This is pretty neat: scientists are able to interpret the color patterns of 100-million-year-old fossil feathers .. by microscopic analysis of melanosomes that somehow survived the fossilization process:

Microscopic analysis of the dark bands showed they displayed a distinctive granular texture, made from thousands of tiny, densely-packed flattened spheres.

Researchers had previously interpreted these as fossilised bacteria, preserved as the feathers decomposed. But analysis of modern birds' feathers showed a similar structure. "There are particular cells that cluster into the dark areas of modern birds called melanosomes," explained Professor Benton. [...]

The Yale team believe it could identify brown, red, buff and even iridescent colours. The technique may be applied to other creatures to reveal the colour of fur or even eyes, the team believes.

Link - via Scribal Terror

What would happen if you mash up some of literature's best books? This little gem called "Merged Books" featured at Miss Cellania, for example:

"Machiavelli's The Little Prince" - Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic children's tale as presented by Machiavelli. The whimsy of human nature is embodied in many delightful and intriguing characters, all of whom are executed.

"Where's Walden?"- Alas, the challenge of locating Henry David Thoreau in each richly-detaile d drawing loses its appeal when it quickly becomes clear that he is always in the woods.

"Lorna Dune" - An English farmer, Paul Atreides, falls for the daughter of a notorious rival clan, the Harkonnens, and pursues a career as a giant worm jockey in order to impress her.

"The Exorstentialist" - Camus psychological thriller about a priest who casts out a demon by convincing it that there's really no purpose to what it's doing.

Link

The Human Marvels has a great post about the story of "The Two-Headed Nightingale", a conjoined twin named Millie and Christine: how they were sold as slaves, marketed as freaks, and then gained fame for their incredible singing talents:

Throughout much of their life, Millie and Christine were often considered one person. Due to their shared body, it was often unclear if the girls were legally and physically a single being or individuals. The girls themselves often referred to themselves in the singular, using ‘I’ in the place of ‘we’. Joseph Jr. saw opportunity in this confusion and opted to advertise the girls from a new perspective.

The girls became Millie-Christine, a girl with two heads, four arms and four legs.

The concept of such an incredible phenomenon drew immediate crowds and Millie-Christine enjoyed immediate and world-wide popularity. Furthermore, it was the singing of ‘The Two-Headed Nightingale’ that quickly gained predominance over appearance and Millie-Christine eventually performed for European royalty, including the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria. Mille-Christine became renowned for singing, playing the guitar and piano in unison and dancing the waltz in front of thousands of people in the greatest halls and venues of the world.

Whatever you do, just don't call Pringles potato chips. That's because a British judge has ruled in a tax dispute that Procter & Gamble's snacks "don't look like a chip, don't feel like a chip, and don't taste like a chip."

Heck, Pringles isn't even "made from potato" (even though it is) for tax purposes:

Potato chips ``give a sharply crunchy sensation under the tooth and have to be broken down into jagged pieces when chewed,'' the Cincinnati-based company's lawyers argued. ``It is totally different with a Pringle, indeed a Pringle is designed to melt down on the tongue.''

Warren agreed. Pringles aren't ``made from the potato'' for the purposes of the tax office's exemption, he said. He didn't say what Pringles are, other than that they're tax-exempt.

Link - via One Large Prawn

Whatever they are, you can still be buried a can of Pringles!

I don't know which is funnier - Tropic Thunder, a comedy about a bunch of actors making a Vietnam war movie ... when their director decided to dump them in the middle of a real one, or Rain of Madness: a (viral?) mockumentary about the craziness of the making of the movie inside the movie.

Confused? That's okay - just enjoy the trailer at Always Watching: http://www.alwayswatching.org/news/tropic-thunder-rain-madness-mockumentary

There are plenty of handwriting fonts and typography- but Michelle Romo took it to mean the other way: in her first attempt in making fonts, she created a full alphabet that looks like fingers!

Link - via Quipsologies

Before the age of Photoshop, artists and illustrators had to rely on - gasp - manual tools to create their artwork. Well, those days had come and gone but thanks to Lou Brooks of the Museum of Forgotten Art Supply, we can still look back at the tools of the art trade of yore: Link

Why are conservatives happier than liberals? Researcher John Jost (seems like a happy guy) and Jaime Napier know the answer:

Regardless of marital status, income or church attendance, right-wing individuals reported greater life satisfaction and well-being than left-wingers, the new study found.

Conservatives also scored highest on measures of rationalization, which gauge a person's tendency to justify, or explain away, inequalities.

The rationalization measure included statements such as: "It is not really that big a problem if some people have more of a chance in life than others," and "This country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are."

The secret to conservative's happiness, it turns out, is all in their conservativeness!

If your beliefs don't justify gaps in status, you could be left frustrated and disheartened, according to the researchers, Jaime Napier and John Jost of New York University. They conducted both a U.S.-centric survey and a more internationally focused one to arrive at the findings.

"Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater psychological toll on liberals than on conservatives," the researchers write in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science, "apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light."

Link - via The Evangelical Outpost

Scott Wade, "dirty car" artist featured before on Neatorama, has got some new artwork posted on his website:

Like any reasonably creative and curious human, Scott can't resist a dirty rear car window. We suspect that Scott started off with clever sayings, like, "wash me." Probably his first image was the ubiquitous smiley face. Unlike most folks, however, Scott lives on a mile and a half of dirt road - caliche, as the locals call it, road-base: a blend of limestone dust and gravel and clay. Driving over this surface results in a fine, white dust that billows up behind any vehicle driven faster than a galloping turtle, coating the rear window. Being an experienced artist (and let's face it, a little ... different), it wasn't long before Scott was experimenting with techniques to achieve these amazingly detailed and shaded drawings.

Check it out here: Link - via Quiddity

ABC News has a really neat gallery of what those famous actors who played some of the most memorable characters in Star Wars are doing now.

Shown to the left is Kenny Baker, a dwarf and former circus performer who played R20D2: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=3196756&contentIndex=1&start=false&page=1

(Photo: Wire Image/Getty Image)

Swordfight, just another day in the life of a college student of yore ...

Yes, that's tennis as it was played in 1600 CE

BibliOdyssey blog has some nice scans of "Illustrissimi Wirtembergici Ducalis Novi Collegis quod Tubingae quam Situm quam Studia quam Exercitia Accurata Delinateo," which depicts university life in the Renaissance era.

Notice that there was little book study, instead there were lots and lots of fighting: Link

Strange Carafes are a set of wine decanter made by French sculptor Etienne Meneau. The intricate glass carafes hold one bottle of wine and go for as much as 5,000 2,200 Euros. All I want to know is: how do you wash them?

Link

Previously: Elastic House for Those Who "Love Instability" also by Meneau.

That's right: you're looking at high heel shoes for babies age 0 to 6 months. They're "crib shoes" by Heelarious, and it'll only set you back $35 to make your little princess look fab-yu-lous!

Link

Art: Patrick Dougherty, Photo: Paul Kodama

We've posted Patrick Dougherty's "branchwork" art before, where he makes fantastic sculptures and huts (for lack of a better word) from saplings, branches, and twigs - but he has some new installations that deserve another look.

This one above is called the Na Hale 'o waiai, Hawaiian for "Wild dwellings built from strawberry guava."

For more, take a look at Patrick's website: Stickwork.net

Oh, how I <3 Engrish - this particular one, titled "Oh Mickey Please!" is a favorite. Guys, remember what Mickey said "It's time to be cool like a boy" and "nonviolence is a weapon of the strong."

Found at Engrish (where else?)