Few crafters draw their inspiration from scientists, but Kate Findlay is a delightful exception and her quilts based on the Large Hadron Collider are as beautiful as they are impressive. Don't miss the rest over at the link.
Link Via BoingBoing
Jill Harness's Blog Posts
Few crafters draw their inspiration from scientists, but Kate Findlay is a delightful exception and her quilts based on the Large Hadron Collider are as beautiful as they are impressive. Don't miss the rest over at the link.
Link Via BoingBoing
If you live in Virgina, your options for Senator are pretty open. In fact, they aren't even limited to the human species. That's because Hank the cat is running this year.
With a campaign platform like "meow," you can be sure he's the only candidate that won't sugarcoat the truth.
Link -via The Washington Post
In his announcement, Hank stated: “In this time of austerity, of threats to families’ livelihoods and to our civil liberties, it is essential that we choose the right leader. Our situation is too dire to risk placing this important job in the wrong paws, and that is why I have decided to run for US Senate for the great Commonwealth of Virginia. If I had to sum up my feelings for Virginia’s future, I would have to say: Meow.”
Rescued from the streets as a skinny young kitty, Hank picked himself up and never looked back. Although only 9 in human years, Hank has 52 cat years of life experience. Enthusiastic and energetic enough to chase the bouncy ball, he has the wisdom to understand that it is almost impossible to catch.
During his formative years, Hank witnessed firsthand the problems faced by Virginia residents. “Other politicians may talk about how difficult it is when there aren’t enough kibbles to go around,” Hank said, “but I’ve been there. I know what you’re going through. When I’m elected to the Senate, I’m going to work hard to make sure that there is milk in every bowl across this great nation.”
With a campaign platform like "meow," you can be sure he's the only candidate that won't sugarcoat the truth.
Link -via The Washington Post
I know we've featured a lot of Community fan art already, but this "Return of the Group" take on Star Wars is simply too good to resist.
Link Via Geeks Are Sexy
Hey ladies, remember when Edward Cullen was kinda cute as Cedric Diggory, before he went all sparkly?
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I had no idea birds were so keen on feeding dogs food, but it must be fairly common as Serious Eats has a whole collection of videos featuring just that. Do any of you have a bird that tries to feed your other pets?
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Of course, if it were my childhood dreams, I would be April from the Ninja Turles and my best friend would be the tiger from Aladdin. What about you guys?
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No matter how interested you are in history, you probably have still heard a lot about the Dark Ages, but much of that information, even the stuff you learned back in school, is actually fiction. Here are five commonly held beliefs about the Middle Ages that aren’t actually fact. Note: While the specific time period coverd by the term the "Middle Ages" (also called the "Dark Ages" and the "Medieval period") can vary, in this article, they refer to the years 500 - 1500 A.D.
Medieval Doctors Weren’t Completely In the Dark
When most people think of medieval doctors, they tend to think of barbarians whose only solution to problems was to bleed the victim until the problem went away or until the patient died. While its true that the doctors of the time were operating under the Greek concept of humours, that have since been proven wrong, that doesn’t mean that doctors of the time were totally inept or that there were no improvements to medicine made until the Renaissance. In fact, the idea of doctors needing to attend a University was first developed during this period and those who wished to become a Doctor of Medicine would need to go through ten years of higher education in order to qualify.
During the Crusades, European and Islamic doctors began exchanging techniques and while it’s easy to think that the Westerners got the advantage in this trade, there was still useful information traded from both sides. In fact, it was the European doctors who taught Middle Eastern practitioners that wound infections could be successfully treated with vinegar.
During the early Middle Ages, surgery was considered to be less important than the practice of other medicines, but as time progressed, surgery started to earn a much higher regard. By the fourteenth century, doctors had discovered a number of innovations in the field including the use of antiseptics to prevent infections and anesthesia made from opiates and herbs to help patients through the procedure. Additionally, hospitals were first developed during this period, originally operating as hostels for travelers, clinics for the injured and homes for the disabled. Italy led the trend of hospital building and, by the end of the fourteenth century, Florence had thirty hospitals within its boundaries.
In England and France, most hospitals were established in Monasteries, where monks would help care for sick travelers and victims of chronic diseases and plagues. So next time you end up needing to visit the hospital, get better, and then remember you have those alleged bumbling fools of medieval doctors to thank not only for the treatment center, but also for the idea that doctors should be well-educated before they are allowed to start serving the public.
Bad Hygiene Wasn’t Actually Common
For years, stories have been circulating that the average person of the Dark Ages would only bathe once a year and that the reason brides carried bouquets was to help them ward off the gross smell of the guests at their wedding, but really, people of the time had pretty decent hygiene. In castles, the wealthy would have a tub with a stool in it so they could sit and bathe for long periods of time.
Many castles also had a special room next door to the kitchen that was exclusively for bathing parties. While the poorer populace may not have had their own tubs inside their home, they still could visit the public baths in the city or bathe in rivers or lakes near their home. In fact, bathing didn’t fall out of fashion until the Renaissance, when it was believed that water could carry disease.
So there’s a good chance that a peasant from the thirteenth century actually smelled a lot better than Leonardo da Vinci. Their clothes didn’t smell horribly either, laundry soap was introduced from the Orient in the early Middle Ages and while clothing did go unwashed in the freezing winters, as soon as spring hit, laundresses went out in droves washing clothes on the local river banks.
Sources: Gode Cookery and Wikipedia
Spices Weren’t Used to Hide the Flavor of Rotten Meat
Artist Rob Osborne has a collection of great yoga posters in his Etsy store, including ones featuring Princess Leia, Yoda and Boba Fett.
Link Via The Mary Sue
At the recent Gallifrey One Convention, there was a panel on "crossplay" and i09 was there to document it. The pictures are fantastic as is the interview with panel moderator Courtney Stoker.
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Cats are not welcome to mess around on this turtle's property, even if their food is scattered all over his porch.
I know we just posted a collection of superhero mashup art, but if you can't get enough hero artwork, or if you prefer your saviors in their pure, unadulterated form, then you'll also want to check out WebUrbanist's collection of superhero artwork. Best of all, even though we feature a lot of geek artwork, most of these seem new to the site.
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Now that's an animal friendship you don't see too often. Isn't it precious though?
Via I Has A Hot Dog
Poor Miss Piggy, she's totally right, it's complete pigism that prevented her from getting the nomination. Hollywood, your prejudices disgust me.
Via The Mary Sue
It's obviously a great weapon to strike down your foes, but all that power has a price. If you've ever wondered just what that price might be, then you'd better check out this great article over on the economics blog Centives that goes into figuring out just how expensive the Death Star would be to build. The response might surprise you:
Of course, that's only the price of steel, what about building costs, electric, etc.? That's a big price to pay for a little intimidation and destruction.
Link Via The Daily What
at today's rate of steel production (1.3 billion tonnes annually), it would take 833,315 years to produce enough steel to begin work. So once someone notices what you're up to, you have to fend them off for 800 millennia before you have a chance to fight back. In context, it takes under an hour to get the steel for HMS Illustrious.
Oh, and the cost of the steel alone? At 2012 prices, about $852,000,000,000,000,000. Or roughly 13,000 times the world's GDP.
Of course, that's only the price of steel, what about building costs, electric, etc.? That's a big price to pay for a little intimidation and destruction.
Link Via The Daily What
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