bit of trouble with love this Valentine’s Day? Cheer them up with the Black Heart Plush from the NeatoShop. Nothing says embrace the pain like a faux patent leather plushie.
Be sure to visit the NeatoShop for more Valentine’s Day survival tools.
Photo: Nathan Pask
When the London Dungeon wants to give out cupcakes on Valentine’s Day, you can be sure that it won’t be doling out any cutesy ones. Take a look at the gory anatomical heart cupcakes that Miss Cakehead prepared for the feast: Link – Thanks Emma!
Previously on Neatorama: Anatomical Heart Cake
Giant Heart Plush – $17.95
This Valentine’s Day, reveal your love in a grand romantic gesture by giving someone your heart. Your Giant Heart Plush, that is. This 11" x 9" anatomical heart by Wendy Bryan of I Heart Guts is perfect for hugging … or beating (Get it? beating? heart? Oh, the pun! *my wife rolls her eyes*)
Link | More I Heart Guts plush on the NeatoShop
Cake artist Lily Vanilli makes cakes that look like human hearts. Musician Tim Wheeler featured one in one of his music videos, which you can watch at the link. In the video, he devours the cake, and it’s surprisingly realistic on the inside, too. At least, what I would imagine a person eating a human heart would look like. Because I’ve never actually seen that happen. So that’s more of a speculative assumption on my part.
Thomas Fuchs of A Heart A Day draws – you guessed it – a lot of really nifty "heart" illustrations (with a twist). I particularly like the animated GIFs:
Take a look at his drawings on his blog or as T-shirts over at the NeatoShop:
Link – They make for a pretty neat Valentine’s Day gift!
Instant Love Inflatable Heart – $4.95
Are you feeling a little needy today? Do you need a little extra love and attention? The Instant Love Inflatable Heart from the NeatoShop is here for you. Just pop open the tin and blow yourself happy.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more inflatable fun | Valentine’s Day Gifts
Heart Gelatin Mold – $6.95
Are you looking for the perfect end to that romantic Valentine’s Day meal? Well look no further! The Heart Gelatin Mold from the NeatoShop is for you. Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like having your heart ripped apart and devoured by someone you love.
Check out the NeatoShop for more heartfelt gifts.
I Heart Nerds Socks – $9.95
Forget the sexy lingerie this Valentine’s day! Get her the I Heart Nerd Socks from the NeatoShop instead. We all know that nothing is sexier than a girl with a great pair of socks.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more nerdy fun.
Heart Flask – $17.95
The NeatoShop is here to help you embrace the true spirit of Valentine’s Day. Nothing says I love you, alcohol like a heart-shaped flask.
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
You know this little heart-shaped flask is the perfect gift for you.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more flask fun.
I Reverse Polish Notation Heart T-Shirt - $9.95
Be still my geeky heart! Neatoramanaut Ana models this wonderfully geeky I Reverse Polish Notation Heart T-Shirt.
What’s a Reverse Polish notation? It’s a mathematical notation where the operator (e.g. +, -, x) follows the operands. Those of you who have the old HP-10C series calculator are probably nodding in nostalgia right now!
More I Heart T-shirts | Science T-Shirts over at the NeatoShop
Charles Okeke of Arizona has an artificial heart the size of a backpack. It’s called the Freedom Driver and was developed by SynCardia Systems. With this device, Okeke was able to leave the confines of a hospital for the first time in two years:
The device requires pressurized air from an external machine called “Big Blue,” and the bulk and size of the 190 kg machine has until now prevented recipients from leaving hospital. In the case of Charles Okeke a smaller 6.1 kg version of the pressurizing machine, dubbed “Freedom Driver,” has been used, and this is small enough to fit in a backpack.
Okeke must wear the backpack at all times, but it has at least given him the freedom to leave hospital and go home, after already spending over 600 days in the Mayo Clinic wired up to Big Blue. Okeke’s heart failed after a blood clot “destroyed his heart” and had a heart transplant that lasted around 10 years before his body rejected it.
The last time I felt so cutting edge was when I got the Senseo coffee maker pod machine a few years ago. Today, it’s absolutely quaint especially when compared to the gorgeous coffee makers and espresso machines compiled by Dark Roasted Blend.
This one above is the Heart Bean Coffee Grinder, by Adi Navwany, Michal Shamsian, Itamar Paloge and Danielle Ram. It’s made from a single piece of wood and has a built-in sensor to monitor your heart beat to let it grind the coffee beans to the rhythm of your heart.
See more here: Link

