Image: Stephen Pakbaz

Stephen Pakbaz has worked on the actual Mars Curiosity rover, so designing it in LEGO is probably a cinch for the mechanical engineer:

"I combined this first-hand experience with my Lego hobby to create a Lego model that was as faithful to the actual rover as possible in terms of accuracy, details and mechanical function," says designer Stephen Pakbaz, a mechanical engineer who worked on Curiosity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The model has a working suspension system, an articulated arm and a poseable mast for recreating your favourite events in Curiosity's ongoing mission.

Now, LEGO has approved the release of the official Mars Curiosity Rover LEGO set. Ain't that awesome?

Lisa Grossman of NewScientist has the story: Link

Do certain objects remind you of your loved ones? Italian photographer Camilla Catrambone decided to create portraits of her family using only objects that they've owned:

'I‘ve always been fascinated by objects, and I think somehow every person is represented by their personal objects, the objects they choose, the ones they are attached to, and the way they use them tells you a story,'

'When I started doing this project, I felt that the objects belonged to my relatives, starting from the ones of my beloved grandparents, were still full of energy and were capable of reminding me moments I shared with them. I started to feel the need to use them to go back to a precise memory. In order to do that I started to reorganize these objects, to recall a specific image I had of that person.

Italian artist Paolo Troilo needs no paintbrushes to create his artwork. Instead, he dips his fingers into jars of black and white paint to create the most amazing fingerpaintings you'll see today.

Lies have never looked so stylish! In her tumblr Daily Dishonesty, Graphic designer Lauren Hom illustrates some of the best looking lies you've heard before: Link

Continue to see some of the classics.

Every knight needs a mighty steed, and Joshua Ben Longo (previously on Neatorama) is there for you. Just don't ask me what is the deal with the mouth. 'Tis a family-friendly blog.

Link

Photo: copycatko/Flickr

After the decline of the coal mining industry in 1990, the village of Houtong, Taiwan, was in dire straits: its population declined from a peak of 6,000 to mere hundreds. The once prosperous village fell into ruins until it was rescued by ... cats!

Hundreds and hundreds of cats:

Things took an unexpected turn sometime around 2008, when a cat lover organized a team of volunteers to give the neighborhood’s abandoned cats a better living environment. They posted the cats’ pictures on the web and received an overwhelming response from other cat lovers. Visitors' raves on local blogs drew more cat lovers to this place who came to photograph the cats or fondle and frolic with them. Soon Houtong became a hotbed for cat lovers and amateur photographers. Today, the dilapidated mining town and the 100-odd felines that roam the streets are drawing thousands of tourists during weekends. [...]

The cats are looked after by the town’s residents. Chan Bi-yun, a 58-year-old retiree takes a lot of the credit for Houtong's feline-induced rebirth.

"I started raising five cats that belonged to a neighbor who passed away nine years ago and they gave birth to more and more kitties," she said. "Now I feed about half of Houtong's cat population."

Amusing Planet has the story and more pics: Link - via Oddity Central

Like Admiral Ackbar once famously said, it's a cap! A bicorne, actually. Marvel at "Magnitude," a painting that befits the Supreme Commander of the Rebel Alliance Fleet by Steven Daily.

And to make things better, this magnificent piece has been recreated as a sculptural piece by Gentle Giant.

Link - via Technabob

If you're at loss for words, all you need is a quote from Disney. Enter Disney Quote, a tumblr dedicated to showcasing funny, thought-provoking and amazing quotes by Disney characters: Link

Paintball is coming ... Marque Cornblatt and his Game of Drones team have created a functional paintball drone that took paintball to a whole new level.

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

P!nk. Ke$ha. Hootie & the Blowfish (don't forget the ampersand, thank you very much). William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White are rolling - or is that rock 'n rolling - in their graves with all the weird capitalization and punctuation marks.

Well, one man is trying to bring order to all that chaos. Meet Bill Wilson, the music industry's digital grammarian, who has released a new rule book for spelling, grammar, and description for music.

Why does all this matter? Hannah Karp of the Wall Street Journal explains:

As the music business has become more democratic, with artists increasingly releasing their music straight onto the Internet, the data that would-be buyers need to navigate all the music has become a free-for-all.

Now data-entry experts—once the nerds of the music universe—are calling for an end to the funny business. And they are finally being taken seriously as the struggling industry scrounges around for new sources of income. With fans unable to find the music they are searching for—or buying the wrong songs—and performers and songwriters struggling to collect royalties from misidentified tracks, the industry is probably losing revenue, these experts say. Mr. Wilson said the losses are difficult to quantify and he doesn't know anyone who has tried. But some publishers who specialize in royalty recovery claim that cleaning up metadata can boost client revenue by up to 30%.

Read the rest over at WSJ: Link

Quick, think about money. Feel more evil yet?

According new research by Maryan Kouchaki at Harvard University and Kristin Smith-Crowe of the University of Utah, merely thinking about money can make someone more evil:

In four separate studies, they found that people who were first primed with money-related words or images were more likely to make unethical decisions or lie than those who had seen neutral ones. Thoughts about money made the study’s participants more likely to agree to things like hiring a candidate because he had confidential information that could benefit the company, or stealing a ream of paper from their employer for their home printer.

So, pretty much, thinking about or seeing a greenback might make you a Scrooge. “It’s pretty amazing to us that these subtle cues, environmental cues have this big of an effect,” Smith-Crowe told Quartz in an interview. “[Participants] were conscious that they were seeing words related to money but they were not conscious that these things were actually affecting their decisions and behavior.”

Simone Foxman of Quartz explains: Link

Phil Postma of Minion Factory (previously on Neatorama) is tired of eating ho-hum cereals. That's why he created these awesome Superman-inspired alternatives. Continue reading to get a good look.

Dash-Am by Dann Matthews

What do you get when you mash up the best flier in all of Equestria and the best sports car ever made (ahem, the Firebird Trans Am, of course)? Dann Matthews probably designed it in ten seconds flat.

Visit Dann at his official website and Facebook page, then check out his NeatoShop page for more cool shirt designs: Link

Chestbursters	Piranhasaur	Rebel Rider	Maneki Nekobasu

View more designs by Dann Matthews | More Funny T-shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Beaker Bunsen by Dann Matthews

You clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let Dann Matthews clue you in. These two are not in danger, they are the danger. Dangerously awesome that is!

Visit Dann at his official website and Facebook page, then check out his NeatoShop page for more cool shirt designs: Link

Yoshi's Island	Player One	Moryuken!	Dash-Am

View more designs by Dann Matthews | More Funny T-shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Wrong Castle by Donnie

It may be the wrong video game, but Donnie has got the mash up just right! Check out Donnie's official webpage and Behance page then visit his NeatoShop page to buy the shirts: Link

Edward's Art	Bad Joke	Like a Ninja	Dog Hunt

View more designs by Donnie | More Funny T-shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!