Flickr user Peggy Dembicer made this Candy Land board game with about 100,000 beads!

Link [flickr]- via Make Blog

Proof that you can get almost anything patented nowadays: Lester Clancy just got a patent for his invention: a cordless jump-rope.

What makes this invention work is the moving weights inside the handles. They simulate the feel of a rope moving, Clancy said. Well, it's only one handle so far because Clancy is waiting for financial backers before building its partner.

But why jump rope without a rope?

It's perfect for the clumsy, Clancy said. "If you are still jumping, you're still using your legs as well as your arms, and getting the cardiovascular workout. You just don't have to worry about tripping on the rope."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060530.gthaymay30/BNStory/Technology/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20060530.gthaymay30%3Cbr%20/%3E - via Gizmodo and Blue's News

From the article:

"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's editions.

Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack's accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey property on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.

After about 15 minutes, the bear descended and tried to run away, but Jack chased it up another tree.

Link

Doug Wilson took this cool photo of the sun's halo over Utah for NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Have you ever seen a halo around the Sun? This fairly common sight occurs when high thin clouds containing millions of tiny ice crystals cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal acts like a miniature lens. Because most of the crystals have a similar elongated hexagonal shape, light entering one crystal face and exiting through the opposing face refracts 22 degrees, which corresponds to the radius of the Sun Halo. A similar Moon Halo may be visible during the night. The picture was taken in Gunlock, Utah, USA. A flock of birds was caught by chance in the foreground. Exactly how ice-crystals form in clouds remains under investigation.

Link

Found at Vivek's Blog.

How do gazelles survive during food and water shortage for a prolonged period of time in the desert? By shrinking their liver and heart, of course!

Sand gazelles' livers and hearts--which are important determinants of metabolic rate--decrease significantly in mass during four months of food and water restriction. Conversely, the gut walls, which are responsible in ruminants for 28–46% of whole-body protein synthesis, an energy demanding process, did not decrease significantly in mass. There are few sources of drinking water in the desert, so sand gazelles must rely on vegetation for both food and water requirements.

Link - via Nutmeg

Squid and octopus can change their skin to blend into their surroundings - in the future, with the help of nanotechnology, maybe humans too can have programmable tattoos:

This "dermal display" (featured on the winter 2006 cover of Cryonics magazine) would consist of about three billion light-emitting nanorobots capable of rearranging themselves to spell out words and numbers and produce animations for the display. To turn on and control the display, you simply tap it with your finger.

Link

Brandon Hardesty re-enacts scenes from popular movies such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Breakfast Club, Pulp Fiction, Star Trek: First Contact, The Shining, etc.

He used nothing but his own household items as props, and plays all the parts in the scene. And yes, that's his voice.

Genius. Pure genius: http://www.brandonhardesty.com/reenactments.html

You can also hit play below to see one of his scenes, this one from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

From the website:

The First of my Re-enactment series.
This is me, re-enacting a scene from the 1971 movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." I play the part of both Grandpa Joe and Willy Wonka in this pivotal scene where Grandpa Joe confronts Wonka in his office inquiring him on Charlie's lifetime supply of chocolate. Wonka is less than pleased with Charlie's breach of contract, however.

My resources were limited: I wanted to do a scene with two people, preferably men, and this came to mind. Nearing the end of Summer '05, I was bored... so I did this.

Resources: My grandfather's coat and hat; my dad's tuxedo vest; lint from the dryer for the moustache scotch-taped to my face; a work desk with papers scattered around; a chair

Ethan Winer spent hundreds of hours on this project to write and record a pop tune using nothing but cellos. That's right - nothing but cellos - the entire music was played with just one instrument. There are 37 separate cello parts recorded on 23 tracks. Simply amazing. You've got to see it.

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] | Ethan's Website

Chicago artist Cayetano Ferrer paints street signs with images of its immediate background, thus giving them the illusion of transparency.

http://www.cayetanoferrer.com/city_of_chicago/images/ - via Metafilter.

From the always awesome Cellar Image of the Day:

This is Thailand, where a Thai animated movie called "Kan Kluay" has been released, and these Mahouts - elephant drivers - have gathered to watch it. It's a scene remincent of the old drive-in movies we used to have (where the audience sat in their cars).

Link

Check out Microsoft's Steve Balmer dancing to Puttin' on the Ritz [wiki].

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via grow-a-brain

The folks at Mental Hygiene and capstrat had this awesome how-to guide to make your own gigantic elvis out of post-it notes (use the super sticky ones, they said).

Link | Flickr Photoset - Thanks Yayo!

Nemo Gould makes kinetic, robot sculptures from recycled materials. This one is his latest, a giant 6'7" tall x 10'8" long x 3'6" wide squid robot.

Link | Video Clip [YouTube] - via Stuff on Fire

The winners of the 2006 Art of Science Competition held by Princeton University have been announced! The microscopic art above, titled Easter Bonnet by Qiangfei Xia, won third prize:

A laser pulse melted a tiny piece of metal on a silicon chip, resulting in an unexpected shape that looks like a very, very small Easter bonnet. An unintended dust particle serves as a decorative flower on its top. The size of the bonnet in this photo, measured from left to right, is about 45 micrometers, half the diameter of a human hair.

Link - via Boing Boing. Previously on Neatorama: 2005 Winner: Plasma Table