(Video Link)
These soldiers are drilling in formation. One shoots the beret off of another, who seems unfazed. Either he has nerves of steel or doesn't realize what happened.
via Say Uncle
(Video Link)
These soldiers are drilling in formation. One shoots the beret off of another, who seems unfazed. Either he has nerves of steel or doesn't realize what happened.
via Say Uncle
Ugh. It's been about seven years since I've played Dungeons & Dragons, and it shows. I scored only 8 out of 22 (although I did recognize that one was not, as suggested, a "coast guard spork"). My usual weapon of choice for fighter characters was a polearm of some sort, so I expected to do a bit better. How well did you do?
Link via Ace of Spades HQ
Stefan and Erika Svanstrom of Stockholm have had an eventful honeymoon. So far, they've endured a snowstorm in Munich, Germany, a cyclone that struck Cairns, Australia, the floods of Brisbane, Australia, the wildfires in Perth, Australia, the earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, and then the earthquake in Japan:
The family returned to Stockholm on March 29 after a much calmer visit to their last destination China.
But Mr Svanstrom – who also survived the devastating Boxing Day tsunami that hit southeast Asia in 2004 – said the marriage was still going strong.
He added: "I know marriages have to endure some trials, but I think we have been through most of them.
"We've certainly experienced more than our fair share of catastrophes, but the most important thing is that we're together and happy.
Link | Photo by the Svanstroms, via the New Zealand Herald
If you love Samorost and Machinarium, you'll love this. Here's the latest from Amanita Designs: Osada, an interactive music video by animator Václav Blín and music Composer Šimon Ornest.
Remember the incredibly violent coffee commercial by Jim Henson before The Muppets became big?
Here's another one he made for La Choy Chow Mein, featuring a fire-breathing dragon. Miss Cellania has the clip: Link
Ignoring countless science-fiction movies warning them of the perils of tampering with nature, scientists are forging ahead with research to build a better brain.
Need a smarter noggin? Perhaps neurogenesis is for you:
The researchers engineered mice with a genetic switch that would turn off a gene that kills most new neurons in the adult hippocampus, thereby allowing more of these neurons to proliferate. The switch was turned on when the mice were injected with a specific drug, allowing the researchers to intervene only in adulthood.
The engineered mice performed better at a task that required them to distinguish between a chamber in which they had previously received an electric shock and a similar one with slightly different features that they'd experienced as safe. Sahay explains that pattern separation "is a mnemonic process that we use on a day-to-day basis in navigating our environments" and that it is needed to form memories and make judgments.
Link (Image: Amar Sahay)
Patients 1 and 2. Kobylinski (left), Foy (right), collecting mosquitoes in Senegal with medical entomologist Massamba Sylla. Photo: Brian Foy
The old and busted way of scientific research: Long hours hunching over the lab bench. The new hotness: sex with wife, and then a round of beer with fellow scientist. (Bonus: wife is also a co-author on the paper)
Here's the intriguing story of how a recent science paper came to be:
A U.S. vector biologist appears to have accidentally written virological history simply by having sex with his wife after returning from a field trip to Senegal. A study just released in Emerging Infectious Diseases suggests that the researcher, Brian Foy of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, passed to his wife the Zika virus, an obscure pathogen that causes joint pains and extreme fatigue. If so, it would be the first documented case of sexual transmission of an insect-borne disease.
Foy is the first author of the paper, which describes three anonymous patients. But in an interview with Science, he confirmed that he is the anonymous "patient 1"; his Ph.D. student Kevin Kobylinski, who accompanied him on the trip to Senegal and also got sick, is "patient 2." Foy's wife, Joy Chilson Foy, a nurse at the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, is "patient 3"; she is also a co-author of the paper.
Don't you just love it when things just work? Take a look at "A Normal Day" by Thomas Becker and Sebastian Stahlhofen of Patience Productions.
Want more? Two more clips, and a "Best of" after the jump:Scientists have uncovered another clue in the perplexing mystery of worldwide disappearance of honeybees, also known as the Colony Collapse Disorder:
Scientists have found numerous examples of a new phenomenon – bees "entombing" or sealing up hive cells full of pollen to put them out of use, and protect the rest of the hive from their contents. The pollen stored in the sealed-up cells has been found to contain dramatically higher levels of pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals than the pollen stored in neighbouring cells, which is used to feed growing young bees.
"This is a novel finding, and very striking. The implication is that the bees are sensing [pesticides] and actually sealing it off. They are recognising that something is wrong with the pollen and encapsulating it," said Jeff Pettis, an entomologist with the US Department of Agriculture. "Bees would not normally seal off pollen."
But the bees' last-ditch efforts to save themselves appear to be unsuccessful – the entombing behaviour is found in many hives that subsequently die off, according to Pettis. "The presence of entombing is the biggest single predictor of colony loss. It's a defence mechanism that has failed." These colonies were likely to already be in trouble, and their death could be attributed to a mix of factors in addition to pesticides, he added.
See previously: Weird Connections: Beetles, Bees & Beets | Cell Phones and Honeybees
Bunny Reusable Tote Bag - $4.95
Bunny Rabbits are not just a symbol of Easter. They are a symbol of Spring and all that is warm, fuzzy, and right with the world. It is your duty to embrace your inner rabbit with the Bunny Reusable Tote Bag from the NeatoShop. Now get out there and fill that adorable Bunny Reusable Tote Bag with delicious Easter candy!
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fun Bags & Totes!
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has a contraption that will automatically pour six, count 'em, six liquid ingredients into a cocktail glass for the geekiest mixed drink ever! Drink Making Unit 2.0 is a few steps up from the three-liquid unit they'd previously produced. Microcontrollers, LEDs, tubing, and the kind of equipment all evil mad scientists have around come together to make a machine that Rube Goldberg would be proud of. It looks good, too! Link
(College Humor link)
How many internet memes are incorporated in this music video? All of them! But they happen so fast you won't catch them all the first time around. -via Laughing Squid
Police in Lincoln, Nebraska arrested William Logan Jr. on a misdemeanor theft charge. Logan was caught on a surveillance camera using a vacuum to suck change out of coin laundry appliances.
Logan was previously convicted of stealing a Christmas tree from the Salvation Army. Link -via J-Walk Blog
Photos show a man entering the laundry room with a backpack, which contained a vacuum. The man pries open the coin tray, plugs in the vacuum and sucks out the change.
On Tuesday morning, detectives said they made contact with William Logan Jr., 40, and his father at the residence they share. Logan’s father immediately recognized his son in the surveillance images, according to Lincoln police.
Authorities said Logan was able to get about $20 in quarters from the machines at an apartment on Holdrege Street. According to police, Logan no longer has the vacuum.
Logan was previously convicted of stealing a Christmas tree from the Salvation Army. Link -via J-Walk Blog
(Funny or Die link)
Billy Crystal and Helen Mirren team up for a sequel to the megahit romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally. Contains some NSFW language. -via The Daily What
Teacher David Crichton was holding a physical education class outdoors in Galashiels, Scotland, last week when worms began raining from the sky.
School staff eventually found about 120 worms. It is believed that a freak weather event lifted the worms along with water from a nearby river. The story was first reported on April first, but there is of yet no indication that it was an April Fool. Link -via Fortean Times
(Image credit: Kingdom News Agency)
The boys heard a "soft thudding" on the artificial pitch - then looked up to see dozens of worms plummeting from the sky.
David, 26, said he and other teachers at Galashiels Academy were baffled by the incident.
And they later found more worms spread across a school tennis court almost 100 yards from the pitch. He said: "We started hearing this wee thudding noise. There were about 20 worms on the ground.
School staff eventually found about 120 worms. It is believed that a freak weather event lifted the worms along with water from a nearby river. The story was first reported on April first, but there is of yet no indication that it was an April Fool. Link -via Fortean Times
(Image credit: Kingdom News Agency)
