What do you get when you cross a bathtub and a urinal? Whatever it is, it probably looks like this: the Rotator Bath, a luxury bath concept by designer Ron Arad and Italian bathtub manufacturer Teuco:
The elegant sculptural form serves two purposes, it could either be used as a shower, or it could be rotated 180 degrees to form a bathtub against the wall.
Link (Photo: Wallpaper Magazine)
Can you live without television? It may seem strange, but there are Ameircans who abstain from watching TV by choice.
A new research by Marina Krcmar, professor of communications at North Carolina's Wake Forest University revealed that the majority of them are either very liberal or very conservative:
The motivations for most people who abandon TV fall into three categories, Krcmar found.
Some give it up to avoid exposing their families to the excessive sex, violence, and consumerism they feel are promoted onscreen. Others object to the medium itself, claiming television intrudes too much into their lives, interferes with conversation and takes time away from the family. Finally, some people have a beef with the power and values of the television industry and don't want its influence in their homes.
In contrast to the average American adult, who watches three hours of television a day, non-watchers fill their time with a plethora of activities.
"Non-viewers had a greater variety of things that they did with their free time than viewers did," Krcmar said. "It's not just that they were reading instead of watching TV. They were hiking and biking, and going to community meetings and visiting with friends. Overall, they tend to do more of everything."
Technabob found what probably is the coolest mini-fridge ever. Behold the R2-D2 fridge:
Turns out that this awesome R2-D2 compact refrigerator was apparently made back in 2002 as a promotional prize for an Attack of the Clones contest held at 7-11 Stores in Japan. Word has it that just 1000 of these rare refrigerators were ever made, and now this one can be yours (assuming you’ve got the dough).
Link | If you want one, ToyEast has it, but it'll set you back $1070!
Ever heard the saying that "dogs can smell your fear"? The saying turned out to be true: Julien Brechbühl at the University of Lausanna, Switzerland, and colleagues showed that mammals can communicate dangers to each other through smell.
Scientists at the University of Lausanne, in Switzerland, found that when mice are placed in an environment where there is a beaker of water containing alarm pheromones emitted by other mice, they immediately sniff out the danger and move away from the beaker.
The mice's keen reaction has been attributed to the 300 to 500 cells found at the entrance of their noses, called the Grueneberg ganglion. This ganglion is present also in human beings, according to the scientist Hans Grueneberg who discovered it in 1973.
The Swiss authors of the new study, led by Julien Brechbühl, speculate that "one can imagine that humans have a similar method" of communicating danger to each other.
Want a perfectly proportioned slice of pizza every time? Here's the gadget for you: pizza scissors!
These pizza scissors cut through pizza without scratching the pan underneath it, and also serve as a serving spatula to get the pizza slice onto plates without spilling. The parts separate for easy dishwashing (in the dishwasher is fine).
Link | Original Link at Amazon
A line of people outside the Orange cell phone store waiting to buy the iPhone 3G a few weeks ago in Poland meant that there's a big demand for Apple's hottest gadget. Right? Well, may be not so much:
[Orange's] hiring "dozens" of actors to line up at 20 stores around the country to "drum up interest." Yeah, that's just sad -- especially since there aren't any real customers in line at Polish T-Mobile stores, which is also carrying the phone.
Link - via Textually | Photo via appleblog.pl
In an effort to raise environmental awareness in children, artist Lily Franky and Sesame Street collaborated to create garbage bags printed with an image of the trash-lovin' Oscar the Grouch.
Pink Tentacle has more artful garbage bags (including a very clever rabbit-kun plastic trash bag by Tokyo-based creative group MAQ, Inc.): Link
So, what have dogs learned from living with humans? Apparently morals and a sense of fairness:
During one study, dogs which held up a paw were rewarded with a food treat.
When a lone dog was asked to raise its paw but received no treat, the researchers found it begged for up to 30 minutes.
But when they tested two dogs together but rewarded only one, the dog which missed out soon stopped playing the game.
Dr Friederike Range, of the University of Vienna, who led the study, said: 'Dogs show a strong aversion to inequity. I would prefer not to call it a sense of fairness, but others might.'
In case of an emergency landing, please follow ... Willy Wonka?
If you look closely at these safety/evacuation card of an unnamed Canadian airplane, you'll see cowboys, ballerinas, construction workers, jockeys, and yes, even Willy Wonka! Link
I learned two new things today: 1) elephants can get addicted to heroin, and 2) there's a detox program for doped up pachyderm!
An Asian elephant that became addicted to heroin after being fed bananas spiked with the drug is to return home after undergoing a detox programme.
The four-year-old animal, called Xiguang, received methadone injections for a year at five times the human dosage, state media said. [...]
When police arrested the traders and freed the elephant, it was found to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms. The elephant's eyes kept streaming and he made continuous trumpeting noises, the Beijing News newspaper's website reported.
Link - Thanks amanda!
Photo: National Institute for Fusion Science, background-worthy large pic here
Large Hadron Collider who? Forget CERN's little science gizmo - the supersexy science machine title belongs to Japan's Large Helical Device, the world's largest superconducting stellarator* that employs a heliotron magnetic field. Via The Long Now Foundation
Plus, there is a large pic that looks good for your monitor's background! (For some neat photos of the Joint European Torus nuclear fusion reactor and more, check out Kernfusie)
*A thingamajig used to contain hot plasma with magnetic field to sustain a controlled nuclear fusion reaction.
This is how a mathematician draws a butterfly: where r is the radius and is the angle. From Clifford Pickover's Computers and the Imagination.
Link - via Reality Carnival
LiveJournal user scarlett_1975 snapped this photo a few days ago: Link - via Accordion Guy.
Now, can someone explain to me what Pastor Ricky Shedd is talkin' about?
Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry has just launched a new attack in the war against obesity: a ban on new fast-food restaurants in poor L.A. neighborhoods!
The move is trend-setting California's latest salvo in an expanding war on the fast-food industry, which is bracing for copycat maneuvers around the United States that could threaten growth.
But residents are skeptical that such laws will have much impact in Los Angeles' low-income and minority neighborhoods, which are already blanketed with cheap and easy-to-find meals at chains such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Domino's Pizza.
"It's stupid. It's our body, we choose what we put in it," Tonya Owens, a 45-year-old nurse assistant told Reuters.
Edwin Tsai, interviewed at a cluster of fast-food chains in the affected district, which includes the neighborhoods of South Los Angeles, West Adams, Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park, said there were reasons people eat at places like McDonald's.
"It's fast and easy. I think people will still come here no matter what," Tsai, 23, said.
Lisa Baertlein and Dan Whitcomb of Reuters has the story: Link - via Blue's News
(Photo: Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry poses in front of fast food restaurants' signs in South Los Angeles. By Phil McCarten/Reuters)
