We've just added this clever 2-Carat Cup to the Neatorama Online Store. It's a coffee cup with a handle shaped just like a ring with a huge solitaire diamond!
The 2-Carat Cup is a white porcelain coffee cup with a gold glaze handle and a clear sparkling Swarovski crystal. Best of all, it's individually boxed like you're presenting a ring.
http://shop.neatorama.com/product-info.php?2-carat-cup-pid204.html
The following is reprinted from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into the Universe. Most of the time we're willing to shovel down the popcorn and watch Yoda lift X-Wings out of the swamp using nothing but the Force and a smattering of questionably parsed English, or let Jean-Luc Picard get the Enterprise out of a scrape by the convenient discovery of yet another type of particle beam. But every once in a while we just have to vent about some of the truly egregious "fiction" in science fiction.
1. Sounds in SpaceThe tag line from Alien got it right: "In Space, no one can hear you scream". The reason no one can hear you scream is that sound needs air to travel in, and there's none in space. Most of space is a hard vacuum, with a molecule or two of hydrogen floating around in every cubic meter - not nearly enough to transmit sound. Every sound in the movies, from photon torpedoes and laser beams to exploding starships and hyperspace booms, would never happen in real life. For that matter, you'd never see laser beams in space either, since in a vacuum there's no medium to reveal them. So a real-life laser dog fight in space would be really boring to watch.2. Faster-Than-Light TravelWarp drives and hyperspace are very useful in science fiction, but there's one catch. According to Einstein, the speed of light isn't just a good idea, it's the law. Nothing can go faster than the speed of light in a vacuum (that's about 186,000 miles per second). Even inching toward the speed of light is difficult - immense energy is required to get to even a fraction of the speed of light, and the closer you get to the speed of light, the more energy is required. The amount of energy you'd need to achieve the speed of light is infinite (i.e., more than you've got, even with those supercool long-lasting batteries). So just tossing in a few more dilithium crystals into the warp drives isn't going to make it happen. There are loopholes in our understanding of the physics that make faster-than-light travel theoretically possible. For example, it's theoretically possible to create a "bubble" of space that breaks itself off from other space and moves faster than light relative to that space (all the while everything inside both "spaces" moves no faster than the speed of light). This is known as an Alcubierre Warp Bubble. The catch (there had to be one) is that these bubbles require the existence of exotic matter that has negative energy, and wouldn't you know, there isn't really any lying around, and it's not clear that any actually exists.3. Laser Bolts You Can DodgeAside from the issue of Imperial Stormtroopers being bad shots, let's review a fundamental fact of light (which is what lasers are): It travels at 186,000 miles per second. So the idea of ducking before the laser hits you is just plain silly. Not to mention (of course) the idea of a laser bolt being visible as a streak that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you were zapped by a laser from a laser gun, it would look like a single stream of light, with one end attached to the barrel of said gun, and the end attached to whatever portion of your head had not melted yet (assuming you're having a laser battle somewhere where there is enough air around to illuminate the entire beam). Most "laser" beams in science fiction movies travel slower than bullets do today. Let's see Obi Wan whip his light saber around fast enough to stop the spray of a Mac-10 (and let's not even begin to talk about all the things wrong with a sword made of light).4. Human-Looking AliensThis is endemic on the various Star Trek series, where creatures from entirely different sectors of the universe look just like humans except for the occasional bulging ridge on their foreheads. Yes, this is the result of having only humans at casting calls, but in a large sense, all these "humanoid" variations ain't gonna happen. Look, humans evolved on earth and shared a basic body format (four limbs, one head, side-to-side symmetry) with just about every other vertebrate on the planet. It's a form that works fine for this planet, but not even every vertebrate sticks with it (see: snakes, whales, seals, etc). Given that any planet with life on it will have that life evolve in it's own way, the chances of the universe being stocked with chesty alien princesses who crave human starship captains is slim at best. Related to this is the following.5. Half-Breed AliensHumans don't even interbreed with other species here on earth. Our DNA is simply too different from other species to allow such a mating to produce offspring. Given this, what are the chances of successful mating with an alien species that may not even have DNA as its genetic encoding medium? Also going back to the idea that aliens probably won't look like Humans, how would you do it anyway? It's not exactly the "Insert Tab A Into Slot B" proposition it would be here at home.6. Brain-Sucking AliensThe Good News of an Alien Facehugger Attack T-Shirt, art by Mike Jacobsen Ditto aliens that control your body by using your brains, or gestate in your chest, or whatnot. Let's posit that any creature that controls the brain of any other creature (not that any exist here on Earth) does so only after a few million years of what's called "speciation" – i.e., one species eventually enters a symbiotic relationship with another species. This relationship would have to be pretty specific, as symbiotic relationships are here on Earth. Which is to say just because you're in a symbiotic relationship with one species doesn't mean it transfers over to another species, especially an alien species, who's body chemistry, DNA, brain wiring, etc., isn't even remotely close to your own. So don't worry about the "Puppet Master" scenario too much, or that you'll be nothing more than a glorified egg sac for some nasty breed of space monster.7. Shape-Shifting AliensShape-changing aliens are all very well, but there's a tiny problem in having a roughly human sized lump of alien protoplasm turning itself into, say, a rat, to scurry around in the ventilation shaft: Where does rest of the alien go? You can't just make 99% of your mass disappear into thin air (or reappear, as the case may be); it has to go somewhere. Unless that "rat" is running around with a highly compressed mass of a human-sized object (which presents its own problems), shape-shifting in to different sized objects is not very likely (one of the smart things about Terminator 2 was that the T-1000 only shape shifted into things of roughly the same mass, like human beings or a floor).8. Time TravelGot an itch to spend time in the Arthurian England? Or perhaps Gettysburg during the Civil War? The same relativistic principles that keep us from going faster than light also keep us rom traveling backward in time and messing with the past. It's possible to slow down time - the closer you get to the speed of light, the slower time moves for you relative to your original frame of reference - but to get the clock spinning in the other direction would require you to go faster than light, and you can't do that. Again, there are theoretical loopholes that could allow it - worm holes, actually, which are "tunnels" in the fabric of space-time that could possibly allow travel back in time. but once again, keeping these wormholes open would require exotic matter with negative energy. Got any? Neither do we.9. The Planetary Gravity ScamEverywhere you go in science fiction, people are walking around like they weigh just what they do on Earth. Chances of that happening in the real universe? Slim. Consider our own solar system. On Mars, a 180-pound man would weigh just 70 pounds; on Jupiter, 424 pounds (not that you can walk on Jupiter, as it has no solid surface). That man on the moon? Just 30 pounds. The man's mass is the same, it's just that different planets have different gravitational pulls. The idea that all the planets that humans might visit would exactly match Earth's own gravitational profile is a little much. As is, alternately, the idea that all alien creatures would be as comfortable in our gravitational field as we are.10 The Planetary Sameness PrincipleTatooine looks just like the |
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| The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into the Universe. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out! | |
What do you do when you have hundreds of empty, saved beer bottles left after a party or something?
Behold, the Beer Bottle Dominoes. Apparently, this is what Danes do for fun in Denmark: Link [embedded YouTube clip]
Remember Space Sick's clever movie posters re-designed as old book covers post on Neatorama? (Yes, from the Upcoming Queue for all you haters ;) )
Well, here are some more: Artist M. S. Corley redesigned Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events book covers to look like Penguin Classics: Link - via Super Punch
Kathy Kristof of Forbes seems to think so. In this intriguing article, Kristof argues that with student loans with terms worse than what you can get from Vito down at the docks, and with the overinflated importance of a college degree, higher education can actually mean a financial disaster:
Mindy Babbitt entered Davenport University in her mid-20s to study accounting. Unable to cover the costs with her previous earnings as a cosmetologist, she took out a $35,000 student loan at 9% interest, figuring her postgraduate income would cover the cost.
Instead, the entry-level job her bachelor's degree got her barely covered living expenses. Babbitt deferred loan repayments and was then laid off for a time. Now 41 and living in Plainwell, Mich., she is earning $41,000 a year, or about $10,000 more than the average high school graduate makes. But since she graduated, Babbitt's student loan balance has more than doubled, to $87,000, and she despairs she'll never pay it off.
"Unless I win the lottery or get a job paying a lot more, my student debts are going to follow me to the grave," she says.
Link (Illustration: Alex Nabaum) - via The Zeray Gazette
It doesn't get much more awesome or horrific or perhaps horrifically awesome, depending on your point of view, than this, folks!
Behold the Sock Monkey Couture Dress by Rebecca Yaker of Hazel and Melvin's Room (yes, that's her modeling her own creation). If you don't like that, how about this one?
Link - via Craftastrophe and Rue the Day
Previously on Neatorama:
Jim Hill has a fantastic post about the in-jokes and self-references that appear in Pixar's feature films and shorts. Take, for instance, this beat up Pizza Planet truck to the left. Turns out, the car has been in every single feature film that Pixar Animation Studio has produced to date:
It's the truck that Woody & Buzz stow away in when they're trying to hitch a ride to Pizza Planet in the original "Toy Story."
This is also the vehicle that Buzz "borrows" in "Toy Story 2," when that space ranger is trying to prevent Buzz, Jessie and Bullseye from being sent to that toy museum in Japan.
You can also catch a quick glimpse of the Pizza Planet truck as Gill is explaining his latest escape plan to the Tank Gang.
The Pizza Planet truck also makes an appearance in the Piston Cup sequence of "Cars." You'll find him to the far left in the photo below, next to the RV that looks like Elvis Presley.
Link - via mental_floss and i met a possum
Previously on Neatorama: The Stories Behind Hollywood Logos
Photo via Artnet, auctioned by Sotheby's New York from the Estate of Cecile Singer
Actually, that's An Important and Unique Cat, a marble sculpture by Swiss sculptor Edouard-Marcel Sandoz, an artist of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movement. But I couldn't resist pointing out the similarities to the Dark Knight - via The Zeray Gazette
Hello, everyone! Yesterday, Neatorama user rellimz submitted a post to the Upcoming Queue, which subsequently got promoted to Neatorama's front page, about how the Queue is wreaking havoc on the blog. Overnight, the post got over 100 comments from other readers voicing the same concern.
First of all, please let me thank rellimz for the interesting post, and all of you who posted a comment for giving us your feedback. I'm going to tell you what we're going to do about the Queue, but first, please let me give a background on why we have the Upcoming Queue feature in the first place.
As much as I enjoy writing for Neatorama, blogging is kind of a "closed" enterprise. Traditionally, blog authors write and blog readers read (and comment, if they like). For something that is supposed to improve interactivity on the Web, it's pretty much a top-down approach or a one-way street.
For a long while, I've been thinking of ways to improve user participations - and thanks to the good folks of VideoSift and VaroCMS, I think we've found the answer. The Upcoming Queue is a place where people can write their own Neatorama posts and have their submissions be reviewed by the community (through voting) and Neatorama editors.
Submissions that get enough votes (and therefore deemed "good" by the community) are promoted to the front page. Conversely, those that are spammy or of dubious quality get voted down and actually purged from the Queue. That's the theory, anyhow.
In practice, community votes may not be enough: good posts that are written up poorly don't get votes. Bad posts may get promoted because of coordinated gaming of the system. Moreover, unless you're a hardcore Neatorama reader, you may not have noticed that the submitted post had already been covered on the blog before. Because of its size, a small number of users can dominate the Queue.
Like any new project, there will be bugs and kinks that need to be worked out - and the Queue is no different. A couple of days ago, we had a massive influx of promoted submissions of dubious quality. We had since tighten up Queuebot's algo, and the problem seems to have largely been solved.
It has been a learning experience, and I'm not ready to get rid of Queuebot nor will we completely discount the community votes (if we were going to do that, why have the voting in place in the first place?). I think the Upcoming Queue has a place on Neatorama. We're not going to change the blog into a web 2.0 or user-generated content. Instead, we will use the Upcoming Queue as a supplementary source of posts.
Here are a few things we'll do to make Queuebot better:
One big reason that I stopped using an RSS feed reader is the ever-increasing number of unread post displayed. It's disheartening to open your reader in the morning and find that you have 500 unread posts.
While I think that the fixes above should greatly improve the quality of front page posts on Neatorama, if you hate Queuebot that much, here's an RSS feed that will display every front page post except those promoted from the Upcoming Queue:
http://www.neatorama.com/feed/?author=-5587
Simply copy and paste that into your feed reader and voilà! No more Queuebot posts.
Again, thank you everyone for your input - we take your feedback seriously and will work hard to make Neatorama a blog you can enjoy daily!
Oh, I fondly remember watching the anime Space Battleship Yamato
as a little kid, so it's a neat treat to find this replica of the Yamato (or Argo in the American dub of the series, retitled Star Blazers) made with LEGO by Vincent Cheung: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3657506 - via The Brothers Brick
Members of the Quilters of South Carolina created 49 crafty and humorous bras for Breast Cancer Awareness. These one-of-a-kind bras will be on tour till October '09, after which they will be auctioned off to raise money for the Best Chance Network, a program that provides care and treatment for women with breast and ovarian cancers who don't have health insurance.
This one above is aptly titled the Nursing Bra by Anne Duncan - check out the rest here: http://www.quiltersofsc.org/artfullbras/artfullbras.htm | Link2 - via Extreme Craft
Photo: QuintanaRoo
[Flickr]
How do you make the Klaus Teuber's maddeningly fun boardgame Settlers of Catan even more enjoyable? Play it with cupcakes!
"What is Cupcakes of Catan?" you ask.
Well, my friend, Cupcakes of Catan is a a totally edible, fully functioning, utterly playable, all vegan, mostly organic, completely cupcake version of the original boardgame, Settlers of Catan. If you've never seen or played Settlers of Catan, this whole operation may seem mystifying. In fact, even if you have played Settlers you may be confused by this all-cupcake version of the game. Why would anyone create such a thing? Let me tell you:
One: Cupcakes are fun.
Two: Settlers of Catan is fun.
Three: CupcakesxSettlers of Catan=more fun.
Flickr user QuintanaRoo (Emilie of The Conscious Kitchen) and friends set this up an entry for the Catan Food Contest. Though they didn't win (Whaaat? How can that be?) this concept is too yummy not to post here on Neatorama: Link - via Wonderland
Think the Cupcake of Catan is awesome? You ain't seen nothing yet: Behold the Tower of Oreo!
You know you’ve always wanted to do this…but you never did. One package of Double Stuf Oreos has thirty-six cookies. Each cookie is “double stuffed” which means there is enough of the good stuff in there for seventy-two Oreo cookies. So what would you call it if you stacked all that gooey goodness into ONE MASSIVE COOKIE?
Here's the Duoseptuagenuple Stuf Oreo: Link - via Al Dente
Guys, when your wife or girlfriend asks "Does this clothe makes my butt look big?" what's your answer? Did you tell a little white lie?
Well, not Cathal Morrow. The 43-year-old Welshman decided to be brutally honest for a year as a personal challenge ... and was surprised with his wife's reaction:
Throughout our marriage, Patti has always asked my opinion about the clothes she buys and her weight. She goes through stages where she’ll eat loads and, to be honest, it shows.
Before, I went on auto-pilot and made reassuring noises about how lovely she looked. Now, when she asks me if I think her bum looks big, I’ll tell her it does.
It might sound cruel. But what I’ve learned over the past year is that how you tell the truth matters. So I’ll say “yes, your bum does look bigger, but I like it that way”. And I honestly do.
Another time white lies used to arise was when I was going out with the lads.
I’d fly to meetings in London and stay at a friend’s house while Patti stayed in Madrid looking after the boys. When she asked me on the phone what I’d done with my mates, I’d avoid telling her we went to the pub because she’s probably been bored stuck at home and no man wants to risk an ear-bashing.
But now I’ll tell her the truth, that we went for beers.
I’ve discovered that the fear of people’s reaction to the truth is often much worse than the reality of it.
