If you've seen the popular documentary March of the Penguins, then you'd know that the birds huddle in large masses (called crèche).

Well, believe it or not, the image on the left is a one such crèche as seen from the sky, formed by as many as 25,000 king penguins in the shoreline of South Georgia, a British territory close to Antarctica.

From the sky, it looks like a giant swirling frothy coffee.

Yet this scene shows an extraordinary community at work - thousands of king penguins instinctively herding their recently born young into giant huddles to stop them freezing to death.

Parental instinct takes over in the inhospitable climate of the South Atlantic and the furry brown chicks are made to crowd together to retain their body warmth in the equivalent of bird creches - visible as brown swathes on our photo.

Daily Mail has more stunning pics of the phenomenon: Link

Meet Chassis, a remote controlled /potentially autonomous beer-pouring/beverage-delivering robot, built by Jonathan Foote and Al Honig:

Chassis is a remote control/potentially autonomous drink delivering machine. He’s outfitted with all sort of things that go “whir” and “blink” and is equipped with a nice pressurized pony keg system for beer or wine or kool-aid or what have you. [...]

Chassis is made of several found items and a few things from McMaster-Carr. The red powder coating makes him extra special. Where his headlamp might be is a microphone, and the chrome grill beneath his turn signals is a speaker for audience interaction.

Al N $Steven The operator can be outfitted with a headset and cordless phone transmitter along with the remote control (in this case a controller from the system formerly known as Vex) to make Chassis say hello, heckle, complain, offer prurient robot bartender advice, and let you know when your slip is showing.

Robot that delivers beer?! We have a winner! http://www.suicidebots.com/2008/02/25/hanging-with-chassis/

In the Siege of Acre in 1191, Richard the Lionheart constructed two trebuchets that he named "God's Own Catapult" and "Bad Neighbor."

Things flung during a medieval siege included: rocks, fire bomb, carcasses of animals and people (to spread disease and demoralize the enemy), and burning sand. Now, hobbyists build trebuchet mainly to chuck pumpkins.

They certainly don't make alphabets like this anymore! The 'A' above is an excellent example of ornamental typography, as designed in 1730 by Mauro Poggi in his book 'Alfabeto di Lettere Iniziali':

The capitals are elaborated with scrolls and flourishes and then inhabited by satyrs, mermaids, Medusa heads, birds, cats, dogs, snakes, and other creatures. The letters were designed by Poggi, drawn in ink by Andrea Bimbi, and engraved by Lorenzo Lorenzi.

BibliOdyssey has more (from Poggi and other 18th century designers) : Link

Stefan Nadelman's short film, titled "Food Fight," is an abridged history of war, from World War II to present day, "acted out" by food of the countries involved. It's a little American-centric, but still ... Stefan said "Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression."

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Boing Boing TV

Here are the cheat sheet of the breakdown of the food/country characters: Link

Amanda Baggs released a video on YouTube showing her autistic ritual, In My Language, that made scientists re-think autism and what autistic people are capable of doing.

Wired has a fascinating story about Baggs, what living in an autistic world is like, and why scientists are re-thinking what they think they know about autism:

The YouTube clip opens with a woman facing away from the camera, rocking back and forth, flapping her hands awkwardly, and emitting an eerie hum. She then performs strange repetitive behaviors: slapping a piece of paper against a window, running a hand lengthwise over a computer keyboard, twisting the knob of a drawer. She bats a necklace with her hand and nuzzles her face against the pages of a book. And you find yourself thinking: Who's shooting this footage of the handicapped lady, and why do I always get sucked into watching the latest viral video?

But then the words "A Translation" appear on a black screen, and for the next five minutes, 27-year-old Amanda Baggs — who is autistic and doesn't speak — describes in vivid and articulate terms what's going on inside her head as she carries out these seemingly bizarre actions. In a synthesized voice generated by a software application, she explains that touching, tasting, and smelling allow her to have a "constant conversation" with her surroundings. These forms of nonverbal stimuli constitute her "native language," Baggs explains, and are no better or worse than spoken language. Yet her failure to speak is seen as a deficit, she says, while other people's failure to learn her language is seen as natural and acceptable.

And you find yourself thinking: She might have a point.

Link (with the famous video clip) - via Mind Hacks

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

- Albert Einstein, scientist (1879 - 1955)

Problem: Your monitor's screen is dirty.
Old and busted solution:Wipes.
The new hotness: This puppy will take care of your smudges!

Link [Flash] - via Alexa Blog

Augustin's hamster Tic took a spin on the hamster wheel and got more than it bargained for! Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] (fun starts at 0:31)

We've posted about Josef Lee's cheekily excellent comic Adam's Apple before. Well now, he's told us about his new creation, titled Feb 14:

A quirky love story between a Giant and the Statue of Liberty. Like Cloverfield, but minus the mass destruction.

Link - Thanks Josef!

Are you feeling sleepy all the time? It's probably because you aren't getting enough sleep. In fact, a new study by the CDC shows that 70% of American adults don't get enough rest:

The study, which surveyed adults in Delaware, Hawaii, New York and Rhode Island, found that a lack of sleep is a particular problem for younger adults. Of those between 18 and 34, 13.3 percent lacked enough sleep every day, compared to 7.3 percent of adults over 55.

The study did not find much difference between races or genders.

The National Sleep Foundation says that most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Many are not getting that.

Nationwide, adults that averaged six hours or less of sleep a night increased in all age in groups from 1985 to 2006, according to a National Health Interview Study. For example, in 1985, about 20 percent of men and women ages 45-64 reported sleeping an average of six hours or less. By 2006 that number had jumped to 30 percent.

Link - via Blue's News

Now that Fidel Castro has retired, what is he going to do? Here's a "modded" interview of Fidel by Hugh Atkin of Sledge Video:

On Retirement
Fidel Castro: No, retirement plans were never that important to me. I've always figured that the CIA would get me one way or another. Exploding cigars! Can you believe that?

On wealth
Fidel Castro: The Americans always accuse me of corruption ... of stealing money. All lies. However, forty years ago, I did buy a stake in a small company which manufactures miniature Cuban flags.

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube, a little coarse language] - Thanks Hugh!

Mocha the elephant lost one of her leg after she stepped on a landmine at the Thai-Myanmar border.

But now, thanks to an artificial limb by Thai vets, the elephant can walk again. Metro has the scoop: Link

Meet Billy, a big-hearted boxer that befriended an abandoned kid named Lily:

As the runt of triplets, Lily was abandoned by her mother because nanny goats can usually only care for two kids at a time.

Farm workers Katherine Tozer stepped in to hand rear Lilly, but her pet dog Billy made it obvious he was eager to get in on the parental action.

It soon became clear the Billy was happy to adopt Lilly as his own, and he now looks after her by licking and cleaning her and keeping a close eye on her.

Equally, Lilly seems just as happy to have Billy as her role model.

Link

Stacey Herald, a 28 1/2-inch (72 cm) woman, had just given birth to an 18-inch (46 cm) daughter who wasn't much smaller than her mother!

Pregnancy swelled Herald’s belly to comically large proportions, the woman said.

“If I laid down, I looked like a snail,” she said, laughing. “That's how big my belly was. I looked like an Idaho potato with arms and legs.”

She kept laughing as she recalled her late-stage pregnancy.

“You couldn't see my feet,” Herald said. “You know, my legs are there you know, but my belly came out so long, that all you could see was a belly with toes."

Link - via mental floss