These little, cute crocheted Star Wars characters really make you say awww-some. They have no other purpose than to perhaps be the perfect gift for your buddy who loves Star wars and arts and crafts. Link
These little, cute crocheted Star Wars characters really make you say awww-some. They have no other purpose than to perhaps be the perfect gift for your buddy who loves Star wars and arts and crafts. Link
It’s hard to believe but some musicians out there are in more bands than Jack White. BandToBand.com has created a unique web site to “map the Rock and Roll Genome.” It’s like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, but with Slash and Dave Grohl.
Bands have a tendency to share band members from time to time and as a result it is not difficult to construct a simple "family tree" based upon the interrelationship of band members. We at BandToBand.com decided to find out how large this extended tree is. Every band in our list is connected to every other band based upon this family tree principle.
Link
From the folks at Vice Magazine comes this mini documentary on the Pakistani Homemade Machine gun market. It gives an in depth look (with photos and video) of how arms are created, bought and sold in that part of the world.
The bulk of Pakistan’s homemade automatic weapons and explosive devices are forged, built and sold at Darra Adamkhel, a village located near Peshawar where main street is an open-air arms market.
Link
A fun build-it-yourself project is to create this “Crazyflie” a homemade miniature Quadcopter that uses a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The video at the link shows the tiny flying machine zipping around effortlessly.
Despite its tinyness, the quadcopter includes a charging port, radio, 3-axis accelerometer, two gyroscopes, and a lightweight 110 mAh LiPO battery that gives it about four and a half minutes of flying time
Link
I like websites that perform one function well. This website answers the question of how many people are in space at any given moment and where (on the International Space Station, aboard the Space Shuttle, etc.) Link
Photo: Mark Tipple
Photographer and surfer Mark Tipple has always been intrigued with what happens below the surface. So, while between projects he "hung out" under the sea to capture some of the best underwater photographs you'll see today:
"Coming from a surfing background I used to wonder what happens when we're duck-diving, like, what it looks like from a different angle than what we can see. Kinda hard to explain but it has always been on my mind. I used to surf with a small video camera and housing attached to my helmet, (pauses) it worked surprisingly well but my neck couldn't take the impact and stress while trying to duck-dive and capture the right angle. Even tried to turn it back on myself to see what happens clearer but that, uh, sucked (laughs). I looked for a new approach to capture what I was seeking, which basically meant getting off the surfboard."
Link - via The Telegraph
Used and banged up gadgets are usually considered as ugly by most people, but not to Remy Labesque of design mind's Object Oriented blog. He considers them "Aged to Perfection" (though that's not enough to consign the gadgets to the trash heap of obsolescence - or e-waste recycling, after he took the photos):
The truth is that consumer products are ‘new’ for a very brief moment when they are first removed from the packaging, but spend the great majority of their useful lives as ‘used’ products in the process of decay. Many welcome the breaking-in of products like a leather wallet or a pair of jeans as this wear can be aesthetically-pleasing. The Japanese have a term for this, “Wabi-sabi”. Wabi-sabi can be used to describe the aesthetically pleasing wear of an object as it decays over time. It’s a notion that embraces the transience of objects and celebrates the purity of the imperfect. Aging with dignity is a criteria designers should recognize in their efforts. I’m thinking of a future when products are designed not for the brief moment when they are new, but for when they have been aged to perfection.
Who needs males when you have parthenogenesis? With a little help from science, biologist Peter Baumann and collagues have created an all-female lizard species:
Researchers have bred a new species of all-female lizard, mimicking a process that has happened naturally in the past but has never been directly observed.
“It’s recreating the events that lead to new species,” said cell biologist Peter Baumann of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, whose new species is described May 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “It relates to the question of how these unisexual species arise in the first place.”
Someone has made Ed Falco an offer he can't refuse. The novelist was authorized by the family of the late Mario Puzo to create a prequel to The Godfather, a novel titled "The Family Corleone":
Mario Puzo's bestselling mafia novel, "The Godfather," will get a prequel, it was announced Wednesday. Publisher Grand Central says "The Family Corleone" will come to shelves in June 2012.
"The Family Corleone," an "all-new prequel," will be based on an unproduced screenplay written by Puzo. The 78-year-old Puzo died of a heart attack in 1999.
Assigned to bring Puzo's original characters to early life was Ed Falco, a novelist, short-story writer and playwright who runs the creative writing program at Virginia Tech. Falco is an interesting choice for a number of reasons: He grew up Catholic in Brooklyn; his writing has dealt with violence; the Virginia Tech shooter, who killed 32 people in 2007, was one of his students. And on the more frivolous side, he is the uncle of actress Edie Falco, who starred in the modern-day mafia hit "The Sopranos."
Photo: Murdo Macleod
Whisky. Is there anything it can't do? Here's what the Scots are going to do with the byproducts of whisky-making process:
It is the spirit that powers the Scottish economy, and now whisky is to be used to create electricity for homes in a new bioenergy venture involving some of Scotland's best-known distilleries.
Contracts have recently been awarded for the construction of a biomass combined heat and power plant at Rothes in Speyside that by 2013 will use the by-products of the whisky-making process for energy production.
Vast amounts of "draff", the spent grains used in the distilling process, and pot ale, a residue from the copper stills, are produced by the whisky industry each year and are usually transported off-site. The Rothes project, a joint venture between Helius Energy and the Combination of Rothes Distillers (CoRD) will burn the draff with woodchips to generate enough electricity to supply 9,000 homes. It will be supplied by Aalborg Energie Technick, a danish engineering company. The pot ale will be made into a concentrated organic fertiliser and an animal feed for use by local farmers.
Sure gives a new spin on "drunk with power," doesn't it? Link via GOOD
If you love Tom Hanks playing Chopsticks on the giant piano in Big, you'll love this: two FAO Schwartz staffers in New York City playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
Claude Stanley Choules died today at a nursing home in Perth, Australia, at the age of 110. Choules was the last known combat veteran of World War I.
Choules' autobiography is entitled The Last of the Last. Link -via reddit
(Image credit: LSIS Nadia Monteith,AP Photo/Royal Australian Navy)
World War I was raging when Choules began training with the British Royal Navy, just one month after he turned 14. In 1917, he joined the battleship HMS Revenge, from which he watched the 1918 surrender of the German High Seas Fleet, the main battle fleet of the German Navy during the war.
"There was no sign of fight left in the Germans as they came out of the mist at about 10 a.m.," Choules wrote in his autobiography. The German flag, he recalled, was hauled down at sunset.
"So ended the most momentous day in the annals of naval warfare," he wrote. "A fleet of ships surrendered without firing a shot."
Millions died in the war, which lasted from 1914-1918. Choules and another Briton, Florence Green, became the war's last known surviving service members after the death of American Frank Buckles in February, according to the Order of the First World War, a U.S.-based group that tracks veterans.
Choules' autobiography is entitled The Last of the Last. Link -via reddit
(Image credit: LSIS Nadia Monteith,AP Photo/Royal Australian Navy)
Many of my Facebook friends are virtual farmers on FarmVille but I wonder how many of them would choose to run a real agricultural operation. The MyFarm project offers 10,000 subscribers the opportunity to participate in the running of a real-life working farm in Cambridgeshire, U.K. for £30 per year. The Wimpole Estate, owned by England's National Trust, currently receives 250,000 visitors per year and has a rich farming history going back centuries. Farmer subscribers will vote on how the farm is run and get to choose crops, livestock, facilities investments, and machinery. It is hoped that the project will raise awareness about how agriculture works.
http://www.my-farm.org.uk/home - Via Good
http://www.my-farm.org.uk/home - Via Good
It is once again time for our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog. Do you know what this thing is?
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.
Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirts, Funny T-Shirts and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?
There's more objects to guess posted at the What Is It? Blog. Take a deep breath, do your best, and good luck!
Update: Anirban was first with the correct answer (but didn't select a shirt): this is a betel nut cutter. The funniest answer came from Chad Huskey, who said: According to Futurama robots celebrate "Robanukah" So in that vein my assumption is this is a device used when 8 days after rolling off the assembly line male robots have their robo-bris. For that, he wins a t-shirt!
BRACES ON THE BLACK MARKET
In the early 2000s, an unusual fashion craze hit Thailand after magazines there began featuring pics of teenage girls sporting colorful braces. Suddenly, every girl on the block wanted to strap metal to her teeth, even if she already had a perfect smile. But because most orthodontists refuse to apply braces to flawless teeth, the girls took their concerns to the black market, where hucksters and swindlers happily slapped on fake braces -sometimes using superglue. (Not the best idea, as the glue's side effects can include blood poisoning and nerve damage.) By early 2006, the craze had become so popular, and so dangerous, that authorities announced steep fines and jail time for anyone caught producing or selling fake braces. Unfortunately, neither the legal penalties nor the physical risks have done anything to diminish the fad. It looks like anxious parents will just have to wait for braces to stop being cool again.
NOTHING TO FEAR... EXCEPT TRUMPETS
The American Association of Orthodontists wants to put a few schoolyard rumors to bed. First off, wearing braces in a thunderstorm doesn't increase your chances of being struck by lightning. Also, braces don't set off metal detectors at airports or disrupt radio signals. But that doesn't mean braces are completely harmless. In fact, the corrective metal reserves a special terror for trumpet players, notoriously chafing kids' lips when they play. Thankfully, University of South Carolina music professor Dr. Keith Amstutz has a solution: the BRACEGUARD. The invention uses a piece of custom-molded plastic to separate players' lips from the metal, allowing teens to toot their own horns pain-free.
CELEBRITIES STRAIGHTEN UP
In early 2002, Tom Cruise took his children to the orthodontist and found out that his own bite was askew. So, he did what any other world-famous movie star would do: He got braces. Instead of a mouthful of metal, Cruise opted for ceramic braces, which use bone-color brackets linked by one arch wire resting in front of the teeth. Cruise wore his braces for the next year, flashing them at movie premieres and award shows, and in doing so, he helped make it acceptable for adults to wear them. By 2004, one in five Americans with braces was an adult- a 37 percent increase from a decade earlier. During the past few years, stars from Danny Glover to Alyssa Milano have followed in Cruise's toothsteps, changing what it means to smile like a movie star.
THE WIRELESS AGE
Recent advances in braces have made them less noticeable and more efficient. The latest development is "smart brackets," which are embedded with microelectronic chip to measure the movement of each tooth and reduce the amount of time teenagers spend under the wire. But the future of orthodontics involves getting rid of braces altogether. Scientists are busy developing a new kind of tooth-straightening device called an eruption guidance appliance, or EGA. Designed for childen between the ages of 8 and 11, and EGA is a retainer-like tray that works at night to guide teeth as they grow in, making braces unnecessary later on.
ORTHODONTICS BY THE NUMBERS
5 Million: Number of Americans with braces.
5,410: Number of orthodontists in the United States.
650: Number of orthodontists in Caifornia (the most of any U.S. state).
30: Number of orthodontists in West Virginia (the fewest of any U.S. state).
$206, 190: Mean annual income for an orthodontist in the United States.
81: Number of Ugly Betty episodes that aired before Betty got her braces removed.
1: Number of The Brady Bunch episodes in which Marcia wore braces.
Be sure to visit mental_floss' website and blog for more fun stuff!
In the early 2000s, an unusual fashion craze hit Thailand after magazines there began featuring pics of teenage girls sporting colorful braces. Suddenly, every girl on the block wanted to strap metal to her teeth, even if she already had a perfect smile. But because most orthodontists refuse to apply braces to flawless teeth, the girls took their concerns to the black market, where hucksters and swindlers happily slapped on fake braces -sometimes using superglue. (Not the best idea, as the glue's side effects can include blood poisoning and nerve damage.) By early 2006, the craze had become so popular, and so dangerous, that authorities announced steep fines and jail time for anyone caught producing or selling fake braces. Unfortunately, neither the legal penalties nor the physical risks have done anything to diminish the fad. It looks like anxious parents will just have to wait for braces to stop being cool again.
NOTHING TO FEAR... EXCEPT TRUMPETS
The American Association of Orthodontists wants to put a few schoolyard rumors to bed. First off, wearing braces in a thunderstorm doesn't increase your chances of being struck by lightning. Also, braces don't set off metal detectors at airports or disrupt radio signals. But that doesn't mean braces are completely harmless. In fact, the corrective metal reserves a special terror for trumpet players, notoriously chafing kids' lips when they play. Thankfully, University of South Carolina music professor Dr. Keith Amstutz has a solution: the BRACEGUARD. The invention uses a piece of custom-molded plastic to separate players' lips from the metal, allowing teens to toot their own horns pain-free.
CELEBRITIES STRAIGHTEN UP
In early 2002, Tom Cruise took his children to the orthodontist and found out that his own bite was askew. So, he did what any other world-famous movie star would do: He got braces. Instead of a mouthful of metal, Cruise opted for ceramic braces, which use bone-color brackets linked by one arch wire resting in front of the teeth. Cruise wore his braces for the next year, flashing them at movie premieres and award shows, and in doing so, he helped make it acceptable for adults to wear them. By 2004, one in five Americans with braces was an adult- a 37 percent increase from a decade earlier. During the past few years, stars from Danny Glover to Alyssa Milano have followed in Cruise's toothsteps, changing what it means to smile like a movie star.
THE WIRELESS AGE
Recent advances in braces have made them less noticeable and more efficient. The latest development is "smart brackets," which are embedded with microelectronic chip to measure the movement of each tooth and reduce the amount of time teenagers spend under the wire. But the future of orthodontics involves getting rid of braces altogether. Scientists are busy developing a new kind of tooth-straightening device called an eruption guidance appliance, or EGA. Designed for childen between the ages of 8 and 11, and EGA is a retainer-like tray that works at night to guide teeth as they grow in, making braces unnecessary later on.
ORTHODONTICS BY THE NUMBERS
5 Million: Number of Americans with braces.
5,410: Number of orthodontists in the United States.
650: Number of orthodontists in Caifornia (the most of any U.S. state).
30: Number of orthodontists in West Virginia (the fewest of any U.S. state).
$206, 190: Mean annual income for an orthodontist in the United States.
81: Number of Ugly Betty episodes that aired before Betty got her braces removed.
1: Number of The Brady Bunch episodes in which Marcia wore braces.
_______________________
The article above, written by Adam K. Raymond, is reprinted with permission from the March-April 2011 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!Be sure to visit mental_floss' website and blog for more fun stuff!
