Photo: Mike Hettwer

Alan Taylor of the Big Picture Blog over at Boston Globe has a(nother) neat post - this time of fantastic photos of Mike Hettwer of a dinosaur fossil excavation in the Sahara Desert:

About 9,000 years ago, a very wet climate prevailed in parts of the Sahara Desert called the Neolithic Subpluvial period. Lasting several thousand years, this Green Sahara was home to many grassland and woodland animals as well as humans. While on an expedition for dinosaur fossils with paleontologist Paul Sereno in Niger in 2000, Hettwer discovered a burial area containing hundreds of skeletons from two distinct cultures, each thousands of years old - the Kiffian and Tenerian. Also found in the dry and desolate site were hunting tools, pottery, and bones of large land animals and fish.

Link | Many more excellent photos at Mike's website: Link

Baierman of YesButNoButYes has a nifty post about some of the most unusual menorah designs. I particularly like this blue moose menorah by Canadian artists Don Gidley and Sue Parke of Acme Animal.

Link

More wonderful menorahs at The Jewish Museum Shops

Previously on Neatorama: Hanukit, the Minimalist Menorah, Galvanized Steel Pipe Menorah

Remember the video clip of a baby that knows his presidents? Well, meet Melanie, a one-year-old that knows her video games characters!

Her daddy must be proud, why he's got flashcard and everything! Link [embedded YouTube clip]

Photo: evaxebra [Flickr]

It was a sad, sad day when Gary Larson retired from creating The Far Side comic. To fill the gap in their hearts, a group of intrepid Flickr users took matters into their own hands and created a tableau vivant called The Far Side Reenactment pool! This brilliant one above is by soon-to-be Dr. Ewa (that's pronounced Eeee-va, like in Wall-E).

Link - via AQFL

Meredeith Patterson is a computer programmer by day and biohacker at night. She is among a new breed of DIYers who are trying to do genetic engineering at the comfort of their own homes:

Using homemade lab equipment and the wealth of scientific knowledge available online, these hobbyists are trying to create new life forms through genetic engineering — a field long dominated by Ph.D.s toiling in university and corporate laboratories.

In her San Francisco dining room lab, for example, 31-year-old computer programmer Meredith L. Patterson is trying to develop genetically altered yogurt bacteria that will glow green to signal the presence of melamine, the chemical that turned Chinese-made baby formula and pet food deadly.

"People can really work on projects for the good of humanity while learning about something they want to learn about in the process," she said. [...]

But critics of the movement worry that these amateurs could one day unleash an environmental or medical disaster. Defenders say the future Bill Gates of biotech could be developing a cure for cancer in the garage.

Link (Photo: Noah Berger/AP)

For the first time forty years ago yesterday, humans saw their first Earthrise. BBC has the story:

... on Christmas Eve 1968, none of the astronauts on board Apollo 8 were ready for the opportunity to witness their own Earthrise.

In all the months of training and preparation which had preceded the mission, no-one had thought to schedule an attempt for the crew to glimpse and record the most moving of sights, as their jewel of a home planet, suspended in the blackness of space, rose from behind the barren lunar horizon.

... as Apollo 8 nosed its way back from the far side of the Moon for the fourth time, it was Frank Borman who first spotted the view by chance from a window, his reaction captured by the on board tape recorder.

"Oh, my God! Look at that picture over there!" he exclaimed. "Isn't that something…"

Link

Who says that Steven Seagal can't act? Surely the haters have never seen this clip before or they'd bow down to Seagal's supreme acting ability.

Here's a clip from Steven Seagal's movie Hard to Kill. It's so good you can definitely take it to the bank! Link

(L) Salvador Dali (R) The Yellow Door by William Laskin

Pardon me while I pick my jaw off the floor after gawking at William Laskin's gallery of engraved inlays for guitars. William uses as many as 9 different types of species of shell, 15 stones, 4 kinds of ivory and bone, and metals for his inlays. Completing a complex inlay can take him more than 175 hours, but the results are worth the effort.

They are gorgeous! Link - via SparkBox

Remember the bacon cheese roll we featured on Neatorama recently? Well, I've found its brethren: the mother of all BBQ sausage, behold the Bacon Explosion. From the Burnt Finger BBQ Team:

The other day the guys from BaconToday.com contacted me in search for some barbecue bacon recipes. Of course I have plenty of great uses for bacon in a barbecue pit, but the longer I thought about it, the more I wanted to step it up a notch and clog a few arteries for those guys. Behold, BACON EXPLOSION!!! Here’s what you’ll need…

2 pounds thick cut bacon
2 pounds Italian sausage
1 jar of your favorite barbeque sauce
1 jar of your favorite barbeque rub

To kick off the construction of this pork medley you’ll need to create a 5×5 bacon weave. If the strips you’re using aren’t as wide as the ones pictured, then you may need to use a few extra slices to fill out the pattern. Just make sure your weave is tight and that you end up with a nice square shape to work with.

Angioplasty, stat! Link

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Have a fun and safe Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa or Festivus or whatever), guys!

(Links open in a new browser window/tab)

For more the web's most interesting videos, check out: VideoSift.

Last week, Neatorama had a Mystery Sale - and like the first, it was a big hit (which means we're still packing and shipping orders! Lots of em ... If you haven't received your shipment, don't worry!) I'd like to thank everyone who bought a Mystery Box.

Though this sale is over, you can still get great T-shirts on the Neatorama Online Store. Thanks, everyone!

I'm sure many of you are aware that Detroit automakers are lobbying the government (and the public in their website GM Facts and Fiction) for a $25 billion bailout loan package. The CEOs of the Big Three automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler went before the House of Representative ... and got grilled over their use of private jets (estimated at $20,000 apiece):

Some lawmakers lashed out at the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies Wednesday for flying private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout money.

"There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses," Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious."

He added, "couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it."

Link

What do you think - should the federal government bail out the automakers?

1001 rules for my unborn son is a fantastic tumblr blog where you will find hundreds (so far) of words of wisdom about life. For example:

270. Stand up to bullies. You'll only have to do it once.
269. If you've made your point, stop talking.
268. Watch your language at the ballgame.

Sometimes, you find a gem like this one:

Always keep a recent photograph of yourself on file in case of emergencies or unexpected notoriety.

Link - via Nag on the Lake

Now that Twilight is out and every teenage girls in the whole United States have seen the movie, would someone tell me if this house is indeed in the movie? The chances of me seeing this movie is pretty slim ;)

It's my neighbor's house who rented it out for a movie shoot (rumored to be Twilight): http://www.neatorama.com/2008/07/03/twilight-movie-house/