(Photo: China News)

It’s not a novelty vehicle. Two-front fire trucks are actually useful. The German truck maker MAN originally built them for firefighting crews that provide service in long tunnels, such as the 7.2-mile tunnel beneath Mont Blanc. In the tight confines of a tunnel, a truck might not be able to turn around. So the crew drives toward the fire, manning the end facing that direction.

That feature is also useful in some congested Chinese cities. Rocket News 24 reports that Nanjing City now owns one, which is pictured above.

(Photo: Reuters/China Daily)

It’s lunchtime at Qingdao Forest Wildlife World in Qingdao, Shandong province, China. In accordance with lemur etiquette, the ring tailed lemurs unroll their tails while eating. May we all be so well-mannered.

-via The Kids Should See This

Fly Turkish Airlines! Just don’t expect to go very far. Redditor MrMalta writes, “Didn't really think this one through did they?” No, they didn’t. I’ll take the bus instead.

-via Dave Barry

When construction began on the most famous tower in Pisa, Italy in 1173, no one planned for it to lean over. But the soft ground yielded under the weight of the stone bell tower. It now rests at a 4⁰ angle.

The iconic monument is instantly recognizable. So marketers have made good use of the form to package and sell products, such as this lipstick container designed by Louis Nichilo in 1950 and a liqueur bottle that may get a bit too tipsy. You can find a roundup of some inventive uses of this form for product packaging at Beach Packaging Design.

-via Messy Nessy Chic

The Philadelphia Museum of Art owns this exquisitely carved conch shell that is about 7 inches tall. It dates back to about the Eleventh Century A.D. and was probably made in or near Bangladesh. It shows the Hindu god Vishnu, who is often depicted using a conch as a war trumpet. The museum describes the scene:

Within the rondel on this shell Vishnu is represented in his martial role as protector of the universe. He flies through the sky on his mount, the bird-man Garuda, holding his weapons—the shell-trumpet, the mace, and the discus. Pierced conch shells are blown as trumpets to beckon the god during worship. This one, however, lacks a mouth opening on its spiral end and was probably used to hold and pour sacred water during religious ceremonies.

-via TYWKIWDBI

(Video Link)

Last month, a US Airways flight from Indianapolis to New Orleans was delayed for maintenance after everyone had already boarded. Flight attendant Kari Mann learned that 4 of the passengers were a barbershop quartet called Port City Sound. She asked them to sing and they obliged. Mann writes that, “The mood changed and our passengers were awesome for the whole 5 hours they were on the plane!”

-via Huffington Post

Brandon Bird has a knack for offbeat takes on pop culture, such as a prehistoric Dukes of Hazzard and Sylvester Stallone shooting squids out of his arms. In “A Hero Rides Forth,” he shows the great western character Mr. T driving a stagecoach at a furious pace. No one is riding shotgun with him. When you’re Mr. T, you don’t need it.

Please please please please please Hollywood, make this picture into a movie. And since Mr. T himself is getting on in years, you are welcome to make it an animated feature in the style of that visionary 80s cartoon Mr. T.

-via Geek Tyrant

A year ago, redditor Crispy-Snax tried to use a parking meter in Urbana, Illinois. The ice coating the entire face of the machine peeled off in one piece. He says that he was able to get the meter to work after hitting it a few times.

-via The Soul Is Bone

The gallon jug of milk sits at the perfect spot beneath the water tap. As the water hits the cap, it flows over it in a perfect bowl shape, missing the rest of the jug completely.

It's beautiful.

I should spend the rest of the day trying to duplicate this feat in my own kitchen sink.

-via That's Nerdalicious!

Scientists have learned how to unboil an egg. But can they make a reverse boiled egg? Apparently with a few supplies and a delicate touch, yes!

(Video Link)

This video is in Japanese, but the step-by-step instructions make it easy enough to follow without a knowledge of that language. Wrap tape around an egg, which I assume is to help it maintain structural integrity. Then place it inside a stocking, tie off the egg in the middle, then spin the egg for a long, long time. After you then boil the egg, it should have the yolk on the outside and the white in the middle.

-via Rocket News 24

In a cutthroat business like real estate, the name of a street can increase or decrease the value of a property. Although city planners might not put too much thought into it, these street names can make a difference. The New York Times has a fun interactive tool that lets you search for the name of a street and see the home value of that street relative to others.

Strangely, living on Batman Road decreases rather than increases the value of a home. So something is wrong with the program or wrong with society.

-via Flowing Data

Heavy rains caused the Los Angeles River to swell. A dog fell into it in Burbank. He was too far into the middle of the river for people to reach him from the riverbank, so rescue workers with the Los Angeles Fire Department approached him by helicopter. In this video, a man is lowered in from a helicopter. He swims over to the dog and picks him up.

(Video Link)

The dog is a Corgi/Chihuahua mix. He has a collar, but no tag or microchip. He's now at the North Central Animal Shelter in Lincoln Heights.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath

Idea: Generalized uber. Everyone has a tracking chip that lists all services they'd be willing to perform at what price.

— Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeiner) January 28, 2015

Zach Weinersmith is the artist who makes the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. He has widely varying interests and great intellectual depth in multiple fields, which is probably why he recently delivered an address to the American Economic Association.

(Photo: Jason Lawrence)

In a recent tweet, he proposed a fascinating idea: creating a generalized Uber. I have not used this car service before, but I gather that it uses a smartphone app to link up drivers with people who need a ride. It's a decentralized taxi company that offers opportunities to people who have cars and want to earn some money with them.

Weinersmith expands upon this idea, generalizing the Uber business model. What skills do you have that you would be willing to perform for a price? Place those skills and your pricing system on an app that tracks your location in real time. People can contact you as they need you for those skills.

What do you think? Could a business like this one thrive?

Guillaume Néry is a freediver, which means that he holds his breath while underwater instead of using a air tank. Julie Gautier shot this impressive footage of him being swept along at high speed through the waters of the Rangiroa atoll north of Tahiti. Néry seems incredibly serene and calm even though it looks like he's in constant danger of being smashed against the rocky ocean floor.

(Video Link)

-via Colossal

Kobi Levi is fashion designer in Israel. He's noted for his shoes that look like other things, such as playground slides, bowing cats, Disney villains, and wads of gum annoyingly attached to sneakers.

One of his recent creations is this pair of shoes with outsoles that form the outline of a heart. With a romantic shade of red, they'd be ideal for a Valentine's Day date.