A David Attenborough soundalike delivers a anthropological piece poking fun at Sweden's equality, agnosticism, tolerance, and sexual liberation. Featuring the actual prime minister of Sweden, Fredrik Reinfeldt, plus several famous Swedish actors. Contains NSFW language. -via reddit
This guy's such a great gymnast, he appears to totally defy gravity! The popular Japanese TV show Masquerade is a talent contest. Look through their YouTube channel and you'll see many such physical illusions. -via Tastefully Offensive
An animal control officer in Anderson, South Carolina, responded to a call about a barking dog. When Michelle Smith went to investigate, she found a tiny Shih Tzu mix barking in a ravine. Smith climbed down the embankment, which she says the dog could have easily climbed out of herself, and found out why the dog was there. She was nursing a tiny kitten!
"I didn’t know what to think," she said. "I was shocked and surprised and then of course, awww."
The dog and kitten received the same reaction when Smith took them to the animal shelter. Volunteers marveled at the way the dog, which is at least 5 years old, looks out for the 5-week-old kitten.
Jessica Cwynar, director of the shelter, says such behavior is natural for mammals.
"It would be like one of us seeing a neglected or abandoned child and taking it under our wing," she said.
Neither the dog nor the kitten has a known name, so shelter volunteers call them "Girl."
Cwynar said the 5-year-old dog likely started producing milk because of a surge of hormones when she found the kitten. The dog is obviously a pet, and the shelter is hoping the owner will come forward and take the kitten, too. Link -via Arbroath, where you can see a video.
If you discovered a new species of prehistoric arthropod fossil with scissor-like appendages, what you you name it? Name it Kooteninchela deppi, in honor of the actor who played Edward Scissorhands!
“When I first saw the pair of isolated claws in the fossil records of this species I could not help but think of Edward Scissorhands,” says researcher David Legg, who conducted the research into the fossil as part of his PhD at Imperial College London, in a statement. “Even the genus name, Kootenichela, includes the reference to this film as ‘chela’ is Latin for claws or scissors. In truth, I am also a bit of a Depp fan and so what better way to honour the man than to immortalise him as an ancient creature that once roamed the sea?”
Kooteninchela deppi scoured the sea floor for other animals to eat. It is thought to be an ancestor of modern scorpions, centipedes, and crabs. Link
(Image credit: Imperial College London)
I put this new Windows 8 advertisement on my own site because, although it's funny, I didn't think it was quite "neat" enough for Neatorama. Then later, I found out something strange about it. No one seems to know what language the actors are speaking!
Native speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean declare that it is not any of those languages. The first time I listened to them, the ads sounded as though they contained elements of some Wu topolect, a bit like mangled Shanghainese, but I could also definitely hear bits of Mandarin, albeit with unusual tonal contours and slurring. What was most perplexing of all to me was that, although I was certain that the ads contained Chinese phrases and sentences, every Chinese person to whom I showed them emphatically maintained that they could not understand a single word! In contrast, several non-native speakers of Mandarin said they could pick out a word of Chinese here and there.
Victor Mair of Language Log asked other people who speak different languages if they recognized the language, but still haven't found anyone who understands it. Link -via Metafilter
The clothespin gravestone marked the grave of W. Jack Crowell, who owned the National Clothespin Company, the last wooden clothespin manufacturer in the United States (today it produces plastic clothespins and barrettes). Originally, Jack wanted a giant clothespin with real spring so children could teeter on it.
View 9 more of the world's most unusual graves over at Oddee: Link
With the help of retired carpenter Julien Forder, designer Cléon Daniel crafted a pool table shaped like a giant banana:
There's a lot of work in this video. Geoff Klock made a mashup of quotes from and references to Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet taken from 198 movies and TV shows. If you enjoy Shakespeare, you'll love seeing how much modern entertainment leans on the Bard. Contains a couple of NSFW words. Stay through the credits. -via Metafilter
To help new writers on the TV series Star Trek, a 31-page guide was typed up to lay out the rules of the series and ensure continuity of style. It addressed each character's personality, the basic mission of the Enterprise, and the type of stories that work, among other things. Slate has three pages of the guide; the rest are at Harvard’s Houghton Library. Link
The distance to the stars is often explained by how long it takes light to travel to us from them. That works in the other direction, too. Today's xkcd panel gives us another way to visualize those distances by showing how old our pop culture references and memes are by the time they reach those stars. You can enlarge the image at xkcd by clicking if you can't read this small print. Link -via Tastefully Offensive
When French visual artist Carine Khalifé met Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless of the band Young Galaxy, it started an artistic journey that led to this amazing music video for the band's new single Blown Minded, in which every frame is made out of oil painting.
Carine wrote:
Basically, my technique was to paint on a piece of glass fixed to a light box. I would paint on the glass with oil so that it wouldn’t dry, and I could play with it for hours. A camera, fixed overhead above the animation table and plugged in my computer, would capture my paintings frame by frame and create the animation using the software Stop Motion Pro (the aardman studio software). This process took place inside a dark room so that there wouldn’t be interference or changing lights on the paint. The single light source came from beneath the glass, revealing the textures and details of brushes movements.
I worked a lot with transparency. The more paint, the darker the image, and therefore the animation becomes about gesture, and the texture of brushstrokes; it’s a very physical, organic process. I based the number of frames per second (sometimes 8 sometimes 12) on the rhythm of the music. Everything is based on the rhythm.
Watch and weep: Hit play or go to Link [Vimeo] | Visit Carine's official website - via So Bad So Good
The Albion Beatnik shop in Oxford, England, has this sign in a window. Respect! The text is a reworking of This is a Printing Office by Beatrice Warde. Link -via Buzzfeed
Behold, a modern confession written on a bathroom stall, with a response that surprises no one. This is one of The 24 Most Important Things Ever Written In Bathroom Stalls, which are funny but contain some NSFW words. It's bathroom humor, of course. Link
It must have been really embarassing to find out you've stuck a love note on a random stranger's car. And it might have been one of your neighbors! This cute and extremely polite note is part of a collection called 18 Hilariously Polite Warning Signs which range from passive aggressive to clever to truly polite. Link
(Image source: reddit)
The Universe has just sent humankind a warning shot: Earlier today, International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield tweeted an image of a hole in the ISS solar array. Hadfield called it "bullet hole - a small stone from the universe went through our solar array. Glad it missed the hull."
Next time, raise the shields, Commander Hadfield! Link
This graduation announcement was posted by redditor alyak72 in anticipation of the rest of her life. Sadly, school can't last forever. Link -via Happy Place
(Image credit: J Michael O'Day)
Photo: Alecsandra Dragoi
University of Portsmouth student Alecsandra Dragoi won the Youth Photographer of the Year award at the 2013 Sony World Photography with this stunning photo above. She captured the image at a New Year festival in Romania, where, apparently, men dressed up in real bear suits parade in the snow to ring in the new year: Link
This man's eyes are closed in this picture. His eyelids are tattooed with images of eyes. Since he had it done, he's never lost a staring contest. He could sleep through a sermon or lecture and no one would ever know, but waking up next to him might be startling. Can you imagine his open casket funeral? There's got to be other parts of life that would be totally different for someone with this particular body art. Link
The wheelharp is a fairly new musical instrument that produces the rich sounds of stringed instruments. A keyboard controls 61 bowed strings, so one musician can sound like an orchestra- or at least the string section. The wheelharp was inspired by the hurdy-gurdy, and comes in two models: the radial model you see here, and one with a more conventional flat keyboard attached to the wheel. You can hear several sections of music played on the wheelharp at Antiquity Music. Link -via Metafilter
Richie Trimble rides tall in his 14.5-foot bicycle. He sees the world from 17 feet above ground, which gives him a unique view. It can't be easy balancing on a bicycle that has to be up against a building just to climb on!
As a cinematographer in Los Angeles, it’s rare for Richie to make it out to bike rides. Two weeks ago, his calendar clear, he rode on The Safari Bike Ride where he met up with friend and fellow bike builder, Rick Hill. Richie tells me that “Rick makes the most awesome bikes.”
Richie challenged Rick to the tallest bike in LA – two weeks later, STOOPID TALL would be constructed. Richie was building it for Saturday night’s bike ride, C.R.A.N.K. MOB, to take it to the next level. It took him twelve hours to build, the final eight hours on the day of the bike ride.With only one Huffy beach cruiser frame, crank, handle bars, seat post and the fork as the rest of the bike is made by round and square steel tubing. The curves in the the round tubing were created from an upside down shopping cart and log on top. The chain alone is six and a half bicycle chains, that’s thirty-two and a half feet. With no real tools or a flush surface, Richie used c-stands (usually seen being used on film sets), levels and small wedges, built by eye-ing it in his back yard. “I was skeptical it would even ride at all.”
But it did, as you can see from this POV video. Warning: may induce vertigo.
Read more about the bike called STOOPID TALL at L.A. Streets Blog. Link -via Blame It On The Voices
Remember the criminal mastermind who didn't quite get into Kent's Meats and Groceries in Redding, California? The bumbling burglar brought the shop so much publicity, that store owner Kent Pfrimmer decided to use the security footage for a TV ad! Is that clever or what? -via Daily of the Day
How's this for a great use for emerging technology? Combine a sonogram that gives a 3D rendering of a fetus with 3D printing, and you produce a plastic model of the baby months before birth. This goes a long way toward allowing the vision-impaired to feel the shape and size of the baby, whether it's the mother or other family members. Industrial designer Jorge Roberto Lopes dos Santos is putting that technology to work.
His company Tecnologia Humana 3D has been developing new ways to build three-dimensional computer models using data from sonograms and other imaging techniques after initially setting out to enhance prenatal diagnostic tools.
The work took a new direction when dos Santos realized that printing these models would give visually impaired mothers-to-be a chance to meet their babies in utero.
“We work mainly to help physicians when there is some eventual possibility of malformation,” dos Santos said. “We also work for parents who want to have the models of their fetuses in 3D.”
Tecnologia Humana designs the models with sophisticated programs that produce highly detailed simulations of a fetus’ anatomy that doctors can examine virtually.
So of course the technology will also be available to those who don't need it but can afford it. Soon, when you ask an expectant father how his wife is doing, and he may pull out a tiny plastic fetus instead of the currently used sonogram printout. Link -via io9
(Image credit: Tecnologia Humana 3D)
Right on the heels of the latest Dove Real Beauty campaign, newfeelingstime has a parody in which men go through the same experiment. First they are sketched according to their own descriptions, and then from the descriptions of other people. It doesn't turn out the same way. -via Daily of the Day
Rainbow Dash My Little Pony Knee Socks
Attention My Little Pony fans! Are you looking for a truly magical pair of socks. Behold the Rainbow Dash My Little Pony Socks from the NeatoShop. This fantastic pair of knee high socks features a three-dimensional mane made from tiny strips of fabric. They are a great way to celebrate your favorite Pegasus pony.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Socks.
A good quote is always a hit on Twitter, but even better if it has a twist. This Twaggie was illustrated by Charles C. Somerville from a Tweet by Brandon Gutermuth. See all the new illustrated Tweets at Twaggies. Link
Herbert Schutz spent four days trapped under his car after a crash on his property in Rylstone, NSW, Australia. The 76-year-old got out of the car after the accident, and the car rolled back onto him, pinning him underneath. His dog Boydy stayed with him.
In the meantime all that an injured Mr Schutz had with him was his trusty kelpie, who lay on his chest to keep him warm.
Mr Schutz is adamant his "best friend" saved his life.
When paramedics got to Mr Schutz they were in awe that an elderly man could be in such good condition, despite four days without food or water, and trapped under a car.
That's a good dog. When Schultz's daughter could not contact him by phone for several days, she called his neighbor, who found him trapped but conscious. Schultz is hospitalized in stable condition with broken ribs and a fractured pelvis. Link -via Arbroath
(Image credit: Noel Dawson)
Boston held its first major sports event since Monday's bombing as the Boston Bruins hockey team hosted the Buffalo Sabres last night. As he has for 35 years, Rene Rancourt began singing the national anthem. But it turned into a singalong, and Rancourt lowered his mic and directed the crowd through the song. It was a nice demonstration of solidarity and pride from the people of Boston, Buffalo, and other sports fans. -via reddit
Snake, guinea pigs, mice, gerbils, parrots, newts, hamsters, hermit crabs? Oh, come on! This dog wants a kitty. A KITTY!
Here's the cutest video clip you'll see today, starring Clyde the dog: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
Thomas Scott found a rattlesnake in his garage. He bravely chased the snake outside and decapitated it. But that doesn't mean the end of the snake -yet. A snake head, even without its body, can bite and kill up to an hour after decapitation. See a video of a the rattlesnake head looking around and ready to bite at Nat Geo TV. It's scary. Link -via Uproxx
