We see “missing” and “found” posters all the time, but they usually are a source of sadness as a reminder that someone has lost a loved one or a pet. These nineteen posters featured on sidewalks around the globe are funny plays on the classic signs you’re used to seeing.
Cat Found
Is it just me or does this poster remind you of that old wives tale about the old woman who had a pet sewer rat and thought it was a dog? Image via Dig Your Own Grave
Possum Found
Here’s a great twist on the poster above. Image via Babyanimalz
Oregon Trail
Fans of the classic educational game are sure to recognize these types of options that come at a river (or street) crossing. Image by Jeff Wysaski, featured on his website Pleated Jeans
Have You Seen This Cat
I have to admit, this cat is pretty darn awesome. Anyone know what breed it is? Update: Thank you to Miss C and Sir P-S, who have pointed out it is a Pallas's Cat. Image created by Running Amok Zine via Lizzy Stewart [Flickr]
Every day, scientists are striving to make our lives better and to better understand our lives through a range of experiments on just about every subject. Unfortunately, not all of these projects work out so well. These five experiments have all gone wrong, whether due to the errors of the scientists, the unexpected behavior of the subjects or because the public reaction destroyed what may have actually been an advantageous advance in the field.
Tripping Elephants On Parade
Image via http2007 [Flickr]
While many test animals are killed in the name of research, many of them are at least being used to investigate potentially life-saving drugs. Perhaps the saddest and most spectacular failure of any animal-based experiment occurred in 1962, when Tusko the elephant (not the one pictured) was given LSD simply for the sake of seeing how the magnificent beast would react to such a substance.
Unfortunately, the researchers, Louis Jolyon West and Chester M. Pierce, had no idea how much LSD it would take to dose an elephant. Rather than erroring on the side of safety, the doctors decided that they didn’t want to have to do the experiment again just because they underdosed the elephant the first time. They ended up deciding to give Tusko 297 milligrams, which is about 3000 times the dosage a human takes, despite the fact that an elephant weighs about 90 times more than the average human.
After being dosed, Tusko immediately started running around in his pen and soon lost control of his movements, eventually collapsing to the ground and going into seizures. To counteract the LSD, the doctors gave the elephant 2,800 milligrams of an antipsychotic. The drug reduced his seizures slightly, but didn’t stop them. After another hours, the doctors decided to give Tusko a barbiturate to calm him down, but it didn’t help. He died a few minutes later.
Two other elephants were later dosed with the drug and suffered no ill effects. Ultimately, the doctors that dosed Tusko summed up their experiment in Science by saying, simply, “It appears that the elephant is highly sensitive to the effects of LSD.” Even so, it is still unclear whether or not Tusko died from the acid or a combination of the three drugs given to him that day.
The Monster Study
The effects of positive vs. negative reinforcement have fascinated scientists and parents for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, testing on a group of unsuspecting orphans isn’t the best way to find out. In 1939, Doctor Wendell Johnson of the University of Iowa and his assistant, Mary Tudor, selected 22 children from an orphanage in Iowa. Ten of the children had stutters and the rest spoke just fine.
The stutterers were put in two groups, group IA that was to use positive reinforcement and other, group IB, that was to receive negative reinforcement. The non-stutterers were also broken into two groups, group IIB, that was told they spoke fine, and group IIA, who were told they were starting to stutter and needed to avoid making mistakes at any cost. The goal was to get those in group IA to stop stuttering and those in group IIA to start stuttering.
The impact on group IIA was exactly what the doctor had hoped for. The entire group started falling behind on their school work. The children started to second-guess their speech abilities and many stopped talking at all. One girl ran away shortly after the experiment ended.
While Mary Tudor visited the orphanage three times after the experiment was over, attempting to convince the children that they didn’t have any speech problems, the damage was already done. Although none of the kids became stutterers, many of the children retained speech problems their entire life and most were reluctant to speak. In 2007, six of these children were awarded $925,000 in a lawsuit against the state for the university’s role in the experiment. The study has since been dubbed “The Monster Study” by the public and scientists alike who were disgusted with the doctor’s methods.
Love it or hate it, It’s A Small World is undoubtedly a catchy song and an iconic Disney attraction. But did you know the ride was actually made on the fly as a last minute World’s Fair attraction or that it was originally slated to feature a variety of national anthems instead of its title track? Here are some fascinating facts you might not know about one of the park’s most popular rides.
One of Disney’s most iconic attractions actually started out as a last minute attraction to the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The team was already working on a number of exhibits for the fair, including the Magic Skyway, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and The Carousel of Progress, when the program manager for the fair reached out to Disney and asked him to creat a tribute to UNICEF.
Always up to a challenge, Disney agreed and asked Mary Blair, Marc Davis, Alice Davis and Gregory S. Marinello for help. Mary gave the ride its overall feel and whimsy and inspired the general character design. Marc designed the scenes and the specific characters, while his wife, Alice, designed the costumes. Gregory designed the clock face on the exterior. Walt oversaw the design of the doll’s faces, which were all made to be exactly the same in order to promote the concept that all around the world children are all the same deep down.
The original nickname of the ride was “the happiest cruise that ever sailed” and the ride was intended to showcase the national anthem for each country portrayed. Unfortunately, this ended up sounding like a terrible mess in practice, so he hired the Sherman Brothers, the same gents who wrote the theme song for the Tiki Room, to create a song that would unify the ride’s characters together. It was only after the boys came back with their masterpiece that the ride got its name.
Last year, John Farrier wrote a great Neatogeek post about geeky love songs. While the twelve listed were great, there were still plenty more great geek ballads out there. Here are ten more love songs sure to get your nerd juices flowing.
1) Thomas Dolby: She Blinded Me With Science
How is it nerdy? This is the song that inspired me to write this list. It’s an ultimate geek love song in that a woman is able to seduce her love interest not through her looks but through chemistry and other scientific fields. Choice lyrics: It's poetry in motion/And now she's making love to me/The spheres are in commotion/The elements in harmony/She blinded me with science/"She blinded me with science!"/And hit me with technology Video:
How is it nerdy? It might just be impossible to write a romantic song with more Dungeons and Dragons references. Choice lyrics: I picked up spell resistance from the enchanted school/So I could bend up all these magic pretences/And though always use it as a general rule /This time I'm lowering all my defences Video: There’s no official video for the song, but here’s a YouTube video with the song.
How is it nerdy? MC Chris is one of the biggest stars of the nerdcore hip hop scene and this serenade to a nerd shows just how geeky he can be, even when discussing matters of the heart. Choice lyrics: She's romantic, known to panic/With anxiety attacks/Literary, it's so scary/Reading Brontes back to back/She's playing Ragnarok on her mom's Magnavox/She's underneath my skin like a million nanobots Video:
How is it nerdy? It’s not even about a girl, it really is about loving a computer and how the computer is far better than a real girlfriend. Choice lyrics: I've never been quite so happy/all I need to do is click on you/and we'll be joined/in the most soul-less way/and we'll never/ever ruin each other's day
I recently posted a ton of awesome videogame cross stitches, but these are by no means the full extent of geeky cross stitches. This set may not appeal to gamers as much, but the projects are equally nerdy and just as intricate. Whether you prefer Star Wars, Keyboard Cat or Twitter, there’s certain to be something here to tickle your geeky side.
TV Shows:
Fans of the British series The IT Crowd will instantly recognize Flickr user a440’s depiction of the the characters from the show’s intro, as well as Roy’s catchphrase, “Have you tried turning it on and off again?” Craftster’s forums are always filled with excellent examples of geeky crafting, but when user Jessii shared two years of projects, it was hard to choose the best of all of her works. While her pieces featuring characters from Rocko’s Modern Life, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Futurama and Cowboy Beebop are my favorite, but I highly recommend clicking on the link to check out the whole post. Over on the Sprite Stitch forums, user Liquid Karma (aka Deviant Art user Karma Pudding) shared a huge collection of her past projects which include the Megaman project seen in the videogame stitching post, along with these depicting characters from Futurama, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Full Metal Alchemist and the Star Wars inspired “Come To The Darkside We Have Cookies” (if you like that one, be sure to check out the similar shirt in the Neatoshop). Sprite Stitch user Bamiyan is yet another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan and his Donatello cross stitch is yet another great take on the characters. While this piece by The Autumn Society looks like it might belong in the videogames post, Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake are most certainly cartoon characters. There’s also a similar piece on the post with two Care Bears fighting it out. If you like Pokemon, you’re sure to enjoy the cross stitching works of Deviant Art user Skyregabbro. There are plenty more at the link, but I chose Pikachu to display since he’s my favorite character.
Did you know that March is National Craft Month? In order to get your revved up and ready for the holiday, I’ve gone ahead and rounded up some of the best videogame cross stitch designs I could find. Cross stitching is a perfect medium for old school videogames because the pixels can easily be transformed into geeky stitching patterns. So sit back, relax and get ready to get crafty. Special thanks to Sprite Stitch, a wonderful website dedicated to video-game-themed crafts. This great design by Flickr user CrystalPowell combines four of the greatest Nintendo classics in one.
For those that like their videogames really old school, this Commodore 64 cross stitch by Craftster Forum user Maltririel is just the ticket.
The classic Space Invaders cross stitch by Flickr user Cross-stitch ninja is fun, but I must admit that I prefer the Space Invaders/Futurama cross over piece featured on Let’s Get Radical.
Personally, I was never very good at Space Invaders, but Arkanoid was a serious addiction for me for a while. That’s why I’m in love with this design by Eunice of Mondo Pixel.
If you liked Street Fighter more than Punch Out, then this character select menu by Etsy user StitchPleaseMD might belong on your wall. For an action shot of the game, look no further than this excellent piece by Sprite Stitch forum user Celes_Lionheart.
As someone who grew up playing Sega, I tend to think the Genesis doesn’t get nearly enough love. That’s why this Sonic title screen cross stitch by the wife of Reddit user Maggoty makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.
Becky Schaefer’s pieces featuring Lara Croft are an elegant bridge between classic floral cross stitch patterns and modern video game designs.
The Enchanted Tiki Room is kind of like It’s A Small World –people either love it or hate it and no matter how you actually feel about it, you’re guaranteed to have the songs stuck in your head after you leave. Personally, I’m one of those people who loves the show–not least of all because it means getting to sit in a nice air conditioned room while eating pineapple soft serve while the temperature outside exceeds 90 degrees.
When Walt originally started work on the Tiki Room, he envisioned it as a restaurant where guests would be entertained by animatronic birds performing for the diners. It was intended to share a kitchen with the Plaza Pavilion and Tahitian Terrace. Interestingly, now none of these locations operates as a restaurant, the Plaza Pavilion is now used as an Annual Passport processing center and the Tahitian Terrace is now Aladdin’s Oasis, which mostly serves as a meet and greet area for those looking to take pictures with Aladdin and Jasmine.
There are still aspects of the building that give away its original nature. For one, it is the only attraction to include its own restrooms. Another mark of the planned restaurant, the magic fountain in the center of the room was originally planned to be a coffee station –which is why there is a storage compartment build into the base.
Of course, Walt and his crew soon realized the property would be too popular and was too small to seat all of the people who would want to see the show. Rather than scrapping the idea, the design was altered to accommodate rows of benches for guests to sit and watch the show.
Entertaining Through Animatronics
The Tiki Room was the first Disney attraction to feature Audio-Animatronics and since it required the use of computers (the operations room is located under the attraction), this also meant that it was the first ride to offer air conditioning –a factor that has continued to add to its popularity during hot Southern California summers.
While humans are not biologically programmed to be monogamous (only 3% of all mammals are), our social structure is largely based around romantic partnerships. To celebrate our own romantic attachments, lets reflect on some of nature’s most loving couples.
Albatrosses
If you’re looking for the animal mating ritual that most closely resembles human dating, don’t look to primates, even mammals, instead, check out the albatross. These massive seabirds take a long time to reach sexual maturity –up to 10 years in some species, but they certainly don’t make up for it by rushing into a relationship. When they first start coming to the breeding colonies, young birds sit back and learn from their elders, observing the specie’s elaborate mating rituals that include dancing, preening, staring, pointing, and vocalizations. After years of trial and error, the birds learn to participate in these mating rituals. They will then start dancing with many partners, but year after year, they will trim down their dance card until they have selected the one partner they want to be with for the rest of their lives.
Once the partner is chosen, the pair will develop their own unique language comprised of bits of their mating ritual. Interestingly, once they have mated, they will never use most of the ritual again. While it seems like a massive undertaking, egg laying and chick rearing is a major time investment for albatrosses and the couples do everything they can to ensure they will be a successful mating pair.
While most birds are monogamous, few are quite as dependent on their mates as the female hornbill is on the male. The couple gets in the mood by singing duets together. The male starts the tune, then the female jumps in and the calls then join in unison. The pair will occupy a large nest inside the hollow of a massive tree. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the female will then seal herself in the nest. The male will then provide food for her and her chicks through a small hole in the nest. This goes on for about two months, then the female will leave the nest, sealing up the chicks inside. The mother and father will then take turns bringing the chicks food until they are grown enough to break the seal and survive on their own.
Of course lovebirds belong on this list, just look at their name. But what makes this specific parrot species so darn romantic that they are often given as wedding presents to symbolize the couple’s lifelong commitment to one another? Like most birds, lovebirds are monogamous, but its their habit of sitting beside another and cuddling that has made them such a strong image of love. Their tight pairings led the ancient Greeks to believe the birds would die if they lost their mates.
The peach-faced lovebirds find a partner when they are two months old. The female fluffs up her feathers to tell the male that she is interested and he then starts to perform a courtship dance that involves bobbing his head and scratching her head.
Once the couple lays eggs, the female will incubate the nest while the male goes out to get her food. When the chicks hatch, the dad gets the food, feeds it to the mother who then regurgitates the meal for the chicks.
All cranes are monogamous and they all have their own intricate mating dances, but the brogla’s are particularly fascinating. They mate with their partners every year, often in the same nesting area, but no matter how long they’ve been together, they always keep the passion flowing, performing their intricate mating dance every year. Just how complex is this ritual? Well, there is a reason it is considered the most elaborate mating dance in the animal kingdom.
The dances generally start with a bird picking up a clump of grass and tossing it in the air and catching it in its mouth. Then the dance starts to involve jumping, extending wings, stretching bowing, walking calling and head bobbing. Sometimes only one bird will dance, sometimes a pair will dance together, in other situations, the whole colony will jump in, starting up a massive brogla dance club.
You may already know that male seahorses are the ones who carry the litter, but did you know they go through an intimate courtship first? They hold tails, swim snout to snout and change colors to show one another that they are ready for romance. This process can last for days before the pair engages in a courtship dance that lasts up to eight hours.
Once the male is pregnant, the female sticks around until he gives birth. She visits him every morning, holding his tail, changing colors and flirting with him to ensure that he will continue to nurture the eggs until they hatch.
These slimy garden pests may not seem too romantic, particularly when you consider the fact that they are hermaphrodites, but they just may have inspired the Greek tales of cupid. Although snails are hermaphrodites, they require another partner to lay eggs. Their courtship process largely comes down to the animals circling one another and firing off “love darts” at each other, one third of which miss the target. The mucus-covered darts stimulate the animal’s female reproductive organs so they can hold more sperm. Once the darts are in place, the partners trade sperm cells for as long as six hours.
Next time you hear stories of the arrow-shooting cherub, just imagine a giant snail shooting darts before copulation. For some reason it’s just not as good of a Valentine’s Day card though.
Most rodents are far from romantic, but the prairie vole is one of a handful of monogamous creatures that fall under the title. The male voles will move in with their first girlfriend and stick with her for the rest of their lives. During mating season, they will mark their territory and defend it from any trespassers by chattering its teeth and raising its arms. The male is particularly aggressive towards females who attempt to enter the territory and will even attack potential home wreckers. The happy couple will not only share pup-raising, but also groom each other and huddle together for warmth.
While the other animals on this list are romantic in their monogamous relationships, bonobos are romantic in an entirely different manner. These primates copulate while facing each other and to participate in open mouth kissing. If the other creatures represent our ideal life-long bond of romance, bonobos personify our most popular forms of physical intimacy. I think it’s important we look at these factors too. After all, we don’t just fall in love, we also “make love.”
I don’t know about all of you, but this article sure put me in a romantic mood. Who needs wine and roses when you can dance like a crane, sing like an albatross and shoot love darts like a snail?
When you’re a kid, you know the dinosaurs went extinct, but it seems weird that a creature alive today could suddenly be wiped off the earth tomorrow. I remember the first time I really realized what extinction meant when I went to the San Diego Zoo and saw a picture of the dodo bird on a sign talking about extinction. I was familiar with the bird from Alice and Wonderland and asked my mom if we could see it while we were at the zoo. When she explained to me that the bird didn’t exist any more, my heart sank.
Even today I am saddened whenever I learn about a species becoming extinct, but the worst part is when you know it was caused by human activity. Here are seven such animals that are no longer on earth thanks to mankind.
Thylacine
Also known as the Tasmanian tiger, this carnivore wasn’t related to dogs, tigers or hyenas, as many people believe. It was actually a marsupial, closer related to kangaroos and wallabies than any of those other animals. It was originally found in Australia and New Zealand, but its was essentially extinct in those areas long before Europeans discovered it. Even so, it thrived on the island of Tasmania until European settlers issued began fearing that the animals were eating their livestock. Like wolves, the Tasmanian tiger was often accused of slaughtering sheep in the fields. As a result, the Van Dieman’s Land Company issued a bounty on the creature, offering one pound per adult and ten shillings for each pup.
Scientists have still not been able to verify accusations of the animals eating livestock, but it would be too late to help the thylacines anyway, as the last known individual was captured in 1933 and died in a zoo in 1936. That’s her in the video. Sadly, she died two months before the Tasmanian government enacted a law dedicated to protecting the animals.
While it looks like a strange cross between a horse and a zebra, a quagga was actually a subspecies of a typical plains zebra with a brown rear end and a striped head. It was once found in great numbers in southern Africa until Europeans started hunting the animals for their meat and their hides. It is believed that the last wild quagga was shot in the late 1870s. A number were sent to zoos before that point though and the last captive individual was killed in 1883. At the time, people still believed these were the same as other zebra species, the individuals just had different markings. It wasn’t until after the subspecies was eradicated that people realized the animal had become extinct. Some historians have noted, the story is particularly sad because if the same thing happened in modern times, the breeding programs of zoos could help rebuild the population of the animal and release them back into the wild.
Interestingly, because the animal was so closely related to other subspecies of zebra, South African researchers have attempted a selective breeding program to create a new stock of the animals. The third and forth generation animals created through this project do look similar to the extinct creatures, but scientists debate whether or not looks are enough to declare these animals quaggas.
As a slow-swimming marine mammal that never completely submerged itself and was loaded with blubber, the Steller’s sea cow was doomed from the beginning. These massive herbivores were once abundant in the North Pacific, but aboriginal peoples hunted them until their population was limited to only the Commander Islands. Unfortunately for the sea cow, they were then discovered in 1751 by George Wilhelm Steller on an expedition led by Vitus Bering.
The Stellar sea cows were over 25 feet long. They were slow swimmers who couldn’t submerge themselves. There were only about 1,500 when Europeans first laid eyes on them and it wasn’t long before those remaining were hunted down for food, pelts and blubber, which could be used in oil lamps. Within 27 years of Steller’s discovery, the animals were extinct.
What is it about interspecies animal friendships that make humans so infatuated? Is it the unlikelihood of the partnerships or the simple cuteness of two different species reflecting so well upon one another? Whatever it is, these adorable animal pairings are simply precious no matter how you look at it.
A Dog, A Cat and A Mouse
Perhaps one of the most famous strange animal friendships involves Greg Pike’s three companions, Booger, Kitty and Mousie, who constantly ride on top of one another. His animals were named by a group of school children who Greg gave the opportunity to name.
Pike is a busker who receives monetary compensation from passersby who wish to photograph his bizarre animal trio. He currently resides in San Francisco, but he and his pets previously lived in a small border town in Colorado, Arizona, in Santa Fe, New Mexico and in Santa Barbara, so if you think you may have seen him in person and you happened to be in one of those places, then you almost certainly saw the real act, not an impersonator.
Greg likes to think of them as a symbol of peace, if these three national enemies can get along, why can’t we humans. If you like the act, you can always make a donation via his website.
When Stuart and Caroline Ward bought an owl named Boobah right before her German shepherd, Hazel, gave birth to puppies, they worried the dog would be overprotective of the litter and act aggressive towards the owl. Fortunately, the exact opposite was true. Hazel immediately started to look after her owl friend who took to riding on the dog’s back for rides. The pair soon became inseparable and Boobah even tried to suckle milk from Hazel like the young puppies did.
Many people have seen this image without ever seeing the equally sweet story. The 12 week-old macaque was brought to an animal sanctuary after he was discovered close to death after being abandoned by his mother. After his rescue, his health improved, but he remained listless until he struck up a friendship with an unlikely suspect –a white pigeon. The two were so close keepers almost never found them more than a few feet from one another’s side. The friendship managed to bring the monkey back from the brink and he displayed a whole new attitude.
While some consider cats and dogs to be mortal enemies, it is still fairly common to see the two animals become close friends after living together. As common as cat and dog friendships are, it takes a special bond to capture the interest of a nation, but Cashew and Libby were that close.
Cashew was an older yellow lab that had gone blind and deaf in her old age, but his feline friend, Libby, didn’t let that stand in the way of their friendship. Libby served as a seeing-eye cat for her elderly friend, leading him to his food and watching over him while the pair slept next to each other. The cat would even follow her friend on walks to make sure he got back safely.
After Cashew passed, Libby has shown no interest in other dogs and has been known to hang around at her friend’s favorite nap spots. The cat’s utter loyalty to her friend earner her the Cat of the Year from the ASPCA, a high honor with so many great kitties in the country.
While the header for this one has the makings of a great animal sitcom, it’s actually a true story that warms your heart. It al started when a stray goat and dog were picked up by animal control outside of a wedding chapel in Dallas. They were brought to the East Lake Pet Orphanage, where volunteers soon saw the pair was inseparable. Unfortunately, Texas law requires that abandoned pets must be kept with animals of the same species, so a sheriff’s deputy took away the goat, named Minnelli. If the goat stayed unclaimed, she would have been sold at a livestock auction.
Fortunately, the story already hit the papers and the Dallas County Commissioner assured the public Minnelli would not end up on someone’s dinner table. A few days later, the animal’s owner came forward. The family also owned a three-legged yellow lab and could no longer afford to take care of their animals, so they signed over the rights to all three pets to the East Lake Pet Orphanage.
The shelter received hundreds of adoption requests for the unlikely trio, which they then narrowed down to the five best applicants. Representatives from the shelter visited each home to ensure the pets were given to the best possible candidates. Eventually, they were adopted by Norman and Sandra Williams who owned three acres of land and plenty of other critters to keep their new family members company.
Cave animals just might be some of the strangest animals on Earth. Adapted to living somewhere with little to no light and practically no vegetation, these animals have evolved to survive in extreme environments and the results are often unbelievable. A troglobite is an animal that exclusively live in caves and has adapted to its dark surroundings. Most troglobites cannot survive outside of the cave environment. Interestingly, while they never leave the cave environments, their lives are dependent on the world outside of the cave. Roots growing from plants above the surface, streams flowing from outside the cave and trogloxenes, and animals that use caves for shelter but travel outside the cave for nourishment are the only things that make life inside of caves possible. Roots allow nutrients to drip into the caves, streams bring in fresh food and dead animals and trogloxenes provide nutrient-rich feces and corpses that feed bacteria, insects and fungi that serve as the base of the cave’s food chain.
Because caves provide such a stable environment, many troglobites have lost the ability to adapt to temperature and humidity changes, which means most of these animals can only live in specific parts of their caves and many of them are endangered because they cannot branch out of their territory. Most troglobites survive in caves with humidity levels between 95 to 100 percent, but those that live in tropical areas deal with higher temperatures that result in more evaporation, thus, lower humidity levels. There are currently 7,700 known species of trilobites, but because scientists estimate that 90% of caves are still undiscovered due to a lack of visible entrances, many animals living in caves have yet to be discovered. Just recently, scientists discovered 225 new caves and 30 new species in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California. Because there are so many cool cave animals, this article is really long, resulting in a two part series. This is part one, so if you’re hunting for part two, you can find it on my blog, Rue The Day. Images via Arne Hodalic [Wikipedia] and pfulton [Flickr]
Bats
While they may not spend their entire lives in caves, bats are one of the most important supporters of cave ecosystems. Their feces, dropped food and dead bodies provide food for insects, bacteria and fungi that support the carnivores in the cave. In some caves, the bat droppings pile up as high as one hundred feet. The guano is incredibly nutritious, making it a good cornerstone of any cave diet. In fact, a quarter-pound of it has more nutrients and protein than a Big Mac. Bats are the only mammals in the world that can fly, but there are so many types that they actually represent twenty percent of all mammal species. Their ability to fly has enabled them to become some of the most widely distributed mammal groups in the world. They live everywhere on earth except a few isolated islands, the Arctic and the Antarctic. While the stereotypes says all bats are blind, none are actually blind. Their small, underdeveloped eyes provide enough visual cues to help the bats navigate their routes beyond the area their echolocation can reach. Some species can even see ultraviolet light.
So far, I’ve focused all of the Neatorama Disney Parks articles on Disneyland, mostly because it was the first of all the parks and most of the classic rides originated at the Anaheim park. But, when I decided to write about Space Mountain, I soon learned that it was one of only two classic Disney Parks attractions to debut at Disney World (the other was the Country Bear Jamboree), so to do it justice, it was only right to focus on the Disney World version of the ride. Image via KWDW [Wikipedia]
Necessity Leads to Innovation
The idea for Space Mountain originated from the success of the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland. The popularity of the ride showed Disney that thrilling rides would do well in his park and he started to work with Arrow Development Company (the same firm that designed the Matterhorn) on a concept for a new Tomorrowland attraction called the Space Port. The concept was similar to the Bobsleds, but it would be inside with special lighting and other effects.
Originally, the group wanted to use four separate tracks, but when that proved to be too space consuming, the plans were cut down to two tracks. In 1966, the ride was renamed “Space Mountain.” Unfortunately, Walt’s death that year and the new focus on opening the new Disney World park put the plans for Space Mountain on hold indefinitely. After a few years, it was obvious that The Magic Kingdom was a major success, but also that their customer base was older than originally expected, comprising of a lot of teens and young adults. To keep up their popularity with this age group, the corporation decided they needed to install more thrill rides. There wasn’t enough space in Fantasyland to add another Matterhorn and the weather of Florida made outdoor rollercoasters somewhat impractical. That’s when designers returned to the idea of Space Mountain. There was enough space in Tomorrowland and the technology improvements in the last few years made many of the outlandish concepts for the ride practical.
Because the ride would be kind of expensive to create, Disney approached RCA to sponsor the new attraction –many rides at the park were sponsored at the time. RCA provided communications hardware and money and, in exchange, their name was plastered all over the ride and the moving sidewalk that took guests out of the attraction was accompanied by a “house of the future” exhibit that prominently featured RCA products. RCA’s sponsorship stopped in 1993 and FedEx took over between 1995 and 2005, but the ride no longer has any sponsors. When the ride was added to the Anaheim park, it had to fit in a smaller dome, so it was reduced to only hold one track. The other Disney parks also have only one track in their Space Mountains. Image via William M [Wikipedia]
Specs In Space
Space Mountain opened in January 1975 and was the world’s first completely dark indoor rollercoaster. It is now the oldest operating coaster in Florida. It is enclosed in a dome that is 300 feet wide, 183 feet above ground (it also sits 15 feet below the ground, making it a total of 198 feet tall). All together, the dome has a total area of more than 4.5 million feet. The wall is made from 72 massive concrete beams that are each 117 feet long. Because it’s so big, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover passes through it. Fortunately, the PeopleMover features a glass viewing area so guests can look at the ride and see many of the effects used in it.
The Magic Kingdom version of the ride is the only one to offer two tracks and they are almost identical except the Omega track –the one on the right- is ten feet longer so it can cross the tracks to return to its platform. When the ride is warming up in the morning or after a temporary shutdown, the grease on the track is cold, so the coaster goes slower, up to 25 mph, and the ride lasts longer. Once it’s warmed up, the ride goes up to 32 mph. Image via WillMcC [Wikipedia]
Travelling Through Space
The ride starts out at the Space Port where guests are loaded into rockets that look similar to the Bobsled carts only there is only one person per seat. Each of the 30 rockets carries six people in a single file line. Guests then travel down a small slope where they enter a circular tunnel featuring shooting lights and repeating sound to signify the building of energy. At the end, it suddenly makes a 180 degree turn and, thanks to the use of mirrors, looks like it will crash into the rocket on the other track. That’s when the real fun starts and guests start seeing the projection of Earth, asteroids, comets and other astral bodies on the ceiling. The ride then goes through a number of twists and turns before it enters a swirling wormhole that brings it to the braking area and pulls back into the station. Image via WillMcC [Wikipedia]
All of the park’s Space Mountains are different and while many people prefer the original for its place in history, polls of Disney fans that have gone to all the parks have shown that the one in Paris is considered the best. Have you been on more than one Space Mountain? If so, which is your favorite?
Sources: Disney World, Ultimate Orlando, All Ears, WikipediaDisneyland fans! See more Neatorama Facts: Neatorama Facts: Haunted Mansion Neatorama Facts: Sleeping Beauty Castle Neatorama Facts: Pirates of the Caribbean Neatorama Facts: The Jungle Cruise Neatorama Facts: The Enchanted Tiki Room
I’ve always enjoyed an occasional Sherlock Holmes story, but it wasn’t until I took a class on the subject that I learned just how strange many of the tales are. From crazed Mormons to ape men to vampires, Conan Doyle’s heroic detective encounters some seriously strange cases in his time. In celebration of 124 years of inspired mysteries, here are a few of his weirdest tales. There are spoilers here, so if you plan to read any of these stories, you may want to skip past this one.
A Study In Scarlet
The first Sherlock Holmes story may very well be one of the weirdest. It starts out with the apprehension of a double murder suspect in London. As he explains his motives for the killings, we are told about a man named John Ferrier and a young girl named Lucy, who are the sole survivors of a group of an ill-fated wagon train and are both dying of thirst. Fortunately, a band of Mormons led by Brigham Young comes by and offers to save them, as long as they agree to convert to Mormonism and come with the group to start a new “promised land.” John adopts Lucy and while the two have happily converted to the Mormon way of life, he has secretly sworn to never let her marry a Mormon, where she will only be one of many wives.
Years later, she falls in love with a traveling man named Jefferson Hope. The two are engaged and the wedding is planned to take place in three months, when Jefferson returns from a trip he must take for his job. After Jefferson leaves, John is approached by Brigham Young who tells him Lucy must marry a Mormon. He says she can take a month to make her choice between two eligible men in the town. John sends for Jefferson to return and save Lucy. He arrives on the last day before she must make her choice and Lucy, John and Jefferson sneak away. While on the run, Jefferson leaves one day to hunt for food and returns to the camp to find John dead and Lucy missing. He returns to the town and discovers Lucy was forced to marry one of the two Mormon men. A month later, Lucy dies. Jefferson sneaks into the house the night before the funeral and removes her wedding ring. He then swears revenge, stalking the town and almost killing the two men many times.
Watching old episodes of Soul Train is always a good time. The outrageous outfits, the wonderful and wacky dance moves, the cool music acts and the sweet, soulful voice of Mr. Don Cornelius make up one excellent hour of television. If you start watching the reruns though, you may occasionally find yourself exclaiming “I recognize that person,” and you just might be right. A number of celebrities danced on the show before and after they made it big. Here are a few stars you might recognize if you keep your eyes peeled while watching.
After graduating high school, Rosie Perez moved to Los Angeles and started attending LA City College with hopes of becoming a marine biologist. She was a killer dancer though and soon found herself working on Soul Train in the late 80s. After a few seasons, she went on to perform at the club Funky Reggae, which is where she was spotted by Spike Lee who soon cast her in his film Do The Right Thing.
She continued working in the dance field and earned three Emmy nominations for her choreography on In Living Color and she choreographed music videos for Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Diana Ross and LL Cool J. Of course, Rosie is best know for her acting, starring in White Men Can’t Jump, Untamed Heart, Fearless and more. She’s even appeared on Broadway, where she was able to combine her dancing and acting talents.
These days, she focuses most of her energies on activism and President Obama even appointed her to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS this year.
Born Tara Leigh Patrick, Carmen’s parents knew she was destined for fame and they enrolled her in creative and performing arts classes since she was a youngster. Before she was even 18, she had already moved to LA and started dancing on Soul Train in 1991. Her big break came when she snuck into a nightclub and was spotted by Prince, who asked her to audition for a new female singing group he was forming. While she failed that the audition, she soon met Prince a second time and he asked her to be a solo artist on his record label. He also asked her to change her name to something more exotic, suggesting Carmen Electra after Bizet’s opera, Carmen, and the Greek princess Electra.
Her music career failed, but she was able to land a job on Nickelodeon’s All That, and she soon posed in Playboy, which helped her land a role on Baywatch and in MTV’s Singled Out. Since then she’s starred in a number of TV shows and movies, although these days her biggest roles seem to be in parody films like Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans.
Nick Cannon started young. He was only eight when he started doing comedy acts and at 11, he was performing his act on public access. At only 15, he moved to Hollywood and joined the cast of Soul Train while performing his comedy routine at night. Like Carmen Electra, he was also recruited for Nickelodeon’s All That and he served as the warm up stand up comedian before the sketches were underway. Soon enough, he was added to the cast and the writing crew, making him the youngest staff writer in the history of television at age 17.
In 2002, he starred alongside Will Smith in Men in Black II and was soon cast as the lead in Drumline. The same year, he also released his debut album. These days, while still working on movies, music and his marriage to Mariah Carey, he is also the host on America’s Got Talent.
