That one above is Daphnia longispina or the common waterflea. For more cool microscopy pics, see: The Micropolitan Museum of Microscopic Art Forms (where they proudly promote things less than one millimeter!)

From the website's FAQ:

1.Yes, they are really books. I remove some of the paper and replace it with a sturdy armature of salvaged lumber.

2. The idea evolved from (mis)reading Nicholson Baker. His essays, Lumber, and, Books as Furniture, triggered me to figure out what I might build if I could turn books into lumber.

For other very funny bookshelves art, see: Link

I can't say it any better:

Good luck charms are usually worn around the neck, or on the wrist. But this year, Chinese Malaysians are wearing them under their pants.

Red men's underwear emblazoned with auspicious animals and characters have become the rage among Malaysian Chinese ahead of the Chinese lunar New Year holidays, the New Straits Times reported Friday.

The characters printed on the briefs -- in the front and at the back -- read "attracting fortune," "golden fortune," "prosperous four seasons" and "swirling dragons."

Link

I'm told it's somewhere in Okinawa (Banyan Tree House?) Is that even a real tree?Does anyone know what this is? (Thanks Kandra!)

Dean Pomerlau and his son Kyle are president and vice president of Fish School with the claim to fame of teaching fish to "swim through hoops, jump, limbo, eat from your hand - even play soccer"

http://www.fish-school.com/

Bill Weber knew that he wasn't going to go for that $2000 commercial solar water heating units, so he decided to build his own:

First, build a glass-covered wood "hot box" to catch the sun's heat.

Second, install a manifold of copper water pipes—inside this collector box—so the gathered warmth will heat water.

Third, hook the outlets from the manifold to a storage tank (this container should be set above the heat collector) so the thermosiphon principle will move water from the collector to the tank.

Link

From Bits and Pieces blog:

At elementary schools, kindergartens, and preschools all across Japan, kids are losing themselves making hikaru dorodango, or balls of mud that shine.

Checkout Fumio Kayo's step by step guide to make this shiny mud ball: Link

Brave Space made this set of modular shelves called (what else) Tetris Shelves. http://www.bravespacedesign.com/

Awesome tower of books found at Patricia Storm's Booklust blog. See more here: http://storms.typepad.com/booklust/2006/01/lost_in_books.html | Matej Kren's Website

From way back, but very cool:

Amongst all the fossils ever found in the world, there might be nothing more bizarre than this specimen. One Protoceratops, a herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaur, perished in the struggle with a carnivorous theropod, Velociraptor. After their death 80 million years ago, both skeletons were fossilized, then finally unearthed in 1971 in fully articulated forms without having been smashed.

http://www.dino-nakasato.org/en/special97/Fight-e.html

Update (Jan 30, 2006): Russian intelligence agency said that the communications device disguised as a rock by British spies is a "miracle of technology".

"It's a piece of space-age technology, a machine that can withstand a fall from from nine floors up and prolonged submersion in water," said Sergei Ignachenko, spokesman for the FSB agency, as he showed off the object to the media.

Link

I think it's inspired by this.

Previously (Jan 26, 2006): Russian intelligence agency caught British diplomats red-handed fiddling with some sort of electronic spying device disguised as a rock.

Unfortunately for the alleged spies, the rock's wiring was temperamental. In one clip, an agent was filmed pretending to relieve himself in shrubs as he fiddled with its sophisticated electronics. In another, the rugby-ball sized stone was picked up and carted away for repairs.

Many news stories to choose from: The Times | The Star | Time Europe

Maurice Kottelat, Tan Heok Hui and colleagues discovered the world's smallest fish in an acidic peat swamp in Indonesia.

Mature females of the Paedocypris progenetica, a member of the carp family, only grow to 7.9 millimeters (0.31 inches) and the males have enlarged pelvic fins and exceptionally large muscles that may be used to grasp the females during copulation...

Now why doesn't that last bit surprise me...

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060125_ap_smallest_fish.html

From the website:

The eight-year-old monkey Gun-Mo and orangutan Eunbi skates and rides a sled on the ice during a promotional event for the 2006 Animal Academy show, which runs untill February 10 in Seoul , January 24, 2006. The monkey was drilled to go skating for two weeks, the animal trainer said.

http://en-1.ce.cn/Life/news/photo%20news/200601/25/t20060125_5942766.shtml