Photo: Mark Gurney

Ain't he cute? Meet the olinguito, the first new species of carnivore to be identified in the Western hemisphere in 35 years. It's a small raccoon-like animal approximately 2 and a half feet long and weighs about two pounds. It has woolly orange-brown fur and a cute teddy bear-like face to boot.

The cute mammal was discovered by a team of scientists from the Smithsonian Institution in the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador. The search for the olingo was started when zoologist Kristofer Helgen uncovered bones and animal skins in the storage room of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

"When I looked at the skulls I didn't recognize the anatomy," Helgen told BBC News, "It was different to any similar animal I'd seen, and right away I thought it could be a species new to science."

But it turns out that scientist shouldn't have had to look far. Turns out, the olinguito has been known to man all along: they've been displayed in museums and zoos for the past few decades. In fact, there's one living in the The Smithsonian-run National Zoo in Washington.

"It's been kind of hiding in plain sight for a long time," Helgen said. It was a case of mistaken identity with its closely related cousin the olingos.

It happens at a lot of colleges when a new class of freshmen arrive: there aren't enough dormitory beds. Within a few weeks, the no-shows are counted and alternate housing is found, but meanwhile, many colleges put cots in the gym or commons building for the overflow. Some freshmen at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, are getting a totally different experience because the school is putting them up in an indoor water park! Capital University spokeswoman Nichole Johnson said the school thought using Fort Rapids was a better option than putting new students in storage areas or lounges.

Capital officials say they typically see about fifty beds become available in the first two to three weeks after classes start.
 
Until then, about thirty students will be calling the resort home.
 
"They have suites that are similar to our suite-style living that we offer, and they were willing to step up and help us,” Johnson said of the eastside resort.
 
The university says it will offer shuttle service between campus and Fort Rapids, so students do not have to worry about making the approximately five mile trip on their own.

Meanwhile, the students will have access to the water slides. With living accommodations like that, who'd want to go to class? Link  -via Fark

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Jeff Wysaski calls them "ideas for a slightly better world", but I think that he's underestimating the awesomeness of cats wearing hats. My favorite: require all telemarketers to talk like pirates while making phone calls.

This. Is. Genius! Redditor Ratapus found that the Country Inn & Suites in Niagara Falls has a dedicated button to call for pizza. All phones need this!

Officer Dan Waskiewicz of the Baltimore Police Department responded to a call about a vicious dog chasing kids. He later wrote about the experience:

I followed the dog into an ally to see how it was acting. Going on my own approach, being a dog lover, I got out of my car and called the "vicious dog" over to me. The dog came over with it's tail between it's legs and panting. I grabbed my water bottle and the dog sat down next to me and began licking my pants. I started giving the dog water. I brought the dog over and waited for the pound to show up. My partner was not a fan of dogs and was startled by my approach. I suggested to him that this dog cannot be put down, and should be taken to a shelter. We took it upon ourselves to take the dog to the shelter, and transported it in the back seat in the back of our patrol car. Then I decided that I wanted to keep the dog, and spoke to the shelter about the steps to take to adopt it.

So now "Bo" has a new home with Waskiewicz and two other dogs. There are more pictures and also links to what happened after the story at Modified K9 Blog. Link -via Death and Taxes

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I am totally get you, Chappo. You're a committed Trekkie and your human has turned on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

That's the least awesome Star Trek movie (by definition, there is no such thing as bad Star Trek, only gradations of awesomeness), but Chappo also howls for The Next Generation.

-via Nerd Approved

Search Google for the definition of the word literally. Literally now means its own antonym.

I know that languages evolve over time. But can we reclaim the first definition of this adverb as the only legitimate one?

Link -via Popehat

(Photo: How Hwee Young/EPA)

Zhang Biqing, a doctor who became wealthy by founding a medical clinic chain, spent $130,000 building a mountain home around his penthouse apartment in Beijing. He didn't get government permission first, so now officials want him to tear it down:

According to regulations, the district government has to order compulsory demolition of a building as soon as it is identified as illegal, Wang Qiang, a spokesman for the Beijing Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development told the English-language China Daily news site. [...]

Zhang, a doctor of Chinese medicine and the founder of a chain of medical clinics that offer acupuncture, told the Beijing Times newspaper Tuesday [link in Chinese] that he would demolish the alterations if requested.

He told the newspaper he spent $130,000 on the work, which he said was to make the rooftop pipework look prettier. He said the project began with a small number of plants and some bamboo, but that he was forced to add wooden structures to stop his additions from blowing away. Much of the rock-like edifice is actually painted wood, according to some reporters. 

You can see more photos of the home at the link.

Link -via Daily Telegraph (warning: auto-sound)

Chinese artist Jun.C makes stunning portraits of safety pins. He bends them and places them in ordinary settings so that they look convincingly like people. You can see more photos from the series at the link.

Link | Artist's Website (warning: auto-sound)

(Photo: Sage Ross)

This Japanese White Pine bonsai, planted in 1625, has survived the ravages of both time and atomic warfare. It was in Hiroshima, Japan when the US dropped an atomic bomb on that city on August 6, 1945. The then-owner described the experience:

On that day, Shigeru said that all the family members (his grandparents and their young son-Shigeru's father) were inside their home. The bomb exploded about three kilometers (less than two miles) from the family compound. The blast blew out all the glass windows in the home, and each member of the family was cut from the flying glass fragments. Miraculously, however, none of them suffered any permanent injury. [...]

The great old Japanese white pine and a large number of other bonsai were sitting on benches in the garden. Amazingly, none of these bonsai was harmed by the blast either, because the nursery was protected by a tall wall. A Japanese broadcasting company would later film the bonsai garden and report on how the wall had saved the bonsai.

Link -via Twisted Sifter

Real-life, face-to-face relationships? Pass.

Take Jim Benton's advice and plug yourself into the internet. There's an entire world that has nothing bad to say about you individually.

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All those well-toned muscles--well, son, he was just born that way. Don't stare or comment on it.

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Got a job interview coming up? You'd better dress to impress. One way to do so would be to wear one of David Hajari's My Little Pony ties. You'd definitely stand out to the interviewers.

Just be sure to choose the right tie for the right company. Some firms have Rainbow Dash or Luna corporate cultures. Others, though, are rather Derpy.

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Cecilia Valentine's "Fur Is Alive" series includes spaces for living animals. She showed the three pieces in her series at the graduation show for the Rietveld Academy, a design school in Amsterdam.

Link -via Inhabitat

August 10th was National S'more Day. I missed it! So I'll punish myself by eating extra s'mores today.

Craftsy rounded up 9 unusual s'more recipes, including this giant s'more cake made by Ethel Rose. It serves one.

Link -via Cake Spy