Banned in Hollywood blog has a really entertaining post about the 15 strangest anti-theft devices ever employed in the history of transportation: Link - via Gorilla Mask

That old saying "stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" turned out not to be true after all. Psychologists found that memories of painful emotional experiences may actually linger much longer than physical pain:

Researcher Zhansheng Chen, from Purdue University in Indiana, said that it was much harder to "re-live" physical pain than to recall social pain.

He said the evolution of a part of the brain called the cerebral cortex, which processes complex thinking, perception and language, might be responsible.

He said: "It certainly improved the ability of human beings to create and adapt, to function in and with groups, communities and cultures, and to respond to pain associated with social interactions.

"However, the cerebral cortex may also have had an unintended effect of allowing humans to relive, re-experience and suffer from social pain."

Link - via AQFL

(L) Un Yndio Natural (R) Manila Man

BibliOdyssey has a really neat post about a 1841 watercolor album depicting the dresses of Filipinos: Link | Original book scans at NYPL Digital Gallery

Weeeeellll, technically, it is cheaper. Found at Daily Haha - via Slavenka & Obi

Photo: Benjamin Reed / LA Times

Los Angeles has more homeless people - about 73,000 on any given night - than any other cities in the United States. But where are they exactly? In this interesting LA Times article by Jessica Garrison, you'll find that some homeless encampments can be particularly creative:

Rudy Salinas, who is in charge of outreach for PATH, recalled an encampment he encountered a few years ago under a bridge in the San Gabriel River watershed that featured a working whirlpool bath. It was powered by electricity spliced illegally from a nearby power line. The men living there had obtained the spa after it fell off a truck on the 10 Freeway; they carried in water to fill it.

Link - via growabrain

Previously on Neatorama: Police Busted a Hidden Homeless Refuge Under an Overpass

With many thanks to Jürgen Köller of mathematische-basteleien, we now have an excellent I Love Math shirt on Neatorama's online store. (The equation is from Gabriel Taubin).

I Heart (Curve) Math t-shirt, currently on sale for just $9.95: http://shop.neatorama.com/product-info.php?i-heart-curve-math-tshirt-pid102.html

More I Love Science shirts:

Photo: Bob Halvorsen

Behold the triplane Jules Verne, a fantastic flying machine made from drinking straws, Reynolds sandwich wrap, and a home-made motor by Carl Rankin of Flying Puppets.

Link | Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing TV interviews Carl Rankin (see the Jules Verne in action!) - Thanks Cynthia!

The French Health, Youth, and Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot made a bet with the French Olympic athletes: if they came home with 40 medals from the Beijing Olympic Games, she'll wear pinc Crocs to work.

The French athletes did just that (they got 7 gold, 16 silver, and 17 bronze medals), so the Minister made good on her words!

Link - Thanks Jee! (Image and original article: Xinhuanet)

Minister Bachelot wasn't the only politician ever to wear crocs - here's President Bush in black Crocs (with socks!)

Ken of Onlyknives blog has just posted a how-to guide on making your own Jar Jar Binks out of jicama:

Jar Jar Binks was easily the worst thing about The Phantom Menace. If I could create a scrumptious salad out of him and serve him up with a tasty crostini, perhaps I might have my revenge.

Jicama proved to be just the right medium for my sculpture — it’s a tuberous root vegetable that is perfect for food carvings. It’s crisp, cuts easily and doesn’t dry out quickly. Jicama doesn’t taste like much but readily absorbs the juices and flavors of a marinade or sauce.

Link - Thanks Ken A.!

Just in case parents didn't notice before, schools in the UK will send them an official letter saying that their kids are ... fat!

Parents are to receive official letters telling them if their child has a weight problem under a Government crackdown on obesity, it has been announced. [...]

From September this year it is expected that all parents who allow their child to be weighed and measured as part of the Government's drive to solve the childhood obesity crisis will automatically receive the results through the post.

The measurements will be used to calculate the child's Body Mass Index adjusted for their age but parents will not be told this figure.

Instead the pro-forma letter will plot where the child is on a scale from underweight, to healthy weight, overweight and very overweight.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2498072/Warnings-for-parents-of-fat-children.html - via A View From the Other Side

Lesson for today: Don't ever get between a kangaroo and its pack, mmkay? Here's what happened to a jogger who got attacked by a 'roo:

Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokeswoman Christine Paterson says the man, in his 50s, was attacked Monday as he apparently ran between a male and female kangaroo near his home at an outer suburb of Melbourne.

She says the victim ran to a nearby house and telephoned for help while the kangaroo hopped away.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/01/kangaroo.jogger.attack.ap/index.html - Thanks Tiffany!

It's long been known that babies of older moms can have more health problems, but studies have now linked mental illness to advanced paternal age:

Researchers analyzed Swedish national registry data from more than 80,000 people, including 13,428 with bipolar disorder who were born between 1932 and 1991.

The risks started increasing around age 40 but were strongest among those 55 and older. Children with these dads were 37 percent more likely to develop bipolar disorder than those born to men in their 20s.

They also faced more than double the risk of developing bipolar disorder before age 20. Scientists call that early onset disease, and although they have long known that bipolar disorder tends to run in families, early onset disease has been thought to be most strongly linked with genetics.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/09/01/older.dads.bipolar.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview - Thanks Tiffany!

Ted Hunter of Thin Air Press fittingly created this awesome set of skateboard deck stairs for the Roarockit skateboard deck woodworking school: Link - via Treehugger, Thanks Chris Tackett!

Coming hot on the heels of the Olympics (see what I did there?), here is Sydney's Stiletto dash!

The world record for the number of high-heeled sprinters in a race has been smashed by a group of women in Australia.

Two hundred and sixty-five women took part in the 80m dash in Sydney wearing three-inch heels.

Professional hurdler Brittney McGlone easily outran her competitors, taking home $5,000 Australian dollars (£2,500) and a pair of gold stilettos.

The BBC has the video clip: Link - Thanks jeffs!

Like its name says, The Ghettoblaster Hall of Fame lists some of history's most excellent boomboxes. Like this one from Sharp: a radio, cassette recorder, and yes, a turntable combo!

If you want a full stereo system that you can take with you, look no further than Sharp's offerings. 20+ years back, the VZ-2500, VZ-2000 and VZ-3000 included compact stereos systems with a radio, cassette recorder and yes, a turntable. And these were no ordinary turntables mind you, these used "AutoDisc" technology, marketed by Sharp with the phrase "Play Both Sides." Think of auto-reverse tape technology for a record player: using two tonearms, these stereos allowed one to play Side A or B without having to flip the LP over.

Link - Thanks Max Romantschuk!